More Australian favourites: three new picture books

Jackie French, one of my favourite authors of both adult’s and children’s books, has a new release in a series that focuses on animals and the way environmental events like fire, flood and drought affect them. You can read my reviews of the first two, The Fire Wombat, and The Turtle and the Flood.

In book three, we meet Joseph, a young kangaroo in a mob trying to survive drought. The effects of the challenging environment and deprivation are described vividly: the animals’ thin tails, their listlessness. Joseph senses water from afar and he decides to go in search of it. It’s a risk, but he knows that he and his mob won’t survive long without life-saving water and fresh grass.

None of his mob follow, so he must journey a long way on his own, under a hard, hot sky and plains of dust and rock. All of the animals and birds on his way call out for water as he passes through their country. His adventures include one drawn from the author’s own experience – a collision between a kangaroo and her (thankfully stopped) car. The kangaroo was unhurt but the incident began a long connection between her and the animal, which stayed around her property long afterwards.

In the story, it eventually rains and the land around Joseph is transformed with running creeks and lush new grass. He is challenged, but unharmed, by the Big Roo of a mob of kangaroos in the new land he has travelled to, and accepted as one of their own. This is now his home.

This simple story encapsulates the struggle of Australia’s animals and birds when faced with drought, and the survival strategies they use. But I think it’s also about the human response to danger and disaster, and the search for a better life – perhaps a plea for understanding the situations of the increasing number of ‘environmental refugees’ in the world, escaping from intolerable conditions brought about by the climate crisis.

Ms French is well known for her advocacy for animals and environmental protection, and her NSW property is a haven for wildlife. As she remarks in her short Author’s Note: A wild animal can be a friend, even if you never share a word.

The illustrations by Danny Snell reflect the colours of a parched Australian landscape: browns, olives, ochre; but also the welcome cool blue of a billabong when rain does come.

The Drought Kangaroo is published by Angus & Robertson, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books, in October 2025.

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Ash Barty, tennis star turned inspiration for children’s books, offers a celebration of the joys of a beachside camping holiday with family and friends, in My Dream Holiday, written with Jasmin McGaughey and illustrated by Jade Goodwin.

Every sizzling summer, my family travels to Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) for our dream holiday. We are excited to meet our cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents there.
We will spend days doing all of our favourite things while exploring the beach, bush and creeks.

I wonder if fewer children nowadays experience the fun of a camping holiday? Any kids who’ve not had this experience will no doubt want to after reading this book, filled as it is with tents, a campfire, beach games, snorkelling, footy and fishing. And at night, telling scary stories and then sleeping curled up tight in a tent with your pet.

It’s a bright, colourful book that oozes the charms of familiar summer holidays in a familiar place, surrounded by the people you love.

My Dream Holiday was published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in September 2025.

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My Story, Our Country: A First Nations Family History is a follow up to Learning Country: A First Nations Journey Around Australia’s Traditional Place Names, by Gudanji/Wakaja artist and storyteller Ryhia Dank. Here, the author explores her own family stories and experiences, reflecting on culture, language, traditional practices. Of course it also encompasses some historical as well as contemporary perspectives.

The narrative includes both celebratory and destructive realities: the loss of traditional land management practices (now being revived) and healthy traditional foods; modern adaptations of cultural practices (from body scarring to tattooing, for example); the hurt and sadness caused by the government policy of removal of indigenous children from their families; the theft of artefacts by explorers and settlers and the long campaigns to have them returned.

The strong theme throughout is

We may look and sound different to our ancestors, but we are the same too. We are still strong, still here and still Aboriginal.

The artwork is beautiful: traditional motifs and design features tell the story of the book in a visual language but the pictures also incorporate text and contemporary images to make a fascinating meld.

One other point I will make about this book is that, despite being in picture book format, it is not really a book for very young readers. The language and concepts are better suited to older children, middle-grade ages for example.

It is a beautiful way to introduce, or reinforce, important ideas and perspectives about Australia, its past and present, and hope for our collective future.

My Story, Our Country is published by Harper By Design in October 2025.

My thanks to the publishers for review copies of these new books. Look out for them in your local library or bookstore.