Where Would You Go? by Alison Lester and Jane Godwin and the children at Yalingu Yirramboi – the Royal Children’s Hospital School

Title: Where Would You Go?

Author: Alison Lester and Jane Godwin and the children at Yalingu Yirramboi – the Royal Children’s Hospital School

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Published: 4^th November 2025

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 24

Price: $19.99

Synopsis: A life-affirming collaboration between children of Yalingbu Yirramboi – The Royal Children’s Hospital School and award-winning creators, Alison Lester and Jane Godwin.

If you could travel wherever you choose,
to worlds imagined and new,
where are the places that you’d like to go
and what in the world would you do?

Take a journey through words and drawings in this magical adventure as the children of The Royal Children’s Hospital wonder where everyone at the hospital might go – the doctors, the nurses, the teachers, and even themselves. With a lyrical text and additional artwork from much-loved creators Jane Godwin and Alison Lester (The Silver Sea, Sing Me the Summer), this unforgettable collaboration explores the magic of imagination and celebrates the joy of coming home.

All royalties from the sale of this book go to Yalingbu Yirramboi – The Royal Children’s Hospital School.

~*~

Imagine being stuck in hospital, and not being able to go anywhere. All you see are the walls of the room you’re in, or doctor’s rooms and treatment rooms. You see more of the doctors and nurses than anyone else. And when you’re in there for a long time, you have to go to the hospital school when you’re a kid. It’s tough and lonely for anyone, and anyone who can make someone’s time there a little bit better is always welcome.

Alison Lester and Jane Godwin’s latest picture book is a magical journey through words and drawings of wonder. There is wonder in everything, and the heights the imagination can go to when we imagine the places we want to be when we’re stuck somewhere else. Alison and Jane have created a wonderful book filled with hope as their words mingle with the delightful, innocent, and hopeful pictures by children at the Royal Children’s Hospital School. They capture the hopes of the children and what they dream of doing rather than staying in hospital.

It’s all about wondering what people could be doing. About dreaming and imagining the people around you and you doing more than what you are at the moment. There’s a joy in this book as well. Because it looks forward to going home after the hospital stay, and it celebrates the wonderful nurses, doctors, volunteers and hospital staff who help these children. Who look after them and educate them, and bring the joy they can into their lives. Everyone is celebrated in this book, everyone has a voice and there are so many different experiences in the hospital, that it can speak to many people on so many levels. It doesn’t matter whether someone is part of the medical team, a volunteer, a staff member, a patient or a parent. There’s something in there that highlights what it feels like to be connected to these experiences.

And anyone who has ever spent any time in hospital knows what it is like waiting to go home, waiting to be told everything is okay, and waiting to do something more than sitting in the bed. It’s a necessary place though for many people throughout their lives and at different stages. It’s a gorgeous book that celebrates joy but also has a gravitas about it, because the layers of children being in hospital are there constantly. It will mean different things to different people depending on their experiences with hospitals, sickness and disability. It’s important to give the feelings children in hospital have a voice, and a chance to express themselves.

What is beautiful about this book is that all royalties from the sale of this book go to Yalingbu Yirramboi – The Royal Children’s Hospital School, which will help with any programs they run. It’s the kind of project that really gives meaning to the story, and gives back to the community involved in creating it. It was a delightful surprise, and seeing the world through the eyes of these kids who are staying in hospital and going to the hospital school was lovely. It’s something that every reader, regardless of their age, will get something out of. It’s a lovely book for readers of all ages.