Book Week Early Childhood Shortlist: The Wobbly Bike by Darren McCallum and Craig Smith

This book The Wobbly Bike  by debut author Darren McCallum and 'old hand' Craig Smith is a joy and will certainly make you smile. It is fun and very pertinent to this age group.

So often the parents at school will say 'my child can't ride a bike. When will he learn?' in a manner that implies that it is the school's job to teach him, and then they add 'we live in a unit/ apartment'.

I think this is sad because it means that this child isn't outdoors at the park often or that his parents don't see it as their job to make time to ensure he does learn. Learning to ride a bike is about time, practice, perseverance, risk taking, adult belief and investment in their child, but so rewarding when a child shouts 'I can do it!'

Linked displays:

1. books about learning to ride bicycles

2. books set in the Northern Territory and /or Darwin and books by authors who live in the Northern Territory

3. books about Australian birds

4. other books by Craig Smith

Display 1: Learning to Ride a Bike

The library often has a display about bikes. The preschoolers are very keen to borrow books about bike riding. If you are putting together a display, these are popular

• Don't Let Go! by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross   (this would make a perfect companion text)

• Don't Let Go, Dad!  by Mark Wilson

• Hello, Bicycle!  by Ella Boyd and  Taming a big-kid bike

• Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle  by Chris  Learning to Ride a Bike

• Two Wheels  by David Gibb and Brizida Magro  (this would make a perfect companion text)

• Let's Ride a Bike  by Ruth Walton

• I Love My Bike  by Simon Mole and Sam Usher

• Off We Go!  by Will Hillenbrand

• Logan's Big Move by Logan Martin, Jess Black and Shane McG

• Frank and Bert: the One Where Bert Learns to Ride a Bike  by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros

• The Bike Lesson  by Stan and Jan Berenstain

• Duck on a Bike  by David Shannon

• Wild Blue: Taming a Big-Kid Bike  by Dashka Slater and Laura Hughes

• Bike on Bear by Cynthia Liu Kristyna Litten

Display 2: Books set in the Northern Territory 

• Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo  by Alison Lester

• To the Top End  by Roland Harvey

• My Home in Kakadu  by Jane Christophersen

• Dry to Dry: the Seasons of Kakadu by Pamela Freeman and Liz Anelli

• Walking the Country in Kakadu  by Diane Lucas, Ben Tyler and Emma Long

• Collecting Colour  by Kylie Dunstan

• Big Rain Coming  by Katrina Germein

• Too Many Cheeky Dogs  by Joanna Bell and Dion Beasley

• Aunty's Wedding  by Miranda Tapsell and Samantha Fry

• Look See, Look at Me!  by Leonie Norrington and Dee Huxley

• Cyclone by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley

Leonie Norrington, Joanna Bell, Samantha Fry, Rosemary Sullivan, Katrina Germein and Kylie Dunstan have all lived in the Northern Territory at some time.

Display 3: Books about Australian Birds

The teaching notes for the book suggests:

• Have your class work in groups to research different species of birds in Australia. What do they look like? Where do they live? How many birds illustrated in the story can they identify?

Display of books like these would help with this:

Coming in August from CSIRO

Display 4 Books illustrated by Craig Smith.

The library has more than 100 books illustrated by Craig Smith. Time to revisit these two humorous tales:

And these two more serious tales:

Book Week Early Childhood Shortlist: Spiro by Anna McGregor

This delightful picture book explores themes of tenacity, ingenuity and adaptation as Spiro builds and rebuilds his web in the hungry pursuit of food. (Reading Time)

I was pleased to see a fun book about a spider on the shortlist. It reminded me of the Book Week year where we had rotating tabloid book activities. Each teacher took a favourite Australian picture book, planned a simple short activity to go with it, read it to groups of ten or twelve children. The principal chose Aranea  by Jenny Wagner. After the reading the students used coloured twine to make the stair handrails into webs. It looked amazing. The children had so much fun! 

Spiro’s formula for spidery success:

11% hunger to succeed (or actual hunger)

34% trying again and again … and again!

53% giving it another shot

And 2% spider silk.

A hilarious tale of one spider’s determined search for a decent meal.

What is a decent meal for a spider? How do spiders catch their food? Some students may be curious to find out, so find some nonfiction books that might help them discover the answer.

This book is humorous and not designed to frighten children or put them off spiders, so find some other 'fun' spider books. Other books with a light tone are:

What can we learn from spiders? More ideas for your display?

Drawing or painting Spiro?

These books are expensive here, but you can access them on Youtube.

• I Worked Hard on That! by Robyn Wall

• Jumper  by Jessica Lanan

Book Week Early Childhood Shortlist: How to Move a Zoo (Part 2)

Display 3. Picture books set in Sydney Because How to Move a Zoo  is set in Sydney, this is a good time to get other books set in Sydney off the shelves and into students' hands. Some of the books below are useful to locate landmarks in Sydney, some are just fun stories and some like this book give insights into historical events in Sydney.

• Hello Sydney  by Megan McKean

Discover 15 of Sydney's most iconic locations, with the help of six cheeky seagulls, on this look-and-find adventure. From Taronga Zoo to Bondi Beach, there are delightful quirks of the city to spot on each page,

•  Alphabetical Sydney A-Z by Hilary Bell and Antonia Presenti

Celebrates Sydney in all its diversity - from A to Z.

• Found in Sydney by Joanne O'Callaghan and Kori Song

From Bondi Beach to the Opera House, there's so much to explore in spectacular Sydney! 

The Opera House

• Sidney Opera Mouse  by Graham Hocking and Inky Stone

• Opera House Mouse  by Jean Chapman and Tony Oliver

• Jorn's Magnificent Imagination  by Coral Bass and Nicky Johnston

The true story of Jørn Utzon, the architect of the world-renowned Sydney Opera House.

• Tubowgule: A Sydney Opera House History   by Melissa-Jane Fogarty

The Sydney Opera House is an Australian icon and a building recognised all around the world, but the land on which it stands has a long history. We step back in time to when Tubowgule was a ceremonial place for the Gadi people and we follow along as the land is claimed by the colonisers

Bondi Beach

Hyde Park

• The Tram to Bondi Beach by Libby Hathorn and Julie Vivas

A story of a young boy's adventures working as a paperboy on the busy trams, travelling to Bondi Beach.

• Millicent  by Jeannie Baker

Story about an old lady’s daily wanderings through Hyde Park to feed the pigeons.

The Botanic Gardens

•  Alexander's Outing by Pamela Allen

'Stay close, take care,' quacked Alexander's mother. But Alexander was a wayward duckling - he straggled behind ... and disappeared down a deep dark hole ...

The State Library of New South Wales and its statue of Trim, Matthew Flinder's cat.

• A Cat Called Trim  by Corinne Fenton and Craig Smith

• The Mostly True Story of Matthew and Trim  by Cassandra Golds

• The Best Cat, the Est Cat  by Libby Hathorn

Sydney Harbour

• Fergus the Ferry by J.W.Noble There is a large number of books about Fergus and they have a loyal following in our school library (probably because of where the students live).

• Stanley the Manly Ferry  by James Whiley (3titles)

• The Sydney Harbour Fairy  by Deborah Frankel and Cate James

Nanna is taking Charlie for a Girls' Day Out. They'll have high tea, watch the ballet, smell flowers and visit the Sydney Harbour Fairy,
but the Harbour Fairy isn't what Charlie expected, and her Girls' Day Out with Nanna just got so much better.

• Fluke  by Lesley Gibbes and Michelle Dawson

In 2012 a Southern right whale gave birth to a calf in Sydney Harbour. It was only the third time in recorded history that a Southern right whale had been born in the harbour.

• Sidney of Sydney  by Sue Whiting and Liz Anelli

Sidney is a young penguin … and he’s trouble.
Sidney doesn’t mean to be trouble, he’s just curious. And one day that curiosity takes Sidney all over Sydney and on a grand adventure that lands Sidney in … TROUBLE! Based on a true story.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge

• The Day We Built the Bridge by Samantha Tidy and Fiona Burrows

Big dreams can take generations. It can also take six million hand-driven rivets and 53,000 tonnes of steel. The Day We Built the Bridge celebrates our connection with one another, and declares that despite the greatest of challenges, together we can make history.

• Building the Sydney Harbour Bridge  by John Nicholson

The inside story of a national icon 'The giant coat-hanger' took 1300 men eight years to build. They used six million rivets and 53 000 tonnes of steel. John Nicholson tells the story step by step, in fascinating detail: the vision, the problems, the solutions, the suspense (would the two halves actually meet?), the risks, the celebrations.

• To the Bridge  by Corinne Fenton and Andrew McLean

Nine-year-old Lennie Gwyther dreamed of seeing the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. With his father's blessing, he rode his pony Ginger Mick across Australia, inspiring crowds of supporters to greet him in cities along the way, as he made his way to Sydney.

(This would make a good companion text because it too, is about a journey, a Sydney icon and history).

I'm sure there are others that I have missed, but this is a good start! If you want to follow maps try:

• Sydney City Trails from Lonely Planet Kids.

PS: Other tangents

• sugar gliders...a zookeeper had one in his pocket in the story. Find out more about them

• Mr Miller and Jessie had a very special relationship. Is this the case for other zookeepers?

See:

• Opera House Mouse  by Jean Chapman (Sydney Opera House)

• Sidney Opera Mouse  by Graham Hocking and Inky Stone

• Tubowgule: A Sydney Opera House History  by Melissa Jane-Fogarty

• Fergus the Ferry (series) by J W Noble (Sydney Harbour)

• Stanley the Manly Ferry (series) by James Whiley (Sydney Harbour)

• Fluke  by Leslie Gibbs (Sydney Harbour)