6th November Saxophone Day

You may think that the story of the saxophone begins with Dexter Gordon or Charlie Parker, or on a street corner in New Orleans. It really began in 1840 in Belgium with a young daydreamer named Joseph-Antoine Adolphe Sax-a boy with bad luck but great ideas. The Story of the Saxophone by Lesa Cline-Ransome and James Ransome unravels the fascinating history of how Adolphe's once reviled instrument was transported across Europe and Mexico to New Orleans. Follow the saxophone's journey from Adolphe's imagination to the pawn shop window where it caught the eye of musician Sidney Bechet and became the iconic symbol of jazz music it is today. 

6th November is Saxophone Day, which coincides with the birthday of its inventor, Antoine-Joseph ‘Adolphe’ Sax. This Belgian musician conceived the saxophone in 1841, the only instrument created by one single person and the only brass instrument in the woodwind family. Before the saxophone, he created various ‘sax’ brass instruments that fell into oblivion, including the saxtuba, saxotromba, and saxhorn. Today we celebrate the fantastic contribution of the saxophone to music. With time, it became an inherent part of jazz bands, inspiring many songs and dances from classical saxophonist Marcel Mule to the famous jazz musician Charlie Parker.

There are more books than you would think about people who have played the saxophone after its invention. Most of the books are picture book biographies.

5th November Guy Fawkes Night (Bonfire Night)

Guy Fawkes Night is an annual commemoration in Great Britain that is held on November 5th every year. It all began in 1604 when Guy Fawkes, a member of a group of provincial English Catholics, was caught guarding explosives that had been placed beneath the House of Lords. This event is called the Gunpowder Plot, which intended to assassinate the Protestant King James I of England and VI of Scotland and replace him with a Catholic leader. Since then, the day celebrates the king's survival with people lighting bonfires. This day is a thanksgiving for the plot's failure.

When I was a child, here in Australia we also had Bonfire Night, but not on the 5th November. Our parents supervised us around a bonfire while letting of fireworks, but now we are unable to buy fireworks over the shop counter and we need to go to community firework nights. It is much safer. So although Guy Fawkes is not something we celebrate in Australia, we certainly have our share of celebrations that feature bonfires and fireworks and they are always popular.

As a child I learned this verse and I have no idea why. My parents weren't English. Perhaps it was like nursery rhymes and it was part of childhood's oral tradition.

Remember, remember!

The fifth of November,

Gunpowder, treason and plot;

I see no reason

Why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot! 

While reading The Owl Who is Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson to Year 1, I now need to explain so much more to the students in the first chapter where a small boy is building a bonfire in readiness for fireworks and then describe the named kinds of fireworks as students no longer have this knowledge as part of their schema. An old picture book, Barnaby and the Rocket by Lydia Pender and Judy Cowell helps. It shows what it was like in the past for Australian children.

2nd November World Numbat Day

On the first Saturday in November it is  World Numbat Day, a day to show our appreciation for this amazing mammal. It's also a day to encourage action to help conserve these endangered animals. I know it's not the 2nd of November, but I thought I'd written before about Numbat Day so didn't do it on the 2nd and now I realise I haven't and there are some books to explore.

What's a numbat? The Numbat, also called the banded anteater, is a small endangered marsupial animal native to parts of Australia. They are one of the more unusual Australian marsupials because unlike most of other native species they're active during the day, are carnivorous, have an incredibly long tongue and their diet is almost exclusively termites.

Year 2 classes and I have had some very memorable teaching moments while sharing The Two-Hearted Numbat by Indigenous author illustrators, Amberlin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina. There is so much to talk about in this book and that conversation makes it easy for the students to identify the theme of the story. They love the illustrations and the glossy paper in the book too.

The Numbat by David Miller is an imaginative tale which challenges readers to wonder what would happen if animals infringed on the lives of humans. This lively picture book introduces young readers to the fragile relationship between humans and animals, as well as strong themes about respecting animal habitats and behaviours, the effect of humans encroaching on the habitats of our native animals and the place of animals in our ever-expanding built world. It too, has amazing illustrations made from paper sculptures.

Then if you look further, your library may have some of these:

3rd November International Stonework Play Day

On 3rd November it is International Stonework Play Day. This worldwide celebration is where nature, creativity, story, and humankind connect. Stonework relies on nature's ability to enhance one's imagination. It is a form of creative learning and storytelling as a response to handling stones and creating unique patterns with their various weights, shapes, and textures. It all started when Diana Suskind was invited to a school in Nepal as an Early Childhood Consultant to craft developmentally appropriate, hands-on activities. Despite a lack of resources, she realised that stones were an ideal medium for self-expression due to their movable nature.

I am so happy that this day exists. It is a day like all days when I can play with rocks which is my 'happy' place. I love to collect them, draw on them, make things with them, put them in my garden, gift them etc, etc. My father was a keen geologist and I remember holidays when we would be in the car and he would pull the car over, make all of us kids get out of the car while he showed us some particular kind of rock or geological feature. I could take you to places in NSW to see cirques, incline planes, faults, sedimentary layering, tors, plugs and columnar jointing. I grew up in Kiama on the South Coast of NSW, an area well known for basalt and the blowhole, so it is little wonder that I like rocks. Near Kiama there is a very sheltered stony bay called the Boneyard and it is a treasured play area where I can easily spend a whole day constructing cairns.

I have a Pinterest page ready for when I retire from teaching with ideas for things to make from stones and rocks. On this page you will also find picture books that will also give you inspiration for stonework day.

Another place to seek inspiration is on the webpage for this day.

Two new 'rock' books you need to see:

• A Home for Stone by Corinne Avers & Rosalind Beardshaw

When a little boy finds a lonely stone on a quiet beach, he decides to find him the perfect home among other stones just like him. But nowhere feels quite right for little Stone. Just as the boy is about to give up, he realises that he may have had the perfect home for Stone all along . . .

• When You Find the Right Rock by Mary Lynn Ray & Felicita Sala

A marvelous exploration of the special relationship children find with the natural world and the fascination and friendship they find in special rocks, from poet Mary Lyn Ray and artist Felicita Sala. Somewhere, a rock is waiting for you. One just the right color for your windowsill, or just the right shape for drawing a face. Maybe it is a rock from the heart of a mountain that will remind you of how big YOU are inside, too. Maybe it is a rock washed by the sea that knows all about the backs and forths and ups and downs of things. Maybe it is a small rock, just the right size to close your hand around and know that the rock is with you and it is just right. Through vibrant illustration and evocative text, When You Find the Right Rock carries readers along on a journey of discovery, from the mountains to the sea, that's all about learning the beauty of being in the moment, connecting with nature, and the thrill of finding a precious keepsake to call your own.

2nd November Look for Circles Day

This circle is part of the library complex at Green Square in Sydney. It is an example of exactly what this day is all about!

Look for Circles Day is an opportunity to take your kids out and spend time looking for circles in everyday life and in nature. Circles are everywhere: car wheels, plates, buttons.

There is so much scope for activities to do on this day. Go outside and search first then read OR read and then go looking. While you are looking take photographs so you can make your own annotated book or pinboard collage.

Read books that are specifically about circles or collect some books about shapes in nature, shapes in art, shapes in architecture etc and identify the circles.

Our library has these:

1st November Diwali

This year, the five-day Hindu festival of lights Diwali falls on 1st November. In Sanskrit, Diwali means "rows of lighted lamps", referring to the tradition of putting small lamps or candles in streets, houses, shops, and public places. Millions of Hindus worldwide gather with their family to feast and watch fireworks. 

Diwali celebrates  the return of Rama and Sita after their 14 years of exile.  Diwali is about the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness, and the blessing of new beginnings.

Today a teacher sent a child to borrow books about Diwali because someone in the class had talked about it for their 'news' time. I was very pleased about this because we have so many books that are ideal for sharing at this time.

These are worth sharing:

• Shubh Diwali  by Chitra Soundar

• It's Diwali! by Kabir 

• Binny's Diwali  by Thrity Umigar

In past years when the Year 1 students have done a unit of inquiry on celebrations our concrete plaza has become a showcase for chalk-drawn rangoli. Rangoli is an artistic design pattern made on the floor. Coloured sands, coloured rice or flowers are used to make these patterns. In India, Rangoli is part of festive celebrations. Rangoli is not only aesthetic but it is also considered to be a good luck charm.The chalk rangoli were inspired by the book

• Rangoli by Anduradha Ananth

There are of course other books to seek out which will give you more background and other ideas to celebrate the festival.

Other religions also have festivals that celebrate 'light' and these books are good choices to show students what you mean

• Little Glow  by Katie Sahota

This book showcases the amazing celebrations of light across our diverse communities.

• Lighting Our World: A Year of Celebrations by Catherine Rondina

People all over the world come together and use light to celebrate important cultural events. This book shines a light on familiar and unusual festivals that are celebrated each month of the year.

• Zola and the Christmas Lights by Melina Marchetta

This year, Zola and Alessandro are going to decorate the street with Nonno Nino's Christmas lights. Zola's house and Boomerang Street haven't had Christmas lights for two years. But this year, Zola and Alessandro want to continue the tradition. They've learned a lot about tradition lately - and how some families have different beliefs, and others celebrate Christmas differently. 

National Non-Fiction November Part 2

Why don't you ...?

The theme for 2024 is Why Don’t You…? and this is designed to stimulate discussion around hobbies and leisure activities and to encourage young people to try something new.

It is not the part of nonfiction that is the most visited in the school library anymore. Ten years ago the students loved borrowing cooking books, craft books and sport books. Not any more I really need to promote books that explain how to do something. Parents encourage their children to borrow nonfiction in the hope that they 'will learn' something, not 'do' something, especially if it involves the parent's time or assistance.

Here are some 'how to' books that are in the library that I will use for a display.

• Why don't you cook?

•Why don't you do some craft?

• Why don't you knit or sew?

• Why don't you play chess?

• Why don't you go fishing?

• Why don't you go hiking?

• Why don't you do some origami?

• Why don't you do some  collage?

There are so many other things you could do too...