How Do I Know If I’m Upside Down? by Idan Ben-Barak and Zahra Zainal

25 Jul 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, The Picture Book Corner Tags: , , , , , ,

Published: 1 January 2024Goodreads badge
Publisher: Scholastic Australia
Illustrator: Zahra Zainal
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
★   ★   ★   ★  – 4 Stars

This is me. My body can See, Hear, Smell, Taste and Touch. But it also knows if it is Hot or Cold if I am Sideways or Upside Down . and many other things. Come and explore the human (and other) senses with me!

This book is a celebration of the wonderful things the human body can do thanks to nerves and other senses and receptors. From the first page you know it’s going to be an engaging book as our main character invites us to celebrate all the wonderful things their body can do.

The illustrations are comical but educational and simplified to help understanding. The text, pictures, and formatting all work together to create a fun display of information and really highlight the information being told. It’s funny, clever, and creative and it helps digest the information as you can see the process play out on the page.

The personification of the creatures and the parts of the body help demonstrate the information being told such as taste, sound, or the myriad of other activities. Seeing smiling tastes buds when eating ice cream or cells activating shivering when cold are great demonstrations of how our bodies react to different situations.

The examples are all things kids could experience like feeling full, being dizzy, hurting themselves, or relaxing. Being able to compare these things to every day experiences is a great way to help them understand how their body works and why and how certain things are happening.

It also branches out briefly to show that other bodies know different things as well like pigeons knowing where to fly, whales knowing how to sing, and platypus can sense electricity.

I was surprised how detailed the book became while never getting bogged down in detail or science. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting and I loved this joyful exploration of how amazing human bodies (and other animals) are.

You can purchase How Do I Know If I’m Upside Down? via the following

QBD |  Dymocks | Booktopia

Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon Aust

The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl

22 Jul 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Junior Fiction Tags: , , ,

Published: 1st November 1978Goodreads badge
Publisher: Puffin
Pages: 32
Format: Paperback
Genre: Junior Fiction
★   ★   ★   ★ – 4 Stars

The Enormous Crocodile is incredibly hungry-and incredibly greedy. His favourite meal is a plump, juicy little child, and he intends to gobble up as many of them as he can! But when the other animals in the jungle join together to put an end to his nasty schemes, the Enormous Crocodile learns a lesson he won’t soon forget.

I reread this book not that long ago and it is a lot longer than I remember it being. I was thinking it was a picture book but in reality it’s like a long book but in the style of a picture book, 32 giant pages with pictures but the length of a kid’s paperback in terms of words. Not that it isn’t still incredibly enjoyable and fun, but I was surprised. It’s quite wordy but despite this it isn’t a complicated story or overly detailed.

I love the crocodile’s plans to eat children. His cunning ideas would have been perfect if it wasn’t for the meddling animals getting in his way. I love a villain being a villain because they want to, no justification or backstory.

Once again the downfall is telling people your plans and think they won’t dob on you. In Dahl’s world the animals can talk to the humans and it’s a great parallel universe where nobody uses that to their advantage except to warn people about being eaten. There are also a lot of human activities right on the edge of the jungle so maybe that could be something they improve in the future after this determined crocodile’s schemes?

Blake’s illustration are classic as expected. The text fill up a lot of the page but the pictures integrated well around the text. The crocodile’s disguises and hiding places are clever and Blake balances larger scenes and simple pictures well.

There is a level of disbelief as with a lot of Dahl’s books and I like that it is clearly one bad crocodile that needs punishing, not all. There is balance and Dahl is clear that this one specific croc is naughty, not all crocs are children eaters (something I think Jaws could have tried).

This truly is a book that blurs the lines on whether it’s a picture book or not. There’s a lot of pictures, but there are also a lot of words so brace yourself going in that is isn’t the quick read you might be planning for.

You can purchase The Enormous Crocodile via the following

QBD | Angus & Robertson | Blackwell’s

Dymocks | Wordery

 Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

A Kids Book About Being Non-Binary by Hunter Chinn-Raicht

17 Jul 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Non Fiction Tags: , , , , , ,

Published: 1st January 2021Goodreads badge
Publisher: A Kids Book About, Inc.
Pages: 64
Format: Paperback
Genre: Junior Non-Fiction
★   ★   ★   ★ – 4 Stars

A Kids Book About Being Non-Binary by Hunter Chinn-Raicht“To be non-binary for me means I am not a girl or a boy, I am somewhere outside of that.”

A glance at what it means to be outside of the gender binary. What does being non-binary mean? For some people, the question and its answer may be new or a little confusing. It’s okay to not know what it means!

That’s where all good conversations start. The journey to understanding starts with an open mind and an open heart. 

The book is mainly about Hunter’s story and their journey, but it also lets the reader know that sometimes people are outside the rules of male and female, or pink and blue. And being able to express yourself is great and they deserve to be celebrated.

There is an intro and an outro for the grownups about what the book is for and where they can go from here if they need to. It’s a great, very simple explanation that doesn’t overload the reader with information, simply introduces the idea to the reader that there are a range of people in the world.

It lets readers know there’s freedom in not fitting into the box other people tell you you should fit into. Having the words to describe yourself is great but it’s ok if you can’t find your words yet either.

With a little bit of history thrown in to remind you that there have always been non-binary people, and a quick break down of current society expectations, it remains Hunter’s story and an easy, child friendly way to introduce the term non binary and why a person might use it.

You can purchase A Kids Guide to Being Non-Binary via the following

 Dymocks | Booktopia

 Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

Enough Love? by Maggie Hutchings

27 Jun 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Australian Women Writers, LGBTQIA, The Picture Book Corner Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Published: 29th June 2021Goodreads badge
Publisher: Affirm Press
Illustrator: Evie Barrow
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
★   ★   ★   ★  – 4 Stars

Willa had one dad one mum one home and a bird. And that was enough. So when Willa’s parents split up, she’s pretty sad. But at least they are still all hers. Until Dad meets Kevin and Willa’s family starts to grow … and keeps on growing. When will enough be enough? Or is there always room for more love?

This is a great book and I loved how complicated it became. This is a story beyond your basic divorced family, two houses and maybe a step sibling. Hutchings shows us how families can become complicated, big, messy, and how there is always enough love to go around.

The story flows well and with the repetition of one mum, one dad, one home, one bird, it is a creative way to tell a story of change as a family grows. It is also a good reminder that while family can grow, no own is ever taken out even if it changes.

The illustrations are realistic pencil sketches and Barrow makes each person unique while still keeping the family similarities. The call backs to the same scenes as Willa draws her family is great because even if the numbers change, the scene of her drawing her family is consistent.

I don’t want to spoil the end result, but there is a great representation of diversity, LGBTQIA families, as well as step siblings, half siblings, and the array of pets that also make up our family. It’s a great adventure Willa goes on through the years and I loved how the relationship changes never took away from how Willa felt or how she interacted with her parents and the time she spent with them.

Overall this is a story about family but it is also about love and is there such thing as too much love and is change really a bad thing in the end?

Enough Love? appears to be out of print but there may be a copy at your local library and possibly at Dick Smith

Jacob’s Missing Book by Ian and Sarah Hoffman

30 May 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, The Picture Book Corner Tags: , , , , , ,

Published: 3 September 2024Goodreads badge
Publisher: Magination Press
Illustrator: Chris Case
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
★   ★   ★   ★  – 4 Stars

Jacob–the star of one of the most banned books of the decade–is back in Jacob’s Missing Book, a kid-friendly story about book banning, censorship, and LGBTQIA+ rights.

Noah is confused about Emily’s family, so he asks her―who’s Pop and who’s Dad? Jacob knows just how to explain, but how can he? The penguin book isn’t in the library anymore! As the day goes on, everyone is still talking about the mysterious missing book. Ms. Reeves tries to explain why the book is no longer in the library and what all the fuss is about. In the meantime, Jacob hatches a plan to tell the story about Emily’s family.

I love all the previous Jacob stories and this is a great one about censorship and the effects of censorship. I love how the book in question is referred to as the “penguin book” which between the two famous controversial LGBTQIA picture books there’s Heather’s Two Mummies and And Tango Makes Three. Now of course with more diverse books available there are more books to complain about but that doesn’t stop Tango still being controversial.

Even the illustrations, despite how blurred and abstract they are if you know the cover you know the book in question is And Tango Makes Three. I loved the subtleness while also being very clear about what book is being banned. The way the narrative highlights that it can’t even be talked about in the classroom is depressing but it is also a creative way the authors have tackled talking about censorship without talking about censorship.

The class is made up of familiar faces we’ve met in previous Jacob books and this time we get to learn some more as they learn about each other and their families. How can kids like Emily explore family dynamics like her own – even in a penguin book – without representation? How can people like Noah understand other people’s stories? Sometimes a picture book is a good way to understand different experiences and these kids are being denied that. Jacob’s mum mentions it’s good they have the book at home so it being removed from the library isn’t an issue in terms of access, but it isn’t fair others miss out.

Thankfully censorship isn’t an issue in Australia, book banning isn’t a thing, and while a few small voices have in the past tried, nothing has come of it. I always thought if we reminded people about the idea of censorship, and highlighted what places like the US were doing, it would give them confidence and ideas to try. But I must say, the few times people try and complain about what we have in the library there is a lot of satisfaction shutting them down where they stand.

I loved the different scenarios in which the children imagine how the book was taken from the library, from aliens to penguins they try and work it out. When the teacher explains that people complained it’s sad but also a good reminder of how the effect of book banning affects the people the books are in the library for.

The fact Ms Reeves can’t even discuss it with kids, and Emily’s reaction is a prime example of why representation matters. There are real people who can be affected and made to feel lesser by book bans.

The story is left open to imply that the school and/or parents will fight the book ban and try to get the penguin book back in the library. It is reassuring to see that the community is still empowered the fight back, but I also love that this book isn’t the place to do that. This is a book about how representation matters, and even if people try and deny that representation, kids will find a way and are excellent voices to point out the ludicrousness of it all.

You can purchase Jacob’s Missing Book via the following

QBD |  Dymocks | Booktopia

  Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

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