The Day of Ahmed's Secret by Florence Parry Heide illustrated by Ted Lewin

Image from this video (well worth watching)

"Today I have a secret, and all day long my secret will be like a friend to me. Tonight I will tell it to my family, but now I have work to do in the city."

Ahmed rides on his small cart pulled by his donkey. The city of Cairo is noisy and filled with people trading and shopping. Ahmed notices the sounds and the colours. He enjoys a quick meal of beans and noodles, but he cannot pause for long because he has deliveries to make - heavy bottles of fuel. 

With older students I would like this book with the UNICEF Rights of the Child:

28. Education: Every child has the right to an education. Primary education should be free. Secondary and higher education should be available to every child. Children should be encouraged to go to school to the highest level possible.

32. Protection from harmful work: Children have the right to be protected from doing work that is dangerous or bad for their education, health or development. If children work, they have the right to be safe and paid fairly.

When I spied this book at a recent charity book sale I knew it would be a terrific choice. As is often the way with books I pick up at the fair, I do wonder how this book came to be here in Australia. Someone has inscribed it "to Leo happy reading love Grandma Bea". I wonder if Leo read his gift. I wonder if Bea knew the author or illustrator or if she realised this book (published in 1990) contains an important story about the power of education and literacy? 

Publisher blurb (spoiler included): Ahmed drives his donkey cart through the streets of Cairo, delivering butane gas cylinders to his father's customers. He knows everyone and has a part to play in the life of the city. He is proud to be strong enough to help his family, but most of all he is proud of his precious secret, a secret that he keeps until the end of the day. The book reveals a lot about Ahmed's life, and finally his secret - that he can write his name.

Florence Parry Heide died in 2011. She wrote over 100 books including the famous series about Treehorn. The co-author of this book Judith Heide Gilland is her daughter. Ted Lewin died in 2021. He illustrated over 200 books. (Kirkus have talked about lots of them). I have already talked about his book about puffins! Here are two others:

Read about Eve Bunting here

CBCA Short lists 2026 announced today - my predictions

If you are reading this before 12 noon on 31st March, then you might like to see if my predictions match yours and IF you are reading this after 12 noon on 31st March you might be saying ha ha I was right or ha ha you were so wrong!

Picture Book of the Year - my top six. Of the twenty-five notables I was able to read 17. I read a good report about Jo and the No but I wasn't able to find this book over the last month. 

Once I was a giant

Dawn

One Day

Bob and Dob

Gone

The Thing about Christmas

Younger Readers Book of the Year - my top six (I have ten on my list). Of the twenty-five notables I was able to read or skim through 15. 

Song of a Thousand Seas

Run

The Keeper of the Octopus

The Silken Thread

Promises and other lies

Into the Bewilderness

My other three choices are The Year we Escaped; How to sail to Somewhere; and The Making of Martha Mayfield. I am currently reading The Surface Trials and it might be another possible title on the short list. The other title from the Younger Readers that I wanted to read but didn't find was The Paperbark Tree Committee. 

The Red Lemon by Bob Staake

"Over the hills and along the blue sea, 'The lemons are ready!' shouts Farmer McPhee."

The farmer loves his lemons. The people love these lemons. They make sherbet, drinks, cookies, cakes, muffins and shakes. But one day a rogue lemon appears - it is red!

"Who'd squeeze this red thing in their afternoon tea? Who'd buy a red lemon from Farmer McPhee?"

Famer McPhee throws the red lemon over to a nearby island but as you your reading companion or library group might predict lemons (no matter what colour) contain seeds and so if the conditions are right then ...

Does this book have a deeper message about acceptance of difference; trust; risk taking; perfection, consumerism (look closely at all the advertising banners) - probably, but it will also just be a fun book to read to your young preschooler. You could also talk about the way something that was discarded turned into something special and there is a whole discussion you could have with older students about the fate of the original orchard or island. Here are a few discussion questions. It would be fantastic to copy the double page spread of the futuristic red lemon town to read all the advertising signs. The one that says McPhee Memorial Building might give you a slight chill. Hopefully if you can find this book you will agree it is one of those picture books that will work equally well with young children and your older primary group.

"The Red Lemon" tells the tale of jolly Farmer McPhee, a perfectionist who one day finds a red lemon, a freak of nature, in his pristine orchard. He hurls the offending fruit onto a nearby deserted island. Little does McPhee know that he has just planted the seed that, long after his own orchard has gone to weed, will be the foundation for the thriving tourist destination Red Lemon Island. We see the island 200 years in the future, complete with its own Air Red airline and Bitter End discothèque. Bob Staake

A quirky city has evolved with an economy based on these fabulously sweet red lemons, attracting people from all over the world. Kirkus

Here is the publisher blurb: In this thought-provoking tale reminiscent of Seuss, Farmer McPhee finds a red lemon in his orchard and cries, "It's red as a stop sign! It's red as a rose! I can't have red lemons where yellow fruit grows! Imagine a world where lemonade's red? Where once-yellow cupcakes are crimson instead?" As he tosses the red lemon across the water, he can't imagine that it will land on a small island, sprout a seed, and someday bring forth an orchard of lemon trees...where people will travel to from all over, to try the red lemons that are "six times as sweet!"

Here are some more books about lemons. 

Companion book:

And if you want to talk about planting things try to find this vintage book:

The Lollipop Tree

Here is another Bob Staake book I really loved:

The Book of Gold

I did a search for other books by Bob Staake and now I have added his name to my library borrowing list for next week.

The Moon Dragons by Dyan Sheldon illustrated by Gary Blythe

A timeless picture book to be returned to time and time again. Love Reading 4Kids

This book has languished on library shelves for ten years and so the Teacher-Librarian is considering 'weeding' it or removing it from her huge book collection. There is a fantastic story hiding inside this book with themes of greed, girl power, bravery and the moral dilemma of truth verses keeping an important secret. I wonder why it has not been borrowed - my guess is the (sorry Gary Blythe) the unappealing cover. 

This is a 'what would you do' story. I will explain this in a minute.

The King declares there are no dragons but then a traveller reveals there are a few left at the top of the mountain. The king now wants a dragon and so he sends his hunters.

"The royal huntsmen went up the mountain. But its slopes were steep and treacherous, its woods filled with frightening beasts. When they returned all they had was a goat."

This enrages the king. He offers a huge reward to anyone who can bring him a dragon. Hunters, trappers, woodsmen, herders and mountaineers all set off but none can find a dragon. Then a young village girl named Alina declares she will try. Everyone scoffs. How can a mere girl, a child, ever succeed? 

Spoiler alert (this book is from 2014 so it is long out of print): Alina finds the dragons but when she returns to the village she tells everyone there were no dragons. I cheered!

I love this final sentence:

"But as she walked along. Alina took a silver scale from her pocket and smiled. A flight of dragons was worth far more than a room full of gold."

"And there, in the dale below, was a dance of dragons, shining pearl and silver in the soft lunar light ... First one, then anther rose into the air, graceful as clouds, 

their voices joined in song. 

Alina stood on the hill top as if in a dream. 

Her heart beat with the singing of the dragons, 

her breath flowed with the rhythm of their wings."

Bookseller blurb: When a king discovers that there are still singing moon dragons high up on the mountainside, he offers a room full of gold to anyone who can bring one to him. The beautiful dancing dragons only reveal themselves to Alina, a young peasant girl, but she preserves the secret of their whereabouts, knowing that there are some things far more precious than a room full of gold.

Blythe’s soft edge, dramatic, yet realistically-seen paintings are peopled with utterly individual characters, while his clever use of scale and cut-off points roots the story in fantasy. Coupled with Sheldon’s lyrical telling of a good story, they together create something magical. Books for Keeps

Take a look at art by Gary Blythe. You should try to find these two books also illustrated by Gary Blythe:

The Whale's Song

In the US this book is called Under the Moon

You can see other books by Dyan Sheldon here. 

The King and Nothing by Olivier Tallec translated by Nick Frost and Catherine Ostiguy

"There was once a king who had everything."

Stop and think about this sentence and the title. Now go onto this sentence:

"He lacked almost nothing."  

Wait a minute the king interprets this as he lacked Nothing. He needs Nothing. He is a collector and so he is missing this 'thing' called nothing.

Perhaps Nothing is something tiny - like a microbe. Or maybe he can find Nothing in the desert or perhaps in the vast night sky. The king demands everyone in the castle - someone must bring him Nothing. Even a tiny leaf is actually something and burning it just leaves ashes. He cannot even do nothing because that leads to daydreaming. He decides he might find Nothing if he gives everything away. He has an amazing collection of stuff but it all needs to go. The end page is sure to give you and your group of older students some thing to think about. 

Bookseller blurb: There once lived a king who had absolutely everything—and we mean everything. From elephants without trunks, to caramel-flavored ice skates, to caterpillars on bicycles, and even storm clouds that refused to make lightning. Yes, there was simply nothing you can imagine that this king did not have . . . well, except for nothing itself. From author-illustrator Olivier Tallec, The King and Nothing is the wonderfully whimsical and philosophical take of one person who searches high and low for nothing, only to encounter something at every turn. Just how far will the king go to find nothing?

Heady stuff, but potentially thought-provoking fare for budding existentialists. Kirkus

Despite his important anti-materialist message, the book’s cartoonish characters all sport big noses and googly eyes, which add to the fun. Even very young children will be able to grasp that the king’s library and cabinet of curiosities (bulging with rain clouds, sandwiches, bats, cacti, and moon boots) contain more than enough stuff for a lifetime. A timely message about how the chaotic mess of too many possessions can be countered with thoughtfulness, a desire for simplicity, and a deep clean out of one’s closet. YS Book Reviews

"He'd always been told you can find anything in books, so surely they would also be a good place to find Nothing. But the king quickly realised that although he had millions of books, their pages were always filled with something, a prince in love, different ways to repair a spaceship, or simple ways to prepare French-fry cakes. Decidedly, Nothing was not hiding in his library."

The French title is: Le roi et Rien.

Olivier Tallec graduated from the Ecole Supérieure d’Arts Graphiques in Paris and worked in advertising as a graphic designer before devoting himself to illustration. He has done many illustrations for newspapers and magazines and has illustrated more than thirty books for children. He lives in Paris.

One of the things I miss now that I no longer work in a school library is connecting books either in our library sessions or for staff. If I was sharing The King and Nothing these are the two books I would use as comparison texts (or just read for fun!).

The Greatest Treasure of Charlemagne the King

Old Blue is my Home by Lita Judge

Everyone deserves to see themselves represented in books and for other readers 
to experience a bit of someone else's life and build empathy through books.

Little Readers

My friend commented the other day that one very serious consequence of less reading by and to, our young children is the loss of empathy. In my former school of over 900 children I do know of one family where the boys spent their weekends with dad sleeping in a boathouse but I think I can say none of the children in that school were actually homeless and living in a car or van - that's why a book like this is important. Other children need to see kids living in very different circumstances. And this is not about  the happy van or caravan trip around Australia such as in We Live in a Bus (CBCA 2025 shortlist) or Dirt by Sea (CBCA Honour 2023) but the harsh reality of living every day in a van with your parents, siblings and pets and of trying to fit in at school and keep clean and have a little space of your own. 

Expertly capturing a child’s perspective, Judge’s matter-of-fact text is tinged with deep emotion—this is both a paean to a temporary home and a wish for more. Her sumptuous illustrations glow with warmth, inviting readers to linger. Kirkus Star review

Publisher blurb: An old blue van may not look like much, but it holds everything this family needs—shelter, a place to sleep, and each other. They can cook outdoors and sleep under the stars, but sometimes living in Old Blue makes our narrator feel like she’s from everywhere and nowhere all at once. When those feelings start to take over, Mama reminds her of the love inside Old Blue’s walls. Inspired by her childhood experience with economic and housing insecurity, acclaimed creator Lita Judge tells the gentle and ultimately hopeful story of a family who hopes for a forever home—but until that day comes, Old Blue will look after them. (Read more plot details here)

Here is an interview with the author.

Some kids point and laugh at Old Blue. And because they don't understand, they point and laugh at me. The invite each other to their houses to play. No-one wants to play in Old Blue.

Old Blue is my home

Try to find this book to read after Old Blue is my Home:

A place to stay

And I have added this book to my 'to read list' because it has similar themes:

I really like the idea of wide reading. Here are some companion novels for older primary students to extend their thinking about Old Blue is my Home with similar themes of housing insecurity:

Paper Things

Hold Fast

Just under the clouds

The family under the bridge

How to Steal a Dog

Shelter