Weekend Reads round-up: 11 October: part one

  

Toitū.

Written by Pania Tahau-Hodges.

Nā Josie Selkirk ngā pikitia.

Huia, 2026. 

Picture book

Te reo Māori. 

Also published as: Hīkoi: a Māori alphabet book for little (and not-so-little) activists -previously reviewed.

  

 

Whose your name?

By multiple authors.

Edited by Tania Maka and Dahlia Malaeulu.

Mila's Books, 2024.

Nonfiction.

Powerful kōrero, and it so hard to believe these are intermediate children. (Previously posted).

Possible read-alikes: 

• Dawn raid and Dawn raid the apology by Pauline (Vaeluaga) Smith.
• Mophead: how your difference makes a difference by Selina Tusitala Marsh. 
• Starlight : tell the world who you are by Solli Raphael. 
• Say my name by Joanna Ho and Khoa Le.  
• Your name is a song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow and Luisa Uribe. 
• The rock in my throat by Kao Kalia Yang and Jiemei Lin. 
• My mother's tongues by Uma Menon and Rahele Jomepour Bell. 

Big tiger.

Written and illustrated by Marta Altés.

Macmillan Children's Books, 2026.

Picture book.

Being a big sibling – and trying to distinguish yourself from the little sibling.

Possible read-alikes:

• Being the biggest by Molly Mead and Antonia Woodward.
• And then came you: when families grow, love grows too by Christina Shawn and Shahrzad Maydani.
• I'm actually really grown-up now by Maisie Paradise Shearring.
• A crinkled screaming thing by Sarah Tagholm and Ruby Wright.
• The way home for wolf by Rachel Bright and Jim Field.
• Hogbert by Briony May Smith.

 

You're still pretty new here.

Written and illustrated by Mariyka Foster.

Peachtree Publishing Company Inc, [2026]

Picture book.

An inclusive and time-spanning read. Evolution, history, diverse couples, same sex couples, single mothers with IVF.

Possible read-alikes:

• Welcome, little one by Sophie Beer.
• Little love list by Bethany Clark and Summer Macon.
• The very best words by Erin Munro and Sarah Trolle.
• The blur by Minh Lê and Dan Santat. 

Cat's Christmas.

Written and illustrated by Alison Murray.

Bloomsbury Publishing, 2025.

Picture book.

A cat completely unimpressed about Christmas.

Possible read-alikes:

• Bah Humbug: the crankiest Christmas bug by Andy Geppert.
• Don't get your tinsel in a tangle by Stephanie Thatcher.
• Another book about Santa by Laura and Philip Bunting.
• Greedy cat's Christmas by Joy Cowley and Robyn Belton. 

Rescue cat.

Written and illustrated by Stephen Savage.

Roaring Brook Press, 2024.

Picture book.

A rescue cat travels through a TV to rescue a lion cub. Cute.

Possible read-alikes:

• Bear to the rescue by Romane Cristescu, Nic Gill, and Sylvia Morris.
• Ginger by Charlotte Voake.
• The turtle who turned the tide by Rachel Bright and Jim Field. 

Giving thanks with halmoni: celebrating Chuseok, the Korean harvest festival.

Written by Kathleen Choi and Sook Nyul Choi.

Illustrated by Il Sung Na.

Red Comet Press, 2025.

Picture book.

Possible read-alikes:

• What do you do to celebrate? by Ashleigh Barton and Martina Heiduczek.
• Round and round the year we go by Carter Higgins.
• New clothes for New Year's day by Hyun-Joo Bae.
• Thanking the moon: celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival by Grace Lin.
• Celebration festival by Alysia Kelly and Ruth-Mary Smith. 

Loops.

Written and illustrated by Jashar Awan.

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2026.

Picture book.

Shoelaces are very challenging. I was 8ish when I learnt how to tie bows. The loops method is easier in someways, if your laces are long enough.

Possible read-alikes:

• Shoelaces are impossible! by Ed Allen and Nathaniel Eckstrom.
• The best swimmer in the whole world by Nell Smith and Patrizia Manfroi.
• The Wobblysaurus by Rachel Bright and Chris Chatterton.
• Wibble wobble boom! by Mary Ann Rodman and Holly Sterling.
• Jabari tries by Gaia Cornwall.

 

Ninjas vs. cats: the ultimate challenge.

Written and illustrated Diego Vaisberg.

Sourcebooks, 2026.

Picture books.

Facts throughout. More a sophisticated illustrated nonfiction picture book.

Limited colour palette of greys, blue, purple, pink, and black.

I’m uncertain about recommending this, as it sometimes feels like cultural appropriation to write about ninjas.

Possible read-alikes:

• My nanna is a ninja by Damon Young and Pete Carnavas.
• Dojo daycare by Chris Tougas.
• Slime? It's not mine! by Clare Helen Welsh and Nicola O'Byrne.
• You rule! by Rilla Alexander. 

The great escape.

Written and illustrated by Deborah Marcero.

G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2026.

Picture book.

The problem of little siblings.

Possible read-alikes:

• How to get rid of a princess by Alison McLennan and Mel Pearce.
• I see red by Maggie Hutchings and Sarah Zweck.
• Bear is never alone by Marc Veerkamp and Jeska Verstegen, translated by Laura Watkinson.
• The big sibling getaway by Korrie Leer.