Wintery reading

There's nothing quite as nice as popping into your local bookshop on a cold and frosty day for a browse of the shelves. The hush, the smell of ink, and the feel of all that solid paper is always a treat. The new books from Omnibus you might see on the shelves this winter are all warming and guaranteed to smell slightly of ink.

The much-anticipated The Friendship Matchmaker Goes Undercover by the inimitable Randa Abdel-Fattah is out in June. How will Lara manage her new best-friendship with Tanya, as well as continuing her friendship matchmaking duties? She goes undercover, of course! And how do we think this will work out? Oh, Lara, you have a heart of 10-carat gold and we love you in spite of your many and varied faults.

There is also book 2 of the Tales of the Blue Jade series by Peter Cooper, The Mapmaker's Apprentice. Fill up your hot-water bottle and keep cosy as Dillen, Koto and Tajni trek through the icy mountain pass on their next quest. 

'Once again Cooper has captured the reader’s imagination and their heart, familiar characters leap of the page and new characters tweak the reader’s interest.

The Mapmaker’s Apprentice weaves together themes of courage, friendship, overcoming hardship ... resulting in yet another spectacular book in this anticipated series. Twists and turns within the plot keep young readers turning the pages hungrily to see what Dillen and his friends will face next.

Overall a stunning story, Cooper does not disappoint. A highly recommended read for younger and older readers alike. 10/10!' - bugreviews.wordpress.com

For those of you hanging out to see how Raven Lucas is going in her search for her missing father, wait no longer! Raven Lucas 2: Dead Wrong by the ever-spirited Christina Harris is out now.

But don't worry, summer will return and Wombat is here to remind you what that might be like. Yes, One Woolly Wombat is turning 30! He hasn't aged a day, has he? Happy birthday, you dear old wombat.

New this month!

January in publishing is traditionally a no-releases month. The book-buying punters are deemed worn out from all of that Christmas giving, and the publishers and editors and designers travelling on this bus seize the chance to get down to some serious Lego playing with grandsons, go to the pool every day with newly-learned-to-swim kids, or drive down the coast for some well-earned computer-free time.

But come February, all bets are off! It's time to set free some truly delicious new fiction onto the lovely fresh shelves of bookshops across the land.

Setting out on its own is the first book in a new series from  exciting new author Peter Cooper. A fire in a temple, an orphan running for his life. But is Dillen running away from, or towards, his destiny? A mysterious Easterner has sent Dillen on a simple quest: find the sorcerer Hallegat and serve him well. But for Dillen, things will never be simple again.

And from one of Australia’s most popular writers for children, Christine Harris, comes an exciting new series for nine to thirteen-year-olds. Raven Lucas is our heroine and she's smart, resourceful and desperately searching for her missing father. Guaranteed page-turning.

  

Hello, 2011!

'Tis the start of a new decade, when it seemed we hadn't really got the hang of the last one yet. And we're told that babies being born now, our readers and future readers, are going to be called the Alphas. Wow! And there will be a lot of them. It could get squeezy on this old bus.

So in honour of the Alphas, here is a sneaky peek at what will be rolling off the Omnibus digital presses for these digital babies (and their older brothers and sisters) this year.

Doom Bunny and the Monster Catchers by genius-girl writer-illustrator Loren Morris is out in February. She prefers stripey socks and irreverent humour and eats monsters for breakfast. Loren is amazing.

And in March we will be super excited to see Randa Abdel-Fattah's new book The Friendship Matchmaker sitting on the bookshop shelves.

The final installment in the horrorific and hilarious Grim and Grimmer series, The Calamitous Queen, is out in June. Will Ike ever overcome his awkwardness? Or will his innards just be devoured by the screeching imp Nuckle, once and for all?

In August a new four-book series called Raven Lucas by Christine Harris will be hitting the shelves, technology all charged up. Because sassy, determined girl investigators don't carry magnifying glasses anymore, they carry smartphones.

And, oh, it's so exciting - a new series by Emily Rodda! Yes, folks, you heard right, a brand new series! The Golden Door will be out later in 2011.