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Address: Shop 1 Pakington Village, 111 Pakington Street, Geelong West, 3218

Phone: 5224 1438

Email: info@thebookbird.com.au

Opening Hours

We are open Monday to Friday 9:30am – 5:00pm, Saturday 9am – 4pm, and Sunday 10am – 3pm.

COVID-SAFE RULES:

The following rules are in place to keep everyone safe. Please familiarise yourself with the below before visiting the shop.

8 customers at one time
QR-code check in is now mandatory
Facemasks required
Sanitise your hands upon entry
Keep your visits brief

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Inside the Book Bird shop

The Book Bird

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🖊 ON THE BLOG 🖊 Book Bird Josh reviews ‘

🖊 ON THE BLOG 🖊

Book Bird Josh reviews ‘The Prison Healer’ by Lynette Noni, her latest novel for young adult readers. Josh says, ‘In The Prison Healer you’ll find elemental magic, a slow-burning romance, and an all-powerful royal family with some dark secrets. It may not break the YA fantasy mould, but readers who are hungry for a good magical fantasy read will find a lot of comfort in the familiar scenery. And if you devour this one too quickly, then luckily for you, there’s a sequel called The Gilded Cage due in October, which is just as well; there’s a map at the beginning of The Prison Healer and it shows a vast, detailed world that stretches far beyond the limestone walls of Zalindov.’

Read the full review via the link in our bio ☝️
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#lynettenoni #lynettenonibooks #theprisonhealer #youngadultbooks #youngadultfiction #review #bookreview #bookbird #thebookbird

The titles of these non-fiction picture books real

The titles of these non-fiction picture books really make us giggle. Why CAN’T horses burp? Why DO dogs sniff bottoms? Such great questions, and luckily animal expert Dr. Nick Crumpton is here to answer them. Other curious questions answered in these books include: which is the oldest breed of horse? Can horses talk with their ears? Why do cats have wet noses? Why are dogs so loyal? These books would make great presents for young people with new pets in their lives, as they cover so much animal care and behaviour. There’s a whole page, for instance, on what different dog-tail wags mean; and a page of excellent tips to keep your cat happy and healthy (cats are lactose intolerant, for instance, so milk will likely make them sick). And as these are Thames&Hudson titles, the production is predictably lovely: vibrant illustrations by Lily Snowden-Fine, hardback, nice thick paper. We just want to know what the next one is going to be called… ‘Why do chickens have attitude?’ maybe…..

Ever since Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Penelopiad’ was released in 2005, there has been a steady increase in feminist revisions of ancient myth. Books such as Pat Barker’s ‘The Silence of the Girls’ (2018), Madeleine Miller’s ‘Circe’ (2018), and Natalie Haynes’ ‘A Thousand Ships’ (2019), spring immediately to mind. Now, Jennifer Saint rewrites the story of Ariadne, the princess of Crete who aided Theseus in his quest against the Minotaur. The story we know today remembers a heroic Theseus, winding his way through the Labyrinth under King Minos’ palace and conquering the beastly Minotaur practically single-handed. But, as is often the case, there was probably more to the story… Jennifer Saint reimagines and retells the classical tale in vivid prose, taking the perspective of Ariadne and her sister Pheadra, writing these fierce women back into history.

🖊 THE STORYMAKERS INSTITUTE IS NEXT WEEK! 🖊

🖊 THE STORYMAKERS INSTITUTE IS NEXT WEEK! 🖊

We’re proud to be the virtual bookseller for this dynamic one-day digital summit on the power of storytelling, hosted by local Geelong legend @joel.carnegie.

Speakers on the day include:
📕 Alice Pung
📕 Belinda Hawkins
📕 Bert Labonte
📕 Joel Carnegie
📕 Maximillian Rudd
📕 Sue Lawson
📕 Thaedra Frangos
📕 Tyson Yunkaporta

We’re also giving away a great stack of books by the speakers and more as part of the event. Browse the program and read about the speakers on The Storymakers Institute website. Link in our bio ☝️
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@thespacecompany @cityofgreatergeelong @deakinuniversity

Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of the Cloud Apprecia

Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society and author of these cards, wants you to keep your head in the clouds. There’s so much to see up there: stratus, cumulus, altocumulus, cirrocumulus… and romantic-sounding things like cloudbows and crepuscular rays. The cards are illustrated on one side by Marcel George, and contain all the info you’d want to know on the other, such as the mood of each cloud type, its rarity, classification, and etymology. Each pack comes with a poster and short guide to becoming a cloudspotter (boasting hilariously simple advice such as ‘...look up’). We can imagine a group of dreamers taking these cards to the park—maybe with a couple of sandwiches and a flask of tea—and spreading them out on a picnic mat to see what they can find… What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.
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#cloudspotting #cloudspotter #gavinpretorpinney #marcelgeorge #laurencekingpub #laurencekingpublishing

It’s us! Thanks @forte_mag for the feature. We l

It’s us! Thanks @forte_mag for the feature. We love the way you’ve described both our shop and our staff. 💕

Check out the full article on the Forte Mag website!

Josh can confirm… it really did hurt! As many

Josh can confirm… it really did hurt!

As many of you now know, Josh did a number on his poor hand, and, through a strange twist of fate, was actually reading ‘This is Going to Hurt’ by Adam Kay when he ended up in emergency. Josh had this to say about the book:

‘It hurt when my belly ached from laughing. It hurt when my heart broke for a patient who received bad news. It hurt, almost physically, when I read about a man who “de-gloved” his… look, you’ll just have to read it. A hilarious and scathing look at life as a junior doctor under England’s healthcare system.’

We reckon ‘A Pair of Pears and an Orange’ by A

We reckon ‘A Pair of Pears and an Orange’ by Anna McGregor will make a great addition to the parenting and classroom toolbox. This vibrant picture book is all about problem solving and adaptability in the playground.

Big Pear and Little Pair are used to playing with each other: all their games are designed for two. And so when Orange wants to join in, they find that none of their games work for three! The balance is upset and so is Big Pear, who goes off to find other fruit to play with. But Big Pear soon discovers it’s not about the numbers or the games, it’s about the company. He misses his friends, and so Big Pear learns some three-player games from the other fruit to bring back to his old pal, Little Pear, as well as a better attitude towards poor old Orange. Cleverly written, ‘A Pair of Pears and an Orange’ will be a good conversation starter for kids who find playground antics a bit of a challenge.

🛍 INSTAGRAM SHOPPING 🛍 Good news! We’ve

Ken Done is experiencing a bit of a renaissance, i

Ken Done is experiencing a bit of a renaissance, it seems. And for good reason too. Discovered in the 1980s and exhibiting across Australia and overseas ever since, Done has seen a spate of art books dedicated to his practice over the last few years. First, Thames & Hudson released three mini monographs grouping his works by place (outback, beach, reef), which make really great pocket introductions to the artist. Now, however, they’ve released a comprehensive study of Ken Done’s life, work and philosophy, which contains within its pages many words of wisdom for aspiring creatives, including the value of patience and fearlessness and passion. The book is divided into two sections, ‘Art’ and ‘Design’, and shows, implicitly, how the integrity of his artworks translate to products such as t-shirts and even adverts, elevating the latter (commercial products) to the status of the former (art). As Marion von Adlerstein wrote for Vogue (when Done released his ‘Sydney Shirt’), ‘He’s changed the way we think about art. You can hang a Done on your wall or a Done on yourself—there’s an integrity to everything he touches.’
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#kendone #kendonebook #kendonegallery #thamesandhudson #thamesandhudsonau #artbook #australianartbook #newreleases

📕 NEW REVIEW 📕 Our guest book reviewer Meli

📕 NEW REVIEW 📕

Our guest book reviewer Melina Bunting delivers the goods again this month with a great review of ‘Lapsed’ by Monica Dux, a memoir of the complexities of losing your religion. Jump across to our Books We Love blog to read Melina’s insightful review - link in bio ☝️
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#lapsed #monicadux #abcbooks #memoir #harpercollins #harpercollinspublishers

From Mary Wollstonecraft and Vita Sackville-West t

From Mary Wollstonecraft and Vita Sackville-West to Joan Didion and Annie Dillard, ‘The Virago Book of Women Travellers’ is a collection of writings from women travellers who adventured against the odds. Editor and travel writer Mary Morris introduces the volume by thinking about how women in history were discouraged from venturing far, whose corsets had metal bindings called ‘stays’, and how the language of travel shares many metaphors with the language of sex, which added a moral dimension to movement and stasis. As Morris writes, ‘Women, I have come to feel, move through the world differently than men. The constraints and perils, the perceptions and complex emotions women journey with are different from those of men… Indeed, for many women, the inner landscape is as important as the outer, the beholder as significant as the beheld. The landscape is shaped by the consciousness of the person who crosses it.’
This volume is a celebration of some early and contemporary exploits - mountains climbed, deserts crossed, swamps waded through - and the fine writing that resulted.

We really enjoyed Rick Morton’s first book, ‘O

We really enjoyed Rick Morton’s first book, ‘One Hundred Years of Dirt’, and are super excited to read his next non-fiction offering, ‘My Year of Living Vulnerably’.
‘My Year of Living Vulnerably’ is subtitled ‘A rediscovery of love’, and we’re very taken by the idea of paying deep attention to this fundamental and complicated thing over a sustained period of time. After being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from a less-than-great childhood, Morton decides to dedicate 12 months to reacquainting himself with love, travelling across Australia and meeting with an array of people in order to get better. Not to fix himself, or be cured, just to get a bit better. Even when writing about himself, Morton manages to shed his ego, to turn up to these experiences and to the page raw, honest, and, indeed ‘vulnerable’. That’s what we love about him, and why we’re excited to settle into this one very soon with a large cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit on hand.

Book Bird friend and fellow story-lover Joel Carne

Book Bird friend and fellow story-lover Joel Carnegie (@joel.carnegie) has put together something very special for storytellers across all mediums, and we’re delighted to be the official virtual bookseller for the event...

*** The Storymakers Institute – the digital summit for Australian storymakers with an all-star line-up of presenters asking the question: what makes a great story? ***

Thurs 24 June
10am - 4:30pm
Live-streaming via Zoom

Designed for Australian creatives, artists, creators, performers, writers, journalists, marketing/comms storytellers and those who love a great story. This one-day digital summit of professional development will spark your imagination, challenge your ideas and encourage you to consider new ways of making, telling and understanding stories.

Hosted + curated by award-winning storymaker Joel Carnegie, and presented from Deakin University's “Nyaal” precinct, The Storymakers Institute will unlock a diverse range of perspectives, experiences, and knowledge. Speakers include Tyson Yunkaporta, Sue Lawson, Bert LaBonte, Alice Pung, Belinda Hawkins and Joel Carnegie.

Plus: experience live music from one of Australia’s most promising guitarists and composers, Maximillian Rudd, and a rejuvenating virtual ‘Wayapa Wuurrk’® mindfulness session with Gourrmjanyuk (Wemba Wemba) and Dhudhuroa Theddora Mittung woman Thaedra Frangos.

Head to: www.thestorymakersinstitute.com.au to view the full program, schedule, FAQs and to book tickets.
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#thespacecompany #thestorymakersinstitute

Margaret moves to a cottage in the mountains to be

Margaret moves to a cottage in the mountains to be close to grandma. Her new home doesn’t look anything like her old home: it has lots of empty spaces and old smells. ‘Go explore’ says Dad, ‘and when you come back, this cottage will feel like home’. So off Margaret goes to explore the hills, with a thermos full of hot chocolate. She sees the sea, watches the clouds, and plays in the fields. And just as she’s about to turn home, she hears a snuffling and shuffling … a baby unicorn!

This is probably the best unicorn picture book we’ve seen. The story is beautifully written, and it’s slightly longer than most unicorn stories so it will suit readers from 4 to 6. And the illustrations are divine—not all pink and sparkles, as you might expect—but rich greens and purples and reds. You can feel how cold those hills are, how thick the fog, and how warm the crackling fire at night. Briony May Smith has penned an instant classic with this one.