All about school: three picture books for newbies
It’s February and all across Australia, families are getting set for the first day of ‘big school’ as five year olds enter the world of formal education for the first time.
Here are three picture books to ease the transition and explore what littlies can expect.
How to Go To Big School by Sarah Ayoub and Mimi Purnell uses rhyming couplets and soft illustrations to go through all the steps of the first day: packing a lunch and putting on the school uniform, meeting the teacher, new routines and activities, games and making new friends. A great way to reinforce what most kindergarten transition programs aim to do, perfect reading for the days before the Big Day.
All About Starting School by Felicity Brooks and Mar Ferrero is a more interactive type of book, full of helpful info about every aspect of the school experience, where kids can answer prompts, draw pictures, or ask questions. It has an inclusive focus and whilst it has a UK slant, it refers to lots of different styles of schools across the world, with pictures that show a diverse range of children, grown-ups and school settings. It also has some helpful guidance at the back for adults. The many small cartoon-like illustrations invite close examination and ‘spotto’ type games.
The Wheels on the Bus and Other Songs is not strictly about starting school, though as many children will end up travelling there by bus at some stage, it’s absolutely relevant to the whole school experience. And its almost a guarantee that there will be a copy or two of this book in kindergarten classrooms and school libraries. Australian readers will be very familiar with the title song and the characters in this one: Big Ted, Jemima, Humpty, etc, all beloved members of the long-running ABC children’s TV series ‘PlaySchool.’ Along with the ‘Bus’ song, it includes other well known ones like ‘Five Little Ducks’, ‘Teddy Bear’, and ‘Little Peter Rabbit.’ This one just begs to be read (and sung) together and might be the perfect antidote to the night-before-the-big-day nerves.
These three books were all published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in November 2025.
My thanks to the publishers for review copies.Keeping it real for kids: New picture book releases from HarperCollins
Andrew Daddo’s Grandpa’s Guide to Happiness follows on from the earlier Grandma’s Guide to Happiness, another in a recent trend of books for children celebrating the special role that grandparents can play in youngsters’ lives. The grandpa here knows that it’s the simple things that make life worth living: keeping busy, tinkering in the shed, enjoying time outdoors, playing music and games (even if you’re not very good at either), spending time making happy memories. Celebrating ‘a job well done. Or done well. Or just done’ with a cup of tea and maybe cake.
There are some chuckle-worthy moments, including the twosome on Grandpa’s motorbike, wearing helmets but no other safety gear, accompanied by the text:
‘I love my Grandpa’s old motorbike, with the special spot just for me.
When he gets it going, he reckons we’ll ride it for real.’
It was then I noticed that the illustration showed the bike chocked up on bricks. Cute.The illustrations reflects Christopher Nielsen’s passion for mid-century culture and design and add another level of humour to the story.
Worst Farmer Ever is written by Pat Cummins with Michael Wagner, Cummins possibly better known as captain of the Australian cricket team. A cricketing theme does sneak in at the end, so no surprises there. It’s a cute story of Farmer Pat who, with son Albie, goes about their farm spotting problems that must be fixed: a hole in the fence of the cow paddock, a leaking water trough, apples being eaten by birds.
Pat has what we might call creative solutions to these problems, much to Albie’s delighted admiration. But while the text tells one story, little eyes will enjoy seeing the real results of Farmer Pat’s ‘fixes’ in the clever illustrations by Louis Shea.
The Amazing True Story of How Babies Are Made by Fiona Katauskas is not a new book, but a special updated release to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its publication.
WIth cartoon-like (but accurate) illustrations and plain, factual text perfect for younger children, the whole story of human reproduction is told: from the physical differences between baby boys and girls, changes during puberty, sex and the fertilisation of egg and sperm, pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding.
It’s an inclusive telling which also explains multiple births, IVF, caesarian births, etc.
Along with the frank and honest narration there are touches of humour especially in the illustrations.
This one is a perennial; it deserves to stay on the shelves for a very long time.
All of these titles are being released by HarperCollins Children’s Books in July 2025.
My thanks to the publishers for copies to review.Country, language, love, wonder: new picture books to enjoy.
This is another ‘picture book bounty’ post, with four picture book arrivals to share.
I have introduced Gumbaynggirr artist Melissa Greenwood’s work in earlier posts with her beautiful books in which her First Nations language sits side by side with English as she writes and paints about the world. Darruyay Yilaaming Marraala, Buwaarr (Welcome to the World, Little Baby) is just as lovely and also a little different: it is presented as a baby book, in which proud parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles or other important adults in a child’s life can record features of the birth, special memories, family, Country, relationships, and baby’s developmental milestones. It’s designed for First Nations families but not exclusively so. A very welcome addition to a tradition of baby books.
Published by ABC Books imprint of HarperCollins in March 2025.All the Ways Mum will be there for You by Sarah Ayoub is another celebration of love between parent and child. This one features an array of mums and kids going about busy days and evenings, sharing adventures, quiet times, special moments together. The vibrant colourful illustrations by Kate Moon add to the scenes and little ones can put their own imaginative minds to work as they turn the pages.
Published by HarperCollins Australia & NZ in February 2025.The World Needs the Wonder You See by Joanna Gaines is a reminder to us all, young and old alike, to slow down and take notice of the world around us – something we often forget to do in the busyness of the modern world. It’s a North American setting so Aussie kids will see bunnies, foxes and squirrels cavorting in meadows and forests, with a fair bit of anthropomorphism going on, but it makes for a magical world that young kids will relate to, perhaps akin to the world of Winnie the Pooh and the Hundred Acre Wood. Julianna Swaney’s illustrations provide detail and variety to engross small viewers.
Published by Tommy Nelson in the US, an imprint of HarperCollins, in January 2025.Finally, Learning Country: A First Nations Journey Around Australia’s Traditional Place Names by Ryhia Dank, takes small readers to some well-known places in Australia, describing them by their traditional names and the stories told by the Old People. We visit Boigu in the Torres Strait, Canberra, Meeanjin (Brisbane), Narrm (Melbourne), Boorloo (Perth), among others. Ryhia is a Gudanji/Wakaja artist from the Gulf of Carpentaria and has illustrated the book with vibrant contemporary artworks that bring to life the stories she has chosen to tell about the traditional names of Australia.
Published by HarperCollins Australia & NZ in June 2025.My thanks to the publishers for copies of these books to review.
Picture book treasures for Christmas
Christmas is peak book-buying time and picture books make perfect gifts and stocking fillers for littlies. The bright colours and enchantment of a good story and illustrations never fail to delight.
Three of the books shown above are being published by HarperCollins in early December, just in time for busy parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, friends (and Santa) to buy for the big day.
The fourth, How to Make a Snowman, has been in bookshops since October this year. I have written previously about how much I love Nick Bland’s Bunny and Bird series. As always, in this new version of the friends’ adventures, Bunny is embroidering his fanciful tale whilst being completely oblivious to the action going on behind his back. While he talks of a magical hole from which emerges a bull, a tiger, a bear, sticks, stones and a wombat, Bird has been quietly building a snowman. When it starts to snow, Bunny decides they had better head home when – oh look! – the magic hole has turned into a snowman!
Small readers can again use their observational skills to enjoy the sly humour of this story that plays out in the pictures: an early lesson in subtext, if you will.
The Hullabaloo About Elephant Poo will definitely appeal to the scatalogical tastes of youngsters while teaching them something about the many uses for elephant dung: compost, paper, coffee (!!) gas to power stoves or lights, smoke to repel mosquitos… It is funny, colourful and educational. A nice little package. Dee White’s rhyming text works well with the bright illustrations by Christopher Nielsen.
Costa’s Garden: Flowers by ABC TV favourite Costa Georgiadis and Brenna Quinlan is all about – well, flowers. The motif of a garden gnome is a clever device to get up close and personal many types of flowers we might see in our gardens, and the parts of flowers and the special roles they each play. There is also reference made to the the role of watching and noticing by First Nations people:
Flowers tell stories. They are like a bush billboard. First Nations people read Country and have shared their science and stories of connection to land, sea and sky for generations. Flowers are a signal that other things are happening in nature.
Costa’s Garden : Flowers
There are also some lovely references to Costa’s early garden love, sparked by his grandparents; early memories of sweet peas, carnations and orchids grown by them.
I once lived next door to a four year old who was mad about plants and gardens. He’d be in his late 30s now, but I imagine that if this book had been available then, he’d have absolutely loved it.
Last but not least, Boss of Your Own Mind is the latest offering by the Teeny Tiny Stevies (Byll & Beth Stephen, with illustrations by Simon Howe.) This one is among a welcome and growing number of books addressing young people’s mental well-being. Boss of Your Own Mind talks about some of the situations in life where children can’t control their circumstances (and, being children, there are many.) From the trivial (changes of plans or routine, the weather) to the more profound (hurt feelings, unfair behaviour by others.) The one thing anyone, child or adult, can control, is their response. It’s actually quite a grown-up concept but presented in very child-friendly language and with examples and illustrations that all youngsters could identify with. And definitely finishes on a positive note:
And even though you’re the one deciding,
you might find some days YOU need reminding.
YOU’RE THE BOSS OF YOU’RE OWN MIND!All four books are published by HarperCollins Children’s Books and I thank the publishers for the copies to review.
June picture book love
Three new picture books for youngsters to love, coming in June.
Boss Cat by Sarah Speedie shows what happens when a grumpy cat is introduced to the family’s new dog – with hilarious results. Anyone who has tried to soothe ruffled feathers (or fur) at the entrance of a new ‘best friend’ into a household will recognise Boss Cat’s antics. Tom Jellett’s bright pictures capture the sulky, vengeful feline’s mood perfectly.
Marringa Lullaby is written by Emily Wurramara with Sylvia Wurramarrba Tkac, accompanied by block colour illustrations by Dylan Mooney, of Yuwi, Torres Strait and South Sea Islander heritage. It’s a beautiful, lilting board book perfect for sleepytime reading and singing, with an introduction to words in the Anindilyaka language.
I remember seeing Emily perform at the Woodford Folk Festival some years ago, and thinking what a talent she was. Lovely to see her branching out into new art forms.Lights Out, Little Dragon! by Debra Tidball and Rae Tan, approaches that common parental dilemma – baby is tired but won’t go to sleep – with humour and imagination.
Each double page spread invites the littlies to join in, by tracing a path on the page for naughty sheep to exit, or saying Go to bed, Little Dragon. And when Dragon tries to distract with a million questions, Put your hands over your ears and tell him to hushhhhh. On it goes, with baby trying all sorts of strategies to encourage Little Dragon to quieten down, lie still and sleep, and Dragon pulling out every trick in the baby-at-bedtime book.
It’s an amusing and gentle way to settle down for nap time.These three picture books are published by HarperCollins Children’s Books Australia in June 2024.
My thanks to the publishers for review copies.Simply wonderful: the work of author/illustrator Freya Blackwood
A few years ago I was fortunate to see an exhibition of works by award-winning children’s book author and illustrator Freya Blackwood. She has illustrated books by such leading authors as Libby Gleeson, Margaret Wild, Nick Bland, Jan Ormerod, Danny Parker and Mem Fox. See more about Freya and her work here.
If you follow my blog posts, you’ll know that I adore children’s literature and in particular, picture books. There is something magical about the combination of carefully chosen words and intuitive illustrations that bring a story to full, vivid life. Each component are integral, essential: one does not work without the other.
With The Garden of Broken Things, Ms Blackwood has created both words and pictures. It tells of little Sadie, who investigates the garden of Number 9 Ardent Street, an old house avoided by the other children because it has
windows like sad eyes, and
Thick like cobwebs,
The Garden of Broken Things
the tangled vines concealed
things from another time,
revealed things twisted and bent,
seized and rusted;
things that had come to a final halt.Sadie discovers an old woman there, sitting slumped on a garden bench. Rather than running away, Sadie stays to chat, telling the woman about her friends, her school lessons, her pets. By the time she has to go home, she has made a new friend, and the garden of broken things becomes, once again, a wild and beautiful playground for the local children.
It’s a simple, sweet story about stopping to look and to listen, and how friends can appear in the most unlikely places. The soft evocative illustrations add so much to the book’s beauty and depth.
The Garden of Broken Things is published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in May 2024.
My thanks to the publishers for a review copy.Book bonanza: Five new picture books for littlies
I’ve had these newly published picture books on my desk for a little while, waiting for the opportunity to read through them and put my thoughts in a post. Finally I got to them and as always, it was an absolute pleasure to see such beautiful work created for our littlest readers.
In no particular order, here they are:
Little Book Baby by Katrina Germein and Cheryl Orsini is all about the fun of books, from waking to a cuddle and book with mum, books in the car and on a picnic, book and playtime on the rug, squeaky book at bath time, and a goodnight book with dad. The scenes pretty much sum up any book lover’s ideal childhood, and show how sharing books together can add so much to family or play time.
Published January 2024.As Bright as a Rainbow by Romy Ash and Blue Jaryn explores the idea of gender, and how individuals can express their gender in a multiplicity of ways. It might seem like a hard concept for very young children, but let’s not forget that by the age of two or three most children have been socialised in being a ‘boy’ or ‘girl’ in the ways sanctioned by their own culture. This book offers the view that rather than being an ‘either/or’ proposition, gender is more like a circle: we can be anywhere in that circle. Offering examples from the world of nature, where there are many different shades of colours like blue or green, it’s a gentle way to introduce the idea that each person can ‘just be yourself.’
Published January 2024.Mimi and Buwaarr, Mother and Baby is another offering by Melissa Greenwood, a taste of Gumbaynggir culture and language. A mother (mimi) shows her baby (Buwaarr) the wonders and beauty of the world around them, especially their totem, the ocean (Gaagal) which heals and cleanses the spirit. The sun, the moon and the land offer wisdom to help a little one move into the world with love. The illustrations by the author are absolutely gorgeous, little works of art in themselves.
Published March 2024My Dream for You by Ash Barty with Jasmin McGaughey and Jade Goodwin. Most Australians celebrated the news when tennis champion and all-round star Ash Barty had her first baby. This book celebrates the special bond between mum and baby and the hopes and wishes a new mother holds in her heart for her child. The illustrations by Jade Goodwin are sweet and soft.
Published March 2024How to be Invisible, another in the Bunny and Bird series by Nick Bland, continues the friends’ story. This time Bunny is wearing a hat that he thinks will make him invisible. Bird has to do a lot of convincing to make Bunny see that he’s not, actually, invisible. As in the earlier Bunny and Bird book, How to Hatch a Dragon, there is tongue in cheek and visual humour that sharp eyed youngsters will appreciate.
Published March 2024Australian children’s literature is in pretty good shape, as these new picture books show.
All published by HarperCollins Children’s books.
My thanks to the publishers for the review copies.For young travel-lovers: ‘Ruby Red Shoes Goes to Paris’ by Kate Knapp
Ruby Red Shoes is a series of beautifully illustrated books for very young readers by Australian author and artist Kate Knapp.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Ruby Red Shoes Goes to Paris, a special edition has been released.
Ruby is a white hare with special shoes that love to take her to new places.
She travels to Paris with her grandmother, where they meet up with her Babushka’s brother and his grandson Felix. Ruby and Felix explore Paris, where they see, hear, feel, smell, and taste everything that city has to offer.
Ruby is an intrepid traveler and records what she experiences in her special travel notebook.
I love the sly nods of humour which will appeal to older people perhaps reading the story aloud to a littlie, such as the airline (‘The Flying Hare’) they travel with, or the carrot flavoured toothpaste Ruby packs for her trip.
The pictures are the type you can get lost in, rich with detail and evocative of Parisian sights. It’s a fabulous introduction to traveling and to the City of Love. The text expands youngster’s vocabulary: Ruby is ‘fizzing with excitement’, she climbs the ‘narrow, twirling staircase’ to their apartment, Babushka must ‘tussel with the old keys and creaky lock.’
Ruby Red Shoes and the others in the series are perfect to plant seeds of wonder and exploration in emerging readers. The special anniversary edition is published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in October 2023.
My thanks to the publishers for a review copy.Christmas picture books
How wonderful to see books celebrating Christmas as we know it in Australia. The ‘Teeny Tiny Stevies’ are back with a new picture book, all about Aussie summer Christmases.
Snowmen, chimneys, plum puddings and dark wintry evenings are all charming, but not part of an Australian Christmas.
Instead, we have hot days in the sun, the long summer holiday, shorts, T-shirts and swimmers in the paddling pool or the beach, the buzz of cicadas and the sting of mozzie bites, pavlova for Christmas lunch.
The pictures by Simon Howe capture the pleasures of long hot days, camping trips, the anticipation of Christmas morning.
I love this book; it is a real portrayal of an Australian summer and our different way of ‘doing Christmas’ here.
Back to the northern hemisphere, we have A Night Before Christmas – with a difference.
A small boy, accompanied by his dog and cat, is witness to the antics of the Elf on the Shelf, who narrates the familiar story of the arrival of St Nicholas with his sleigh and trusty reindeer.
There is a mix of old and new as the much-loved Christmas poem is given a shake up by the elf. The pictures created by author and illustrator Chanda A. Bell are vibrant with saturation colours and plenty of activity.
Together these two books celebrate Christmas in both hemispheres of the globe. They are published in Sept and Oct 2023 by Harper Collins Children’s Books.
My thanks to the publishers for review copies.
