Book Week Picture Book Shortlist: We Live in a Bus by Dave Petzold

Often the picture books chosen for the shortlist are for an older audience than the students I teach, but this year that is not the case and many of them could be shared with them. We Live in a Bus  certainly could be. This is the story of a family on a trip around Australia who travel by converted bus rather than camper van or caravan. Of course this has been done before, but that doesn't distract from this book. It is fun and offers a different perspective.

Australia already has two very iconic picture books about travelling around Australia, Possum Magic  and Are We There Yet? and I think Dirt by Sea deserves to be added to this list.

• Dirt by Sea by Michael Wagner and Tom Jellett

Explore our wonderful coastline and the joy of a family road-trip with Dad and Daisy! Along the way, they will discover all about Australia and much, much more. Daisy lives in inland Australia with her dad and her grandparents, loving the red dirt land around her. But when her dad realises she's never seen the beach, they set off on a trip you won't want to miss.

The themes highlighted by We Live in a Bus are easy to highlight in a book display and many of these books would make ideal companion texts (see the four below). Collect together books about things you would see travelling Australia, books about camping and caravan parks, books about travelling with family for an extended time. 

• We Live in a Caravan  by Jess Tsigros and Holly Milner

This book follows a family travelling around Australia in their caravan, visiting each state and territory along the way. They meet many different people, spot wildlife, reconnect with nature and enjoy time as a family on the road. 

• An Amazing Australian Roadtrip  by Jackie Hosking and Lesley Vamod

A family visits every state and territory of Australia, looking for the perfect picnic spot and experiencing all the landscapes, climates and wonders that Australia has to offer along the way.

• Our Home on Wheels  by Jessica and Stephen Parry-Valentine and Ashlee Spink

Mum and Dad told me they've got a wild plan . . . We're exploring Australia in a snug little van. Ride along with Hunter as she discovers beaches and billabongs, paddocks and plains, forests and dugouts, and even underwater worlds. A big adventure awaits!

• Highway by Nadia Wheatley and Andrew McLean

Dad's a truckie and he, Mum and the kids are going on a very different holiday: a trip down the highway on an overnight run. They're even taking their swimmers and towels! This book captures all the wonder of a child's journey of discovery, and at the same time touches on a range of environmental issues. 

Then collect these to display:

This Our Australia  series by Phil Kettle has twelve books, each about a place in Australia and they provide just the right amount of information about places travelled to.

26th April Hug an Australian Day

Really? What did we do to deserve this day? Easy to do if you live in Australia. Not so easy if you live elsewhere. I guess it doesn't have to be a person. So find something Australian and give it a hug! 

If it doesn't have to be a person, find your favourite Australian book and give it a hug! There's hundreds of books with 'hug' in the title, but not many of them are Australian. The Runaway Hug by Nick Bland and Freya Blackwood is and so is  I Need a Hug by Aaron Blabey. What a pity Blabey chose a porcupine instead of an Australian animal such as the echidna.

12th February Darwin Day

One hundred and eighty-one years ago, on January 12, 1836, HMS Beagle entered Sydney Harbour with the 26-year old Charles Darwin on board. Sydney was just one of many ports of call for the Beagle on its five-year round-the-world surveying voyage.

While he was in Australia, Charles Darwin saw animals that lead him to think about how animals came to be and natural selection and thus began his thinking and work that lead to his Theory of Evolution.

Talking about this anniversary on Charles Darwin's birthday with students always elicits much discussion and there are always requests for books so they can read more. 

These three books are a good start but there are many picture books on evolution that are easy enough for eight year olds to begin an interest. Also see here for two other other books.

21st July National Lamington Day

The 21st July is  in Australia. We started term 3 on Monday with lamingtons for morning tea on our PD day. They were yummy and we all said what a good way to start the term. I also thought to myself, what a good way to start a term in the library where the theme Australia: Story Country was going to be at the forefront. The children know the story of Possum Magic so well that they are quick to tell you that Hush eats a  lamington to make himself visible again.
Lamington Day

In Hobart, late one night, in the kitchens of the casino, they saw a lamington on a plate. Hush closed her eyes and nibbled. Grandma Poss held her breath - and waited.
"It's worked! It's worked!" she cried. And she was right. Hush could be seen from head to tail. Grandma Poss hugged Hush, and they both danced "Here We Go Round the Lamington Plate" till early in the morning. 
So from that time onwards, Hush was visible. But once a year, on her birthday, she and Grandma Poss ate a Vegemite sandwich, a piece of pavlova and half a lamington, just to make sure that Hush stayed visible forever.
And she did.

Possum Magic, Mem Fo

 Just bought the 2015 edition of The Possum Magic Cookbook and it has a lamington recipe along with other Australian classics.

The Lamington Man  by Kel Richards is an Australian Gingerbread man story and while it is lightweight it would be fun to share with the story of Lord Lamington and how lamingtons came to be.

Yesterday with my Kindergarten classes we talked about things that were 'Australian', authors that were 'Australian' and places in Australia. We talked about where they went in Australia during the holidays and we located them on a large map of Australia that I have affixed to the floor in the library.  This proved to be a big success. The sign around the kangaroo's neck says 'Hop in and read!' The Kindergarten students did lots of hopping on the map as you can imagine.