30th August International Whale Shark Day

 

International Whale Shark Day was established to raise awareness around the importance of whale sharks to marine ecosystems and their dwindling population numbers, and to encourage efforts to conserve the species. 

Having no real natural predators in the wild, whale sharks are under threat solely due to human activities.

Between the months of March and July (sometimes longer), it is estimated that 350-500 individual whale sharks make their way to the Ningaloo region of Western Australia, primarily to exploit the abundance of food in the area.

The Ningaloo Reef tourism industry is the leader in sustainable whale shark tourism, and this aggregation of Whale Sharks is the most researched population in the world. This website has a summary of important facts you need to know about whale sharks, besides being the largest fish in the sea, even bigger than Great White sharks. Did you know they have no teeth?

While these sharks will feature in books about fish and sharks, there are some books where they shine on their own.

• Whale Sharks in Action by Tunby Benjamin

• Save the ...Whale Sharks by Anita Sanchez

• Whale Shark by Camilla de la Bedoyere

• The Whale Shark Song by Sadie James

• Wandering Whale Sharks by Susumu Shingu

• The Whale Sharks of Ningaloo is an activity book for kids to help them learn all about Western Australia’s marine emblem.

And two new ones coming soon

• Walter the Whale Shark by Katrine Crow and Hazel Quintanilla

• Whale Sharks by Jackie Golusky

This short video gives just the right amount of information.

28th August International Read Comics in Public Day

August 28th is International Read Comics in Public Day. A comic is a publication in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by a written narrative contained in word balloons.

The date coincides with the famed comic book creator, Jack Kirby's birthday. 

The genre's popularity has dramatically increased in recent times! It is a day to celebrate the various comic styles and genres and this has become very easy to do even for children and even at the library.

Graphic novel or toon book numbers are on the rise. Even the Prep School library I work in has a considerable number and they are very popular. 

It was good to see even CBCA acknowledged their reading value in its recent Book Week awards as the winning book for older readers, Neverlanders by  Tom Taylor and Jon Sommariva is a graphic novel and one of the honour books in the Picture Book category Dirt By Sea  by Michael Wagner and Tom Jellett is also a graphic picture book.

I know many teachers say that this is not 'real' reading, but given the activities vying for students' time these days, I am of the view any reading is good reading when it comes to reading for pleasure. That said, I do try to encourage students to only borrow one graphic book and then choose another fiction or nonfiction book. Otherwise many of my students would have a diet that consisted only of Aaron Blabey, Ahn Do, and Dav Pilkey.

If like me, you have students who are under eight years old and you are looking for graphic books for your library, these series are popular and well worth a look:

• Hello Twigs  by Andrew McDonald and Ben Wood

• Flubby by J. E. Morris

• Monkey & Cake by Drew Daywalt and Olivier Tallec

• Narwhal and Jelly by Ben Clanton

• Pizza and Taco by stephen Shaskan

• Peach and Plum by Tim McCanna

• Fitz and Cleo by Jonathan Stutzman and Heather Fox

• Archie & Reddie  by Candy James

• Beak & Ally by Norm Feuti

• Norma and Belly by Mika Song

• Baloney and Friends by Greg Pizzoli

• Arlo & Pips by Elise Gravel

• Cranky Chicken by Katherine Battersby

• Bug Scouts by Mike Lowery

 • Press Start by Tom Flintham

• Flying Beaver Brothers  by Maxwell Eaton III

• Binky the Space Cat  by Ashley Squires

• Bird & Squirrel by James Burks

• Pea, Bee & Jay by Brian Smitty Smith

• Surviving the Wild by Remy Lai

• Investigators by John Patrick Green

27th August World Rock Paper Scissors Day

Who would have thought we needed a day to celebrate this game? 

Looking at the game in more detail though I found out just how significant, controversial and important this game is!

Rock paper scissors is an intransitive hand game, usually played between two people, in which each player simultaneously forms one of three shapes with an outstretched hand. These shapes are "rock", "paper", and "scissors". It is often used as a fair choosing method between two people, similar to coin flipping, drawing straws, or throwing dice in order to settle a dispute or make an unbiased group decision.

The rock is a closed fist; paper is a flat hand with fingers and thumb extended and the palm facing downward; and scissors is a fist with the index and middle fingers fully extended toward the opposing player. Rock wins against scissors; paper wins against rock; and scissors wins against paper.

Rock Paper Scissors is considered the oldest hand game in the world. In fact, the game dates all the way back to the Chinese Han Dynasty. This era began in 206 BC and ended in 220 AD. There are also accounts of this game in Japanese history. The earliest versions of this game consisted of a slug, snake, and frog. Rocks, papers, and scissors were used in a later version of the game developed in the 17th century. It wasn’t until the 1920’s that the popular Asian hand game made its way to Great Britain. In 1932, an article in the New York Times described the rules of Rock Paper Scissors.

The format of the game, however, is different in other parts of the world.  In Australia, the most common name is "scissors, paper, rock", a reversal of the American format, and even within Australia each state may have a variation. The children I teach do say Scissors, Paper, Rock.

There is even a World Rock Paper Scissors Association which suggests ways to celebrate this day. Their suggestion I like best is to teach the game to someone who doesn't know how to play. 

Whatever order you use and whatever rules you adhere to, it is the day to read Drew Daywalt and Adam Rex's The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors.

Blurb: Long ago, in an ancient and distant realm called the Kingdom of Backyard, there lived a warrior named ROCK. Meanwhile in the Empire of Mom s Home Office, a second great warrior sought the glory of battle. And his name was PAPER. At the same time, in the Kitchen Realm, in the tiny village of Junk Drawer, lived a third warrior. They called her SCISSORS. These three were the strongest, smartest, and fastest in all the land. Time and again they beat the most fearsome opponents they could find: an apricot, a computer printer even frozen, breaded, dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets! 

If you have Scissors on Strike  by Jennifer Jones it would be fun to have a philosophical discussion with your class about what would happen to Scissors Paper Rock if the scissors were not included because they were on strike.

22nd August Be an Angel Day

The school reception area has had a display about compassion (one of our school values) encouraging us to share and make a difference in each other's lives and to let our light shine beyond our walls and out into the community.

The school's teacher of religious studies (who is an angel in disguise) has been working with the students to help each other and spot acts of compassion in action. With Book Week happening this week she even used a quote about compassion from Winnie the Pooh, “A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference.”

Being an angel means that you are practising acts of kindness and compassion without a second thought and with young children Circle Time and picture books are an ideal way to spark a discussion.

Aesop's fables are renowned for featuring some fundamental morals such as "no act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." The Lion and the Mouse

Looking for more books about compassion. Try

• I Walk With Vanessa and I Forgive Alex by Kerascoët

• How to Mend a Friend  by Karl Newson and Clara Anganuzzi

• Come With Me  by Holly McGhee

• A Small Act of Kindness  by Stacy McAnulty and Wendy Leach

 

19th August Potato Day

I have written about this day before here and it pretty much says everything that I think about potato picture books, but I do need you to know that since last year Emma Wood and Carla Martell have published a sequel to Tulip and Doug called Tulip and Sprout.

Here's the blurb:

Tulip and Max were famous at their school, for two reasons: 1. They were fearless adventurers. 2. They went everywhere with a curiously quirky companion – a rock called Susan! Tulip, Max and Susan loved creating coded messages, unearthing precious treasures and practising their hide-and-seek skills on Tunnel Mountain. When Max and Susan head away on holiday, Tulip and her dad go on an expedition to the jungle. What will Tulip discover there ... could it be her lost friend Doug? Another spud-tacular story from this talented duo.

And new Supertato books by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet: 

• Supertato Presents Jack and the Beanstalk

• Supertato: Mean Green Time Machine  

18th August Science Week Part 2 Noise and sounds

In 1998 ABC Science built the first National Science Week website to provide information to event holders and audiences, they have conducted an annual online participatory science project since 2000 and promote the week widely across their networks.  The 2023 school theme is Innovation: Powering Future Industries, but the ABC has taken 'noise' as their focus and they want people  to eavesdrop on the animal kingdom and  explore the wonder and science of bioacoustics.

Listening in all facets of life is important but it is wonderful to be able to go outside, be still and just listen. What will you hear? Hopefully some natural noises, such as cicadas, frogs, birds, running water, waves.

As background to going on a listening walk you could use one of these books as provocation:

• What Can You Hear Today?  by Louise Bladen and angela Perrini

• The Listening Walk  by Paul Showers and Aliki

• Listen to Our World  by Bill Martin Jr and Melissa Sweet

• Listen to the Rain  by Bill Martin Jr and James Endicott

And after your walk and comparing lists you could follow up with books about some of the sounds:

• Cicada Sing Song by Pat Simmons and Kate Dreiling

• Cicada Symphony by Sue Fliess and Gareth Lucas

• Noisy Bug Sing-along  by John Himmelman

• The Dawn Chorus  by Suzanne Barton

• The Forgotten Song  by Coral Vass and Jess Racklyeft

• Sounds all Around Us  by Ryhia Dank

• Sounds All Around  by Susan Hughes and Ellen Rooney

• The Sounds Around Town  by Maria Callucio

You could just read a couple of favourites about noise such as:

• Noisy Night by Mac Barnett and Brian Biggs

• Too Much Noise  by Ann McGovern and Simms Taback

Or you could segue to the winning Early Childhood Book Where the Lyrebird Lives  by Vikki Conley and Max Hamilton and talk about mimicry because lyrebirds are masters of mimicry.

Lyrebirds are capable of imitating almost any sound. As well as their own calls, clicks and song, you will usually hear them mimicking loud clear sounds made by other birds and mammals, including humans. They have been heard to mimic the sounds of chainsaws, horns, alarms and even trains.

                                          

17th August Science Week Part 1 Who is a Scientist?

We are in the midst of Science Week here in Australia, an annual celebration of science and technology. There are so many special events, schools organise events to highlight science in schools and to show students what science has to offer. It is a great time for a purposeful display in the library too. In our school library we have displayed books that explain what it means to be a scientist, books that encourage students to experiment and picture book biographies about famous scientists.

Get started with books like these:
• What is a scientist? by Barbara Lehn

• Who is a Scientist?  by Laura Gehl

• A Scientist Like Me by Shini Somara

•  Ada Twist Scientist by Andrea Beaty

• What are Scientists? by Rita Golden Gelman

•  Science and Me  by Mickael el Fathi

• Scientist, Scientist, Who Do You See? by Chris Ferrie

• Pirate, Viking and Scientist by Jared Chapman

• Scientist in Training  by Cath Ard

• What's the Matter in Mr Whisker's Room by Michael Elsohn Ross

• Look I'm a Scientist  by Helen Hilton

• I Want to Be a Scientist by Dan Liebman   

• Cece Loves Science  by Kimberly Derring

• Geraldine and the Most Spectacular Science Project  by Sol Regwan

• Charlotte the Scientist is Squished  by Camille Andros

• Think Like a Scientist by Alex Woolf

• Get Into Citizen Science  by Vic Kovacs

• Mr Shaha's Recipes for Wonder  by Alom Shaha

• Newton and Curie the Science Squirrels by Daniel Kirk

• Bears Make the Best Science Buddies  by Carmen Oliver

Two series worth a look:

• Ada Twist: The Why Files by Andrea Beaty

• Kid Scientist  by Sue Fliess

22nd August Bao Day

August 22nd is Bao Day, celebrating the kind of dumplings originally from China. Also known as 'baozi' and ‘hot Asian buns,’ they come with various fillings, such as pork, veggies, sweet custard, chocolate, Chinese sausage, and more. It is believed that the military leader Zhuge Liang invented the buns, which spread to Asia first and then to other parts of the world. These white-dough dumplings steamed to perfection are typical fast food in many parts of Asia.

This is the perfect day to read Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang and Charlene Chia. Once you have read it, eat some bao make some bao or get to know Amy Wu better by reading the other books about her.