Australia’s best picture book: voting now open in Guardian Australia poll

It’s time to get voting for your favourite Australian picture book. Here’s how the Guardian’s poll works

Parents, please don’t stop reading to your children – a great picture book could change their life

Picture books help children develop their imaginations, find empathy for others and take pride in what makes them unique – all of which make for good adults

Children and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels

Caring canines; daring donuts; a golden monkey; a boy from another planet; a dark take on Little Women and more

‘It’s about making reading as natural as breathing’: Malorie Blackman backs the National Year of Reading

The Noughts & Crosses author is among the starry ambassadors for the campaign – one of the initiatives aimed at addressing the reading crisis

Charlie Mackesy’s Always Remember is Christmas No 1 in the UK’s bestsellers chart

The writer and illustrator’s follow-up to The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse sold roughly one copy every 14 seconds last week

‘This extraordinary story never goes out of fashion’: 30 authors on the books they give to everyone

Colm Tóibín, Robert Macfarlane, Elif Shafak, Michael Rosen and more share the novels, poetry and memoirs that make the perfect gift

How to buy a book for a child who is a non-reader? The trick is to meet them where they are

If you want kids to open the pages, not just the present, choose a book that feels like a treat – and show young Australians that reading matters

From the Gruffalo to Dog Man: how to put children’s classics on the stage

With Dog Man making his London theatre debut next summer, theatre makers explain how to make a successful jump from page to stage

Alice: Return to Wonderland review – a wonderfully eccentric new rabbit hole to go down

Alice is a boring grownup at the start of this intelligent and catchy Christmas musical – then she’s whisked off to Wonderland again

Mr Men and Little Miss feature film in the works from Paddington producers

David Heyman has joined the French media company StudioCanal with plans to bring one of the bestselling children’s book series of all time to the screen

Dog Man: The Musical, based on Dav Pilkey’s bestsellers, to be staged in London

Inspired by the series of irreverent comic books by the Captain Underpants creator, the show will run at the Southbank Centre in 2026

How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? review – have yourself a merry little rumpus

This exuberant adaptation of Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen’s picture book moves with the rhythm of a child’s racing imagination

The best children’s books of 2025

A new read-aloud favourite, doughnuts with world-conquering ambitions, high fantasy from Katherine Rundell, and more

Paddington musical in the West End is practically paw-fect, say theatre critics

Michael Bond’s beloved bear is the star of an eagerly anticipated new show at the Savoy theatre in London. Here is what the critics thought

Paddington: The Musical review – they’ve looked after this bear quite splendiferously

State-of-the-art animatronics, imaginative staging, fabulous performances and some marvellous songs about marmalade make for an evening that will fill you with joy and melt your heart