4th April International Carrot Day

Yesterday at school we had our Easter Hat Parade and there were lots of carrots featured on hats and that got me thinking about how many picture books feature carrots too. In fact there is a book on this year's UKLA Book Award shortlist that has a carrot as a main character, Colin and Lee Carrot and Pea. This shortlist is chosen by students and teachers so the books have stood up to classroom reading scrutiny.

As it happens to be International Carrot Day on the 4th April, when the students get back from Easter break the first display of books they will see as they walk through the library doors will be celebrating carrots.

There they will see:
• Colin and Lee, Carrot and Pea by Morag Hood

• The Giant Carrot by Allan Manham & Penny Dann
• Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds
• Too Many Carrots by Katie Hudson
• Carrot Soup by John Segal
• Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens
• Chickens Can't See in the Dark by Kristyna Litten
• Lottie and Dottie Sow Carrots by Claire Burgess
• The Princess and the Pea and Carrots by Harriet Ziefert
• Dozy Bear and the Secret of Food by Katie Blackburn & Richard Smythe
• Carrots Grow Underground by Mari Schuh
• Planting Radishes and Carrots by Faye Bolton
• The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
• When Carrots Ruled the World  by David LeBarron
• Parrot Carrot by Jol & Kate Temple
• Wolfish Stew by Suzi Moore & Erica Salcedo
• Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French & Bruce Whatley
• T-Veg: The Story of a Carrot Crunching Dinosaur by Smitri Prasadam-Halls


What have I missed?

15th March Shoe the World Day

Each day over 500 million children, teens and adults around the world do not have a pair of shoes to wear, and despite the terrain and the climate, they have to walk barefoot everywhere. It is a struggle each day that we cannot begin to imagine. So yes we do need this Shoe the World Day. Talking to my students this week we compared their trip to school with that of Anna in Alma Fullerton's A Cloud of Dust and talked at length about how many pairs of shoes they had compared to what they needed. 


While this book Stand in My Shoes by Bob Sornson is somewhat heavy-handed and lacks the beautiful art work of the other books listed here, this is indeed what we want our students to do, we want them to empathise with people who live very different lives from theirs.

Here are some picture books that feature shoes that really make a difference to the way students may see the world. 

 • Running Shoes  by Frederick Lipp. This powerful story tells of how a very poor Cambodian child, Sophy's life changes as the result of getting a pair of shoes.


• Four Feet, Two Sandals by Karen Lynn Williams tells the story of two young girls, Lina and Feroza who are living in a refugee camp in Pakistan. When relief workers bring around some clothing they both want this pair of shoes.

• One Red Shoe by Karin Gruss is also set in the middle east in a war zone. This is based on a real life experience of a reporter in a war zone and best suited to older students.

• Rebel! by Allan Baillie. This book is out of print but worth seeking out in a library. It tells the story of a child in Burma who is extremely brave during a General's visit to his village. I have had some wonderful class discussions with this book with older students.