children’s books

What We Read This Week (08/03/2026)

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We have reached a new level. In her school library borrowing time, C has been borrowing Amulet books. They are only allowed to borrow one graphic novel a week, and this has been all she has borrowed from school this year. She and a friend have been reading them together at school, and C has been devouring them (along with a whole host of other books) at home. A couple of weeks ago, E came home after her library borrowing day with an Amulet book, too. Another example of her trying to do something nice for her sister and also keen to see what all the fuss was about. So for a couple of weeks now, C has been reading Amulet to E at every opportunity. Heart melt.

C also started Home Story Time, where all three girls put a bunch of cushions and pillows on the floor in their bedroom, arrange themselves and the current favourite toys upon said cushions and pillows, and C reads to them. For all it is hard raising three girls close in age in a small space, it definitely has its delights.

Last week, on the night of the full moon/blood moon eclipse, it was one of THOSE nights where girls just kept each other awake. Not for any annoying reason, it was just one girl would be close to sleep and another would think of something they had to say or find, or they wanted to look at the moon, and I … I did not cope so well. Although, giving myself some credit here, a whole lot better than me of a year ago would have and definitely a big improvement on me of a few years ago. But still. Not great. One of the issues was that we have been choosing lullabies to listen to, which sounds like a lovely idea, right? Except this is on the internet, which has more lullabies for kids to go to sleep than there are stars in the sky. I finally had enough of who gets to choose first, how long they would take to find The Right One, and the annoyance from other girls at someone else’s choice. It’s still making me cross! 

On Wednesday I realised a lot of the sleep delay was from lullabies, and a lot of my bedtime stress was from lullabies, and so I realised I needed to replace the lullabies with something else. I realised I needed to be reading to them, and not reading picture books, and definitely not reading funny or exciting or scary books. No. I needed to be reading the slower, gentler chapter books that I have been reading to C for the last couple of years. Wednesday night I read the first chapter each of Heidi and of Pollyanna, and S was asleep before I even began reading, and E fell asleep just before 8 for the first time in over two months, and C … well, two out of three ain’t bad.

We also had a rainy Saturday afternoon trip to the library. C promptly chose, borrowed, started reading and then squirrelled away on her bunk two books. The usual sort. Animal rescue. Dragon hunting. S – I think?  – borrowed a Holly Webb Christmas book. I will check that, but it will be perfect for nightly chapter book reading. E borrowed an Easter egg hunt book and a picture book. She seems to have a knack for finding books that are diverse and inclusive. This one we read this evening: Before We Met. When she showed it to me, I knew it would have me crying. I warned her, but also reassured her they would be happy tears. Oh my. There is so much in this book! And if we had had difficulties having babies it would be even more so. It’s one of those where the words are beautiful and can encompass all the parenting love, and the pictures add all the nuance that grownups understand and kids will come to understand in time. Goodness. Here I go again. Needless to say, there were cuddles and forehead kisses galore tonight.

What We Read This Week (25/01/2026)

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This has been an emotional week. It started with the big, big emotions of when will this holiday ever end will I ever get back to school and the nerves of E as she faces a big wall of unknown that is actually fairly recognisable and familiar but it still carries the weight of new and different. Not to mention that there were a couple of things that we had said we would do but could not do due to illness. I was screamed at a lot for that. As I suspected, though, a lot of E’s big emotions were from the unknown and it being a long time since prep transition days. Thursday, we had a big day of playing at the park then having hair cuts (E has a fringe now!) and buying proper school shoes then dropping off C’s school supplies and showing daddy E’s classroom. E’s teacher spotted her and we had a chat and then there was more park play where we met a classmate of E’s and then S pickup and E actually fell asleep at a normal sort of time without getting physically violent with me. Phew.

There have been a few books that have helped with all this emotional weight. The usuals. Children’s Bible Stories. Ruby Red Shoes. A new frequent pick for E is Maisy Goes to the Cinema, which I find ok but it is not my favourite. It feels like what is probably a Peppa Pig episode but with different animals. One that is very flat and two-dimensional and has the underlying purpose of “Let’s tell children what to expect when they go to the cinema”. Nothing at all like the Bluey episode called Movies with all its humour and relatability and parenting.

A recent library pick for E was two Claris in Paris books. I had pointed these out to at least one girl while book shopping in Kmart a while ago and was met with glazed eyes. I did not press it. Now, though, these are up there with favourite books. They have even been placed on our bookshelves instead of in the library book pile so I see a furtive library trip in my future. One of the books borrowed is a hide and seek book, as my girls call them. As it turns out, my girls love this style of book, which is a fantastic calming tool for them. The other is more of a mystery book with a missing Fabergé egg. And beautiful colours. And acts of selfless kindness. Beautiful.

C has been reading her way through the library’s animal chapter books. Anything by Holly Webb is snaffled by her, as well as a series called Zoe’s Rescue Zoo. All girls have still been enjoying Miss Rita, Mystery Reader and C is still devouring Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls. That one has prompted many conversations about all sorts of things. Cue random questions at random times resulting in me swallowing a few times and wondering what is actually age-appropriate for dealing with topics like totalitarian regimes and occupations of a military kind and how do people recover from diarrhoea and how long does it take to recover from any sickness and how to stop wars forever. Goodness.

What We Read This Week (18/01/2026)

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Whenever I slack off in the reading report, a little part of me worries that whoever reads this (Hi!) maybe suspects that we haven’t been reading. Rest assured, we have been reading.

So much reading.

Nearly nightly Bible stories from the My First Children’s Bible Story Book that my little brother had as a kid in the 80s. It is well-worn and adorned with Bible verse stickers and has a not-quite-intact spine. E has been asking for a Bible story nearly every night for [checks book] nearly six weeks now. Religion is not something I want to be too religious about as I have seen too many times what that can do to people. On the other hand, these stories are important. They are a part of us. They are a part of our story. And, much bigger picture, it is good to have this knowledge. Glenn and I first met at a trivia game. General knowledge is important.

Ruby Red Shoes and her world have been in high demand lately, too. They are such calming books. We were delighted in a spontaneous library visit to find the Ruby Alphabet Book. The original, and feelings, and London and Paris have all been on high rotation. I know this for sure as whenever we are in the ohmygoodnessme will this child ever sleep but no she’s just asked for another story and how on earth are you still awake child – you know, that stage of the evening, I can put my hand out in any direction and find a Ruby book. They are the best.

Speaking of library visits. On a recent trip, I found Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls and showed it to C. She was entirely underwhelmed. That said, I borrowed it anyway. I do, after all, have three girls to raise. In an eye-rolling fit of boredom a few days later, C started reading it and I kind of regret borrowing it. “Time to put your shoes on. We’re about to go”. Said three times before I realise she’s reading this book and just wants to read just another story and yes she totally wants to go but she wants to read the book more. Insert all the life situations you can think of here, and we are delayed by C reading this book. 

Whenever I let E loose in the library, I am glad I am not a restrictive parent. I am glad of libraries! It frightens me when I hear of reading being restricted. Ideas are – well. I could write a whole post on it. A whole series of posts. Back to the point here, though, which is that E will find all sorts of books. Some parents would discourage a child from reading some of these. For example, we’re Anglican Christians, so when E wanted to borrow a book celebrating Eid, I know some parents would say no. We’re Anglo for the most part, so books about Aboriginal Dreamtime stories and how the culture is woven into Aboriginal lives could be accidentally-on-purpose not borrowed. 

But. But. But. Before I had kids, I did go through a big “I really want kids. Why am I being so selfish? Kids drain the earth’s resources. Think of the future. Think of all the other kids”. But I wanted my kids to make a difference in the world, to be kids who grew up to change the world for good. That’s not going to happen after age 15 if it hasn’t started age early. Books open doors to other worlds as well as explaining our world and creating pathways for processing. 

So E’s latest choice from the library, which has been quite popular with all my girls, is about a child and a dad, and the dad is … sparkly. Miss Rita, Mystery Reader (Sam Donovan and Kristen Wixted, illustrated by Violet Tobacco), is a lovely exposure to blokes who wear fancy sparkly glittery garb. Simply explained. Simply put. That’s it.

Isn’t it nice to just let them be. Kids, I mean, but also just the rest of the world.