This month, we recommend a crop of funny picture books, enough quality junior and middle fiction to last the school holidays, the best of the Easter books, and some very good-looking and fascinating non-fiction.
(Find our best recommendations for teen books this month here.)
PICTURE BOOKS
My Pictures After the Storm is a colourful and anarchic picture book that will please adults as much as children. Magic happens, someone cannonballs into the swimming pool, too many potato chips are eaten, a bad cold makes it hard to pronounce the names of fruit, and the pictures are transformed. Is it too early to say this is the best picture book of the year? I’m almost calling it… For ages 3 and up.
A mum and her daughter sit down to enjoy dinner together in Trace Balla’s The Thank You Dish, and end up going through a lengthy and surprising list of ‘thank yous’ to all the people who made it possible for their food to be on a plate. This is a sweet, simple book about gratitude and community connections. For ages 3 and up.
In her third picture book, Slow Down World, Tai Snaith shares a message about the importance of mindfulness through a gorgeous blend of paper, ceramic and watercolour illustrations. A girl travels from a busy metropolis to the far reaches of her imagination to find greater presence, ease and a slower pace. The book includes plenty of practical tips on slowing down. For ages 3 and up.
Pick up The Red Book and read it aloud to your kids for a good belly laugh. The aim of this picture book is to trick the reader into believing that things are red – when they are not red… Or are they? Every word and logic trick gets employed in this fun book, by the bestselling authors of Did You Take the B from My _ook? and This is a Ball.
JUNIOR FICTION
Olga and the Smelly Thing from Nowhere has delighted every person we’ve seen picking it it up. Olga is an avid child scientist who discovers an uncategorisable smelly animal-potato-hamster-thing called Meh. Kids will love the busy cartoon/chapter book format, the gross-out humour and the plucky heroine who determinedly applies her research and investigational skills. For ages 6 and up.
Olive Black is a 10-year-old movie star with a dream career and real-life problems. When given the chance to annoy a rival actress, normally level-headed Olive takes the opportunity – instead of keeping a promise to her best friend Rani. Mammoth Mistake is the first in the Starring Olive Black series. For ages 8 and up.
The soccer-driven Tiny Timmy books are enormously popular with sporty young readers, and the good news is that book five, On Tour! is now out. Timmy faces the excitement and worry of being away from home for a whole week to play matches. For ages 7 and up.
MIDDLE FICTION
April is overflowing with great middle-fiction releases. Here’s some of our top picks – paired with reviews from our team of children’s book specialists.
In The Secrets of Billie Bright, Billie is having trouble adjusting to life in Year Seven. After she chooses her late mum as the subject for her school ‘Hero Project’, Billie unwittingly begins unravelling a family secret.
You can read our review here. For ages 9 and up.
Someone is killing butlers in nineteenth century York, England, and brave, resourceful Rose Raventhorpe is determined find out who. Black Cats and Butlers is a macabre gothic mystery replete with secret societies, sword fighting, body snatching and a subtle commentary on class and gender politics of the time.
You can read our review here. For ages 9 and up.
The Secret Keepers is the latest from The Mysterious Benedict Society author Trenton Lee Stewart. This is a deadly, unpredictable adventure about a 11-year-old boy named Reuben, a magical pocket watch and mysterious villain The Smoke.
You can read our review here. For ages 9 and up.
In The Boy and the Spy, beloved Australian author Felice Arena takes us back to World War II. Orphan Antonio is already fighting to survive in Nazi-occupied Sicily, when he comes across an American spy fallen from the sky.
You can read our review here. For ages 8 and up.
The funny and fantastical Wed Wabbit sees two cousins transported to a magical land. Fidge must find her little sister Minnie’s favourite soft toy, Wed Wabbit, and take it to her in hospital, but after looking in the dark basement, her and her cousin Graham wind up in Wimbley Land – meeting the hordes of Wimbley Woos.
You can read our review here. For ages 8 and up.
The Beast of Hushing Wood is the latest book from the talented Gabrielle Wang. Something is not quite right in the small town of Dell Hollow and the surrounding Hushing Wood, and people are blaming newcomers Raffi and his grandfather. To make things even worse, Ziggie Truegood has had a scary premonition about what will happen on her twelfth birthday.
You can read our review here. For ages 8 and up.
Kids who love to laugh will enjoy Uncle Shawn and Bill and the Almost Entirely Unplanned Adventure. Poor Badger Bill has been kidnapped by the evil McGloone sisters for the purpose of forcing him into a boxing match with vicious dogs. Luckily Uncle Shawn has a plan to rescue Bill and some equally hard-up llamas.
You can read our review here. For ages 8 and up.
NEW NON-FICTION FOR FACT-LOVERS
Fact-lovers have so much to read this month, whether scientists, inventors, bookworms or more.
Youngsters fascinated with the natural world will pore over Nicola Davies’s captivating illustrations in Lots. The focus is on biodiversity, from the smallest to largest organisms on our planet. Our Malvern children’s book buyer Athina says this is the kind of book that can awaken every child’s inner scientist and conservationist. For ages 4 and up.
We’re also loving The Curious Case of the Missing Mammoth. A quirky narrative about a little boy searching a shadowy museum for a lost baby mammoth frames this delightful book of facts. Young readers can peruse the colourful detailed illustrations, lift flaps and learn out about things as diverse as art, dinosaurs, endangered animals, history and more.
Budding young engineers and all-round experiments, inventors and constructors, will adore Rosie Revere’s Big Project Book, based on the popular series of picture books by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts. This is a proper, practical project book that encourages kids to have a go at building, designing and solving.
Books! Books! Books! is a celebration of all the amazing books held in the British Library. It’s chock full of juicy historical details (saints, monsters, witches, hauntings!) about famous, important and ancient books. Bookworms will love learning about atlases and illuminated manuscripts.
Other noteworthy new children’s non-fiction books this month include…
- A deep dive into the world of medieval falconry in The Hawk of the Castle;
- A serious exploration of inequality and intolerance in the Children in Our World series;
- A colourful retelling of the history of Empress Cixi in Alison Lloyd’s marvellous Dragon, Devils and Rebels;
- The story of one of Auschwitz’s youngest survivors in The Survivor’s Club.
SWEET BOOKS FOR EASTER
Easter is just around the corner – egg hunts are being planned, hot cross buns baked and chocolate stashed in high-up places. To help families celebrate, we’ve put together our best Easter books.
Our recommendations include everything from traditional stories like The Easter Story, to Australian takes on the Easter theme in The Smallest Bilby and the Easter Tale, to the outright bunny appreciation of Seeking A Bunny.
THE CBCA 2017 SHORTLISTS
The Children’s Book Council of Australia have released their much-anticipated Book of the Year shortlists for 2017. Congratulations to the shortlisted authors and publishers,
You can view all the books and categories here.
APRIL EVENTS FOR KIDS
We have three fun and free events lined up for the kids to enjoy this month.
You can meet Irish comedian David O’Doherty on Saturday 8 April at Readings Kids, and hear him read from his Danger is Everywhere series. Find more details here.
Readings St Kilda is hosting an extra special story time on Saturday 29 April with Bronny Lane. She will be reading from her new picture book, My Two Super Mums, the fifth title in her My Super Family children’s book series. Find more details here.
And Felice Arena will launch his brand-new adventure story, The Boy and the Spy at Readings Kids on Sunday 30 April. Find more details here.
