9th April Unicorn Day

What mythological creature has been more beloved over the centuries than the unicorn? Symbols of purity and enchantment, unicorns are loved by both children and adults alike and are integral parts of many fairy tales and legends.

Unicorns certainly do appear to be popular in children's books and just as well because I am constantly asked for a 'unicorn book'. Luckily I have quite a few in the library to choose from. The most popular are probably Amy Krouse Rosenthal's two books about Uni the Unicorn and Amy Young's books about Sparkle, but if you look on this Pinterest page you will see there are many others to choose from and to use for a quick display to celebrate this day.

A group of able Year 2 students  have taken to reading the series of graphic novels about Phoebe and her unicorn too, so come tomorrow unicorn books will be walking out the door of the library.

14th July Bastille Day

The 14th July is Bastille Day, the French
national
holiday that celebrates the storming of the Bastille which took place on 14th July, 1789. This date and occasion marked the beginning of the French Revolution and the end of absolute power for the reigning monarch, Louis the 16th. And although this concept is probably beyond the children I teach, they do learn French. It is the language taught to 3 to 8 year olds by very gifted teachers who make French live. The library has a large number of picture books in French. We have a box full of Madeleine books and another of Babar as well as books about France, but today I thought it would be good to highlight three more recent picture books that you may be less likely to know.

The Queen of France by Tim Wadham and Kady MacDonald Denton is not really about France at all, but about a very creative child, named rose who imagines herself a queen and her parents go along with the game.

Moi and Marie Antoinette by Lyn Cullen and Amy Young. This story is told by Marie Antoinette's dog and it concentrates on the princess's early life from a child in Austria up to her marriage to Louis XVI.

The Day We Danced in Underpants by Sarah Wilson and Catherine Stock. Here the King and Queen of France invite guests to picnic with them. A man has a clothing malfunction and his underwear is exposed. The result is very funny and an important lesson is learned from the embarrassing event.

24th January

According to many calendars, yesterday, 23rd January was Measure Your Feet Day. Why I do not know, but when I started to think about books that you could use on a day with this moniker, there were plenty that leant themselves to having fun with this topic. If you want to plan an activity-based lesson for very young children, Aliki's My Feet would be a good starting point. You could also have fun with Dr Seuss' The Foot Book. Two good stories to read which look at feet, their size and gumboots are Alfie's Feet by Shirley Hughes and Muddy Footprints by Mary Small. For children who like ballet, Belinda Ballerina is the star of a series of books by Amy Young. Belinda wants to be a ballerina but she has a problem, two very big feet! And, lastly just because it is a story everyone should read and it is about feet, Four Feet, Two Sandals by Karen Lynn Williams.

24th December Noel Streatfield (1895 - 1986)

Now I know why Noel Streatfield was named Noel. Her sisters had more traditional names. When I was a child and in love with Ballet Shoes and her other books I thought she was a male and Noel was a boy's name. I did wonder why he wrote about ballet. I didn't have access to anything like the web or books that would give me any biographical details about authors. I think that was one of the reasons I was so fascinated by authors and then illustrators and chose to research them more when studying children's literature at uni. While Noel Streatfield's stories may have had a focus such as ballet or tennis, they were always family stories and the reader got involved in the characters' lives. The clientele of my library are not ready to read Ballet Shoes, but as a topic ballet is extremely popular as a reading focus. Books such as Patricia Lee Gauch's series about Tanya, Amy Young's series about Belinda, Jan Ormerod's Ballet Sisters about Sylvie and Bonnie and Adele Geras' books about Tilly will certainly ready my readers to tackle Noel Streatfield's books later in primary school.