1st September World Letter Writing Day

Do you remember the last time you wrote a letter to someone to communicate and we are not talking about email or any digital letter but a physical letter on paper? To keep the letter writing tradition alive, this day is celebrated. It encourages people to devote time to writing letters and it is good for your mind. It is also known that writing is also a very good exercise and also helps in reducing your stress level. Your handwriting is like your DNA unique to you.

The day was founded by Australian author, artist, and photographer Richard Simpkin, who adores writing handwritten letters. He visits schools to give workshops on letter writing to encourage students to keep this art alive.

Over the years letters have become an art form and they stand out as a genre in literature. Yesterday at school author Kate Simpson visited to talk to the children about writing and science. One of her books, Dear Grandpa  is a series of letters between a boy and his grandfather. This is very pertinent at my school because last week when we were preparing to celebrate Grandparents Day I realised just how many of the students lived a long way from their grandparents. Yes they phone, and Zoom but how nice it would be for some of those grandparents to get a letter. Also last year while we were in lock down and doing school online, one of the activities that the students and teachers undertook was to write letters to the residents at the aged care facility next door to our school. They couldn't go anywhere either so were very grateful to receive letters from the children. Some of them wrote back to the children which was very special because these young students have very little experience of letters or cursive writing.

Today is a good excuse to look at some of the beautiful books in our library that do include letters. Of course there's ones like The Jolly Postman  and Dear Felix,  but here's some you mightn't know.

Leo, a mailman, takes in a small bird, Cheep, who missed the autumn migration of his flock.When spring comes and Cheep moves on, Leo is sad to see him go, but he also has hope, and the letter he has been longing for finally arrives. 

What do you send your alien pen pal Clunk to make it clear you do not "want" an alien pen pal? You send him your big sister. That'll teach Clunk to have a pen pal from Earth-or so our intrepid narrator thinks.

A boy writes a letter to an imagined alien, explaining all the things he will need to know about Earth and the people who live here - and adding a postscript asking what the alien might look like.

Two wonderful books with real letters that Max has written to his favourite dinosaur.

A boy writes a letter to an imagined alien, explaining all the things he will need to know about Earth and the people who live here - and adding a postscript asking what the alien might look like.

When the kids in Room 5 write to Earth asking what they can do to help save our planet, they are delighted to get a letter back.

Tino and Teeny are lovely lovelorn bunny rabbits, living just a few  
hops from each other. If only one of them could overcome their  
shyness and speak to the other!  When their efforts to woo each other with writing are ruined by a  rainstorm it looks like they may never meet. 

When Florence moves house, she's a little bit worried about starting a new school and making new friends. But luckily - through the power of letters - she makes one very special penpal friend, Panda, and he brings confidence and joy into her world. 

"Dear Gazelle, For some time now I have wanted to write a letter to say how much admire you. You are so graceful and fine. Even when you are running from tigers you are like a ballerina who is running away from tigers. think that what I'm trying to say is that I love you. XO, OX" And so begins an epic, if initially unrequited, love affair.

Has wonderfully detailed, witty artwork and a giant, glossy postcard flap to lift on every spread. Perfect for fans of The Jolly Postman - and meerkats!

Giraffe, who lives in Africa, is bored as usual. He'd love a friend to share things with. So he writes a letter and sends it as far as possible across the other side of the horizon. There he finds a pen pal--Penguin. But it's hard to imagine someone you've never seen.

Now that Professor Whale has retired, he writes many letters to You, Whoever You Are, Who Lives on the Other Side of the Horizon. Seal and Pelican are busy delivering the letters and Penguin is now teaching. Although he is happy his friends are doing so well, Whale wants a special friend;, who might call him by a friendly sort of name. Like Whaley, maybe, instead of Professor.  

Bear can't imagine a whole winter without her friend, so when Bird migrates south, Bear decides to follow. She's never left the forest before, but that won't stop her from crossing oceans and mountains--and sending letters along the way. But a surprise is waiting for Bear on the beach... 

Richly told in amusing letters and lush illustrations, this adventurous story invites readers to consider just how far they'd go for their friends. 

I haven't seen this, but would like to.

3rd September Hummingbird Day

The first Saturday in September means it is time to celebrate hummingbirds. These very small, delicate- looking, pretty birds are fascinating because of their long migration and special skills, but we do not have them in Australia.  Perhaps that is why they fascinate me. Most Australian birds are large and noisy so perhaps hummingbirds have novelty value for me, like robins do.

Hummingbirds are tiny, colourful, thin-beaked birds that get their name from the humming noise that occurs when they flap their wings very fast. The over 300 species of hummingbirds are natives of North and South America.

Hummingbirds lay the smallest eggs of all birds. They are smaller than a jellybean!

A hummingbird's heart rate is more than 1200 beats per minute. Our heart rate is only 60 to 100 beats a minute.

It is easy for Australian children to learn about hummingbirds from beautifully illustrated children's books. Try these:

• Hummingbird  by Nicola Davies and Jane Ray

• Tiny Bird  by Robert Burleigh and Wendell Minor

• My Tiny Life by Ruby T. Hummingbird by Paul Meisel

And there is a lovely section about hummingbirds in The Most Important Animal of All by Penny Worms and Hannah Bailey

Looking for nonfiction?

• Hummingbirds  by Quinn M. Arnold

 • Hummingbirds  by Bonnie Bader

 • Time to Shine: Celebrating the World's Iridescent Animals by                Karen Jameson and Dave Murray

And stories:

• The Little Hummingbird by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas

This inspiring children's book is based on a South American indigenous story about a courageous hummingbird who defies fear and expectations in her attempt to save the forest from fire. The illustrated story is supplemented by a natural and cultural history of hummingbirds, as well as an inspiring message from Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai. The evocative artwork by internationally renowned Haida artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas complements this optimistic tale that encourages everyone to take responsibility for their home and the planet. 

• Hector and Hummingbird  by Nicholas John Frith

• Soar by Hillary Daecher and Angie Hohenadel

26th August Book Week shortlists

As a conscientious teacher librarian, I have been sharing books from the CBCA shortlists with my students. Some of these books are 'big hits', but others will be hard to get out of the library. That always worries me, as many schools buy the whole of the shortlists, but they do not have the budget I have. Wouldn't it be better to buy books that you cannot buy at BigW or Kmart, books that children won't buy themselves and books that will inspire them to read more and differently. Books that expand their horizons. My library has a large collection of biographies, books about sport heroes, books that allow for the sharing of nonfiction topics but which have outstanding illustrations and books that are hard to find at bookshops or other libraries.

What are the most borrowed?

• Nature Story Books from Walker Books

We have many of the original Read and Wonder books that have morphed into the new series and all the recent ones. These books combine a story with factual writing using two fonts. They include animals that the students know but are happy to find out more about. Great White Shark was on the shortlist for the Eve Pownall Award.

• Easy graphic novels (toon books)

Yes, my students enjoy, Bad Guys  and Dogman, but they also love, Press Start, Kung Pow Chicken, Pizza and Taco, Flubby, Cranky Chicken, Stickman Odyssey and other book that looks like a bit like a comic.

• Little People Big Dreams series by Maria Isabel Sanchez

And then they will read more about a favoured person in other biographies.

• Anything a friend or their teacher recommends. If the principal mentions a book in assembly, everyone wants it.

• Books about plastic and rubbish in the oceans. See here:

I think as a staff we might have overdone this as a topic, but I do think the students genuinely do care and they are diligent about sorting their lunch rubbish.

Back to the shortlist. Let's look at what was popular with the students. Remember I only teach Preschool to Year 2 (4 to 8 year olds).

• Walk of the Whales by Nick Bland has been very successful because it fits the last category of popular books. The humour appealed to the students. The thought of a whale on a bicycle made them laugh. The students had plenty to say about this book. We had a scientist visit during Science Week who also inspired them to find out more about whales. Consequently very book in the library about whales has had an outing. See titles here.

• Stellarphant by James Foley. This book also combined humour with serious topics of inclusion, diversity, perseverance and individuality. The students were fascinated by the final pages that listed all the animals that have gone into space and luckily we had books about some of these eg. Laika the Space Dog; Laika the Space Astronaut; Dogs in Space; Monkey in Space; 50 Animals that Have Been to Space.

• Blue Flower and The Boy and the Elephant,  both of which are more serious in tone, touched my Year 2 students because they were concerned about the protagonists and their view of school. I underestimated how much having friends and being included at school matters to this age group. Many made connections between the two books because of how they felt about school and their family. Empathy was the subject of all the discussions. One girl told me that she felt sure Sonya Hartnett had not enjoyed school and she asked me how she is now that she is 'a famous author'. watching Freya Blackwood's textless book on Story Box Library definitely helped the students appreciate the detailed illustrations and the scope and importance of them to the story.

• Iceberg by Claire Saxby and Jess Racklyeft was also popular once I had read it and the  students had looked closely at the artwork on a large screen courtesy of Story Box Library. We have had this book in the library for quite a while and it was unborrowed until we shared it. This book fits the Nature Story Book model, factual but with wonderful illustrations. I find my Year 2 are fascinated by Antarctica and last term we had read about emperor penguins so they did have some background knowledge to 'hang the content on'. I am going to purchase Except Antarctica  as a companion read as this term Year 2 are looking at classifying animals into groups and this would tie in beautifully.

• Jetty Jumping by Andrea Rowe and Hannah Sommerville. The students like this book because as children who live on or near Sydney Harbour they have many jetties to choose from. I had concerns about this book for this Early Childhood age group (0-7yrs), as there isn't an adult in sight, many of my students are not strong swimmers, the protagonist is scared to jump and no-one validates that feeling as being acceptable, and in the end she appears to fall in and all is okay. For me I felt this book needed lots of scaffolding and discussion. We did have some interesting debates about whether she should jump just because her friends told her to. I used Tim Winton's The Deep  and Jabari Jumps by as companion reads because here the protagonists feel more in control of their fears and there are supportive adults watching.

25th August Book Week

Another Book Week over, well nearly. Unfortunately, one of our visiting authors had Covid, but we will catch up with this next week. Despite all the vitriol in newspapers over the last weeks, a good time was had at our combined Dress Up Parade and Grandparents Day. We made it easy for everyone this year. We dressed up as someone we admire or someone that you are dreaming of being when grown up. Teachers and students had been reading biographies, in particular the series, Little People Big Dreams. I dressed as Meg Lowman, the scientist in The Leaf Detective. Other teachers were Jane Goodall, David Attenborough, Coco Channel and Yayoi Kusama. Previously, Dr Vanessa Pirotta had visited for Science Week and inspired the children, so many of the students were scientists, but there were authors, artists, soccer players, dancers, singers, zookeepers, policemen and firefighters. There were no prizes, just plenty of recognition, talk about good people and high spirits and then the children took their grandparents off to their classroom for other activities, some of which included sharing and reading books.

25th August Daffodil Day

 

Daffodil Day falls on Thursday 25 August in 2022. It is the Cancer Council’s most iconic and much-loved annual campaign that raises life-saving funds for world-class cancer research. It’s a time of hope; where we come together to show our support for the 150,000 Australians diagnosed with cancer each year.

It is a time too to admire the beautiful flowers daffodils which are flowering in Australia right now. There's not a lot of literature for a display, but what there is very good. Start by sharing William Wordsworth's classic poem. After all, it is often touted as the world's most famous poem. Perhaps you do not need to read all of it, but there are many versions on Youtube. I like this one the best as it is read by a young person, is not over the top dramatically or accent-wise and the location shows the abundance and location of the daffodils well. Explainthe essence of the poem to  your students. It could be as simple as  the poet was feeling sad and takes a walk. He comes across a field of daffodils. The beauty of the daffodils makes him happy. Moments of solitude in the beauty of nature can then be recalled and bring the same happiness at a later time. Even in Ruby's Feelings, one of the small books about Ruby Red Shoes, like Wordsworth, Ruby notices that when she feels happy, 'all the world seems light, like sunshine and daffodils, all golden and bright'.

Given that I have just learned from my young students that if a flower is red, it's a rose and if it's yellow, it's a daisy or dandelion I thought a bunch of daffodils in the library with the books was in order.

I'm also feeling 'daffodilly' because my daughter who lives in London has just spent a few days in the Lakes District and been to visit Beatrix Potter's and Wordsworth's house and of course rang to chat about her experiences. She did say though 'shame there weren't any daffodils'. Well it is Summer there, not daffodil time. There's plenty here I told her.

Besides the books below which obviously feature daffodils these books may be of  help too. 

 • Seeds, Bees, Butterflies and More by Carole Gerber and Eugene Elchin has a wonderful poem about daffodils.

• In My Yellow Shirt  by Eileen Spinelli and Hideko Takahashi. In this story a boy wears his new yellow shirt and is transformed in his imagination into a duck, a lion, a daffodil, a trumpet, and other things.

In Who Ate the Cake? by Kate Leake things keep disappearing, including dad's daffodils.

 

The two above are my favourites! Love sharing That's Not a Daffodil! by Elizabeth Honey.

August Platypus Month

Happy Platypus Month! This August, let’s celebrate this unique, egg-laying mammal and support national initiatives to reintroduce the platypus in their natural habitats. in Australia, the end of winter is typically the best time to catch a glimpse of platypus as they forage for food and seek out a mate. That’s why the Australian Platypus Conservancy is urging all Australians to Report a Platypus Sighting to help build a better understanding of the status, distribution and conservation needs of these animals! 

The platypus is one of Australia’s most iconic native animals! Platypuses are elusive, skittish, and nocturnal. They’re difficult to see, and even more difficult to monitor! New evidence is suggesting that platypus numbers are declining throughout Australia. If people report a platypus sighting it will help researchers build a better understanding of the status, distribution and conservation needs of these animals! 

To know what you are looking for and where to find one, it would be a good idea to do some research of your own. Unfortunately many of the nonfiction books written for children about platypus are not Australian and we find that while not factually incorrect the wording is strange to our ears. 

In the library start with these:

• Platypus by Sue Whiting and Mark Jackson. This is Australian and part of the Nature Storybook series from Walker Books where there is factual information and a story using different fonts.

• The Story of the Platypus  by Anita Ganeri. This is not Australian but written by a highly respected writer of nonfiction books for children.

This book looks at the platypus: the first time it was reported to the Western world, the public and scientific community's reaction to it, the search for evidence, how the animal was finally recognised as a real species, and its current status today. There is also some information about the platypus's life and what makes it special or different. 

• Beneath the Trees by Cristy Burke who is a science writer.  This is a short Australian novel, but it gives information .

Cam and Sophie feel like they've been travelling forever to get to the rainforest and the river and their cousins. They just want to see a platypus in the wild, but with the rain tipping down and the river turning wild they can't see a thing. Until suddenly, they can. A platypus is just below them, and it needs help! 

 Then try these:

• A Platypus, Probably by Sneed. B.Collard

• Platypus! by Ginjer L. Clarke

• Platypuses by Sara Louise Kras

• The Platypus What is It? by Jo Brice and Gregory Rogers (Australian)

• Echidnas and Platypuses  by Debbie and Brendan Gallagher (Australian)

• Little Platypus: A Day in the Life of a Platypus Puggle  by Anna Brett

And then here's some stories to enjoy:

• Little Platypus  by Nette Hilton and Nina Rycroft (Australian)

• Pugsley Platypus  by Jessica Keating and Caroline Hazell (Australian)

• Oi Duck-Billed Platypus! by Kes Gray and Jim Field

•  Sleep Tight, Platypup by Renee Treml (Australian)

• The Silver Stream  by Robert Roennfeldt (Australian)

• Platypus Deep by Jill Morris (Australian)

28th July International Cockroach Appreciation Day

This week I read Mini Grey's outstanding new picture book The Greatest Show on Earth. This is the story of the entire history of Planet Earth. It is narrated by a group of insects who are putting on a show which will show the evolution of life on Earth. The insect that to me has a starring role is the cockroach! He almost looks appealing. This got me thinking about other books that feature that insect that Sydney-siders struggle with, cockroaches, and I remembered that Felicita Sala has also managed to make cockroaches the centre of attention and seem endearing in the two books she illustrated for Maggie Hutchings. I'm not sure we need a day to appreciate cockroaches though!

The students at school really enjoy these two story books which are told from the cockroach's point of view. They remind me of creative writing or 'composition' lessons as they were called when I was at school where we were often asked to write a story from an inanimate object or a speechless animal's point of view.

Cockroaches, as we all know have existed forever. As I often do I googles to see if there was Cockroach Day and lo and behold there is! It is called International Cockroach Appreciation Day and it is on the 28th July. We missed it, but I will be sure to do a display now for next year.  I'm  not sure they need my appreciation though. I will appreciate them vicariously through books.

Cockroaches even appear in folklore. Martina the cockroach appears in Cuban and Mexican folktales and versions of it are often published in English and Spanish. Not sure about the adjective 'beautiful' being associated with cockroaches, but this is the case again in this book where the cockroach is named Anastasia.

There are other stories worth searching out, such as Crickwing by Janell Cannon, another cockroach that you will feel sorry for.  Cocky Colin by Richard Tulloch, where Colin just wants not to live in the dark and be on show. The Super Fly  series where Super Fly and Fantastic Flea are forever trying to save the city of Stinkville from their arch nemesis, Crazy Cockroach. My all time favourite to read aloud is The Cockroach Cup  by Kim Caraher which is just the sort of thing we did as children, race cockroaches.

Luckily we have some more factual books which will give readers another view of cockroaches.

Have fun reading about them without having to deal with a live one! And if you want to buy something, buy the new Mini Grey. It is special.