Ventura Press is one of Sydney’s leading independent publishers and has become synonymous with high quality titles and internationally respected authors. Our list covers a unique and specific market – books to enhance life. The Ventura mission is to provide boutique, innovative and exciting publishing in Australia and world wide – with particular focus on bringing strong, female Australian voices to the global stage.
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Did you know that kids think that food tastes better when there is a cartoon character associated with it? That's what makes The Food ABC books so clever; they subtly send a message to "eat the rainbow" - think carrots, zucchinis, beans, even mushrooms - without focusing on food at all. The stories teach positive life lessons that are relatable to modern-day kids, from tidying your room and staying off digital devices to self-esteem and the importance of a good night's sleep.
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The Heat of the Kitchen is a fast-moving, exciting story: Saint-Pierre-sur-Loup is a little town in the south of France, a popular tourist destination, but with a notorious problem – perpetual traffic jams. Alain Simondi is Mayor of the town, whilst the leader of the opposition on the Town Council is an attractive single mother – who is much closer to the Mayor than her position would imply. Simondi’s proposals for building a relief road split the town, and tempers run high, especially when adverse reports start to appear in the regional newspaper, at the hand of a pretty, young, feisty woman reporter who has caught the compulsively roving eye of the Mayor. Who will gain the upper hand, Simondi or his critics? Whose dirty tricks are the most effective? In a part of France where the heat can transform a traffic jam into a murder scene, and the police, supposedly under the control of the Mayor, are not to be trusted – especially, it seems, when faced with an endemic drug culture among the young people of the region, the heat of the political kitchen is even more intense. The author has used his familiarity with, and love of France and the region where Saint-Pierre is situated, to create a fascinating and authentic portrayal of how French local politics work – or might work if this were not a work of fiction.
Spring revolution is the first title in the collection, and is related to the importance of preserving the planet. Mane, a curious and imaginative girl like any other, finds a pocket watch that has 17 numbers instead of 12, and only one hand that incessantly dials five numbers. Images of a beautiful, living planet appear from the watch. Mane, her brother and her inseparable friend have in the watch the perfect guide to change the world.
Madrid, winter of 1620. The happiness of the marriage formed by Sebastián Castro, a renowned clerk of the Villa, and Margarita Carvajal staggers when both become the main suspects of a blood libel: lawsuits that blame the Jews for sacrificing Christian children to collect their blood and whose jurisdiction belongs to the Holy Inquisition. With the bonfire hanging over them, their son Alonso, a thirteen-year-old boy, begins a desperate search for a way to save them, a purpose that tears her out of her warm existence and shows her the ice of life. In spite of everything, three headlights turn on light in the shadows of her misfortune: friendship, hope and a dream. Friendship is provided by Juan and Antonio, two rogue vagabonds. Hope beats in a bag full of money that seems to be pulling the strings of destiny. And the dream awaits him in college, where he plans to study law, become a lawyer, and exercise a law capable of preventing innocent people like his parents from suffering the rigors of injustice. Blood Libel is a fascinating story of love and friendship set in Madrid during the Golden Age, a vibrant but bleak time in which, while faith in God lit hearts, crimes against it lit bonfires.
