Connected: Networks for Kids by R.A. Stephens, illustrated by Tamlyn Teow

Title: Connected: Networks for Kids

Author: R.A. Stephens, illustrated by Tamlyn Teow

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Wombat Rhiza

Published: 1^st April 2026

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 32

Price: $24.99

Synopsis: Chloe has a dot on her shirt called a node. So do her friends and family. They are joined by lines called edges.

The edges spread out and connect people all around the world.

Connected introduces children to the mathematical concept of networks, while emphasising that no one is alone.

Everyone is connected.

~*~

Join Chloe as she explores how she is connected to her friends and families through the node on her t-shirt. Everyone she knows, and everyone in the world has a node.

These nodes are connected by lines called edges. Chloe will help readers learn how the edges spread out to nodes, and how everyone is connected. How many connections do you have?

If you want to introduce you child to some simple maths concepts, then this is the book for you. Did you know networks are a mathematical concept? Connected explains them really well using a fictional character and her family and friends in a simple and concise book.

It’s a practical example as well, which can be a useful way to explain concepts that on paper, might not make sense at first. So a practical, creative book like this can be very useful and will hopefully help kids learning about this understand the concept.

It goes through the different kinds of connection, and how far they can spread. Because each person you know has their own connections, and sometimes these might crossover into other families, groups or countries. It’ll be a great educational tool, and seeing how kids identify connections in a wide array of contexts will be interesting.

We can be connected across neighbourhoods, cities, states and countries. We can have connections across the entire world. They’re people we see often and people we see all the time. Chloe’s story explores the terminology used in mathematics as well in little breakout boxes on some of the pages.

Sometimes, a book like this can help people understand things that are quite conceptual. Seeing it in practise can help, and this will hopefully help people understand things they may not have been able to in the past.