Books & Reading

Graeme Base’s Animalia is here!

The much loved Animalia by Graeme Base has moved from print form into the digital space. 

Designed to complement and augment the printed book, Animalia Digital is an interactive digital program which takes the magic of the book into new and exciting areas of learning. The program includes engaging digital read-throughs and levelled activities, games and puzzles focusing on literacy and language for children aged 5-12.

Just download it to your tablet, enter your library membership number and begin. There's a handy app for tablets available through itunes app store or android google play or there are PC options (Mac installer or Windows setup)

THE GRAEME BASE COLLECTION

For more than 30 years the beautiful stories and artwork of Graeme Base have captivated readers all over the world. Now, in a series of special releases, these beloved books are brought to life in a wonderful new way, narrated by the author himself. Suitable for all ages.

The Waterhole, Jungle Drums, Uno’s Garden, The Eleventh Hour, Eye to Eye and Animalia.

Available on:

• iOS
• Android
• Mac
• Windows

Download our guide to using Animalia

Better Reading aims to be a great source of independent book recommendations for Australian readers and their families.

Goodreads is the world's largest site for readers and book recommendations. See what your friends are reading, organise what you've read, list your favourite books, discuss literature, form groups, and connect with other readers.

Inside a Dog is to be a virtual home for Australia’s bookish teens. It is a bright, fresh place for sharing reviews, creative writing, book news and more.There are lots of spaces where book lovers of all ages can come together to share their love of YA, but few which are for the ‘young adults’ the category is all about. This is part of the reason only 12-18 year olds can be registered users of this site. But adults can still read all published content on the site, keep up with Inky Awards information  and general news, but you won’t be able to write content, comment or enter our competitions. 

Free access to 4,000 online (public domain) children's picture books in Spanish, Arabic, Persian, Chinese, French, Croatian, Portuguese, Hebrew, German, Filipino, Russian, Thai, Italian and others.

Jaga Jaga is a ‘rainbow warrior’, proudly fighting the good fight in defence of his people’s homeland. This e-book by Mick Woiwod is available to purchase via Amazon

Story Box Library as an online 'reading room' that allows children and parents to look at a book and listen to a range of celebrated stories read aloud by a diverse range of storytellers including actors, comedians, sports people, musicians, artists, authors and children with varying accents and from different cultures.

It is an interactive experience for 2-12 year olds via a smartphone, tablet or other device with an internet connection.

Log in with your library membership number and start streaming!

Download our guide to using Story Box Library

This USA based award-winning children's literacy site curates videos of celebrities reading famous children's books, accompanied by animations that bring the books to life. For example, viewers can enjoy comedian Sarah Silverman reading A Tale of Two Beasts (a story about unlikely friendships and differing perspectives), and actor Chris Pine reading Clark the Shark (a story about a joyful fish who uses clever rhymes to control his enthusiasm). Stories are selected for all primary school age levels (and tagged with the appropriate age level in the description). In addition to the animated videos, stories are accompanied by an activity guide that expands on themes presented in the books. On the All Books page, visitors can sort through the abundance of stories and filter by author, reader, title, or run time (most are under 10 minutes). 

Tumblebooks takes existing picture books and adds animation, sound, music and narration - in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, and Russian. Titles are only accessible online. Also available to Murrindindi Shire Borrowers.

A new way to choose what to read. Whichbook enables millions of combinations of factors and then suggests books which most closely match your needs.

Welcome to the online version of Who Else Writes Like…? which is designed to help anyone who enjoys reading fiction to expand the number of writers they read. It is designed to answer the perennial question “I’ve read all the books by my favourite authors, who shall I read next?”

Simply follow the links to find an author whose books you like, and see which other writers are recommended underneath.

The aim of this website is to encourage readers to try the works of new authors and to open up to them the wealth of good reading that is available in their local public library.