From magical umbrellas to missing ballet teachers, here are our favourite children’s books in June!

Kids’ Book of the Month

The Other Side of Summer by Emily Gale

Summer is struggling to cope after the death of her beloved brother Floyd, and when her father announces he’s moving the family to Australia, her life falls further into disarray. In the midst of her grief, Summer picks up her brother’s guitar and continues with the lessons he was giving her before he died. But when she plays, something strange happens: a mysterious boy named Gabe appears, confused and disoriented. As Summer and Gabe’s friendship blossoms, she begins to suspect that he has some connection to her brother. Has Gabe been sent to help her heal?

The Other Side of Summer is a beautifully crafted book, and while it deals with some heavy issues, is ultimately uplifting and life-affirming. This is an incredibly engaging book, so much so that our reviewer hugged the book when she was done, and said, “Had I read this as a 12-year old, I would have insisted on taking up guitar lessons.” (Read the rest of our review here.)

Emily Gale also spoke to us about the issue of death in books for young readers, and why these themes are an important part of children’s literature, as well as the responsibilities writers feel to provide these readers with light as well as darkness.

Picture Books

• Circle by Jeannie Baker – Jeannie Baker’s stunning collage artwork really needs no introduction, and anybody familiar with her other books will no doubt be eagerly awaiting this latest tale about the migration of the Bar-tailed Godwit. It is, in the words of our reviewer, “not to be missed.” Read the rest of our review here.
  
  
• Introducing Teddy by Jessica Walton – Errol’s teddy Thomas is sad, and at first he can’t figure out why… until Thomas tells Errol he’d rather be Tilly. This is an important book to spark gender diversity discussions with young readers.
  
  
• Twinkle Tames a Dragon by Katharine Holabird – From the creator of Angelina Ballerina comes this brilliant new book about Twinkle and her new pet dragon, Scruffy.

Junior & Middle Fiction

• Captain Pug by Laura James – The start of a new illustrated series about a brave little dog on a seafaring adventure. 6+
  
  
• Harper and the Scarlet Umbrella by Cerrie Burnell – When cats start going missing, Harper uses the power of her magical umbrella to help save the day. 7+
  
  
• Scarlet & Ivy: The Dance in the Dark by Sophie Cleverley – After their ballet teacher disappears, Scarlet and Ivy must get to the bottom of a spate of mysterious “accidents”. This is the third entry in a brilliant mystery series that is quickly becoming a firm favourite with readers. 9+
  
  
• Bubble Boy by Stewart Foster – Joe’s autoimmune disease means he has never set foot outside his hospital room, but then a nurse called Amir enters his life and changes everything for the better. 9+

30 Reasons We Love our Readings Children’s Prize Shortlist

We’ll be announcing the winner of the 2016 Readings Children’s Book Prize any day now (Tuesday 21 June to be exact), but in the meantime we thought we’d share with you 30 reasons we love our shortlisted books.

Here’s a sample – can you guess which books we’re talking about?

• It’s funny. Seriously funny.
• It’ll get the most reluctant readers reading.
• It’s an uplifting read.
• It’s spooky… but not too spooky.
• It’s not like any other book you’ve read.
• It’s about friendship.

You can find our entire shortlist here.

Holly Harper