26th March Spinach Day

Spinach Day! Do we need a day to celebrate spinach? I don't think there would be too many children who thought so, and Popeye is no longer a cult hero with the children I teach. Yes, I know it is good for you!

There was only one book in the library with 'spinach' in the title -  Sylvia's Spinach. Here is the blurb from Book Depository, and I can't say it better. I'll put it on display and see if it is borrowed and if so by a child or a parent? Perhaps the teacher in charge of the school garden will be interested.

Sylvia Spivens hates spinach. "No spinach in my egg! No spinach in my soup! No spinach! Ever!" But one day Sylvia's teacher gives her a packet of spinach seeds to plant for a school garden. What to do? Overcoming her reluctance and enduring a long wait, Sylvia discovers the joy of growing food from the ground up and finds the pleasure of tasting something new. Parents will identify with the challenge of feeding healthy food to a picky eater, and educators will understand the magic and rewards of school gardens. Best of all, young readers will celebrate Sylvia's strong will, curiosity, and, maybe, her love of spinach.

29th May Pink Flamingo Day

Pink Flamingo Day is celebrated on this day according to a book I have just purchased. It is written by the poet laureate,  J. Patrick Lewis and called World Rat Day: Poems About Holidays You've Never Heard Of. It is perfect for planning library displays because it is quirky and celebrates days you literally will never have heard of. There is Worm Day and Cephalopod Day among others. Lewis claims the holidays are real, but to me it doesn't really matter. It gives me an excuse to keep the displays changing and the books in my library going out the door and the readers get to see their planet as a home for wonderful living creatures that warrant some thought occasionally.

In honour of flamingos Lewis wrote a wonderful concrete poem:
   'A flamingo is a long cooooooooool drink of something pink.'
And Anna Raff illustrates it amusingly and irresistibly.

There's obviously not an abundance of books on flamingos in the library, but there was enough to make  a benchtop look enticing with a copy of the poem and the six books. Included were:
• the wonderful new textless treat - Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle
• Sylvie  by Jennifer Sattler which gives a whole new stance on you are what you eat.
• the three Miss Mingo books by Jamie Harper
• the beautiful poetry anthology Flamingo Bendalingo by Paula Green, and
• the token non-fiction information book, Flamingos by Jean M. Malone

Did you know a group of flamingos is a flamboyance! What a great word to share with children. I learned this and some other amazing facts about flamingos here.