27th August World Lake Day

 World Lake Day is an observance celebrated by the United  Nations to raise awareness of the importance of lakes and their ecosystems. Lakes are one of the most vital natural resources on our planet.They serve as a crucial source of fresh water, supporting drinking water supplies, agriculture, and industry.

Lakes also play a key role in maintaining biodiversity, offering a habitat for countless species of fish, plants, and wildlife.

Beyond their ecological significance, lakes contribute to climate regulation by keeping the planet cool, absorbing the floodwater and storing carbon.

Additionally, they provide recreational and economic opportunities, attracting tourism, fishing, and other activities that support local communities.

But, lakes are affected by a combination of overuse, pollution and climate change.

Did you know? Natural and artificial lakes contain more than 90% of the fresh water on the surface of the Earth.

What is a lake? A lake is a body of water, typically fresh water, that is surrounded by land.  Lakes are generally larger and deeper than ponds, and they are a vital part of the Earth's water cycle. Lakes can be natural formations, or they can be man-made, such as reservoirs. 

So is a pond a lake? From a regulatory viewpoint, there is no distinction between a lake and a pond. Both are surface waters. From a naming convention, there is no precise difference between a lake and pond, although waterbodies named 'lakes' are generally larger and/or deeper than waterbodies named 'ponds'.

Canada has the most lakes, holding roughly 62% of the world's lakes. 

Australia has fewer naturally formed freshwater lakes compared to continents with more glacial activity and tectonic uplift. However, it does have some, including coastal lagoons and lakes in ancient volcanic craters like lake Gambier and Lake Eacham.  It also has vast salt lakes like Lake Eyre which is often dry and glacial lakes like Lake St Clair in Tasmania.

There are so many books featuring lakes and ponds that you certainly won't have any trouble finding some for a display. You could even add your books about Swan Lake to get the students wondering.

 

 

   

24th August Ruth Park

It is Ruth Park's birthday. She was born in 1917 and died in 2010. She was the author of  a large number of books for adults and children. Her first children's book was The Muddle-Headed Wombat, but she would go on to write the award-winning children's classics  Callie's Castle; Playing Beat Bow  and When the Wind Changed.

Yesterday I attended the CBCA celebration for its eightieth birthday at the State Library of NSW. Many Australian authors and illustrators who had won Children's Book awards were present. It was so good to be reminded of all the wonderful books from the past and to see just how many of them are still in print, and rightly so. When Margaret Wild spoke she reminded us of her classic book There's a Sea in My Bedroom, which is still in print and regularly borrowed from the school library. In 1985 it made the shortlist for Picture Book of the Year. There was seven books on the shortlist, but none were chosen as the winner. The three commended books were:

MORIMOTO, Junko The Inch Boy 

BAKER, Jeannie Home in the Sky 

COX, David Ayu and the Perfect Moon were commended.

The others on the shortlist were: 

GYNELL, Donna  and Graham, Amanda Arthur 

LACIS, Astra and Mattingley, Christobel The Angel With a Mouth Organ 

WILD, Margaret and TANNER, Jane There’s a Sea in my Bedroom 

FOX, Mem and  VIVAS, Julie Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge 

The last two books are still in print and available to buy new. They have both stood the test of time. Perhaps one of them should have won!

The authors at yesterday's event were called 'legends' and many are still writing, illustrating and being published, but it always interests me when I look back at the winning books to see which ones are still popular. When the Wind Changed  by Ruth Park and illustrated by her daughter, Deborah Niland is one of those books, written long ago, but still in print. Many parents of today's children consider it very dated and inappropriate for young children because it has a gun in it and there is a bank robbery. The adage about what happens to your face when the wind changes is not one that is used these days. However, when you ask the teachers on the staff, 'What was your favourite book as a child?' so often some teacher (usually male) will say this book. One year we had a match the teacher to the book contest and I put the books out on display. Yes you guessed it, When the Wind Changed  was the book that was borrowed the most.

Each of these three books have had a fortieth anniversary edition. Will this year's winners still be in print in 40 years. I wonder.

24th August Weather Complaint Day

In the Northern Hemisphere they  celebrate Weather Complaint Day on  24th August , when it's finally hot enough to complain about high temperatures! Many of us are still in the habit of complaining about weather and here in Sydney I think we have every right at the moment to be complaining about the rain. It is nonstop and everything is so soggy. Who never whined about the weather? Whether it's raining, cold, or hot, more than ever it seems extreme! Everywhere is affected by climate change and the extremes remind us things have changed weather-wise. 

This is a good time to do a display of all those weather books that are sitting on the library shelves and there is a lot of them. Here are some of the more recent ones:

August is for Antelope Month

What is an antelope? And why do they need a whole month to celebrate? 

Antelopes are hoofed mammals with hollow horns commonly mistaken for deer. The name ‘antelope’ is a catch-all term for many species in the Bovidae family. 

Antelopes come in a staggering range of shapes and sizes, with some built for pure speed and others for agility. The largest antelope (the  giant eland) can stand as tall as 182 centimetres, while the smallest (the royal antelope) is only 25 centimetres tall.

Antelope is a catchall term for an astonishing variety of ruminating ungulates. Have you heard of or seen the word eland, gazelle, kudu, oryx, rhebok, springbok, impala, dik-dik, duiker? They are all antelopes. Impalas are widespread and abundant throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa and are easily one of the most common antelope species. 

The rarest antelope in Africa is the Hirola. It is critically endangered as there is estimated to be only 300-500 left in the wild. Because of its scarcity the hirola has a day to itself. It is Hirola Day on 12th August. 

All living antelope species are found in Africa and Asia (including parts of the Middle East). Most species are found in Africa.

Did you know that Uganda is home to about 29 antelope species, which is nearly a third of the species found across Africa? 

There might be a lot of different types of antelopes, but there aren't many children's books about them. Probably because there isn't the need. A child who  lives in Africa can probably identify many of them and use the correct name. A child in Australia hasn't the need to know all those names. When we look at animals of the African savannah, the students love saying wildebeest, gnu and impala.  The best book to have if you want to get to know antelope is:

You may also be able to find some of these:

Often my students will look at an antelope and call it a deer, but antelopes and deer are different. Antelopes belong to the Bovidae family, made up of sheep, goats and cattle; whereas deer are members of the Cervidae family, which includes muntjac, elk, red and fallow deer, reindeer, roe deer, and moose. 

Both deer and antelope are hoofed animals (known as ‘ungulates’). They are also ruminant mammals, which means they have multiple stomachs. This allows them to swallow food and then bring it back up for a second munch – a process known as ‘chewing cud’. 

Antelope are indigenous to most of Africa, India, the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of Eastern Europe, while deer originally come from the Northern Hemisphere, but are now native to Europe, Asia, North America and South America.

Deer have antlers that are shed and regrown annually, whereas antelopes have permanent horns that are not shed.

There are not many books about deer either, but they are much more likely to be found as characters in storybooks. Think of stories that feature reindeer and  moose for starters.

21st August World Mosque Day

• In My Mosque  by M.O.Yuksel and Hatem Aly

Do you go regularly to a mosque? Or perhaps you've never been inside one? This joyful book invites everyone – worshippers and newcomers alike – to step inside and meet warm, welcoming mosque communities all across the world. Join young Muslim children, their families and friends, as they learn, pray, eat, help others … and play! This book is a big-hearted global celebration of mosques and the diverse worshippers that they welcome every day!

21st August is World Mosque Day. The observance aims to awaken our conscience towards the sanctity of a mosque, which refers to a Muslim house of worship. The word evolved from the Arabic term masjid, which means "place of prostration." 

Many places have a Mosque Open Day which is an event where mosques  open their doors to the public to foster understanding and community engagement. It's an opportunity for people of all backgrounds to visit mosques, learn about Islam, and interact with the Muslim community. This year, in Australia that day depends upon which state you live in. 

If you cannot get to a Mosque Open Day, there are books to share with children which will promote lots of questions and allow good discussion to occur.

• The Most Magnificent Mosque  by Ann Jungman and Shelley Fowles

Three naughty boys harass visitors to Cordoba’s Great Mosque in Spain.  Rashid, a Muslim, Samuel, a Jew, and Miguel, a Christian, run through the fountains, destroy the flowerbeds and throw oranges at people leaving their prayers.  Most days the boys can out run the gardeners, but one day they pelt the Caliph himself with a rotten orange.  The punishment from the Caliph is three months of hard labor working with the gardeners everyday on the mosque grounds.  On their breaks the boys explore the mosque and marvel at its beauty.  By the end of their sentence, the boys have such a love for the mosque and one another that they are forever bound.

• The Masjid Kamal Loves  by Ashley Franklin and Aaliyah Jaleel

Friday is Kamal’s favorite day of the week because he gets to go to the masjid (the mosque) for Jumu’ah prayer. The masjid is where he can be with his friends, hear the teachings of the imam, and pray with the community that he loves so dearly. 
Inspired by the famous nursery rhyme “This Is the House That Jack Built,” each spread in this buoyant picture book builds on the rhythmic list of things Kamal loves about the masjid.

• Worship with Me: At the Mosque by Shalini Vallepur 

This is part of a series of books which  takes you through places of worship, showing you what goes on and teaching you about different practices and celebrations.

• What Colour is Your Mosque?  by Jenny Molendyk Diveli

The book starts with an introduction to the author, Jenny and her sharing her favorite mosque in Turkey, Hagia Sophia. Each two page spread after that is a child introducing themselves, telling where they are from, and sharing their favourite mosque in their home country. This book instills a sense of global community in children and celebrates the beauty that our architecture and culture can result in. 

• What Shape is Your Mosque? by Jenny Molendyk Diveli

Mosques don't have a single, prescribed shape. They can be found in various forms, including rectangular, square, dome-shaped... The essential requirement is for the space to accommodate rows of worshippers, and the architectural style varies based on cultural and regional influences. 

• Journey of the Midnight Sun  by Shazia Afzal and Aliya Share

This is the true story of the journey of the Midnight Sun Mosque. In 2010 a Winnipeg-based charity raised funds to build and ship a mosque to Inuvik, one of the most northern towns in Canada's Arctic. The mosque travelled over 4,000 kilometers on a journey fraught with poor weather, incomplete bridges, narrow roads, low traffic wires and a deadline to get on the last barge heading up the Mackenzie River before the first winter freeze. But it made it just in time and is now one of the most northern mosques in the world.

• The Grand Mosque of Paris  by Karen Gray Ruelle and Deborah Durland Desaix

This hopeful, non-fiction book introduces children to a little-known part of history. Perfect for children studying World War II because during that perilous time, many Jews found refuge in an unlikely place--the sprawling complex of the Grand Mosque of Paris.or those seeking a heart-warming, inspiring read that highlights extraordinary heroism across faiths.

•  What is Islam?  by Nahida Ismail

This is a simplified presentation of the religion of Islam for young people. It explains the fundamental teachings of Islam and focuses on the many similarities between Christianity and Islam. The goal of this book is to remove common misunderstandings about Islam and its teachings.

And while these four books by Hena Khan are not specifically about mosques they do give young children an insight into the many unique features of Islam and its believers' way of life.