We have some beautiful new kids books to enjoy this month, including a debut picture book by Miles Franklin winning author, Sofie Laguna, as well as a new book by the author of the beloved The Orchard Underground, a junior fiction story featuring the art of street artist, David Booth, and a historical fiction title set in the aftermath of WWI.

You can find our round-up of this month’s recommended YA titles here.

KID’S BOOK OF THE MONTH

When You’re Older by Sofie Laguna & Judy Watson

An exquisitely illustrated and deeply joyful celebration of the bond between brothers. Join them as they explore the far reaches of this wild and amazing world, side by side every step of the way.

From two highly acclaimed and award-winning creators.

Recommended for ages 2 and up.

FIVE NOTABLE KIDS BOOKS THIS MONTH

Piano Fingers by Caroline Magerl

Isla and Bea are two sisters who share a love of music. Big sister Isla plays the violin and Bea is waiting for her music to start. With the help of Maestro Gus, the cat ghost of the piano, Bea will make her sparkling debut.

Piano Fingers is the latest magical creation from an award-winning and internationally distinguished creator that hits all the right notes.

Recommended for ages 3 and up.

The Chameleon Thief by Mat Larkin

Attica Stone has fantastic friends, a great life and a massive problem: her bestie, Jinni Miscamble, suddenly hates her. Attica doesn’t know why - but she does know Jinni’s done something bad. And only Attica can help her deal with the consequences.

Does Jinni want Attica’s help? No. Does she need it? Yes. But in order to save Jinni, Attica will need to pull off a stunt so wild, so daring, that it might just get her kicked out of town…

Recommended for ages 9 and up.

Moth in a Fancy Cardigan by Charlotte Lance & David Booth

This is the story of Gary Grey Moth who desperately wants to be seen and Florence Butterfly who has had enough of being noticed. What would happen if they swapped cardigans and could be the bug they each always wanted to be?

A humorous, insightful story of identity and coming-of-age, told from the unlikely but utterly relatable perspectives of a moth and a butterfly.

Recommended for ages 8 and up.

When the War Came Home by Lesley Parr

12-year-old Natalie is furious when her mum loses her factory job for sticking up for workers’ rights. Now they have to go stay at her uncle’s farm. It is the 1920s and Natty finds herself making friends with two soldiers convalescing from the war. One of the soldiers, Johnny, is suffering with amnesia and Natty is determined to help him discover his identity.

Before she knows it, Natty is drawn into a mystery where the answers to who Johnny truly is lay closer to home than she could have ever imagined…

Recommended for ages 9 and up.

Dear Greta by Yvette Poshoglian

This was meant to be Alice’s year to shine, but things are already going wrong… At school, she’s given young environmental activist Greta Thunberg as her pen pal for a fictional writing assignment. Why couldn’t Alice get someone easy to write to, like a pop star?

But through her letters to Greta, Alice finds herself opening up about her life. And as Alice approaches the hard questions by wondering, ‘What would Greta do?’, she starts to believe that she can make a difference - a big one.

Recommended for ages 9 and up.

NEWS AND EVENTS

• Events are back! We have many events for children this weekend, including two special storytimes in conjunction with the Melbourne Art Fair at our Readings Emporium store on Saturday, March 26. Book the 10.30am session here and the 12.30pm session here.
• Storytime in conjunction with the First Nations Blak and Bright festival is at Readings Kids on Saturday at 11am. You can book here.
• The new picture book by Caz Goodwin is being launched at Readings Hawthorn on Saturday. Find out more here.
• Gabrielle Wang has been named our new Children’s Laureate. Read more about the Laureate program and the theme chosen by Gabrielle Wang, who has written over 30 books here.
• To celebrate International Women’s Day recently, we compiled some of our favourite recent books celebrating amazing women of the past and present. Take a look and be inspired here.
• See some of our recent favourite translated works for children here.