6th May Bruce Appreciation Day

I was reading through a lighthearted calendar pertaining to the Pastafarians and they said today was Bruce Appreciation Day, but looking further I found a website saying it is National Bruce Day on 14th May. It doesn't really matter when it is I'm celebrating today. 

Bruce is my mother's maiden name and we were lead to believe that it is a Scottish name, but Bruce, or Brus, was a name introduced to England in the massive migration wave from Normandy during the Norman Conquest of 1066. Therefore, contrary to popular belief, its roots are outside the British Isles.

Here's two ways to celebrate:

1. Do a Bruce  display. Start with Mother Bruce who is a character created by Ryan T. Higgins.

This is the first book in a series about Bruce.
Bruce is a bear who likes living alone and making fancy gourmet recipes he finds on the internet. But when the goose eggs he's cooking for breakfast hatch, Bruce becomes something new- a mother.

Look at Ryan Higgins website and see just how many books there are about Bruce. Our library has nine  of the 11 titles.

2. Display books by Australian author illustrator Bruce Whatley. He has so many wonderful books to explore, more than 70.  You will know his series about Mothball, a wombat that he has illustrated for Jackie French. He has another series where he has collaborated with Jackie French. Each of these books features an extreme weather event eg. Cyclone; Flood; Plague; Fire.  There is the series about Billy, a bilby that he has done with Nette Hilton and Danny daVinci  which he did with his wife, Rosie Smith.

If you don't like these ideas, or if your students are older, you could also celebrate author Bruce Pascoe.