Mermaids are a popular topic with younger readers and dare I say mostly girls. Jane Yolen does not specify the gender of this adventurer because the story is told by an off-stage narrator. It is illustrator Sally Deng who has interpreted the book so to my eye the child could be a girl or a boy. You can see inside this book here.
Momo celebrating time to read
Friday, October 17, 2025
How to Spot a Mermaid by Jane Yolen illustrated by Sally Deng
Thursday, October 16, 2025
The Last Resort by Erin Entrada Kelly
"She went up one step. Two. She felt Teddy's breath on her neck. Another step. Another. Was it her imagination or was it getting darker and darker? Up another step. And another. The stairs creaked and moaned. She imaged herself as a brave, brave warrior, completely unafraid. She reminded herself that fear was what red them ... She thought of herself covered in blood ... She felt the fear growing in the pit of her stomach, sprouting and growing, and tried to damp it down. I'm not scare. I'm not scared."
I am not really a fan of ghost stories but one thing that the story needs to have is motivation. I need to know why the ghosts are there. In this case it is due to several crimes. One hundred and fifty years ago the circus that had come to town burned to the ground and all of the performers were killed. Investigators also discovered the ring master had been shot.
The second crime is more recent. Lila along with her brother and mother and father have moved into their grandfather's home. It was actually once run as an Inn. On the first night Lila is visited by the ghost of Grandfather Clem. He tells her he did not die from a heart attack - he was murdered. All he wants now is to go back through the portal so he can be reunited with his wife who died many years ago.
Now that we have the problem we can assemble the team to solve this - Lila, her brother Caleb and the boy from next door - Teddy.
As with all mysteries (in books and on television) I tried to solve this before reaching the end. I thought I had worked out the murderer and his motivation, but things sure did get way more complicated in those final scenes. If you have readers aged 10+ who enjoy ghost stories and like books where kids solve a mystery then this is a book you can recommend. The writing is very atmospheric and Erin entrada Kelly does conjure some very tense scenes. Erin talks about her book in this video. Ms Yingling includes lots of plot details in her review.
Kirkus gave this book a star review: Hauntingly good and sure to possess any horror aficionado. It wasn't quite at that level for me but as I said I am not a huge fan of ghost stories and also I found it a little odd that Lila did not recognise the circus performers even though Teddy had already told her about the fire from last century.
This book is the first in series and it contains extra materials which you access via a QR code. Decades ago I read another book from Scholastic that included an element like this but of course over time the link has disappeared. (The Skeleton in the Creek and The Ghost in the Machine).
I love that the kids went to the library to read old newspaper reports about the circus fire. I also enjoy books that refer readers to other books - here is the one Teddy is reading when the kids go over to talk to him:
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
The Boy who Said Wow by Todd Boss illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh
Publisher blurb: When Grandfather comes to take his grandson to a concert, Ronan is quiet as they leave the house, quiet in the car, and quiet at the concert hall. But when the performance is over and the beautiful music fades out at last, Ronan opens his mouth…and lets out a great big WOW! Not any old WOW, but Ronan’s very first WOW! That one word fills up the hearts of Ronan’s family, the musicians, the audience, and—when the recording goes viral—the world.
What was the music I hear you ask - 'Masonic Funeral music' by Mozart.
Spending time in a public library last month I spied this book which I had heard of but not read. I enjoy attending classical music concerts in special venues so it made me smile to hear the true story of this little boy who was so moved by the music he heard that in the silence after the final note from the orchestra he said 'wow'!
This wow is huge partly because it is a beautiful and natural reaction to a special experience but more importantly because this boy was almost nonverbal and yet he used his voice to express his delight.
I love that he took his dog to the concert, but I can imagine some adults might think this was an odd inclusion in a story that is based on real events. Add this book to your list of stories to share when you talk about the 2026 CBCA slogan 'A Symphony of Stories'. After or even before sharing this book, I would grab your own favourite piece of classical music and ask your library group to close their eyes and just listen - perhaps one or two of the younger children might have a reaction like Ronan in this story. This is not a video of the actual book it has different illustrations, but it is worth a look because you can hear the music as the story is told.
The Boy who Said Wow was published in 2024. As I write this post you can buy this book for a really good price here in Australia but I also sure it will be found in many public libraries.
A heartwarming testament to music’s emotional power. Kirkus
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
The Great Shark Egg Case Hunt by Kasey Whitelaw illustrated by Sylvia Morris
Begin with the title:
- Great - in this book you will meet children from all around the world (that's pretty great).
- Shark - in Australia we are fascinated by sharks - very sadly in my local area just a couple of weeks ago a popular local resident lost his life after a shark attack. Of course not all sharks are dangerous.
- Egg case - wait a minute - do sharks lay eggs? Yes, and that is the topic of this book.
- Hunt - why are people hunting for these eggs? Is that okay? What will happen to the information? This sounds like a Citizen Science project.
As with all good nonfiction this book will give your students (and you too) a terrific jumping off point for further investigations and research.
If I was sharing this book in a classroom or with a library group I would grab a large sized world map perhaps with more details than the one in the book (paper not on a screen) and then print out images of eight sharks from around the world to add to the map then after reading The Great Shark Egg Case Hunt I would assign groups of students to research each shark and then present a brief talk to the class using the map and the shark photo plus a photo of the egg case as props for their talk. At the end of the week when every group has presented their findings the kids could write a 3-question quiz for their classmates to see how well everyone was listening and also to discover which curious facts really grabbed everyone's attention. This book is aimed at a younger audience ages 5-9 but this was a topic I knew nothing about so even as an adult I enjoyed exploring this topic more deeply.
Here are a few of the things I discovered from this book and from further reading:
- Puffadder Shysharks from South Africa curl up into a doughnut shape to avoid predators.
- Here's a new word - chimaera. They are also known as ghost sharks, rat fish, spook fish and rabbit fish. The Elephant Fish from New Zealand is a chimaera and this is the shark in this book.
- Chimaera are closely related to sharks, skates and rays. But they diverged from their shark relatives around 400 million years ago.
- In Alaska there are jelly fish called Moon Jellies
- A mermaid’s purse is an empty shark egg case that washes up on shore. It looks a lot like seaweed when it is on the beach.
- This book, The Great Shark Egg Case Hunt, focuses on Oviparous Sharks: Egg-Laying Specialists but there are also Viviparous Sharks: The Live-Bearers and more sharks with more complex reproductive processes.
- Primarily slow-moving, bottom-dwelling fishes of the oceans, the skates and rays are close relatives of the sharks. All three belong to the same class of fish, Chondrichthyes—vertebrates whose skeleton is composed of cartilage, not true bone. (Source)
Huge thanks to CSIRO Publishing for this advance copy - The Great Shark Egg Case Hunt was published last week.
- Cat Sharks
- Horn Sharks
- Bamboo Sharks
- Carpet Sharks
- Zebra Sharks
- Swell Sharks
- Port Jackson Shark
- Dogfish Sharks
- Australian Swellshark
Monday, October 13, 2025
There's a Tiger on the Train by Mariesa Dulak illustrated by Rebecca Cobb
There is a tiger on the train but also some hippos, crocodiles, piglets, and two pugs BUT dad is so engrossed in his phone screen he misses all the fun and amazement.
This book published in 2025 should be essential reading for parents! And at the same time young children will enjoy this wild train ride and the 'noisy sections' with words like clank, rumble, chew-chew, spish-splash and everyone should join in with the huge roar at the end as the tiger grabs that wretched mobile phone. Sadly also, though, many children will relate to the little boy in this story who just needs his dad to put down his phone and listen and look and connect with his son in a meaningful way. Please consider adding this book to your school library wish list. The paperback is slightly expensive at over AUS$28 but I really do highly recommend There's a Tiger on the Train.
Awards:
- Shortlisted for Oscar's Book Prize 2025
- Nominated for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration 2025
- Shortlisted for the UKLA Book Award 2025
- Shortlisted for the Indie Book Award 2024
- Selected as a Books for Topics Book of the Year 2024
- Selected as a Waterstones Best Books of 2024
- Shortlisted for The Week Junior Book Award 2025
Sunday, October 12, 2025
A Kite for Moon by Jane Yolen and Heidi Stemple illustrated by Matt Phelan
If you work in a library that is filled with book treasures, how can you showcase them to your borrowers? Little children especially, cannot read book spines or browse huge book collections. There are a few things you can do. Firstly, where possible use front facing display shelves. Secondly set books out on displays and change these regularly.
I've been working in a school library recently and constantly changing, relevant book displays is one way the teacher-librarian ensures her massive, rich book collections are discovered and circulated. She has a few distinct display spaces. I asked to set out books about the Moon on one of these and as I checked the shelves, I discovered this book. Now I hope a young child might discover it too!
Why did it catch my eye? This goes back to something I talked about at a recent conference - field knowledge. Do you know Jane Yolen? You should. Have you read her books? You should. (Owl Moon is a favourite of mine). What about her daughter Heidi Stemple or the illustrator Matt Phelan? Yes, it is true I live in Australia and these creative book people are in the US but as I have said many times, we are so lucky to speak English and have access to the best books from USA, Canada, New Zealand and the UK.
If you work in a school or a preschool this book A Kite for Moon could be a great one to add to your read aloud pile - and you could then add in some other books about kites; the moon; and astronauts. There is also a theme here about following your dream. All of that in a picture book that probably has less than 100 words.
A young boy notices the moon looks sad. He has been flying his kite, so he grabs a pencil, writes a message on his kite and then sends it up, up, up to the moon. Over the coming days he sends many more kites up to the moon.
A kite for Moon was the winner of the 2019 Northern Book Awards. The judges said:
From its breathtaking cover to the celestial canvases and poignant prose, this book is a true treasure. The fact that stars are used instead of periods makes it even more memorable.
And here is the judging criteria:
Saturday, October 11, 2025
The Other Ducks by Ellen Yeomans illustrated by Chris Sheban
This book was published in 2018 so it is now out of print BUT if you can find a copy in a library (as I did) you should grab it with both hands and settle down to read this with your young reading companion or borrow it to share with your preschool group. I live near a lake/lagoon with plenty of ducks - it would be so brilliant to read this book during or after your visit to see my ducks.
Reading a wonderful picture book with a young child is such a meaningful way to discover rich words. In this book we have rushes, lush, wadey-water, waddle, splashed and splished, fretted, and this wonderful final sentence:
"And every single one of them felt downright ducky."
Chris Sheban is the illustrator of these two books below. I would like to see Three Squeezes, Someone like me (Patricia MacLachlan) and Job Wanted. He also illustrated What to do with a box which I will borrow next term from my friend's school library AND I now discover he did the covers of Because of Winn Dixie, Tiger Rising and Paperboy. See more here.