Kingdom of the blazing phoenix by Julie C. Dao

Kingdom of the blazing phoenix is the sequel to Forest of a thousand lanterns and there are ***SPOILERS*** in this review if you have not read the first book in the series.  This is a series that needs to be read in order so make sure you read Forest of a thousand lanterns before you read the rest of the review or the book.

Jade has lived a simple life in the monastery, working alongside the monks to tend their gardens and care for the villagers in the surrounding country.  Only her Amah and the abbess know that Jade is not a simple peasant - she is the princess and heir to the kingdom.  Summoned to the capital by her stepmother Xifeng, Jade starts on a journey that will take her far from home and everything familiar.  The world of the imperial court could not be more different from the world she has grown up in, the extravagant gowns she wears would help the monastery support hundreds of peasants, and the lavish food is something she had never imagined.  It is a world of secrets, intrigues, and people hiding their true intentions and natures behind carefully crafted masks.

When Jade discovers what her stepmother is really like she is forced to flee from the imperial city, a fugitive accused of crimes she didn't commit.  Along with her companions there is only one home for not only Jade, but also her entire kingdom - she must complete the dangerous quest to find and reunite the hidden treasures of the five kingdoms.  If Jade can succeed in her quest she will call forth ah army taht will be capable of stopping Xifeng and the army of the Serpent God she controls.  The quest will not be easy, she will have to remember the stories that Amah told her, and solve puzzles that can have deadly consequences if she gets the wrong answer.  As she searches across the five kingdoms she must always be aware of Kang and the serpent warriors who dog their steps the entire way.  Jade never wanted to be anything more than a monk, but now the fate of the entire kingdom rests in her hands.

Kingdom of the blazing phoenix is the perfect companion novel to Forest of a thousand lanterns and it brings the duology to a very satisfying end.  In the first book the focus is on Xifeng and how she rises to power, what she sacrifices to become empress and the cunning manipulation of the Serpent God to get what he wants.  By the time we reached the end of Forest of a thousand lanterns she had slipped from young girl to powerful and cunning empress, and her path for conflict with Jade was set.  In Kingdom of the blazing phoenix we see the results and a story that seems to echo the story of Snow White more strongly, but it is an echo only because Julie C. Dao has taken that rather simple fairy tale and created a world that is richly layered with depth of culture, history, and characters.

With this series we see that the 'villain' is not always that villainous, sometimes they are a victim of circumstance and fate too.  I love worlds that make sense with a deep mythology that you can follow and adds depth to the story, and Dao has created a mythology that feels completely real.  Jade and her companions travel on a quest that creates challenges and conflicts, and also makes them grow and change as people which makes it feel more genuine and engaging.  There are some amazing themes in this series, and there is scope for Dao to create more stories in this world (something that would be amazing).  A must read for fans of richly imagined fantasy worlds - including adults!

If you like this book then try:

• A court of thorns and roses by Sarah J. Maas
• Throne of glass by Sarah J. Maas
• Arrows of the queen by Mercedes Lackey
• Graceling by Kristin Cashore
• The glass spare by Lauren DeStefano
• The girl of fire and thorns by Rae Carson
• Walk on Earth a stranger by Rae Carson
• Court of fives by Kate Elliott
• Winter of fire by Sherryl Jordan
• The hunt by Andrew Fukuda
• Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey
• Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst

Reviewed by Brilla

You don't own me by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke

You don't own me is the fifth book in the Under suspicion series that began with I've got you under my skin by Mary Higgins Clark.  While you can read this book on it's own, there are some ***SPOILERS*** if you have not already read the rest of the series.  I recommend reading the first book in the series before reading any others.

Life is never dull for Laurie Moran, her successful television show Under Suspicion has been solving cold cases and making a killing in the ratings, and she is planning her wedding to her former host Alex Buckley.  With the success of her show it is no surprise that people reach out to her asking her to help solve their case, and while there is only so much they can do it doesn't stop desperate people taking desperate measures to reach her.  When the parents of Dr. Martin Bell approach her about making the next show about the murder of their beloved son, she is surprised to learn that they think she turned them down - a surprise to Laurie as she had not proceeded with the idea because his widow Kendra refused to cooperate.  With pressure from the family mounting, Laurie tries to persuade Kendra to take part this time and is a little surprised when she reluctantly agrees.

As she starts researching the case, Laurie discovers that there are two very different sides to the story - the ones the Bell's want her to believe, and what Laurie is slowly starting to uncover.  When the victim was seen as a pillar of the community it is always challenging to dig beneath the surface, especially when the wife seems to make the perfect killer, but Laurie is determined to continue with the case.  As the case slowly starts heating up, Laurie is also pushing forward with trying to find a new home for her growing family, and with some very definite things on their 'must haves' list they are slowly driving their real estate agent to distraction.  Being such a public figure makes both Laurie and Alex an attractive target, and when someone is ready to take you down, being a public figure won't save you.

The Under suspicion series has been a great find, and I eagerly keep an eye out for the next book in the series.  Laurie Moran holds her own as an investigative journalist in this series, and as the series develops and grows so does she.  The cast of characters around her are interesting and are increasingly characters in their own rights, evolving into people rather than just a supporting cast.  As with previous books in the series the element of suspense is hugely important in You don't own me, and it is part of the fun to try and figure out where the story is taking you before the end.

If you like this book then try:

• I've got you under my skin by Mary Higgins Clark
• City of fear by Alafair Burke
• Now you see her by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
• Murder past due by Miranda James
• Dipped, stripped, and dead by Elise Hyatt
• Dead secret by Ava McCarthy
• Behind closed doors by B.A. Paris
• Eeny meeny by M.J. Arlidge
• One step too far by Tina Seskis
• City of the lost by Kelley Armstrong
• Breaking Creed by Alex Kava

Reviewed by Brilla

Little white lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Sawyer Taft has lived her whole life knowing that her grandmother threw her pregnant teenage mother out of the family home, and it has just been Sawyer and her mother ever since.  She's fine with it though, over the years they have found a rhythm that works for them - even though most of the time it seems like Sawyer is the grown up and not her mother.  When her mother disappears to spend quality time with a man she met at the bar she works in, the last person Sawyer expected to see was her estranged grandmother, and she definitely wasn't expecting an offer she couldn't refuse.  Her estranged grandmother will give Sawyer enough money to see her through college and a good start in life, and all she wants from Sawyer is her participation in the debutante season.

Sawyer soon discovers that debutantes are not sweet little girls, they are as manipulative and cunning as they are polished and poised.  While taking part in debutante season gives her the chance to get to know her family and please her grandmother, it is also a chance to solve the one big mystery of her life - who her father is.  As Sawyer gets to know her fellow debs she comes to realise that every family has it's secrets, and that everyone has something they can use against someone else.  As Sawyer chases potential clues and learns more about her grandmother and mother, she grows closer to the truth and closer to danger.  

Jennifer Lynn Barnes has a knack for writing characters that are easy to connect with, and who go through trials and challenges that shape them into something new - and Sawyer is no exception.  At the start she seems like a totally tough and no nonsense character, but it soon becomes clear that there is a lot more to her than meets the eye, and a lot more to her story that we are yet to discover.  The debutantes are interesting characters in their own rights, as are the family members and friends who revolve around them. 

The rich background of the deb season with all the mysteries, traditions, tensions, and possibilities for things to go wrong just act to make the story more engaging and exciting.  The way the story moves from the past to the present and back builds the tension without revealing too many secrets too quickly, and creates moments where you can try and puzzle out what is coming next.  

If you like this book then try:

• I hunt killers by Barry Lyga
• Acceleration by Graham McNamee
• Hate list by Jennifer Brown
• Guy Langman, crime scene procrastinator by Josh Berk
• A girl named Digit by Annabel Monahgan
• The Christopher killer by Alane Ferguson
• Nickel plated by Aric Davis
• Dead to you by Lisa McMann
• Crime seen by Jenny Pausacker
• Burning blue by Paul Griffin
• Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
• Such a pretty girl by Laura Wiess
• Living dead girl by Elizabeth Scott

Reviewed by Brilla

Not even bones by Rebecca Schaeffer

For Nita and her mother the 'family business' is selling parts of supernatural beings on the black market.  Over the years they have developed a rhythm, a pattern where Nita's mother brings home the remains of supernatural beings and Nita slowly dissects them to make the most of the remains - skin, nails, blood, and bone are all valuable if you have the right buyer.  It is a routine that brings Nita a certain amount of peace and routine, and she dreams about attending university one day and becoming a well known expert on the supernatural.  All that changes when Nita's mother brings home a live teenage boy and expects Nita to help her carve him up piece by piece.  Confronted with a living, breathing person instead of a corpse Nita does the unthinkable and defies her mother - setting the boy loose and helping him on his way.

Nita knew she was taking a risk, the last time her mother punished her severely for disobeying her, but the last thing Nita expected was to end up on the wrong side of the bars.  Reeling from the shock of being captured and imprisoned, Nita can only conclude that her mother kept her promise to punish her the next time she disobeyed and has sold her into the black market she once supplied.  Being a prisoner is a shock, especially when she learns that people want to eat her piece by piece because Nita isn't just a supernatural processor - she is a supernatural herself.  Desperate to escape torture and then death, Nita desperately tries to escape from her prison, but she is not their first prisoner and it will take some serious skill to escape.  Will Nita be able to pull off the impossible escape?

Not even bones is one of those books that is aimed at teenagers, but was thoroughly enjoyable for adult readers as well.  Right from the start it was easy to connect with Nita and get a sense of her world view which made the story very readable right from the start, and made her much more human.  The book is descried in reviews as "Dexter meets the Savage song" and in some ways this does the book a disservice because it is a fresh and original idea that defies being pigeon holed into one category or another.  This is an exciting new world set in our own, and like the best stories it makes you think that there really could be these supernatural beings walking around because they are so well formed and just seem so real.  Rebecca Schaeffer has obviously thought about the mythology behind the creatures, and has created creatures with strengths and weaknesses.

This is the first book in a trilogy and excitement that the next title in the series is called Only ashes remain and has a cover was quickly dampened by the knowledge that we have to wait until at least the end of the 2019 for the next book.  If you enjoy reading supernatural series with strong characters and a strong mythology anchoring everything together then this is plenty to like about this series.

If you like this book then try:

• A court of thorns and roses by Sarah J. Maas
• Graceling by Kristin Cashore
• Forest of a thousand lanterns by Julie C. Dao
• The glass spare by Lauren DeStefano
• Walk on Earth a stranger by Rae Carson
• Court of fives by Kate Elliott
• The hunt by Andrew Fukuda
• Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst
• The demon trapper's daughter by Jana Oliver
• Anna dressed in blood by Kendare Blake
• The forest of hands and teeth by Carrie Ryan
• Down with the shine by Kate Karyus Quinn
• Something strange and deadly by Susan Dennard
• The bodies we wear by Jeyn Roberts
• Sister assassin / Mind games by Kiersten White
• Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Reviewed by Brilla

The First Lady by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois

When you're campaigning to become the President of the United States of America for a second term the last thing you need is a scandal, but that's exactly what President Tucker is facing.  Caught red handed cheating on his wife, the only hope he has is that the First Lady will stand by his side and gracefully forgive him so the campaign can continue., as so many First Ladies have done in the past.  Banking on her cooperation, the President is shocked when Grace Tucker doesn't play ball - but there are other players involved with this game, and not all of them play by the same rules when a presidential campaign is involved.

When it becomes clear that the First Lady has gone missing it is up to Secret Service Agent Sally Grissom is responsible for the safety of the President and First Lady, but her team is not trained or equipped to deal with a missing persons case - especially not when hobbled with so many restrictions.  As she tries to find the First Lady it becomes clear that there is more to the story than she thought, and that if things go wrong her whole team will be thrown into the cogs of the ruthless machine that is politics.  

Washington D.C. is full of secrets, and some of those secrets can be deadly, especially when there are people who will stop at nothing to get what they want.  Agent Grissom has just one shot at saving not only the First Lady, but also her career and life.  As the faint trail of breadcrumbs becomes clearer, and as she gets closer to the truth, the danger level grows and the consequences of a mistake could be fatal.  

The First Lady is another brilliant collaboration between James Patterson and Brendan DuBois who have written some of my favourite Bookshots.  This is a political thriller that has multiple layers of secrets and players, people who are more than happy to fight dirty to get what they want no matter what the cost, and people who are desperate enough to throw everything they have at a fight to make sure they don't lose.  This was a well written thrill ride that was thoroughly enjoyed in one sitting, and fingers crossed that Patterson and DuBois collaborate on another full length novel soon!

If you like this book then try:

• The end by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois
• The witnesses by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois
• Private by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
• Kiss the girls by James Patterson
• The surgeon by Tess Gerritsen
• One step too far by Tina Seskis
• Vodka doesn't freeze by Leah Giarratano
• Kill switch by Neal Baer & Jonathan Greene
• The edge of normal by Carla Norton
• The survivors club by Lisa Gardner
• Spare me the truth by C.J. Carver
• Orpahn X by Greg Hurwitz
• Eeny meeny by M.J. Arlidge 
• Crimson lake by Candice Fox
• The killing kind by Chris Holm
• Breaking Creed by Alex Kava

Reviewed by Brilla

Burning ridge by Margaret Mizushima

Burning ridge is the fourth book in the Timber Creek K-9 mysteries, and while you can read it as a stand alone this review contains ***SPOILERS*** if you have not already read Killing trail, Stalking ground and Hunting hour.  I highly recommend reading the series in order.

Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner Robo are a well oiled team, providing support for their fellow officers.  With each passing day their partnership deepens, and Mattie is constantly working with Robo to broaden his skills and experience.  When the local vet Cole Walker and his family find the partial remains of a person while they're in the mountains Mattie and Robo are part of the team called in to help find the rest of the body she has no idea that the case is about to get deeply personal - because Mattie knows the victim.

Working in a small town is always a challenge for the police because it's hard not to get involved in the lives of your community, and when a ghastly crime occurs it's difficult not to look at everyone with suspicion.  As the team works to untangle the mystery of the recently diseased, they make the startling discovery that the body has company - the remains of several people who were also likely murdered many years before.  As Mattie fights to stay involved with the case she also struggles to cope with the memories of her past that keep surfacing, making her feel unbalanced and adding to her stress levels.  As the suspects are slowly cleared Mattie has no idea that the killer is closer than she knows - and that they have plans for Mattie.

The Timber Creek K-9 mysteries have been a delightful find, not only because they are well written mysteries with twists and turns that keep the story interesting and challenging to solve, but also because of how well rendered the human and animal characters are.  With each book in the series we see new layers for each of the characters, and with each book Margaret Mizushima grows in her confidence with giving those characters more layers and depth.  With this fourth book in the series it feels like Mizushima has reached her full stride, her characters and stories meeting on an equal playing field and I can't wait to see what is next for Mattie as her personal story is starting to reveal hidden depths that will add to her character and the other characters around her.  This is a great series, and one of the few that my mother and I both read avidly.

If you like this book then try:

• Killing trail by Margaret Mizushima
• Stalking ground by Margaret Mizushima
• Breaking Creed by Alex Kava
• Eeny meeny by M.J. Arlidge
• Suspect by Robert Crais
• The edge of normal by Carla Norton
• Classified as murder by Miranda James

Reviewed by Brilla

The bartered brides by Mercedes Lackey

The bartered brides is the thirteenth book in the Elemental masters series and while it can be read as a stand alone novel it is best enjoyed when you read the series in order - or if you at least read A study in sable and A scandal in Battersea first.

Life is never boring for friends Nan Killian and Sarah Lyon-White as their connections to the world of elemental magicians means there is always some sort of adventure around the corner that needs their skills.  Having Suki join their little family has lead to some semblance of a comfortable and settled life, but that is shattered with the news that their friend and associate, the great Sherlock Holmes himself, is dead.  The only consolation is that he took Professor Moriarty down with him, but that still leaves some of Moriarty's associates loose in the world intent on revenge against the friends of Sherlock Holmes.

When someone makes a bold move again their small family Nan and Sarah make the difficult decision to send Suki off to the safety of the School - a smart move as they soon find themselves tangled up in a very strange case.  The body of a young woman has washed up wearing a white dress and missing her head, and she is soon followed by another.  As Sarah, Nan and the Watson's dig deeper into the case they realise that a very dark and dangerous power is growing on the streets of London - a Necromancer who has power of the dead.  It will be a race against time to stop the Necromancer before they can complete their task, because they are planning the unthinkable and don't care how many lives they spend to do it.

This is an interesting addition to the Elemental Masters universe as unlike most of the other books in the series there is no clear traditional tale that provides a framework for the story - other than the inclusion yet again of Sherlock Holmes and John and Mary Watson.  Despite that departure from what has become a tradition for the series this was a very welcome addition, not in the least because it provides more information about some of the characters and lays the foundations for future storylines.  Lots of fun to read and I can't wait to see where the series goes next.

If you like this book then try:

• The Fire rose by Mercedes Lackey (not officially part of the series)
• The serpent's shadow by Mercedes Lackey
• The gates of sleep by Mercedes Lackey
• Phoenix and ashes by Mercedes Lackey
• The wizard of London by Mercedes Lackey
• Reserved for the cat by Mercedes Lackey
• Unnatural issue by Mercedes Lackey
• Home from the sea by Mercedes Lackey
• Steadfast by Mercedes Lackey
• Blood red by Mercedes Lackey
• From a high tower by Mercedes Lackey
• A study in sable by Mercedes Lackey
• A scandal in Battersea by Mercedes Lackey

Reviewed by Brilla

Aftermath by Kelley Armstrong

Three years ago Skye Gilchrist got the devastating news that her older brother Luka was killed during a school shooting, and that he was one of the shooters and not one of the victims.  That simple fact shattered Skye's world and sent her family scrambling from the small town they lived in, hoping to escape the stigma and the pain.  They should have known better, no matter where they moved to people eventually figured it out - and once they did Skye usually bore the brunt of their disgust and anger.  Now Skye is about to face her worst nightmare - she has to return home because her mother and grandmother are no longer able to look after her.  

Moving in with her Aunt Mae has it's challenges, the least of which is that she never seems to be home because of her long work schedule.  Moving back to her home town means seeing people she hasn't seen in three years, people who look at her and see what her brother did.  The one silver lining is that her former bestfriend Jesse doesn't go to her new high school, he goes to another school which means she shouldn't have to face the fact her brother killed his brother and he hates her for it.  She plans to just fly under the radar, but that changes when she discovers that Jesse is at her new school - something that seems to be a shock for both of them.  To make matters worse little things keep happening that make Skye look like she is a liar, or worse, crazy.  If she can't get to the bottom of the mystery she may have no future.

Aftermath is one of those books that you connect with straight away because of the characters and how well they are written.  Straight away you feel what Skye went through, the bright bursts of happiness and the gut wrenching lose.  The flipside of the coin in Jesse, and it is just as easy to connect with him, even though at first you may not want to because of how strongly your view is painted by how Skye feels about him.  The strength of the characters is supported by a mystery that slowly unravels, keeping you hooked from the first line to the last.  At first you think that Skye might be crazy (and who would blame her for going crazy), but over time you come to realise there might actually be more to the story.

I loved Missing by Kelley Armstrong and was hoping that Aftermath would be equally good and I was not disappointed.  This is a solidly written thriller that may be aimed at teenagers but was equally good being read as an adult thriller - there is a lot to like and nothing to hate.  Hopefully Armstrong continues to write teen thrillers as she does them very very well.

If you like this book then try:

• Missing by Kelley Armstrong
• I hunt killers by Barry Lyga
• What waits in the woods by Kieran Scott
• Dead to you by Lisa McMann
• Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
• Killer instinct by S.E. Green
• The naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
• Time bomb by Joelle Charbonneau
• NEED by Joelle Charbonneau
• Holding smoke by Elle Cosimano
• The Christopher killer by Alane Ferguson
• The stranger game by Cylin Busby
• Missing Judy by Anne Cassidy
• Looking for JJ by Anne Cassidy
• Hate list by Jennifer Brown
• I swear by Lane Davis
• The mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney
• Burning blue by Paul Griffin
• Thousand words by Jennifer Brown

Reviewed by Brilla

Flesh and blood by Nigel McCrery

Flesh and blood is the fifth book in the DCI Lapslie series so there are ***SPOILERS*** if you have not read the other books in the series.  You can read this book as a standalone but you may find it confusing without the background from the other books in the series.  I highly recommend reading this series in order.


There is nothing that shakes the confidence of a police officer more than having a defense lawyer make a fool of them on the stand and set their client free, and for DCI Mark Lapslie that is exactly what happens in the case of Alastair Tulley.  Instead of the case being about the rather gruesome evidence of a young boys severed arm found in Tulley's home, it becomes about Lapslie and his medical condition which lead to some unconventional police work.  Licking his wounds and angry about the process, and if he's honest himself, Lapslie throws himself back into his police work with little grace.  He doesn't have to wait long for another boy to go missing and when the evidence leads to a new suspect it seems as though Tulley is in the clear, but something doesn't feel right to Lapslie and his team.


Josie Dallyn may be young, but she is already a dedicated journalist and when she has the chance to uncover more information about a story she doesn't hesitate to follow up and in the process nearly ends up a victim of a serious crime.  Escaping was just the start, because some people may think she is paranoid, but she knows she has stumbled onto a big story, and the more she digs the more she discovers about the links between cases.  Josie is not the only person looking into the disappearances of young boys, and it soon becomes clear that the disappearances aren't random, and that they are not limited to a small area.  Can Josie, Lapslie, and the other researchers connect the dots before it's too late?


This was one of the more interesting and involved storylines for this series and in a way it was a shame that the timeline bounced around so much as I sometimes got distracted or hand to go back and check dates to see where I was in the timeline.  I get that it is a writers technique to move between time periods quickly, but I feel that it let the story down a little as it took away the smoothness and took some of the edge out of the story as it got a little convoluted.  The over all story was amazing and was not what I was expecting, and the ending was pretty great and closed things off nicely without being too neat, and it was a challenge to try and solve the mystery before the end and I have to take my hat off to Nigel McCrery for writing a complex and engrossing story that was utterly believable and terrifying.


The characters are continuing to evolve and now in the fifth novel we see some new and interesting characters that compliment the main people - as well as some interesting developments with existing characters.  You can tell that McCrery has a background of writing for television because the chapters are short and punchy, and the action is well paced to keep you interested without moving so fast that you can't keep up.  This is a compliment as some of the best writers at the moment are using this style and you can't help but draw comparisons to writers such as James Patterson and M.J. Arlidge.  Now I just have to wait for the next book in the series!

If you like this book then try:

• Mercy killings by Lisa Cutts
• Cut short by Leigh Russell
• Good me bad me by Ali Land
• I hunt killers by Barry Lyga
• The slaughter man by Tony Parsons
• The girl in the ice by Robert Bryndza
• Crimson Lake by Candice Fox
• The edge of normal by Carla Norton
• Swimming in the dark by Paddy Richardson
• City of fear by Alafair Burke
• Vodka doesn't freeze by Leah Giarratano
• What was mine by Helen Klein Ross
• Eeny meeny by M.J. Arlidge
• One step too far by Tina Seskis

Reviewed by Brilla

There's a baddie running through this book by Shelly Unwin; illustrated by Vivienne To

There's a baddie running through this book.

Turn the pages, have a look!

There he goes, did you see?

Sound your siren, chase with me.

There's a baddie running through this book is a fast paced book that cries out to be shared with a group of children or one-on-one.  The main character is a racoon who oozes charm and cheek, racing through the book stealing things as they go.  The other characters join in the chase to try and stop the racoon, not an easy thing when you are quick and nimble - but maybe one last step is a step too far for this slippery little character.

There are loads of concepts here to enjoy with anthropomorphic characters that young children will recognise and connect with, along with some great language to help develop vocabularies with little ones.  The book is charming and quirky, and bound to become a firm favourite for younger children who will enjoy the pace and bounce of the story, and older children will enjoy the different characters and enjoy discovering all the little treasures within the illustrations.  

A great ANZAC book with the author living in Australia and the illustrator living in New Zealand.  Hopefully we will see more collaborations from their two artists as they have made an amazing  book.

If you like this book then try:

• Diary of a wombat by Jackie French; illustrated by Bruce Whatley
• This book just ate my dog! by Richard Byrne
• If I had a raptor by George O'Connor
• Barnaby Bennett by Hannah Rainforth; illustrated by Ali Teo
• Elephants cannot dance! by Mo Willems
• Wait! No paint! by Bruce Whately
• I need my monster by Amanda Noll; illustrated by Howard McWilliam
• Giggle, giggle, quack by Doreen Cronin; illustrated by Betsy Lewin
• Cushie Butterfield (she's a little cow) by Colin McNaughton
• Don't push the button! by Bill Cotter
  

Reviewed by Brilla