Entries in this category should be outstanding books of the Picture Book genre in which the author and illustrator achieve artistic and literary unity or, in wordless picture books, where the story, theme or concept is unified through illustrations. Ages 0-18 years (NB. Some of these books may be for mature readers).
Themes: twins, the same and different, friends, families, conflict, individuality, and sharing
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Readers' theatre performance
Delightful story about a girl and her pet pig
Jules and George are identical twins (although, as the reader is aware, George is an enormous pig). It’s impossible to tell them apart, because they’re alike in every way. They do absolutely everything together, including going to the beach. George isn’t always a willing twin. At the beach, he wants to get into people’s belongings, eat all the food, chase the seagulls, and he definitely doesn’t like the waves. He would rather play in the sand, which he does, and Jules builds a sandcastle over the top of him because she doesn’t realise he’s there. Jules isn’t always a willing twin either, and doesn’t want to play the way George wants to play. After a disagreement and an ice cream, it becomes evident that they’re different in one way. An equally messy Jules labels George an absolute pig.
Such a warm, sweet story about friendship, and that even when you disagree, it’s not the end of the world, or of friendship, or of love. It’s the perfect book for preschool storytime – lots to look at on each page, and the right word-to-picture ratio to keep kids entirely engaged.
Described online as “cheeky and charming” which is a perfect description of the story. You can see the strong personality of Jules as a little girl, where everything is an adventure and everything is able to be explored.
Pastel, pencil illustrations that we know so well from Freya Blackwood. The text supports the pictures, wrapping around little tableau images on each page, making the reader feel very present in the story.
Umbrella-filled endpapers – there are endless umbrella-themed arts and craft options. For storytime, you could make a collection of felt or laminated umbrellas, and hide a pig behind one of them, where the children try to help Jules find George. Umbrella crafts include: paper plate umbrellas, colour and cut umbrellas from a template, umbrella accordion hats, folded paper umbrellas, and so on.
The idea of twins can also be utilised in activities like a large game of memory that school groups could be involved in. We’ve played this before using book week short list covers.
Photo frames across title page spread – make your own frame activity, either using templates or by purchasing wooden ones from somewhere like Cleverpatch for kids to decorate.
Jules and George do lots of activities together in the story that can be directly used. Yoga – have a yoga session with the kids, even themed to the story like Cosmic Kids Yoga does on YouTube. Chalk drawing – safely barricade off a part of the pavement outside and get the kids to draw either in theme or whatever they like.
Beach collage – get the kids to create some beautiful beach collages, to be displayed in the library in the children’s area. Use up all your paper scraps.
Themes: acceptance, self-identity, self-perception, cuteness, communication, dealing with aggression, anti-social behaviours, humour,; and Australian wildlife.
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The refrain “too cute” and response “not cute” could be used with a speech bubble to get audience participation while reading the story - perhaps split the group in half with each half calling out
uncommon Australian animals feature - could they be recreated in craft activities?
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Fun story about where over-confidence and stubbornness can lead you if you’re not careful
Quokka is very cute, but has no interest in being cute. He wants to be dangerous like a dingo, scary like a frill-neck, majestic like an eagle, deadly like a redback. He even tries to be ferocious like a crocodile, after which a passing crocodile decides not to chomp him, because he is so cute. So quokka chomps the crocodile instead, who is quite put out at this development. Snake arrives on the scene, also aware of the quokka’s cuteness, which is where the quokka makes his mistake. “Not cute,” he says, leaping. “Not cute,” says the snake, after eating him.
Consistent repetition of the title: “Too cute,” say the other animals. “Not cute,” responds the quokka.
Quote included at the end of the book on the publishing information page: “The stubborn listen to nobody’s advice and become a victim of their own delusions.” Aesop. Quokka puts himself in harm’s way, removing his natural defence against dangerous predators. The whole thing could have been avoided if not for his stubbornness and desire to be something he is not.
Always in the background, we see the length of the snake, which is not immediately evident. The endpapers also follow this pattern. Consistent danger that the quokka is not aware of, because he is so focused on not being cute.
Beautiful, textural illustrations in natural tones with simple, contrasting narration underneath. This lends itself to a great activity where kids could make a textural picture with nature elements they find outside, where they could then add pictures of Australian animals.
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“Too big for his boots” – activity where kids could create an artwork might showing someone who is too big for their boots, either literally or figuratively
Gorgeous costumes/masks/headbands that quokka wears to look like each of the animals. All the options in the world here: dress-up competition, headband making and mask-making activities of various types (find spider headband)
Really simply, a great research activity about quokkas, their habitat and their predators
The story lends itself to a fun reader’s theatre, especially in a preschool storytime setting, although the ending may be a little confronting! It would work well as a puppet show also, with great Australian animals to utilise.
Could also be included as part of a library scavenger hunt for primary-aged kids, where they have to locate pictures throughout the library, or locate books containing information about the animals
Animal ideas for storytime: matching real pictures of each of the animals with the illustrated versions, hidden game where a real picture of various Australian animals are gradually revealed and kids have to guess them, ‘Simon says’ activity where kids have to bark like a dingo, flap their wings like an eagle, snap like a crocodile, etc.
Themes: conformity, individuality, clothing/personal style, personal boundaries, belonging, friendship, humour, identical and different, copying and imitation, dressing and clothes
Suitable for preschool and Primary school aged children
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Norton is someone with his own particular style. He likes being different. Unfortunately for Norton, he has a copycat. Bear loves Norton's style and every time Norton appears with something new (jumper, scarf, hat), Bear copies him. Norton finds it completely frustrating! Although Bear is excited to tell Norton how much he admires his fashion sense, Norton has had enough. He tells Bear to stop copying him and find his own style. It doesn't take long for Norton to feel bad about what he said to Bear, and he eventually comes to a realisation. Perhaps imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery, and perhaps Norton and Bear can just focus on being friends. Norton and the Bear is a wonderful story about similarities and differences, and that it's ok to have both. It's a reminder that even if we have things in common, there are always things that make each of us unique. This is an endearing story about the contradictory need to be different, yet to belong. ..Gabriel Evans has taken this theme and created two lovable relatable characters who struggle with the push pull of this dichotomy until they realise they are inherently unique on the inside.”Norton wants to dress uniquely, and the bear wants to look just like him. How will anyone tell them apart? This hilarious story explores the good and bad of every kid’s least favourite form of admiration and raises lots of questions about personal boundaries, copying, managing emotions etc
Matching game with different items of clothing from the story. Children choose numbers and make pairs with the items that are hidden.
Paper doll craft. make two identical dolls and dress them with clothes that are the same……or different. Children could also draw clothes onto their paper figures.
Reader’s Theatre: This book really lends itself to a Reader’s Theatre with two people acting out the roles of Norton and the Bear. It is quite humorous but also asks questions about individuality, boundaries etc. the book has some great themes – see Lamont Teacher Notes. It would require having two sets of identical clothes, which could be a challenge, but maybe close enough is good enough?
Themes: imaginary friends, friendship, imagination, growing up and family
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Beautiful, relatable story about imaginary friends and identity. Short phrase “no friendship is imaginary” listed on all the online reviews, which is such a lovely description of this story.
Ellie finds a tiny dragon at the supermarket and she calls him Scratch. She plays with him at home and we realise that Scratch is an imaginary friend, as her mother can’t see him. Her friends at nursery school are able to see him, but Ellie’s teacher can’t. Ellie goes to school and leaves Scratch at home, who is growing bigger alongside her. Scratch is there through the events of Ellie’s life, including birthday parties, movie watching, and sleepovers. But things change. Scratch is not as involved in the things Ellie does, and he starts to fade. He slips away, and Ellie hardly remembers when he was with her. But then it shows Little Sam leading a full-grown Scratch down the street.
A lovely story about the imagination of children, something that sadly disappears over time as we grow up. What we need as children might be different to what we need as adults, but all of it is important. Quote from Harry Potter: “Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”
Gorgeous supermarket endpapers – the first showing Ellie’s discovery of Scratch in the egg section, the second showing Sam leading a full-grown Scratch through the store.
Soft, shaded, rainbow illustrations against a plain white background. Combination of watercolours and pencil and thicker ink lines. Give the book a dreamy quality that supports the theme of imagination.
The story describes Scratch’s changing rainbow colours as like “oil on water”, which natural lends itself to art activities with either watercolours or oil pastels or both.
Scratch lives in Ellie’s dolls house for the first part of the story, until he’s too big to fit inside it and sleeps on a fire blanket in the corner. A diorama activity could work for this, using donated and recycled materials to create a house for Scratch to live in. This could be paired with a 3D printing activity where kids could either design their own dragon, or pay to print a copy of a design that already exists to put in their ‘dolls house’ (see examples of
3D printed dragons).
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Pajama storytime or dance party – more of a reach during covid times, doable depending on space and procedures.
A short story competition where children have to write about an imaginary friend they might have had when they were younger, or even still have.
Colouring-in competition that can be completed and returned to the library – eg Scratch as a baby.
Themes: birds, imagination, creativity, hope, wonder
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make paper plate birds
A moving and visually stunning picture book that celebrates the transformative power of the creative process from inception through recognition to celebration and releasing into the world. We shadow the protagonist as she contemplates the blueprint of an idea, collects the things that inspire from the natural world to shape a bird. And breathes life into it before letting it fly free. It shows how small things, combined with a little imagination and a steady heart, can transform into works of magic.
Conceptually this is a very sophisticated book and would lend itself to exploration by older students. There are many great ideas in the Teacher Notes for avenues of discussion and analysis.
Compare the skeletons/shape of different birds - get children to find information about different kinds of birds and think about what might go into ‘making’ one. Have some non-fiction books about birds ready for groups of children to explore.
Meg McKinlay and Matt Ottley are both “makers” as together they have made a book. What are the different things that go into “making” a book? Children could contribute ideas as a group and then make their own simple book. (e.g.
How to make a book in 8 easy steps)
What materials do you think Matt Ottley has used to create his illustrations with? (For example, crayons, pencils, paint)
Draw and label your own simple diagram of a bird.
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Do a matching game with pictures of different kinds of birds (children take turns in choosing and turning over pictures until they find all the pairs of birds) or, play ‘Bird Bingo’.
more suited to primary and high school children
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Make a bird feeder - after school or school holiday craft activity. Lots of good, simple ideas on the internet.