I Don’t Need a Little Brother

By Nat Amoore & Nathaniel Eckstrom

Reviewed by Lara Cain Gray

I Don’t Need a Little Brother is the debut picture book for Nat Amoore, who is well known for action-packed, humorous middle grade writing – and even better known for super high energy school and festival appearances. Nathaniel Eckstrom is a prolific picture book illustrator who brings warmth and visual subplots to this outlandish narrative.

The story follows a frustrated older sibling who has had enough of a pesky younger brother. He’s given him a whole two years to become interesting, and he’s just not cutting it. He imagines life would be quite satisfactory with mum, dad, grandpa, the household pets and Beryl the teddy bear. This little brother has to go! From mailing him to France to leaving him at the zoo, the older brother tries every trick in the book to get rid of the younger one, only to discover that maybe, just maybe, life is better with a little brother around. The action is imaginative and silly, but never aggressive, with plenty of sight gags, sibling pranks, bemused adults and quirky animals to spot across each spread.

Aimed at readers 3+, this book will be a fun introduction to Amoore’s writing for young readers, who might follow her into the older books as their skills grow. It will be a handy gift for families navigating the arrival of a new baby, or simply celebrating the roller coaster of sibling life.

This book would also be useful as a stimulus for writing courses, at any age, being a stand out example of a ‘classic’ picture book formula. The words and pictures work in harmony to reveal what’s really going on within the family, and the narrative structure includes a well balanced array of rising and falling tension, cliffhanger page turns, and a twist at the end.

Penguin Books Australia 2025

Nat Amoore 

Nathaniel Eckstrom