Taking stock, taking steps
Your Kid's Next Read podcast celebrates 250 episodes
This week marks the 250th official episode of the Your Kid’s Next Read podcast! How do you like our new artwork?
Not ones for wild celebrations, co-hosts Megan Daley and Allison Tait took the opportunity to take stock of the podcast’s trajectory from a place to extend the conversations taking place in the Your Kid’s Next Read community to its position now as an integral part of the Australian children’s literature landscape.
It was also a chance to discuss the Your Kid’s Next Read response to the Australian Government’s callout for consultation and submissions to help shape and guide the new National Cultural Policy.
We made a submission because our 40,000-strong community of parents, educators, librarians, authors and booksellers represents an audience of people who care about the literacy and wellbeing of young people, giving YKNR a legitimate and unique voice in this conversation.
Our submission, created by all three members of the Your Kid’s Next Read Team – Allison Tait, Allison Rushby and Megan Daley – focused, among other things, on prioritising a qualified teacher librarian and well-resourced library in every Australian school, as well as investment in showcasing Australian children’s books to actively highlight Australian stories of all types.
Improving literacy in our schools requires specialist knowledge and, as this article by Cathie Warburton, CEO of the Australian Library and Information Association points out, there is currently no legal requirement for a school to have a library. Even though, as Warburton writes:
“Reports about declining literacy rates, increasing workloads for teachers and concerns around young people’s mental health have become a constant in recent years. Various reports have proposed solutions ranging from a whole-school curriculum approach to wellbeing frameworks and learning hubs. Each of these solutions can be directly fulfilled through increased investment in well-resourced school libraries with qualified staff.”
Your Kid’s Next Read is proud to be part of these important conversations and looks forward to (hopefully) seeing reading at the forefront of the new National Cultural Policy.
Hit the red button to hear the full conversation in episode 250 of Your Kid’s Next Read podcast.
And thank you to everyone who listens to our unique blend of books, reading, parenting and quality waffle each week!
Missed our Author Talk with Tristan Bancks?
Thanks to everyone who came along to share our May online Author Talk With Tristan Bancks. We had a fascinating chat with Tristan about his new book RAISED BY WOLVES, and learned a lot. If you missed it, hit the button to watch the replay.
COMING SOON TO YOUR NEXT READ SILVER SERIES
We cannot wait to see these two new titles join the Your Next Read Silver series on 1 July, 2026!
UPDATES FROM TEAM YKNR
We are all on the road this month for various reasons!
HELLO FROM MEGAN DALEY
Megan is an award-winning teacher-librarian, the author of Raising Readers: How to nurture a child’s love of books and THE BEEHIVE, and co-host of the Your Kid’s Next Read podcast. She is also Artistic Director for Somerset Storyfest and Head of Education at StoryBox Hub. More about Megan here.
Away from work at StoryBox Hub, Your Kid’s Next Read and some writing projects, I have been deeply invested in... nutgrass removal. I know. I know! This may not sound like a thrilling way to spend a Sunday afternoon, but if you put on an audiobook, arm yourself with a fork and some Sedgehammer herbicide, it is actually quite a satisfying experience.
I’m not one for using poisons in the garden, except where nutgrass is concerned. No exceptions for nutgrass. I Sedgehammer one week, then dig out the nuts the good old-fashioned way the next.
Also in the garden, the Beekeeper has grown enough pumpkins to fill the neighbourhood. While I have battled nutgrass, he has battled possums eating said pumpkins, and his net-wrapped pumpkins are a sight to behold. His pumpkins and the native spinach are taking over everything else in the garden so I feel like we’re living suburban smallholder life, whether we intended to or not.
In reading news (for the grown-ups), I’ve done a combination of audio and print this month. I tore through the new Dervla McTiernan, Three Reasons for Revenge, gave Heart the Lover by Lily King a solid go and did finish it but was not a fan, and am currently midway through Strangers, a memoir of marriage by Belle Burden.
I’ve had much more success with my kids’ reading this month, and my spotlight reviews below are two I’ve greatly enjoyed.
What are you reading this month?
MEGAN’S BOOKMARK REVIEWS
Each month, I share full reviews of outstanding books that have crossed my desk. Bookmark these for your readers.
‘Myra in the Middle’ by Seetha Dodd, illustrated by Peter Cheong
I do have a tendency to call things early, but I’ll say it: I think we’ll be seeing this one on longlists and shortlists in the next year or so. This junior fiction title covers a lot of territory, new siblings, Malaysian-Indian culture, mathematics, soccer and racial stereotyping, but it does so effortlessly, retaining the joy, warmth and family excitement that comes with a new baby arriving.
Seven-year-old Myra likes maths, football and things staying the same. When her family welcomes a new baby, she suddenly becomes the middle child, and everyone knows middle kids always get forgotten. The first-person, present-tense narration puts you right there with Myra as her world shifts, and it is just lovely. A standout junior fiction title. Recommended for: Ages 6–9
‘The Boy Who Drew Cats: A Japanese Folktale’ retold by Lafcadio Hearn, illustrated by Anita Kreituse
A large farm family has a son with a very specific artistic calling: he is obsessed with drawing cats. Sent away to train as a priest, he ends up holed up at a haunted temple stalked by a ferocious rat goblin. Spoiler: talent and fortitude save the day.
The illustrations are absolutely luscious, all golds, reds and deep blues, the kind of imagery that rewards multiple readings and reveals new layers each time. And the backstory of the author himself is extraordinary: born in 1850 in Greece, raised in Dublin, moved to Cincinnati as an adult, then to Japan where he became a celebrated expert on culture and folklore, and died in Tokyo in 1904. An acclaimed author across four countries.
A powerful testament to being yourself and finding your true calling. Recommended for: Ages 6–10
HELLO FROM ALLISON RUSHBY
The award-winning, bestselling author of many, many books for children and adults, Allison Rushby’s novels are firm favourites in the Your Kid’s Next Read community. Her illustrated junior fiction series, The Wish Sisters, is a fan favourite, and her latest adult novel Slashed Beauties is out now. More about Allison R here.
Allison has her OUT OF OFFICE sign up this month and sent us this postcard from Jiufen, Taiwan.
HELLO FROM ALLISON TAIT
Writing as A. L. Tait, Allison is the internationally published, bestselling author of 12 middle-grade novels, including The Mapmaker Chronicles, The Ateban Cipher and the Maven & Reeve Mysteries. She is an in-demand speaker, a writing teacher for kids and adults, and co-host of the YKNR podcast. Her latest novels include THE FIRST SUMMER OF CALLIE McGEE, WILLOW BRIGHT’S SECRET PLOT, DANGER ROAD and THE LAST WORD. More about Allison here.
It seems that Book Season has started early for me this year and I’ll be out and about later in June doing author visits. I’m also very much looking forward to delivering the keynote speech at the Independent Schools NSW Teacher Librarian Conference on 22 June.
The theme this year is ‘Halfway there: Reading, Technology and Learning 25 Years Into The Millennium’, with a focus on exploring what it means to lead, curate and innovate in the current landscape. I hope you can join me!
On the writing front, I’m dabbling in the shallows of three different manuscripts - one is complete and needs a rewrite, one is at 20,000 words and needs to be finished, and one is just an idea, a bit of an outline and a whole lot of nothing.
You can imagine which one I’m finding the most interesting right now.
In the meantime, though, I’m excited to share the cover of THE GARDEN OF LOST GIRLS, coming to a bookshop near you on 1 September 2026.
It’s another middle-grade cold-case crime thriller, set in a small coastal town, and featuring surfing, amateur theatre and the bonds that cousins share – both the good and the difficult.
Fans of DANGER ROAD are going to love it!
JUNE BOOKMAIL WINNER
Each month, we give away a prize pack consisting of some of the brilliant bookmail sent to us for the Your Kid’s Next Read podcast. One winner** is chosen from our full subscriber list by random draw and announced here!
There are SIX books in the JUNE prize pack.
The JUNE bookmail giveaway winner is … bmadigan
Congrats! We’ll be in touch by email.
Want a chance to win next month? All you have to do is subscribe.
Thanks for being part of the YKNR Village!
Allison T, Allison R and Megan
**Australian mailing addresses only. Prize consists of one copy of each book pictured, sent as a pack to the winner by Australia Post. Winner will be contacted by email and prize must be claimed within 14 days or a redraw will take place. You must be subscribed to the YKNR newsletter by midnight (AEST) the night before publication each month to be eligible to win. No correspondence will be entered into.