9th February International Greek Language Day

International Greek Language Day was proclaimed in 2017. This celebration is in recognition of the Greek language, and for its contribution to modern culture. The date was chosen to commemorate the Greek National Poet, Dionysios Solomos. He is best known for writing the Hymn to Liberty, which was then arranged to music by Nikolaos Mantzaros and evolved to become the Greek and Cypriot national anthem in 1865 and 1966, respectively. 

I have researched the catalogue for books about Italy and France before, so this day is a good excuse to do Greece. Did you know that Greek has also influenced languages, mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy? In the English-speaking world, it’s impossible to go a day without coming across at least one word of Greek origin. Here's but a few: marathon, cynic, dinosaur, galaxy, alphabet, echo, democracy, melancholy, phobia, sarcasm... and best of all music which literally means art of the Muses, the nine Greek goddesses who presided over the arts and sciences.

As well as learning about the country, it is easy to use books to learn about its history, its famous people, its mythology and folklore.

The list of famous mathematicians, scientists, philosophers and storytellers is long, but not all of them can be accessed via books for very young children. Here's what the library can offer:

Alexander the Great (356 BC to 323BC) is most known for his unparalleled military genius, conquering the vast Persian Empire and creating one of the largest ancient empires, stretching from Greece to India, and for spreading the Greek culture.

Archimedes (287 BC to 212BC) is well known for his inventions and scientific discoveries. The most famous of these were the Archimedes' Screw (a device for raising water that is still used in crop irrigation and sewage treatment plants today) and Archimedes' principle of buoyancy.

Eratosthenes (died 192BC) became the chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria. His work was the precursor to the modern discipline of geography. He is best remembered as the first known person to calculate the Earth's circumference. He was also the first to calculate Earth's axial tilt, and he created the first global projection of the world. 

Pythagoras  was credited with mathematical and scientific discoveries, such as the Pythagorean Theorem, the five Platonic solids, the sphericity of the Earth,  and the division of the globe into five climactic zones.

Aesop was a Greek fabulist and storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as Aesop's Fables. The library has picture book versions of single fables eg The Hare and the Tortoise; The Lion and the Mouse; and The Ant and the Grasshopper as well as several anthologies, the best being this one:

Homer was an ancient Greek poet  who is widely credited as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems that are foundational works of  ancient Greek literature.

These stories by Homer, lead into all the versions of the Greek myths that exist in school libraries. My students love reading the myths and we have a good range, from quite simple retellings of single stories to longer, more complicated anthologies which include many stories.

The First Greek Myths  by Saviour Pirotta has ten books.

Orchard Greek Myths by Geraldine McCaughrean and Tony Ross. This series has 16 books.

Greek Beasts and Heroes by Lucy Coats

12 bright 80-page paperbacks for children aged 5-8, with full-colour illustrations.

This book is popular because it has a page for each god or goddess explaining who they are and where they fit in and then these are three good anthologies.

As well look for books about Ancient Greece, the Ancient Olympics, Greek folktales and stories set in Greece.

5th February Did You Fart? Day

Who'd have thought that we needed a day to celebrate this bodily function? Well German cartoonist Bastian Melnyk thought so back in 2006.

Whether you try to hide it or not, we all fart. Everybody does, and as an average person in normal health, flatulence can happen between 10 and 20 times per day, and that is because we can produce about 500 to 1500 millilitres of gas per day. 

The age-group of children I teach are fascinated with all bodily functions and children's authors and illustrators have certainly capitalised on that. If you type the word 'fart' into a bookshop website, hundreds of books come up. Most are of very little literary merit, maybe written by celebrities, but they do make children laugh and thus sell multitudes.

When I started in the school library there weren't a lot of books on this topic, so if a teacher sent for a book about flatulence because it was a problem in their classroom, I sent back a book like The Gas We Pass   by Shinto Cho. This meant the children had a science lesson. They did not roll around laughing. Now it is much easier to find books, but I do not have a lot of the humorous ones in the library, as parents will buy these for their children at a department store. 

The library has:

• The Gas We Pass  by Shinto Cho

A simple and straightforward description of a natural process.

• Everybody Toots!  by Jonny Leighton and Mike Byrne

Jerboa is going about his day when he releases a squeaky, stinky toot which shocks the shy creature into thinking he’s done something wrong. Luckily, Elephant is on hand to weigh in with a wise word; after all, no matter how cheeky it might sound, EVERYBODY TOOTS! 

• Walter the Farting Dog  by William Kotzwinkle and Glen Murray

Warning- this book may cause flatulence! Walter is a wonderful dog, except for one small problem. Gas. He can't help it. It's just the way he is. Fortunately, Billy and Betty love him in spite of his gas problems. But Father says he's got to go. He's smelling up the house. Poor Walter. He's going back to the dog pound tomorrow. There are four other books in this series.

• Farley Farts  by Bruno Hachler and Birth Muller

Farley Frog needs to fart all the time - at home, at school, at the doctor's. This keeps getting him into trouble as you can imagine! But when he is banned from farting, he blows up like a big balloon and flies off into the air. 

• I'm Trying to Love Farts  by Bethany Barton

As long as there have been people, there have been farts. And as long as there have been farts, they've been hilarious!  Bethany Barton  explores the digestive system, how food becomes energy, and what our bodies do with what is left over. Equal parts funny and informative, it will leave you with a whole new appreciation for our bodily gases.

• Fluff the Farting Fish  by Michael Rosen

Elvie is desperate for a puppy that she can train up to do amazing tricks. But it's not a puppy Mum returns from the pet shop with, it's a fish. Elvie trains up Fluff the fish. He can't sit, he won't bark on command, but he does have a very special fishy talent all of his own . . .

This series about Marty is by Simon Mitchell and Gus Gordon.

Marty isn't good at anything much at school, but he does have one highly unusual talent: his ability to fart on cue. Unfortunately it's not a talent that impresses many people, until he is discovered by farting coach, Mr Windybottom. Marty's amazing talent takes him into the secret, fantastic, highly competitive world of World Championship Farting!

2nd February World Tutu Day

 

It is World Tutu Day ...

what fun!

 'Tutu' refers to the iconic dancing outfit worn around a ballerina's waist. The first tutu was introduced in the Paris Opera Ballet by dancer Marie Taglioni during a performance called "La Sylphide", which was the first to feature dancing on tip-toes! Her tutu, called "Romantic tutu", was designed as a bell-shaped garment covering most of her legs. And guess what? It was such a success that it remained the typical clothing for dancers until today! Although, from the late 1800s, tutus began to shorten up, thus allowing ballerinas to move more freely.

I looked at the library catalogue thinking there wouldn't be many books with 'tutu' in the title. How wrong I was...there are lots, so tomorrow I will put the library's tutu-wearing teddy out on a table with all of these books... and that does not include ballet books with a tutu on the cover illustration!

 

31st January International Day of the Magicians

31st  January is International Day of the Magicians, on the day Giovanni Bosco died. He was an Italian priest who lived in the 1950s, who dedicated his life to the education of street children in an extraordinary way. He was teaching catholicism using magic! International Day of the Magicians celebrates him, and the sense of wonder magicians give to people. A magician is someone that creates illusions, making the impossible... possible!

Today is a good day to have fun reading about magicians!

or you could read about a real magician eg. Houdini