Cirrus@Austlit

'Cricket has a language all its own and part of the delight in reading about cricket is discovering new words and meanings. Cricket-themed children’s books can also entice reluctant readers to spend some time between the pages, especially when their cricketing heroes are front and centre.

'This selection of books for children will appeal to those who are already cricket fans – be they young or old – and they may help steer the uninitiated toward cricket appreciation.

'Books are listed under the following headings: Picture Books, Younger Readers, Middle Grade Readers, and Non-fiction.' Each book includes a suggested age range.

'Space for Questions' uses quotes from Charlotte Wood's Stone Yard Devotional together with related questions to probe the book's themes. The content is suitable for use by book clubs.

'In times past, children’s books about whales focused on the hunting and slaughter of these majestic marine mammals; these days, picture books are more likely to feature conservation efforts and whale watching.

'Here is a collection of picture books by Australian authors and illustrators. Some invite children into the whales’ marine environment, fostering awe and wonder; several feature attempts to save stranded whales (both factual and fictional rescues); and some immerse readers in Indigenous lore and culture.'

Each listed book includes a brief review and a suggested age range. Where relevant, links to teachers' resources are also provided.

'In Murder in Punch Lane, Jane Sullivan creates a murder mystery plot surrounding the death in 1868 of rising theatre star Marie St Denis.

'In Sullivan’s tale, fictional actress and amateur sleuth Lola Sanchez and her sidekick, journalist and magazine editor Magnus Scott, investigate possible suspects in St Denis’s death.

'Sullivan’s suspects include American-born Shakespearian actor Walter Montgomery, judge and philanthropist Redmond Barry, police commissioner Frederick Charles Standish, and forensic pathologist and drama critic J. E. Neild.'

This article backgrounds Sullivan's novel but goes on to explore the life and death by suicide of Alice Maes, aka Marie St Denis.