New for Christmas
“It's Christmas, it's 35 degrees, and Santa's in a woolly suit.”
Picture books and chapter books · ages 3 to 12
Every story starts with a feeling.
Funny, beautiful books for the big everyday moments — screens off, towers down, waiting your turn. They start with how your child feels, so the hard moment gets easier, not preachier.
Start with the feeling
What's the big feeling at your place today?
Pick the one that sounds like your kitchen this week. There's a story for it.
An Aussie Christmas
Christmas in Thongs
Christmas in thirty-five degrees — and Santa's still wearing the woolly suit.
Read about it
Screens and digital safety
It's a No Tech Day!
No screens all Saturday. Willow has a complaint. A very official one.
Read about it
Money
Frankie Bunting Needs a New Bike
Eleven kids ride a shiny Blagg up the hill. Frankie pushes the Rust Bucket.
Read about it
School and learning
Sit Still, Assembly!
Sitting still when sitting still is completely impossible.
Read about it
Red Hot HandsLou Vella
Big feelings
Red Hot Hands
The tower falls. CLONK. His hands go toasty, then hot, then RED HOT.
Read about it
Five People Ahead: Not Till Friday
Lou Vella
Lou Vella
School and learning
Five People Ahead: Not Till Friday
Six names on the Expert Talks list. Pip is last.
Read about itNew for Christmas
Christmas in Thongs
Christmas in thirty-five degrees — and Santa's still wearing the woolly suit.
It's Christmas Eve in Australia, and it is HOT. Santa is coming — in a woolly suit and snow boots.
Ari has a plan: thongs, a sunhat, ice, a fan and a paddling pool. But will Santa find them? A funny, warm-hearted Aussie Christmas story about a kid who thinks of someone else.
Reading from overseas? A few Aussie words:
- thongs flip-flops (the footwear!)
- 35 degrees about 95°F — a normal Aussie Christmas
- esky a cool box / cooler
The shelf
One story for each everyday battle
How every story works
The lesson is never announced
It's in there quietly, the way a good hug is. Every book walks the same path and ends with words your child can say out loud. Here's It's a No Tech Day!
- 1TriggerMum says it flat: no screens today.
- 2EmotionWillow is outraged. The day is ruined.
- 3BehaviourShe starts an Official Complaint.
- 4ConsequenceTo write it all down, she has to look properly.
- 5CopingAn ant with nine hundred friends. A worm called Greg.
- 6I can…“I can have a brilliant day with the screens off.”
Grows with your child
A picture book for the lap. A chapter book for later.
Every story comes two ways. A rhyming 32-page picture book to read aloud at ages 3 to 8, and a funny chapter book they read on their own at 8 to 12. Same feeling, same characters, grown up a bit.
- Real watercolour, with lots of white paper
- Australian places and words, feelings every child shares
- Nothing on the page a child could copy and get hurt
- Free printables with every single book
A note from Lou
It starts with a feeling.
Five people ahead of you, and your turn still coming. An ice cream melting faster than you can lick it. The screen going off, right at the best bit. A shoe that is simply not where you left it.
To a grown-up, these are small moments. To a child, they are the whole world, all at once. And for the tired grown-up standing beside them, they are the moments nobody handed us a script for.
So that's where every Lou Vella Book starts. With the wobble in the tummy. The red-hot hands. The “That's MINE!” Then the story does what stories do best. A child watches someone just like them get cross, get it wrong, find a way through, and land on words they can say out loud: “I can do this.”
— Lou
Read the whole story →
Free to print
Keep the story going after the last page
Needs or wants? Follow the money. Plan a one-minute expert talk. Count down to a big turn. Free activity sheets to print at home or for the whole class. No sign-up needed.
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