Exploring Soils: A Hidden World Underground By Samantha Grover and Camille Heisler, CSIRO Publishing, 2017. ‘Have you ever wondered what happens in the earth underneath us?’ Journey with James as he learns that there is more to dirt than meets the eye. James wants to be a soil scientist, and he explores the ‘hidden world underground’. He learns about the differences between clay, silt and sand particles, and discovers what each soil type can be used for. Exploring Soils: A Hidden World Underground takes children on a journey into and under the earth. A wonderful resource not only for parents and grandparents but also for pre-school and primary schools. Teacher’s notes are also available from the CSIRO. The illustrations are drawn sensitively, and the level of detail in the insects is impressive. Ideal for the budding gardener. As an adult, even I learned things from this book! For example, I had never heard of Clorpt before 🙂 Suitable for ages 6 to 9 years. The book raises questions, such as: What is soil? How does it change? Why is it important? What can we do with soil? Awards Children’s Book Council of Australia 2018 notable books under the Eve Pownall Award for Information Books….

I Just Ate My Friend By Heidi McKinnon, Allen & Unwin, 2017. ‘I just ate my friend. He was a good friend. But now he is gone. Would you be my friend?’ I think your child will love I Just Ate My Friend! This hilarious and quirky little book will delight readers of all ages. Even the grown-ups will have a giggle! The main character ate his friend and is searching for a new friend, but what will happen when he does find a new friend? I have it on good authority that the author has never actually eaten any of her friends, nor does she recommend it. Awards Shortlisted for The Crichton Award, 2018. Longlisted for Children’s Picture Book of the Year 2018. Longlisted for Australian Book Industry Awards, 2018. Longlisted for Indie Book Awards – Children’s Fiction, 2018.

Mopoke. By Philip Bunting, Scholastic, 2017. ‘This is a Mopoke. Mopoke loves peace and quiet. He is about to find out that you can’t always get what you want.’ Mopokes love the peace and quiet, but this little mopoke doesn’t really get much of that! Mopoke. is such a funny little story that even adults will enjoy it. Philip Bunting tells a tale with pictures and minimal text, but this book is definitely visually quirky with a hysterical tale to tell. Using as few words as possible, this author-illustrator has enjoyed a play on the word mopoke, and poked all manner of things! This book should become a classic. NB: A mopoke is a southern Australian boobook owl. It is Australia’s smallest and most common owl species. Awards Honours for The Picture Book of the Year 2018 by Children’s Book Council of Australia. Shortlisted for: Crichton Award for New Illustrators 2018 by Children’s Book Council of Australia. Longlisted for: Kate Greenaway Medal 2018. Indie Book Awards. Best Designed Children’s Illustrated Book 2018 by Australian Book Design Awards. Picture Book of the Year 2018 by Australian Book Industry Awards. Finalist for: Best Children’s Books 2017 by The Guardian. 

Rodney Loses It! By Michael Gerard Bauer and Chrissie Krebs, Scholastic Australia, 2017. ‘Rodney was a rabbit who loved nothing more than drawing. He never found it tiresome, tedious or boring. But then one day, disaster struck! The one thing Rodney feared, while working at his drawing desk his pen just… DISAPPEARED! ‘ Rodney Loses It! is by far and away one of my favourite reads in a long time. I LOVE THIS BOOK! Rodney loves to draw. He draws all day and all night. However, Rodney finds himself in all sorts of trouble when his favorite pen, Penny, goes missing. Follow Rodney’s journey as he searches high and low for Penny. I also love it when the illustrations show the reader something that the character in the story doesn’t know. Your child will know more than Rodney during this story, which is something that will delight children. A very clever read with a funny surprise ending! Download some teacher’s notes. View some literacy activities. Awards The Book of the Year: Early Childhood 2018 by Children’s Book Council of Australia.

T-Veg The story of a carrot-crunching dinosaur By Smriti Prasadam-Halls and Katherina Manolessou, Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, 2015. A laugh-out-loud tale of a dinosaur who dares to be different. When I first picked this book up off the shelf I wasn’t too sure what I was going to find in the pages; however, I was very smartly entertained by what I found! I absolutely LOVE this book! The rhyme is effortless, the illustrations are childlike and fun, and the story is action-packed and entertaining. T-Veg takes you on a journey through the life of Reginald, a young Tyrannosaurus Rex, who unlike the rest of his T-Rex dinosaur family and friends who are known carnivores, is vegetarian. Reginald ate BROCCOLI, Reginald at BEANS. Reginald ate bowls and bowls of GARLIC, GRAPES and GREENS. Reg grows tired of the other T-Rexes making fun of him, so he packs his dino-sack and leaves home in search of some herbivorous dinosaurs who he believes will make better friends. However, when he finds the ‘herbies’ he runs excitedly towards them, which scares them all off and they run away from him. His family and friends were missing him, so they went in search of Reg….

The Wonderful Things You Will Be By Emily Winfield Martin, Random House New York, 2015. ‘This is the first time There’s ever been you, So I wonder what wonderful things You will do…’ The Wonderful Things You Will Be is a New York Times #1 Best Seller and is the sort of message every parent would want to give their child! This delightful book is full of hope and wonder at the thought of who your child will grow up to be. There is a great mystery in the very question of the future and how it will unfold in anyone’s life, but especially in the future of one so young and unmolded. The illustrations in The Wonderful Things You Will Be are beautifully painted using soft colours, with an almost antique feel to them. The endpapers are really cute, showing lots of different looking babies, while in the pages of the book itself, those babies can be recognised as older versions of themselves doing wonderful things. There is a big double-page spread offering many different types of whimsical and magical things that your child could grow up to be. This book can help generate conversations about what your child…