13th May Train Day

I have written about books for train lovers before but it was back in 2017 and now I have a whole new lot of train enthusiasts looking for books in the library. What is it about trains and young boys? Yes in my library it is boys. Of course any book about Thomas the Tank Engine and The Little Red Train by Benedict Blathwayt are still popular, but I thought I'd look at some other favourites and just how long trains have been a fascination for young children.

Picture books about trains for children have existed for quite some time, when you consider that the Little Golden Books: The Little Engine That Could (1930) by Watty Piper, Tootle (1945) by Gertrude Crampton, The Train to Timbuctoo (1951) by Margaret Wise Brown and The Little Red Caboose (1953) by Marian Potter have existed for so long and are still in print. 

Cherished by readers for over ninety years, The Little Engine That Could is a classic tale of a little engine who, despite her size, triumphantly pulls a train full of wonderful things to the children waiting on the other side of a mountain. The repetitive refrain hooks in very young readers and keeps them eager to continue. Many versions of this story now exist. It has been reillustrated, abridged and even made into a movie.

Watty Piper is the pseudonym for Arnold Munk, the author behind the classic retelling of The Little Engine That Could and cofounder of Platt & Munk Publishers (now part of Grosset & Dunlap.) Munk's retelling of the beloved children's tale has sold millions of copies since its 1930 publication and inspired generations to believe they can. As of 2001, Tootle was the all-time third best-selling hardcover children's book in English. All of this certainly confirms that trains are a popular topic for young children's books and reading!

Other 'oldies' are Choo Choo: The Story of a Little Engine Who Ran Away (1937)   by Virginia Lee Burton, The Little Train (1940) by Lois Lenski, Two Little Trains (1949)  by Margaret Wise Brown and Leo and Diane Dillon, 1,2,3 To the Zoo (1968) by Eric Carle, The Caboose Who Got Loose (1971) by Bill Peet and The Little Train (1974) by  Graham Greene and Edward Ardizzone and Freight Train (1978) by Donald Crews.

The six stories by Benedict Blathwayt about The Little Red Train  and his driver Duffy continue to amuse even me when I get to read any of them aloud. Huffitty-chuffitty . . . huffitty-chuffitty . . . huffitty-chuffitty puff" went the smoke from the Little Red Train's funnel. Chuff-chuff, chuffity chuff, whoo. . . oo. . oo! There's plenty of train noise to make.

I can just remember steam trains. I have memories of standing on the bridge over the railway line in the country town I grew up in, listening to the loud noise and getting covered in smelly smoke. This memory is front of mind when I share Charlotte Voake's Here Comes the Train with children. I do like steam trains and many of the trains depicted in children's picture books are steam trains still, despite the fact that most children nowadays are unlikely to have seen one unless their family has taken them to a museum or rail open day.

These children's books that are popular have steam trains involved in the adventure:

• Steam Train Dream Train  by Sherry Duskey Rinker & Tom Lichtenheld

• Oi! Get Off My Train  by John Burningham

• Down By the Station  by Will Hillenbrand

• The Cat, the Mouse and the Runaway Train  by Peter Bently & Steve Cox

• How to Train a Train  by Jason Carter Eaton & John Rocco

See the covers of these books here on Pinterest.

It is the sounds that trains make on the tracks that often provide a rhythm for the story and a myriad of opportunities for onomatopoeia. That's why poems such as  A Peanut Sat on a Railroad Track  and Philip Booth's Crossing remain. There is an illustrated version of Crossing. It was Bagram Ibatoulline's first foray into illustration and although it is quite American it is a beautiful book.

Here in Australia, train journeys can be very long. The trips that take days like The Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin, and the trip on The Indian Pacific from Sydney to Perth via the Nullarbor Plain still seem to excite tourists enough to pay the large fares. They are historical railway journeys and because trains have featured in the history of remote Australia there are picture books that celebrate them:

• The Shop Train by Josie Wowolla Boyle & Paul Seden

• Tea and Sugar Christmas by Jane Jolly & Robert Ingpen

• Bob the Railway Dog by Corinne Fenton & Andrew McLean

Of course there are other avenues to explore. There is all the wonderful nonfiction information books. There are subways, stations, station masters, everything related to trains to explore ...

8th - 12th October Cephalopod Awareness Days

'Every year from the 8th to the 12th of October, International Cephalopod Awareness Days come around to teach the world about cephalopods. This event is all about celebrating and sharing how fascinating and incredible they are!

Cephalopods are a class of marine invertebrates that are easy to recognize by all their arms and tentacles. They are part of the Phylum Mollusca, which means they’re related to other animals with soft bodies and shells, like snails and clams. Unlike the other molluscs, though, cephalopods have large brains and are known for their intelligence. Cephalopods are also interesting because they have three hearts and blue blood. They have highly developed eyes, and they have an amazing ability to camouflage because their skin can quickly change color and texture.'

Each of the days is designated:

October 8 – Octopus Day, for all the eight-armed species

October 9 – Nautilus Night, a time for all the lesser-known extant cephalopods

October 10 – Squid Day/Cuttlefish Day, or Squidturday, covering the tentacular species

October 11 – Myths and Legends Day, for all the fantastical cephalopods of movies, literature and legend. Release the Kraken!

October 12 – Fossil Day (to coincide with National Fossil Day), for all the incredible suckers that have gone extinct.

Kindergarten's unit of enquiry this term is to do with the sea, so there isn't anything left in my library to display, but if I could these books would be there to borrow:

Two that I especially like are new and they do what a lot of good nonfiction for younger children does so well. Look for Octopuses One to Ten by Ellen Jackson and Robin Page and Octopus Escapes Again by Laurie Ellen Angus.
And I would really like to see this one, Giant Squid because I am a fan of Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann and I'm sure it will be good.

We have a lovely octopus toy so I will need to do this display at some time earlier in the year.

P.S. Why do we spell molluscs with a 'c' and Americans put a 'k' so it is mollusks?

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October Pizza Month

October is Pizza Month in the USA. The children I teach love pizza, so much so that if I want to reward them for finishing something like the Premier's Reading Challenge we have a pizza party in the library. The students love the thought of eating in the library even if the reality isn't what they think it will be! We read Adam Rubin's Secret Pizza Party and everyone is sworn to secrecy so that the students who weren't there have to keep wondering what it was like.

My students will be back at school next week after two week's holiday when they probably ate plenty of pizza, but nevertheless I have put out a table full of these resources (all the pizza books in the library) to celebrate Pizza Month. I will also add some cook books which have pizza making.

7th June Butterfly Day

In the UK today is designated Butterfly Education and Awareness Day, a day to make people aware of the role of butterflies in pollination and what they can do to ensure there are butterfly habitats close to them. Butterflies are certainly fascinating creatures because of their beauty and delicacy.

Many children's books focus on butterflies, but the ones here, I have included because of their illustrations and/or stories rather than their factual information. They will certainly cover a wide range of uses.

1. Butterfly by Petr Horacek.
2. A Butterfly is Patient  by Dianna Hutts Acton and Sylvia Long.
3. Caterpillar Butterfly by Vivian French and Charlotte Voake.
4.  Caterpillar and Butterfly by Ambelin Kwaymullina.
5.  Ten Little Caterpillars by Bill Martin Jnr and Lois Ehlert.
6.  I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe and Ed Young.
7. Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly by Alan Madison and Kevin Hawkes.
8.  Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian by Margarita Engle and Julie Paschkis

For more butterfly titles including expository texts see Pinterest here.

28th March Skipping Day

Our school is a 'big' skipping school. We take part in Jump Rope for Heart and the kindergarten teachers make a point of teaching their children to skip each year and giving them time during most days to do some skipping before the big event. Last year the teachers told the children they would come to school in their pyjamas if they raised a certain amount of money. It was a very large amount and I don't think the teachers thought it would ever happen, but it did! So school in pyjamas happened.

So when I read it was Skipping Day in England today I thought I would investigate what they did in the way of skipping. It turns out that it is not a fundraising day, but purely about children, fun and good aerobic exercise. Schools can register, just like our Jump Rope and take part in activities that are planned and conducted by visitors to the school.

Today as I was putting Olive and the Big Secret  by Tor Freeman back on the shelf, I noticed that Olive always seems to have a skipping rope in her hands and then I went to the catalogue to see what other books could be used to  encourage skipping. There were three:
• Hop, Skip and Jump, Maisy!  by Lucy Cousins
• Ready, Set, Skip!  by Jane O'Connor and Ann James
• Elsie Piddock Skips in her Sleep  by Eleanor Farejon and Charlotte Voake.

And then two books with skipping rhymes:
• One Two Skip a Few by Roberta Arenson
• Schoolyard Rhymes by Judy Sierra and Melissa Sweet

And don't forget all those rhymes from your childhood like Cinderella dressed in yella, went upstairs...; Miss Mary Mack all dressed in black...; Teddy bear, teddy bear... etc  all collected together by June factor in Australia and Roger Abrahams in the USA.

13th March Multiple Birth Week starts

Multiple Birth Awareness Week is a national event held annually to celebrate the joy of parenting multiples, but also to educate communities and professionals about the challenges and joys of parenting twins, triplets and more. In the library I couldn't find any books about triplets or more, but I put together a display using quite a few books about twins that I found. There are three sets of twins at school at the moment, one of each of the possible combinations so it is good to show them, if not everyone that there are books written about twins. There seemed to be more novels than picture books, but the newest title, Take Two! is a lovely poetry book by J.Patrick Lewis and Jane Yolen and it certainly made a lovely centrepiece. It is illustrated by the Australian, but US-based illustrator Sophie Blackall. Look also for these picture books

• Hello Twins by Charlotte Voake

• The Holy Twins the historical story of Scholastica and Benedict, twins who both became saints and played a large part in Catholic education. It is written by Kathleen Norris and beautifully illustrated by Tomie dePaola.

• Meet the Barkers and other titles in the series about twins Morgan and Moffatt. These are written and illustrated by Tomie dePaola.

• Double Trouble by Deborah Niland and

• Twinnies by Eve Bunting

Then there are these novels:

• Twin Trouble and Connie and the Waterbabies by Jacqueline Wilson. These two come in one book under the title Twin Tales.

• Double Act another novel by Jacqueline Wilson also has twins, but they are older than Connie's siblings. They are ten and dealing with bigger family issues than Connie.

22nd June Jan Mark (1943 - 2006)

Jan Mark was a British secondary school teacher who gave up teaching in order to write full-time and she has written a large number of wonderful books. As well as novels for older children for which she won many awards, Jan wrote books for children who were newly independent fluent readers. In my library there is Snow Maze; The Dead Letter Box; The Cat's Way Home and The Twig Thing, all of which are now looking well-read and somewhat shabby, but are nevertheless good reads. Hopefully like many other short novels they will be reimaged and published again.

We also have some memorable picture books. Among them Fur a lovely cat story that is illustrated by Charlotte Voake, Strat and Chatto another cat story, but including a rat as well this time and with quirky illustrations by David Hughes, and The Museum Book which looks at the concept of a museum and collections with illustrations by Richard Holland.

Now for a third picture book on the refugee theme. Four Feet, Two Sandals (Karen Lynn Williams, Khadra Mohammed and Doug Chayka) is the moving story of Lina and Feroza, two young girls who are living in a refugee camp on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border waiting to hear when they will be resettled. The girls become friends because they each find one sandal from a matching pair, and rather than fight over who should have both they share them, taking turns to wear the pair. Khadra Mohammed is one of the authors of this story and it is based on her experiences in Peshawar. There is a short authors' note at the back of the book which explains in simple language about how the people in Afghanistan became refugees and are resettled in places such as America. There are teaching notes for this book at

Karen Lynn Williams website. If you do not have access to this book there is a visual analysis of the book on YouTube.