12th September R U OK? Day

On Thursday it was R U OK? Day, On the second Thursday in September it is R U OK? This day's aim is to inspire and empower everyone to meaningfully connect with the  people around them and start a conversation with those in their world who may be struggling with life.

You don't need to be an expert to reach out - just a good friend and a great listener. This is the message of a wonderful picture book, Listen, Hippo!  by Gabriel Evans. Coincidentally, Gabriel was at my school on this day as our author visit for the year. He read the book to Kindergarten and Year 1 and while I listened I thought how pertinent  it was for this particular day. Here, Billy just wants Hippo to listen, not to try to distract him from his feelings. Read here about Gabriel's thoughts about this book. The book is even illustrated with yellow dominating the colour palate.

Of course Gabriel's presentation wasn't only about this. He kept the children enthralled for an hour, talking, reading and drawing and each child did their own unique drawing following his instructions. He had a session with the four classes in each of these three grades, Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 and he was truly amazing!

Next year, of course Gabriel won't be visiting us from Western Australia, but I will remember that Listen, Hippo!  is just the book for R U OK? I have already shared it with the school's Head of Wellbeing.

14th - 22nd September Venice Glass Week

This international festival is dedicated to glass art and we can enjoy this event without a trip to Murano in Venice. We can do it vicariously through these wonderful books.

Superb picture books:

• The Glass Horse of Venice  by Arnold Zable and Anita Lester

Claudia lives in the beautiful city of Venice. As she rushes from her apartment out into the campo and into an alley, she stops at the glassblower’s workshop. In the window are the wondrous glass figurines she admires daily. So many different animals. Elephant’s owls, giraffes, but also horses. Even winged horses.

The glassblower invites her in and asks if she has heard of Pegasus, the winged horse who lives in the stars. From beneath the counter, he brings out a little glass horse with broken wings. He gifts it to her, saying that one day she will discover its secret. 

• A Thousand Glass Flowers  by Evan Turk

Marietta and her family lived on the island of Murano, near Venice, as all glassmakers did in the early Renaissance. Her father, Angelo Barovier, was a true maestro, a master of glass. Marietta longed to create gorgeous glass too, but glass was men’s work.

One day her father showed her how to shape the scalding-hot material into a work of art, and Marietta was mesmerized. Her skills grew and grew.

Marietta worked until she created her own unique glass bead: the rosetta. Small but precious, the beautiful beads grew popular around the world and became as valuable as gold.

• The Glassmaker's Daughter by Dianne Hofmeyr and Jane Ray

In Venice a wealthy, successful glassmaker is worried about his daughter Daniela who is always sad. He offers a glass palace to anyone who can make his daughter smile. Many attempt to entertain her but they all fail. Then Angelo a young glassmaker decides to try, creating a special gift, a looking glass. When Daniela looks into it she sees a very funny, grumpy face looking back. Amused by her own reflection Daniela begins to smile and laugh.  Her happiness is so infectious soon the whole city is laughing and dancing too.

• The Glass Heart by Sally Gardner

Three Venetian sisters  each have a glass heart. After the eldest dies of a broken heart and the second princess is bed-ridden with a crack in hers, the King is determined to ensure that his youngest daughter’s heart remains whole and unharmed. Therefore it is decided that she will only marry a prince who is good with glass. But the princess is already in love, with the kind and reliable courtier who looks after her. When he saves the princess’ life and is given his freedom by the King, he decides to go to a neighbouring island and learn the craft of glassblowing. But learning such a craft takes time, will the princess have waited for him when he gets back?

The tradition of glass-blowing and the islands Murano and Venice take centre stage in this gorgeous fairy tale.

This novel for 9+ readers:

• The Girl of Glass by Holly Webb

Mariana lives with her family on the Venetian island of Murano - famed for its artists who create masterpieces from glass. But when Mariana's little sister, Eliza, dies their father decides to use his glassmaking skill - and a dash of magic - to create a girl of glass in Eliza's image.

And novels for you:

• The Glass Maker  by Tracy Chevalier

“This charming fable is at once a love story that skips through six centuries, and also a love song to the timeless craft of glassmaking. Chevalier probes the fierce rivalries and enduring loyalties of Murano’s glass dynasties, capturing the roar of the furnace, the sweat on the skin, and the glittering beauty of Venetian glass.” – Geraldine Brooks

• The Glassblower of Murano   by Marina Fiorata

The novel follows Nora Manin as she undertakes a journey very similar to my own, visiting Murano and entering a glass workshop. Nora is not just a tourist, though – she is planning to start a new life in Venice and is hoping to get a job blowing glass. As the descendant of one of the most famous glassblowers in Venetian history, Corradino Manin, and a talented glass artist in her own right, Nora easily convinces the factory owner to employ her. However, as Nora begins to settle into her new job she learns something about her ancestor that she would rather not have known.

14th - 15th September Quokka's Birthday

I have written about quokkas and their birthday before here, but so many more books feature quokkas now than then. 

Baby Quokkas are born between February and April and begin to leave the pouch in spring. Joeys stay close to the mothers for a couple of months, so September is a great time of year to see the little ones as they start to explore the world around them. You will only see them in large numbers on Rottnest Island in Western Australia. There are approximately 12,000 of them on Rottnest. While mostly nocturnal, the little animal can be seen in great numbers throughout the day, all year round. They're pretty cute and are very curious. They'll approach you if you sit still on the ground and they'll try and jump into your bag if you leave it lying around. 

John Lesley has written about the quokka in his wonderful series of books about Australian Wildlife.

Then look for these as well:

And coming in January

9th September Teddy Bear Day

 
It is a long time since we did a display that focussed on teddy bears because last time we did, not many books were borrowed, but three days ago when we put these books out for preschool classes they were borrowed. Even students in Year 1 took books home. I find that this a good way to see if a book needs weeding. If it goes it gets a pass to stay on and if it doesn't and it's old I think about removing it from stock. 

Of course we could put out all the Corduroy, Paddington  and Winnie-the-Pooh titles, but there are so many others. These books were the first to be borrowed:

• The Everywhere Bear by Julia Donaldson

• Loved to Bits  by Teresa Heapy

• Brown Paper Bear  by Neil Reed

• Louis  by Tom Litchfield

• I'm Afraid Your Teddy is in Trouble Today by JanceeDunn

• The Gift by Penny Matthews

• Threadbear by Mick Inkpen

• Baggy Brown  by Mick Inkpen

• Teddy: the remarkable tale of a president, a cartoonist, a toymaker and a bear by James Sage

• Hamish  by Moira Munro

• Demon Teddy  by Nicholas Allan

• The Sea Saw  by Tom Percival

• Little Teddy Left Behind  by Anne Mangan

Clocks and time

I have been having fun sharing poetry with Year 2 and we have been doing poetry long enough now for them to be really enjoying it and for them to have their own ideas about how to connect to a poem. Last week I shared two poems with Year 2 Clock  by Valerie Worth and Busy Day by Michael Rosen. I divided the class into two groups and we had great fun turning them into performances.  Both poems have a definite rhythm so they are easy to improvise on using sound effects, many voices and actions. I tried not to offer suggestions, but rather wait and see what they suggested and it paid off. Three out of four classes came up with great ideas in a short time. 

Understanding time is still a mystery to some eight year olds and it was interesting to then read and discuss the winning picture book, Endless by Kelly Canby. Discussing the meaning of many of the  idioms about time that are used in the book made me realise how difficult the abstract nature of time is for young students even those whose first language is English. 'Time flies' was fine, but 'time slips through your fingertips' was too hard to comprehend for most of them.

I then got to thinking about 'time' and good books for a display. Is the time measurable? estimable? vague? implied but unstated? ... these will give you plenty to discuss with a child or a whole class.

• One Minute  by Somin Ahn

• In a Minute  by Beth Shoshan

• Clocks and More Clocks  by Pat Hutchins

• Stop the Clock!  by Pippa Goodhart

• At This Very Moment  by Rob Hodgson

• Just a Second  by Steve Jenkins

• Between Tick and Tock by Ashling Lindsay

• Looking for Yesterday  by Alison Jay

• Once Upon a Time There Was and Will Be So Much More  by Johanna Schaible

•  One Day  by Steve Jenkins

• All About Time  by Charles Hope

4th September National Wildlife day

Animal advocate Colleen Paige created National Wildlife Day on 4th September 2005 to spread the word about animal extinction threats. When wildlife conservationist, Steve Irwin died on the 4th September 2006 it was decided to have two National Wildlife Days. The other is on 22nd February, the date of  Steve Irwin's birth in 1962.

So today is the day to read about Steve Irwin.

It is also a good day to read about an even more famous wildlife conservationist, Sir David Attenborough.