What’s the best way to get adults reading? Get them reading when they’re children – and there’s no better place to start than Unity’s top-selling kids’ books.

Look, we don’t know how this has happened but it seems that Christmas is en route and not too slowly. Our monthly list of the bestselling children’s books are your time/life-saving guide to good reads for small people. While we’re here, we’d love to draw your attention to Kiwi Christmas Books, a locally-run organisation helping children around the country unwrap a brand new book every holiday. 

AUCKLAND

1  Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong (Hachette, $28, 13+) 

The S-word got a lot of air time in Aotearoa this October. This book is the first in a new series of two from sensational writer Chloe Gong (who wrote this great essay for us). They follow her hugely successful novels These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends, loosely based on Romeo & Juliet. Foul Lady Fortune’s blurb goes:

“It’s 1931 in Shanghai, and the stage is set for a new decade of intrigue. Four years ago, Rosalind Lang was brought back from the brink of death, but the strange experiment that saved her also stopped her from sleeping and aging—and allows her to heal from any wound. In short, Rosalind cannot die. Now, desperate for redemption from her traitorous past, she uses her abilities as an assassin for her country.”

Sounds like a rip-roaring summer read for your teen (and/or yourself).

2  Counting Creatures by Julia Donaldson; illustrations by Sharon King-Chai (Two Hoots, $25, 2+)

A beautiful, detailed, flap-book for little readers.

3  Spaceboy by David Walliams (HarperCollins, $25, 4+)

From that one-man junior fiction machine of such titles as Bad Dad, Gangsta Granny, etc and so on. Spaceboy is set in 1960s America where Ruth is obsessed with space and then one night, a UFO crashes. It sounds like fun and brings to mind Margaret Mahy’s brilliant book The Greatest Show Off Earth which is worth seeking out if you or the child you’re book-hunting for is a fan of space. 

4  Maui & Other Legends: 8 Classic Tales of Aotearoa by Peter Gossage (Penguin, $40, 3+) 

A classic, must-have staple for Aotearoa bookshelves. 

5  Big Ideas For Curious Minds: An Introduction to Philosophy by Alain de Botton and Anna Doherty (Affirm Press, $40, 9+)

This one has been on the list a while now. It’s a book that nurtures the “but, why?” compulsion that children have. There’s a bit of an old school feel about it: a dark, almost serious cover with a sense of weight and heft.

6  Frozen Mountain: Decide Your Destiny by Emily Hawkins and R Fresson (Wide Eyed Press, $40, 8+)

This book is a game crossed with a survival guide. Adventure your way through the book using a pop-out fortune spinner… and try not to die. “Harrowing tales of real-life wilderness survivors provide glimmers of hope as you deal with the consequences of your choices. One bad decision could lead to disaster…”

Crikey. Sounds fun though.

7  Atua: Maori Gods & Heroes by Gavin Bishop (Penguin, $40, all ages)

One of the top books of the year: beautiful, big and full of stories that all ages will enjoy and see in the land, sea and skies around them.

8  One Weka Went Walking by Kate Preece (Bateman Books, $25, 2+)

Weka weka woo! When will weka get bird of the year is our question. These cheeky, resourceful little birds get the spotlight in this sweet new book for little ones.

9  Where’s Frida Kahlo By Ingela Arrhenius (Nosy Crow, $15, 1+)

I often wonder what Frida would have made of all of the merch that now bears her image … nevertheless, this book is a lovely, tasteful flap book that introduces tiny ones to artists (and to themselves… hidden mirrors are always a win with one-year-olds).

10  No Way! By Dan Marshall (Pantera Press, $33, 8+)

One for the fact-collectors in your family. This book is full of interesting stuff and wonderfully illustrated too.

WELLINGTON

1  Annual #3 Annual Series edited by Kate De Goldi & Susan Paris (Annual Ink, $45, 9+) 

We are big fans of this wide-ranging, fun, complex miscellany full of stories of all kinds. The Annual books expand on what you might consider to be children’s literature in terms of style, format and authors too. Susan Paris’ essay on why Annual exists can be read now, on The Spinoff.

2  Baddies by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler (Alison Green Books, $28, 4+) 

Perfect for the Halloween just been … the royal duo of children’s lit celebrate witches, ghosts and trolls who are downright terrible, nasty, badass baddies. Love it.

3  156-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton (MacMillan, $18, 4+)
One of the most exhilarating live literature events I’ve been to was Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton live. They were mad. They were fun. They hit marshmallows into the audience of 800 kids with tennis rackets and I thought someone was going to break and arm or a head. But everything was fine. Yahoo to the Treehouse of impossible height!

4  Adventures of Mittens: Wellington’s Famous Purr-Sonality by Silvio Bruinsma (Penguin, $20, 3+) 

Prrrrttt.

5  Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong (Hachette, $28, 13+)

6  Spaceboy by David Walliams (HarperCollins, $25, 4+)

7  Meerkat Christmas by Emily Gravett (MacMillan, $18, 3+)

It’s happening … the novelty Christmas books are going to be with us from here on in. Who doesn’t love a meerkat though. They project just the right level of anxiety for this time of year.

8  Atua: Maori Gods & Heroes by Gavin Bishop (Penguin, $40, all ages)

9  One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus (Puffin, $21, 12+)

Karen McManus writers murder mysteries for teenagers. Here’s the blurb for this latest one which will no doubt also become a bestseller:

“Five students go to detention. Only four leave alive.

Yale hopeful Bronwyn has never publicly broken a rule.

Sports star Cooper only knows what he’s doing in the baseball diamond.

Bad boy Nate is one misstep away from a life of crime.

Prom queen Addy is holding together the cracks in her perfect life.

And outsider Simon, creator of the notorious gossip app at Bayview High, won’t ever talk about any of them again.”

10  Sleepy Kiwi by Kat Quin (Tikitibu, $20, babies)

A beautiful, monochrome board book for little babies. Their eyes can see the bold design, it’s perfectly lovely and great as a gift.