Book Week Picture Book Shortlist: The Truck Cat by Deborah Frenkel and Danny Snell

 

'The Truck Cat is a story about cats and humans, immigration and identity, and homes lost and found.'

The blurb lists all the themes and tangents you could go off on as a result of reading this book, and I do not need to cover them all here, but with my young students I would certainly look at trucks and cats.

Preschoolers love borrowing books about trucks and two very memorable stories about trucks that are set in Australia are these two. My year 2 classes who are learning about Australia love identifying the places on a map that these two truck drivers visit.

• Tom the Outback Mailman  by Kristin Weidenbach and Timothy Ide Tom delivered the mail to outback stations and towns all along the Birdsville Track. It was a tough job, but Tom was even tougher, making sure that the mail got through no matter what.

• Yellow Truck Road Train  by Mandy Tootell.       Come aboard Yellow Truck Road Train and experience life in the outback and on the road!

Other stories about truck drivers.

There are so many picture books about cats it is hard to know where to start. Perhaps books about lost cats, perhaps books where you get the cat's point of view or maybe books about cats who live in unusual places. Try these as a start:

•  Lost and Found Cat  by Doug Kuntz .This heartwarming true story of one lost cat's journey to be reunited with his refugee family gently introduces children to a difficult topic and shows how ordinary people can help with compassion and hope. Kunkush  by Beidi Guo is another book about the same cat

• Nala's World by Dean Nicholson. When cyclist, Dean Nicholson found an abandoned kitten by the side of the road one day, he hadn't bargained on the lessons he'd learn from his unlikely companion, Nala. Both curious, independent, resilient and adventurous, they were a perfect match - and so together, they set off to travel around the world.

Your library might also have these.