3rd July World Seabird Day

World Seabird Day is held on 3rd July, marking when the extinct Great Auk Pinguinis impennis was last seen in 1844. Seabirds refer to a group of birds that adapted to the marine environment. Most species are currently threatened by human activities, like oil spills, getting trapped in fishing nets, climate change, and severe weather. Seabird scientists and enthusiasts commemorate this date to raise awareness of the ongoing conservation threats to seabird populations. Regarding solutions, there is a current focus on adjusting fishing techniques and establishing wildlife refugees. 

The Great Auk was a penguin that was native to the Northern Hemisphere. A flightless North Atlantic seabird, the Great Auk was a powerful swimmer whose extinction became a lasting warning about human impact on wildlife. They were native to the Arctic and sub-Arctic, and became extinct in 1844.

Here in the Southern Hemisphere the children I teach know a lot about penguins and the various types that are native to Australia and Antarctica. Some also ask for books about albatross and skuas, but there are many other seabirds. Looking at seabird identification charts such as these shows just how many there are.

A favourite picture book about Australian seabirds is The Best Beak in Boonaroo Bay  by Narelle Oliver. This beautiful book was published over thirty years ago but it is still available to purchase and it is a fun read and discussion starter when students start competing. It is also a good way to talk about comparisons and whether it is an equal playing field. 

Another Australian book about seabirds is The Beach Birds  by Bridget Farmer.

South with the Seabirds  by Jess McGeachin tells the story of four female scientists who went to Antarctica in 1959 to research birds.

Your library might also have this , Sea Birds  by Julie Murphy.

Although I have only highlighted four books that specifically are about seabirds of the Southern hemisphere, you will find lots of other more general bird books read, and information books that deal with just one specific bird. eg. albatrosses, pelicans, seagulls, penguins, shearwaters etc.

1st December Happy Antarctica Day

Antarctica Day falls on the anniversary of the adoption of the Antarctic Treaty, which took place on 1 December 1959.

Australia was one of 12 original signatories to the Treaty and continues to play a leading and influential role in international Antarctic affairs. The number of parties to the Treaty has grown to 53 today, reflecting the increasing international recognition of the scientific and environmental values of Antarctica.

The Year 2 children I teach are fascinated by Antarctica because I often read Jill Tomlinson's novel 

The Penguin Who Wanted to Find Out

which follows the life of an emperor penguin chick named Otto, and then we do some research on emperor penguins to see if Jill Tomlinson had researched them before including the factual detail in the book. While Year 2 are doing a unit of inquiry on water we also look at Antarctica as being a desert and why that is.

If you are celebrating Antarctica Day in your library there are so many books for a display.

Great picture books:

• Sophie Scott Goes South  by Alison Lester

• One Small Island  by Alison Lester and Coral Tulloch

• Antarctica  by Helen Cowcher

• Antarctica by Moira Court

• Iceberg by Claire Saxby and Jessica Racklyeft

• My Uncle Lives in Antarctica by Aimee Chan and Angela Perrini

• One Day on Our Blue Planet ...in the Antarctic by Ella Bailey

• Dreaming of Antarctica  by Jane Godwin and Terry Denton

• My Antarctic Dad  by Hazel Edwards and Kevin Burgemeestre

• Solo by Paul Geraghty

• The Penguin Who Wanted to Find Out by Jill Tomlinson and Paul Howard

• Antarctic Journal by Meredith Hooper and Lucia deLeiris

Some more factual books and some books with photographs:

• Here in Antarctica  by Madeleine Dunphy and Tom Leonard

• Antarctica: the Heart of the World by Coral Tulloch

• Let's Save Antarctica  by Catherine Barr and Jean Claude

• Antarctica (Usborne Beginners) by Lucy Bowman

• Emperor Penguin (Young Zoologist)  by Dr LaRue

• The Big Book of Antarctica  by Charles Hope

• The Antarctica Book: Living in the Freezer by Dr. Mark Norman

• The Penguin Book: Birds in Suits by Dr Mark Norman

• Antarctica: A Continent of Wonder by Mario Cuesta Hernando and Raquel Martin

25th April World Penguin Day

Every day is Penguin Day for me. I love them. The children I teach love learning about them and they are very popular as topics and characters in children's books. I have written about them before for Penguin Awareness Day in January and listed many of my favourite books.

Last term Year 2 and I read Jill Tomlinson's short novel, Penguin's Progress (The Penguin Who Wanted to Find Out) over several weeks and as we read, we checked to see if the information she had given us about Emperor penguins was indeed correct. In the process the students handled many non-fiction books, looked online at film clips and websites and chose themselves to borrow picture books and short novels which had penguins as characters.  The library had over a hundred penguin books and they were well-borrowed. We looked at penguins' habitat, lifecycles, food and enemies. The students were not happy when we added 'man' to the list of enemies. This came about when we read Solo  by Paul Geraghty, a heart-wrenching family story where the students felt sure that the father and mother penguin would not come back to feed baby Solo. Ulco Glimmerveen's A Tale of Antarctica  also showed students the impact humans have on the pristine environment of Antarctica.

With the topic of penguins it is so hard to know where to start reading with children because there is just so much worth reading! But these are musts!

30th July Peter Gouldthorpe (1954)

Today is author illustrator Peter Gouldthorpe's birthday and although I have written about it before I want to 'sell' three of his books that have been published since then. Peter seems to be having a 'love affair' with Antarctica. While on holiday in Tasmania I went to an exhibition of his paintings and felt so in awe of the way he could make snow look so appealing, even if scary, and different in every painting and I feel this way too about his illustrations in No Return and Ice, Wind, Rock. The first tells the story of English explorer Captain Robert Scott's quest to be the first to reach the South Pole.  The second, in a way a companion book,  is the story of Australian explorer Douglas Mawson's journey to the pole. Mawson is important in Australian history as he is on the $100 dollar note. He was firstly a lecturer in geology at Adelaide University. His interest in rocks led him to join Shackleton, an English explorer who had gone with Scott on his first expedition when he went to Antarctica. Gouldthorpe has managed to show these men's courage, strength and heroism in a very inhospitable place. His illustrations are powerful and very detailed. There are teachers notes to accompany Ice Wind, Rock  and there is a biography of Sir Douglas Mawson here.

Another book,  Lyrebird! A True Story  illustrated by Peter and written by Jackie Kerin is another Australian story that brings the past to life for young children.

Lyrebird! A True Story is based on the real tale of Edith Wilkinson and a a lyrebird she called 'James' who danced in Edith's Dandenongs garden in the 1930s. At the time, Superb Lyrebirds were believed to be shy and elusive, but James tolerated human audiences and performed for bird-watchers and ornithologists who arrived from around the globe. Upon a platform built on Edith's verandah rail, he became one of the first lyrebirds to be captured on film, and helped spread the reputation of these birds as uncanny imitators of the sounds around them.

This book is on the shortlist this year for the Eve Pownall Award and well worth sharing with children. Museum Victoria has footage of Edith and James and information here that will help when planning lessons to share this wonderful story.

Peter Gouldthorpe successfully brings true stories and history to life for young children in a way that no history textbook will ever manage.