My Dad's the Coolest by Rosie Smith and Bruce Whatley

Since Father's Day is just around the corner in Australia, I thought I'd look at another one of our favourite Dad books: My Dad's the Coolest.

Maximilian gave this book to his Dad as a Father's Day present last year. I like to give picture books to adults as gifts because it creates a wonderful excuse and opportunity for parent and child to spend some time together. And it's always nice to receive presents that tell you how cool you are!!

Like Some Dads, each page of this book features a different animal Dad and child and simple text about why that Dad is the coolest. I like this book because of the great range of animals it features, from the obvious (brave lion) to the bizarre (funny puffer fish). It is also a great celebration of the father-child bond and of the fun that all different kinds of dads have with their children.

My Dad's the Coolest has plain coloured pages with just a few words of text and facing pages with animal illustrations, again on plain coloured background. This is a really simple book, which is a refreshing change from the really busy, detailed full page illustrations in many picture books. Bruce Whatley's illustrations are terrific, and each picture shines with the love between the dad and child. If you haven't seen this book, it really is worth a look. With only a very small amount of text, My Dad's the Coolest is also suitable for even the youngest baby to enjoy reading with their dad.

If you are keen to get this book as a gift for the cool Dad in your child's world, I have also just found this awesome gift pack which includes the book My Dad's the Coolest in a mini hardback edition and a drink cooler - how cool is that?!? (Thought I'd throw in a dad joke there to finish with!)

Some Dads... by Nick Bland

This is one of the best books about Dads that I've come across.

Sadly, many Dad books feature crude humour like farting and burping or narrow gender stereotypes like sports and cars, which I find pretty offensive really.

Some Dads... is different, and I love it. Each page features an animal dad and child engaging in an activity of some kind, such as skiing, swimming, playing Wii, or throwing water bombs.

The back of the book says this book "brilliantly captures the simple joys all dads bring to everyday life" and I couldn't agree more.

There is a real sense of fun throughout this book, with dads and their children enjoying each other's company. My personal favourite is the rocking Rhino dad Elvis impersonator with baby rhino banging on pots and pans!!

The text in Some Dads... is really very short - each page has only one sentence of text, so the whole book is only a few paragraphs. This makes it a really quick book to read aloud, but rhyme is used to good effect.

The painted illustrations are just marvellous and the double spread artwork rewards close inspection as there is so much detail in the pictures. There is also humour and surprises to be found in the illustrations that both parents and children will enjoy, so the illustrations are a great discussion point whilst reading with your child.

At the heart of this book is the love between a dad and their child and the fun and pride they share - it is a really nice message told in a way that is sincere and fun without being schmaltzy.

This means Some Dads... would be a terrific book to give to a Dad for Father's Day - Maximilian's dad has had many hours enjoyment reading this one with him, and I think there is a special thrill when your child chooses a book for you to read which is about you!

Noni the Pony by Alison Lester

Noni the Pony is a sweet and simple story about a pony and her farmyard friends: Dave the dog and Coco the cat.

The story is told in simple rhyming text - "She lives on a farm at Waratah Bay, and likes eating apples and carrots and hay." This makes it a satisfying story to read aloud and the language is very accessible for very young children.

Noni the Pony has very sweet illustrations that are very engaging for even the youngest reader. The colours are really lovely - the cornflower blue sky and green grass capture the colours of outdoor Australia beautifully I think.

There is also lots in the story for young children to relate to, such as the way that Noni gets scared in the dark. There are lots of nice messages about kindness and friendship in the story - with the help of her friends Noni overcomes her fear of the dark and feels much braver.

We borrowed Noni the Pony from the library and it is a book we have both enjoyed very much. With two kids under two, our trips to the library are a bit of a mixed bag at the moment - Maximilian randomly throws things into the book bag and I just grab handfuls of whatever board books are available before leaving in a rush, so what we end up with is a bit of pot luck :) but this story was a real hit from the first time we read it.

Alison Lester has published over 25 picture books for children since 1985, so her books are always a very safe choice!

This board book is a lovely size and shape and perfect for little hands to enjoy. I'd recommend this book for all ages - even the youngest babies will find something to enjoy in this sweet tale.

Warambi by Aleesah Darlison and Andrew Plant

Warambi is the story of a little bent-wing bat. The story follows Warambi growing up and learning to fly and hunt. When the bat colony's cabe is demolished by excavators, Warambi finds herself separated from the other bats and the story follows her adventure to find a new home.

We stumbled across this book at The Library Shop, the State Library of Queensland's bookshop - a wonderful place to find excellent children's books, particularly Brisbane, Queensland or Australian books (actually it is a wonderful place to find all kinds of fabulous books!!)

As soon as we saw Warambi, we had to buy a copy - the illustrations are excellent and the realistic artwork really brings little Warambi to life. (It is amazing to learn that the bent-wing bat is only 45mm long - hard to believe from looking at the incredibly detailed drawings of the bats in this book).

The other really lovely thing about this hardcover book is the endpapers, which contain additional information about bent-wing bats, including where they live, what they eat, etc. We don't read this information to Maximilian yet, but these are a great way to  learn more about the facts behind the story - something which will really appeal to the wonderful curiosity of older children.

This isn't a short story so it is not one for young babies or toddlers. Although the text on each page is quite short, there are a lot of pages so younger children just wouldn't have the attention span to enjoy the story. The illustrations are remarkably realistic and mostly dark coloured, so also wouldn't really appeal to young children in the way that bright primary colours do. At eighteen months age, Maximilian will now sit still and listen to the entire story and he enjoys it but he doesn't really understand what's going on in the story, and it will probably be more suitable from around age 3 and up.

Warambi would be a terrific addition to a storytime program based on Australian animals and could also be used for environmental awareness or a conservation theme. It would also be a great book for primary school teachers or librarians to use an education aid. I really think this is a wonderful and unique book and I'm glad we found it - it will be enjoyed in our home library for many years to come.

Peek-a-boo Forest by Lamaze

Peek-a-Boo Forest is a cloth book for young babies made by Lamaze.

We love this book! Maximilian received it as a gift and the 3D furry owl on the front cover immediately piqued his interest. The bright, colourful, cartoon-like illustrations are also very engaging.

Each of the colourful double pages asks a simple "Who is?" question and features a shaped flap behind which the "Peek-a-boo" animal is hiding. See the image below for an example - the animal is owl!

Although simple, each page features lots of images that provide learning and discussion opportunities with toddlers. As well as owl, there is a ladybird, tree, leaves, moon and stars and more in the image below.

The interactive flaps are made from crinkly fabric, which makes reading this a lovely tactile experience - Maximilian has always loved grabbing and turning the flaps.

The story is short, featuring just five animals: moose, owl, raccoon, bear and beaver, so it will engage even the shortest attention span. I also found the rhyming text very engaging and fun to read aloud.

This book is quirky and interesting for us as Australians, because it features animals from faraway places such as moose and beaver. My favourite page is the last one - "Who built this dam? What an achiever!" "Peek-a-boo! It's the beaver!" Ha ha!

Like all Lamaze products, this cloth book is very well made and has excellent construction which withstands even the most ferocious chewing and sucking! One of our first books which Maximilian still enjoys at over 19 months age - he still loves flipping the flaps and saying "boo" to the animals!

Along Came a Bedtime by Ian Whybrow and Guy Parker-Rees

Bear and baby bear are having a bath before bedtime when along comes a cheeky duck. Duck isn't ready for bed and so begins this romp of a story!

Along Came a Bedtime is a playful story featuring lots of fun animals and animal sounds that Maximilian really enjoys. All the favourite animals are here - bear, duck, cat, dog and cow!

The cheerful illustrations are perfect for this fun story - simple and colourful.

This book has great rhythm and rhyme. I love to read it aloud and Maximilian loves to chime in with all the words he knows. There are lots of animal sounds to engage your child throughout the story and I really love the way the baby bear talks in baby language - 'dop' for stop etc. I think this would really engage young children just learning to talk. We also love the repetitive counting : 1, 2, 3, go! Maximilian loves to count on his fingers then shout Go!

A simple but really fun book that we were lucky enough to stumble across at the library. Definitely one we'll add to our home library!

Ben & Duck by Sara Acton

Ben goes to the park to feed the ducks. One day, there is just one duck - one very large duck, that eats all of Ben's bread before following him up the path, through the gate, into a tree and home. The way the friendship develops between Ben and Duck throughout this book is delightful.


The illustrations throughout Ben & Duck are simply marvellous - gorgeous watercolours with an almost unfinished feel in muted colours that give the characters true warmth and life. It amazes me that such minimal illustrations can still give the characters such expressive faces - Sara Acton is truly talented. Because the illustrations are so muted in colour, they will be especially appreciated by older children and the adult reader - but the images are instantly recognisable for a 15-month old as well.

Ben & Duck was one of Maximilian's first favourite books. "Duck" was one of his first words, so he immediately loved to point to the pictures of duck throughout the story while saying "duck, duck, duck". When Duck comes to Ben's house, there is a picture of the front door with "tap, tap" written on it, and Maximilian also loves to knock on the page of the book while saying "tap, tap". It is really wonderful to see him engage with the story and language in this way, and our favourite picture books are the ones with opportunity for him to become part of the story - not surprising I guess when my favourite books are often ones that I can engage in some way with the story.

This would be a great addition to any storytime session with a duck or friendship theme and there are lots of duck themed crafts freely available. You could also use it as a "food" theme and discuss whether ducks would really eat spaghetti and bread and butter pudding - it would make a great story alongside The Very Hungry Caterpillar!

Recommended for readers aged 1-5.

Whose Baby Am I? by John Butler

Whose Baby Am I? is a simple and engaging picture book for very young children.

The words are very basic - each baby animal picture is captioned "whose baby am I?" and the following page has an image of the parent animal with the caption "I am x's baby".

The charm of this book lies in the absolutely delightful illustrations of baby animals and their parents. The pictures really are gorgeous and Maximilian loves to touch and stroke them because they look so good!!

Although the words are extremely simple, they can be used as a jumping off point for further discussion with older toddlers. For example, "that's Owl's baby. What noise does owl make?" The back of the book also includes a double page "Can you guess whose baby is whose?" for the child to match up the baby and parent animals and a page which names the baby animals, ie owlet, calf, etc.

We enjoy this book regularly but it probably doesn't have enough content for long lasting value - but is often Maximilian's choice at the moment (at 19 months of age). However, if you enjoy gorgeous illustrations it is definitely worth a look.

Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek

This is a terrific book by veteran children's author Mem Fox with colourful, cute, quirky illustrations by Judy Horacek.

The simple, repetitive text makes this a great read aloud book to be enjoyed by children of all ages. The short story makes this book a good choice for sharing with very young children - Maximilian has been enjoying this book since around six months age and now, at 19 months, enjoys it just as much, as does my 3 year old nephew.

It would also be a great book for learning to read. When looking into it, I was fascinated to discover that this book has 190 words - 188 have one syllable, 1 word has two syllables and 1 word has 3 syllables - perfect for teaching words and reading skills to young children. This simplicity can be the secret of success in a picture book and certainly is in this case.


The illustrations are just fabulous and reward multiple reads, which is always a joy since reading the same book hundreds of times on request can get tiresome :-) We've been reading this book for more than a year now and it is still a rewarding pleasure to read each time. We still find new things to talk about and the book continues to teach Maximilian new words and concepts - for example, he loves to say "Wheeee!" for the slide sheep! I also love that he now knows what's coming, so when we get to "Turn the page quietly, let's take a peep", Maximilian already puts his finger to his lips and says "Shhh".

We have the small board book version but it is also available as a traditional sized soft page or board book (and the fabulous illustrations would reward the larger format).


Mem Fox has written an amazing number of children's books, including classics like Possum Magic and Koala Lou, won multiple book awards and is also a passionate advocate of reading to children - her book Reading Magic has wonderful tips on how and why to read aloud and how to choose books. Also check out her website for heaps of great information, including the fascinating and hilarious story of writing Where is the Green Sheep? !

The Very Hungry Bear by Nick Bland

The Very Hungry Bear by Nick Bland definitely qualifies for Day 3 of the Book-a-Day challenge: A book you love to read aloud.

This is a terrific new instalment in Bland's books about Bear. He's been cranky, itchy and now he's hungry! I will look at the other titles later, but I think The Very Hungry Bear is my favourite so far.

Bear is not impressed when he reels in a polar bear while fishing for his breakfast - especially when the polar bear is eating all his fish! The polar bear's iceberg is shrinking and he cleverly persuades (bribes!) Bear to help find the polar bear a new home.

The reason I love to read this book aloud is the wonderful rhyming throughout it. There is a real rhythm to Bland's storytelling, and it really does make this book a pleasure to read aloud - Maximilian is always totally transfixed by it.

"Now a fish to a bear 

is like a chocolate eclair, 

it's INCREDIBLY hard to resist

So the thought of a pile

that would last for a while

was an offer too good to be missed!"

Lines like these simply roll off the tongue. The illustrations throughout the book are also extremely engaging: bright and colourful with expressively drawn characters. Bland uses decorative font and bold text to great advantage, and I found this really helpful with reading the text out loud - the bold text helps the reader to emphasise the syllables well for great effect when reading out loud (I'm not sure if Bland intended this, but is very clever and effective!) I think this would be really helpful for parents not used to reading books out loud.

Another wonderful book by an Australian picture book author - Nick Bland will definitely feature in other posts as we have many of his other titles too. He is a favourite in our house and definitely a name to remember.

Kisses for Daddy by Frances Watts and David Legge

Baby Bear doesn't want to go to bed and he doesn't want to give Daddy a good night kiss. The way that Daddy Bear takes this in stride and gets Baby Bear to complete his bedtime routine is an inspiration for all parents and makes for a wonderful story :-) The book has lots of fun animals in it and great use of repetition to build language skills in little ones.

Kisses for Daddy is one of those books that is an absolute pleasure to share with your child. It is a real romp of a story, with lots of opportunities to share hugs, tickles, kisses and laughs with your child. The rhythm of the story is also excellent, so it is a nice story to read aloud. Maximilian just loves it and there are pages in this book that always get a laugh, no matter how tired or overwrought he is. We've been enjoying it now for at least six months, so it's definitely good for babies 12 months and up.

The illustrations are just amazing, and the more time you spend reading this book and looking at the fabulous illustrations, the more you are rewarded. As the story follows the different animal kisses that Daddy and Baby Bear enjoy, each of the animals can be found in the corresponding illustrations - so as your child gets older, you can play find the animal games and all sorts of other fun things.

I am sure this is going to remain a favourite story in our house for years to come! Definitely a five star picture book - I will definitely be looking for more books by Frances Watts and David Legge (and while writing this I've just found out they've got another one - hooray!)