Tuesday, 17 March 2026

Weekend reads: 14 and 15 March 2026: Part three

 

Home for Margaret.

Written by Denise Davy.

Illustrated by Bérengère Delaporte.

Groundwood Books: House of Anansi Press, 2025.

Picture book.

A young girl notices a woman living in a tent in the park. She and her mother try to help in the winter. Throughout the rest of the year, she worries about Margaret.  Based on the author’s experience.

Possible read-alikes:

A place to stay: a shelter story by Erin Gunti and Estelí Meza.

A cat called Waverley by Debi Gliori.

Home by Tonya Lippert and Andrea Stegmaier.

My friend Andy by Emma Chinnery.

Crumbs by Phil Cummings and Shane Devries.

I saw Pete and Pete saw me by Maggie Hutchings and Evie Barrow.

The old man by Sarah V. and Claude K. Dubois, translated by Daniel Hahn.

Dear librarian by Lydia M. Sigwarth and Romina Galotta.

I like your face.

Written by Brad Davidson.

Illustrated by Rachel Más Davidson.

Kids Can Press, 2025.

Picture book.

A celebration of best friends and what makes them your best friend.

Possible read-alikes:

George & Lenny are always together by Jon Agee.

The big backyard plan by Kirsten Ealand and Laura Stitzel.

The boy with flowers in his hair by Jarvis.

Alex & Alex by Ziggy Hanaor and Ben Javens.

How to spot a best friend by Bea Birdsong and Lucy Fleming.

Out of nowhere by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros.

Stella and Roger are on the move.

Written by Clothilde Ewing.

Illustrated by Lynn Gaines.

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2025.

Picture book.

Stella doesn’t want to move – and tries to figure out ways she and Roger, her rhino toy, can stay behind.

Possible read-alikes:

The space between by Clare Helen Welsh and Fiona Lumbers.

Caterwaul!: a story of sorting by Ann Marie Stephens and Jenn Harney.

Just like Millie by Lauren Castillo.

We're moving away by Nįa Nill.

Goodbye house, hello house by Margaret Wild and Ann James.

Clare's goodbye by Libby Gleeson and Anna Pignataro.

First 100 words.

Scholastic Australia, 2026.

Board book.

Possible read-alikes:

My first busy day: let's get learning! by Sarah Davis.

Dr Seuss’s 100 first words by Dr Seuss.

Baby’s very first play book: garden words by Stella Baggott.

100 first words by Lauren Crisp and Thomas Elliott.

Enchanted beach.

Written by Esther Freud.

Illustrated by Emma Chinnery.

Walker Books Ltd, 2025.

Picture book.

A beach through the seasons.

Possible read-alikes:

A pocket full of rocks by Kristin Mahoney and E.B. Goodale.  

Homegrown by Stephen Michael King.  

Cat's seasons by Airlie Anderson.

At the bach by Joy Cowley and Hilary Jean Tapper.

Our pebbles by Jarvis.

Pink Easter.

Written byTanya Hennessy.

Illustrated by Sophie Kent.

Albert Street Books, an imprint of Allen & Unwin, 2026.

Picture book.

Australian.

Rhyming text.

The Easter bunny is stressed about work – so their friends step in to help. It’s an explosive solution – but fun.

Possible read-alikes:

I am NOT the Easter Bunny! by T. L. McBeth.

Pink Santa by Tanya Hennessy and Ben Whitehouse.

The kids who rescued Easter by Jackie Hosking and Nathaniel Eckstrom.

 

Going home.

Written and illustrated by Simon Howe.

Walker Books, 2026.

Picture book.

Australian.

A gentle story about spending a day doing stuff – and going home. I love the perspectives – everything is from a mouse point of view.

Possible read-alikes:

A bed of stars by Jessica Love.

A day that's ours by Blake Nuto and Vyara Boyadjieva.

Every day by Gareth Peter and Jane Massey.

When dad showed me the universe by Ulf Stark and Eva Eriksson, translated by Julia Marshall.

A day with Yayah by Nicola L. Campbell and Julie Flett.

Our marvelous memory.

Written by Helena Haraštová.

Illustrated by Dita Vopřadová.

Translated from the Czech by Andrew Oakland.

Albatros Media Group, 2025.

Illustrated non-fiction.

A good introduction about memory and how it works.

Possible read-alikes / read-alongs:

Ten ways to build a brilliant brain by Nicola Morgan and Risa Rodil.

The brain book by Liam Drew.

Your brilliant brain by Philip Bunting.

The human brain in 30 seconds by Clive Gifford and Wesley Robins.

Invisible things by Andy J. Pizza and Sophie Miller.

 

The paper piano.

Written by Rachel Ip.

Illustrated by Natelle Quek.

Hodder Children's Books, 2025.

Picture book.

A young boy is entranced by a pianist – so much so that he makes a paper piano.

Possible read-alikes:

One sweet song by Jyoti Rajan Gopal and Sonia Sánchez.

The day Bell found her sound by Lizzy O'Donnell.

Thundermaestro by Annemarie Riley Guertin and Maria Brzozowska.

The music in me by Sophy Henn.

The colour of music by Lisa Tiffen and Matt Ottley.

Miguel and the grand harmony by Matt de la Peña and Ana Ramírez.

The bear and the piano by David Litchfield.

The year we learned to fly by Jacqueline Woodson and Rafael López.

The Imagineer by Christopher Cheng and Lucia Masciullo.

 

Our Pebbles.

Written and illustrated by Jarvis.

Walker, 2025.

Picture book.

An absolute delight of a book – creating memories with a grandad and grandson – before the Grandad moves.

Possible read-alikes:

The bookshop on Lemon Tree Lane by Mike Lucas and Sofya Karmazina.

Beneath by Cori Doerrfeld.

The night whale by Bryher Mackenzie and Gillian Eilidh O'Mara.

The colour of the sky by Layn Marlow.

Wren’s nest by Heidi E.Y. Stemple and Eugenia Nobati.

 

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