10th August World Lion Day

Lions – with the scientific name Panthera leo – are the second-largest cat in the world, just behind the Asian tiger.

Three million years ago, lions roamed all over Africa and the Eurasian supercontinent. But today, various ice ages and changes in the natural environment means that their range is reduced primarily to Africa and select parts of Asia. 

According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, lions are a “vulnerable” species, meaning that their numbers could and should be higher. Currently, researchers estimate that there are between 30,000 and 100,000 lions left on planet Earth. Without significant intervention, there is a chance that they could find themselves on the endangered list alongside other species most at risk of extinction.

World Lion Day,  has three objectives. The first is to raise awareness of the plight of the lion and the issues that the species face in the wild. The second is to find ways to protect the big cat’s natural environment, such as creating more national parks and reducing the areas in which people can settle. And the third is to educate people who live near wild cats on the dangers and how to protect themselves.

Lions are the only cats that regularly live in social groups and their groups are called prides. The size of a typical pride is usually between 10 to 15 animals but it can vary between 2 to 40 members. In a pride, females do most of the hunting and cub rearing and males defend the pride territory. While females live with the pride for life, males usually leave the pride when they are a few years old.

Lions are not as popular as tigers in the library or in picture books in general, but they do get borrowed and it is always worth doing a display. What the library has is here, but I do have some favourites, which are these:

Dumazi is a young savvy Zulu girl who encounters a yellow lion caught in a trap one day. Although compassionate, she instantly surmises the lion’s true nature and only after making a deal for her life, agrees to set him free. But can one really trust a hungry lion? And is Dumazi’s brazen bravery and quick thinking enough to save her life?

It tells the story of a lion who, bored by his rural life in the savannah, seeks excitement and opportunity in the city of light. On arrival in Paris the lion is disappointed to find that despite his size, people barely pay attention to him, not even when he lets out a ferocious roar on the busy Metro. Taking in the sights and sounds of Paris it successfully conveys the experience of being a stranger in a new city and the process of understanding our own identity. 

There are seven steps to becoming a proper lion, including Looking Fierce, Roaring, Prowling Around, and Pouncing. Our young hero, a rather meek and scrawny human boy, does his best to learn the necessary skills during his training with a master instructor (who just happens to be a real lion). After a grueling set of lessons, the boy discovers that that the final step--Looking Out for Your Friends--is the most important of all.

All the books in this series are good, but I really like this one about why lions don't have a home like most other animals.

And I am especially fond of the fable The Lion and the Mouse and there are so many beautifully illustrated versions, but none are better than the pencil lion drawings in this one:

11th October Freedom Day

Freedom Day is what everyone in Sydney is calling the 11th October because it means strict lockdown is over and you can now do more. For many people this seems to mean 'shop' with queues outside shops such as Kmart. Shopping is not something I'll be rushing off to do. It does mean most of my students will be back at school from the start of next week so my life will change. 

When I think of 'freedom', I am much more likely to think of walls, barriers and metaphorical means of corralment. That got me thinking about how many picture books feature 'walls' and how I hadn't done a post or a book display at school about walls, and there are certainly many books without even collecting the ones about the Berlin Wall or the Great Wall of China. 

I do not have this one, but would really like to see it based on its blurb

Walls  by Brad Holdgrafer

Walls of all sorts: social walls, border walls, political walls, emotional walls, big walls, old walls, and small walls. Speaking to today's critical political issues, this playful and encouraging story about breaking down barriers helps children learn about inclusivity, equality, openness, and kindness while also reminding grown-ups of the same values. Walls is a timely and timeless story, told with bold and colourful illustrations. 

I like to read Sheep, Goat and the Creaking Gate by Claire Saxby to my preschool classes because it allows for great discussion about the gate and the grass being greener on the other side of the fence and what can be done about it.

Some that I like and that are in the library are:

A great place to start is the timeless fable about unity and breaking down barriers,

• Tillie and the Wall by Leo Lionni and 

• Little Mouse and the Red Wall  by Britta Teckentrup

about facing fears, discovering hope and coping with change.  

Then

• Suri's Wall by Lucy Estela and Matt Ottley

• The Wall in the Middle of the Book by Jon Agee

• Sometimes a Wall by Dianne White and Barroux

• The Chickens Build a Wall by Jean- Francois Dumont  

• What is a Wall After All? by Judy Allen and Alan Baron

• The Wall: A Timeless Tale by Giancarlo Macri

• Through the Wall by Jonathan Standing (graphic novel)

• Beyond the Fence by Maria Gulemetova  

• Go Away War! by Elzbieta 

Next specific walls

• The Soccer Fence by Phil Bildner (what apartheid meant for children in South Africa)

• Hey, Wall by Susan verde and John Parra ( the wall being a place for a community art project)

• Banksy Graffited Walls and Wasn't Sorry  by Fausto Gilberti (an artist who spray paints on walls while noone is watching)

Two books about the Vietnamese Veteran's Wall

• The Wall  by Eve Bunting and Ronald Himler; and 

• Maya Lin: Artist- Architect of Light and Lines  by Jeanne Walker Harvey and Dow Phumiruk

The Great Wall of China

• The Seven Chinese Brothers by Margaret Mary and Jean Tseng

• Ming's Adventure on the Great Wall of China by Li Jian and Yijin Wert

• The Emperor Who Built the Great Wall by Jillian Lin and Shi Meng

The Berlin Wall

• The Wall;Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis