SCREEN TIME
THE DAY THE JUNGLE-NET BROKE (Marleen Lammers, Ian Smith)
The Day The Jungle-Net Broke (New Frontier, 2025) is a light, funny story that gently nudges children towards healthier screen time habits. At first when the jungle-net breaks, Miles the Monkey panics. His world revolves around his i-tree and his app, including his banana deliveries. Without his i-tree, how will he tree-time his family? Miles discovers there's more to life than he realised.
The strength of the story is how the lesson unfolds in action, rather than as a heavy moral. The tone is playful and accessible. There’s lots of colour and humour in the visuals to keep children engaged. But the message is clear - whilst screens are fun, they’re not everything.
A useful book for children who may resist screen limits.
UNPLUGGED (Steve Anthony)
Unplugged (Hodder) is a beautifully simple picture book about discovering a world beyond screens.
Blip is a little robot who lives a happy life, plugged into a computer - everything is familiar and comfortable. But when Blip is accidentally unplugged, she finds herself in a world full of colour, nature and adventure! She soon realises that there is so much more to see and enjoy.
The simple text and super cute main character make this story highly accessible for children. Blip’s journey will encourage young readers to try things outside their comfort zone and find a healthy balance when it comes to technology.
THERE’S A TIGER ON THE TRAIN (Mariesa Dulak, Rebecca Cobb)
You'll never guess what happened
On our trip down to the sea . . .
A tiger in a top hat
Came and sat right next to me!
There’s a Tiger on The Train (Faber, 2024) features a boy and his dad aboard a train to the seaside. But Dad is stuck to his phone and misses a whole menagerie of noisy, colourful, playful passengers! It’s an extraordinary journey with a family of hippos, a band of crocs, a mum with piglets in tow, pugs and more.
This energetic, vibrant story is bursting with fun characters, with a dynamic rhythm to match. The journey ends with a satisfying but surprising twist, in which the tiger helps Dad to pay attention to what is right in front of his nose. A delightful rhyming tale with a subtle nod to phubbing - choosing a device over a loved one