Your Next Read Gold: Harry's Secret

Your Next Read is the series that will help kids fall in love with reading and reach for the next book – and the next, and the next!

The series removes reading roadblocks and grows with kids as their reading confidence and reading interests develop. The engaging stories, carefully structured text and illustrations make reading accessible and enjoyable for all kids, whether they are newly independent readers or ready to take the next step.

***

Do you like ART, FRIENDS and HEARTWARMING STORIES?

Then this book is YOUR NEXT READ.

Harry has a secret: he loves to draw. Problem is, he's pretty sure everyone thinks art is Not Cool. So when Harry enters a local portrait competition, he must choose between staying hidden or being brave.

From the creators of Your Kid's Next Read – the largest online children's book community in Australia – comes a new chapter in children's fiction. Join the conversation on Facebook today!

***

Each book is expertly designed to support children who may be struggling with reading. Accessible fonts, carefully spaced text, off-white paper stock, shorter sentences and chapters, and supportive illustrations all work together to reduce overwhelm, build comprehension and create a reader-friendly experience.

The Your Next Read Silver Series for beginner readers are 112 pages long, divided into six to eight short chapters with an illustration on every spread supporting short sentences and paragraphs. The Gold Series for emerging independent readers are 144 pages long, divided into eight to ten chapters with three illustrations in each chapter, and featuring more complex narratives.

The easy-to-recognise icons covering themes like friendship, sport, mystery and humour, coupled with much-loved writers and illustrators, means kids can quickly identify the books that interest them most and follow those cues to discover a large library of books in the series to read and collect next.

About the Author

Dr Anita Heiss is an internationally published, award-winning author of over 20 books; non-fiction, historical fiction, commercial women’s fiction and children’s novels. She is a proud member of the Wiradyuri Nation of central New South Wales, an Ambassador for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation and the GO Foundation, and Professor of Communications at the University of Queensland. Anita is also the Publisher at Large of Bundyi, an imprint of Simon & Schuster cultivating First Nations talent. As an artist in residence at La Boite Theatre, she adapted her novel Tiddas for the stage. It premiered at the 2022 Brisbane Festival and was produced by Belvoir St for the Sydney Festival in 2024.

Her novel, Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray, about the Great Flood of Gundagai, won the 2022 NSW Premier’s Indigenous Writers' Prize and was shortlisted for the 2021 ARA Historical Novel Prize and the 2022 ABIA Awards. Anita’s first children’s picture book is Bidhi Galing (Big Rain), also about the Great Flood of Gundagai. Anita released Dirrayawadha (Rise Up) in about the frontier war in Bathurst in 2024. Her most recent novel is The Paradise Pact.