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My Mum is the Best

Mar6
My Mum is the Best

My Mum is the Best

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Mum is the Best

Nic McPickle

Tommy Doyle

Albert Street, 2025

32pp., hbk., RRP $A19.99

9781761181160

My mum is a Super Mum, the best I’ve ever known.
She loves her trackies and her uggs, her coffee and her phone.

Is it just my mum? Or is it other mums too?
Does your mum say this stuff to you?

In this joyful, picturesque celebration of mothers, Nic McPickle and Tommy Doyle once again team up to help our youngest readers really appreciate their mums no matter who they are and what they like.  Because no matter what they look like, bow they sound, what they do or where they live, mums are mums everywhere.  They even say the same things like, “Have you got a jumper?  Do you need  snack?  If you got it out, then you can put it back.” But even if the “nagging” is universal, then so is the love…”You are caring and smart, You are funny and tough.  You love me so well that I know I’m enough.”

Just as My Dad is the Best shone the spotlight on fathers and all the little things they do to show their love for their child, so does this make the invisible, visible as mothers go about their day.   While Mothers Day is not till May 11 this year,  this could be the opportunity to encourage little ones to really focus on all those things their mothers do to ensure they are safe and loved so it might be  fun to share the special thing each child’s mum does and make a Love you, Mum display and cards for a just-because day.     

I Will Swim Next Time

Mar5
I Will Swim Next Time

I Will Swim Next Time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Will Swim Next Time

Emily Joof

Matilda Ruta

Floris Books, 2023

34pp., hbk., RRP $A35.99

9781782508298

When the child’s mother takes them to the sea for the first time, they are scared and confused by its size, noise and constant movement and they are happy to be snuggled in the baby carrier, safe in their mother’s arms.  As they grows and gets older, their mum takes them to the lake and the river but they still remain unknown and scary although each time the child gets a little braver as they learns more about who lives there through the storybooks their wise mother shares.  Will they ever have the courage to dip their toe in the water?

Fear of new experiences beyond our comfort zone is common, particularly for our youngest and this is a gentle reminder that it is okay to be cautious and take time to adjust to new things.  It’s also a reminder to parents that development is not a competition and patience and support are more likely to succeed in the long run, whether that is overcoming a natural reticence for water or something equally as daunting.

While this is an American publication with a Junior Library Guild sticker, (an indication of quality that many US school librarians rely on for collection development), it is particularly relevant to Australian audiences because so many children live in close proximity to water. and the non-gender specific text and illustrations mean it can work with both boys and girls – there is no differentiation with fear, and it could spark conversations about other things that are causing concerns and venturing forward one step at a time, because there is most likely going to be a next time.

 

 

The Inside Dog

Mar4
The Inside Dog

The Inside Dog

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Inside Dog

Pip Harry

Carolyn Davis 

Lothian Children’s, 2025

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

9780734423009 

Cuddles is an inside dog and he loves nothing more than warm laps, snuggly couches and soft beds. Going outside to chase balls, fetch sticks or meet other dogs was not his thing – in fact, watching people pass by the window was the closest to the outdoors that he got.

So you can imagine his dismay when the family take him on a farm holiday, rather than sending him to doggy daycare for his usual pampering sessions.  And being on the farm is even worse than he imagined for he has to stay outside with the farm dogs!   The open paddocks, fresh air, rain and angry alpacas are his worst nightmare, until he recalls some words from his humans when he first hid his leash so he wouldn’t have to go to the park…

Once again, Pip Harry, author of August and Jones, The Little Wave, and the CBCA 2025 Notable, Over or Under has tapped into that common fear of stepping beyond our comfort zone that we all share.  Having the main character as a dog puts that fear of the unknown at arm’s length for young readers, but nevertheless offers an opportunity for them to talk about things that they have been reluctant to do but have ultimately tackled and succeeded. Such a discussion might inspire others to have a go and something that has been too daunting up till now, maybe setting a goal, working out a pathway of steps that will enable them to achieve it and then choosing the most significant person they could celebrate this with.  (How well I recall a young lad being told by an unkind, judgmental relative he would never swim the length of the big pool and his delight in not only proving the adult wrong but telling him so.  He had turned those mean words into motivation. )

Teachers’ notes are available to help explore the story further including a bibliography of other books with a similar theme that could be the seeds of a display to encourage young readers to take the next step, as Cuddles did. 

Happy Birthday, Little Wombat!

Mar3
Happy Birthday, Little Wombat!

Happy Birthday, Little Wombat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday, Little Wombat!

Charles Fuge

Walker Books, 2025

28pp.,. hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781760655341

It’s Little Wombat’s birthday and it is going to be a great day.  Koala gives him an explorer’s stick “for bashing through the undergrowth” and Bilby has made him his very own flag to “stick in the ground when you discover somewhere new.”  

And that’s just what they did as they made their way to the river where Mum has made a special surprise picnic.  But not only did Little Wombat discover his other friends waiting for him,. but also an even better use for his new presents!!

Little Wombat and his friends are fast becoming a preschool favourite series as not only are the creatures familiar and seemingly the same age as they are, they do the sorts of things that little ones do while there is always a subtle message to gently absorb as they read –this one about being safe when messing about on boats.  But even if they haven’t spent a birthday on a boat, nevertheless young readers will have plenty of stories to share about their own birthday celebrations and wishes while there is also the opportunity to learn about calendars, months and making a graph of who celebrates when with each creating a candle or a cupcake to add to the relevant column. 

Wonders Under the Moon

Mar2
Wonders Under the Moon

Wonders Under the Moon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wonders Under the Moon

Tai Snaith

Thames & Hudson, 2025

40pp., hbk., RRP $A29.99

9781760764166

As the sun sets and night falls, most little ones are getting ready for bed thinking that it is the end of the day for everyone.

However, for many, the day is just beginning and for artist Tai Snaith, it is the time to be out and about capturing the images of the creatures who inhabit the dark, whether they dwell in rainforests or caves, woodlands or  treetops, savannah or swamp, even our own backyards. The night is as busy as the day, and each creature has developed special ways to cope with the lack of light  whether that be enlarged eyes or ears, using bioluminescence or echolocation or unique survival skills like curling up into a protective ball.

This features and behaviours that ensure their survival determine the grouping of these 200 creatures, and with chapter titles such as Biters and Bloodsuckers, Nimble Night-time Ninjas and Prickly Personalities, it is sure to capture the curiosity of those eager to want to know more about what is out and about while they are asleep.  More a visual reference than an information book, each collection has a human scale such as an eye or an arm so that size can be estimated  and while each is identified (with a little more detail provided in the final pages), there are only snippets of text to add extra detail – just enough to make the reader want to find out more. Many of the illustrations are accompanied by an icon to identify their conservation status – V=Vulnerable, E = Endangered, C=Critically Endangered – and the reader is encouraged to not only  think about who might be about that they can’t see the next time they are out after dark, but encouraged to consider how they might be able to protect them.

A companion to Wonders Under the Sun, this is one that will open up a whole new world for budding naturalists as well as reminding little ones that just because they are asleep doesn’t mean the whole planet is.

A peek inside...

A peek inside…

 

 

The New Kid

Mar1
The New Kid

The New Kid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The New Kid

Jennifer Bain

Deborah Brown

Woodslane, 2023

32pp., hbk., RRP $A27.99

9781922800374

When the students of Burraroo Public School skipped through their dusty red playground and into class, they saw a new student sitting at a desk.  But this wasn’t another kid to join in their fun and games, but a bunyip!

They’re okay with that but Barry doesn’t really fit in well – he had chosen Kit’s desk to sit at and he’s a bit too fat for it and from there the day and the week just go downhill with accident after accident.  But rather than shun him , together with their teacher the class works on ways that Barry’s special talents can be used.

Fitting in and finding your place at a new school can be daunting but this takes it to an extreme, offering the opportunity for conversations about how we can make newcomers feel welcome.  Readers can have fun imagining the positives of having a bunyip come to their school, while others might want to investigate this legendary creature building a display that includes information gathered from their research and  other books such as the classic The Bunyip of Berkeley’s Creek by Jenny Wagner and the Alexander Bunyip series by Michael Salmon. Standing outside the Gungahlin Library in Canberra is a statue of Alexander so they could also imagine they were the sculptor invited to create it and submit their ideas using what they have learned about its appearance, habitat, behaviour and origins..

A is for Alexander B is for Bunyip C is for Canberra

A is for Alexander B is for Bunyip C is for Canberra

 

We’re Looking for the Perfect Hug

Feb28
We're Looking for the Perfect Hug

We’re Looking for the Perfect Hug

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’re Looking for the Perfect Hug

Martha Mumford

Cherie Zamazing

Bloomsbury, 2025

24pp., pbk., RRP $A16.99

9781526671370

We’re looking for the perfect hug.
Come and join the fun!

Once again, the bunnies are off on another adventure – this time they are on a mission to find the perfect hug.  But who gives it? The prickly hedgehog?  The woolly lamb?  The snappy crab? Or the  fluffy chick? Surely it can’t be wily Mr Fox!  

As with the others in the series, this is a joyous romp for our youngest readers through the countryside with lots to discover in the colourful, detailed illustrations and hidden under the flaps so cleverly disguised.  As they join in the repetitive phrases that take them through the fields to the vegetable patch, across the lake to the farm and even to the seaside, there are lots of opportunities to help them build their vocabulary about the sorts of things they might expect to find at each location so even if it is unfamiliar to them, they are building a mind-picture for the next story they encounter with that setting.  For example, while they are trying to predict where there might be a hug in the Giorgio’s Fruit and Vege Patch , they could not only identify the vegetables they know (giving them a sense of empowerment) but learn words like “shed”, “wheelbarrow” and “hedgehog” . Sharp eyes might even see the beanstalk which could lead on to the story about Jack’s adventure, while others might notice the colour of the leaves in the wheelbarrow and not only be able to identify the season, but perhaps explore why they are no longer green.  Such wonderful opportunities for conversations and explorations – there might even be an opening to talk about who and why and when we hug, and sadly, how sometimes it might not be what we want or from someone we like. 

A peek inside...

A peek inside…

Reading the pictures is such an essential early reading behaviour to enable the child to more precisely predict the text, that there is so much more to this series than just the interactivity of lifting the flaps. Add to that, familiar characters doing everyday things that the child will relate to and this is a winning series for our youngest readers.  

 

 

 

 

The Big Backyard Plan

Feb26
The Big Backyard Plan

The Big Backyard Plan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Big Backyard Plan

Kirsten Ealand

Laura Stitzel

Affirm Press, 2025

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

9781922992444

Azumi, Theo, Bree and Jack lived side-by-side and back-to-back.

Fun was multiplied by four, with all these friends right next door. 

Together, they swam in Theo’s pool, learned to skate at Bree’s, grew veggies at Jack’s and each had a favourite hen in the chicken coop at Azumi’s.  

But for all the fun and friendship, there was still a big problem – because living side-by-side and back-to-back meant the Azumi and Theo lived in one street and Bree and Jack in another. Even though they shared fences, there were no gates in them and it took too long to get round to each person’s place.  But being smart kids, they came up with not only the idea of joining all four backyards, but plans about how it would change things and why it would be better for everyone and everything.  Because, really, do four houses really need four sheds and four lawnmowers and all that other stuff?

But will their parents agree? And even if they do, will they actually take action?

Based on her own childhood idea that she has now put into practice sharing 100 acres of bushland with 10 families, this is another original story from the author of Like a Gannet  that celebrates working together, living more sustainably and building and engaging with communities.   It also took me right back to my own childhood in a new neighbourhood where there were lots of young families side-by-side and back-to-back where kids wanted to play but to get to each other’s homes was tricky, especially as we were all preschoolers and the roads busy.  In those days, it wasn’t wooden fences that were the barriers but hedges that were more easily penetrable, and it wasn’t long before there were holes punched in them as we found our way through to our friends – holes that quickly became adult-sized as the grown-ups realised how much time was saved not having to walk to get a cup of sugar because cars were a luxury for the rich in those days.  Although the four backyards were never joined in the way in this story, nevertheless the friendships that were formed between both adults and children were deep and the memories have lasted a lifetime as will those between Azumi, Theo, Bree and Jack.  

While the concept of such communal living may not be new to some readers, the strength of this story is not only in how the children devise their plan but show how it will have benefits for everyone, including contributing to the protection of the planet, and that it can be achieved in their own city backyard. Perhaps it will spark similar big dreams and big ideas about how we can remove the barriers that divide us, including those not as tangible as fences.  

 

 

Searching for Treasure

Feb24
Searching for Treasure

Searching for Treasure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Searching for Treasure

Johanna Bell

Emma Long

A & U Children, 2025

26pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781761180682

Searching for treasure on the high tide line.
One step, two steps, what can you find?

After high tide the beach is littered with treasures – not the diamonds-and -rubies kind, but the washed-up-by-the waves kind.  The wrack line of debris left by the ebbing tide is full of riches for the young child to discover as she makes her way along the beach, a couple of steps at a time. And just as she turns over the left-over seaweed, shells, driftwood, and other stuff and pokes and prods it, so the reader can lift the flap to discover what she finds, what is really there.  Interwoven closely with the exquisitely detailed illustrations of what appears to be detritus but is so much more, are tiny-font explanations revealing just what each discovery is. I’m sure that the tiny font is a deliberate and clever formatting choice to encourage young readers to use a magnifying glass and really examine the detail in Emma Long’s illustrations so they too can see what the little girl does.   From curious shark egg-cases to seaweed that makes necklaces for mermaids, mysterious tracks in the sand to shells in all shapes, sizes and colours yet all having a similar purpose, there is so much wealth to find by those who care to look.  The final gatefold is masterful! 

Shown from the perspective of the little girl’s height, we are treated to close-ups of just what lies hidden in plain sight carried along by the rhythmic, repetitive waves of text that steps along as she makes her way along the sand, fascinated by her finds and gradually falling behind those who she came with.  Sound familiar??? 

 

A peek inside...

A peek inside…

Even though the summer holidays and long, lazy beach days may seem a distant memory, this is a book that young readers need to have so they begin to understand that, just like on land, what seems like rubbish to us is actually a precious, protective home or food for others and there is a reason that wherever we go, we should ” take only photographs and leave only footprints” and even those should be as light as possible.  Perhaps their next beach adventure will be viewed through different eyes. 

Aslan and Benny

Feb21
Aslan and Benny

Aslan and Benny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aslan and Benny

Jemima Shafei-Ongu

Jade Goodwin

Penguin, 2025

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

9781761047060

Aslan had the heart and name of a lion, scared of nothing and willing to try almost anything.  His favourite day was Sunday because the family always had a barbecue with his cousins at Yenge’s house where there were always fun and games afterwards.  

But that all changes one Sunday when Aslan discovers that Yenge has a dog – a scruffy grey dog, with thick nushy eyebrows, beady black eyes and a loud scary bark. Suddenly, his brave deserted him and instead his mind was filled with wild thoughts, none of them comforting.  That day, Yenge put Benny in the back yard while Aslan played inside, but the next Sunday it was stormy and that wasn’t possible.  Aslan’s heart races, his hands began to sweat and his legs were tense so he scuttled up the stairs where Benny wasn’t allowed to go, and there he stayed, .missing out on all the fun…Will he ever overcome his fear and be able to join in the hi-jinx with his cousins again?

Many young readers have a fear of dogs, particularly if they have been surprised when one has jumped up on them unexpectedly – 70 years on I still remember Old Mrs Barker’s fox terrier doing that, and to this day, even though I love dogs and have had several, I still don’t like foxies – so this is a story that will resonate with many.  But, in this one, teacher, psychologist and school counsellor Jemima Shafei-Ongu places a wise adult in the story – Aslan’s aunt – who helps Aslan voice his fears and ultimately face them by teaching him to take some deep breaths, imagine a delicious smell spreading through his body and gradually feel himself relax.

In Australia, one in every 14 children aged between 8-12 receives an anxiety disorder diagnosis every year according to the Black Dog Institute, so that’s two students  in most classrooms who are struggling and who may not have a wise yenge to help them, or even access to a teacher with time or a medical professional .with the knowledge to support them.  Yet we know that if it is left unacknowledged and untreated it can progress to serious mental illness to the point that suicide is now the leading cause of death in Australia in males aged 15-49.  Therefore stories like Aslan’s have an important place in the collection, promoted and shared so that readers can realise that not only do others share their concerns and fears and they are valid, but there are also strategies they can learn to overcome them,  

Not all children have the confidence to talk about what they are worried about in front of their peers or even in private to an adult, and not even those for whom English is their first language are able to articulate them. Even being asked to share their feelings can be overwhelming and freeze any thoughts. Therefore, as part of the PRH Diverse Voices  initiative, this book, set in a Turkish family, is a salutary reminder that anxiety is widespread and the problem is compounded for those with a only a basic knowledge of the language, making it even trickier to handle.

But by adults sharing Aslan’s story, and others like it, the least we can do is show that seemingly baseless fears and the emotions they trigger are common, real and acknowledged and, most importantly, can be overcome.