The Thing about Christmas by Jo Dabrowski illustrated by Briony Stewart

Just when you think you have read every possible variation on a Christmas book along comes this one - The Thing about Christmas. Do not worry - I have not gone mad - I know it is March and not December but The Thing about Christmas is a 2026 CBCA Early Childhood Notable title.

The joy of this book is twofold - the illustrations interpret and go way beyond the rhyming text AND this book acknowledges that Christmas does not need to follow a formula. Your family may be small, or mum and dad might live in separate houses or perhaps you don't celebrate this season or Christmas might coincide with a deeply sad event in your life (make sure you look very closely at that page where we see a tiny photo of the family). 

The final words sum up the 'message' of this book (sorry it is not really a message in the sense of being too didactic so please don't worry about my use of the word 'message').

"There's no right or wrong, whatever you do. Christmas in your home's unique, just like you. Because Christmas is not about all of that stuff. Christmas is love and love is enough."

The CBCA judges agree the 'standout' feature of the book are the illustrations:

Taking a closer look at the illustrations - on the first page a child sits in front of a screen looking at an idealised Christmas scene with all the trappings of tree, presents, lights, big family, stockings and a glowing fire. Even though we only have a back view it is very clear this is NOT the Christmas this child will experience. Turn the page and we zoom in on the real-life scene we just saw on the screen which then means the next page might give you a jolt as again we see a child, a different child, standing beside a tiny, slightly forlorn Christmas tree with only a couple of small presents underneath. This child is not looking at a screen, instead he can see a different family-filled celebration in the house next door. It is equally sad when we see a child sitting in a empty room with their two stocking/socks hung over a wall heater and not over the traditional chimney. 

For me, though, the most powerful and poignant page is the one with this text:

"Or maybe your Christmas is split up in two, and the one thing you wished for didn't come true."

Now go back through the whole book and notice the repeated children and their adults. The girl dropped off by her dad appears in another scene decorating a gingerbread house with her mum. The boy who is looking at the neighbours, is later seen with his brother and grandmother having fun with their sword presents and their mince pies on the table! 

Image source: Little Book Press

In another scene dad has died but for Christmas, mum and her son have fun in the sun at the beach. In an early scene we see the family with their chicken, not turkey, dinner and then on Christmas day mum has had her baby, so all the family are seen visiting the hospital. The final double page spread is a summary of each family presented as a reflection in a Christmas bauble - such a lovely way to recap the story. 

The thing about Christmas is that it is an intensely individual festival for each and every person and family. This book is a sublime insight into that concept. Just so Stories

So much care and love has been poured into every illustration in The Thing about Christmas. Briony Stewart used a similar technique of connected stories in her book These Little Feet. 

In all honesty I would never use these but here are the teacher's notes for The Thing about Christmas. 

In 2023 I penned a blog post about the illustrator Briony Stewart. Perhaps you saw her terrific book about the Tooth Fairy.

Tooth Fairy

I previously talked about the other two books (three in total) that Jo Dabrowski has on the CBCA 2026 Notables list - Dear Broccoli and The Making of Martha Mayfield.

Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman

AMIR: The garden’s green was as soothing to the eye as the deep blue of that rug. I’m aware of color—I manage a fabric store. But the garden’s greatest benefit, I feel, 

was not relief to the eyes, but to make the eyes see our neighbors.

This book is such an interesting discovery. It is a book for Young Adult readers but I am sure adults will enjoy the way this book is written as a jigsaw puzzle where we meet a diversity of characters all linked through their connection with a community garden. (In the UK this might be called an allotment). Seedfolks was published in 1997 - I read an ebook version. The good news is the paperback [9780064472074] from 1999 seems to be available to order from your favourite independent book seller.

Publisher blurb: A Vietnamese girl plants six lima beans in a Cleveland vacant lot. Looking down on the immigrant-filled neighborhood, a Romanian woman watches suspiciously. A school janitor gets involved, then a Guatemalan family. Then muscle-bound Curtis, trying to win back Lateesha. Pregnant Maricela. Amir from India. A sense of community sprouts and spreads. 

Characters

• Kim: A Vietnamese girl mourning her father, who plants beans to connect with him.
• Ana: An elderly Romanian woman who initially distrusts Kim but later helps tend the garden.
• Wendell: A school janitor who supports Kim and contributes to the garden.
• Gonzalo: A young Guatemalan boy who feels responsible for his uncle and finds purpose in gardening.
• Curtis: A muscle-bound man trying to win back his ex-girlfriend through gardening.
• Leona: A passionate woman who fights to clean the lot and grows goldenrod, believing it has healing properties.
• Maricela: A pregnant teen who learns to care for plants and finds hope for her future.
• Amir: An Indian immigrant who grows eggplant, sharing his heritage with others in the community.
• Tío Juan: Gonzalo’s uncle, a farmer who finds joy in sharing his knowledge with children.
• Sae Young: A Korean woman who finds solace among neighbors as she tends to the garden.

Here is the Kirkus review. There is a link to book club questions on the publisher web page. Wikipedia have more plot details. 

Listen to a discussion about his book with All Things Considered.

Quick facts (Source Audible blog)

• Seedfolks features 13 distinct narrators, each telling their own chapter of the story.
• Despite its large and diverse cast of characters, the book is only 80 pages long.
• The story is set in Cleveland, Ohio, and spans one year, from the planting of the first seeds to the following spring.
• Seedfolks was named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults in 1998 and won the Buckeye Children's Book Award for ages six to eight in 1999.
• Seedfolks has been adapted into a play and performed on Broadway.
• The audiobook version features 13 different voice actors to represent each character.

Here are a few text quotes:

KIM: All his life in Vietnam my father had been a farmer. Here our apartment house had no yard. But in that vacant lot he would see me. He would watch my beans break ground and spread, and would notice with pleasure their pods growing plump. He would see my patience and my hard work. I would show him that I could raise plants, as he had. I would show him that I was his daughter.

WENDELL: There’s plenty about my life I can’t change. Can’t bring the dead back to life on this earth. Can’t make the world loving and kind. Can’t change myself into a millionaire. But a patch of ground in this trashy lot—I can change that. Can change it big. Better to put my time into that than moaning about the other all day. That little grammar-school girl showed me that.

LEONA: There were probably lots of folks who’d want to grow something, just like me. Then I studied all the trash on the ground. Don’t know why anyone called that lot “vacant.” The garbage was piled high as your waist, some of it from the neighborhood and some dropped off by outside people. The ones who don’t want to pay at the dump, or got dangerous chemicals, or think we’re such slobs down here we won’t mind another load of junk. ...  The gardeners had made some trails through it. But I knew precious few would join ’em until that mess was hauled away.

NORA: That small circle of earth became a second home to both of us. Gardening boring? Never! It has suspense, tragedy, startling developments—a soap opera growing out of the ground. I’d forgotten that tremolo of expectation produced by a tiny forest of sprouts. What a marvelous sight it was to behold Mr. Myles’ furrowed black face inspecting his smooth-skinned young, just arrived in the world he’d shortly leave. His eyes gained back some of their life. He weeded and watered with great concentration.

Paul Fleischman grew up in Santa Monica, California. The son of well-known children's novelist Sid Fleischman, Paul was in the unique position of having his famous father's books read out loud to him by the author as they were being written. This experience continued throughout his childhood. Paul followed in his father's footsteps as an author of books for young readers, and in 1982 he released the book "Graven Images", which was awarded a Newbery Honor citation. In 1988, Paul Fleischman came out with "Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices", an unusually unique collection of poetry from the perspective of insects. This book was awarded the 1989 John Newbery Medal. Factoring in Sid Fleischman's win of the John Newbery Medal in 1987 for his book "The Whipping Boy", Paul and Sid Fleischman became to this day the only father and son authors to both win the John Newbery Medal.

We are like Birds by Laila Ekboir

 

I am a patchwork quilt made up of all the places I've lived.

Florencia is moving again with mum, dad and her baby brother. It is hard to fit into her new place. She plays a different sport (soccer) from the kids who play baseball. She speaks a different language (Spanish). Grandma is far away and they can only see her on a screen. But there are ways to make new friends. Sharing food with neighbors and inviting them to your birthday party which is filled with dancing and music. 

Blurb: Flor is only seven years old and has moved home three times. Now her family is moving again and she has to start all over again in a new country and a new school.

Mum says we are like snails ... Dad says we're like crabs ... Our neighbor says we're like a herd of elephants ... Grandma says we're like the moon, distant but always shining ... Mum says we're like dandelion seeds 

The perfect, uplifting story for any child who feels like they don’t fit in or who is worried about the prospect of moving country, home or school and having to start over. Books for Topics

For older readers there is perhaps more that could be drawn from the numerous analogies throughout the text between the family and the many animals their plight resembles: birds, snails, crabs. Perhaps this could inspire some reflective poetry, or encourage children to share the animal that they feel most reflects their own family’s journey. References are made also to puzzle pieces, seeds blown on the wind, and patchwork quilts which may help children to explore and share feelings about their family make-up, the movement of families around the world and the many reasons for such movement. Books for Keeps

Reading the bio of author Lalia Ekboir who comes from Argentina I discovered a new phrase: Third Culture Kid. It denotes a child who grows up in a culture different from the one their parents grew up in.

I noticed an unfamiliar publisher name on the cover of this book:

Kumusha Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books, is a new inclusive list of globally inclusive, empathy-led, high-quality children's books, curated by publisher Ken Wilson-Max. Kumusha Books will publish a range of fiction and non-fiction, from board books for babies, to chapter books for emerging readers. Books to make positive and meaningful change to how we are all represented in children's books. ...  Our aim is to create books for all children to see themselves as they are and as they want to be; to feel at home though books.

I mentioned a book from Kumusha when I talked about the Inclusive Book Awards. 

Here is the webpage for Ken Wilson-Max. Decades ago I discovered this book and even though I do not own a copy (and sadly I am sure my previous library have probably disposed of it) A Book of Letters by Ken Wilson-Max remains a favourite book of mine.

My Mum is a Bird by Angie Cui illustrated by Evie Barrow

Mum is coming to school but my mum is so different. It is Parents and Carers Day. Visitors come to school, talk to the class and then enjoy morning tea of cup cakes in the playground. But mum doesn't walk her daughter to school she carries her dangling from her claws. Mum doesn't talk to the class - she sings. And mum is not interested in the cup cakes so she perches high in a tree. There's a funny implication here about the possibility of bird poo raining down on people sitting under that tree. Then a spider lands on the head of a parent. Everyone rushes about but no one can catch it until mum swoops down and saves the day. This is an important turning point for her daughter. Mum is a hero. Mum has made her proud. So together they fly away home. 

So is mum really a bird? 

The word allegory might come into your mind when you read My Mum is a Bird. An allegory is a simple story which has a symbolic and more complex level of meaning. Characters, setting, objects and colours can all stand for or represent other bigger ideas. 

I am going to suggest mum depicted as a bird could be designed to show she is neurodivergent; or has a disability; or she might be a non-English speaker; or have some mental health issues. She could even be an alternate life-style advocate - hence the seeds for morning tea? Because we don't know this - you and your students will have plenty to discuss. This is a question with no right answer, and I am sure your students will have lots of interesting ideas and also personal stories to share.  

I did enjoy the moment of heroism when mum swoops in and eats that huge spider. The classroom or school learning goals are very appropriate - gratitude, empathy and mindfulness - I like these better than the three 'buzz' words used on signage at a school near me: opportunity, excellence and community and the words from my former school - respect, responsibility and personal best. To my eye personal best sounds so mediocre - no striving for excellence or setting yourself bigger learning or life goals. 

One important thing to notice in this story relates to the embarrassment felt by this child - surely this is a universal feeling. It made me think of several funny scenes in Greetings from Sandy Beach by Bob Graham - the little girl in that story is so embarrassed by her dad wearing baggy board shorts and also when mum has toffee wrappers stuck to her bottom. Also, the embarrassment felt by Emmy Lou in Sloppy Kisses (one of my favourite books).

The bookseller blurb says: A delightfully absurd and touching story about celebrating differences and loving your family - feathers and all. 

Image source: Evie Barrow

The author says: Writing My Mum is a Bird was a deeply personal and meaningful journey for me. Inspired by the real-life experiences of a dear friend, I set out to create a story that celebrates individuality and the beautiful diversity that sets us apart from one another. Witnessing my friend’s struggles and triumphs in embracing their identity and navigating family relationships moved me to craft a narrative for those who feel different or misunderstood. My hope is to inspire young readers to accept and celebrate who they truly are, while recognising the unique gifts that diversity brings. 

There is a tiny detail in the end papers - at the front all the feathers are in an ordered pattern but at the back one feather is slightly off set in the corner. This might spark an interesting discussion with your library group. You can see inside this book on Evie Barrow's web page. Read more about Angie Cui here.

You can download teachers notes from the publisher page. The notes suggest also reading That Bird Has Arms by Kate and Jol Temple but I thoroughly disagree because these two books are designed to explore very different themes. You might find a companion book in this Pinterest collection from my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything. You might also have a book in your library from 2015 called If my Mum were a Bird by Jedda Robaard. This one could also be an interesting companion book:

Never, Not Ever!

Thanks to UQP (University of Queensland Press) for my advance copy. My Mum is a Bird will be published on 1st April 2025.  If you live in Melbourne this book you can meet the author Angie Cui and the illustrator Evie Barrow at a special story time held at Readings Books in Carlton. 

I am a huge fan of art by Evie Barrow. I previously talked about these books:

I saw Pete and Pete saw me

Cub and Brown

My Mum is a Bird is a debut picture book for Angie Cui. Her next book will be published in June.

Measuring me by Nicola Kent

This book is such a delight. It will help a child make sense of themselves through a series of easy to understand comparisons. This book should be added to all preschool and Kindergarten classrooms. Every child will also potentially see themselves in these pages too:

The children depicted are diverse: one uses a walking aid, for example, and the girl on the cover has a tracheostomy to aid her breathing. Kent has a tracheostomy herself, and knows how vital it is for children with physical differences to find themselves represented incidentally ‘as part of the rainbow of humanity’ in books and other media. It’s particularly welcome to see a book about the wonders of the human body quietly taking this approach. Books for Keeps

• I'm as tall as ten tin cans.
• My nose can detect 50,000 different scent and my tongue has thousands of taste buds.
• The biggest bone is my thigh bone. It's about the height of a cat.
• When I'm standing still my body gives off enough energy to power a light bulb.

Written from the perspective of a child and featuring bright, adorable illustrations of different children, the book captures the sense of curiosity and wonder that children have for the world around them. It introduces the concept of measuring in a personal and relatable way, making it easier for young learners to grasp – and to have fun with!  Book Trust

This book would make a wonderful gift for a young child aged 3-6. If you are reading this book to your class Kane Miller the US publisher have a set of discussion questions. 

A brilliant bonus at the back of the book is an equally ingenious, sturdy, height chart. This has the usual measuring tape along one side, but tins in the middle and animals beside them so you can compare them to your own height and to each other. Emperor penguins are much larger than I imagined! You are encouraged to find other things to measure yourself against too and I can see this provoking lots of excited activity. Love Reading 4Kids

You can see lots of other books by Nicola Kent here. They sure do look appealing.

I am the Storm by Jane Yolen

I am the Storm by Jane Yolen and Heidi EY Stemple 

illustrated by Kristen and Kevin Howdeshell

"Nature is strong and powerful. But I am strong and powerful, too. ... And when the storm passes, as it always does, 

I am the calm too."

Let's begin the the word storm. In this book different family groups experience a hurricane, tornado, blizzard, and a forest fire.

"It's okay to be scared."

But each time, the family find safety, and each narrator, from different parts of America, finds something positive in both the experience and in the clearing up that needs to follow.

"I bought flowers to all the neighbours while the grown-ups swept the ashes and washed windows."

Publisher blurb: A tornado, a blizzard, a forest fire, and a hurricane are met, in turn, with resilience and awe in this depiction of nature's power and our own.  In the face of our shifting climate, young children everywhere are finding themselves subject to unfamiliar and often frightening extreme weather. Beloved author Jane Yolen and her daughter Heidi Stemple address four distinct weather emergencies (a tornado, a blizzard, a forest fire, and a hurricane) with warm family stories of finding the joy in preparedness and resilience. Their honest reassurance leaves readers with the message: nature is powerful, but you are powerful, too. Illustrated in rich environmental tones and featuring additional information about storms in the back, this book educates, comforts, and empowers young readers in stormy or sunny weather, and all the weather in between.

The best books, including picture books, teach me new words. In this one I discovered the word roiled. Roil: to (cause to) move quickly in a twisting circular movement. 

The teacher in this blog post used I am the Storm as a poetry writing stimulus. 

Illustrated in rich environmental tones and featuring additional information about storms in the back, this book educates, comforts, and empowers young readers in stormy or sunny weather, and all the weather in between. Brightly: Raise kids who love to read

A treasure full of  love, affirmation, and resiliency. Maria Marshall: The Picture Book Buzz

Child-centered, reassuring, and welcome. Kirkus Star review

Here in Australia this book is sadly VERY expensive ($35) so, while I would love to recommend it as a perfect library purchase, I guess that might not be possible. Perhaps you can make use of this video and you will also see the final pages which explain each of the storms. Here is an interview with Jane Yolen and her daughter Heidi. Jane Yolen is the author of over (huge cheer) 400 books!

I have seen a lot of really poor digital art in picture books recently but in this book it is wonderful. The illustrators explain: "The art is sketched in pencil and the finishes are rendered in Photoshop with a Wacom tablet." My favourite page is near the end where the boy looks across a beach towards a lighthouse (signalling hope). 

From the video Project Recovery Iowa

Here are two other books illustrated by husband and wife Kristen and Kevin Howdeshell (sadly they are both way too expensive to add to my shopping list).

All Sorts by Pippa Goodhart illustrated by Emily Rand

Just like the little girl, Frankie, in this book I do enjoy sorting things. It would be a joy to share this book with a young child because the sorted and unsorted illustrations contain so much detail. There's lots to talk about here.  Then I think it would be fun to tip your toy box or junk drawer or button jar onto the floor and begin some sorting.

End papers! Boy oh boy they are SO good in this book. We open with chaos (well chaos to a sorter) and end with calm organisation. You can see this on the front and back covers too!

My only question about this book, which I did enjoy, is about the "message".  I actually do not want to find a message. I just enjoyed all the sorting.  If there is a message I guess it is about diversity and that we should celebrate the way people are all so different from one another - there is no need to sort people - everyone is an individual and that aspect of humanity should be celebrated. Here are some activity pages to use with this book. 

You could also use this book when you talk with library groups about the ways libraries are organised. A library is one of the most perfect examples of sorting in action.

The illustrations by Emily Rand are a total delight; colourful and full of detail they will encourage slow browsing and chat about all those familiar objects. A Library Lady

About the publisher Flying Eye Books: At the core of what we do is a simple pledge: whatever the project, whatever the medium, genre, or format, Flying Eye Books will take your children’s eyes on a journey of wonder!

The topic of sorting seems like a perfect one for illustrator Emily Rand who previously gave us:

The Lost Property Office

And here are some other titles by Pippa Goodhart (I love her name):

Best Test

Read more about Iranian illustrator Ehsan Abdollahi

Little Nelly's Big Book

Christmas is coming to Australia read Sarah's Two Nativities

I discovered this book in 2019 and I was certain it would appear on lots of award lists - but oddly it didn't.  Read my post here. If you are reading this post in 2021 then I am happy to say this book is available, in hardcover, and for a really good price. It won't arrive in time for Christmas but I highly recommend this book as one to add to your own Christmas shelf - it is a book you will want to revisit each year. 

You can see this book at the Storybox Library. 

A perfect story for families everywhere to read at anytime, but especially at Christmas.  Kids' Book Review

It’s wonderful to see this story that will help children understand that although there are many different beliefs and customs, if we listen to one another and take time to understand our differences, it will help us discover what we have in common.  Red Reading Hub

Nana Akua goes to School by Tricia Elam Walker illustrated by April Harrison

When you enter my creative world, I want you to FEEL something . A tug at the old heart strings. Perhaps a distant memory you stored away. April Harrison (illustrator)

It is Grandparents Day. This means you invite your grandparent to talk to your class. The idea is that each older person will share with the class "what makes them special."

Zura is worried. Her Grandmother - Nana Akua is her most favourite person in the world but she has seen the way other people react to the markings on Nana Akua's face.

"Nana Akua looks different. When she was younger, her parents followed an old African tradition. They put marks on her face to show which tribal family she belongs to, and to represent beauty and confidence. These marks will never go away."

Nana Akua is so wise. She suggests they take a special quilt to show the class. They will use this to explain the Adinkra symbols used by the Akan people of Ghana. You can see all of these marks on the end papers of this book. The way Nana Akua explains the markings and then finds a way to share this experience with the young children is ingenious and perfect. 

This book made me cry. I am someone who cries over many things - movies, television commercials, children singing in an assembly and novels but I cannot think of a time a picture book has made me cry. I don't think this is a bad thing - I think it is a testament to the power of this writing and the poignancy of this beautiful story. I didn't cry because I was sad I cried because this story moved me deeply. 

Harrison’s mixed-media collages use texture, line, and both neutral and bright colors to create memorable characters and moments that invite readers to linger over each spread. Here is a story that is both highly specific in the culture represented and universal in its expressions of emotion and heritage. Horn Book

A wonderful springboard for cross-cultural understanding conveyed through deeply symbolic art. Kirkus Star review

IBBY has six important goals. Here are two of them which relate to this book:

• to promote international understanding through children's books
• to give children everywhere the opportunity to have access to books with high literary and artistic standards

I am sad to see this book is very expensive here in Australia which may mean it is not able to be purchased for many school libraries but if you can spare the money I would love to see this book added to your Primary school collection. In this video Tricia and April talk about their book and and this video you can see the whole book.

Here are some other books by Tricia Elam Walker (Dream Street is due for publication in September and Ekua Holmes is her cousin); and What is Given from the heart illustrated by April Harrison.

If you come to Earth by Sophie Blackall

"We humans define ourselves by where we were born, where we live, what we believe, by the clothes we wear and the languages we speak. But there is no 'typical' person. We are all different. Yet there is something we all share - the planet on which we live."

If you come to earth begins with a view of the universe. Quinn, the author of the letter, takes reader and the visitor from outer space down through the stars flying high above the planet and gradually getting closer and closer so we can see houses, people enjoying a picnic, facial expressions, brightly coloured and varied clothing, the seasons, methods of transport (road, air and water), school life, famous people, leisure time, a diverse meal time and then we see the wonders of our planet. Our precious water, sea life, land animals, and birds. This is my favourite page. Then Sophie explores music, art and communication. We have natural things and man made; big things and tiny things but it is the next page that may make you gasp:

"Some things are invisible. wind; invisible cloak; gravity; electricity; the smell of roast chicken, old socks, frangipani, wet wool; sound waves; germs."

There are times when people are hurt or sadly hurt one another but things are much better when we help each other - thank you Sophie this scene is a library!! Over time all humans grow and learn to tell stories. Finally Quinn says:

"If you come to Earth, you can stay in my room. Love Quinn."

In this generous video Sophie talks about her book and the five years of work that went into the creation of a book that everyone should treasure. I think this book should be added to EVERY library and also go out right now and buy this book as a Christmas present for someone precious in your family. In this interview Sophie talks about her book.

Two-time Caldecott Medalist Blackall balances eye-catching double-page spreads with white space, even focusing on a single powerful image—for instance, one giant bird formed from dozens of small birds fit together. ... Each rich illustration invites return visits to investigate all the small, and big, details it contains. Kirkus

Sweet, funny, moving, timely, and beautiful. Horn Book

The visual detail is awesome and the importance of seeing each person as a unique, valued human being worthy of our respect and care, and of the vital necessity too caring for the Earth, shine through the entire book. Red Reading Hub

Some things to notice in this book (there are sure to be more):  

Quinn looks just like the Ezra Jack Keats boy in Snowy Day and he appears on nearly every page.

• Houses page - look for the caravan with the clothes line and the line of people who have lost their homes
• Picnic page - look for the book with a map of Australia (Sophie is from Australia but lives in NYC)
• Transport page - look for the Christmas tree; stretch limo; and snowboarder
• School page - the kids are drawing the aliens we will later see on under the dust jacket

You might also hunt for several lighthouses; a puffin; Quinn playing a triangle; and a boomerang. You will also want to linger over the page of fifty paint tubes with their creative and funny names: slug belly, proud, baby tooth, vacuum bag dirt and dreams do come true.  Sophie should ask Dulux if she can name their next range of paints. She has invented some really nifty labels.

I do need to say one thing to Sophie (if she happens to read this post) - I was utterly devastated when Hello Lighthouse was not awarded a prize by our Children's Book Council of Australia. I am associated with several school libraries and we were all so certain Hello Lighthouse would WIN. At least the short listing for 2020 means hundreds indeed thousands of children in Australian schools have seen this glorious book.

Sophie has written over 45 books. Here are a few I adore: