I have had the great pleasure this year of reading some of the finest children's fiction around. I've also dabbled in reading some classics too and with having two young children it has been a delight in discovering the next big series or book that I can put on the shelf and share with them… Continue reading BEST BOOKS: Ross Jeffery picks his best books of 2018
Day one and I’m late for roll call. It’s my mum’s fault as my super-suit is way too small and it is giving me a super-wedgie. I wish she’d never wangled me a place on the Superkids Summer Program but when your mum is Astro-Woman, she gets what she wants. Just ask my dad.
They can’t find us a new mummy, so we decide to make our own. We live with Aunty Linda - who is not really our Aunty - in a tidy house that we pretend is ours. The social worker says ‘it’s taking a long time because we are trying to find just the right mummy… Continue reading FICTION: What Mummies Are Made Of by Stephanie Hutton
“Waddya going to disappoint Mom with this year?” Shereen taunted Jackie with a high whiny voice. “Not some smelly perfume like last year, I hope.” “Nah, I bet he’ll get her some more earrings that will turn her ears green like the year before,” chuckled Vernon. “They had to call Hazmat to get rid of… Continue reading FICTION: Grimcrack’s Fantastic Galactic Mercantile by Paul Stansbury
They picked me to race Pumpkin Jack on Halloween night. It shouldn’t have been me. That’s not how it’s supposed to work. They picked my big brother last year. Joe went out and he raced Pumpkin Jack while we sat in our house, huddled together and crying, listening to the screams from the street outside.… Continue reading FICTION: Pumpkin Jack by Nigel Quinlan
A streetlamp flickered. Under the lamppost stood an old red phone box. In the old red phone box a black telephone was ringing. Down the street came a boy. No one knew his name, or if they ever did they had forgotten it along with the boy. His clothes didn’t fit him well—his coat was too… Continue reading SHORT STORY: The Lostling by Daniel Soule
Finnegan the dog was thinking about the meaning of life, and of lamb chops. Freeze-dried lamb chops, that is. Finnegan was an astrodog, you see. That’s like an astronaut. Except a dog. Living on a spaceship as a specially-chosen astrodog on a mission to Mars, you get used to freeze-dried stuff. Lamb chops were best.… Continue reading SHORT STORY: Finnegan the Astrodog by Michael Stevens
