These links show the original reading lists. Inclusion is not a guarantee of suitability for your child.
Ian Hayward Robinson - Author
A thoughtful picture book built around one question: different family members offer different answers, while Henry searches for an answer he can grasp. Its colourful illustrations and unusual page orientation invite looking as well as listening.
Henry asks his family what the most amazing thing is, and receives answers centred on life, the mind and the universe.Exploratory / explanatoryExploratory / explanatory: the book explains or explores the subject without an established evaluative position.Exploratory / explanatory: the book explains or explores the subject without an established evaluative position.
How the book presents it: The book presents several ways of thinking about wonder before leaving the search for meaning as personal rather than purely factual.
Talk about: Which ideas does Henry understand, and which answer ultimately feels meaningful to him?
Individuality
Henry’s mother offers an answer focused on each person being unique, and accounts of the conclusion centre on Henry’s individuality.FavourableFavourable: the book presents this theme approvingly or positively.Favourable: the book presents this theme approvingly or positively.
How the book presents it: The book appears to value personal uniqueness as a meaningful response to the larger wonders discussed by the family.
Talk about: How does the story show that being unique matters, rather than simply stating it?
Different perspectives in a family
Each family member is busy with a different activity and gives a different response to Henry’s question.FavourableFavourable: the book presents this theme approvingly or positively.Favourable: the book presents this theme approvingly or positively.
How the book presents it: The exchange treats differing answers as opportunities for exploration rather than as a single debate that must be won.
Talk about: Does the family listen to Henry’s own view as carefully as he listens to theirs?
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Why It May Be Worth Reading
This may suit a shared reading where you want to make space for big questions without requiring one fixed answer. It connects wonder with personal perspective and presents each person as unique.
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What Deserves Attention
The ideas move from observable life to the mind and the vast universe, so some parts may be more abstract than Henry can picture. The ending’s precise effect is not fully clear without reading the book.
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A Conversation Worth Having
Which answer feels most convincing to your child, and does that change as the family keeps talking? Ask what makes something amazing to them, rather than steering them towards Henry’s eventual answer.
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Reading Approach
Read it slowly and pause after each family member’s idea. Look closely at the illustrations, then invite your child to name, draw or discuss something they find amazing, accepting an answer different from the book’s.
Confidence & Basis
Theme indicators describe how the book presents a topic; they are not a verdict on the whole book or your family's values. Confidence reflects how much book-specific material was checked. Only part of the book information was available, so some details remain unconfirmed.
What remains unconfirmed
Wonder and meaning: Some details of this treatment remain unclear.
Individuality: Some details of this treatment remain unclear.
Different perspectives in a family: Some details of this treatment remain unclear.
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