Weekend reads roundup: 16 May 2026, part four

 

A garden in my hands.

Written by Meera Sriram.

Illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat.

Alfred A. Knopf, 2023.

Picture book.

Good for #WorldKidLitMonth. Henna and family stories.

Possible read-alikes:

• Eid for Nylah by Nizrana Farook and Zelma Firdauzia.
• The beautiful layers of me by Sophia Payne and Ruchi Mhasane.
• Tea is love by Adib Khorram and Hanna Cha.
• Great Aunt Margot and me by Bryher Mackenzie and Rhiannon Archard.
• What will my story be? by Nidhi Chanani.

 

No such thing.

Written and illustrated by Ella Bailey.

Nobrow Press, 2022.

Picture book.

Rhyming text.

Adamantly sure ghosts don’t exist. One where the fun is in the illustrations.

Possible read-alikes:

• Hardly haunted by Jessie Sima.
• There's a ghost in this house by Oliver Jeffers.
• The house on the hill by Kyle Mewburn and Sarah Davis.
• There's no such thing as... ghosts by Lucy Rowland and Katy Halford.
• Fairy walk by Gaia Cornwall.

 

Taxi, go!

Written by Patricia Toht.

Illustrated by Maria Karipidou.

Walker Books, 2024.

Picture book.

Rhyming text.

The day in the life of a taxi.

Limited appeal in my part of the world – very few taxis around.

Possible read-alikes:

• Goodnight, goodnight, construction site by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld.
• Roadworks by Sally Sutton and Brian Lovelock.
• Every Monday Mabel by Jashar Awan.
• Cranky by Phuc Tran and Pete Oswald.

 

Fergal and the fib.

Written and illustrated by Robert Starling.

Andersen Press, 2022.

Picture book.

The problem with lying – and how small lies can escalate.

Possible read-alikes:

• Tell the truth, Dragon! by Bianca Schulze and Samara Hardy.
• Pig the fibber by Aaron Blabey.
• Finn's little fibs by Tom Percival.
• Snake's big mistake by Sarah Kurpiel.
• Liarbird by Laura and Philip Bunting.
• How to apologize by David LaRochelle and Mike Wohnoutka. 

I’d rather be a dragon.

Written by Laura Bunting.

Illustrated by Philip Bunting.

Scholastic Australia, 2025.

Picture book.

Rhyming text.

When you’re over being a little kid – wouldn’t life be better if you were something else.

Possible read-alikes:

• I want to be spaghetti! by Kiera Wright-Ruiz and Claudia Lam.
• I don't want to be a frog by Dev Petty and Mike Boldt.
• If I was a horse by Sophie Blackall.

 

The little ghost who was a quilt.

Written by Riel Nason.

Illustrated by Byron Eggenschwiler.

Tundra Books, 2020.

What to do when you’re a ghost quilt – and not a sheet like every other ghost.

Possible read-alikes:

• Gustavo the shy ghost by Flavia Z. Drago.
• The world needs who you were made to be by Joanna Gaines and Julianna Swaney. 
• The blue tomato by Amber Aü.
• Picopaco: the woodpecker who built a town by Mocculere.
• Maxolotl by Laura Sieveking and Katie Abey. 

Everything is fine!

Written by Michelle Sumovich.

Illustrated by Sarah Jacoby.

HarperCollins, 2024.

Picture book.

You wouldn’t believe me about the subject, so here is the blurb from the publisher:

Sweet Paulette loves her mother tirelessly... and her exhausted mother must really love her too. Whoopsie! Whoopsie! Whoopsie!! Never mind that trail of chaos and smashed tomatoes at the market, because Paulette is perfect and precious and EVERYTHING IS FINE! But when her darling daughter suddenly goes missing, Paulette's mother must comb through a village of beastly children and other flustered parents to find her own child in the most unexpected of places. It is an outlandish and utterly hilarious tale about a tired mother who unknowingly slurps her daughter up during a spaghetti dinner.

Possible read-alikes. Is that even possible?!

• Harriet, you'll drive me wild! by Mem Fox and Marla Frazee.
• No, David! by David Shannon.
• A star for Mama by Ashling Kwok and Kathy Creamer.

 

The magic & mystery of Earth.

Written by Jason Bittel.

Illustrated by Claire McElfatric.

Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2026.

Illustrated non-fiction.

Just what it says in the title.

Possible read-alikes:

• Earth's changing surfaces edited by Corey Tutt, illustrated by Mim Cole/Mimmim.
• Shapes of nature: a kaleidoscope of the natural world by Ben Hoare and Sally Caulwell.
• How the earth works by Dr Lucía Pérez Díaz.
• The spectacular science of planet Earth by Rob Colson and Moreno Chiacchiera. 
• How the world works by Clive Gifford.
• The story of planet Earth: from stardust to the modern world by Anne Rooney and Margarida Esteves.

 

Come home, Bigibila.

Written by Corey Tutt and Irma Gold.

Illustrated by Jessica Tedim.

Allen & Unwin, 2026. 

First Nations / Indigenous creator. 

Picture book. 

Coming home to Country. To home. Where your connection lives.

Possible read-alikes:

• Our dreaming by Kirli Saunders and Dub Leffler.
• Back on country by Adam Goodes, Ellie Laing, and David Hardy.
• Being home by Traci Sorell and Michaela Goade.
• Coming home to Country by Bronwyn Bancroft.
• Going down home with daddy by Kelly Starling Lyons and Daniel Minter.
• A day with Yayah by Nicola I. Campbell and Julie Flett.

 

The wonderful stranges.

Written by Melanie Koster.

Illustrated by Monica Koster.

David Bateman Ltd., 2025.

Aotearoa.

Picture book.

Rhyming text.

Flooding – judgemental / stuck-in-the-mud villagers are rescued by the new strange strangers who have moved nearby. Renewable energy – strong, but not in-your-face, environmental message.

Possible read-alikes: 

• The fire wombat by Jackie French and Danny Snell.
• Mouse & Giraffe by Kelly DiPucchio and Jen Corace.
• Koala ark by Stephen Michael King.  
• Once upon a time in the woods by Anthony Browne.
• Room for more by Michelle Kadarusman and Maggie Zeng. 
• Bruce's big storm by Ryan T. Higgins.  
• The tomorrow book by Jackie French and Sue DeGennaro.