2nd June Doughnut Day

June 2 is World Doughnut Day, not only Fish and Chip Day, two favourite foods of many. Doughnut Day has been celebrated since 1938, starting off as a fundraiser for The Salvation Army in Chicago during the Great Depression. Even now many doughnut drives raise money for charities, so you can eat all you like for a good cause. 

During World War I a group of Salvation Army volunteers was dispatched to the frontlines with the mission of providing comforting meals for the troops. They soon found out that donuts were an effective way to provide food while navigating the difficulties of cooking in very dire circumstances. These brave volunteers would later be known as “donut lassies”. They would even use war helmets as a utensil to fry up seven donuts at a time.

Doughnuts or the shorter form donuts have become a very popular feature of children's books, probably because this sugary snack tastes wonderful. The Mr Panda books by Steve Antony are always on loan especially with the preschoolers and the doughnuts in these books certainly look appealing. They even feature on clothing.

If you would like to read about the history of the donut try these books:

• Doughnuts: The Hole Story by Julie Knutson

• Doughnuts: Our Favourite Food  by Joanne Mattern

• The Hole Story of the Doughnut by Pat Miller and Vincent Kirsch

Now just read for fun:

• Donuts the Hole Story  by David W. Miles

• Daisy the Donut Fairy by Tim Bugbird. 

• If You Give a Dog a Donut by Laura Numeroff 

• The Donut Chef by Bob Staarke.

• Detective Donut and the Wild Goose Chase by Bruce Whatley.

• Arnie, the Doughnut by Laurie Keller

• The Case of the Missing Donut by Alison McGhee and Isabel Roxas

• The Doughnut of Doom  by Elis Dolan

• Doughnuts for a Dragon  by Adam and Charlotte Guillain and Lee Wildish

• Dozens of Doughnuts  by Carrie Finison and Brianne Farley

• Norman the Slug with a Silly Shell by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet

• Agent Lion  by Jacky Davis and David Roman

There's some short chapter books:

• The Doughnut Ring  by Alexander McCall Smith
• Doughnut Danger by Anthony Masters

• Freddie's Amazing Bakery:Dancing with Doughnuts  by Harriet Whitehorn

• Donut Feed the Squirrels  by Mika Song

• Stick Dog Tries to Take the Donuts  by Tim Watson

• Max Meow Donuts and Danger by John Gallagher

• The Very Best Doughnut  by Randa Abdel-Fattah and Amani Haydar

• Percy Pigeon Donut Detective  by Tracy Gunaratnam

• Shark and Bot: Zombie Donut Attack  by Brian Yanish

• Frank and Bean: Food Truck Fiasco by Jamie Michalak  and Bob Kolar 

And a whole series by Gianna Pollero and Sarah Horne

• Monster Doughnuts

• Monster Donughts: Cyclops on a Mission

• Monster Doughnuts:Beastly Breakout!

2nd June Fish and Chips Day

There is an adult book by Panikos Panayi called Fish and Chips: A Takeaway History. In this book Panayi asserts that in British culture when it comes to  cuisine, nothing comes to mind faster than fish and chips. Sprinkled with salt and vinegar and often accompanied by mushy peas, fish and chips were the original British fast food. He discovers the origins of eating fish and potatoes in Britain.  The birth of the meal itself, telling how fried fish was first introduced and sold by immigrant Jews before it spread to the British working classes in the early nineteenth century.

This information is the subject of a children's picture book The Fabulous Tale of Fish and Chips by Elaine Becker and Omer Hoffmann. This is the playful, fictional account of how the real-life Joseph Malin, a poor Jewish immigrant, invented fish and chips. Joseph Malin loves his grandmother's fried fish and thinks he may be able to sell it to make some pocket money. Annette, the greengrocer across the street, sees an opportunity to hawk her own family favourite: Belgian-style fried potatoes. The rivalry sparks a new culinary feast.

The English Reading Scheme, Book Bug also has a book that tells the history of fish and chips...The Truth About Fish and Chips by Paul Mason.

Australians also love their fish and chips and I'm sure most of us do not know about the origins of this meal. It is popular on visits to the seaside where inevitably it will be shared with greedy seagulls. So any Australian books that feature fish and chips usually also feature seagulls.

• Chip  by Kylie Howarth is such fun. Chip is a seagull with a penchant for chips. The chip seller decides to thwart him and his friends. A battle ensues.

• Max by Marc Martin is a picture book about good friends Bob and Max. After work they go fishing together until ...

• Let's Go to the Beach  by Gwyn Perkins tells the story of Iggy and his grandfather's day at the beach that includes fish and chips.

• Chippy Chasers: Chippy Jackpot  by Sam Cotton is a graphic novel featuring Seagull mates Steve-O, Stanley and Stacey and they love chips.

• Super Geeks: Fish and Chips  by James Hart 

These books also feature chips.

• Don't Dip Your Chips in Your Drink, Kate!  by Caryl Hart and Leigh Hodgkinson

• The Best Chip by Kate Leake

• All Mine! by Zehra Hicks

• The Last Chip  by Duncan Beedie

30th May Hole in My Bucket Day

On May 30th of each year, National Hole in My Bucket Day is observed in the USA. This wacky holiday is in honour of the fun children's song; There's a Hole in My Bucket. I grew up singing this song on long car trips with my family, but I knew nothing of its origins.  The song originated in Germany in the 1700s. It describes a deadlock situation where the character, Henry, faces problem after problem all due to a hole in his bucket.He attempts to find a solution through his friend Liza’s advice, but he is unsuccessful. 

The lyrics to ‘There’s a Hole In My Bucket’ are a conversation between Henry and Liza. Henry tells Liza about the hole in his bucket and he is advised to fix it using a straw and when each solution initiates a new problem, Liza needs to amend her suggestion. This makes this text a good one for a plot profile using drawing, a role play of the conversation, writing problem/solutions or a hot seat situation where the two characters are interviewed about their motives.

How else could the day be celebrated? Round up some 'bucket' books , put them in a bucket in the reading corner with two puppets...a Henry and a Liza.

You will have no trouble finding the lyrics online, but there are actually picture book versions of the song eg

• There's a Hole in My Bucket  by John Feierabend and Marissa Madonna

• There's a Hole in My Bucket by The Topp Twins and Jenny Cooper

• There's a Hole in My Bucket  by Ingrid and Dieter Schubert

• There's a Hole in My Bucket  by Nadine Bernard Westacott 

There are many picture books about 'bucket filling' as teachers often use this metaphor as a means of encouraging children in their class to think about others eg

• How Full is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath

• Fill a Bucket by Carol McLeod

There are books that feature buckets albeit without holes eg

• Billy's Bucket  by Kes Gray and Garry Parsons

• Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs by Ian Whybrow and Adrian Reynolds

• A Bucketful of Blessings  by Kabir Sehgal and Jing Jing Tsong

• Bravo, Bucket Head!  by Helen Lester and Lynn Munsinger

And you might even like to explore the concept of a 'bucket list' which needs no bucket at all eg

• Stay A Girl, A Dog,  a Bucket List by Kate Klise

• Judy Moody and the Bucket List  by Megan McDonald

And two books where buckets feature, but not in the title

• Max Found Two Sticks by Jerry Pinkney

Max doesn't feel like talking but he uses various objects including a bucket as drums.

• Fatou, Fetch the Water by Neil Griffiths and Peggy Collins

The water bucket is empty!  Fatou fetches a fresh supply for a family feast.

1st June International Dinosaur Day

The third Tuesday in May is also International Dinosaur Day, but  Dinosaur Day on the first day of June is easier to remember. It is s a celebration of dinosaurs, the prehistoric creatures that roamed the earth millions and millions of years ago. These animals went extinct somewhere in the region of 65 million years ago 

May 7th May is Australia’s National Dinosaur Day. On this date in 1903, William Ferguson found a partial dinosaur claw along the Cape Patterson shoreline in Victoria. This theropod claw was the first dinosaur fossil found in Australia.

It doesn't really matter when you celebrate dinosaurs, because with the age group I teach, 3 to 8 year olds dinosaurs are always popular and we could have dinosaur books on display permanently! They are even popular with the girls. When they read about Mary Anning they are so keen to tell you that it is okay for girls to like dinosaurs. Mary Anning  was only twelve years old, when she discovered the first complete ichthyosaur skeleton and she spent the rest of her life searching out fossils that helped change humans' understanding of prehistoric life and natural history. Sadly, because she was a woman, she was rarely credited for her critical discoveries, and only in recent years have her wide-ranging contributions received the recognition they deserve.

There are so many picture book biographies about Mary now. The library has:

• Stone Girl Bone Girl: The Story of Mary Anning by Laurence Anholt and Sheila Mosley

• The Fossil Girl: Mary Anning's Dinosaur Discovery by Catherine Brighton

• Mary Anning by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara and Poppy Marigot

• Dinosaur Lady by Linda Skeers and Marta Alvarez Miguens

• Fossil Hunter: How Mary Anning Changed the Science of Prehistoric Life by Cheryl Blackford

• Mary Anning: Fossil Hunter and Dinosaur Expert by Kay Barnham

If you don't have any of these, perhaps you can find:

• Gutsy Girls Go For Science: Palaeontologists by Karen Bush Gibson and Hui Li

or this picture book biography

• When Sue Found Sue:Sue Hendrickson Discovers her T-Rex by Toni Buzzeo and Diana Sudyka

As a child, Sue Hendrickson was shy, but she had a knack for finding things: a unique combination of curiosity, determination, and luck that helped her find everything from perfume bottles to lost coins. As an adult, she sought out adventure, first as an underwater archaeological excavation diver, and then as a field paleontologist. One summer in South Dakota, Sue spotted three backbones in the dirt... and discovered that they were part of the largest and most complete T. rex skeleton ever found! 

There are so many picture books that feature girls and dinosaurs too:

• If I Had a Dinosaur by Gabby Dawnay and Alex Barrow

A little girl dreams of having her very own pet. As she plays with her toy dinosaur, inspiration strikes. What about a real, live dinosaur?

• The Girl and the Dinosaur by Hollie Hughes and Sarah Massini

When Marianne visits the beach, she digs for buried treasure — and the treasure she discovers is a real life dinosaur skeleton. After naming her skeleton Bony, Marianne wishes it would come to life, and to her delight, Bony responds.

• We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan Higgins

Penelope Rex is startled to discover her classmates are all children, so she does what comes naturally... and eats them. Children are delicious, after all! 

• The Dinosaur Expert by Margaret McNamara and Brian Karas

Mr. Tiffin's class is visiting the natural history museum, and dinosaur-loving Kimmy is thrilled! She is excited to share facts about Stegosaurus and Archaeopteryx and Titanosaurus... until one of her classmates sneers that "girls aren't scientists."

• Hattie and Hudson by Chris van Dusen

Hattie McFadden loves paddling her canoe out on the lake every morning, singing a song as she goes. One day, though, a huge mysterious beast emerges to listen to her song!

• My Dinosaur  by Mark Alan Weatherby 

Every night a little girl waits by her window for her friend the dinosaur, and when he comes, they play in the woods all night until the sun comes up.

• Katie and the Dinosaurs  by James Mayhew 

Entering a door at the Natural History Museum marked "No Admittance," Katie finds herself in the world of the dinosaurs. She helps a baby dinosaur find his family, rides on the back of a Brontosaurus, and has a picnic with a Triceratops. But just what will she feed a very hungry Tyrannosaurus Rex?

• Frankie and the Fossil by Jess McGeachin

Frankie knows everything there is to know about dinosaurs. But when she ignores a sign at the museum and is followed home by a friendly fossil, Frankie finds there's more to dinosaurs than she ever imagined.

• Tea Rex; Camp Rex; Santa Rex and Sea Rex by Molly Idle

These three books feature Cordelia and  her Cretaceous comrades.

• The Dinosaur Department Store  by Richard Merritt and Lily Murray

Eliza Jane was an unusual child. Some called her wilful, some called her wild!  She has her heart firmly set on a prehistoric pet.

and some short novels

• Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst and Lane Smith

• Ivy and Bean Fossil Break the Fossil Record by Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall

• Lila's Little Dinosaur by Hanel Wolfram and Alex deWolf

• Thing and Thingnapped by Robin Klein and Alison Lester

Yes I know I have only written about girls and dinosaurs and boys love dinosaurs too. There are many more dinosaur picture books here that feature boys. If you need to settle an argument as one of our preschool teachers did, this is a good book to start a discussion:

• She Rex by Deborah Allwright and Michelle Robinson

Ed won't let his sister Maisy share his toys. He says. "Dinos are for boys." But he hasn't met She Rex. She Rex is a big and burly, multicoloured dino girly. She's as fierce and as loud as any dinosaur. Look out, Ed - you may just discover that dino toys are for girls and boys.

31st May World Otter Day

 

World Otter Day occurs on the last Wednesday of May, which is May 31st this year. The sea otter has a whole week, Sea Otter Awareness Week. It  takes place during the last full week of September to celebrate and inspire deeper awareness of these marine mammals.

World Otter Day brings all otter species to the attention of many people. It focuses on raising awareness about how important otters are and also highlights the threats that they face. There are certain issues faced by otters that some people are largely unaware of, such as the huge trade in these animals for pets and fur.  

There are 13 species of otter, and all of them are listed in the IUCN Red List.

Otters have been highly successful in making their habitats in oceans, lakes, rivers and wetlands around the world. They can be found from North to South America, Africa to Asia, and all across Europe. However, there are no otters in Australia unless they are at a zoo. At Taronga Western Plains Zoo there is a family of  Asian Small-clawed Otters which are the smallest of the 13 otter species. Small-clawed Otters are best known for their dexterity which means they are good at using their hands. The incomplete webbing between their fingers gives them a great range of motion and they hunt for food using their hands rather than their mouths like other species.

At high school Ring of Bright Water  was an English class text and it certainly made me fascinated with both otters and Scotland. Whenever I'm at a zoo outside of Australia they are the first animal I look for on the zoo directory.

Otters are the subject focus for a lot of children's books. Many make the word 'otter' playfully say or mean something else, such as here in these titles:

• I Love You Like No Otter by Rose Rossner (I Love You like No Other)

• Do Unto Otters by Laurie Keller (Do Unto Others)

• Otter Chaos by Michael Broad (Utter Chaos)

There is a series of picture books and easy readers by Sam Garton

Of course there are other picture books as well.

see my Pinterest page for suggestions. Some are no longer available new but search in the library.

There are a large number of short novels

And of course there are information books:

Traditional nonfiction:

Narrative nonfiction:

29th May Alligator Day

It's National Alligator Day! Not a day we need to celebrate in Australia because we do not have any alligators. We only have crocodiles! 

What's the difference between alligators and crocodiles?

1. Where they live. Alligators can live in colder places. Crocodiles are usually found in saltwater habitats while alligators prefer freshwater areas. 

2. Their size. Crocodiles are bigger. They can be 6 metres long. Alligators are shorter at 4 metres.

3. The shape of their mouth. Crocodiles have a very long V-shaped snout and alligators have a wide U-shaped snout.

4. Alligators can close their mouths without their upper teeth showing. Crocodiles teeth show when their mouths are closed.

5.  Colour. If it is grey or black it is probably an alligator. If it is olive or tan it's a crocodile.Crocodiles have a more powerful bite. Actually the strongest bite of any animal!

6. Crocodiles are more aggressive and have a more powerful bite. Actually the strongest bite of any animal!

American alligators are the biggest alligators and they inhabit the southern shores of the USA and the northern areas of South America.

Often children's non-fiction books combine alligators and crocodiles and outline these differences. A popular book Alligators and Crocodiles  by Gail Gibbons is about to be rereleased in a new updated version.

Alligators and Crocodiles by Tracy Read and Alligators and Crocodiles  by Laura Marsh combine the two as well.

Alligators and Crocodiles Can't Chew  by Thea Feldman is a good non-fiction read too! 

There is a surprisingly large collection of fiction picture books that feature alligators and crocodiles. Listed here are some alligator picture books that the library has:

• There's An Alligator Under My Bed  by Mercer Mayer

• Hooray for Amanda  and her Alligator!  by Mo Willems

• Snip Snap What's That?  by Mara Bergman and Nick Maland

• A Girl and her Gator by Sean Bryan and Tom Murphy

• Snappsy the Alligator by Julie Falatko and Tim Miller

• Gator, Gator, Gator! by Daniel Berstrom and Frann Preston-Gannon

• Gator by Randy Cecil

• See You Later, Alligator by Sally Hopgood and Emma Lever

• If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don't!  by Elise Parsley

• Zack's Alligator  by Shirley Mozelle and James Watts

• The Alligator's Smile and Other Poems  by Jane Yolen and Jason Stemple

• Alan's Big Scary Teeth by Jarvis

• Clive Eats Alligators by Alison Lester

When Australian children learn that there is no alligators in Australia, one of them always brings up the fact that Alison Lester, a well-loved Australian author illustrator that they all know has a book 'about alligators'!

• The Lady With the Alligator Purse  by Nadine Bernard Westcott

This book isn't strictly speaking about alligators but if you need a book that works a treat with young children this is one. I have the children role-play the parts and practise talking on the phone.