Dreading the impossible question

Several times over the Christmas period at social gatherings I was asked a question which I dread. It is expressed in different ways - "What is your favourite book?", "What was the best book you read this year?", "What are your top three books?", "Do you have a favourite classic picture book?" and so on.

IMPOSSIBLE! - Would it be easier if this question specified a genre or age range or format? Picture Book; Junior novel; Middle Grade novel; funny book; realistic fiction; historical fiction; fantasy; published in 2025; or Australian?

NO this is still an impossible question. In 2025 I blogged over 450 titles. For every book I blogged I probably read 3-5 others so that's over 1000 books read in just one year (and that is a conservative figure). In total I am getting close to 4100 blog posts between 2008 and the present and I began my serious reading of kids' books back in 1983 so there are tons more titles I could talk about. I do give star ratings sometimes, but I admit to being a big inconsistent with this and anyway that would still be quite a long list of just five-star titles, not just the one or two titles as demanded by the people asking these questions. (Who by the way probably don't know much about kids' books at all even the ones who are actual parents and do read to their own children). I wonder what their favourite books are - adult books or kids' books.

To add to this, at one function I was also asked what makes a good/great picture book. Of course, that is a PhD topic but I mumbled something about fabulous illustrations that extend beyond the text, rich vocabulary, satisfying stories that invite re-reading, and picture books (for older kids) that leave you thinking long after the last page is turned. 

I imagine the people asking the questions above, think that reading kids books is a small field - little do they know that there are so many possibilities from board books, to non fiction, and books in interesting formats (read about 1 is for One), and award winners, and verse novels, and complex dystopian stories not to mention steam punk! I could go on and on.

In response and exasperation, I did share these book covers on Instagram as a sample of books I loved in 2025 (note not all were actually published in 2025 and only a few are Australian - I should have put a few more). You can pop any of these titles into my search bar for further details:

Best ones in this bunch not to be missed are Growing Home and Then and Now

Best ones in this bunch not to be missed would be The Same Stuff as Stars and Wolf Siren

Best ones in this bunch would be Magnolia Wu unfolds it all, Dawn and One Day

Best ones in this bunch Busted and The Ones that disappeared 

but also try to find the series by Jason Reynolds

Best ones in this bunch Water Water, The Wrong Way Home and The final Year

Best ones in this bunch Not Nothing and Ruby on the outside

Do I have a favourite book? No - I have tons of favourites. Here are a some of books I always mention but really this is just a drop in an enormous ocean:

Australian Picture Book by Bob Graham - I suggest reading all of his books

Dimity Dumpty

Canadian Picture Book

Shelter

US Middle Grade Novel - look for other books by Katherine Applegate

I want adults to read this too

Wishtree

It is almost impossible to select one Kate DiCamillo book but you could begin with this one

Because of Winn Dixie

Classic book that I have read over and over

Sarah, Plain and Tall

CBCA Picture Book of the Year here in Australia in 2023

My Strange Shrinking Parents

I have adored every book by UK author Katherine Rundell but this one still haunts me

Wolf Wilder

One of my favourite childhood books along with others by Rumer Godden 

and The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Gouge.

Favourite animal series

Poppy by Avi

A terrific animal, fantasy, quest series

The Legend of Podkin One-Ear

If you know me at all you would expect me to share this one!

Puffling by Margaret Wild

If you want to experience fantastic writing look for these books by Glenda Millard 

beginning with The Naming of Tishkin Silk

I think this is the book that started my love affair with Verse Novels - and I am still smiling and celebrating that Sharon Creech herself commented on my blog post!

Love that dog

I can recite this little treasure - as a read-aloud it has it all - voices, funny moments, 

jam tarts and a glorious happy ending.

Jeremiah in the Dark Woods

As a teacher this is probably where it all began - my discovery of the absolute joy of reading a book to a group of student every single day - I thank the unknown person who included this little book on an old typed list of books to read to Grade 2 or 3. I read this aloud to over 1000 kids from 1984 to 2017.

The Amazing Adventures of Chilly Billy

On the upside - if you have read right to the end of this rant - I did meet a little girl aged 9 at a Christmas function who told me some of her own favourite books and then I was able to share a heap of great book covers with her mum. Hopefully they will hunt for some of these in their school or local library - that was way more satisfying than answering or in my case not feeling able to answer the impossible question - so what is your favourite book!

Nearly there - 4000 blog posts

Approaching 4000 Blog Posts

A few years ago I set a target of 4000 blog posts by the end of 2024 - sadly I did not quite reach that but now as we come to the end of 2025, I only need to pen a dozen more posts to reach my goal! My blog has 2.75 million views (2008-2025). How amazing.

I am also sitting at number 3 on the Feedspot Australian children's book bloggers list just behind CBCA and Kids' Book Review. I have moved up from number 8! earlier this year. And I am number 79 on their international list. Very strangely I am also sitting as number 2 on the Feedspot Retired Teachers blog list even though that is not the focus of my blog. 

Here's a screen shot of my most popular posts from 2008 onwards - it is a rather curious list I think.

Kinderbookswitheverything - a book blog you need to dive into NOW!

Blog post 19th April 2013

Every time I visit this library (where I have been working as a volunteer) I waiver between enormous happiness and then a kind of despair as I realise there are SO MANY books I still need to read and SO MANY authors and illustrators I need to discover. Tonight I decided to start re-reading my friend's blog - Kinderbookswitheverything working backwards from her very first post. In 2010 she celebrated an author or illustrator each day - this could be a wonderful way for you to build you own 'field knowledge' if you are new to the library role or are unfamiliar with some of the best authors and illustrators from around the world. 

My friend at Kinderbookswitheverything has worked in her school library for over thirty years. Today was the last day of the term. There was so much to do. First off she had to take all her timetabled classes - a very full day. Meanwhile her wonderful library assistant and I were shelving the hundreds of books that had been returned by the teachers who used them in Term one and reshelving returns from the children and reshelving the last bundles of displayed books. And then we set up four new book displays - ANZAC Day, Mother's Day, Koala Day (May 3rd); and a fantastic display of books about building and construction - I should have taken a photo. Oh, and my friend was also busy pulling down her Easter decorations, updating children who have completed the NSW Premier's Reading Challenge, and loaning books to parents (in this school parents can borrow up to ten books). It was a busy day which is not unusual.

Strangely, I have never thought to ask why she gave her blog this name back when she started it in 2009. We both started our blogs around the same time because we signed up for a course and this one was one of the 'assignments' and now here we are in 2025 and our blogs are still 'alive'. She also has an extensive Pinterest collection of picture books and other books on a huge range of topics. I did a search for the covers of a few of her favourite books (and yes all of them are quite old but that surely does not matter at all because they can be found in a library). 

When you begin to explore her blog I suggest you click on January 2022 where you will find links to a series of splendid posts about books to support The Sustainable Development Goals. 

Here is a small sample of her post content just to inspire you. Perhaps you could begin by clicking on your own birthday - I did that and made a couple of surprise discoveries:

• June 21st (2016) World Giraffe Day
• July 14th (2017) Pandemonium Day
• March 16th (2017) National Hiccup Day
• April 29 (2018) World Wish Day
• June 23rd (2020) Typewriter Day
• September 1st (2022) World Letter Writing Day
• May 3rd (2022) Wild Koala Day
• August 5th 2023 International Traffic Light Day
• August 3rd 2024 Sandcastle Day

While browsing her past posts I came across this poem:

Twenty Minutes A Day by Richard Peck 

Read to your children, twenty minutes a day;

You have the time, And so do they.

Read while the laundry is in the machine;

Read while the dinner cooks;

Tuck a child in the crook of your arm

And reach for the library books.

Hide the remote,

Let the computer games cool,

For one day your children will be off to school.

"Remedial?" "Gifted?" You have the choice; Let them hear their first tales

In the sound of your voice.

Read in the morning;

Read over noon;

Read by the light of Goodnight Moon.

Turn the pages together,

Sitting close as you'll fit,

Till a small voice beside you

says, "Hey, don't quit."

The Anatomy of a Blog Post

Image Source: Matilda and Tronchatoro - 

Character Design by Gemma Román @gemmaroman

How do I compose a blog post?

Over time my blogging process and content has evolved. My early posts, back when I started in 2008, were often quite brief and I didn't always describe the plot of a book. These posts were written when I was still working full time so I used them more as memory joggers for titles I had read and enjoyed. Back then I did one post each week (4 per month) now I do one each day (nearly)! I think my posts have improved over time. 

My intended audience is perhaps a little too broad? - Teacher-Librarians, Teachers, and young readers themselves especially those aged 10+. I also think about parents especially when I share a preschool title or very occasionally a board book. I rate at number 74/100 on the Feedspot list and number 8/25 on their Australian list. 

The promotion of my blog via social media could be better - this might be a project for 2025. 

So here are some of my blogging steps (not strictly in order):

• First off, I read the book, and I put post it notes on pages I want to quote or if I forget to do this I try to remember the page number or chapters.
• Note not every book I read makes it onto my blog.
• As I blog or explore a book I skim back through it again - so this is kind of like a second reading.
• I sometimes begin my post with a significant quote from the book - one that perhaps sums up a powerful part of the plot. This applies to novels more than picture books.
• Then I think about a star rating - five stars, four stars or no stars (that just means the book was good but not a title I would give a star). I do not go lower than four stars. I usually assign stars only to middle grade or junior novels and rarely to picture books or non fiction.
• I add my labels (I think I could improve this).
• I try to summarise the plot but only as a way to tempt you to read the whole book. I don't always manage to avoid spoilers but I do try.
• I try to add a qualitative comment and sometimes an age suggestion.
• I hunt for other reviewers who have talked about the same book and then I add quotes to my post with links to their pages and I give an extract of their review which often more eloquently summarises my view of a book. I have listed below some of my main sources of reviews.
• I select a linking colour that matches the book cover.
• Thanks to blogger Joy Lawn and her blog Paperbark Words - I borrowed her term Companion Reads to share books that are in some way related to the book I am discussing and with each of these companion titles I put a link to my own blog post.
• If I can find teacher's notes I add this link and if it is a picture book I might put a link to a video reading - but many of these out on the internet are so awful I am quite careful with this plus I really want children, teachers, teacher-librarians to READ the book not view a video reading.
• If there are illustrations especially in a picture book, I try to include one or two so you can see inside the book.
• If the author uses interesting words or examples of a rich vocabulary I try to list examples.
• I look for details about the author and illustrator and add links to their webpages and sometimes I add a few bio details.
• I often include a picture or link to other books by the same author or illustrator.
• Occasionally I add ideas for book talks.

The books I blog are not only from Australia (we speak English and can enjoy the best books from USA, Canada, New Zealand, and UK) and the books I blog are often out of print but hopefully many will be in your local or school library. Older books and very old books can be treasures you do need to discover just as much as the latest titles that have just hit the shelves of your local bookstore.

My interests in children's books are quite varied but I especially enjoy finding wordless book (IBBY call them Silent Books); interesting and quirky nonfiction; books translated from other languages; and picture books which are examples of excellence in book design and exquisite illustrations. And of course I read lots of middle grade titles. I borrow books from a school library or two and I buy books. Three or four times a year I receive review copies of books from one Australian publisher University of Queensland Press UQP. It would be so fabulous to see new release books from Walker Books (Australia); Gecko Press; Allen and Unwin; Fremantle Press; Hachette; Berbay Books; Thames and Hudson; Lantana (UK); and Penguin Random House. 

Here are a few of the blog reviewers I often quote:

• Kirkus
• Betsy Bird Fuse8
• Colby Sharp - videos and more
• Love Reading4Kids
• BookTrust
• The Book Muse
• Paperbark Words
• Kids' Book Review (Australian)
• Reading Time Children's Book Council of Australia
• Horn Book
• School Library Journal 
• Just so Stories
• Ms Yingling Reads

These are not really reviews but if you have a lot of time to spare you could dip into The Reader Teacher for UK titles (with the volume turned down - his enthusiastic voice can become a little too much). You can see his book lists here. 

Art by Irina Avgustinovich (Instagram) 

Celebration!

1. SCBWI Blog Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
2. Kids' Book Review
3. The Children's Book Council of Australia
4. Tania McCartney Blog
5. Literacy, Families and Learning Trevor Cairney
6. Readings Blog » Kids Melbourne
7. Just Write for Kids Blog
8. Children's Books Daily Blog
9. Momo Celebrating Time to Read
10. Reading Australia » Children's Books
11. The Book Muse » Children's Literature
12. Aussie Kids Books
13. Paperbark » Children's Series

Click here to find links to each of these sites. 

As I write this post from 2008-2023 (today) I've had 1,296,242 views of my blog. 

1. Kids' Book Review Australia - this is so wonderful
2. The Childrens Book Review Colorado US
3. Lee & Low Blog
4. Mr. Schu Reads | Exploring Children's Literature Through Book Trailers

7.  LoveReading4Kids (UK) 

8.  School Library Journal US

10. Nerdy Book Club

26. Ms Yingling Reads

47. Momo Celebrating Time to Read

Click links to all of the 100 top websites that celebrate children's books here. 

One Million hip hip hooray

 

My little blog has reached one million page views 2008-2023. YES one million. Actually it has crept past the million.

I started this blog in 2008 in response to a challenge by a school Principal who saw NO value in school libraries or the role of the Teacher-Librarian. He altered my library position in drastic and life-changing ways but when he said he knew more about technology (and the things we now called Social Media) I decided to strike back.  I could not reverse his dreadful decision to completely change the way our school library was organised but I could show him the power of  blogging, and Instagram, and Twitter and even a platform like Pinterest. This Principal is long gone. I imagine he has no idea that he created such personal and educational havoc but here I am, all these years later, still blogging and advocating for the importance of children's books in the lives of our children and the importance of putting outstanding books into the hands of teachers. I am very proud of this blog and I do hope you find it useful for your library or personal reading journey.

This is the list of my top posts - there are a few surprises here! Old worlds New worlds was a Children's Book Council of Australia Book Week slogan in 2021. I read The Amazing Adventures of Chilly Billy to every child in Grade 3 and later Grade 2 from 1984 til 2017 so I am not surprised to see it here but I wonder why Peggy is in the top 8 list?

Mr Archimedes Bath by Pamela Allen (December 11th, 2012)

Happy Mouse Day by Dick King-Smith (November 20th, 2012)

Peggy by Anna Walker (April 22nd, 2013)

The Day Saida Arrived by Susana Gomez Redondo illustrated by Sonja Wimmer translated by Lawrence Schimel (November 15th, 2020) 

Possum Magic by Mem Fox illustrated by Julie Vivas (November 27th, 2012)

The Amazing Adventures of Chilly Billy by Peter Mayle (October 19th, 2008)

I now have 2970 posts so I am edging closer to my goal of 4000 by the end of 2024. I now blog nearly every day but when I started my plan was one post per week.

My first post was on Sunday, September 7, 2008. I think my style and formatting have come a long way! I have been so lucky to access so many utterly wonderful books thanks to my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything and her splendid library and also thanks to Beachside Bookshop and Libby for all the wonderful advance book copies. Sadly this terrific independent book shop will close at the end of June. 

I am often asked what is my own favourite book. I cannot answer this but here are a few standouts although for every book I put here I could easily think of an extra ten or twenty or thirty. Of course there is also Momo by Michael Ende. We are so lucky to have access to so many fabulous books in Australia from UK, USA, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and also a wealth of books from other places that have been translated into English.  

If any of these look interesting just type the title into my side bar:

Where to next? I hope to continue posting nearly every day. I need to do a lot of work on my indexing (labels) adding star ratings and author/illustrator names. It would also be good to edit and tidy up some of my early posts. I'd also like to investigate a way to promote my blog to teachers, teacher-librarians and keen readers.

Happy Reading to all.

Auntie Claus by Elise Primavera

Hello out there - blog reader!  I have made it!  This is my 400th post and I have nearly reached 50,000 hits. I started my blog at the end of 2008 and I can only say I wish I had started it sooner.  This is such a great way to record all the books I read and as a bonus it has allowed me to think a little more deeply as I read - thinking about how I will discuss a book or which quotes I might use.  One more thing - thank you for reading my blog.  Knowing I have an audience is a huge incentive to keep blogging.

I have been working through my favourite Christmas books so I will finish the year with one more title - Auntie Claus.  This seems like a great choice because this book is such fun to read aloud and I read books aloud in my job every day, it has a timely message about giving and receiving and I did visit New York this year which is the setting for this book.  There are also links between this book and Eloise which I reviewed recently and with The Empty Stocking which was a new discovery for me this year and which has a similar theme.

Sophie's family love Christmas.  Mr Kringle is president of the Jingle Bell Bell company, Mrs Kringle owns the Mistle-toe-to Nail Salon and her brother is named Chris.  The other member of the family is the mysterious Auntie Claus.  Each year just after Halloween Auntie Claus disappears claiming to be going on a business trip.  She does not return until Valentines day.  Where does she go?  Sophie decides to stow away in a packing box to uncover the truth but the truth is a huge surprise.  Sophie arrives at the North pole and is assigned a job as a elf in the mail room.  An announcement comes over the loud speaker that someone is needed to volunteer to visit the coal mines and pick up the  B-B-and-G list - Bad boys and girls. Sophie volunteers but when she looks at the list she does not see her own name.  Instead her brother Chis is on the list.  "On his favourite day of the year, Chris would find only a stinky stocking filled with coal and gunk."

Here is an enthusiastic review.  Here is the author web site for this book where you can hear an extract read by Ellen Burstyn and you can hear the author talking about her book on this short video.  I have also discovered that there is a musical version of this book, there are two sequels and the illustrations have featured in Christmas window displays in famous US Department stores.

You might have been waiting for me to name my number one Christmas book. Well I think it is a three way tie - The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg, The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski and The Silver Christmas Tree by Pat Hutchins. Auntie Claus is certainly in my top ten so you should plan to read it next Christmas or even sooner if you are still in a festive mood.