Charlie Burr and the great shed invasion by Sally Morgan, Ambelin, Blaze and Ezekiel Kwaymullina

Little Hare Books, 2011. ISBN 978 1 921714 05 4.
(Age 9+) Charlie Burr is the story of Charlie and his mate Johnno. They try to find a lost cat, a lost snake and in between figure out how to get back the stuff in Charlie's Dad's shed. A great Aussie story centred around the backyard shed. Charlie's Dad is away and he has been left in charge of the shed key. Unfortunately, his Mum gets hold of the key and makes Charlie and Johnno clean it out, just in time for hard waste pick up and so his Mum can have room for her collection of stuff! Charlie plans to put all of his Dad's stuff back when his Mum goes inside but his Dad's mates turn up and take the collection of stuff for themselves. The boys try and collect interesting pieces from other people's yards but others have beaten them to it. They do find a pram and concoct a plan to make a go-cart as a way to raise money to help his Dad but then his Mum's cat goes missing.
The boys start feeling guiltier when his Grandpa's pet python goes missing and they wonder if it has eaten the cat! So, the boys are busier than ever and now they have a report to write for school, a cyclone is headed their way and they have been offered a reward to find Mr. King's missing dog! All of this just because Charlie didn't look after the shed key! Where is that cat? What is the snake up to? Will they get the reward and be able to replace the stuff in Dad's shed?
Charlie Burr is a fun story for boys who are independent readers aged 9+ and they will get a laugh out of Charlie's plans and mistakes - like eating his sister's face mask and getting tangled up with a snake.
Kylie Kempster