Weekend reads roundup: 16 May 2026, part two

Are you a banana?

Written and illustrated by Robert Starling.

Pat-a-Cake, 2025.

Board book.

Flaps.

A riot of a read.

Possible read-alikes:

• Banana, banana, banana! by Sarah Finan.
• Yellow is a banana by John Himmelman.
• Are you a frog? by Robert Starling.
• Pairs in the garden by Smriti Prasadam-Halls and Lorna Scobie.
• Tractors have wings!: a vehicles book with cutouts by Becky Davies and Gareth Lucas.
• Dinosaur surprise! by Rebecca Gardyn Levington and Teresa Bellon.
• Guess who's getting dressed by Smriti Halls and Marta Altés. 

Lost: stories of people, places, and things lost throughout history.

Written by Tom Adams.

Illustrated by Daniela Martín Del Campo.

Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2026.

Illustrated nonfiction.

Pirates, pharaohs, places, and people – an interesting collection of ‘lost’ things.

Possible read-alikes:

• Lost tombs and treasure by Linda Barghoorn.
• Historium by Jo Nelson and Richard Wilkinson.
• Amazing treasures: 100+ objects and places that will boggle your mind by David Long and Muti.
• This day in history for kids: 1,001 remarkable moments & fascinating facts by Dan Bova and Russell Shaw.
• Hidden wonders: discover our planet's best-kept secrets by Nicole Maggi and Kate Baker.

 

The grumpy ghost upstairs.

Written and illustrated by Mamiko Shiotani.

Translated from the Japanese by Polly Lawson.

Floris Books, 2025.

Picture book.

Translation.

Uncertainty and being scared of new situations and people.

Possible read-alikes:

• Gustavo the shy ghost by Flavia Z. Drago.
• The coziest place on the moon by Maria Popova and Sarah Jacoby.
• There's a ghost in this house by Oliver Jeffers.
• Hardly haunted by Jessie Sima.
• The little ghost who was a quilt by Riel Nason and Byron Eggenschwiler.
• Aggie and the ghost by Matthew Forsythe.
• How to make friends with a ghost by Rebecca Green.

Penny & Pip.

Written by Candace Fleming.

Illustrated by Eric Rohmann.

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2023.

Picture book.

A dream! Going to the museum and ending up adopting a dinosaur!

Possible read-alikes:

• One cool friend by Toni Buzzeo and David Small.
• Have you seen my invisible dinosaur? by Helen Yoon.
• Penelope Rex and the problem with pets by Ryan T. Higgins.
• Leo's Lobo by Melissa Cristina Márquez and Maria Gabriela Gama. 

Nora notices.

Written and illustrated by Tegan Moss.

Little Book Press, 2025

Picture book.

A world of imagination when you go out with Nora.

Possible read-alikes:

• Nothing ever happens on a gray day by Grant Snider.
• We go slow by Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie and Aaron Becker.
• Tiny by Laura Stitzel.
• Tiny worlds by Brittany Cicchese. 
• The spaces in between by Jaspreet Kaur and Manjit Thapp.
• Look by Gabi Snyder and Samantha Cotterill.
• The bridges by Tom Percival.
• The Think-Ups! by Claire Alexander.
• Slowly, slowly by Toni Yuly. 

The bin monster.

Written and illustrated by Annabelle Hale.

Affirm Press, 2025.

Picture book.

Australian.

What is causing the disaster of bin day?

Possible read-alikes:

• Winner winner, bin chicken dinner by Kate and Jol Temple, and Ronojoy Ghosh.
• Rajah Street by Myo Yim.
• The Gang by Michel Streich.
• The bear out there by Jess Hannigan.
• The monster in the lake by Leo Timmers, translated by Bill Nagelkerke. 

Great Elizabethans: HM Queen Elizabeth II & 25 amazing Britons from her reign.

Written by Imogen Russell Williams.

Illustrated by Sara Mulvanny.

Nosy Crow, 2022.

Illustrated nonfiction.

A diverse group of the famous, and not-so-famous. There are activists and athletes, scientists and storytellers.

Possible read-alikes:

• Kia kaha: a storybook of Māori who changed the world by Stacey Morrison, Ngāi Tahu, Te Arawa; and Jeremy Sherlock, Tainui, Ngāti Awa.
• Dare to be different: inspirational words from people who changed the world by Ben Brooks and Quinton Winter.
• Talking history by Joan Haig, Joan Lennon, and André Ducci.
• Little people, big dreams treasury: 50 stories of brilliant dreamers by María Isabel Sánchez Vegara. 

The forever bear.

Written by Lu Fraser.

Illustrated by Pippa Curnick.

Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2025.

Picture book.

Teddy bears are magic.

Possible read-alikes:

• Bear is a bear by Jonathan Stutzman and Dan Santat.
• The Winter wish by Helen Mortimer and Rachael Dean.
• The Library of Bears by Cat Rabbit.
• Abdullah's bear needs a name! by Yasmin Hanif and Sophie Benmouyal.
• Freddy the not-Teddy by Kristen Schroeder and Hilary Jean Tapper.
• The witchling's wish by Lu Fraser and Sarah Massini.
• Invasion of the unicorns by David Biedrzycki. 

Yellow is a banana.

Written and illustrated by John Himmelman.

Abrams Appleseed, 2025.

Picture book.

An argument about colour and perception.

Possible read-alikes:

• Red is not angry, blue is not sad by Alicia Acosta, Luis Amavisca, and Anuska Allepuz.
• One world, many colours by Ben Lerwill and Alette Straathof.
• Are your stars like my stars? by Leslie Helakoski and Heidi Woodward Sheffield.
• They say blue by Jillian Tamaki.
• Let's look at colours by Marion Deuchars. 

Iron Robin.  

Written by Rose Tremain.

Illustrated by Richard Jones.

Puffin Books, 2023.

Picture book.

A lovely book – but I’m not sure of the appeal to children.

Possible read-alikes:

• Ruby's birds by Mya Thompson and Claudia Dávila.
• The magic feather by Julia Donaldson and Catherine Rayner.
• The Boy and the Moonimal by Debi Gliori.
• Wren's nest by Heidi E.Y. Stemple and Eugenia Nobati.
• Grandpa and the kingfisher by Anna Wilson & Sarah Massini.