Kid by Peter Carnavas

"They were so brave ... the bravest goats in the world! And I want to be just like them."

Now read the opening sentence of Kid: 

"There once was a small goat who lived on a farm, not far from the rugged mountain."

Ask yourself some questions - will this small goat have an adventure? will he travel to the rugged mountain? what will he find there? does he have a good life on the farm? are there any other goats there? does 'not far' mean this story will involve a journey?

Life on the farm is good. There are cows, sheep, pigs and hens. Oh, and of course there is a small goat - a young goat - a kid named Kid.

"He was barely taller than the hens, and not just because he was young. He was a small breed of goat - a miniature - so even when fully grown he would hardly peek over a bale of straw. For now he was still a kid, with gangly legs, ears that stuck out and two bumps on the top of his head. He couldn't see them but he knew they were there, and he dreamt that one day they would grow into big curved horns, strong and majestic."

Kid has dreams - big dreams. And these dreams are linked with the story of his parents. This is the story Audrey, one of the hens, tells him night after night. His parents were Buck and Bess and they heroically saved the farm from a fox but by chasing the fox they jumped over all the fences and "no one ever saw those brave goats again." Bess and Buck left their baby behind in the care of Audrey. "And you've been stuck with me ever since."

Kid has the care and friendship of Audrey and also of Harriet, a whitish-pink pig. So, the story is set. Kid would like to be heroic like his parents. He is sure his parents are living in the nearby mountains. Audrey needs to protect her young charge just as she promised his mother all those years ago and Harriet is keen to experience new tastes in the wild. But of course, there is a problem - well there are lots of problem but the biggest one of all is Farm Law. Note the capital letters. 

"Farm Law says that any animal who leaves the farm can never come back ... They'll bring danger to the farm - predators, or sickness from the wild."

"The adventures of Buck and Bess played in his mind. He had loved the stories, so wild and exciting, but he always dreamt that one day they would return to the farm. Now he knew he would never see them again, all because of a big white dog who didn't like goats."

Kid will not be stopped. Ma, the big white farm dog will not stop him. He jumps over the fence and ...

There are some sweet words of wisdom in Kid:

Audrey: "I was scared and I didn't want you to go. But then I asked myself what was more important: to follow the rules or follow your dreams?"

Audrey: "The world hasn't ended. You have a home and friends who love you - even when you're miserable. I didn't raise you to blob around like a snail without a shell. Get up and do something."

Cow: "Gavin (the great hawk) said you will find your family ... on the mountain."

I think I held my breath through the final chapters of this book - I know Peter Carnavas is a trustworthy author and he would give me that all important "happy ending", but I was so worried about little Kid - would Ma let him come back to the farm?

Publisher blurb: This is the story of a small goat called Kid. Ever since his parents chased away a fox and never returned, Kid has stayed with Audrey the hen in the chook yard. Audrey tells him stories of his mum and dad’s daring and bravery. She says they live on the nearby mountain, and Kid longs to leave the farm to find them. And then, one day, he discovers he is big enough to jump the fence … Will a wild adventure up the mountain help Kid find where he belongs?

Here is the trailer - this is sure to make you fall in love with this book:

This book will be published next week - do not wait - run to your independent bookstore or local library and order a copy of Kid by Peter Carnavas. I really wish I lived in Queensland so I could participate in some of the launch events for Kid. Huge thanks to UQP for sending me an advance copy of Kid. I devoured it in one sitting and then went back and read it all again today. There are extensive teachers notes for Kid BUT really my suggestion is just read this book - to your young reading companion, to your class or to your library group. Don't dissect it - just enjoy the writing, the friendships, and the very special voice of young Kid.

This one is just a delight from the first page to the last and your young readers will find it entirely satisfactory and, very likely, the kind of book that they will return to again and again. Just so Stories  (You can see art from Kid in this review)

Kid gives us plenty to love especially for the confident junior reader, animal lover, and those searching for their own g.o.a.t mini-hero to emulate. Dimity Powell  (G.O.A.T stands for Greatest of all Times)

In the UK Kid from Pushkin Press has a slightly different cover. I love talking with students about covers - design, appeal, font choices and the way covers can influence our reading choices. The US edition will come from Groundwood Books in 2027! Kid is published in hardcover and the beautiful pastel colours reminded me of my old copy of Heidi (I have put this image at the bottom of this post).

The publisher and Peter Carnavas himself (quite rightly) links Kid with two very famous books:

Charlotte's Web

You may know this book became the movie Babe.

Peter Carnavas says: After writing my last book, I promised myself I’d take a quiet break from writing, 

but then a small goat trotted into my thoughts. I’m not sure where he came from but I remember what I was doing at the time – I was reading Edwina Wyatt’s book Cub and Brown. Edwina’s story has nothing to do with goats but for some reason, halfway through reading, I put down the book, opened my sketchbook and drew a goat.  Up until now, my novels have centred around quiet children and relationships, so I wanted to try something different with my goat – I wanted an adventure! I started drafting ideas based on the structure of the hero’s journey: I gave him a call to action, a merry band of accomplices (each with their own strengths), a wise elder, a series of trials and an exciting climax. 

I really appreciate having maps in books. The map at the beginning of Kid reminded me of this book:

Map from Kid (found in the teachers notes)

Try to find this picture book too:

Albert and Lila

Check out all the picture books by Peter Carnavas and then look for his terrific novels:

Leo and Ralph, My Brother Ben, The Elephant

Kid is published in hardcover and the soft pastel colours used on the cover reminded me of my old copy of Heidi. Just a small observation of mine - Kid doesn't have any actual links with Heidi!

A Symphony of Stories - Read a Picture Book

Sonam and the Silence

In all of my former libraries I really enjoyed exploring the CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) Book Week Slogans. I have listed some previous slogans later in this post. Thinking about Symphony of Stories I thought of a few very special picture books which you could read in your library as a way to explore music in stories. 

These could also be terrific books to share with your teachers - each class could explore one of these titles and then you could hold a sharing time perhaps at a Book Week Assembly. I have put a mix of books here - old, new; Australian; and suitable for Kindy right up to Grade 6. In many of the posts I have included the sheet music or links to videos/sound files so you can hear the music.

Check out these Pinterest collections. Book Week 2026; Songs in Picture Books; Carnival of the Animals; and Music Noise and Movement; 

Herman and Rosie

Dimity Dumpty

Little Puggle's Song

Mr Mornington's Favourite Things

Violin and Cello

The Song for Everyone

The Piano Recital

Pepi sings a new song

The man with the Violin

Little Night Cat

Heart and Soul

The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup

The Fearsome Five

The Moon's Revenge

Previous Book Week Slogans:

2025 Book an Adventure

2024 Reading is Magic

2023 Read, Grow, Inspire

2022 Dreaming with eyes open…

2021 Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds

2020 Curious Creatures, Wild Minds

2019 Reading is My Secret Power

2018 Find Your Treasure

2017 Escape to Everywhere

2016 Australia: Story Country

2015 Books light up our world

2014 Connect to reading

2013 Read across the Universe

2012 Champions Read

2011 One World, Many Stories

2010 Across the Story Bridge

2009 Book Safari

2008 Fuel Your Mind

2007 READiscover

2006 Book Now!

2005 Reading Rocks!

2004 Doorways

2003 Oceans of Stories

2002 Book Week – Book Feast

2001 2001: A Book Odyssey

2000 The Edge of Tomorrow

1999 Weave the Book Web

1998 Put Yourself in the Picture

1997 Bookaleidoscope

1996 Anywhere Anytime Anybook

1995 Celebrate with Stories

1994 Carnival of Books

1993 Go Under Cover

1992 Windows into Worlds

1991 Book into the Future

1990 Imagine if you will….

1989 Dream Time

1988 A Page of History

1987 Sail Away with books

1986 Key into Books

Away by Megan E Freeman

“For several months, the governor’s office and the Colorado Investigation Bureau have been monitoring a series of credible threats across Colorado. 

On Friday, we received intelligence of an imminent threat jeopardizing the safety of thousands of residents. We immediately launched a noncombatant evacuation operation named Operation Relocate Freedom. 

We do not know how long evacuations will last, and the state remains on emergency alert.”

Each section in this book begins with a definition such as this one:

There are four kids voices in this hybrid verse novel and Megan E Freeman makes it easy to keep up with each kids because they each use a different form of writing. The kids are Ashanti Johnson, aged 12, her mum is a doctor; Grandin Stone, aged 14 - his parents are farmers; Harmony Addams-Paul, aged 12 - she aspires to be a journalist, she has a fabulous teacher and mum her is a pastor; and Teddy Brenkert, aged 11 - he is homeschooled and lives with his grandmother who is a local amateur theatre producer. All of these kids live in Colardo. Ashanti and Grandin use free verse to tell their story; Teddy writes film proposals and scripts and often references famous classic movies and as you would expect Harmony writes as though her pieces are ready for publication in a newspaper. Then comes:

These four kids plus Harmony's little sister Pax, are thrown together when everyone in their area is evacuated due to some unexplained toxic danger. Along with many other people they are taken to a holding camp where they are given food and safety but no one is allowed to use a mobile phone, the authorities do not answer any questions and they are kept there for over two years!

“This is the Colorado National Guard. Mandatory evacuations are now in place for your area. Proceed immediately to designated embarkation zones for further instructions. Local law enforcement will provide additional guidance specific to your location. ... The specific cause of the evacuations is not yet known, but there are unconfirmed reports of a pipeline explosion, possibly multiple explosions. Sources at the state capitol say a major threat could be imminent, and terrorism has not been ruled out."

"Cell phones have been compromised and are not safe to use. As a matter of state security, all cell phones must be deposited in designated receptacles located throughout the station. Compliance is mandatory."

These kids all have talents which when combined are able to work out not just what is going on but also how to inform the adults and how to expose the conspiracy and they also luckily do find a few left-over pieces of technology which they are able to put to good use.

We are going to be muckrakers. Shine a light on what’s wrong in the world. ... Journalists who specifically investigate and report on stories to expose corruption or exploitation or other stuff like that. They rake the muck of society.

As you might expect there are lots of theories and rumors about why whole communities have been evacuated:

One girl said she’d heard a train carrying chemicals had derailed. Another heard there had been explosions in a mine shaft and a dam had broken. Someone else said a pipeline had burst. A kid from the Western Slope insisted “nonhuman biologics” were colonizing remote parts of the Rocky Mountains. One boy said his mom thought it was a nuclear accident, like the ones in Fukushima and Chernobyl. Do we even have nuclear reactors in Colorado? I have no idea.

Publisher blurb: After an imminent yet unnamed danger forces people across Colorado to leave their homes, a group of kids including an aspiring filmmaker and a budding journalist find themselves in the same evacuation camp. As they cope with the aftermath of having their world upended, they grow curious about the mysterious threat. And as they begin to investigate, they start to discover that there’s less truth and more cover-up to what they’re being told. Can they get to the root of the conspiracy, expose the bad actors, and bring an end to the upheaval before it’s too late?

Away is the companion volume to Alone - companion volume means while you do need to read BOTH books the order does not matter. 

Alone

In my review of Alone I said: I did want that all important happy ending but somehow the final three pages let me down. I wanted to know more. I need know why!

And now I do know why because I have read Away.

A couple of weeks ago I had a long ten-hour journey by bus, plane and train. It is always SO good when I have an engrossing and brilliantly constructed book like this to pass the time. I absolutely devoured Away. You can see I have given Away five stars but I do agree with Kirkus who say: The plot and the whole scenario require a major suspension of disbelief, but to readers who can roll with it, Freeman delivers an engaging tale in which young crusaders strive to overcome both parental passivity and corrupt authorities to discover and expose a dastardly scheme.

Here is a long interview with Megan E Freeman where she talks about Away and Alone. You can either listen or read the transcript. 

Awards for Away:

• Instant New York Times Bestseller ​
• Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2025
• Amazon Best Book of 2025
• Barnes & Noble Children's Book Award Shortlist
• Golden Kite Award Finalist
• Reading the West Awards Shortlist
• TOME Society Junior Book Award Winner
• KNEA Reading Circle Choice for 2025
• Colorado Children's Book Award Shortlist
• Horace Mann Upstanders Award

This unique story is about friendship, survival, and how curiosity can lead to revelations, and the power of hope. Away was hard to put down because you need to know what is happening and why. Youth Services Book Review

The voices of the different characters are all very unique, and they are easy to tell apart. ... This is a good choice for readers who like dystopian books ...

The voices of the different characters are all very unique, and they are easy to tell apart. Ashantae doesn't use capitalization and references lots of mythology, Grandin is very matter-of-fact, Teddy often frames scenes as storyboards or film scripts, and Harmony's point of view is delivered in letters or news reports. The evacuation is realistically portrayed; if someone came to my door and told me I had to leave, and I saw all of my neighbors packing up, I probably would, too. Camp Rogers slowly evolves over the long time that people are there, with everyone pitching in to help out. ... This is very different from Alone, but readers who picked up that story will find it interesting to see what the experience of others who were not abandoned was. Ms Yingling

Woodlore by Cameron Miller illustrated by Dominique Falla

I picked this book up in a library a couple of weeks ago from their discard pile. You will want to linger over the endpapers - they are so detailed. The illustrations for this book were done on plywood primed with Gesso, using water soluble pencils and each illustration is framed with actual wood which is described in the text and other timbers are used for inlay work and decoration.

"Yew trees, grown throughout the ages, have the wood the bowyer favours."

I do remember when this book was on the CBCA shortlist back in 1995 and at that time many of us decided not to purchase it because the topic was quite niche and the book was very expensive at the time. I see from this library copy it cost AUS$20 which seems okay now. The bowyer, from the quote above, is a man making a longbow.

Here are some other text quotes:

"Maple and Spruce are always kings for the makers of lutes and violins. ... Alder wood is cut into logs, seasoned, taped, and carved into clogs. ... Blackwood and Box are hard and dense to make sweet woodwind instruments."

My favourite illustrations are of the rocking horse and the draft horse pulling the cart loaded with barrels made by the cooper. And the back notes are very detailed and add a good layer of richness to the text. The woods yew, maple, spruce, beech, alder, mahogany, blackwood, box, ash, walnut, cherry, teak, yellow pine, oak, camphorwood and willow. And there are new words to learn such as wane, spindles, cabinetmakers, lathe, felloes (curved parts of a wheel), trenails (used in shipbuilding), and bodgers (they made legs and spindles for Windsor chairs). Do you remember sharing this book with groups of students in your library?

In 1995 Kirkus said: An elegant and informative book about the art of woodworking, the varieties of wood, and their traditional uses. Falla's detailed, historically accurate illustrations show busy woodworkers in various settings—in interiors and exteriors, from the 14th to the 19th centuries, from Europe to China and the U.S.—in scenes of the finished products in use. Each of these is tastefully framed with the type of wood depicted in it. The entire assemblage— picture and ornate frame—is photographed; the result is a series of icon-like compositions, each one devoted to a particular type of wood and its function. The rhymes about each type of wood—yew for longbows, maple and spruce for lutes and violins, beach for chairs, teak for decks of ship—that are printed beneath each frame are rather mediocre, but the detailed explanatory notes at the end of the book are a pleasure to read. These are full of historical information and descriptions of how the objects in the pictures are made. An original conception, masterfully realized.

And The School Library Journal said this, which might explain why I didn't buy this book for my school library:

Yew trees,/grown throughout the ages,/have the wood/the bowyer favors." In 13 double-page spreads of such rhymed couplets and an additional three pages of text at the end, this unusual book provides historical perspectives and description of the special qualities and uses of 16 particular woods. Resembling stained-glass windows with wood grain, Falla's luminous illustrations are done on plywood primed with Gesso, using aquarelles (water-soluble pencils). Miller framed each picture with the wood described in the text and "used a variety of other timbers for the inlay work and decorations." Turning each page, one expects to feel wood, not paper. Parchmentlike endpapers feature sketches of the trees, woodworking tools, and products shown throughout. Vocabulary such as "bodgers" (itinerant wood-turners) and "falloes" (curved section of a wheel rim) are used in the couplets and explained in the textual notes at the end. The volume is slim, beautiful, and represents untold hours of exceptional craftsmanship. Unfortunately, its primary appeal may be to an adult woodworker, especially one with an interest in history. While this title could possibly be used to support an interdisciplinary approach integrating subjects such as industrial technology, social studies, art, and English, it seems more likely to languish on the shelves of an elementary school library.

Sleep Rhymes around the World edited by Jane Yolen

"Mothers and fathers all over the world sing and tell and tell lullaby rhymes to their sleepy children, whether those children doze in tents or huts or apartment houses that reach the sky."

First off I do need to say this book (1994) is long out print but I wanted to share it because I love the idea of collecting lullabies, books like this can be an interesting way to explore illustrators from around the world, and when I saw Jane Yolen's name on the cover I knew this book would be a special one.

Blurb: Sleep rhythms around the world presents a wonderful collection of lullabies from seventeen different nations. Each lullaby is illustrated by an artist native to the country represented. 

Here are some of the countries: Afghanistan; Nigeria; Finland; Uganda; Thailand; Italy; USA; Slovenia; Venezuela and Ukraine.

Illustrators with pages that appeal to me Italy - Maria Battaglia; Ukraine - Maria Peschena; Finland - Kristina Louhi; Iran - Feroozeh Golmohammadi; and Turkey - Mustafa Delogu. 

Read some review comments here. 

Jane Yolen also edited a companion volume entitled Street Rhymes around the world (1992).

As Brave as You by Jason Reynolds

(nearly five stars)

“Yeah, but you never, like, I’on’t know, just walk around your yard? Not all the way to the edge, but just a little bit? ’Cause if I had a big yard like this back home, I would be in it all the time. Even if I was blind,” Genie said. Grandpop cocked his head. “Is that so?” 

Genie wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Yep.” 

“Well, I guess I gotta figure out how to get as brave as you, Little Wood.”

The opening lines of As Brave as You might make you think this will 'just' be a funny book (perhaps filled with toilet humour) but if you think that you will discover you are so 'wrong'.

#460: Poop. Poop is stupid. Stupid poop. Stupid. Poopid. Poopidity. Is poopidity a word?

The boys are cleaning up dog poo. #460 is a way that Genie keeps track of his questions - especially here living with his grandparents who have no internet and so he has no way to use his friend 'Google'. The boys have come from Brooklyn to North Hill, Virginia. Their parents are supposed to be on a holiday. They are supposed to be 'working things out' and hopefully finding a way to stay together so meanwhile Genie and Ernie are trying to adjust to living in a totally new place with new rules. 

Back to Genie's questions. He writes them in a special book:

Genie flipped through pages of his notebook—where he kept his best questions. Some had already been answered, and some were still mysteries. He landed on one that he had totally forgotten about—#389: Do honey badgers eat honey?

Genie was the kind of kid who kept a small jacked-up notebook and pen in his pocket just so that he could jot down interesting things whenever they came. The point was to keep a list—a numbered list—of all the things he needed to Google, because to Genie, the more questions you had, the more answers you could find. And the more answers you found, the more you knew. And the more you knew, the less you made mistakes. Genie wasn’t about mistakes.

Genie is wise beyond his years, and he has a wonderful level of emotional intelligence.  After their long car trip to the country this is what he says about his mum:

The skin on her face looked heavy, and Genie wondered if she had slept at all during the ride. Actually, the skin on her face had been looking heavy for a few months.

There is another layer to this visit - Genie's father and his grandfather have not spoken to each other for years - so something bad must have happened in the past. AND also, Grandpop is totally blind and yet he manages to navigate inside the house. Inside yes, but he needs Genie to help him learn how to walk outside. 

Genie and Grandpop bond over Grandpop's secret inside greenhouse garden and over names - Genie is a girl's name given to a boy and Grandpop's name is Brooke. Ernie and Genie learn about selling peas at the market. It should be an uneventful Summer but of course it is not especially after the boys meet Tess who lives on the next farm. And good news Tess has Wi-Fi so Genie can get onto his backlog of questions. 

Oh and my heart broke when Genie accidentally broke the little red toy truck that had belonged to his Uncle Wood (spoiler alert - his uncle was a soldier who died in action twenty years ago in operation Desert Storm).

#442: Why am I so stupid? Why did he have to leave the truck on the floor? Why? His first day at Grandma and Grandpop’s house, and he had already messed up. The first day. He just couldn’t believe it. He hated making mistakes. All he could think about was how he had to make it right. He had to fix it. But… how?

I do have to give a content warning - this book contains guns, and a shooting.

He turned to open the refrigerator door, and that’s when Genie noticed something was sticking up from the back of his pants like a short tail. Oh… my… G—it was a pistol—the handle of a pistol! Genie had never actually seen a gun in real life, just on the cop shows Ma was always watching, or in movies—action flicks, sci-fi flicks, and even the scary flicks Genie and Ernie weren’t supposed to be watching. ... Questions to remember: What’s a blind man doing with a gun?  Why would Grandpop have a gun, period?

Readers aged 11+ with reading stamina will enjoy this book and the story twists and turns will keep them turning the pages desperate to see if young Genie can atone for his mistakes - breaking that precious truck and accidentally killing one of Grandpop's special birds not to mention the messy issue of Ernie's tooth, the gun shot and his worry about his mum and dad. 

Publisher blurb: Genie’s summer is full of surprises. The first is that he and his big brother, Ernie, are leaving Brooklyn for the very first time to spend the summer with their grandparents all the way in Virginia—in the COUNTRY! The second surprise comes when Genie figures out that their grandfather is blind. Thunderstruck, Genie peppers Grandpop with questions about how he hides it so well (besides wearing way cool Ray-Bans). How does he match his clothes? Know where to walk? Cook with a gas stove? Pour a glass of sweet tea without spilling it? Genie thinks Grandpop must be the bravest guy he’s ever known, but he starts to notice that his grandfather never leaves the house—as in NEVER. And when he finds the secret room that Grandpop is always disappearing into—a room so full of songbirds and plants that it’s almost as if it’s been pulled inside-out—he begins to wonder if his grandfather is really so brave after all. Then Ernie lets him down in the bravery department. It’s his fourteenth birthday, and, Grandpop says to become a man, you have to learn how to shoot a gun. Genie thinks that is AWESOME until he realizes Ernie has no interest in learning how to shoot. None. Nada. Dumbfounded by Ernie’s reluctance, Genie is left to wonder—is bravery and becoming a man only about proving something, or is it just as important to own up to what you won’t do?

This is one of those books where you feel as though you are sitting right beside the family. I especially loved Grandma's cooking and her no-nonsense approach to the boys. 

Reynolds gives his readers uncommonly well-developed, complex characters, especially the completely believable Genie and Grandpop, whose stubborn self-sufficiency belies his vulnerability and whose flawed love both Genie and readers will cherish. This pitch-perfect contemporary novel gently explores the past’s repercussions on the present. Kirkus Star review

Reynolds captures the bond that Grandpop and Genie form in a tender, believable, and entertaining way, delivered through smart and funny prose and sparkling dialogue. School Library Journal

Awards:

• ALA Notable Children's Books
• Bank Street Best Books of the Year
• William Allen White Children's Book Award Reading List (KS)
• ALA Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
• Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best
• Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award (IL)
• ALA Schneider Family Book Award
• ALA Notable Children's Recording
• Wisconsin State Reading Association's Reading List
• Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Multicultural Books List
• New York Public Library Best Books for Kids
• Kirkus Prize Winner
• USBBY Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities Award List

Genie's questions sometimes act as a light relief from some of the heavy themes in this book - here are a few that gave me a smile:

#458: Grits? What exactly are they? And I get that they’re called grits because they’re gritty, but who thought that name was a good idea? That’s like naming peas green slime balls.

#456: How come glaucoma isn’t called eyecoma? Technically, Grandpop’s eyes are ’sleep, right? Eye… coma. Makes more sense.

#447: What does it mean to shoot the breeze? I know one thing, ain’t no breeze nowhere around here for Grandpop to shoot. 

#448: What does a month of Sundays mean? Has there ever actually been a month of Sundays? Maybe the first month of Sundays was the January after Jesus was born. 

#449: Is the sun hotter in the south? If so, then a month of sundaes makes more sense.

#486: How come teeth ain’t called mouthnails? Or maybe fingernails should be called fingerteeth. 

#487: Do old birds ever lose their beaks? Do they ever crack them pecking hard things? If they do, does that change the way they sing? 

#488: Why do they sing anyway? And is the song of a bird different if the bird is in a tree, in the sky, or in a cage?

Symphony of Stories - vintage book series

Take a look at this Pinterest of picture books and images to link with the slogan

Perhaps you recognise these books (see below) called Fantasia Pictorial and have them in your school library. They were published in the 1970s and had the MOST amazing illustrations by different Japanese illustrators. 

This series would be SO perfect to read this year and link with the CBCA slogan "Symphony of Stories". I guess most libraries will have 'weeded' these books which makes me sad but you could use this list of stories as a way to extend your discussions about the 2026 slogan OR you could share these famous pieces of music with your school music teacher if you are lucky enough to have one. AND check out this list of 10 of the best pieces of classical music for children from Classic FM (note the video links do contain advertising). I also found this set of lessons from BBC aimed at Primary level students. 

I am guessing this series Fantasia Pictorial was linked with the famous Fantasia movie which included The Nutcracker Suite; The Sorcerer's Apprentice; and Night on Bald Mountain.

Here are some covers from the Fantasia Pictorial series plus other more recent picture book editions of these famous stories:

Here is my Carnival of the Animals Pinterest collection

I couldn't find a picture book for this famous music

I have a detailed post about The Nutcracker penned in 2024

Read more about William Tell here

It might be good to hunt out other ballet stories books such as these: