Where does Pepper come from? by Brigitte Raab illustrated by Manuela Olten

"Any book that lets kids say, NO so often is bound to be popular" School Library Journal

This book is from 2006 so it is out of print but it might be in your school or local library. I am sure the format of this one will inspire curiosity and give your reading group lots of laughs too. You could use this to write more questions, think of crazy creative answers and then flip the page to read the actual facts.

Where does pepper come from? A pepper mill; a spicy place; the pepper store; a sneezy place; from pepper rocks! Actually, we discover on the next page it comes from the berries of the pepper plant. Most pepper is grown in India, Indonesia, Brazil and Malaysia.

Other questions in this book include; Why do bears hibernate? Why do snail carry houses on their backs?Why are flamingos pink? and Why isn't a whale a fish?

“Why is the sea salty?” “Because a sea captain sprinkled salt on the water”. This humorous picture book asks a series of seven questions and is first given some very creative (but wrong) answers. “Why do snails carry houses on their backs?” “Because they love to go camping!” Readers can then turn the page to see a child saying, No! followed by a concise, correct answer. In a nice twist, the pattern is broken at the end of the book. “Why don't migrating birds get lost when they fly south in the fall?” “Because they have compasses in their beaks!” This seemingly silly answer turns out to be partly true.

The design is playful with cartoon-style illustrations that use soft earth tones combined with subtle humour. This book is a lively and appealing way to encourage children’s curiosity about the natural world. Outside in the World

Where does pepper come from? was originally published in German in 2005 with the title Wo wächst der Pfeffer? 

A book like this could be a terrific addition to your bag of tricks if you are a casual or substitute teacher. Keep your eye out - you might find one in a charity shop.

The library where I volunteer had a display last term of question and answer books. I think my facination with this goes back to books from my childhood like The How and Why Wonder book series and also I had a large format book filled with questions and answers but I have no memory of the title.

Possum Magic Cookbook illustrated by Julie Vivas

First published in 1985 with the title The Grandma Poss Cookbook. 

Betsy Bird and her sister have a podcast where they talk about older picture books. I am a fairly regular listener and I usually enjoy their banter and slightly 'nitpicking' insights into some of my favourite titles. I am sorry to say, however, that the episode about our beloved Possum Magic by Mem Fox did raise my ire. I will explain in a moment. I did, however, learn a new word: Interstitial which means sentences that are brief statements and serve as transitions or interruptions in a larger piece of writing. These types of sentences play a crucial role in guiding the reader through the text and enhancing its overall flow. By inserting interstitial sentences strategically, writers can effectively connect different ideas and maintain the reader’s interest.

I was happy that they both loved the illustrations in Possum Magic by Julie Vivas - she is a national treasure. Hopefully Betsy and her sister might hunt out some of her other books - my favourite is Puffling.

Now check out my previous post from 2012 about the book Possum Magic (1983).

Points I dispute:

Mem Fox is like Dr Seuss - not really. For one thing she uses many different illustrators (she is the author of her books but not the illustrator). Also, her books are generally not as witty as Dr Seuss. In my view the only possible way to relate these two authors would be that they both use rhyming texts. Perhaps Betsy is right that Mem Fox is famous but not nearly as famous as Dr Seuss. And I would not link Mem Fox with Julia Donaldson.

Mem Fox says (in a 2026 Guardian article) talking about reading to her daughter: “When she was little, there were no Aus­tralian pic­ture books,” Fox says. “There were a lot of Eng­lish books, there were a lot of Amer­ican books, but they were not Aus­tralian books.” Here are some 1970's picture books that I still shared with kids decades later: The Bunyip of Berkeley's Creek 1974; Aranea 1976; John Brown, Rose and the midnight cat 1978; The lighthouse keeper's lunch 1978; The Oath of Bad Brown Bill 1979; and Sunshine 1982. 

"Put a shrimp on the barbie; a dingo ate my baby" etc sorry Betsy this part of your recording is somewhat offensive. No one speaks like this in Australia. 

It is Grandma POSS not puss. Poss - short for possum. 

Yes we do have different possums - here is a photo of an Australian possum - they eat fruit, flowers and leaves and are often found scavenging in urban areas. I have a few in my area. 

Never heard of lamingtons?  Surely you can just 'Google' this and NO Betsy this is not a dessert - these are small, delicious cakes. In the cookbook featured in this post, Julie Vivas fills the end papers with lamingtons. We even have a Lamington Day here in Australia.

I have read Possum Magic so many times and I have never even noticed the dingo - and please find out how to say the word 'emu'. You do have scary mammals in the US - the wolf and the coyote for example.

Pumpkin Scones are associated with Queensland (but made everywhere) because the wife of a former Premier of that state sort of made them famous as her trademark recipe. Her name was Florence Bjelke-Petersen and this aspect of Australian politics is open to a level of ridicule.

Darwin is a city - it is the capital of the Northern Territory - I am very surprised you had not heard of this place. How lucky Possum Magic has a map at the back along with a glossary of the foods the pair eat.

Here is the recipe (from the Mem Fox web page);

Lamingtons

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of butter
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1 and a half cups of sugar (8 oz)
• 3 cups of self-raising flour (12 oz)
4 eggs

Method:

Beat together the butter, sugar and eggs. Add milk, then add the flour and beat well. Bake in a large square cake tin for 45-50 mins at ‘cake temperature’ (gas 180C or 350F; electric 180-200C or 350-400F). When completely cold, cut into 3 inch squares, cover with icing (frosting) and dip in fine coconut. 

Icing:

Sift 1 kilo of icing sugar with 4 tablespoons of cocoa. Work in 250 grams of butter then slowly add half a cup of hot water to make it rather thin. Add half a teaspoon. of vanilla. Place basin containing icing over a bowl of hot water to keep icing sort of runny. With a skewer, hold each piece of cake and ice it all over and then toss it in coconut spread on greaseproof paper. 

This weekend we are focusing on ANZAC day and that means some people will be baking ANZAC biscuits - these are mentioned in Possum Magic by Mem Fox and of course are included in this cookery book.

Anzac Biscuits
Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup plain flour (8 oz)
• 1 cup dessicated (shredded) coconut
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 4oz or 125gms unsalted butter, cubed butter
• 1/4 cup golden syrup (NOT honey)
• 2 tablespoons boiling water
• Salt

Method:
Mix dry ingredients, making a well in the centre. Dissolve baking soda in the boiling water. Warm the butter and the syrup in a small pan until the butter is runny, then add the soda & water. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and mix. If the mixture is too dry add a little more water. Roll out and cut biscuits roughly 3 inches round. Bake in oven for 20 minutes at 180 Centigrade (350 Fahrenheit.)

Here are some other famous Australian picture books written around the same time as Possum Magic: Mr Archimedes Bath 1981; Sunshine 1982; Whistle up the Chimney 1982; A pet for Mrs Arbuckle 1982; Who sank the boat 1983; There's a sea in my bedroom 1984; Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge 1984.

If you would like to read anther book that travels around Australia:

And this one about ANZAC Biscuits.

Best recipes in the Possum Magic cookbook: Minty pea toasties; Twirly Whirlys (small wraps); Honey Crackles (great recipe but I personally don't like these); Frog Jelly; Sparkle Biscuits; and Apple Fizz Drink.

Baby by Patricia MacLachlan

A searching, beautifully written story. Kirkus

Larkin lives with her artist mother, father and grandmother Byrd on an island (perhaps it is Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard). The island is overrun with visitors each summer so the residents really enjoy the quieter times when all the mainlanders have left.

We ate dinner as the sun set; candles on the table, the dinner a yearly celebration that tomorrow the island visitors would leave. The seasons on our island rose and fell in a rhythm like the rise and fall of the tides. Autumn was ours with quick colors, leaves flying until they were gone and we could see the shape of the island. The land rose and fell, too, from the north point where the lighthouse stood, curving down into valleys like hands holding pond water. Soon winter would come, the winds shaking the windows of the house, the sea black. Herring gulls would sit out of the wind on our porch, watching for spring that would come so fast and cold, we would hardly know it was there. Then summer, visitors would come off the ferry again, flooding us, the air heavy with their voices. And again, at summer’s end they would be gone like the tide, leaving behind small signs of themselves: a child’s pail with a broken handle, a tiny white sock by the water’s edge. Bits and pieces of them left like good-byes.

But have the summer visitors all left? At the end of chapter one Patricia MacLachlan hints that change is coming and it is coming tomorrow. The family and Larkin's special friend Lalo return from their tradition of farewelling the final ferry to find a baby on their doorstep.

“I cannot take care of her now, but I know she will be safe with you,” Papa read. “I have watched you. You will be a good family. I will lose her forever if you don’t do this, so please keep her. I will send money for her when I can. I will come back for her one day. I love her.”

Sophie's mother loves her baby but she has had to leave her behind. Papa warns Larkin the baby's mother will return.

“I like Sophie,” I said. “I don’t love her.” “Don’t,” said Papa. “Don’t love her.” He sighed. “I like her too,” he said after a moment. “Mama will love her soon,” I whispered. “If not already,” murmured Papa. “I’m scared,” I said after a while. “For Mama.” There was a silence.

There is a hint of sadness to come on the opening page of this book - it is a quote from a poem:

I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground. So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind: Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned. —from “Dirge Without Music” Edna St. Vincent Millay

This family are carrying a deep sadness. Mama and Papa won't talk to Larkin about her baby brother who only lived for one day. He never had a name and Larkin never saw his little face.

A tiny stone sat there, surrounded by big headstones with angels and flowers and names engraved on them. There was no name on the tiny stone, just the word BABY and a date that showed that the one buried there had only lived for one day.

A great topic for a PhD could be the portrayal of librarians, school librarians and Teacher-Librarians in middle grade books. I adore Ms Minifred she works at Larkin's school. She is a minor but also important character. She loves words, poetry (spoiler alert there is a love story in this book too) and Rebel (who) had come to the island with his Harley-Davidson motorcycle when he was eighteen and had never left. That was fifteen years ago. We had seen pictures of him then, and he hadn’t changed. He was still thin, and his hair stood straight up. He had a mysterious tattoo on his arm that said “Wild Eunice.”

I often think about collecting the opening sentences of books - perhaps using them as a way to share books with readers or even as writing inspiration. Here is the opening sentence of Baby:

In the evenings my father danced.

Here is another beautiful sentence: Byrd lifted Sophie and whirled her around until Sophie laughed. A small island plane flew over our heads and away. And Byrd’s pearls broke, showering Sophie and falling over the meadow grasses like tears.

Publisher blurb: Larkin's family welcomes Sophie into their home, caring for her and teaching her games and new words. They come to love this baby as their own, all the while knowing that eventually Sophie's mother will return one day to take her from them.

The writing in this book is so far above nearly every book I have read over the last few months. I read a huge number of kids books and while many are okay and a few are good, none quite reach the heights of the exquisite writing in this book. It should not have taken me so long to read Baby which was published in 1995. My friend first mentioned it back in 2012 when she read my post about the most famous Patrician MacLachlan book Sarah, Plain and Tall. The label on this post will take you to lots of other Patrician MacLachlan titles. In this post from 2020 I talk about themes in her books such as music, poetry, questions, and family relationships. You might also notice many books include loss. 

Awards for Baby by Patricia MacLachlan:

• WINNER 1994 ALA Best Books for Young Adults
• WINNER 1996 South Carolina Children’s Book Award
• WINNER 1994 Texas Bluebonnet Award

There are only a handful of children's middle grade authors that I put into the category of superb - Patricia Maclachlan; Kate DiCamillo; Sara Pennypacker; Kevin Henkes; Patricia Reilly Giff; Katherine Paterson; Jason Reynolds and Katherine Applegate from the US. Katherine Rundell and Onjali Q Rauf from the UK. And Zana Fraillon, Judith Rossell, Deb Abela, Tristan Bancks and Shirley Marr from Australia.

Companion books:

The Naming of Tishkin Silk

The Summer we found the baby

Foxlight

Here is the full poem by Edna St Vincent Millay:

“I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground. 

So it is and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind: 

Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned 

With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned. 

Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you. 

Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust. 

A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew, 

A formula, a phrase remains, - but the best is lost. 

The answers quick and keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love, - 

They are gone. They are gone to feed the roses. Elegant and curled 

Is the blossom. Fragrant is the blossom. I know. But I do not approve. 

More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world. 

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave 

Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind; 

Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave. I know. 

But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.”

Say Hi to Hedgehogs by Jane McGuiness

Follow this lovely little creature through the year and learn what hedgehogs like to eat, how they hunt for their food, where they build their nests, the time it takes for them grow from tiny hoglets into healthy adults and, as the seasons turn, 

how they prepare for hibernation.

You are right - we do not have hedgehogs here in Australia but that does not stop my fascination. Several years ago I visited a family in Sussex and they were delighted to show me a baby hedgehog and they also explained how people in their rural village or hamlet were anxious to create safe spaces for these tiny creatures. In the USA this book has a different cover and title - Prickly Hedgehogs. Say hi to Hedgehogs is a title from the Nature Story Book (or formerly called Read and Wonder) book series published by Walker Books (Candlewick in the US).  Click the label at the bottom of this post to find more books from this fabulous series. 

You can see just how sweet they look in this glorious illustration by Brian Wildsmith from his book Wild Animals:

Here are a couple of my favourite hedgehog books:

I'm Not Scared by Britta Teckentrup

The Hodgeheg by Dick King Smith

Find more book ideas here - 2nd February 2019 Hedgehog Day (Kinderbookswitheverything); and 2nd February 2023 Hedgehog Day (Kinderbookswitheverything). 

Jane McGuinness is also the illustrator of this terrific book that you MUST add to your library:

We are the Wibbly

In the Kelp Forest by Aunty Patsy Cameron and Reena Balding illustrated by Belinda Casey

Kelp are large brown seaweeds, a type of algae that are distinctive because they form forests. Common kelps in Australian waters include bull kelp, golden kelp, crayweed and giant kelp. Just like forests on land, a kelp forest shelters and feeds other plant life and animals.

Publisher blurb: A stunning picture book that explores the beauty and strength of Country beneath the waves and celebrates the living kelp forests, their creatures, and deep Cultural knowledge of Tasmania’s First Nations people. Kelp forests have intricate lives and play a key role in the balance of our oceans and seas. Myerlee, the giant kelp, sways beneath the waves, her forests alive with creatures that make her their home. Myerlee lives with the elements, shelters life, provides sustenance to those on the land and in the ocean and whispers her secrets to those who will listen.

Huge thanks to Magabala Books for sharing Into the Kelp Forest with me (Published April 7th, 2026).

IBBY and UNESCO are currently compiling a list of books that honour and celebrate indigenous languages from around the world. IBBY Australia will send a list of potential titles and I expect to see a display of these books at the IBBY Congress in Ottawa this year. In the Kelp Forest is a perfect example of a text with integrated Indigenous words and beautiful art and it will be eligible for submission with the next (second) selection round. Along the way you readin this book and your library group or young reading companion are sure to learn so much more about kelp and in this book you will also discover indigenous words for sea snails, sea urchins, crayfish, mussels, abalone and the sea horse (patterleenner in Coastal plans language). In the Kelp Forest is a book you should add to your library and then share it with your teachers so the class can discover more about this amazing underwater environment. 

As a way to find more books on this topic and for background reading take a look at these two posts from my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything:

4th June 2025 Seaweed Day

1st March 2025 World Seagrass Day

The crew of Backroads (ABC Television) visit the kelp forests of Tasmania (4 minutes). And Nature Conservancy have some further information and photos.

Read more here from Jeannie Baker about her book

You can see nine pages from this book here.

Kelp is used as food for animals and humans, for products such as toothpaste, ice cream and shampoo but climate change, global warming and pollution mean that huge areas of kelp forest have disappeared. Kep also provides shelter for animals such as trumpeter fish, crayfish and seahorses. 

Aunty Patsy Cameron grew up on Flinders Island and can trace her Aboriginal heritage through her mother’s line to four Ancestral grandmothers ... Patsy has a Master of Arts in Tasmanian Aboriginal History and an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Tasmania. She was inducted onto the Tasmanian Women’s Honour roll in 2006 and was invested with an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2017 for distinguished service to Indigenous communities in Tasmania. Her first picture book, with Lisa Kennedy, was Sea Country, also published by Magabala Books.

Belinda Casey is a proud great granddaughter of legendary Tasmanian Aboriginal woman, Fanny Smith, whose traditional homeland is Tebrakunna Country in North Eastern Trouwerner/Tasmania. Belinda graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours from the School of Creative Arts, University of Tasmania in 2018 and was a finalist in both the 2025 John Glover Art Prize and the 2022 Hadley’s Art Prize. Belinda’s art practice honours the legacy of her ancestral grandmother and the strength and resilience of the Tasmanian Aboriginal people, their culture and connection to Country.

Watercress by Andrea Wang illustrated by Jason Chin

Watercress isn’t loud. It doesn’t need to be.

The prose is spare and poetic. The watercolor illustrations are subtle, immersive, and rich with emotion. This book whispers truths: about shame and pride, about family and survival, and about the painful beauty of remembering. The Wardens of Magic

Understated, deep, and heart-rending -

bring tissues. Kirkus Star review

The big mystery of this Caldecott winning book is that it was not distributed here in Australia and yet this is a story that could easily translate to our context. AND this book won the 2022 Caldecott Medal. You can still buy this book but the hardcover edition of this book costs between AUS$35 and AUS$47 and so will be beyond the budget of most school libraries. Trove only list ten public and university libraries with this book. Luckily, I was able to re-read Watercress in a public library a couple of weeks ago - Green Square Library. I discovered it there a couple of years ago. You can see the whole book on this video. Here is an interview with Andrea Wang and Jason Chin.

Here is the synopsis from Wikipedia: A young girl is in the car with her brother and parents when they come across wild watercress growing on the side of the road. Her parents excitedly pull over and instruct the children to help them gather the watercress. The girl feels embarrassed to be seen by passing cars and disgusted by the mud and snails that are on the plants. The watercress is prepared for dinner that night, but the girl initially refuses to eat it because she is ashamed of their "dinner from a ditch". Her mother brings out a picture from her childhood and, for the first time, talks about the famine that her family suffered. Feeling guilty, the girl takes a bite of the watercress. She discovers that she likes the taste and reflects on the new memory she and her family have created.

My former school had a unit of study with the Grade 6 classes about our multicultural country here in Australia - Watercress is a book I would have loved to share as a part of this class topic alongside other books about The Refugee Experience Through Picture Books. 

You should also look for this book which is based on the years in China of the great famine.

Sparrow Girl

Author note from Andrea Wang: This story is about the power of memory. Not just the beautiful memories, like the ones my mother and father had about eating watercress in China, but also the difficult ones, the memories that are sometimes too painful to share. It starts with my own distressing memory of being made to pick watercress that was growing wild by the side of the road. As the child of Chinese immigrants, growing up in a small, mostly white town in Ohio, I was very aware of how different my family and I were from everyone else. It's hard to feel like you don't belong, and collecting food from a muddy roadside ditch just made that bad feeling more intense for me -- something my very practical parents didn't understand. When I was young, my parents didn't talk about their memories of China, of growing up poor, losing siblings, and surviving war. I don't blame them -- these are difficult topics to discuss with children. But it's important, too, for children to understand their family history. Perhaps if I had known about the hardships they had faced, I would have been more compassionate as a child. Maybe I would have felt more empathy and less anger. More pride in my heritage and less shame. Memories have the power to inform, to inspire, and to heal. This story is both an apology and a love letter to my parents. It's also an encouragement to all children who feel different and to families with difficult pasts -- share your memories. Tell your stories.

Prizes for Watercress:

• Caldecott Medal Winner
• Newbery Honor Award
• Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature
• Chinese American Librarians Association Best Book Award 2022
• New England Book Award Winner
• 2021 Boston Globe – Horn Book Honor Book
• 2021 Cybils Award 

See more here. 

I previously talked about these books by Andrea Wang and Jason Chin:

Luli and the Language of Tea

Life after whale

Read me a book by Barbara Reid

I volunteer in the children's library at Westmead Children's hospital here in Sydney. In 2011 Scholastic Australia (who support this library) published or reprinted this small format book from 2003 as a promotional publication. I found a copy in our give away box.

"This little book is a gift from the Book Bunker, the special library for the young patients at The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney. ... Experts say that reading to our children for just ten minutes a day will make the difference. They suggest that we read one favourite book, one familiar book and one new story each time."

Here is the text of this sweet little book which has wonderful plasticine illustrations. Read more about her work here. I am hoping Barbara Reid might be one of the speakers at the IBBY Congress in Ottawa this year. 

This is a simple and very format book but the message is important!

Tell me a story, 

Read me a book, 

Bounce me a poem, 

Let's take a look. 

Read around the garden, 

Upstairs and down, 

Underneath the covers, 

Read around the town. 

Tell it one more time, 

Pick out something new, 

The very best beginning is ... 

to read a book with you!

Read Me A Book was initially commissioned by the Government of Ontario’s Early Learning Initiative and was distributed to newborn children across the province. Original artwork from Read Me a Book was presented to the Toronto Public Library Foundation and is displayed in various branches throughout Toronto.

There is something rather comforting about small format books - I am thinking of Beatrix Potter and all the Miffy books. 

Companion book:

Read more here