I’m a big fan of Aaron Blabey’s distinctive style. His picture books are never saccharine and often pack an emotional, as well as a humorous, punch. Take for example The Brothers Quibble which depicts the love versus animosity that exists between siblings, or Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley which is about best friends with opposite personalities.

Blabey’s new book is Pig the Pug. (Sideline Bookseller Observation: Move over Hairy Maclary, there’s a new breed in town. Pugs are IN) Pig is grumpy and selfish, refusing to acknowledge the sweet offers of friendship from Trevor the sausage dog, until one day Pig’s greed teaches him a lesson. This is great fun and Blabey’s dogs are delightfully comical.

Speaking of distinctive style, there’s a new Leigh Hobbs picture book out: Mr Chicken Lands on London (he was previously in Paris). My seven-year-old is a huge fan of Hobbs’ characters (our house is currently filled with fan-art), and of Old Tom and Mr Chicken in particular. There’s a sort of rebellious humour in the drawings and storyline that children love. I also highly recommend The Big Book of Old Tom for early readers who are growing in confidence but are put off by a huge wall of text. They’ll feel like they’ve conquered a big fat novel once they’ve finished this one, but really it’s as much about reading the pictures as the words.

A change of tone now with Lucas and Jack, which is a potential weepy for the adult reader but a fantastic lesson in storytelling and the magic of a long, full life for the child listening to it.

I’m also happy to see two new titles in the Do You Dare series, from the same publishing team that brought us the successful Our Australian Girl series. These series are an ideal introduction to historical fiction – the historical detail is never overbearing, the action is full-on and the characters thoughtful. I loved Alison Lloyd’s The Bushranger’s Boys and my colleague Kathy raved about Simon Mitchell’s Tough Times. The new additions to the series are The Last Horse Race by James Moloney and Fighting Bones by Sofie Laguna. Readers of eight to thirteen will enjoy these.

There are a few children’s series guaranteed to make me laugh out loud. One of them is R.A. Spratt’s Nanny Piggins so the start of a brand new series by this author is very exciting. Meet Friday Barnes, a feisty and funny character who is convinced that her boarding school is Crime Central, and moreover that she’s the detective for the job. Boarding school plus mystery? Yes, please.

There are so many wonderful books that sit in that early young adult category – stories that are ideal for grades five to eight – and two new ones caught my eye this month. I had a few LOLs reading Spurt, about a boy who is so aghast at his lack of physical development that he decides to fake puberty. Jack, the main character, isn’t as dysfunctional as the hilarious Adrian Mole but his naivety proves highly amusing because it leads to some brilliant slapstick humour. And from Kate Gordon (whose Three Things About Daisy Blue I found really delightful a few years back) we have Writing Clementine. Set in Tassie, this is a gorgeous ‘finding your tribe’ story. Kate has written a fantastic blog post for us which you can check out here. There’s also the very moving Dandelion Clocks.

For older readers, the paperback format of Patrick Ness’ More Than This is here, which is an exciting and philosophical story that raises lots of questions about our existence. Readings’ booksellers were also desperate to get their hands on the sequel to Vango – A Prince Without Kingdom is out now. Finally, while last month we had Diana Sweeney’s The Minnow, which captured a small Australian town recovering after a devastating flood, this month sees the release of Christie Nieman’s As Stars Fall, which is about the aftermath of a bushfire. It’s important for young Australians to have the opportunity to explore their fears and hopes in stories like these, and the rich pool of talent here never ceases to amaze me.

Emily Gale