Our actual bookshelf, not a sponsored one.
Books for little hands, books for tired grown-ups, and a few podcasts for the drive. Everything here, we love.
A good book does something an appointment can’t. It lets a kid meet a big idea, food, poo, a brain that works its own way, with none of the pressure of being asked about it directly.
None of this is a treatment plan, and nothing here replaces working with someone. It’s just what we’d pull off our own shelf if you asked. Read the ones that fit your family, leave the rest.
Yvette Reid
Ages ~1-3
A gentle picture book about breastfeeding and weaning, for the littlest ones and their families.
Eric Carle
Ages ~1-4
The classic. Food, days of the week, and a very relatable appetite!
Jekka & Krissy Kuhlmann and Haley Hazell
Ages ~1-4
A rhyming board-book tour of dumplings from around the world, bao, pierogi, samosa and more, with a little pronunciation guide. A warm, everyone-welcome celebration!
Katie Daynes
Ages ~2-5
Exactly what it says. A lift-the-flap answer to ‘what is poo?”, and a lovely in to talking about toileting and tummies.
Lotta Nieminen
Ages ~2-5
Make pancakes without the mess: whisk, flip and serve using pull-tabs and wheels, all inside the book. A lovely, low-pressure way for little hands to “cook”.
Lotta Nieminen
Ages ~2-5
Knead the dough, spread the sauce and add the toppings with tabs and sliders, no oven or mess required. Cooking as pure play for the “do it myself” age.
Lotta Nieminen
Ages ~2-5
Chop the veg, mash the avocado and warm the tortillas right on the page, no real knives in sight. Hands-on food play for little cooks.
Lotta Nieminen
Ages ~2-5
Sift, mix, crack the egg and slide the tray out of the oven, all on the page. Baking made mess-free and entirely kid-led.
Lotta Nieminen
Ages ~2-5
Fry, simmer and twirl spaghetti onto a punch-out fork, a whole plate of pasta cooked without spilling a thing. Playful, hands-on, no pressure.
Aaron Blabey
Ages ~2-6
Pure joy about food and fitting in. Read it for the giggles.
Alice Oehr
Ages ~2-6
A bright A-to-Z of foods from fruits and vegetables to treats like doughnuts and cake! Great for getting familiar with food away from the pressure of the plate.
Felice Arena and
Beatrice Cerocchi
Ages ~2-6
A rhyming feast of gloriously fun-to-say cheeses, Brie, Stilton, even Stinking Bishop. A food gets a lot friendlier when its name is this good to say out loud.
Felice Arena and
Beatrice Cerocchi
Ages ~2-6
A rhyming feast of gloriously fun-to-say pastas, spaghettini, fagottini, agnolotti. From the same team as Cheese!, and the same lovely idea, a food made friendly through the sheer joy of saying its name.
Alice Oehr
Ages ~2-8
A joyful trip through a weekly farmers’ market shop: picking seasonal fruit and veg, planning what to cook, taking in the colour of it all. Food as an adventure, not a battle.
Charlie and Lola, Lauren Child
Ages ~3-6
The fussy-eating picture book, done with humour and zero shame. A Juni favourite for a reason.
Claire Potter
Ages ~3-6
A gentle, playful nudge for the reluctant eater to explore a whole rainbow of food, without a battle in sight.
Lana Johnson
Ages ~3-7
A storybook for celebrating the kid who’s wired a little differently, exactly as they are.
Nelly Thomas
Ages ~3-7
A warm celebration of all the ways brains work, autism, ADHD, dyslexia and more, as a normal part of being human.
Dr Seuss
Ages ~3-7
The original “I will not try it… oh, actually”. Gentle, silly, and quietly in support of trying something new.
Vivian French
Ages ~3-7
A kid who only eats chips meets a week of vegetables. No lectures, just a good story.
Jamey LeVier
Ages ~3-7
A gentle story about growing things and small helpers making a big difference. A lovely in for conversations about where food starts.
Carrie Finison
Ages ~3-7
Doug doesn’t like hugs, and that’s completely okay. A funny, warm way in to consent, body autonomy and asking first, the kind of respect Juni’s whole approach is built on.
Nell Harris
Ages ~4-8
For the kid whose brain runs fast and loud. A warm way to talk about big feelings and busy attention without anything
being “wrong”.
Annabel Karmel and
Alex Willmore
Ages ~4-8
Joshua David Stein
Ages ~4-8
Four kids whose home-cooked lunches get side-eye at school learn to stand proud of the food they love. A warm nudge toward pride at the lunch table.
Felicita Sala
Ages ~4-8
Neighbours in one building each cook a dish to share, with simple recipes for young chefs woven through. A gorgeous celebration of food, culture and community.
Jenan Matari
Ages ~4-8
A young Palestinian girl tends her grandpa’s garden and discovers where food, family and belonging come from. Tender, beautiful, and full of the joy of growing things.
Joanna Cole
Ages ~5-9
A field trip through the body, science made silly in the best way.
Karen Young
Ages ~5-10
A warm letter from a kid’s own brain, explaining big feelings and worry in a way that finally makes sense.
Katie Brosnan
Ages ~6-10
An illustrated journey into the microbiome, the tiny world in the gut and how it helps the whole of you.
Robert Winston
Ages ~7-11
A colourful visual tour of how the body works, for the kid who wants to see the engine.
Masha D’yans
Ages ~7-11
A beautifully illustrated meet-the-microbes tour of the gut, for the kid ready for a bit more of the science.
The kitchen shelf, for the daily feed:
Luka McCabe
A go-to for the milk-to-solids stretch, when everyone’s working out what and how to feed.
Julia Tellidis and Lauren Skora
A practical reference for feeding babies and starting solids.
Julia Tellidis and Lauren Skora
Real-world ideas for the daily box, minus the Pinterest guilt.
Sally O’Neil
Batch-cooking and fill-the-fridge strategy for the week, for the grown-up trying to feed themselves too.
Gen Muir
Gen shows you how to work with your child through fussy eating, bedtime battles and meltdowns, without loosing your mind.
Maggie Dent
From Australia’s “queen of common-sense parenting”, steady, kind support for getting teens through the tough stuff, screens and all, on a foundation of loving connection.
Maggie Dent
Raising little girls to be healthy, happy and heard, warm, funny and practical, in a world that often overlooks what they need.
Maggie Dent
Guiding teen boys through adolescence, from defusing conflict to unsticking an unmotivated son, with empathy and clear, doable strategies.
Dr Billy Garvey
A developmental paediatrician’s guide for helping your child thrive at any age. (Dr Billy is also half of Pop Culture Parenting, see the podcasts tab.)
Matilda Boseley
A frank, funny Australian read on discovering ADHD as an adult. For the parent seeing themselves in their kid’s diagnosis.
Dr Miguel Toribio-Mateas
On the whole-body side of ADHD, useful if you’re joining the dots between attention, sleep and how the body feels.
Giulia Enders
The friendly, surprisingly delightful guide to the gut and the gut-brain connection.
TJ Power
Simple, everyday habits for balancing the four brain chemicals behind how we feel – dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins.
Johann Hari
On the real-world roots of anxiety and low mood, and what actually helps.
Bessel van der Kolk
The landmark read on how stress and trauma live in the body. Heavy read but worth it.
Dr Jolene Brighten
On hormones and hormonal health, for grown-ups making sense of their own and their teenager’s.
Lara BridenLara Briden
A practical guide to better periods and hormones, from the teenage years right through to menopause.
Warm, funny conversations about vulnerability and mental health, and the relief of hearing that nobody has it all figured out.
Start with the episodes with Maggie Dent and Shane Jacobson.
Warm, funny parenting chat. Start with the episodes featuring Gen Muir.
A paediatrician and a mate unpack parenting through the films you already love. (One host is Dr Billy Garvey, see the books tab.)
Funny, honest conversations on the actual job of parenting, from one dad to another.
Found a book, podcast or account your family loves? Maybe you’ve written a book we need to know about?
Tell us at hello@junipaediatrics.com.au.
This shelf grows the best way, one good recommendation at a time.
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Juni works with families on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land right across this country. We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live and where the children we care for are growing up, whose deep knowledge of health, healing, food, and community continues to inspire and guide us. We extend this respect to all the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of this beautiful country we are blessed to call home.
