5 Picture Books That Teach Big Lessons

These picture books may be small in size, but they pack a powerful punch. With bold characters, heartfelt moments, and unforgettable messages, they’re the perfect way to spark big conversations with little readers. Beautifully illustrated, deeply meaningful, and endlessly re-readable, these stories will stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page.

Clive Eats Alligators by Alison Lester

While Frank eats muesli for breakfast and Rosie enjoys eggs and bacon, Clive prefers to eat alligators. Here is a group of children who all dare to be different in their own special way. Applauding individuality, Clive Eats Alligators will incite questions and comments from young audiences. Children will delight in Alison Lester s cheerful artwork and simple text that is filled with familiarity. Clive Eats Alligators is an interactive book that depicts seven children happy in their own uniqueness.

Buy a copy of Clive Eats Alligators here.

Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen

Who sank the boat? Was it the cow or the donkey or the sheep with her knitting? Surely it wasn’t the tiny little mouse? Winner of the 1983 Australian Picture Book of the Year Award, this wonderfully illustrated book is designed for sharing aloud and will make children giggle as they guess which animal spoilt a day’s rowing by sinking the boat.

Buy a copy of Who Sank the Boat? here.

Pig the Pug by Aaron Blabey

Pig was a Pug and I’m sorry to say, he was greedy and selfish in most every way. Pig is the greediest Pug in the world. He is grumpy, rude and unreasonable. But when Pig the Pug is asked to share his toys, something unexpected happens … Hopefully Pig has learnt a lesson!

Buy a copy of Pig the Pug here.

This Small Blue Dot by Zeno Sworder

This Small Blue Dot follows a little girl exploring the big and small things in life. From contemplating our place on this ‘blue dot’ to the best Italian, Chinese and Indian desserts, the book provides a broader, more inclusive view of who we are, where we come from and where our dreams may take us. Delivering big lessons with playful humour, the precocious young narrator shares her take on nature and the environment, wisdom from elders, embracing difference, the power of imagination and broccoli. Through this character – loosely based on his eldest daughter, whose crayon drawings decorate the endpapers – Sworder channels the lessons he took from his Chinese grandmother and British father.

Buy a copy of This Small Blue Dot here.

The Fire Wombat by Jackie French, illustrated by Danny Snell

As the flames of a bushfire approach, one small wombat shelters with other animals in her burrow. But that is just the beginning of their journey to safety. Based on events witnessed by Australian Children’s Laureate Jackie French during the 2020 fires, and co-created with award-winning illustrator Danny Snell, this is a story of courage, compassion and survival, which saw people across Australia come together to save our wildlife from devastation.