Cirrus@Austlit

'Emily Green lives in a perfectly lovely house, in a perfectly lovely street where people are always busy and bustling, hurried and hustling.

'One day Emily Green decides she wants to bring the outside into her home. She catches a glimpse of something green on the pavement, and visits the library to learn more about plants.

'Soon she has created something magical. She just needs to share it with others ...'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A boy and his father travel in their boat, ‘Time Machine’ to a stretch of beach beside a primordial tropical rainforest. As the boy walks among the trees he imagines the forest as it might have been in the past. Dinosaurs emerge, barely perceptible, from a tangle of trunks and vines; the faint outlines of an aboriginal child melt into a background of trees and in the final haunting scene the unspoiled vista readers have toured is overlaid with translucent images of a possible future civilisation..' (Source: Author's website)

'Chip is back! His mission: to become a lifeguard. But his dreams soon go soggy when he's chased off the beach. So Chip and his friends fashion a plan to sneak him into to the surf club. Will their stunt earn Chip a place between the red and yellow flags?' (Publication summary)

The author 'tells the story of Kookoo, a kind and well-loved kookaburra who is famous for entertaining the other bush creatures with his funny stories. Everyone knows Kookoo has a special gift because he can tell funny stories about the other animals without hurting their feelings. However, when Kookoo runs out of kind stories he turns to teasing and making fun of his friends’ differences. Refusing to listen to the sage advice of his uncle, Kookoo gradually alienates all his friends until he finds himself alone and ignored by the other animals. When he finally listens to the sounds of his own laughter echoing around the bush and realises it has become an unhappy sound, Kookoo is forced to remember his uncle’s words and change his ways — kindness is like a boomerang — if you throw it often, it comes back often.' (Source: Newsouth Books website)