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 the Unity Children’s Bestseller Chart.

These lists of the bestselling children’s books at Unity Wellington and Little Unity in Auckland cover the four weeks to July 4 2019.

AUCKLAND

1  Te Tiriti o Waitangi / The Treaty of Waitangi, by Toby Morris with Ross Calman, Mark Derby, and Piripi Walker (Lift Education, $20) graphic non-fiction ages 8+

Our Tobes! (One of them, anyway). 

2  No One is Too Small to Make a Difference, by Greta Thunberg (Penguin, $8) bio/speeches all ages

Be like Greta. 

3  Animalphabet, by Julia Donaldson (Two Hoots, $28) picture book, 3-5

Julia Donaldson Julia Donaldson Julia Donaldson 

4  ABC What Can She Be? Girls Can Be Anything They Want to Be, from A to Z, by Jessie Ford et al (Walter T Foster, $23) board book 0-5

See (2), above. 

5  Book of Many Things, by Eric Carle (Puffin, $30) illustrated non-fiction, 0-5

Sure but will there be a hungry caterpillar and or an angry ladybird? 

6  101 Collective Nouns, by Jennifer Cossins (Lothian Press, $20) illustrated non-fiction, 3-7

Is there a collective noun for children’s books about collective nouns?

7  Kid-Friendly Auckland by Ceana Priest, (Outdoor Kid NZ $20) NZ children’s non-fiction/travel

Does it include a map of which dairies sell individual Le Snax and also “yummy ones” ie individual Oreos, because that’s pretty much all my kid’s interested in. 

8  The Mapmakers’ Race, by Eirlys Hunter (Gecko Press, $25) fiction, 8-12

Extracted by our friends at The Sapling. 

9  The Noisy Book, by Soledad Bravi (Gecko Press, $25) board book, 0-3

Much longer than most board books, and exponentially more fun to read. 

10 Tīrama Tīrama Matariki / Twinkle Twinkle Matariki, by Rebecca Larsen ($20) picture book, 0-7

A sparkly release from the Row, Row, Row Your Waka crew. 

WELLINGTON

1  Tīrama Tīrama Matariki / Twinkle Twinkle Matariki by Rebecca Larsen (Imagination Press, $20) picture book, 0-7

2  The Cat From Muzzle by Sally Sutton (Puffin, $20) picture book

The cat is called Dwayne. 

3  Animals for Kiwi Babies by Matthew Williamson (Penguin, $13) board book, 0-5

Beautifully-illustrated bilingual series for little tinies. 

4  My Body for Kiwi Babies by Matthew Williamson (Penguin, $13) board book, 0-5

Ditto.

5  Te Taiao Hur Noa: The World Around Us by Katie Kool (Rākau Press, $10) board book, 0-5

From cheetah to kawakawa.

6  The Day the Plants Fought Back by Belinda O’Keefe (Scholastic, $19) picture book

“My 3 year old niece was with us when we read the story and she was quite curious about plants being able to talk and move and I noticed her quite cautiously stepping around a flower in the garden saying sorry to it as she nearly brushed against it with her foot” – kiwireviews.co.nz

7  One and a Half Million Buttons edited by Joy Cowley (Copy Press, $20) picture book 6+ yrs

Cowley’s tribute to a Holocaust memorial project at Moriah School in Wellington, for which children have been collecting buttons since 2008. 

8  Ambulance, Ambulance! by Sally Sutton (Walker Books, $18) board book

Whaaaat! I didn’t know there was another one of these out! Get amongst it, fans of Roadworks, Demolition and Construction. 

9  Trompet & Trumbone by Ali Foster & Martin Bailey (Duck Creek Press, $20) picture book

Elephants, whakapapa and memories. 

10 Oh, So Many Kisses by Maura Finn (Scholastic, $18) picture book

Diversity feat. top-shelf rhymes.