Sketch

Jun10

Sketch

Sketch

Jacques Goldstyn

Translated by Helen Mixter

Greystone Kids, 2026

88pp., hbk., RRP $A29.99

9781778402777

From the moment Sketch was born, it was clear that he was a little different. For although he looked the same, right from the get-go, he was “livelier, more rambunctious, spontaneous and a little bit wild”. And in “a perfect town where there was a place for everything and everything in its place” and even the people and geese walked in straight lines, being different in any way makes you stand out and those around you are disconcerted, if not afraid, perhaps even a target as Sketch discovered on his first day of school when the principal automatically assumed he was a trouble-maker because he was a bit scruffier than the other new students.

In a place that values conservatism and conformity, it’s tricky being innovative and imaginative. He draws when he is supposed to write, and in art class where he is happiest, his drawings were always different. But even though he had the love and support of his parents and his art teacher, he still felt different, misunderstood and alone. Until the day he goes to high school where most of the students walk around like robots staring at their phones except for…

A peek inside…

Told as a narrative with all the action and emotion contained in the illustrations, this is a finding-your-tribe story that will give hope to those like Sketch who not only think and feel differently from those around them, but who feel isolated because of them. There is strength to be gained from Sketch’s remaining true to himself, particularly in the somewhat surprising ending when instead of wanting to leave the town, he knows that he is needed there.

Although the stereotypes of principals and school-marms who try to shape Sketch into being like the other children have largely disappeared from schools where diversity is now celebrated, there is still an element of society that not only values “the old school” but seeks to maintain, even return, to it (as current political trends show) and anyone like Sketch is viewed with suspicion, if not openly shunned. So, while this is billed as a book for young children, IMO its greatest value belongs in sharing it with older children who can better understand its message, begin conversations about how they perceive and treat those who see the world differently, and consider and discuss why Sketch felt there was a need for him to stay in the town. And if they are among those who isolate and shun, how do their words and actions impact those around them, particularly the shunned? What if they were the ones wearing Sketch’s shoes? Author Goldstyn is a French-Canadian political cartoonist so what might his underlying message have been, beyond that of accepting and celebrating neurodiversity and being true to yourself, if, indeed, there is one? Why might he have chosen the picture book medium to convey that message?

The best picture books always take the reader beyond the words and pictures on the page, and this is one of those.

My Body Is My Home

Jun8

My Body Is My Home

My Body Is My Home

Jasper Peach

Beci Orpin

A & U Children, 2026

32pp., hbk., RRP $A26.99

9781761181672

This is my body. It’s my home.
I will live here my whole life long.
Every part of me belongs.

Promoted by the publisher as, “A joyful celebration of bodies of all shapes and kinds, with a gently inclusive message about being at home in your own skin” and others as “an endearing and inclusive exploration of all the ways bodies can be and all the incredible things they can do!”, this book illustrates not just the similarities of the human body such as lungs, heart, and the way it grows over time, but also how it changes as we learn and do new things, the feelings we experience and people who come and go throughout our lifetime,. And the repeated refrain of, “My body is my home” reinforces that message that each of us is unique and the body we have is the only one we get so we need to accept it and nurture it in all the ways we can.

However, when you read the story behind the story, you see the powerful message that really stands behind it, one that could well give pause for thought, particularly in our role as educators and/or parents. As a young child, the author learned that “my presence seemed to offend other people” and because “Children learn hierarchy from adults and then their peers. Who belongs, who doesn’t and why. My classmates learned from adults to see me as something to mock and despise.” But while he had the wherewithal to lean into his brainy side and make others laugh to “compensate for the space I took up”, many of our students who, to this day, are still judged by their appearance, do not – and neither should they have to.

Therefore, in this picture book, Peach celebrates body neutrality – a concept that he describes as “being similar to being cold and getting a jumper: you’d neither celebrate nor criticise someone for feeling cold, or for wanting to be warm. My body isn’t wrong because it’s cold. It isn’t wrong because it’s fat. I’m not an amazing person just because I’d be more comfortable if I was warm, or because I choose to eat an apple or hot chips.” It’s a lesson he wished he had learned as a child when he was so focused on what everyone else thought about him, as so many of us are even as adults. Instead, he wished he knew that genetics, environment and economics are all part of the pictures and that, “Size is not solely determined by self-control… being weak-willed or broken.”

While the bold illustrations are going to catch the eye of young readers, IMO, this is a book for all ages for there is something for all of us to learn from it, including us as adults as we challenge ourselves to consider what messages we are passing on to children whether we realise it or not. If we are fixated on diet, exercise, fashion, makeup and physical appearance under the guise of “being healthy” , what are we saying to those who see us as role models, even subliminally? And what impact is that having on their mental and emotional well-being? Are they, like Jasper, beginning to believe that their not-so-perfect presence is offensive?

So much food for thought and one that should be brought to the attention of our peers. And let’s raise a glass to all those of us who will never be Charles Atlas, Twiggy, a Kardashian or whoever the current idol is, and be grateful that they are in our lives anyway,

I wrote the review to My Body is My Home a couple of weeks ago, in the days before I knew about a phenomenon that is apparently gathering momentum among young boys, particularly those in their teens, called looksmaxxing in which, driven by some predetermined “perfect” body image promoted by social media “influencers”, they take extreme measure like hitting their face with a hammer and taking steroids and peptides to achieve this stereotype which they believe is the only way they can move forward, have friends, get a job, get a girlfriend and so on.

I just watched an interview with Dr Nick Coatsworth and another professional (perhaps a psychologist) on the Today Show about the dangers of this practice, and it made me realise just how important the message in what is seemingly a book for young readers is. I focused on it in the review, unaware of this new wave and so I am just trying to draw your attention to it so we as parents and educators are aware of it. The message from the interview is to seek information about the process, and those who are pushing it and putting our kids in grave, unseen dangers, and my searches discovered a 60 Minutes segment as well as a number of other reports that are worth exploring and names worth knowing if you hear someone quoting them. And as one who is married to one who relaxes with “Home and Away”, it may be becoming the new storyline featuring Sunny (?).

Therefore, even if you deem today’s book to be too young for your clientele, at least read the review and perhaps the full story behind the story so your awareness is raised. And, by extension, the power of social influencers and their motivation and how it all feeds into the natural anxiety of teens who are just finding their place in the wider world.

Whatever happened to just teaching reading, writing and ‘rithmetic? LOL.

Time to Go to the Park

May30

Time to Go to the Park

Time to Go to the Park

Emma Bowd

Leila Rudge

HarperCollins, 2026

34pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781460767245

Tick-tock, tick-tock, breakfast is done.

Time to go out. Let’s have some fun!

And so the family sets out for the park to indulge in a day of fun-filled activity that many young readers are going to recognise and relate to – swishing to the sky on the swing, playing in the sandpit, and scooting and skating around the paths, although Grandpa on a skateboard could be a bit precarious. It’s a day of joy and happiness as Grandpa, mum and the little one make new friends and memories as together, they just enjoy the fresh air and exercise that is so readily available for free.

In the middle of our little rural town is a vast park (one of several) with a playground with all the traditional activities like swings, slides, monkey bars and balance beams and there is always some little one shrieking with delight as they challenge themselves and help each other conquer the obstacles. Not only that, the park is also the break point for many of the coaches bringing students to the snowfields for school excursions and it is common to see even teenagers taking themselves back to the joys of childhood as they pass the time on the swings and hang from the monkey bars.

Together, author and illustrator have captured the sheer pleasure of unrestrained physical activity outdoors that is such a critical part of childhood development but which experts see as declining as screens become more prevalent. “In the last two decades, physicians have seen children increasingly struggle with the basic aspects of movement: coordination, balance and agility. It stems from a loss in neuromuscular control, the communication loop between the brain and muscles.” Indeed, in some schools, recess and outdoor activity has been almost replaced in the quest for greater academic “success” depriving children of that movement that is “essential for kids’ academic success and mental, physical, social and emotional growth.”

So perhaps this charming book will be a reminder to teachers and parents alike to recharge with a day in the park.

The park was always the best part on the long car ride to Grandma’s…

Tiny Good Things

May24

Tiny Good Things

Tiny Good Things

Gabrielle Tozer

Sophie Beer

Angus & Robertson, 2026

24pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781460764978

There’s a song, part of the Disney collection, that almost every child will have heard, if not sung, and it begins…

It’s a world of laughterA world of tearsIt’s a world of hopesAnd a world of fearsThere’s so much that we shareThat it’s time we’re awareIt’s a small world after all.

And it is that world that is explored and celebrated in this new book about discovering the everyday pleasures around us, even if it seems that it is going to be a ho-hum, nothing-special, everything-the-same kind of day.

Beginning in greyscale with the little girl lying on the floor with her cat as the rain tumbles down outside, there’s a spark of colour as her mum brings her a bright yellow umbrella, raincoat and gumboots and a crown! Young readers will be able to suggest the conversation as mother and daughter head out into the wet streets, kite in hand, and they may well spot some of the things others are doing to make the most of the time, even if it is gloomy and grey.

As mother and child splash through puddles, spot spiderwebs in trees, watch snails race along walls and sing as loud as they like, share stories that take them to magical places, and let their imaginations soar, the day (and the illustrations) get brighter and brighter as the possibilities become endless and the little girl finally drifts off to sleep with all sorts of thoughts swirling in her head, as the memory of the magic of just spending a day with her mum take over. it is, indeed, a small world, after all, and it’s the little things that can mean the most.

This is one to share and remind our little people that the best things in life are free, and a day spent doing everyday things with someone special can be the best fun. They will probably have their own special things they like to do that don’t involve a lot of preparation or money – perhaps dressing up, finger painting or snuggling in a sheet-cubby. An opportunity to seek a photo and write a caption for a “My Favourite Things” wall that inspires the imagination and helps them get to know their friends better as they start to spread their wings beyond the walls of family.

Whenever she came, we knew it would be time to build the cubby…

…while this one just wanted to sew like Grandma!

My Buddy & Me – Normalising Grief & Loss and Learning Resilience

May19

My Buddy & Me – Normalising Grief & Loss and Learning Resilience

My Buddy & Me – Normalising Grief & Loss and Learning Resilience

Joan Oakley-Lohm

Phyllis Nicoll

Balancing of Life, 2018

45pp., pbk., RRP $A30.00

9780648317760

Unfortunately, loss and grief can become part of any child’s life at any time whether that be through separation, divorce, death or even an everyday, less dramatic (to an adult) event like a friend moving away or not being invited to a party and, because they are still a child, they don’t have the maturity or skills to cope with the big emotions that follow.

Building on Einstein’s philosophy that, “Imagination is more important than knowledge” because while knowledge is limited to what we already know and understand, imagination embraces the entire world and thus stimulates progress and innovation because creative thought enables us to explore possibilities beyond our current reality, retired counsellor and author Joan Oakley-Lohm has crafted this book to help young children develop strategies that will help them navigate those times when they feel overwhelmed by sadness.

Using a little boy who acknowledges he feels sad at times as the main character, he and his mouse buddy go for a walk in the garden and encounter a tree that may lose a limb at some stage but while it may lose a limb at some stage, it will regenerate and still go on living, just as Al will when he feels loss. Using suggestions that focus on imagining a brighter future and doing things that make him happy, Mouse offers ideas that while not minimising the grief that Al feels, can move him forward as he works through his feelings.

It is designed to help children develop an inner resilience that doesn’t rely as much on community support as it does on self-talk and self-awareness but nevertheless, it is one that probably needs adult guidance because most young children will not have the maturity to set their here-and-now emotions aside to appreciate and understand what Mouse is saying and to find a pathway forward. It is one that could be used by a parent helping a child move forward, or a teacher helping students build emotional resilience offering a conversation starter that can help the child take the first steps beyond their immediate emotions, rather than just distracting them, thus being a useful addition to the mindfulness curriculum.

Tiny

May5

Tiny

Tiny

Laura Stitzel

Walker Books, 2026

32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781760658571

I’m tiny. Too tiny. I’m really too small.
The world is so big. The people so tall.
There’s nothing to do down here on my own,
But wait for the day when I’ve finally GROWN.

She’s like many children who see their older siblings able to do all sorts of things, being left out because she isn’t quite big enough yet, and she longs for the time she is big enough to do them too. That is until the day she sees a baby possum on the ground, having fallen off its mother’s back with no way for it to climb back or mum to come to rescue it. What if, somehow, she shrank to the size of the baby possum? What would the world look like from that perspective? And then what if she shrank again? And again?

Could being the size she is, be just the right size for now?

This is an engaging and intriguing book that has the potential to change a child’s perception about being a child because it celebrates all the things that are possible because they are small – all the things they can see and do and appreciate because they have the time to imagine and wonder in a way that adults weighed down by life’s pressures seem to forget how to do. Getting to the supermarket between work and home is much more pressing than saying hello to the always-busy bee, while stopping to lift that baby possum up rather than steeping on it unseen, and creates a memory forever. Being tiny doesn’t mean being powerless, and while it might mean being invisible and ignored by the BIG people, it’s just right for being, doing and discovering so many other important things.

With its glorious illustrations, little ones will not only have fun sharing the journey but perhaps look around them and see who they might see if they shrank, and shrank again. Lots of scope for learning about comparison and its associated vocabulary! They might even explore Bill Martin Jr’s poem “What is Big? in Sounds of Numbers. (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston; First Edition, January 1, 1966)…

What is Big?

My name is Tommy

I am not very big

I am not as big as a goat

A goat is bigger than I am

I am not as big as a horse

A horse is bigger than I am.

I am not as big as a n elephant

An elephant is bigger than I am

I am not as big as a whale

A whale is bigger than I am.

I am not as big as a dinosaur

A dinosaur is the biggest thing I know.

They could substitute Martin’s choice of objects to build a new version and then create another substituting “small’ for “big”, having new adventures similar to the little girl’s. Or consider A. A. Milne’s The End focusing on and appreciating the things they can do now that they couldn’t do a year ago!

A Better Best Friend

Apr30

A Better Best Friend

A Better Best Friend

Olivier Tallec & Antony Shugaar (translator)

Gecko Press, 2026

32pp., pbk., RRP $A17.99

9781776575749

All Squirrel wants is a friend and the day he was out walking in the forest and met Pock the Mushroom, he not only found one but Pock became his best friend. Usually he only found pinecones but everyone knows that best friends don’t fall from trees like pinecones. They enjoyed exploring the forest as the seasons changed, and there were new things to show each other and do together.

But when Spring came, Moo Mosquito joined them and before long, was showing them new places and things to do, like eating blackberries and skipping stones across the water. And then they were joined by Gunther… Squirrel wanted just one best friend and now there are three….

This is a deceptively simple story with minimal text that tells of Squirrel’s quest for a friend, accompanied by stunning illustrations that carry it along perfectly. But it sets up a question that is going to encourage young readers to delve deeper into the meaning of friendship and all its ramifications – can you have more than one best friend? If best friends are those with whom you share your deepest thinking and are there for you no matter what, making even the bad time not-so-bad, is there room in your life for more than one? Do you exclude someone new because you already have your one best friend? How does that make the newcomer feel?

As little ones spread their wings and explore the world beyond family, there is a lot to learn about how to be a good friend, and there are endless books and lessons devoted to this, but A Better Best Friend takes those a step further. What is a best friend? What qualities do they have that makes us want to be and share with them that we hold back from others? Can we have more than one? Is one BFF better than the other? Or do different friends fulfil different needs in our lives? Can the intensity of friendships ebb and flow, perhaps even disappear over time? What happens when the person we consider our best friend wants to play with someone else? What could happen if Puck and Gunther wanted to have a card game just for two? Is that okay? How would Squirrel feel? Are our friends “allowed” to have other friends?

Just like Squirrel’s dilemma, the answers are open-ended and like the final picture in the story, the reader has to draw their own conclusions. There may not even be a definitive answer, but reflecting on the possibilities can only prepare them for those inevitable changes that are going to happen, because just as the seasons change and bring new opportunities throughout the story, so do life’s circumstances and situations.

Any story that helps our children understand the world better, particularly those things they are likely to encounter, and develop strategies to deal with them so they navigate them with as little stress as possible, has a place in the mindfulness curriculum and this one, with its appealing characters should definitely be there.

Skipping to Sammy’s Beat

Apr26

Skipping to Sammy’s Beat

Skipping to Sammy’s Beat

Coral Vass

Blithe Fielden

New Frontier, 2026

32pp., hbk., RRP $A26.99

9781923331020

The year Sammy turned four she wore her pink tutu, her spotty yellow gumboots, her big bat wings and her bike helmet.

That year she splashed in puddles, dangled from trees, looked for ladybirds and danced down the path to the beat only she could hear… tap, da–dum, tap. tap. ta-dum. But things changed when Sammy turned five as she started to notice her friends dressing more conservatively and laughing at her dancing – so much so that the beat grew quieter and quieter until she no longer heard it, and no longer danced. She just watched her friends do those things that had once given her pleasure, getting sadder and sadder… Until the day as she slumped near a large puddle and saw a dragonfly desperately trying to escape the water’s clutches.

A peek inside…

Sammy’s story could be that of so many children who are content and comfortable in their own skin being just who they are, until the perceptions and opinions of the outside world begin to creep in. Suddenly, they start to compare themselves to those around them, it matters what others think of them, and conformity is easier than the conflict that being different can engender. At least, on the outside, because on the inside a battle can be raging , But through this sensitive story with its vibrant but gentle artwork, young children can learn that it is okay to hear a beat in your head and move to it in your own way, even if you are the only one who can hear it. It takes courage and confidence but the rewards are worth it.

With so many little ones feeling the first seeds of self-doubt and anxiety as they begin their journey into a world wider than the family home, they need to hear and talk about stories like Sammy’s so they have the affirmation that who they are, with all their quirks and foibles is enough, is perfectly okay, and to be celebrated so they can conquer the fears and insecurities before they take hold or worse, take over. They need to know that dancing to the beat of their own drum is the best path to take.

Fearless

Apr12

Fearless

Fearless

Kelly Canby

Fremantle Press, 2026

40pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781760996611

Bea Ware is afraid of everything – from shadows to ladders to trampolines, she is in a constant state of anxiety and trepidation. Her friend, Annie Venture, seems completely carefree, skipping through life without a single worry. But Annie shares her secret with Bea. Annie is not fearless, she has simply learned to fear less. So, just a little every day, Bea tries to fear less, too, and uncover a more carefree life.

Set against a backdrop of words of the things that scare her swirling all around and all over, and using a limited, dark palette, Canby has used a clever visual technique to portray and enhance Bea’s feelings of being swamped by her anxieties, reflecting the feelings of many young readers at a time when, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in May 2025, it is “estimated that one in seven children between the ages of 4-17 experience a mental illness.” Over 10 years ago, that same body identified “Anxiety disorders were the second most common disorders among all children (6.9%), and the most common among girls (6.1%).” One can only surmise that the numbers and percentages have increased if the anecdotal evidence from teachers is relied on and indeed, more recent, equally reliable sources quote “Of children with a mental illness, half have a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder (2). The prevalence of anxiety disorders is 7% for children aged 4-11 years and is similar for adolescents aged 12-17 years. This equates to a total of 278,000 young people in Australia diagnosed with an anxiety disorder” -and even that refers to a study 10 years old and pre-COVID.

Therefore, this book is likely to resonate with many but rather than increasing their anxiety, it will reassure them that their feelings are common, they are not alone or odd, and that because there is a significant difference between being fearless and fearing less, their anxieties can be decreased, lessened and need not define them or their life. Just as Bea follows Annie’s lead and confronts some of the things that she is afraid of, trying something new each day, discovering that many are more her imagination than reality, so the reader is encouraged to do the same. And, like Bea, that frayed-knot feeling in their tummy might gradually unravel and turn into a frayed no-quite-as-often, and instead of a life of gloomy shades, it now has all the colours of the rainbow.

For little ones, finding the self-belief that they do have the courage and resilience to take the first steps in facing their fears can cause anxiety in itself so there are sensitive teachers’ notes to help the adult share the book and begin the conversations- in themselves, the first steps forward.

Anders (series)

Apr10

Anders and the Comet

9781761066269

Anders and the Volcano

9781761066276

Anders and the Castle

9781761066283

Anders and the Mountain

9781761066238

Gregory Mackay

A & U Children, 2026

128pp., graphic novels, RRP $A17.99

School holidays are about to begin and the class is introduced to Bernie the elephant who will be joining them in the new term. Anders the squirrel and his friend Eden befriend Bernie and so begins their adventures together as they try to complete the over-holiday homework task set by their teacher -to write a report about all the things they enjoy during the break Who has homework in the holidays, especially when there are there are comics to read, games to be played, ice-cream to be eaten, and rhinos to impress at Wekiwa water park? And pet beetles – Anders has Skip, Bernie has Lump, Eden has Melon and Veronica has Bounce – to help them fly? Turns out this homework is going to be a lot better than the usual “What I did in the holidays” assignment that is usually set.

Firstly, in Anders and the Comet, the gang encounter the peculiar Green Grabber deep in the forest, leading Anders to meet his wonderful pet beetle, Skip, and to wild adventures… But will they ever find their way home after a dramatic journey through the sky?

Then in Anders and the Volcano, it is holiday time again and Anders flies everywhere with his pet beetle, Skip. With Bernie and Eden, he plays in the new cubbyhouse, tries to build a pond and goes to Whump class. But when they all take a trip to Mount Tremble and they make new friends and discoveries, the mountain – an extinct volcano – starts to rumble and they’re trapped deep inside! Can the gang find their way to safety?

Anders and the Castle finds the friends embarking on a new adventure that takes them from Race Day to the shelves of the Great Library to beyond the Foggy Forest to Old Stoney Castle. But flying to the castle isn’t easy, and the gang gets separated … Can Anders find his way back to the others? And is the castle really abandoned, or does someone – or something – need their help?

Finally, in Anders and the Mountain the school holidays kick off with a magical trip to the lolly factory. However, the next morning Anders and his friends awaken to find that their beetles have vanished so they all set out for Mount Rumple where they hope to be reunited with their pets. When they spot some mysterious beetle carvings, the gang heads high into the mountains. But then there’s an avalanche! Will they find their beetles – or will they be the ones who need rescuing?

Originally published as a single collection, but now in four separate editions, this is a series of graphic novels for younger independent readers that, despite the characters being animals, harks back to childhoods of yesteryear when building cubbies and forts and being relatively independent of your parents was the norm, particularly on fine, sunny, outdoor days – the times when we were sent outside after breakfast, perhaps returned when tummies rumbled, but then outside again until the street lights came on or the tide turned. And while there was much fun to be had, within the context of our play we learned about using our imagination, cooperation, collaboration, problem solving, conflict resolution, resilience, responsibility and respect for others and their property and all those other traits that helped us develop into independent adults – and all things that Anders and his mates have to learn too. as they navigate the familiar travails of friendship, building trust, bullying, separation, and coping with each other’s differing needs, beliefs and aspirations.

As well as being an engaging read, each one may well inspire the reader to think beyond the screen, the video games and their phone these upcoming holidays and investigate what they and their friends can do instead, especially what is freely on offer. Is there a cubby to be built? A new place to visit? A bike ride to take? Or something that takes their imagination to new heights?

The Bottom Shelf

Great books for little people

Archives

Sketch

My Body Is My Home

Time to Go to the Park

Tiny Good Things

My Buddy & Me – Normalising Grief & Loss and Learning Resilience

Tiny

A Better Best Friend

Skipping to Sammy’s Beat

Fearless

Anders (series)

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