A River Running Through You by Amy-Jane Beer illustrated by Elin Manon

"Have you ever lingered on a riverbank watching the water flow, and wondered where it comes from, or where it might be going? These are very old questions. 

And old questions often have stories for answers."

You might expect this book to follow the journey of a river from source to ocean but that does not happen. Instead we read about all the places the river has visited such as the ocean, glaciers, underground, in swamps, marshes, ponds and lakes. 

I can imagine taking this book outside and sitting by a river and reading this book quietly and slowly. 

The format of this book is similar to the series Read and Wonder or as they were later called Nature Storybooks with text in two formats - the lyrical story in a larger font and science facts in a smaller italic font. 

Think about these lyrical phrases: "held the land it it's ice embrace"; "where in darkness it crept and pooled"; "your river has lived uncounted lives".

This is a book to share with all ages from 6 to 11 and perhaps even junior high school. 

Our students and children and grandchildren are so lucky today because there are so many wonderful non fiction books that use simply wonderful illustrations. Take a look at this Pinterest collection from my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything. You can see inside A River Running through You here published in 2026. 

Can I suggest you act quickly - the hardcover edition of this book is a great price AUS$25 [9781917366304] and it is here too. I highly recommend you add this book to your library.

Bookseller blurb: Embark on a never-ending voyage in which young readers explore some very old questions-questions so old that they have stories for answers. This mesmerizing journey through mountain springs to vast oceans, from rivers in the sky to streams within our own bodies, guides readers through reflections on nature, life, and our place within it.

A River Running Through You is on the Children's Wainwright Prize for Picture Books Shortlist 2026. The winner is The Great Bear by Annie Booker.

Amy-Jane Beer is a biologist turned naturalist and writer. She has worked for more than 20 years as a science writer and editor, contributing to more than 40 books on natural history. She is currently a Country Diarist for The Guardian, a columnist for British Wildlife and a feature writer for BBC Wildlife magazine, among others. She campaigns for the equality of access to nature and collaboration between farming and conservation sectors. Her book The Flow won the 2023 James Cropper Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing.

Elin Manon is a freelance illustrator from Wales now based in Cornwall. She graduated from Falmouth University in 2020. Her work is inspired by the natural world, ecology, folklore and anthropology.

The illustrations reflect the lyrical and slightly mystical mood the text creates. Books for Keeps

I am keen to see this book also illustrated by Elin Manon:

Companion books:

A River by Marc Martin

Song of the River

The Children's Wainwright Prize for Fiction (Environment)

 

I think it is important to share international book prizes for children's books. This can be a great way to find and add new titles to your school library. This one The Wainwright Prize is from the UK. 

The equivalent awards here in Australia are Karajia and the Environment Awards for Children's Literature.  Karajia Award for Children’s Literature honours First Nations storytelling.

The Children’s Wainwright Prize celebrates the books that encourage young readers to fall in love with the natural world. In a time of climate crisis and biodiversity loss, these stories play a vital role in nurturing curiosity, empathy and action in the next generation. Through fiction, non-fiction and beautifully illustrated picture books, this strand of the prize recognises authors and illustrators who spark wonder and empower children to explore, understand and protect the planet they call home.

You may recognise some big names on this list: Jackie Morris; Britta Teckentrup; 

Alex Latimer; Yuval Zommer; and Nicola Slater. 

I previously talked about Whale Song.

Authors from this selection with books on this blog 

Catherine Bruton; Hannah Gold; and MG Leonard.

I previously talked about the series "An Anthology of ... " - the title here is Bugs. 

Once I was a Giant by Zeno Sworder

"I never lost my sense of wonder for trees."

At the beginning of this book, we hear the voice of the pencil. "The picture book maker takes me out every night and dances me across a piece of paper. We rush from page to page ... " until the author runs out of ideas. Luckily the pencil has an important story of her own and the means to share it and so he begins with the words "once I was a giant."

Turn the page and we have an origin story which begins with a tiny plant reaching for the sun. We discover the young tree has shared her life journey with a tiny forest being. The tree names him The Wanderer. Seasons change, birds and insects enjoy their habitat in, below and under the tree. The tree itself grows to a majestic size. A considerable period of time passes ...  but then disaster strikes.

"Machines are coming ... they are a day away."

"Last to leave was the wanderer. He gently touched his forehead to my bark."

Stop now and look around you. How many things in your room, or house, or street are made from wood. Where did this wood come from? I often think about towering telegraph poles and how they too once were trees. Our pencil narrator was once a tree, once a giant, but now, with all the work to write his story she is just a stub. That word stub nearly broke my heart but this is not the end. 

Image source: Thames and Hudson

Trees are part of the cycle of nature. The Wanderer knows exactly what to do with that pencil stub. The final end paper will restore your hope and faith in the power of nature.

Tonight, I am attending an event at a city bookstore with Zeno Sworder. I am so excited to finally meet him! Will I be brave enough to ask a few questions such as:

• Why did you decided to dispense with the usual title page format? Was it difficult to convince your publisher Thames and Hudson that your book should break with the usual convention of picture books?
• What do the letters on your pencil mean? I have been pondering this all week especially after I saw the giant pencil from the book as part of a display in a local chain bookstore.
• Who is The Wanderer?
• Can you explain the decisions you made to compose the title? Once I was a Giant - past tense? Yet at the end there is so much hope that this giant can return.
• Your first book This small blue dot was based on your experiences in your own family with your young child. My Strange Shrinking parents focused on your own migrant family and your relationship with your own parents. This third book takes a wider focus exploring nature and our human impact on our precious world. SO where to next?

This is a book to add to your library collection, and it is one you will want to share with your reading companion or larger group. In an art class, after reading this book slowly, and pondering the deeper meanings, Once I was a Giant is also a wonderful example of highly skilled art and page design. 

You already know I am not entirely a fan of endorsements on the covers of books but the publisher has cleverly enticed the famous Shaun Tan to share his reaction to Once I was a Giant:

"A magical blend of ancient and modern storytelling, reminding us that all things are deeply connected in ways both known and unknown."

And Zana Fraillon said:

"A beautiful, wholly original story of hope and the more-than-human world. Once I was a giant is a stunning blend of language and imagery that sits in the mind long after reading. This is the work of a master picture-book creator."

My friend, who is a former Hans Christian Andersen judge, used the words enigmatic, wise, challenging, deep and breathtaking when I asked her for her reaction to Once I was a Giant. I will share the details of her review when I update this post next month. 

With older students it would be good to research Daoist beliefs that "every living thing holds an essence, a mystery; that cannot be measured or counted or sorted." This is called bianhua. And you could also research the Buddhist idea of pratityasumutpada - the belief that the "relationships that hold together the world are based on interconnection and non-separation. Life is interwoven. We breathe in because trees breathe out." Here are some outstanding teachers notes written by Zeno Sworder.

I love this quote from the teachers notes:  It is impossible not to feel a strong sense of empathy and connection with both the pencil that was once this magnificent tree and her small friend, the wanderer. The book elicits in readers a moment to pause and view the world through a different lens, one that carefully regards, respects and notices nature.

From Zeno: This is a book where the tree is the protagonist and hero. As we all tumble towards an increasingly digital, atomised and urbanised world I wanted to make a story about the natural world that touches on ideas of interdependence, metamorphosis and impermanence. Trees make all of our lives possible but they are often absent from stories because we tend to only care and feel for characters that are like us. This story aims to bring trees alive for young people by telling an imaginative story rooted in recent scientific discoveries about the social lives of trees and their abilities to communicate, learn and feel. The story covers the entire span of an individual tree’s life and the intimate relationships it shares with the forest and the creatures that it nourishes and houses.

With incredible drawings and a graphic style illustrating the natural world in all its glory, this powerful story reminds us of humanity’s connection to nature. Portraying the life of a tree from a little seed through to a giant forest elder, Once I was a Giant explores the theme of the cyclical nature of all life, with examples such as eggs in a nest hatching into hungry chicks. By the award-winning author of My Strange Shrinking Parents, this picture book is truly a work of art to pore over again and again, each time discovering new wonders. You’ll never look at a pencil in the same way again! Readings Melbourne

I have followed the career of Zeno Sworder with great interest intensified by my years as a CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) Picture Book of the Year judge 2021-23. In 2023 My Strange Shrinking Parents was the winner. Read my thoughts here. Kirkus said these words which could also apply to his newest book: This deceptively simple tale is laced with profound, beautifully wrought truths. I am certain Once I was a Giant will feature in the CBCA awards in 2026. 

When you share Once I was a Giant with a group of younger students you could talk about Pencil Day 30th March. Here is a post from Kinderbookswitheverything with lots of books about pencils. Of course, Once I was a Giant does have much deeper themes but I think it could be fun to focus on pencils with your lower primary groups. Again, this is way too simplistic but (spoiler alert) when the wanderer plants the tiny piece of pencil I thought of that wonderful story of imagination from decades ago - The Lollipop Tree. 

Reading Once I was a Giant I thought of these books - picture books and a novel:

Tanglewood

(Zeno suggests this in his teachers notes along with The Red Tree by Shaun Tan)

Once I was a tree 

The tree at number 43

One tree

Toby Alone

(This is a novel for older readers translated from French)

I am also very keen to see this 2025 Korean wordless book. Read the Kirkus star review.

Finally in the teachers notes Zeno Sworder references Silver People: A Tale from the Panama Canal (UQP) by Margarita Engle as a text to share with high school students. I am a huge fan of Margarita Engle (I met her at an IBBY Conference). I have shared several of her books in this blog. 

Green Earth Book Award 2025 short list (GEBA)

This award cycle represents NatGen's 21st year of awarding GEBA! We are proud to have created the nation's first environmental stewardship award for books that inspire children and young adults to grow a deeper understanding, respect, and responsibility for the natural environment.

NatGen is proud to unveil the 2025 GEBA Short List: a celebration of powerful storytelling that inspires the next generation of eco-heroes. These books remind us that every page turned can lead to a greener future for kids! Final Winners, Honor, and Recommended Reading will be announced on Earth Day, April 22, 2025

Nearly all of these are unfamiliar to me but this list might give you some titles to add to your school library (assuming they are not too expensive here in Australia). You might also like to look at the 2024 winners list. 

This is the 2024 Picture Book winner

Read more here

Take a look at the website for the 2025 award. I am not sure I would call this a short list there are so many fabulous titles listed here - sorry I had to split the image. 

You can access these lists here. Note there are also Young Adult titles for High School libraries. 

PICTURE BOOK – PRIMARY READERS  

Books for young readers in which the visual and verbal narratives together tell the story 

• Art & Oakie Ask: Do You Speak Bee?, by Josh Oaktree, illustrated by Josiane Vlitos (Oak Tree Comics) 
• Beauty and the Beaker, by Sue Fliess, illustrated by Petros Bouloubasis (Albert Whitman & Company) 
• Dino-Earth Day, by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by Barry Gott (Lerner Publishing Group) 
• Gifts from the Garbage Truck, by Andrew Larsen, illustrated by Oriol Vidal (Sourcebooks) 
• Inside the Compost Bin, by Melody Sumaoang Plan, illus by Vinh Nguyen & Rong Pham (Tilbury) 
• Loop de Loopby Andrea Curtis, illus by Roozeboos  (Groundwood)
• Outdoor Farm, Indoor Farm, by Lindsay H. Metcalf, illustrated by Xin Li (Astra Young Readers)
• Ranger Hamza's Eco Quest, by Ranger Hamza, illustrated by Kate Kronreif (The Quarto Group) 
• The Wild, by Yuval Zommer (Random House Children's Books) 
• Walking Trees, by Marie-Louise Gay, illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay (Groundwood Books)
• Whalesong: The True Story of the Musician Who Talked to Orcas, by Zachariah Ohora, illustrated by Zachariah Ohora (Tundra Book Group)

PICTURE BOOK – INTEMEDIATE READERS 

Books for young readers in which the visual and verbal narratives together tell the story 

• Cactus Queen Minerva Hoyt Establishes Joshua Tree National Park, by Lori Alexander, illustrated by Jenn Ely (Calkins Creek/Astra Books for Young Readers) 
• Change is in the Air, by Debbie Levy, illustrated by Alex Boersma (Bloomsbury Publishing) 
• Frogs on the Mountain: The Mountain Yellow-Legged Frogs in Yosemite, by Adalgisa Nico and David Nico, illustrated by Andy Atkins (Mummert House Enterprises)
• Milkweed for Monarchs, by Christine Van Zandt, illustrated by Alejandra Barajas (Beaming)
• Sea Without a Shore: Life in the Sargasso, by Barb Rosenstock, illustrated by Katherine Roy (Norton Young Readers) 
• Secret Gardeners: Growing a Community and Healing the Earth, by Lina Laurent, illustrated by Maija Hurme (Pajama Press) 
• The Girl Who Planted Trees, by Caryl Hart, illustrated by Anastasia Suvorova (Nosy Crow) 
• The Last Zookeeper, by Aaron Becker, illustrated by Aaron Becker (Candlewick) 
• The Miracle Forest, by Ellen Dee Davidson, illustrated by Carolan Raleigh-Halsing (Willows)
• The Ocean Gardener, by Clara Anganuzzi, illustrated by Clara Anganuzzi (Tiger Tales) 
• Viewfinder, by Christine D.U. Chung & Salwa Majoka, illust by Christine D.U. Chung and Salwa Majoka (Tundra Book Group) 
• Water: Discovering the Precious Resource All Around Us, by Olga Fadeev, illustrated by Olga Fadeeva (Eerdmans) 
• Wild at Heart: The Story of Olaus and Mardy Murie, Defenders of Nature, by Evan Griffith, illustrated by Anna Bron (Sleeping Bear Press) 

CHILDREN'S FICTION 

Novels for young readers up to age 12 

• Emily Posts, by Tanya Lloyd Kyi (Tundra Book Group) 
• Gracie Under the Waves, by Linda Sue Park (Allida) 
• Legend Keepers: The Promise, by Bruce Smith, illustrated by Diana Smith (Hidden Shelf)
• No Time To Waste, by Carolyn Armstrong (Carolyn Armstrong Books) 
• Sylvia Doe and the 100-Year Flood, by Robert Beatty, illustrated by Jennifer Beatty (Disney Hyperion) 
• The Owl Prowl Mystery, by Diana Renn (Fitzroy Books/Regal House) 
• The Secret Language of Birds, by Lynne Kelly (Random House Children's Books)
• The Strange Wonders of Roots, by Evan Griffith, illustrated by Pascal Campion (Quill Tree)

CHILDREN'S NONFICTION  

Nonfiction books for young readers up to age 12                                              

• All Consuming: Shop Smarter for the Planet, by Erin Silver, illustrated by Suharu Ogawa (Orca)
• Galápagos Islands: The World's Living Laboratory, by Karen Romano Young, illustrated by Amy Grimes (What on Earth!) 
• In It to Win It: Sports and the Climate Crisis, by Erin Silver, illustrated by Pui Yan Fong (Orca)
• Kids Fight Extinction, by Martin Dorey, illustrated by Tim Wesson (Candlewick) 
• Let's Get Creative: Art for a Healthy Planet, by Jessica Rose, illustrated by Jarett Sitter (Orca)
• Rewild the World at Bedtime, by Emily Hawkins, illustrated by Ella Beech (The Quarto Group) 
• Taking Care of Where We Live: Restoring Ecosystems, by Merrie-Ellen Wilcox, illustrated by Amanda Key (Orca Book Publishers) 
• Whales and Us: Our Shared Journey, by India Desjardins, by Nathalie Dion (Orca)
• What Do We Eat?: How Humans Find, Grow and Share Food, by Megan Clendenan, illustrated by Meegan Lim (Orca Book Publishers) 
• What Poo Can Do: How Animals Are Fighting the Climate Crisis, by Yolanda Ridge 

Huge thanks to my IBBY Friend who was a judge for these awards (2021). I had not seen this award previously even though it has been running for 21 years. Here is the 2021 Picture Book winner:

Butterflies belong here

Jed and the Junkyard War by Steven Bohls

Jed has been taught extreme survival skills by his parents and I do mean extreme. On the morning of his twelfth birthday he wakes up and his parents are gone. He finds some instructions about climbing through the back of the dishwasher. He must wear a strange watch and NEVER tell anyone his name.

Jed does climb though the dishwasher and he finds himself in a very strange world where everything is made from junk. His parents have told him to search for Grandpa Jenkins but Jed only has vague memories of this man. He finds himself on a wild pirate ship where food comes from tin cans. By lucky chance one of the things inside the pack his parents left for him, along with batteries and water, was a can opener. He uses his opener to prepare their first taste of hot food not just strange cold meals straight from the cans.

"The crew were supposed to take one whiff of the cooking food and suddenly realise how tragic their every meal had been up to that point. Probably too much to ask but they weren't supposed to be disgusted just by the preparation."

If you enjoy raw adventure stories with lashings of steampunk, and a little violence, I think you will really enjoy this dystopian story BUT I have a warning. Nothing is really resolved at the end so you will want to find the sequel. Oh and I should say the ending of this first book is going to utterly shock you. I would recommend this book for ages 11+.

I picked this book up from a major book chain because all kids books were 20% off. The book was published in 2016 and my copy has languished on the bookstore shelves since April 2019. The cover really appealed to me - do you like it?

Publisher blurb: Jed is a regular kid with a normal, loving family . . . that is, if it's normal for a loving family to drop their child off in the middle of nowhere and expect him home in time for Sunday dinner. Luckily, Jed excels at being a regular kid who-armed with wit and determination-can make his way out of any situation. At least until the morning of his twelfth birthday, when Jed wakes to discover his parents missing. Something is wrong. Really wrong. Jed just doesn't realize it's floating-city, violent-junk-storm, battling-metals, Frankensteined-scavengers kind of wrong. Yet. A cryptic list of instructions leads Jed into a mysterious world at war over . . . junk. Here, batteries and bottled water are currency, tremendously large things fall from the sky, and nothing is exactly what it seems. Resilient Jed, ready to escape this upside-down place, bargains his way onto a flying tugboat with a crew of misfit junkers. They set course to find Jed's family, but a soul-crushing revelation sends Jed spiraling out of control . . . perhaps for good.

A well-wrought debut with enough of a start on both the plot and worldbuilding to leave readers impatient for the follow-up. Kirkus

If you like Steampunk look for this series by Peter Bunzl. Spoiler alert - the ending of Cogheart resonates with the ending of Jed and the Junkyard war. 

Cogheart by Peter Bunzl

Kind: A call to care for every creature by Jess McGeachin

"In this book you'll find

Many kinds of things

Some have slippery scales

Some have feathered wings

But kind is more than type

Kind is how to care

For creatures that you meet

And places that we share"

Kind is a truly special book. It is in part a rhyming narrative and in part a non fiction catalogue of animals. The layout of white text page and bold colour background on each animal group works really well to showcase all the variety of creatures found in the animal kingdom. Jess McGeachin has covered the main animal groups: Mammals, Reptiles, Amphibians, Birds, Insects, and Fish. It is easy to see he works in a museum. A great deal of care has been taken with the scientific-style illustrations and the book design is excellent too, with the yellow illustrated spine and the end papers.

The rhyme is strong and consistent, the cover is tactile and inviting, and I really appreciated the final pages which flip the word kind to mean kindness to towards others and self.  I did wish this book had back matter but I guess young readers could use it as a jumping off point to research or discover more about the animal names that sound so interesting for example I would like to know more about many of the horned animals such as Gerenuk; Blesbok; Klipspringer; and Greater Kudu.

Although this is not a story there are many elements that make it both a picture book and a non fiction text. There is a very strong sense of place which is different on each and every spread – from sandy shores, coral reefs and deep ocean depths, to grassland, wetlands and red desert. 

The ‘characters’ of the different animals themselves are diverse and convincing, but there is also a sense of character in the narrative voice – a gentle commanding tone, use of second person pronouns to draw the readers in - and also in the child in the forest who opens and closes the book. Repetition of the phrase "Be kind to those ... " has a beautiful rhythm when the text is read aloud.

The word choices in this book are perfect:

"Be kind to those who weave they knit and knot with ease a home in silver silk dancing on the breeze."

"Be kind to those with find as they dart below the reef. A symphony of colours beyond the eyes' belief."

"Be kind to those who wake while others start to yawn. A parliament is sitting before the break of dawn."

This book is a very clever weaving together creatures from the natural world with the concept of kindness. The illustrations and design are bold and engaging. There would be lots to discuss with a class about the meaning and choice of the title. There are lots of details to pour over on each page - rather like looking at an animal catalogue. This is wide-ranging book that takes the reader out from a central anchor of interpreting the nature of what kindness means in different contexts and settings. 

Kind has been listed as a CBCA 2023 Eve Pownall (Non Fiction) Notable book. Another book by Jess McGeachin - Deep also made this list and then went on to be selected for the shortlist of six. 

Plague by Jackie French illustrated by Bruce Whatley

"Grass and wheat-lands spread to the horizon, and so did we, with too few ibis to control us. We could rage across the land. We ate the grass, the leaves, the wheat ... "

My first teaching appointment was to a farming community and over the years I lived there, we had a mouse plague and a grasshopper or locust plague. To counteract the impact of insects on crops the farmers used aerial spraying. One of the teachers in my school had a dreadful, almost life threatening, reaction to these insecticides. She had to keep her home closed and limit her time outside and eventually she and her family had to leave the district.

In Plague, Jackie French begins with the before times when the original people of our land lived in harmony with the season, land and animals. The locust narrator explains:

"We were never too many. The world was balanced then."

BUT swamps were drained, land was cleared for farming and things went out of balance. Specifically the habitat for ibis was lost. Jackie French explains that a single ibis can eat 700 locusts in a day. With no ibis (they moved to our cities - see books below) and delicious crops on the new farms, the locusts thrived. 

The farmers fought back - using poison sprays but this also killed our bush birds who ate the locusts.

"Long ago, people knew how Country must be cherished."

A wonderful book to talk about the topic of nature in balance with older children is this one:

Sparrow Girl

Here are some teachers notes for Plague. Plague is the sixth book in this splendid series by Jackie French - Flood, Fire, Cyclone, Drought, Pandemic and Earthquake. And each of these books have simply perfect illustrations by Bruce Whatley. I highly recommend this series as an essential addition to every school library. 

Here are my comments about Earthquake:

This title has a debossed title and shaken letters in shades of brown like the land after an earthquake. This is a perfect way to introduce the topic of this book. Jackie French is a master storyteller. Every word in this text is chosen with great care. Jackie French uses precise and effective words and phrases so readers can feel, hear, and even smell the effects of an earthquake. It is a richly descriptive narrative. Examples of this are phrases like matchstick debris; ripped like paper; the shop floor quivered like the sea. The text describes the destruction caused by an earthquake but this is balanced when we read that, earthquakes have help shape the land. The notes are the back are factual and personal. This is an engaging text that most certainly will assist the reader to understand more about our world. The end papers show the power of a quake to bring down huge stone blocks. The sense of place is very strong especially with the reference to Meckering in Western Australia (1968) and Newcastle (1989). 

The Great Paper Caper by Oliver Jeffers

Something is happening in the forest. The trees are disappearing. The forest animals are all innocent.

"They all had a solid alibi ... so the tree thief must be someone else."

The animals decide to investigate. Beaver is the detective, deer will be the judge and pig will be the prosecutor. Meanwhile it is time for the 112th biennial paper airplane competition. The animals have not noticed bear who seems to be making and unsuccessfully flying paper airplanes. Is the loss of the trees connected with bear and with this competition?

This is an enjoyable story and there are wonderful extra details in the illustrations but I wish the ecological message was a little stronger. Bear has chopped down so many precious trees and yes it is good to see him making amends and planting replacements but using seeds and tiny saplings mean this process will take many years perhaps even decades. Kirkus agree saying "the story’s message is a bit convoluted, mixing themes of forgiveness, eco-consciousness and teamwork."

You can see a video of this book here. The Great Paper Caper was first published in 2008 but it is still available in paperback. Here are some review comments:

The book doesn’t have quite the same emotional grip of Lost and Found, Jeffers’s best book to date. However, there is much to be said for a picture book as thoroughly amusing and enjoyable as this. If you happen to be in need of a good winter mystery, particularly one that the small tots reading with you will be able to solve on their own, I can’t think of a better title to hand you. Purely enjoyment from start to finish. Fuse8 SLJ Betsy Bird

I really enjoyed this book, and I like the way it is told very seriously, but is very funny. It's best for older toddlers, who will take the time to look properly at all the pictures with you, or better still with older children still who can fully appreciate the humour. The police line up made me laugh out loud, and there are other very funny moments throughout. It's a cleverly thought out, and beautifully drawn story. Definitely recommended! The Book Bag

Here are many different covers plus the little board book edition:

The Last Human by Lee Bacon

"Humans were unpredictable/illogical/ reckless/deceitful/dangerous. 

And now so was I. Because of Emma."

XR-935 is a robot with an assigned task as a solar installation bot He completes his work each day along side two other robots SkD, who communicates using emojis, and Ceeron, a huge robot with a backpack. 

"My schedule never changed. I woke at at the exact same time every morning. After eighteen hours of work, my batteries drained from a long day of installing solar panels, I returned home. I plugged myself into the charging dock. I went into sleep mode. The next morning I did it all over again. And again. And again. For twelve years, four months, one week, and three days, this was my routine. Until my steady, predictable life was shattered by the paradox."

The paradox is a young girl called Emma. For thirty years robots have ruled the world and humans have been elminated, exterminated, massacred. But somehow Emma has survived and our three robot heroes discover other humans have too. They are living in underground bunkers but now it seems everyone is dead or dying from a serious disease. Emma seems to be the only survivor. Her parents have given her a map and she has set off to travel over 40 kilometres to possibly safety. Luckily XR_935 and his two 'friends' are keen to help but they are breaking every rule of their society. Unluckily the robot President has detected them and he has sent out his huge HunterBots to capture this illegal lifeform.

Here are some text quotes to give you a flavour of this book:

"My operating system shivered with an unfamiliar buzz. I had never kept a secret before. This was my first. It would not be my last."

"Sometimes, the human brain was as mysterious as a falling leaf."

"Robots have only been in charge for a few decades. We have done our best to overcome nature. We cleared the land, paved pathways with smooth cement, installed shelters to protect ourselves from the weather. But now, far from our familiar surroundings, I was suddenly aware of just how treacherous the world can be."

"I could measure the sugar and acidity of an apple, chart the size and firmness. But I would never know what it was like to sink my teeth into brand-new food, to feel completely a unexpected taste explode in my mouth. Maybe eating was not a flaw after all."

The Last Human (2019) has been on my "to read/to buy" list for a couple of years so I was delight to see it at a recent charity book fair for just $2. I sat down yesterday to read a chapter or two and then found myself running late for an appointment because I need to devour the whole book! Devour!! I haven't been in a reading slump but it has been a while since a book grabbed me so strongly that I just had to read and read and read right to the end. I highly recommend this book, which has binary numbers as chapter headings for added interest, for readers aged 10+. I hope I have not made this book sound too serious - there are plenty of human jokes which puzzle XR-935 and I really enjoyed trying to interpret the emoji communication by SkD. And of course there are issues such as food for Emma and power for the three robots which add a delicious layer of story tension. There is political layer in this book too, where we read how The President manipulates selected information which he broadcasts to his robot subjects. This is a terrific example of propaganda. 

If you follow my blog you have probably formed a picture of my book taste and you might know I love dystopian fiction and robots (and other themes too).  The Last Human combines a dystopian world and three fabulous robot main characters alongside a young girl who might quite possibly been the last human. 

Publisher blurb: Humans went extinct thirty years ago. Now the world is ruled by machines. And twelve-year-old robot XR_935 is just fine with that. Without humans around, there is no war, no pollution, no crime. Every member of society has a purpose. Everything runs smoothly and efficiently. Until the day XR discovers something impossible. Until the day XR discovers a twelve-year-old human.

Here is a review with more plot details. Listen to an audio sample. 

I have talked about lots of robot books here on this blog. I would pair The Last Human with these: 

The Wild Robot

Troofriend