

Gardening + Flora
Flora (Oxford Dictionary)
noun
the plants of a particular region, habitat, or geological period.
-
A book or other work detailing the plants of a particular region or habitat.
plural noun: florae; plural noun: floras
Staff favourites:

Monique's fav
Botanicum
WELCOME TO THE MUSEUM
By Kathy Willis
Illustrated by Katie Scott
The 2016 offering from Big Picture Press's Welcome to the Museum series, Botanicum is a stunningly curated guide to plant life. With artwork from Katie Scott of Animalium fame, Botanicum gives readers the experience of a fascinating exhibition from the pages of a beautiful book. From perennials to bulbs to tropical exotica, Botanicum is a wonderful feast of botanical know ledge complete with superb cross sections of how plants work.
"The illustrations in this book are simply beautiful"
Monique
Inside:

Local Authors:

The Book of Australian Trees
Inga Simpson, Alicia Rogerson
Trees tell stories about places. Australia has some of the tallest, oldest, fattest and most unusual trees in the world. They have changed over thousands of years, adapting to this continent's deserts, mountains, and coasts. Many have found clever ways of dealing with drought and fire.
Their leaves, flowers and seeds are food for birds, insects and mammals. Old trees have lots of hollows, which make good homes for possums, sugar gliders, birds and bees. But trees aren't just important for other animals, we need them too. What trees breathe out, we breathe in. They are a vital part of the Earth's ecosystems.
When you first stand in a forest, the trees all seem the same. But if you look more closely, they are each a little different, like people. This book is a love song to Australian trees, from the red ironbark to the grey gum, the Moreton Bay fig to the Queensland bottle tree.

Inga Simpson is an Australian novelist and nature writer.
She grew up in central west NSW, and has lived in Canberra, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast hinterland. She has now settled on the far south coast of NSW.
"When you first stand in a forest, the trees all seem the same. But if you look more closely, they are each a little different, like people."
top five picture books:

From salads to main dishes, edible weeds are delicious! Find out how to identify them, where and when to find them, and how to cook them.
Ever thought weeds were just pesky plants to pull out and throw away? Think again! This informative, funny, and beautiful book will show you just how great edible weeds can taste. Learn to smell your way to an angled onion, bake weeds 'n' cheese pie, and safely harvest the juicy fruits of a prickly pear.
This is the ultimate companion for the young urban or rural forager. Once you've read it, you'll start to see food all around you, every time you go for a walk.
Annie Raser-Rowland and Adam Grubb's love of weeds bursts from every page. It is their sincere hope that this book ends up smeared with mud and stained with blackberry juice. Let's get foraging!

Meet two young adventurers as they discover the ancient art of reading outdoor clues. Join them as they learn to read a full moon, decode the colour of the ocean and forecast the weather with a rainbow, uncovering the secret signs of nature and a world of forgotten skills. With a foreword from naturalist Steve Backshall.

Our planet is precious.
It's where we live, learn, work and play.
This charming picture book is a gentle introduction to caring for the world around us. The simple, engaging text and beautiful illustrations explore ideas like planting veggie gardens and recycling, to show the ways every person, no matter how big or small, can make a difference.
The perfect book to inspire children to love the planet.

This beautiful book of stories takes readers on a journey with 50 tales, featuring themes of nature from all around the world. Sit back, get comfortable and delve into this beautifully-illustrated collection of beloved nature stories from every corner of the globe. This rich resource collects together folk tales from home and legends and myths from distant lands to commemorate the animals, plants and the changing seasons that make planet Earth so beautiful. The folktales and fables in this book will capture imaginations and take readers on a journey around the world. Learn about:
- The Peruvian tale of Cuniraya and the Magic Fruit,
- The story of how lightning began according to an ancient Khasi folk tale from India,
- From Ireland, the story of The Bee, the Mouse and the Beetle,
- The Master of the Winds in the ancient Iroquois story of The Four Winds,
- Paul Bunyan, the giant lumberjack from North American folklore, and
- Spains Queen of the Flowers, who is brought to life one night by a magical fairy.
Lively retellings from best-selling author Angela McAllister are brought to life withbeautiful illustrations from Hannah Bess Ross, in this nature anthology to treasure for a lifetime. For story lovers young and old this is the perfect gift for all the family and nature lovers everywhere.The World Full of... series is a collection of beautiful hardback story treasuries. Discover folktales from all around the world or be introduced to some of the world's best-loved writers with these stunning gift books, the perfection addition to any child's library.Also available from the series: A Year Full of Stories, A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories, A World Full of Dickens Stories, A World Full of Spooky Stories, A Year Full of Celebrations and Festivals and A Bedtime Full of Stories.

Puzzles:
Usborne Book And Jigsaw: Planet Earth
By Sam Smith, The Boy Fitz Hammond

Interactive books:

Scribble, jot and draw in this brilliant fill-in journal, brought to you by Lonely Planet Kids, an imprint of Lonely Planet, the world's leading travel guide publisher. Backyard Explorer is filled with fun things to make, do and find, to discover the exciting world beyond kids' front door! They can go cloud-spotting, make a skyline collage, design your dream house, complete a scavenger hunt, make your very own time-and-place capsule and lots more? Kids will see their surroundings in a wonderful new way.
There's space to write, draw, collage, colour and complete - turning the finished book into a wonderful scrapbook to treasure forever. With fun illustrations, a super bright neon cover and a handy, backpack sized format, it's a must-have item for any young explorer.
Part of our Family Activity Range.
Also available: Boredom Buster, My Travel Journal, My Family Travel Map, Round-the-World Quiz Book, My Family Height Chart. Collect them all!


Each frame-worthy design within this inspirational coloring book is printed on a single side of high-quality, extra-thick paper with perforated edges for easy removal and display.

More than 6 million Treehouse copies have sold in Australia and New Zealand, and the latest addition to this record-smashing series is the world's funniest joke book.
From fairytale fun to classroom capers and movie madness, there are jokes galore for the whole family.
Q: What did one ghost say to the other ghost?
A: Do you believe in people?


In 101 Ways to be an Eco Hero, the follow up to 101 Small Ways to Save the World and The Plastic Problem, you'll find practical tips and projects that will help you, along with your friends and family, to protect our Earth for future generations. You'll also find out how you can use your voice to encourage businesses and governments to make the right decisions for our environment.
Tips for kids include:
reusing, recycling, and upcycling.
avoiding food waste.
protecting the local environment through activities such as litter collections.
Projects for kids include:
building an insect hotel.
making a herb garden.
creating a tote bag for shopping.
Advice for families includes:
collecting rainwater for watering the garden.
getting solar panels.
using low-energy appliances.

Slow down, open your eyes to your natural surrounds and take a trip around Australia! Organised into state and territory sections, you will find green turtles in the Great Barrier Reef, lyrebirds in the Blue Mountains, Tassie devils from the Apple Isle and quokkas in Western Australia.
Make this book your own by decorating and colouring as you go. Each spread is bursting with weird and wonderful facts, place names in First languages, cool illustrations and maps, and fun activities that encourage you to step outside and explore your own backyard.
It's time to explore!


With the FUNNEST activities from the Treehouse Fun Books and a whole heap of brand new ones, there are pictures to draw, stories to write, codes to crack, sudokus to solve, colour-ins, dot-to-dots, mazes, crosswords, word searches, spot-the-differences and some activities that we don't even have a name for!
So, what are you waiting for?
Grab a pen, pencil, crayon or spooncil and come on in!

top five chapter books:

Well, what are you waiting for? Come on up!

Red is an oak tree who is many rings old. Red is the neighbourhood wishtree - people write their wishes on pieces of cloth and tie them to Red's branches. Along with a crow named Bongo and other animals who seek refuge in Red's hollows, this wishtree watches over the neighbourhood.
You might say Red has seen it all.
Until a new family moves in. Not everyone is welcoming, and Red's experience as a wishtree is more important than ever.
Funny, deep, warm, and nuanced, this is Katherine Applegate at her very best - writing from the heart, and from a completely unexpected point of view.

For more than a century, Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows has captivated children with the adventures of Mole, Rat, toad and Badger. Renowned artist Don Daily Captured the essence of these beloved stores with enchanting illustrations back in 1993; now, the beautiful artwork is posthumously published in Daily's honor in this new hardcover classic edition. The text featuring the same heartwarming tales on full color spreads, this edition is one to be treasured by a new generation of readers.

After Mary Lennox’s parents pass away, she is sent to a large, isolated house in Yorkshire to live with an uncle she has never met.
Ill-tempered, obstinate Mary dislikes her new home, but when she finds the key to a locked garden she realises there are fascinating secrets waiting to be uncovered at Misselthwaite Manor. With the help of new friends, Mary resolves to bring the neglected garden back to life – and her own transformation begins.
This perennially powerful, uplifting classic is regarded as one of the best children’s books of the twentieth century.

Meixing Lim and her family have arrived at the New House in the New Land. Everything is vast and unknown to Meixing – including the house she names Big Scary. She is embarrassed by her second-hand shoes, has trouble understanding the language at school, and is finding it hard to make friends.
Meixing’s only solace is a glasshouse in the garden, which inexplicably holds the sun and the moon and the secrets of her memory and imagination.
When her fragile universe is rocked by tragedy, it will take all of Meixing’s bravery to find her place of belonging in this new world.