Is it a Book or is it a Plane? by Mike Henson illustrated by Katie Vernon

Is it a Book or is it a Plane? is a perfect text to share with your library group when you introduce the 2025 CBCA slogan. The book itself, in this book, takes the children on an adventure. They use the actual book to act out all these things. It can be an aeroplane, a hat, a monster mask, a pirate ship or the book can take you to the moon. There are flaps to lift; holes to peer through; and pages that you need to turn. This is a brand-new book published just this week May 2025. 

"These pages could be anything! Take another look! One thing's for sure: they're definitely more ... than just a book."

Bookseller blurb: This is not a book. It's a plane! it's a dinosaur! and so much more! Dive into the book that isn't a book and interact with the pages to create exciting new objects and worlds. Fly the book like an aeroplane, wear it like a hat, turn it into a monster mask, transform it into a roaring dinosaur or sail it like a pirate ship!

The 2025 Children's Book Council of Australia slogan is 

Book an Adventure!

My friend from Kinderbookswitheverything and I always try to compile a Pinterest of book and poster ideas to link with the current CBCA slogan.  Take a look here to see our 2025 collection and then plan to come back because this will grow.

Some people call the CBCA slogan a theme but I prefer the term slogan.  

Slogan: a brief attention-getting phrase used in advertising or promotion

Here are some from the past that opened the way to great displays, promotion of reading, a some good discussions.

2020 Curious Creatures, Wild Minds

2019 Reading is My Secret Power

2018 Find Your Treasure

2015 Books light up our world

2013 Read across the Universe

2010 Across the Story Bridge

2009 Book Safari

2008 Fuel Your Mind

2003 Oceans of Stories

1999 Weave the Book Web

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 (this was my first ever book week slogan)

1985 Book Banquet

1984 Books Have it Covered   

1976 It’s Reading Time  

1975 Read All About It  

1974 Books for All Seasons  

1963 Make Books Your Friends  

1962 Time to Read   

1960 Treasure from Books  

1945 United Through Books

This is not an egg by Philip Bunting

Image source: Philip Bunting

There is a joyful and playful energy in this book. The narrative arc is perfect. We hum along to the beat of “this is not an egg” with more and more hilarious suggestions culminating in the decorated egg from Mexico and then boom! we turn the page and our bilby hero meets another bilby who wants to join in with this fabulous game of imagination and now the two can play with their Bilbot. 

Readers then enjoy two pages of night time robotic fun and until the authors wack in another boom! moment. The egg belongs to an emu. Of course, the reader sighs. That makes perfect sense. Or does it. I can hear the youngest children squealing with delight over the twist of the baby emu-dragon.  

This book has perfect end papers, a very engaging text, expressive digital illustrations and full-page spreads interspersed with four frame pages all created with a consistent and pleasing colour palette.

Here are the end papers:

This book will be a favourite with young children and it will be loved by schools at Easter who look for books about bilbies and eggs. The intertextual references are perfect but the Buntings have been restrained and not overloaded the text with too many of these. I was also interested to see the full stop used with the title - I wonder why they included this?

I love the way the colloquial dialogue is presented using different colours of text. I can imagine reading this book aloud with a group of readers taking different parts. (Readers theatre). I also appreciate the way the background changes in each illustration. 

The Philip Bunting book Wombat was our IBBY Australia 2022 honour book:

The IBBY Honour List is a biennial selection of outstanding, recently published books, honouring writers, illustrators and translators from IBBY member countries. The IBBY Honour List is one of the most widespread and effective ways of furthering IBBY's objective of encouraging international understanding through children's literature.

The titles are selected by the National Sections which can nominate one book for each of the three categories. For a country with a substantial and continuing production of children's books in more than one language, one book may be submitted for writing and translation in each official language.

Important considerations in selecting the Honour List titles are that the books are representative of the best in children's literature from the country and that the books are suitable for publication throughout the world. The selection provides insight into the diverse cultural, political and social settings in which children live and grow and it can be used by all those involved with developing educational and literacy programmes and publishing initiatives to develop exemplary “international” collections.

Here is an interview with Philip Bunting about his work - with Joy Lawn. 

One of these is Not like the Others by Barney Saltzberg

 

My friends and I are visiting various public libraries in our city. Today was our third expedition. We have been to Marrickville Library; Green Square Library and today we headed to Darling Harbour to see the Darling Square spiral shaped library. We arrived just as storytime for babies was beginning and by happy coincidence one of the books (A name for baby) was by the author/illustrator I featured here yesterday!

Once the toddler time was over we were able to explore the picture book section and one book I spied was this one by Barney Saltzberg. I am a huge fan of his work - especially Crazy Hair Day which I have read to hundreds of children and the two books about Cornelius P Mud.

I am not a person who often laughs out aloud but One of these is Not like the Others certainly made me laugh - it is so funny. The library copy was a regular picture book but so far here in Australia I have only been able to find a board book edition. In a way that is not a problem because this book would be a terrific gift for a toddler or for a preschool book collection and it would be a wonderful interactive storytime book too. Here is the Kirkus review. The format of this book is very simple which is why it would be perfect for your toddler. You see a row of four things or animals - one is different. Then turn the page for a surprise resolution - the penguin and panda one is at the top of this post. 

Bookseller blurb: One of these is not like that other--and that's great This gently subversive picture book points out-- and celebrates -- the differences between subjects. Barney Saltzberg's hilarious and delightfully direct text and simple illustrations introduce children to the concept and splendour of inclusiveness, through recognising who or what's different on each spread and celebrating the unity as it is. For example, the reader sees three cows and an elephant accompanied by the text "One of these is not like the other," turn the page... and all four animals take part in an exuberant conga line and say "that's just fine with us". In a series of similar examples children are encouraged to notice both the similarities and differences between characters and celebrate both. Barney Saltzberg's picture book is a pointed and timely tribute to the power of inclusivity and as well as a riotous read-aloud.

Here are some other books by Barney Saltzberg that I would like to read:

Recently Betsy Bird took her roving microphone around a huge library conference in Chicago - she asked various people and famous authors etc to name their favourite childhood book and Barney Saltzberg named one of my most favourites - Are you my Mother?

I Spy with my little eye by Edward Gibbs

I spied (pardon the pun) this book at a charity book sale this week. The text is very familiar but I was struck by the wonderful illustrations which are similar in style to Catherine Rayner or even Brian Wildsmith. 

My two books were inspired by playing the game I Spy as a child, and then with my own three children on car journeys when they were growing up. The idea of eyes and holes came to me while in bed in the middle of the night. I got up and did a little sketch on a folded piece of paper, and tore a little hole . . . it worked! ... The idea with the first I Spy was to go from the biggest animal in the world (the blue whale) to the smallest (it was going to be a fly) but that was a bit scary so we settled on the frog — who could have swallowed the fly! Candlewick

My copy of I Spy with my little eye is a large format picture book (reprinted here in Australia by Koala Books) but this is a title that could easily translate into a board book. The farm title is available as a board book. There are lots of book (thousands in fact) that explore animals and colour concepts so I think it is important to hunt out the best ones with fabulous art. I do hope you can find some of these books in your local library. 

Edward Gibbs is a UK illustrator and he also designs greeting cards. I Spy with my little eye is one book in a series. It was first published in 2011.

Now What? A Math Tale by Robie H Harris illustrated by Chris Catterton

Puppy loves to build and he loves to snooze.  He decides to build a bed for a snooze. How can he assemble the blocks to make a comfortable bed that is just right? He has eleven blocks but they are all different - rectangles, triangles and squares.

Image source Booktopia

I marvel at the inventiveness of book creators. I've been reading children's books for over 40 years and so you might think nothing will surprise me - wrong! This book is so surprising, and amazing, and just fun! This is surely the perfect way to introduce and reinforce simple geometry concepts. This book is begging for interaction. If you plan to read this book with a young child I suggest you gather up the same blocks and work alongside our pup as he experiments and makes so many discoveries about how shapes work. Puppy does not give up on his plan even when things don't quite work. I especially love the way he uses the last two blocks to make the perfect bed.

If you work with preschool children this book should be an essential purchase and I am happy to report that the hardcover edition is available for a low price. Robie Harris has an excellent web site where you can see all of her picture books and read review comments. Take a look at Chris Chatterton's web site too.

Now What? A Math Tale is the second book in a series by Robie H Harris which begins with  Crash Boom.

Press Here by Herve Tullet

This is my picture book of the year so far for 2011. The idea here is so simple it made me wonder why no one has done this before.

Here is the perfect interactive picture book with no electronic gadgets needed not even any batteries or electricity. I read this gem to Year 2 students and Year 6 and all were equally enthralled especially by the page where you tilt the book to the left and all the dots 'move' across.

I first heard about this book when it was reviewed on the radio this week by Kate Colley of Bloomin' books. She said Press Here is a very difficult book to describe on radio and I agree. The illustrations are so simple but the thought behind this creation is the work of a genius. You could enjoy this book with a pre school child and with an art student it is just so amazing.

If you know how to press, rub, shake, tilt, blow or clap you will easily be able to 'read' this wonderful book. Herve Tullet has a beautiful web site and other wonderful books including an intriguing colouring book.

You can see this book in action here - it is interesting that I thought you needed to press all the yellow dots at the same time.