13th May World Migratory Bird Day

This year the theme for World Migratory Bird Day is “Birds Connect Our World” and it was chosen to highlight the importance of conserving and restoring the ecological connectivity and integrity of ecosystems that support the natural movements of migratory birds and that are essential for their survival and well-being. What a great theme!

I have written about this day before, but wanted to write about it again because lately I have been reminded of so many beautiful books that do this topic so well.

Mike Unwin and Jenni Desmond's wonderful book Migration gives many examples of birds that do these great migrations, but it is the individual picture story books that heighten our awe and empathy for both the birds and the sheer vastness of the journeys.

Jeannie Baker's Circle  tells the migration story for the Bar-tailed Godwit which makes the longest unbroken migration of any bird, a total of 11000 kilometres, all the way from Alaska to New Zealand. The illustrations allow the reader to follow the journey very closely and to marvel at the ingenuity and tenacity of such a small bird. New Zealand authors have also written about this bird and a new book  Little Godwit Finds His Wings was published this year.

Two books that look at migrating cranes are Grandfather's Dream by Holly Keller and Lotus and Feather by Ji-Li Jiang. Holly Keller's book, set in Vietnam tells the story of Nam and her grandfather who is constantly harking back to the days when the cranes came to the delta as part of their migratory journey.  Jiang's story, set in China tells of a crane that fails to finish a migration because of a hunter's bullet. The discussions elicited by classroom readings of these two books. Lotus and Feather could be read along side Rechenka's Eggs by Patricia Polacca as there are similarities in that Rechenka is an injured goose who also needs to be nursed back to health.

Another two books for comparison are about hummingbirds. Look for Tiny Bird by Robert Burleigh and Wendell Minor and Hummingbird by Nicola Davies and Jane Ray. Both of these chart the long journey from Mexico to Canada that this tiny bird that is smaller than you thumb makes each Spring.    

In Is this Panama? by Jan Thornhill and  Soyeon Kim,  a young Wilson's warbler wakes up one day knowing this is the day to start a long journey from the Arctic Circle to Panama and because this bird is named, Sammy you cannot help but get involved in his plight. He is no longer, just any bird!

I noticed there is a new book coming called The Sea Swallow and the Humpback Whale by Catherine Barr and Gerry Turley which tracks two migratory journeys across sea and sky. I look forward to seeing this.

While each of these books tells an amazing story of persistence, resilience and sheer determination it is the illustrations in each that make them very special. The illustrations do much more than give a map or track a journey. They personalise, imbue wonder and allow the reader to marvel.

Water (Part 1)

Given the bushfires, extreme heat, preparing for going back to school and doing the bulk loans for classes who are doing a unit of study on Water, I have got to thinking about the fine line between drought, bushfire and flood and how prevalent these are as topics in children's literature not only in the Southern hemisphere where they are prevalent now. Every culture seems to have stories based on the weather extremes experienced by people and animals. Today I want to highlight some Australian books that show these extremes and how people cope, and often develop a very strong community as a result.
Two books that look at the effects of drought are:
• Two Summers by John Heffernan and Freya Blackwood. The young male narrator here explains the differences in the farm a visiting friend will see this visit when there is drought compared to a previous visit without drought.
• Water Witcher by Jan Ormerod. Although set in the past, this story about Dougie and his family carting water and handfeeding animals shows the hardship and the stark environment drought causes.

Then there are books that show the pleasure and relief that rain brings when the drought breaks.
• Here Comes the Rain by Clare Good and David Cox. Here Grace watches and waits. her grandfather has told her all the signs of rain to look for. She watches the ants, horses and other animals looking for the signs.
• Rain Dance by Cathy Applegate and Dee Huxley. Here too, a young girl waits for rain, then ''the first drops beat out a hesitant rhythm on the corrugated-iron roof," and then the girl dances in pleasure..."the rain is so heavy, it almost hurts as it pelts my head and shoulders."
• Big Rain Coming by Katrina Germein and Bronwyn Bancroft. Once again we see people waiting for rain, looking for signs of rain and then celebrating when it finally arrives.

And, then what happens when the rain comes or it is too much.
• The Story of Rosy Dock by Jeannie Baker and Flood Fish by Robyn Eversole and Sheldon Greenberg both tell of what happens when the Finke River, which is usually just a dry river bed, floods in outback Northern territory on the edge of the Simpson Desert. The first tells of the ramifications in detail. The second recounts the fun a child has swimming with fish in water that isn't usually there.
• Flood by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley recounts the Brisbane floods of 20011 and the human drama that unfolded there. Whatley's illustrations 'make you feel the water and mud'.


While not all of these books are still in print, school libraries will have them and the visual imagery in all of these books is outstanding. You get to feel the hardship, the anguish, the horror, the joy and the suddenness of weather in parts of the harsh Australian environment.

12th April Beverly Cleary (1916)

Wow! Today Beverly Cleary is 95! She is a real hero to me. When I first started teaching I had huge success serialising her novels with my classes. We laughed together at Ramona, Beezus and Henry's antics and then the children were hooked and kept reading any book written by Beverly Cleary that I added to the classroom library. Then later when I was an English consultant, one of my jobs was to help schools instigate Drop Everything and Read programs in their schools. This was such a success that in the end I was doing it by remote control with a written package and phone calls to interstate and even secondary schools. So when I found out that America celebrates Drop Everything and Read Day on Beverly Cleary's birthday I think that is a very fitting tribute to a deserving author. Even later still when my daughter was learning to read, one of the first books she read independently and subsequently loved was a copy of Socks that we had bought at a jumble sale. So began her love affair with cats and babies!

On a less happy note. Today the shortlists for the Australian Children's Book of the Year awards were announced. The Early Childhood list is such a disappointment! Every year I make my own short list and every year I am disappointed. I spend my whole working week with children aged between 3 and 8 who are supposed to be the intended audience of this category - under the list the blurb says these books are 'intended for children in the pre-reading to early reading stages' and I think the judges sell them very short. Two of my picks would have been Jane Godwin and Anna Walker's All Through the Year and Bob Graham's April Underhill, Tooth Fairy, but they aren't there. How can Bob Graham's book make the Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist, but not the Australian list? Is this going to be Harry and Hopper all over again? The Transition class (ie 4 year olds) have had All Through the Year in their room and one of the Kindergarten classes (ie 5 year olds) have had Jeannie Baker's Mirror in their classroom all term and when I suggested they go to other rooms the children were very quick to say 'we haven't finished with it yet!' Too often this category is won by a 'baby' book that has rhyme and rhythm and not much else. The books most borrowed from the library have humour, outstanding illustrations and a story that demands multiple readings. When school goes back I will have my chance to read all of the shortlist with children and gauge their responses. I hope I am wrong and get to write a retraction.

17th January

No birthdays! I went into school today to start the bulk loans for classrooms and given what has been happening in Australia, I went looking for books about floods, because I know they will be on everyone's mind. While there are many that can be used to start discussion, perhaps the best one to look at the reality and hardship of floods from a family's point of view is the picture book Flood by Mary Calhoun and Erick Ingraham. This story about Sarajean and her family is set during the 1993 floods in the Midwest of America, but what it depicts and the events in the lead up to the levee bank breaking could just as easily be alongside a river in Queensland or Victoria.

Another picture book that shows the devastation a flood can cause, but also the strong community response as the clean-up commences is The Children of the Yangtze River by the Danish illustrator, Otto S. Svend. This book is very old, but I cannot bring myself to remove it from the library because of its story. Mei Mei and her friend Chang walk to school every day along the banks of the river in China. One day the river rises swiftly and sweeps houses, trees, homes and people along in its path. There are drastic consequences, but the community pull together to restore their village.

If you want to look at Australian books, look in the library for:

• The Useless Donkeys by Lydia Pender and Judith Cowell. Here the family's donkeys are stranded on an island caused by a flood on their farm and a debate about their usefulness pursues.

• Mike's Bulldozer and the Big Flood by Nan Bodsworth. Here bulldozers are used to hold back a flood.

• The Flood by Nigel Gray and Elise Hurst. Mrs Farmer invites the farm animals into her house during a flood rather than see them get wet.

These three are suitable for all ages, including preschool. The next two which look at how flooding affects desert rivers are for older children.

• The Story of Rosy Dock by Jeannie Baker explains the phenomenon of how flood water can spread seeds.

• Flood Fish Robyn Eversole and Sheldon Greenberg explains the phenomenon of fish being in water where prior to the rain there hadn't been any water.

2nd November Jeannie Baker (1950)

Jeannie Baker was born in England but has lived in Australia for a long time now and the arrival of a new book of hers is always eagerly anticipated. Recently I went to the launch of her latest, Mirror and it certainly did not disappoint. It is unique in its format and the collages are meticulously awe-inspiring. How she makes everything so perfectly and on such a small scale never ceases to amaze me. The original artwork was exhibited at a museum for all to view and wonder at. The book is also groundbreaking in its storyline, allowing the reader to follow a day in the life of two boys, one in inner-city Sydney, Australia and the other in small-village Morocco, Northern Africa. Turning one page on the right of the book (in English), at the same time as turning one on the left (in Arabic) allows the reader to follow both wordless stories at once. And while it would be easy to compile a list of differences between the two boys, their lives, homes and environment, it is also easy to see the similarities that they share despite the vast physical distance between them. This book works on many levels and offers children of all ages many insights. It is just at home in a Year 2 classroom as it would be in a Year 10 classroom. This will be a state-of-the art picture book for a very long time and is certainly on the not-to-be-missed list!

7th June

Tomorrow isWorld Oceans Day. Visit the website to glean very quickly what it is about. Here there are a number of facts to get you inspired and for you to use to initiate discussion with your children. There is also activities relating to the 50th birthday of Dr Seuss' One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. I have covered the desktops with books about the ocean for borrowing today. In this way the children will be immersed in the beauty and colours of the ocean during library time. I have put out all of Kim Michelle Toft, all the Marcus Pfister Rainbow Fish titles, all the Ruth Galloway sea creature titles, Steve Jenkins Down Down Down and Into the A, B, Sea, Guundie Kuchling's See Food!, Jeannie Baker's Where the Forest Meets the Sea and The Hidden Forest and an assortment of non-fiction titles with large photographs.

5th June World Environment Day Odd Socks Day

World Environment Day seeks to focus world attention on the environment and probably the best way to appreciate the environment is to get out and experience it. If you can't and even if you can it is also good to experience it
vicariously through books, in particular beautifully illustrated picture books. As World Environment has very similar aims to Earth Day, anything written about on 22nd April will apply to today as well. If you want to revel in the wonder of the natural environment read Carin Berger's The Little Yellow Leaf. Who can resist that art work?

Each year there is a theme for the day and this year's is 'Many Species. One Planet. One Future.' This was chosen so as to celebrate the incredible diversity of life on Earth as part of the 2010 International Year of Diversity. When I think of animals and plants and the word species my 'book' mind automatically returns to Douglas Florian, Steve Jenkins and Jeannie Baker. Time to rummage in the library for their books.

For Odd Socks Day see yesterday's post.