"My kids had other plans" Sydney Morning Herald December 30th, 2025

An article from the Sydney Morning Herald caught my eye today - and in part it made me happy but then it also made me rage a little because this mother (Cherie Gilmour a freelance writer) has missed a fantastically easy way to be present with her kids which is the focus of this piece entitled 

"I was the mother of holiday invention. My kids had other plans."

Here are some quotes from the article (which is behind a paywall sorry):

"I set my intention: the summer holidays will be fun and relaxing - a chance to reconnect with my kids. After all I'd be off work as well. I would be the ringleader of fun."

This mum then discovers it is not really fun so she heads off to yoga retreat.  Then ...

"I set myself a challenge, a whole day with my kids, being utterly present. We walked to the park, and I watched them climbing, playing pirates, investigating slater bugs and tiny flowers. I realised that my kids' ability to transform boredom into imaginative play is something I have utterly lost the capacity for when my phone, or even my job, is infinitely more stimulating."

CAN YOU SEE THE WORD - PHONE!

So, this mum has worked out she needs to be with her kids and NOT on her screen. You might think that is why I am raging (and yes I do rage about this regularly) but actually my rage today is because this mum (as far as this opinion piece presents) has not yet discovered the joy of reading to her kids. She can see them enjoying imaginative play - that's fantastic but at the end of the long day she just turns on a movie. That's okay too but what about also grabbing a book or two? This piece mentions a 'new' phenomenon called #corememories. Sharing book after book after book should be one part of this process. Cherie Gilmour explains the idea of #corememories is not only about the kids themselves it is also about giving parents those beautiful memories of their child during those fleeting years of childhood.

"If I lose the ability to be present with my children, when it's easier to park them in front of a screen, I miss the opportunity to create my own core memories of their precious childhood, which is dripping away like a melting glacier, one day at a time. The days are long but the years are short."

I spent some time with a few 35-year-olds this week over Christmas. It was wonderful to see them talking about the books they (as adults) read this year and to hear them also remember books we had shared when they were tiny such as There's a Hippopotamus on the Roof Eating Cake. I gifted a selection of picture books at their family Christmas event for the next generation of young children aged 2-9 and then loved seeing every adult picking up a picture book to read to one of these children. This happened over and over again. My heart sang! I do hope Cherie Gilmour has discovered the joy of reading to her own children and that her home is filled with fabulous books - that is one easy way she can be present with her kids, create memories and share the fun of exploring their imaginations. 

Three Dresses by Wanda Gibson

I was so proud of my three dresses. I took care of them so I'd always have 

one to wash, one to wear and one spare. 

This is a book that should be shared with children all over Australia (and beyond). For many children this story will be so thought provoking. Imagine if your Christmas present was a new dress - I am sure most little girls would be excited. And what if you were given three dresses - now that is sure to make you extra happy. But what if the three dresses were not new? These are second-hand dresses given to you by the Lutheran church. Have your emotions just been through a roller coaster? Now think about how you feel if these are your only dresses - your best dresses - your special dresses. 

"You should have seen the joy on our faces when we put on those second-hand dresses. We were so happy."

Wanda and her family live at Hope Vale Mission. This is her story. She was born in 1946. 

"When I was a kid, I went to school and had to work on the farm. After school, I did domestic duties for the Mission staff."

Now let's continue the story. The next thing to think about as you read this book is holidays. How long do your family have for a holiday? Where do you go and how do you get there? What do you do on your holiday?  Wanda and her family have just two weeks each year. Wanda packs her three dresses, one to wear, one to wash and one spare. 

"We didn't have bags, so we'd lay our dresses on the ground and roll them up like a little swag to carry on our backs. Mum and Dad would take tools, blankets, and mayie to eat. We all had to carry so much."

Compare this with your class discussion. The family will walk to their holiday destination, they have no suitcases and on the next page we read the journey takes two days. 

So now think about where they might be going? What will they do there? Where will they stay and what will they eat?

The group arrive at the beach. They set up a camp and catch fish, gather bush tucker and tell stories. Of course, eventually the holiday ends but the little girls in the family still have their precious dresses. And for Wanda, recalling her childhood, this is a very special memory. 

Blurb UQP: When Wanda Gibson was a little girl, her mum would tell her this as they packed to go on holidays. Wanda grew up on Hope Vale Mission in Far North Queensland, and her family were allowed only one short break away from work each year. At their special spot at the beach, they camped in the sandhills, cooked fresh fish on the fire and swam in the ocean. Beautifully illustrated with Wanda’s paintings, this heart-warming true story celebrates family time, connection to place and finding joy in the simple things, like your favourite three dresses.

Thank you to UQP for sending the advance copy of Three Dresses which will be published on 30th April, 2024. Make sure you add this to your library collection - Primary and High School. Here are the teachers notes. And take a look at this excellent review from The Bottom Shelf. 

Wanda Gibson is a Nukgal Wurra woman of the Guugu Yimithirr people (on her mum’s side) and lives in Hope Vale on the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. Her dad is a Yuuethawarra man and his country is around Cape Melville. Both of Wanda’s parents were Stolen Generation and were brought to Cape Bedford Mission when they were ten or twelve. Wanda is a master weaver – she weaves baskets, birds and fish from dried grass. She is also a painter and completed a Diploma of Visual Arts at Cairns TAFE in 2014. Wanda has five kids, eleven grandkids and five great-grandkids.

Companion books:

Tru and Nelle by G Neri

About Tru:

• Truman Capote was born on 30 September 1924 in New Orleans, Louisiana, originally named Truman Streckfus Persons. He changed his name to Truman Garcia Capote in 1935 – from his stepfather, Joseph Capote, a Cuban-born New York businessman.
• Capote’s parents divorced when he was very young, and he was subsequently primarily raised by his mother’s relatives in Monroeville, Alabama. He formed a special bond with his distant relative, Nanny Rumbley Faulk – ‘Sook’.
• Truman Capote’s best friend in Monroeville was the girl-next-door, Nelle Harper Lee, who later based the precocious character of Dill Harris on Capote in her famous novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Similarly, Capote also used Harper Lee as an inspiration for the character Idabel Tompkins in his debut novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms.
• Truman was classified as a “lonely child,” and before he even entered formal schooling, he used that loneliness (along with his obvious smarts) to teach himself how to read and write. By 11, he was already writing his first short stories.

About Nelle:

• Harper Lee was born Nelle Harper Lee. Her first name is a backwards spelling of her grandmother’s name—Ellen. When pursuing her writing career, Lee dropped her first name because she didn’t want people misprinting or mispronouncing it as “Nellie.”
• She did not seem to have many companions during her childhood except her neighbor and friend Truman Capote. 
• Lee met Truman Capote when they were both around five years old, and she was his protector from neighborhood bullies for much of their early years.
• Lee’s mother probably had some psychological ailments and this left a profound impact on her. Truman also faced domestic problems and the two found an outlet in each other to pour out these grievances which later came out through their writings.
• The plot and characters of To Kill a Mockingbird are loosely based on Lee's observations of her family and neighbors in Monroeville, Alabama, as well as a childhood event that occurred near her hometown in 1936. The novel deals with racist attitudes, the irrationality of adult attitudes towards race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s, as depicted through the eyes of two children.
• Her father was a former newspaper editor, businessman, and lawyer, who also served in the Alabama State Legislature from 1926 to 1938. ... Before A.C. Lee became a title lawyer, he once defended two black men accused of murdering a white storekeeper. Both clients, a father and son, were hanged.

G. Neri skillfully weaves all of these facts into a brilliant story for readers aged 11+. I do need to give a warning - there are two very confronting scenes from Chapter 24 through to Chapter 26 - one involving the Klu Klux Clan and the suggestion of a lynching and the other is a dreadful staged fight between two enormous snakes where men bet on the outcome. Read this sentence - king = snake, moccasin = snake, green backs = money, hood = the Clan.

"Meet me this afternoon at the snake pit ... Indian Joe done got a king and a moccasin goin'. We gonna make enough green backs to cover my hooch costs. And bring my hood, boy. We got fireworks tonight."

Listen to an audio sample and here is the publisher blurb: Long before they became famous writers, Truman Capote (In Cold Blood) and Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird) were childhood friends in Monroeville, Alabama. This fictionalized account of their time together opens at the beginning of the Great Depression, when Tru is seven and Nelle is six. They love playing pirates, but they like playing Sherlock and Watson-style detectives even more. It’s their pursuit of a case of drugstore theft that lands the daring duo in real trouble. Humor and heartache intermingle in this lively look at two budding writers in the 1930s South.

Every time I go to our local charity Lifeline Book fair I seem to pick up a truly surprising book. How did this book published in the US in 2016 end up in a book fair in Sydney, Australia? There is a clue on the back cover. This book was purchased from an Australian independent book seller (now closed) for $25. It was added to their shop shelves in November 2016. Who purchased this book? There is a clue inside the front cover. Very very childish writing says "This book belongs to Leda". If the writing matches the age of this child then I am certain Leda did not read this book - so of course it is in mint condition with the dust jacket intact. On the final day of the fair every book is half price if you spend over $30 so I picked up this book for $1.50 - amazing. You can read more plot details here.

Betsy Bird shares two videos made by G (Greg) Neri about Monroeville and his book. These will give you a fabulous insight into the background to this book. 

Here are a couple of text quotes to give the flavour of the writing:

"They decided to pay a social call on Mr Yarborough (owner of the drugstore) to straighten out the facts. The plan was to just sit there and chat away, enjoying an ice cold Catawba Flip or a fluffy Cherry Dope at the soda fountain. Then using their wiles and charms, they'd get Mr Yarborough to reveal some crucial bits of information which would solve the case."

"Because it was Halloween, the Boular house reminded Nelle even more of an old graveyard. Surrounded by spooky trees and a rusty bent fence, the house was built of dark wood and was rumored to be haunted. It was foreboding and sagged in the middle like it was on its last legs. The yard was an overgrown tangle of scuppernong arbors and wild pecan trees. If you hit a ball into ol' man Boular's yard and he was home, you could consider that ball lost forever."

The charming and elegantly written novel doesn’t shy away from issues of mental illness, child abandonment, and racism, but they are woven neatly into the fabric of the characters’ lives in the tiny Southern town. Kirkus star review

Many readers are given To Kill a Mockingbird as a High School text. Tru and Nelle could be an interesting way to explore the background to that famous book. Take a look at this page on the author website. Here is the sequel to Tru and Nelle which I plan to read as a ebook:

Companion reads:

How High the Moon

Stella by Starlight

My Brother Ben by Peter Carnavas

It is the summer holidays. Luke is in Grade 6 so he will return to his old school in late January but his brother Ben is moving on to High School. These months are a time of change for Luke. His father has left the family and moved far away to the other side of the country. Ben, who has always been his best friend, is changing in ways Luke finds confusing. Luke needs to hold onto the things that keep him steady. He loves birds, he knows all the birds around Cabbage Tree Creek. He can identify their songs and his favourite book is the battered-up guide book given to him by his Aunty Gem. They regularly go on bird finding expeditions - and these days are filled with joy.

The prologue to My Brother Ben is so dramatic. Luke sees a bird in the middle of a busy road. It is a magpie that has been hit by a car. Just as Luke reaches to touch it, his brother swoops in and rescues him from a speeding car. In a beautiful moment they discover the precious bird is not dead and from then on Maggie becomes Luke's best bird friend.

Someone has abandoned a small white rowing boat in a yard near their house.  The brothers have shared dream:

"I got it all worked out. We'd take off from our jetty, head straight across to the other side. You can find that bird you saw today and all its friends. Then we'd go south, away from the Jumping Tree, all the way past the old windmill ... Follow that bend to The Pocket. We'd fish all day, catch flathead and bream ... a whole bucketful. We'd camp on the bank and cook fish and fall asleep under the stars."

But this is the summer of change. Luke has his birds and Ben seems to be distracted by a new girl who has moved into their town. Then a competition is announced

"The competition was being run by the local council, just for kids under fifteen. You had to make something that celebrated Cabbage Tree Creek. ... but the most important detail was the prize: a three metre fishing canoe, with paddles, life jackets and the chance to name the boat. They'd paint the name on the side for you."

Luke and Ben are desperate to win. 

"When you open your eyes to birds, the world opens itself in return."

When you read this book you will want to also grab any version of an Australian bird guide book. Here are a couple I found:

Or you could use this poster from The Guardian which shows the Australian Bird of the Year 2021:

The writing of Peter Carnavas just gets better and better. He has created such an authentic relationship between Luke and his older brother Ben. Oddly, I kept hoping nothing terrible would happen in this summer time story. At nearly every turn of the river I thought Ben or Luke would have a life changing or even fatal accident. I guess I have read too many books like this marred by tragedy. Instead I discovered a warm, realistic story about two boys who live near a river, share their dreams, and jokes and who deeply care for each other. I guarantee you will fall in love with this place, with the lives of these boys and with this quiet, careful exploration of Luke and Ben and their summer by Cabbage Tree Creek. 

This is a quintessential Australian story set in a small country town with bush nearby to explore and the creek where the boys swim and dream but it is also a book with universal themes of growing up, facing fear, self discovery, change, sibling relationships, and the importance of the natural world. 

‘How I love this book. Peter Carnavas is a wizard with words and a master of character, and his affection for Luke and Ben and the simple, complicated stuff of brotherhood shines through on every page. If you’ve ever had – or been, or known! – a brother, the ebbs and flows of their relationship will ring absolutely true and linger long past their story’s end. My Brother Ben is absolutely bursting with heart, and with the kind of quiet power of the very best books, the ones that leave an indelible mark. I didn’t know I needed a book about brothers, birds and boats; now I wonder how I was ever without it. What a glorious exploration of boyhood and brotherliness, of trust and truth and strength and steadfastness; please give My Brother Ben to all the boys in your life, and all the girls too.’ Meg McKinlay

I have never made this comment about a book before but I do wish UQP had considered producing this book as a hardcover. My Brother Ben has all the qualities of a classic children's book and while the paperback edition is, of course, very affordable for families and keen readers I would love to see a longer lasting edition of this book which could become a treasured one to keep. Paperbacks usually have paper that gradually yellows over time and aged paperbacks loose their appeal. This book is sure to be one on the CBCA 2022 notable list. 

Companion reads:

Twitch 

Half a Chance

Henry Hoey Hobson

The small Adventures of Popeye and Elvis

The Grand Genius Summer of Henry Hoobler

Scarlet Ibis

One last thing.  Years ago I read another book involving a bird guide book. It was an Australian book. It was for Upper Primary readers. The boy in the story loved his bird guide book and he longed to meet the author - a university academic. In my memory, the boy travels from a country town into the city, he arrives at night and he does eventually meet the author of his favourite book.  I am continuing my search for this book. If anyone can help please let me know in the comments. I know this sounds like The Someday Birds but it is a much older book and it is Australian.

Toys go out by Emily Jenkins illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky

Explore the secret world of toys. How do they feel about their lives? How do they view our world? 

What do they get up to when you are not home?

Toys go Out appears on so many read-a-loud lists.  When I was visiting the library of a friend she mentioned that this is just the first book in a series of three AND there is also a picture book. Now I have read the whole 'package' and I am just smiling and smiling.

Let's take a look at the sub titles for each of these treasures.

Toys go out - being the adventures of a knowledgeable stingray, a toughy little buffalo, and someone called Plastic.

Toy Dance Party - being the further adventures of a bossyboots stingray, a courageous buffalo, and a hopeful round someone called Plastic.

Toys come Home - being the early experiences of an intelligent stingray, a brave buffalo, and a brand-new someone called Plastic.

Toys meet Snow - being the wintertime adventures of a curious stuffed buffalo, a sensitive plush stingray, and a book-loving rubber ball.

I can see a lesson in adjectives right here ... curious, sensitive, book-loving.

In toys Meet Snow the family have gone on holidays and so now is the perfect time for our toy friends to explore the outside world and in particular, enjoy the snow.  Lumphy (the buffalo) has questions, StingRay has poetic (but not always entirely factual) answers and Plastic - the book reader - counters with the factual answer.  I love the imaginative and creative answers of StingRay :

Why does it decide to snow?  "Because the clouds are sad and happy at the same time."

What do you think snow is, exactly?  "It's a blanket of peace over the world."

What is a sunset?  "It's strawberry syrup pouring over the world to make it sweet before nightfall."

I also love the power of a perfectly placed word.  As the trio venture out into the snow Lumphy finds a hat to keep his cold head warm. StingRay needs a plastic baggie because she is dry-clean only but please "poke me some air holes."  But what about Plastic.  

"I don't need anything!' shouts Plastic.  She just goes natural."

Toys go Out is the first book in this series but my favourite is the second Toy Dance Party.  The third book Toys come Home is actually the prequel but I would recommend reading them in order of publication.

Here area few story quotes which made me smile :

Toys go out :

"When you are eight you can drive a limousine ... you have lots of money to buy all the chocolate you want."

Toy Dance Party :

"Honey knows her toys play when she's not around. After all, they are never exactly where she left them when she returns from school ... "

The extra characters are also bound to become your friends too - TukTuk the towel, Frank the washing machine, Sheep - the sheep and the Dryer who is broken but does find his voice.

Read this review for details of the characters and themes.  Here are a set of teaching notes.  Listen here to an audio chapter sample from Toys go Out.  This series would be an absolutely perfect class read-aloud for Kindergarten or Year One.  Each chapter book contains six short stories.  I highly recommend you look for these poignant, insightful and sensitive stories today - your young audience with thank you for sharing.

... a nice choice for young readers, who will enjoy exploring the warm, secret world of toys.  Kirkus

Poignant and compelling, this sequel sparkles.  Kirkus

What is a child? by Beatrice Alemagna

One of the most important parts of this very special picture book is the dedication.  You probably mostly skip this part but here it is :

To every grown-up

who has never forgotten

their yellow dog.

Now watch this amazing animation by the author where she talks about her inspiration for this book.

Back to the dedication.  When you read page ten you can see the yellow dog.  I am an adult who has not forgotten her yellow dog.

My favourite page has these words :

"Children have little things, just like them: a little bed, bright little books, a little umbrella, a little chair. Yet they live in a very big world: so big that cities don't exist, buses to up into space and stairs never end."

Read this review to discover more about this very different, but important book.  It would be good to share this book with a group of older students and have them reflect on the meaning of each statement and then perhaps add their own wisdom.  This book would also inspire students to create art or portraits perhaps in the distinctive style of Beatrice Alemagna.

Each spread holds a bold portrait, accompanied by poignant and provocative text, which will resonate with the reader 

in more ways than one.