The Beautiful Layers of me by Sophia Payne illustrated by Ruchi Mhasne

Blurb: Aunty is getting married! Ameena feels beautiful in her new salwar kameez. But when someone comments on her 'pyjamas', Ameena is suddenly a bit less sure about her traditional dress.

Ameena’s emotional twists and turns feel authentic and relatable, and her eventual pride in her outfit—and, by extension, her identity—will resonate with young people. In Mhasane’s tidily composed illustrations, the brown-skinned family’s bright ensembles pop against the relatively subdued backgrounds. Babu’s words—“These clothes are a part of our heritage”—hearten Ameena and will do the same for readers ... Kirkus

Payne does a wonderful job highlighting the inner conflict of identity in America, where one’s family and heritage are often viewed as “other” to white Americans.  Ameena initially hesitates to embrace what she truly finds beautiful because of the judgment of someone who doesn’t understand. With the support of those who do, she honors herself and takes pride in what she knows is right. The story is beautiful and tender, and while it is clearly written and centered for young Indian girls, it also serves as a good lesson for those outside of this culture. YS Book reviews

I do hope you can find, read and appreciate this book. I discovered it in the library where I work as a volunteer. The talented Teacher-Librarian uses international (and national) book lists and book awards to build her rich library collection. One of these lists is Inclusive Books for Children.

The judges said: For its sensitive and powerful exploration of belonging, cultural identity and difference, showing how children can embrace all parts of themselves. Its warm, gentle illustrations, rich narrative depth and “quiet power” were seen as emotionally resonant, educationally valuable and accessible to a wide range of children.

You will need a box of tissues when you read The Beautiful Layers of me. And I love the way this book can be both a mirror and a window. It could also be a fantastic way to talk about the power of words to harm but also heal. Take a look at my Pinterest collection called "She looks like me". 

If you are reading this book to a group in your school library you might like to talk about the salwar kameez worn by Ameena:

A salwar kameez is a traditional outfit originating from the Indian subcontinent, cherished for its comfort and elegance. It consists of three main parts: the kameez, a long tunic; the salwar, a pair of loose-fitting trousers; and often a dupatta, a matching long scarf. Widely worn in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, this versatile ensemble can be styled for everything from daily errands to formal weddings, making it a staple in wardrobes worldwide. 

• Kameez (The Tunic): This is the top part of the outfit. A kameez can vary in length from hip-length to ankle-length and comes in a multitude of cuts, necklines, and sleeve styles. 
• Salwar (The Trousers): These are the pants worn under the kameez. The traditional salwar is pleated and voluminous at the top, tapering to a narrow cuff at the ankle. However, this component has many modern variations. 
• Dupatta (The Scarf): A long, rectangular scarf, the dupatta adds a layer of grace and can be styled in numerous ways draped over one shoulder, both shoulders, or used as a head covering. While integral to traditional sets, some contemporary styles are worn without one. 

You can see more books by Sophia Payne here. Read this review from Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books.

Here are other books illustrated by Ruchi Mhasane:

About Ruchi Mhasane: I'm an artist from India who has studied illustration at the Cambridge School of Art. I have always drawn pictures, but after my MA in Children's Book Illustration, I've realised that visual narratives are a form that I enjoy immensely and am very comfortable with. I love drawing figures, especially children, and I enjoy capturing their movements and gestures. I am now committed to a lifelong study of the form of a picture book, and to developing the way a book talks to a child (or even adult!) I hope to work on books with meaningful content that will delight and inspire young children, so they too can fall in love with books the way so many of us have.

Companion books:

Amma's Sari

Elmer Day 2026

Read about Elmer Day here

It is a testament to the wonder and appeal of this special little colourful elephant named Elmer that so many of the books in this series are still in print. I picked up a copy of my second favourite Elmer book - Elmer and the Hippos at a recent charity book sale and it is in mint condition. My other favourite is Elmer on Stilts.

Blurb for Elmer and the Hippos: The elephants are not very happy: the hippos have come to live in their river because their own has dried up. When the elephants complain that the river is over-crowded, Elmer the patchwork elephant soon discovers that the problem can easily be solved, but only if the hippos and the elephants work together!

Reviewers said (of Elmer and the Hippos):

"A lesson in tolerance, co-operation - and recognising colours."  Culture Sunday Times 

"With its vibrant, eye-catching colors and engaging goings-on, this book is a visual delight."  School Library Journal 

"A lovely story about co-operation . . . The Bookbag 

In a previous post about David McKee, who died in 2022, I shared nearly all of the Elmer books. Here are a few:

If you need new copies of the Elmer books or you have not yet added this series to your library I found a terrific deal - 30 titles in a set for around AUS$300 - that's only AUS$10 per book! [9781839136924]

Last week my friend and I discovered there is one new Elmer book that has just been published.

Book seller blurb: With a gentle environmental theme, this is the last Elmer story that David McKee was working on, finished by his close friend and artist Marysia Milewski. When the ice starts to melt at the North Pole, a polar bear sets off on an adventure that takes him all the way to Elmer's jungle! When a mysterious white bear appears in the jungle, Elmer and Wilbur are keen to hear his story. He has come all the way from the north pole on a floating scrap of ice, and now he can’t find his way home. Luckily, Elmer and Wilbur have an idea! But what caused the white bear’s icy home to melt in the first place? That’s a much more puzzling question. With a gentle introduction to the themes of climate change, this is David McKee's (1935–2022) Elmer story with artwork by his dear friend and fine artist, Marysia Milewski.

Here are a few other newer Elmer titles:

And this one could fit in with your Book Week reading and the 2026 slogan A Symphony of Stories:

February 4th World Read Aloud Day

World Read Aloud Day was founded on the belief that stories are the key to creating positive social change, ... studies have shown that reading aloud to children has been linked to the development of vocabulary and comprehension, 

strengthening emotional bonds and enhancing focus.

I saw a question on a Facebook forum asking for books to share with teachers for National or World Read Aloud Day. The person who asked for book ideas set a couple of criteria but I am going to disregard these - Australian and published in the last five years. 

For my scenario I am going to imagine a school with twenty teachers. I don't really believe in one size fits all so I am going to group my books into four sections - Kindergarten; Grades 1 and 2; Grades 3 and 4; and Grades 5 and 6 and I will put five books per group = 20 books.  I will put some wonderful Australian titles here but also lots of international ones too. Because hopefully my scenario school has a well-stocked school library, I will put books that are not new - that is the joy of a library - you can find older books that are truly gems. In terms of gems the person asking for suggestions also used the dreaded word 'quality'. I won't go into that right now, but this is a word that makes me shudder. I am sure I could list several hundred books for this post - these are titles that I blogged recently. I previously talked about World Read Aloud day in 2018.

Kindergarten

Little Bear's Little Boat

Two for me, one for you

Happy Birthday Moon

Puffling (or you could read Lucy Goosey)

Owl Babies

Grades 1 and 2

Where does Thursday go?

Lizzy and the Cloud

Lisette's Green Sock

Strictly no Elephants

Dimity Dumpty (or another book by Bob Graham)

Grades 3 and 4

Shelter

Robber Girl

The King and Nothing

The Suitcase

Extra Yarn

Grades 5 and 6

Mr Lepron's Mystery Soup

Herman and Rosie

Snow White in New York

Sparrow Girl

As Time went by

A Brief History of World Read Aloud Day

When was this event established: World Read Aloud Day was founded in 2010 by the nonprofit LitWorld. Following a trip to Kibera in Nairobi, LitWorld founder Pam Allyn realized how important the power of stories was to children around the globe. So, she started World Read Aloud Day to make a positive impact on the world.

How has it developed since then: Since its establishment, World Read Aloud Day has been celebrated by millions of people through 170 countries. 

There are some resources here.

In answer to the question and using the very restrictive criteria from the original Facebook post here are the two sets of nine titles that I suggested (note one is older than five years but I snuck it in anyway). You can pop any of these titles into my search bar for more details.

Australian School Library Day

The theme for 2025 is 'All the Literacies'. 

A well-resourced school library with supported staff is the most precious and effective resource a school can have when it comes to supporting reading literacy, reading for pleasure 

and whole school reading initiatives. 

Image Source: Students Need School Libraries

It is Children's Book Week here in Australia and SO some media focus is on libraries and especially school libraries, so the timing of this celebration seems perfect. 

Australian School Library Day was started in 2022 by Students Need School Libraries. The purpose of Australian School Library Day is to celebrate and highlight the glorious variety of things that your school library staff do - especially those things that may normally be ‘hidden’ from view but are so essential to the far-reaching web of impact that the school library has in your school. By raising awareness of the benefits of a well-resourced and suitably staffed school library we hope to ensure that future generations enjoy them as well.

The 2025 Australian School Library Day theme recognises that while school libraries are critical for reading literacy to be meaningful and enduring, they are also essential to EVERY long -term education strategy and every student deserves access to one in order to be the very best they can be, no matter where they live or what kind of learning challenges they may face.

Things I love to see when I visit a school library:

• Lots of children using the space
• School signs that show visitors how to find the school library
• Front facing shelves that show off book covers

Concord Public Library

• Displays that look fresh and in Term Three displays that celebrate the CBCA slogan
• Tidy shelves - I find messy shelves off-putting
• New books but also old books 
• Book labels in clear print and spine labels right at the bottom of the spine so the books look uniform on the shelf (take at look at these two images)

Messy - almost makes me dizzy

Better!

Perfect!

• Books in great condition 
• Classifications that are consistent with other libraries and that make it easy for users to find specific books (read this post)
• Comfortable seating
• Lots of light

• Clear well-designed signage
• Defined collections - nonfiction, easy chapter books, picture books etc and series boxes or sections
• Library staff - a trained Teacher-Librarian and library support staff
• Use of the correct terms - School Library and Teacher-Librarian

Message from the Honorable Blair Boyer MP (South Australia) 

on Australian School Library Day

“A librarian recommended this book to me when I was 12 called A Rag, A Bone and a Hank of Hair by Nicholas Fisk,” she says. “A good librarian asks you questions to find out what your interests are before recommending books that may be up your alley. I told them I liked sci-fi and Star Wars and they sent me in this direction. The book was written decades ago, but it just blew my mind.”

Take a look at some of my previous posts:

Wisdom for Teacher-Librarians (and teachers too)

Libraries, books, time for reading, and more

Always, Sometimes, Rarely, Never

Here are some quotes from the book Raising Readers by Megan Daley:

"Well-resourced school libraries, with exemplary teacher librarians and library support staff, develop and sustain a vibrant reading culture, promote innovative use of digital technologies and are a participatory hub within the school."  

"School libraries are wonderful places which are the beating heart of many school communities and a refuge for those in need of time away from a busy school environment."

"Library displays should be dotted around the library, be ever-changing, professional, eye catching with all the books facing forwards and able to be borrowed from the display."

You might know I constantly 'bang on' about the correct term - Teacher-Librarian. Here are two of the tasks listed in ALIA statement about the role of the Teacher-Librarian that shows the scope of this vital school role:

Teacher Librarian  

A teacher librarian is dual qualified in the fields of education and librarianship. They hold a recognised teaching qualification that meets eligibility for teacher registration in their respective jurisdiction, as well as an undergraduate, graduate or post graduate university qualification in library and information science that ideally includes specialisations related to the school library context and meets eligibility for Associate professional membership of ALIA.  

Teacher librarians possess high-level curriculum knowledge and pedagogical expertise. In 

addition to the tasks that may be undertaken by library technicians and librarians, teacher 

librarians are qualified to:  

• foster and maintain reading culture and reading for pleasure across the school 

• specialise in literature for children and young people  

Wedding Picture Books and Junior Fiction (and bridesmaids too)

Mr. Slinger has big news.

He’s getting married.

Married!

Lilly has big plans.

She’s going to be the flower girl.

(Lilly has always wanted to be a flower girl.

Even more than a surgeon or a diva or a hairdresser.)

The Podcast "Your Kid's Next Read" (an Australian show) shared a list of books about weddings in a recent episode because one of the presenters has just been married.  This got me thinking. I knew my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything had covered this topic. Also, the tiny granddaughter of another friend is about to be the flower girl at her parent's wedding. I previously gifted her the Kevin Henkes book at the top of this post.

I decided to search out wedding picture books and junior novels and compile them into a Pinterest. Megan Daley mentions Lissie Nonsense by Jan Ormerod. I didn't remember that weddings were a major theme of this book. Here is the Kirkus star review of Lizzie Nonsense. I plan to find this one in a library next week and check out the reference to weddings. I will write a blog post about Lizzie Nonsense over the coming days. 

Here are the covers of some of my own favourites including many that sadly are now long out of print but which could/should be held in many school or public libraries.

The Pig's Wedding is a charming story describing the preparation and celebration of the marriage of two pigs, Porker and Curlytail. As the bride and groom, and the guests, are without proper attire, Porker comes up with the brilliant idea of painting clothing on each and every one of them. Everyone has a wonderful time at the wedding celebration, until it begins to rain.  The rain washes the painted clothing off of all them!  Again, Porker has a brainstorm. He tells his guests to follow him as he runs toward a huge mud puddle.  They all toss their pink pig bodies into the mud and have a glorious time! Finally, with the wedding celebration over, Porker carries his bride into their new home--and paints the furnishings all over the stable walls!  The ingenious pig and his wife live happily ever after.

It was such a hot summer. The sky was deep blue and the sun never faltered. All along Brambly Hedge, the mice did their best to keep cool. Poppy Eyebright sought refuge in the mossy shadows of the mill wheel; Dusty Dogwood took to walking by the banks of the cooling stream. Dusty and Poppy spent more and more time together, so no one was at all surprised when they announced their engagement. They decided on a very unusual setting for the wedding ceremony, but even they didn’t realise just how unusual it was prove to be!

Here is a review

I have previously talked about this terrific book series - Aussie Nibbles - but until I listened to the podcast I had forgotten about this one. You could also look for another older junior series - Solo and the book Make me the Flowergirl by Pamela Freeman.