Best books for kids and teens: School holidays guide
It’s the school holidays and it’s time to get the kids off the screens. We’ve pulled together the best books for teens and kids for every time they tell you “I’m bored”.
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It’s the school holidays and it’s time to get the kids off the screens. We’ve pulled together the best kids and teens books for every time they tell you “I’m bored”
1. Bluey: Fruit Bat
The loveable family of Queensland Blue Heelers are funny and relatable to parents and children alike – becoming an instant hit around the world. The stories focus on the elaborate games that the family play and the lessons that they learn. And now their adventures have been published in a series of kids’ books. In Fruit Bat, the family’s eldest daughter – and titular character – Bluey desperately wishes she was a nocturnal animal so she can stay up at night. What follows is a beautiful dream adventure into the mind of a young child.
2. The Return of Thelma the Unicorn (Aaron Blabey)
Thelma the Unicorn had her five minutes of fame and has now returned to the quiet life. Her experience in the spotlight was not all that it was cracked up to be so now she is enjoying her privacy as a normal horse. But it turns out the world needs to believe in unicorns – even if they’re not real. So with the help of her friend Otis, she returns to the world of celebrity. For kids growing up in a world where instant-celebrity is a viral post away, this is a story of handling fame, knowing who your friends are and learning to stay true to yourself.
3. My Folks Grew Up In the 80s (Beck and Robin Feiner)
Here’s a chance to see the greatest decade in history through the eyes of a child today.
Who needs Spotify when you could record your favourite music on cassette tape? And when it broke down we didn’t need to turn it on and off again – we just wound it back with a pencil.
Enjoy this stroll through memory lane and have a good laugh with the kids while explaining crimped hair. And take your time exploring the tiny details in the illustration, from Smash Hits magazines to the original Glo Worm toy.
4. Funny Kid Kicks Butt (Matt Stanton)
Funny Kid Max Walburt is back. And this time he’s determined to be a superhero movie star. Hollywood is bringing the 11-year-old mischief-maker’s favourite character, Captain Kickbutt, to his hometown of Red Hill. And Max is determined to play a young Captain Kickbutt in the film’s origin scenes. There’s just one problem … the director has already cast that character. Follow Max’s adventures as he faces off against his greatest foes, a child star named Spencer Daniels, a bodyguard named The Fridge and a real superhero called ThunderButt. A great summer book for the young reader in your family.
5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Wrecking Ball (Jeff Kinney)
Wimpy Kid Greg Heffley is back for his 14th adventure. The series has documented the trials and tribulations of a teen who is struggling to fit in at high school. This time his family has come into an unexpected inheritance and uses that money to fix up their house. But just like contestants on The Block, the Heffley family discover that renovations are not as easy as they originally thought. Toxic mould, rotten wood and unwelcome critters take over their lives. A fun take on renovation hell from the perspective of high school kid. The Wimpy Kid children’s novels have made it to the New York Times bestseller list and has since been adapted into a major Hollywood film.
6. Dr Karl’s Random Road Trip through Science (Karl Kruszelnicki)
Did you know that a giant comet shaped like a skull came very close to destroying all life on Earth on Halloween night, 2015? Or that cigarette companies invented “fake news” and tobacco denialism to make their customers distrust science? Australian science commentator and author Dr Karl Kruszelnicki takes you on an amazing trip through history, science and the Universe to track down amazing examples of awe and wonder. His 45th book is full of fun, humour and colour – just like Dr Karl himself.
7. JT: The Making of a Total Legend (Johnathan Thurston and James Phelps)
As a young Brisbane kid, Johnathan Thurston was written off as too skinny and too wild to play rugby league professionally. But he defied the odds to become one of the game’s greatest players. Following the success of Johnathan Thurston: The Autobiography, JT: The Making of a Total Legend is a compacted version for a younger audience. It still tells his childhood journey and captures the career highlights – but leaves out some of the more controversial chapters and scandals. A definite must for the budding sports star in the family.
8. The Beast of Buckingham Palace (David Walliams)
Children’s author David Walliams has something new for young readers this time around – a science-fiction fantasy set in the future. Set in the year 2120, the book transports the reader to a London which is in ruins, where the people are hungry and darkness has fallen right across the world.
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The central character is Prince Alfred, a sickly boy of 12 who has never known life outside Buckingham Palace. With evil forces at work, he must do battle with the King of the Beasts — the Griffin. What unfolds is a page-turning tale of myth, magic and the most Machiavellian of villains.
9. Eddie Woo’s Magical Maths (Eddie Woo)
Nobody does Maths like Eddie Woo. Who else can make Maths magical? Cutting a folded paper triangle to create a snowflake. Playing with Fibonacci numbers. Navigating a spiral maze. Learning about big numbers like squillion and quadrillion, then making up your own. Drawing 3D shapes. Playing with boxes. This bumper-sized book of games and facts by the secondary school teacher who became a YouTube sensation showcases the fun side to algebra, geometry and Maths terminology. An excellent resource to encourage those who think Maths is boring.
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10. The Long Distance Playlist (Tara Eglington)
It’s a teenage pen-pal love story for the 21st century. Taylor and Isolde’s story is told through instant messenger, Skype, emails, texts and heartbreak-themed Spotify playlists. It’s a classic story of best friends falling out, then falling in love. It’s about long-distance relationships and conversations in the middle of the night. It’s a story for teens who think nobody understands what they are going through.
