16th July Guinea Pig Appreciation Day

Guinea pigs are a species of rodents that are adopted as pets due to their domesticated nature and cute appearance. However, guinea pigs were not always kept in homes — they were originally seen as livestock and their meat was consumed by people. Said to have originated from the Andes mountains of Peru, the animals were initially wild and had to be trained. 

They are certainly a popular pet at school and because of this they are also a popular topic to read about. Luckily many authors have recognised this fact and have written a series of novels which have them as main characters. We all know Michael Bond's Olga and Betty Birney's Humphrey, but there are others.

Do you know Charlotte Middleton's Christopher Nibble? (picture books)

Ali Pye's Harry Stephenson?

Colleen Venable's, Guinea Pig Private Eye,Sasspants?

Jennifer Gray's Fuzzy and Coco from Guinea Pigs Online ?

Pip Jones' Piggy Handsome?

These are series for your die-hard guinea pig fans. Of course there are other stand alone picture books, novels and nonfiction. See here.

Hamsters have a celebration of their own on 12th April, but I often do combined displays, as we do not have hamsters in Australia. Stinky and Jinks, Pigsticks and Harold and Super Turbo are hamster series that students enjoy.

27th April Nancy Shaw (1946) Betty G. Birney (1947) International Guide Dog Day

A day for animals! American author Nancy Shaw has a series of picture books about sheep which began with Sheep in a Jeep and which arose from a dull car trip with her young children. 'I tinkered with animal rhymes' to amuse my children. Very different from the watching of movies and the playing of computer games of the car trips that have occurred here during the Easter school break!

Also American, author Betty G. Birney is responsible for the series of novels about Humphrey, a hamster. These books are particularly popular with my good Year 2 readers who own a guinea pig, as we do not have hamsters in Australia. The series that started with The World According to Humphrey follows the experiences of a class hamster through a full year of school. Humphrey is an exceptional hamster who knows how to write and helps solve the problems of his fellow classmates. The books have stand alone chapters which is particularly good for students who are taking the step towards longer books, but still like to read the whole book in one sitting. In Australia we get the English versions of these stories and so far there are seven books in the series.

And thirdly it is International Guide Dog Day, a day designed to make us think about the mobility and independence that a guide dog can bring to vision-impaired people around the world. This year's theme, “Guide Dogs Can Go Anywhere” not only offers the community an opportunity to learn more about the role of Guide Dogs, but also access issues facing Guide Dog users.

There are many non-fiction expository texts for young children which give students information about guide dogs. My library has:

• Guide Dogs; from puppies to partners by Diana Lawrenson.

• Guide Dog by Jill Coleman

A good story to read which shows the relationship between the dog and owner is the wonderful Dan and Diesel by Charlotte Hudson and Lindsey Gardiner.

While on the subject of blindness, although there isn't a guide dog, you really need to search out Jeanne Willis and Sarah Fox-Davies' wonderful new book Mole's Sunrise. Mole is blind and his friends come up with a plan to help Mole 'see' the sunrise. On youtube you can see how the pictures in this book were made into reliefs for blind children.

13th January Michael Bond (1926) Rubber Ducky Day

Michael Bond is the English author who gave children Paddington Bear. The first story A Bear Called Paddington was published in 1958 when Bond was a cameraman with the BBC. The idea for the story started with a bear that Bond had bought his wife because it looked lonely on a shelf in a London shop. Paddington became very popular and a merchandising phenomenon. Paddington is easily recognisable no matter who illustrates him, and there have been many, and whether he has a red, blue or or even yellow hat. The toys and books seem to go through phases. They are either in big demand or sitting idle. Maybe it depends upon whether he is on television at the time and whether or not new editions have just been released.

However in my library, Michael Bond is better known for his series about a guinea pig called Olga than for a bear called Paddington. More readers become addicted to these books. Once a child, usually a girl, reads The Tales of Olga da Polga she usually comes back wanting another book about Olga and then she works her way through all six of these, and then often moves on to Betty G. Birney's series about Humphrey.

Rubber Ducky Day seems like an unusual day to be marking, but when you read about all the uses rubber duckies have assumed since they were invented it is little wonder that they have a day of their own. Sesame Street character, Ernie has a rubber ducky that is immortalised in song. Charities have races where they are purchased, let loose and then observed over a distance to see which one wins. This idea probably comes from an incident that occurred in the Pacific Ocean during a storm on January 10th, 1992. A cargo ship transporting them for a Chinese company lost 29000 rubber ducky toys overboard. Months later these ducks began to turn up all over the place. Some even made it to Australia. Eve Bunting used this event as the impetus for her book Ducky, illustrated by David Wisniewski and then Eric Carle also used it as the impetus for his book 10 Little Rubber Ducks. Obviously rubber ducks should have a high profile!

during a Pacific storm on January 10, 1992, over 29,000 rubber ducky bath toys from a Chinese company were during a Pacific storm on January 10, 1992, over 29,000 rubber ducky bath toys from a Chinese company were washed off of a cargo ship.washed off of a cargo ship.during a Pacific storm on January 10, 1992, over 29,000 rubber ducky bath toys from a Chinese company were washed off of a cargo ship.