Collection: Junior Fiction - Premier's Reading Challenge

Down to the secret water hole the animals all come. As seasons bring fourth drought and flood, they gather there as one. United in their common need, their numbers swell to ten. Hidden among the trees lie ten times that again. -- backcover.

When eight-year-old Kirstie finds a strange egg near her home, she has no idea what will come out. Part horse, part toad, part turtle, and part crocodile? Only Kirstie's grandfather knows what it is: a water horse! While it is certainly the oddest-looking creature Kirstie has ever seen, it is als...

Water Witcher brings to life the experience of a family in drought-stricken rural Australia during the Depression era. Through the eyes of Dougie, the optimism of childhood shines through despite the tough work and harsh conditions.

Young Tom is a chimney-sweeper's boy who one day falls into a river and drowns, only to be transformed into a water-baby. Through his encounters with friendly fish, curious lobsters, and characters such as Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby, he sloughs off his selfish nature and earns his just reward. Tom'...

Tremaris is a land divided. From the islands of Firthana, across the deserts of Merithuros to the sinister Black Palace of Hathara, the healing can only begin when the dark magic is unravelled. Calwyn and her friends travel to the Merithuran Empire in search of kidnapped children. They must survi...

When two boys venture into an old water tower for a swim and one is left alone the eeriness of the derelict tank begins to play on his fears.

Every journey is perilous, every situation heartbreaking. Every refugee is a person forced by famine or war or fear to leave their home, their families, their friends and all they know. Children have travelled on the waves of migration to the shores of Australia for tens of thousands of years. Th...

It's night and the dark is filled with strange sounds as Shane makes his way home. On a fence he finds a stray cat that at first growls and spits at him. But Shane talks and strokes the kitten to calmness, and decides to take the 'Spitfire, Kitten Number One,' home with him. No gang of boys, or a...

Stubborn wolf cub Wilf doesn't want help from anyone. Not from his friends or his family. Whatever it is, he can do it all by himself. But when Wilf finds himself lost and alone in the chill of the Arctic night, he discovers something important: sometimes we all need the helping hand of a friend....

Told through beautifully observed moments between a girl and her dog, this story is a joyous celebration of love and friendship.