Review: Integrity: Handbooks for Little Human

Integrity, the first book in the brilliant Handbooks for Little Humans series, opens with a warm address to Big Humans. 

In a direct, friendly tone, author Zanni Louise approaches the everyday habits of a child’s life.

Scenes of vibrant colour and a collective audience introduce the word Integrity, presenting instances when the meaning is activated.

Values come under the heading integrity, dressed as a jarful of jellybeans. Delightful child characters experience lessons of the heart and mind when confronted with a value challenge. Following the instinct which lives inside them, they're rewarded with the tremendous feeling of having achieved something wonderful.

Guest Post: Joanne Sorley on How Colour and Metaphor Help Children Talk About Emotions

Joanne Sorley on How Colour and Metaphor Help Children Talk About Emotions

Children feel deeply long before they can explain what’s happening inside them.

As adults, we’re comfortable using abstract words like sad, worried or overwhelmed, but for young children, those words can feel fuzzy and far away. When emotions rise, asking a child to 'use their words' often comes at exactly the moment when words are hardest to find.

What children understand best is what they can see, imagine, and feel. This is where colour and metaphor quietly do their work.

Junior Review: Dogs with Jobs

You might think that all dogs do is make their owner happy and chase around balls, but turns out some dogs do other important things. Some dogs have jobs!

Like Ralf. Ralf is a helper at the hospital, and he helps children when they are feeling upset or homesick. 

There are also many other jobs that dogs do too, and Dogs with Jobs will tell you all about them.

The Australian Children's Laureate 2026 - 2027 - Andy Griffiths!

KBR warmly congratulates author Andy Griffiths in his sparkling new role as the Australian Children's Laureate for 2026 - 2027!

Internationally acclaimed and best-selling children’s author Andy Griffiths is the Australian Children’s Laureate for 2026 and 2027, sharing his mission ‘Reading is an Adventure!’.

'Reading was always an adventure to me. It’s like each book is a little doorway into another world. That is the true pleasure of reading and I wanted to give that to the next generation. The thing I’m most looking forward to in my Laureate term is getting out there into the wild and leading children and their parents on wild imaginative adventures. To be able to get out around Australia and show how a whole family can get involved in their child’s reading journey is a dream come true.

I am honoured to have been chosen as the Australian Children’s Laureate for 2026 and 2027. My passion for connecting children to the power of books, reading and literacy has been the driving force for my work as a children’s author over the past three decades and the Laureateship is both an opportunity to extend that work and, at the same time, to be a proud representative and advocate for the vibrant community of equally passionate Australian children’s book creators.'

Visit the ACLF for more, and meet Andy by clicking the YouTube link below.

Event: Midnight Madcaps, The National Centre for Australian Children's Literature

On Wednesday, I had the great joy of attending Midnight Madcaps - an evening with author Margaret Wild and illustrator Ann James - both legendary creators in the Australian kidlit scene. This event, hosted by the National Centre for Australian Children's Literature (NCACL), celebrated the centre's acquisition and exhibition of original artworks and documents relating to celebrated picture book, The Midnight Gang (Omnibus, 1996).

Review: Ruby's Perfect Fire Safety Plan

Ruby is a highly intelligent child. An ideas girl. A perfectionist.

She plans everything.

Organisation is her best asset. Always with a clipboard in hand and her computer open to fill in her programs, she records everything.

The most important plan is missing from her list until the local fire-fighter visits her school to talk about fire safety in the home.

When the family is gathered, Ruby brings up the subject. She calls attention to the need for a check list concerning fire hazards in and around their home.

Guest Post: Joanne Sorley on How Colour and Metaphor Help Children Talk About Emotions

Children feel deeply long before they can explain what’s happening inside them.

As adults, we’re comfortable using abstract words like sad, worried, or overwhelmed. But for young children, those words can feel fuzzy and far away. When emotions rise, asking a child to 'use their words' often comes at exactly the moment when words are hardest to find.

Review: Bitza

Dog-lover Andrew Daddo’s latest contribution, Bitza is the first in a four-book series. 

This heart-warming story draws attention to the evolving forms longings take before they are realized, plaiting them through the humorous situations that occur in the process.  

Jas has wanted a dog for a long time. She has filled her bedroom wall with prints of possible pets until the real thing comes along. 

She walks Freddy, the neighbour’s dog. This temporarily fills her yearning for her own pet, something which her single parent dad fights against with all his will, but in a loving way.

Love is the pivotal point of this story.

On a special day when Freddy and Jas are on their customary walk around the neighbourhood, another dog joins them. 

Guest Post: Shannon Stevens on Knowing When To Talk About It

When do you talk about it? I mean, when do you explain to your child that differences are treasures?

I work with little ones and their families every day. I am an Occupational Therapist that provides home and community-based services to the birth to three population. I join them in every moment of life for sometimes a period of 36 months.

I am welcomed into their homes, I sit on their floor, I sometimes join them in a cup of coffee and I kiss their babies. I am so comfortable in this element that I now cannot understand or even see colour, creed, or sexual differences.

My job is to NOT see differences, but to see POSSIBILITIES. My values are to promote the inherent good in people and the capabilities we all share. 

Farewell, Dimity

After a whopping nine years of dedication to Kids’ Book Review, our Managing Editor, Dimity Powell, is moving on from KBR. 

We want to thank her for the time, energy and passion she has contributed to the site over the years. 

Her commitment has helped shape KBR into the vibrant community it is today—and her efforts have been appreciated by readers, book creators, publishers and the entire team. 

We wish Dimity all the very best in her authorly creative pursuits, and we hope this next chapter brings exciting new opportunities. 

Tania McCartney 

Founder, Kids’ Book Review

Review: Mr McGee

The newest edition of the first Mr McGee book is now in board book form. 

Originally published in 1987, Pamela Allen again brings to life her most popular character of eight titles, the adventurous McGee. Someone who is always ready for anything. 

He is unusual, full of life and misadventure, a performer and attention seeker.  

The sprawling apple tree which covers McGee’s table and chairs, and his bed where the cat also sleeps, accommodates his life amidst nature. 

Guest Post: Miranda Sheppard On Turning Kids' Everyday Worries Into Wins

Children face everyday worries long before they have the language or confidence to name them, and how those moments are met can shape the way they learn to navigate challenges over time.

Every worry explored in The Blooms is one my daughter and I have moved through together. They’re the small, everyday worries that surface in early childhood — the kind that can feel overwhelming to a young person, yet are often difficult for adults to address without brushing them aside or unintentionally making them feel bigger than they are. 

As I began speaking with other parents, I realised just how common these moments were, and how many of us were quietly unsure how best to respond.

Review: A Light on the Rocks

The SS Admella was shipwrecked off the coast of South Australia in1859. 

It is one of the worst disasters in Australian maritime history.

Building on the facts of this disaster, Helen Edwards presents two brilliant stories, a  century apart,  in two voices and alternate chapters.

Daisy is fourteen years old at the beginning of August 1859, when she travels on the SS Admella.

She is studying her much-loved Botany, intending that to become her future. 

With her parents and little sister Marigold, the family plans a journey to Melbourne by ship.

Daisy is initially reluctant to board another ship as her journey from England to Australia at three years old, was a terrible experience which remains a beacon of fear in her mind.

12 Curly Questions with children's author Renae Hayward

1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you.

I love musical theatre! My favourite musical is Matilda – I’ve seen it three times.

2. What is your nickname?
Naiz or Nae. My niece and nephews call me Aunty Nae.

3. What is your greatest fear?
Sharks and crocodiles – eep!

4. Describe your writing style in 10 words.
I love writing in rhyme and using humour and fun.

5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Persistent, dedicated, patient (sort of).

6. What book character would you be, and why?
Lucy from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Because who wouldn’t want to discover a portal to a magical land in a spare room?

7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
I’m a bit of a hippy at heart, so I’d love to go back to the 1970s.

8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now?
“You’re an actual, real-life author?!” (I always wanted to write.)

9. Who is your greatest influence?
I should probably say a well-known author, but it’s actually my kids that influence my writing the most. Being with them and seeing what they love gives me so many ideas.

10. What/who made you start writing?
I like to be busy. In my early 20s, I had always worked part-time while studying full-time. But when I finished uni and got my first full-time job, I suddenly had a lot of free time. I filled it with writing.

11. What is your favourite word and why?
‘Why?’ is a great word. Curiosity is something I value very highly.

12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Nope. Can’t answer that. Far too hard to only choose one!

Renae Hayward was born during a cyclone in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, but spent her formative years by the beaches of Perth’s northern suburbs. Her books for children include Barking Mad, Say Goodnight, Say Hooray, Say Hello and What Can I Get for Mother's Day. She was the inaugural recipient of the Ray Koppe Young Writers Residency (Australian Society of Authors/Varuna). She has also contributed as a poet to The School Magazine (NSW Department of Education) and had poems published in the anthology Right Way Down and other poems. When she’s not writing, Renae is a passionate advocate for early literacy and a familiar face at storytime sessions across WA. Renae now lives near Fremantle with her husband, James, their two children and Frankie the Labrador in a house overflowing with books. For more information, see www.renaehayward.com

Reviews: The First Easter

With it’s happy yellow cover adorned with primary colours, embossed stars, people, animals, doves and little floaty things, this book is impossible not to pick up!

‘A beautiful book for every family who celebrates the Easter holiday.’

The First Easter, illustrated by Jess Racklyeft, is indeed a beautiful and accessible narrative, depicting the events and special symbols of Easter in a child-centric and compassionate way. 

Review: My Brother Otto

Everything changes for Quinn from the moment she is told her mum is having baby Otto. Ultrasound photos and baby talk irritate her. 

Her stepfather Alex has set up the cot in her room. Now it is hers no longer. Mum is always tired and going to appointments. All the things they use to do, they can’t do anymore. 

Quinn doesn’t want a baby brother. Experiencing the behaviour of her friend Mem’s baby brother, has her believing babies are destructive and bothersome. 

Quinn’s only interest now is her determination to win the Grade Five story competition consisting of three rounds.

When Mum goes to hospital to give birth prematurely, Quinn mulls over the changes that have occurred in her life, and the ones that will  come with Otto’s entrance into the family.