YKNR Fave Reads 2024
Plus an amazing festive giveaway!
It’s that time of year! A time of End-of-Year concerts, performances, rehearsals, speech days, tired kids and, always, the knowledge that beach days are just around the corner.
But first, the Festive Season shopping – which means it’s also time for the YKNR community to help us all out by nominating their favourite reads of 2024.
As always, these are books READ in 2024, not necessarily published in 2024, and so these lists are always a joyous mix of the best new releases, tried-and-true favourites, forgotten gems and unexpected surprises.
We hope you enjoy them!
Your Kid’s Next Read Favourites 2024: Picture Books
Your Kid’s Next Read Favourites 2024: Chapter Books
Your Kid’s Next Read Favourites 2024: Junior Fiction
Your Kid’s Next Read Favourites 2024: Middle Grade
Your Kid’s Next Read Favourites 2024: YA
And stand by because the Your Kid’s Next Read team will reveal OUR favourite reads of 2024 in our last podcast episode of the year - episode 187, dropping on 11 December 2024.
Join all THREE of us for our office Christmas party and a round-table discussion of the books published in 2024 that made our ‘keepers’ shelves. Thanks to those paid subscribers who joined us for a peek behind the scenes at the recording – we’re sure the memory of Megan recording by Citronella candle will be with you for a long time…
You’ll find the YKNR podcast on all podcast platforms (subscribe on your favourite platform now to be first to hear the episode) and, as always, the full list of books will be available in the show notes on our website. Don’t miss it!
UPDATES FROM TEAM YKNR
We’re wobbling to the finish line of 2024, but, oh my, we have a big 2025 in store! Look at us here, planning away…
HELLO FROM MEGAN DALEY
Megan is an award-winning teacher-librarian working in Brisbane, the author of Raising Readers: How to nurture a child’s love of books, and co-host of the Your Kid’s Next Read podcast. Her debut picture book THE BEEHIVE is out now! More about Megan here.
In the Land of Megan chaos reigns supreme right now but it's all good because school holidays are on their way, and although this means there will then be four children to entertain, there will be no lunches, uniforms and choir rehearsals! All six of us cannot wait for some later starts than 5am!
The Smallest of them All has just been diagnosed coeliac so send all GF recipes for small and fussy eaters my way. Sadly, his diagnosis happened to coincide with Pizza Day at school and his previously planned Pizza Party. For a child who exists on Weetbix, pasta, sandwiches and wraps, it's been a lot. While there are GF alternatives, at this point he's not happy with the lack of elasticity in his doughish products.
On the reading front I have my list of adult reads (some audio, some in print) ready and I am really hoping for some downtime to tick a few off! My favourite adult read of the year would have to be Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See. I'm still thinking about it some months after reading it and am even considering now listening to it on audio. Some books just stick with you don't they?
BONUS GIVEAWAY!
Did you hear my interview with Marc Abrahams from Erstwilder in episode 185 of the YKNR podcast?
I love Erstwilder’s accessories and I was so enthralled by the CBCA Book Week collaboration (featuring the work of illustrator Jess Racklyeft) and the fact that it sold out so quickly, that I stole the keys to the podcast interviews so that I could talk to Marc myself about visual storytelling and the secrets of successful collaborations.
In brilliant news, Marc and Erstwilder have collaborated with US to offer a fabulous festive giveaway*.
On offer are three gorgeous Merry Kitschmas Enamel Pin Packs, each valued at $134.95. That’s right, three winners will EACH win one pack of all nine pins picture above! Imagine how popular you’ll be this festive season!
To win, all you have to do is to answer this question in the comments before 5pm (AEDST) on Monday 9th December:
WHICH ‘Merry Kitschmas Enamel Pin’ design is your favourite – and why?
Hint: Visit the Erstwilder website for a CLOSE UP look at each pin before you respond – and have a look at the entire collection while you’re there!
*ENTRIES CLOSE AT 5pm (AEDST) on Monday 9th December. Australian mailing addresses only. The prize consists of three Erstwilder Merry Kitschmas Enamel Pin Packs to be shared by three winners, selected once all eligible entries are received. No contents of the prize may be exchanged for cash. This is a game of skill with entries judged on originality. The winners will be contacted by email and announced in the next YKNR newsletter. If a winner is unable to be contacted or does not claim their prize within 14 days, the prize will be forfeited. In the event of forfeiture a new winner will be selected.
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 latest illustrated junior fiction series, The Wish Sisters, is fast gaining fans. More about Allison R here.
What’s going on here? Well, I have just spent the last five days riding an absolute roller-coaster ride of emotions at the Australian Figure Skating Championships in Melbourne competing with my adult synchronised ice skating team. And what a ride it was!
There were 5am starts. Many coffee runs. Last minute royal blue and silver ribbon hunting. A fake hair bun we have nicknamed Tonya. Hype music in the dressing room. And shaky legs as we lined up to step out onto the ice. Sadly we had an injury at practise, so had one member who wasn’t able to compete with the team, but we had a clean skate and even scraped together in the end with enough points to make a personal best for the season.
But I am now very much returned to reality and the writing of my very long adult book manuscript that is currently stalled, sitting at around 65,000 words. This is because 65,000 words is approximately the middle and middles are, as most authors will tell you (well, maybe not the smug ones) HORRIBLE.
Lucky for me my agent is busy moving countries, so has not noticed that the manuscript is, in fact, stalled. Best get back to it then before she unpacks all those boxes …
THREAD OF THE MONTH
Um, excuse me, but how good was our Pip Harry Over or Under picture book giveaway? Not only because five lucky winners received a copy of this simply wonderful book, but because we all got to do some serious travel planning as everyone detailed their favourite Australian beaches.
Some of them really do sound amazing and all so very different, too. I’m sure I’m not the only person who jotted down a list of ‘must visit beaches’. Actually, I know I’m not, because author Pip Harry seemed to be doing just that!
How lucky are we to have such wonderful beaches right on our doorstep!
Don’t forget to drop into the community every day until 13 December because we are currently celebrating YKNR BOOKMAS and have new BOOKS TO WIN every day!
HELLO FROM ALLISON TAIT
Writing as A. L. Tait, Allison is the internationally published, bestselling author of three middle-grade series: 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 novel THE FIRST SUMMER OF CALLIE McGEE is out now. More about Allison here.
My November levels of motivation were seriously challenged by a copy edit AND proofread for my next middle-grade novel, WILLOW BRIGHT’S SECRET PLOT, which is coming in 2025 and which I’ll share more about in coming newsletters.
BUT my December levels of motivation, which are even lower, are being hammered by the structural edit of another middle-grade novel, which I’m hoping to finish before Christmas. Wish me luck, team, because I am ABSOLUTELY going to need it.
Saving me is the fact that I’m getting lots of uploaded stories from students doing my Creative Writing Quest For Kids – an online writing course through the Australian Writers’ Centre. Reading their brilliant stories is a lovely break from editing my own.
In other news, I’m putting the finishing touches to the YKNR podcast Summer Series. This year, we’re thrilled to introduce FIRST CHAPTERS, featuring 13 authors reading the first chapter (or two) from their latest novels. We can’t wait to share new books from Judith Rossell, Amelia Mellor, Amy Doak, Adam Wallace, Shivaun Plozza and more!
The series begins on Friday 13th December and will drop at irregular intervals over our summer break (just so we can fit them all in!) – subscribe to Your Kid’s Next Read on your favourite podcast platform so you don’t miss any!
SIGNED BOOKS FOR CHRISTMAS
I’m excited to announce that my annual ‘signed books’ offer is on now, until 13 December. If you have an Australian mailing address and you’d like to buy personalised signed copies of any of my novels, click the red button below to find out more!
DECEMBER 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 DECEMBER prize pack.
The DECEMBER bookmail giveaway winner is … Anna Slykhuis
Congrats! We’ll be in touch by email.
Want a chance to win next month? All you have to do is subscribe.
Thank you for being part of the Your Kid’s Next Read community in 2024. We wish you all the best for the festive season and look forward to seeing you in 2025.
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 (AEDST) the night before publication each month to be eligible to win. No correspondence will be entered into.
Thanks for entering everyone! Congratulations to our winners.
It has to be the snow globe for me. It has all the Christmas fairytale feels, where you can imagine who might live there and what cosy quirky little things they might be up to. Of course they’d also be trapped like bugs in a glass prison. Maybe more Grimm than Disney 🤔