Please follow this link, where you’ll find both a stunning written review of WONDERFUL SHOES, along with a 25min audio of our chat with Barbie Robinson of Living Arts Canberra, all about the book and how it came into being. Sincere thanks to Barbie for her insightful and considered review of WONDERFUL SHOES – we couldn’t be more thrilled with how she’s analysed it at both a technical and emotional level.
“It is a joyous celebration of uninhibited child’s play.
These two key elements of words and pictures are perfectly balanced and combine to make an engaging, fun read that would be highly relatable for children and adults alike.
Wonderful Shoes is perfectly suited to 0-6 year olds. It would make a beautiful addition to early learning centres, preschools, and preparatory classrooms as well as in the homes of little people.”
BRONWYN JOSEPH, JUDGE, CBCA BOOK OF THE YEAR, 2022 – EARLY CHILDHOOD
Please click here to read the full CBCA Judge’s book review of Wonderful Shoes
Since being published in May 2021, WONDERFUL SHOES has been a CBCA Notable Book (Early Childhood Category, 2022), a No 1 bestseller, received many wonderful reviews, and been named in a prestigious list of ‘Best Rhyming Books for Children’ by respected early years educator and teacher librarian, Megan Daley of Children’s Books Daily. Please stay tuned to my Instagram for all the latest news and reviews on WONDERFUL SHOES.
I’ve collated a slideshow of some of our amazing reviews to date, which we are so grateful for:
My thanks to Star Weekly Newspapers and Bayside Leader Newspaper for their support of my children’s literacy work in Melbourne’s Western and Bayside suburbs from 2016 to the present.
I was thrilled to have Scholastic Australia share an excerpt from one of my blogs in their Teacher Essentials Magazine, Issue 4, May 2017. It’s all about one very special day I had as a volunteer librarian at The Book Bunker, Scholastic Children’s Library at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne.
I’ve also been thrilled to receive some terrific press and reader reviews, both locally and internationally, for my novel, The Shoe Princess’s Guide to the Galaxy (Bloomsbury, UK, 2009) and my non-fiction books A Passion For Shoes and A Passion for Handbags (RPS, UK and USA, 2002).
Lots more Press & Reader Reviews of ‘The Shoe Princess’s Guide to the Galaxy’ can also be found at the dedicated blog ShoePrincess.com/YourSay. Here’s a snapshot of what some readers had to say:
Jen Capp
Phyllis Damiris
Well what can I say……….I just loved it!!!!!!
It is the first book I have managed to read from start to finish in less than 36hours!!
In between of course being a mum, wife, student, housecleaner, chef, tax agent, etc….
Thank You Shoe Princess.
Sarah Marshall
Simply gorgeous! Characters that you can really relate to and have a giggle at. Loved the way a healthy dose of reality was matched with the fantasy-land that is owning a wardrobe full of Manolos and Jimmy Choos.
About to embark on the journey that is motherhood, I am going to post The ShoePrincess’s guide to the galaxy on my fridge and will always remember to look down at my feet before leaving the house!
Thank you and well done Emma. We wait with baited breath for the sequel. xo
Katrina Walsh
For me this novel captured the dramatic change in mindset that the transition from career woman to new mother brings about.
I loved the descriptions of the gorgeous shoes. And now I know it is possible to combine beautiful shoes and motherhood – the pre-children Italian stilettos have been dusted off!!
But for me the underlying story of the biological re-arrangement of a woman’s priorities after the arrival of a new baby struck a chord. No one can tell you exactly what this feels like until it happens, but the story of Jane’s journey conveys the essence of this to the reader.
I’d recommend this book to ALL mothers and mums-to-be!
Emma Bowd 
I am so pleased I picked up this 1st novel by SP Emma Bowd – I was certainly not disappointed.
I found myself totally engrossed with this delightful and humorous story and drawn into the wonderful world of SP Jane and her friends.
I really couldn’t put this book down and found any and every opportunity to slip in a chapter. (Quite a satisfying indulgence for a busy mum of three.) I consequently finished the book far too quickly.
By the end of the book I was so drawn in by the characters I felt I was part of their world and now hoping for a sequel (I just have to know what happens next).
I will be recommending this great read to all of my friends!
Jen (SP combination I think)