Oxford Australia Blog

Sharing our love of education, language, and books

Category: Literature

  • English teacher and author reveals his top 5 books of all time

    English teacher and author reveals his top 5 books of all time

    English teachers spend the day sharing their love of literature and helping students get the most out of texts. But what books are they influenced by? We asked one of the authors of English for Queensland , Lindsay Williams, for a list of his favourite books. Here they are, in no particular order: Mullumbimby by…

  • Teaching systematic synthetic phonics is a ‘success for all’ approach

    Teaching systematic synthetic phonics is a ‘success for all’ approach

    A Read, Write Inc. Case Study by Sophie Rasic from Mr Brendon Madden, Principal, Toowong State School, Queensland “Be prepared to see fast improvements” Age group: Prep–Year 6 | Students on roll: 284 School context: Toowong State School is a well-established Brisbane inner-city school, based in its current location since 1910. The suburb is predominately a residential area. The…

  • Adventures in the Frozen North

    Our books are all about different characters and different places, but they all have one thing in common: they are about ADVENTURES. And we have adventures while we’re making them. As you can see below, we’re ready for anything. Our latest outfits are designed for travelling to the Arctic, where the latest book, Pugs of…

  • Puppy Academy or Dr Kittycat?

    Here at Oxford we share a love for many things – books, baking, cheese and our beloved pets. Many desks are decorated with pictures of our furry best friends, and in honour of two new series from our Children’s division, we asked the staff a very important question: Are you team Puppy Academy or team Dr…

  • Super Happy Magic Forest: a review

      This month we are anticipating the release of an exciting and epic adventure in the Super Happy Magic Forest. To celebrate this super happy magic release,  Stephanie, age 6, reviewed the book and told us about her favourite characters. What score would you give this book out of 5? 1 = throw it away 2 = it…

  • Children’s literature quiz: answers

    The wait is over, the answers to our children’s literature quiz are here. Find out if you’re a children’s literature expert or whether you need to scrub up on your knowledge, by checking the answers below:  When was The Very Hungry Caterpillar first published? ANSWER:  A counting book by Eric Carle in 1969, this was…

  • Children’s literature quiz: test your knowledge

    The last thirty years have witnessed one of the most fertile periods in the history of children’s books: the flowering of imaginative illustration and writing, the Harry Potter phenomenon, the rise of young adult and crossover fiction, and books that tackle extraordinarily difficult subjects. The Oxford Companion to Children’s Literature provides an indispensable and fascinating…

  • Memorable Mums in Literature

    Mother’s Day is coming up and here at OUP we’ve got a question: who is the most memorable Mother in literature? Is it a woman like Marilla Cuthbert who came into motherhood late when she adopted a strange little redhead, or one like Mrs Bennet whose poor nerves only desire is to see ‘one of…