Can you believe it’s that time again?
After another exciting and busy year, Team Your Kid’s Next Read has consulted our brilliant members and compiled book lists based on their recommendations.
The Your Kid’s Next Read community now comprises 39,000+ members, connected via our Facebook group, the Your Kid’s Next Read website, our podcast and our monthly newsletter!
This year, we also added Facebook and Instagram for even more ways to spread the word about incredible books for kids and teens.
And when we asked the community to share their young readers’ favourite reads of the previous 12 months, they did not hesitate!
As is the case each year, some of these books were published in 2025, some were not. There are new books that bubble to the top straight away, and there are always older books that are rediscovered by a new group of readers every year.
Once again, I’ve broken the lists into categories: picture books, early chapter books (5-7), junior reads (7-9), middle grade (9-13) and young adult (14+). (NB: There is always crossover in these lists, particularly across ages 7-10, as readers develop at their own pace and to their own level of interest, but I’ve done my best to place the books according to expected independent reading age.)
Stand by also for Team YKNR’s favourite reads in 2025, coming soon.
These lists are great starting points when you’re looking for the next great read for your kid/s and teens. Click the title to find out more about each book*.
Your Kid’s Favourite Read 2025: Picture Books
As nominated by the members of the Your Kid’s Next Read community
MOST NOMINATED
‘The Truck Cat’ by Deborah Frenkel and Danny Snell (‘I’m a teacher librarian and read [this book] many times around National Simultaneously Storytime this year. I LOVED it (and so did many of my students).’ – Robyn)
‘Dear Broccoli’ by Jo Dabrowski, illustrated by Cate James
‘Once I Was a Giant’ by Zeno Sworder (This book is perfection – beautiful, magical and deeply emotional. I’m inclined to say upper primary to high school (and adults), but it also really moved my 8 year old and sparked a very deep conversation. – Cristin)
‘The Book With No Pictures’ by B.J. Novak
‘Don’t Trust Fish’ by Neil Sharpson
‘Go Go and the Silver Shoes’ by Jane Godwin and Anna Walker
Do Not Open This Book (series) by Andy Lee, illustrated by Heath McKenzie (‘My five year old’s favourite!’ – Emily)
‘Thoughts From A Quiet Bench’ by Kes Gray, illustrated by Nila Aye (‘This might almost be my picture book of the year.’ – Margot)
‘Engibear’s Dream’ by Andrew King, illustrated by Benjamin Johnston
The Leaf Thief (series) by Alice Hemming
‘Train of Thought’ by Jess Horn and Hayley Wells
‘Dreaming’ by Adam Goodes and Ellie Laing, illustrated by David Hardy (‘My 6yo and 2yo love [this book], and all of the other ones [in the Welcome To Our Country series] too! – Dominique)
‘Here Come the Cousins’ by Maggie Hutchings and Sarah Zweck
‘Elephant and Piggie: We are in a Book!’ by Mo Willems (‘Mr 6 loves this book because it makes him laugh, especially when Piggie makes the reader say a word, if the reader is reading out loud. And I love it because it shows the magic of books to transcend the pages and come to life.’ – Katrina)
‘The Misadventures Of Frederick‘ by Ben Manley, illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark (‘We’ve been reading this on repeat as both my 3yo girl and 6yo boy love it and keep asking for it. It’s beautifully illustrated and hilarious and a joy to read out loud. My son cried laughing for a good 10 minutes after the first read.’ – Carly)
Behaviour Matters (series) by Sue Graves and Trevor Dunton
‘Mad Cows’ by Kathryn Apel, illustrated by Beau Wylie (‘My 3 yr old cried for 2 days when it was returned to the library so had to buy a copy.’ – Nella)
‘Lucky’ by Amelia Tonta, illustrated by Peter Baldwin (‘Made me laugh out loud!’ – Nathan)
‘Claris the Chicest Mouse in Paris’ by Megan Hess
‘If We Were Dogs’ by Sophie Blackall
‘A Leaf Called Greaf’ by Kelly Canby (‘At work in the primary school library, [this book] captured the hearts of everyone who heard it. The year 6 boys laughed at me when I said it made me cry, but then got quieter and quieter the longer I read. It’s lovely to still be able to have good conversations with them around picture books at their age.’ – Caitlin)
‘Dropbear’ by Philip Bunting (‘It’s a little difficult trying to explain to Dropbear mythology to a 4 year old, so he’s still not 100% sure if it’s real or fake, but he loves it and asks for it over and over again.’ – Caitlin)
‘Hedgehog or Echidna’ by Ashleigh Barton, illustrated by Amandine Thomas
‘Martha Maps It Out’ (series) by Leigh Hodgkinson (‘Loved by 4 year old. Just a really cool book about maps of many things.‘ – Michelle)
‘The Train at the End of My Street’ by Tom Jellett
‘A Recipe for Magic Potion’ by Jack Henseleit, illustrated by Natasja Horne
‘There’s A Monster In Your Book’ by Tom Fletcher, illustrated by Greg Abbott (‘A very engaging book: my 6 year old laughs so much and has fun trying to shake the monster out of the book every time we read it!’ – Viviana)
‘Gina Kaminski Saves The Wolf’ by Craig Barr-Green, illustrated by Francis Martin https://www.booktopia.com.au/gina-kaminski-saves-the-wolf-craig-barr-green/book/9781684647866.html
‘Bigfoot Vs Yeti: A Love Story’ by James Foley (‘This was a hit when I read it to children in Years 2-6 in a primary school in NSW! – Candice)
‘Pig The Blob’ by Aaron Blabey
‘Grandma Murphy’s Pussycat’ by Maura Finn, illustrated by Lucinda Gifford
‘The Wobbly Bike’ by Darren McCallum and Craig Smith (‘Such a winner on all levels this year!’ – Hayley)
‘Fairy Beach’ by Sheila Knaggs and Jennifer Falkner (‘One of my favourite new picture book reads this year because it’s simple delightful.’ – Katja)
‘There’s A Wocket In My Pocket’ by Dr Seuss
‘Stumpkin’ by Lucy Ruth Cummins
‘The Fabulous Friend Machine’ by Nick Bland
‘Colour Me’ by Ezekiel Kwaymullina and Moira Court (‘A favourite among the four and five year olds I know because of the beautiful illustrations and the repetitive use of lyrical language.’ – Katja)
‘Doctor Fairytale’ by Catherine Jacob, illustrated by Hoang Giang
‘Our Pool’ by Lucy Ruth Cummins
‘A Hatful Of Dreams’ by Bob Graham
‘Everything You Wanted To Know About The Tooth Fairy’ by Briony Stewart (‘Our 5 year old had a loose tooth so we read this every night for a week. The book was great for explaining the magic in teeth and the tooth fairy magic and everything else they could think of!’ – Jae)
‘Once I Was A Tree’ by Eoin McLaughlan, illustrated by Guilherme Karsten
‘Bothered by Bugs’ by Emily Gravett
‘Knight Owl’ by Christopher Denise
‘Girl On Wire’ by Lucy Estela, illustrations by Elise Hurst (‘The story is one of finding courage to keep going. The illustrations are magical – I learnt that Elise made each spread as an oil painting, which was then converted to the book.’ – Annie)
‘Dragons are the Worst’ by Alex Willan
‘When Ice Cream had a Meltdown’ by Michelle Robinson and Tom Knight
‘When Jelly Had A Wobble’ by Michelle Robinson and Tom Knight
‘The Germ Lab: The Gruesome Story of Deadly Diseases’ by Richard Platt, illustrated by John Kelly
‘The Beehive’ by Megan Daley, illustrated by Max Hamilton
‘The Day Louis Got Eaten’ by John Fardell (‘My kids LOVE this book!’ – Thandi)
‘Big Blue Whale’ by Nicola Davies and Nick Maland
*This post contains affiliate links. See contact page for details
Are you new here? Welcome to my blog! I’m Allison Tait, aka A.L. Tait, and I’m the author of middle-grade fantasy adventure series, The Mapmaker Chronicles, The Ateban Cipher, and the Maven & Reeve Mysteries.
My latest novels are contemporary middle-grade reads: ‘The First Summer of Callie McGee’, ‘Willow Bright’s Secret Plot’ and ‘Danger Road’. You can find out more about me here, and more about my books here.
If you’re looking for book recommendations for young readers, join the Your Kid’s Next Read Facebook community, tune in to the Your Kid’s Next Read podcast and sign up for the Your Kid’s Next Read newsletter.
0 Comments