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What does Christmas mean to you? Is it the sound of excited squeals on Christmas morning? Is it the smell of freshly baked cookies? Is it the sight of twinkling fairy lights around your Christmas tree? Or perhaps that satifying feel of a bloated belly after you’ve tasted every gourmet delight! Here are a few […]

Anna Walker; master creator of picture books encompassing emotion, wisdom, sensitivity, adventure, charm and humour. And equally as gentle, creative, genuine and profound as her delightful stories and pictures is the author / illustrator herself, with which I had the utmost pleasure in meeting recently at her Mr Huff Exhibition. I am honoured that the […]

Anna Walker; master creator of picture books encompassing emotion, wisdom, sensitivity, adventure, charm and humour. And equally as gentle, creative, genuine and profound as her delightful stories and pictures is the author / illustrator herself, with which I had the utmost pleasure in meeting recently at her Mr Huff Exhibition. I am honoured that the […]

How Big is Too Small?, Jane Godwin (author), Andrew Joyner (illus.), Penguin, 2015.   Can size hold you back? Can size determine your value? Everyone and everything, from the miniscule to the enormous, has a place in this world. We all have important jobs to do. But Sam wonders – “How big is too small?” […]

It’s holiday time so some shows based on outstanding children’s books are currently being performed in Sydney and surrounds, as well as in other cities around Australia. A highlight is The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Penguin), a production created around four books by Eric Carle: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, of course, The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse – […]

Here comes Alfie! Bursting onto the scene. So much to do, so little time. Alfie is plenty busy… too busy to get ready to go out. With classics including the I Love series, I Don’t Believe in Dragons and Peggy, and her beautiful illustrations for Jane Godwin’s All Through the Year, Starting School and Today We Have […]

The Lucky Country. That’s Australia. We embrace difference. Celebrate diversity. Stand up for what we believe in. Be ourselves. Show compassion for those in need.   The following picture books, as chosen for the 2014 Speech Pathology Australia Books of the Year shortlist, all share common themes; diversity, friendship and uniqueness.   The Short Giraffe […]

And something called getbookreviews.com is there for them. They sent me an unsolicited email. For just $150, I could get my book reviewed. Not in a standard publication, no. On Amazon. “We review the book, write the review, post the reviews to online media and book review sites. We need at least two weeks to complete all of the steps to this service, but it's a great service if you need your book reviewed and more publicity and promotion of your book. Our Rapid Review Service guarantees that your book is placed at the top of the reviewers' pile. [Note that this means some reviewer who posts on Amazon.] At a cost of only $150 per book, our service guarantees that one of our reviewers will read and review your book within 2 weeks of receiving it. The review will be posted on GetBookReviews.com as well as Amazon.com and PRLeap.com. We also post to various blogs and websites that allow book reviews. Once the review is completed, you are free to use any part of it in your promotional materials as long as GetBookReviews.com is given credit for the review.”

Don’t have $150? “List Your Book In our Books Available For Review Section - $25. This is a great service if you'd like to get more book reviews for your book. Reviewers, editors, producers, talk show hosts and other industry professionals visit our site regularly looking for new books to review. Your book can now be listed to here for the media to request a copy.”

Full disclosure here folks: I review books as a freelancer for the Oregonian. There is no way I need to go trolling for books to review. I get a couple of dozen a week. And the idea that "editors, producers and talk show hosts" are regularly visiting this site to view a bunch of self-pubbed books with ugly covers is ludicrous.

Jeez, maybe I should start charging $150 to review a book on Amazon. I could probably get three times that if I sign my name. (And there actually is an author out there who is selling this service.)