What do werewolves do when it's not Halloween?

I've never been a big fan of Halloween. It was never really a tradition observed in Australia until the marketing wheels got to work and realised there was a buck in it!

Halloween always brings with it a lot of confusion and fear, I find. Everywhere you go during October, more and more ghoulish souvenirs seem to be available for sale. Best avoided I think, especially with young children!

Nonetheless, Scholastic has published two books this month that will appeal to any young child looking for a trick or treat.

What do werewolves do when it's not Halloween? Good question! Perhaps they morph into giant trolls that sleep on piles of treasure, in Don't wake the Troll!

Heath McKenzie's book is a rollicking rhyming text with bright, grisly illustrations. What do werewolves do when it's not Halloween? Everyone else from Halloween seems to find themselves busy - but what do those werewolves get up to for the other 364 days of the year? You'll never guess!


Don't wake the Troll, written by Ben Kitchen and illustrated by Ben Redlich, is somewhat reminiscent of We're going on a bear hunt. Five brave dwarves want their treasure back, treasure stolen by the giant troll. Deep inside the mountain, through a cold and twisty tunnel, the five bold dwarves venture. Will they get their treasure - or will they wake the very, very big and very, very ugly troll?

What do werewolves do when it's not Halloween? 
$14.99 RRP paperback
Scholastic
Recommended 5 years +

Don't wake the Troll!
$14.99 RRP paperback
Scholastic
Recommended 5 years +

Top fifty picture books for kids

Looking for that perfect book for a perfect gift? 

Looking for a great picture book to read with your little one? 

Looking for a terrific piece of literature that can be used in the classroom? 

Looking for a bucket list of top picture books to read to your child that has more of an Australian flavour?

Look no further...

Here, in no particular order (other than alphabetical by title), are my top 50 picture book titles for children. Published over a period of 110 years, you are guaranteed to find a book that will engage even the fussiest of readers! These books have been selected according to longevity in publishing, appeal, quality and diversity. 

Not what you're looking for? Add your top reads to the comments...

Top fifty picture books for kids

No.	Title	Author	Publishing date
1	Animalia	Graeme Base	1986
2	Are you my mother?	P.D. Eastman	1960
3	A sick day for Amos McGee	Phillip C Stead	2010
4	Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?	Bill Martin	1967
5	Click, clack, moo: cows that type	Doreen Cronin	2000
6	Dear Zoo	Rod Campbell	1982
7	Diary of a wombat	Jackie French	2002
8	Each peach pear plum	Janet and Allan Ahlberg	1978
9	Edward the emu	Sheena Knowles	1988
10	Frog and toad are friends	Arnold Lobel	1970
11	Green eggs and ham	Dr Seuss	1960
12	Guess how much I love you	Sam McBratney	1994
13	Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy	Lynley Dodd	1983
14	Harry the dirty dog	Gene Zion	1956
15	Imagine	Alison Lester	1993
16	Isabella’s garden	Glenda Millard	2009
17	It’s a book	Lane Smith	2010
18	John Brown, Rose and the Midnight Cat	Jenny Wagner	1977
19	Look, a book	Libby Gleeson	2011
20	Look see, look at me	Leonie Norrington	2010
21	Mirror	Jeannie Baker	2010
22	Mr Archimedes’ bath	Pamela Allen	1980
23	My place	Nadia Wheatley	1987
24	Peepo	Janet and Allan Ahlberg	1981
25	Possum Magic	Mem Fox	1983
26	Press here	Herve Tullet	2010
27	Rosie’s walk	Pat Hutchins	1968
28	Ten little fingers and ten little toes	Mem Fox	2008
29	The Arrival	Shaun Tan	2007
30	The black book of colours	Menena Cottin	2010
31	The lion and the mouse	Jerry Pinkney	2010
32	The mysteries of Harris Burdick	Chris Van Allsburg	1984
33	The rainbow fish	Marcus Pfister	1999
34	The rainbow serpent	Dick Roughsey	1975
35	There’s a hippopotamus on our roof eating cake	Hazel Edwards	1980
36	There’s a sea in my bedroom	Margaret Wild	1984
37	The tale of Peter Rabbit	Beatrix Potter	1902
38	The three questions	Jon J Muth	2002
39	The treasure box	Margaret Wild	2013
40	The stinky cheese man and other fairly stupid tales	Jon Scieszka	1992
41	The velveteen rabbit	Margery Williams	1995
42	The very cranky bear	Nick Bland	2008
43	The very hungry caterpillar	Eric Carle	1969
44	We’re going on a bear hunt	Michael Rosen	1989
45	Where is the green sheep?	Mem Fox	2006
46	Where the forest meets the sea	Jeannie Baker	1990
47	Where the wild things are	Maurice Sendak	1963
48	Who sank the boat?	Pamela Allen	1982
49	Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge	Mem Fox	1984
50	Winnie the witch	Valerie Thomas	1987