24th August Ruth Park

It is Ruth Park's birthday. She was born in 1917 and died in 2010. She was the author of  a large number of books for adults and children. Her first children's book was The Muddle-Headed Wombat, but she would go on to write the award-winning children's classics  Callie's Castle; Playing Beat Bow  and When the Wind Changed.

Yesterday I attended the CBCA celebration for its eightieth birthday at the State Library of NSW. Many Australian authors and illustrators who had won Children's Book awards were present. It was so good to be reminded of all the wonderful books from the past and to see just how many of them are still in print, and rightly so. When Margaret Wild spoke she reminded us of her classic book There's a Sea in My Bedroom, which is still in print and regularly borrowed from the school library. In 1985 it made the shortlist for Picture Book of the Year. There was seven books on the shortlist, but none were chosen as the winner. The three commended books were:

MORIMOTO, Junko The Inch Boy 

BAKER, Jeannie Home in the Sky 

COX, David Ayu and the Perfect Moon were commended.

The others on the shortlist were: 

GYNELL, Donna  and Graham, Amanda Arthur 

LACIS, Astra and Mattingley, Christobel The Angel With a Mouth Organ 

WILD, Margaret and TANNER, Jane There’s a Sea in my Bedroom 

FOX, Mem and  VIVAS, Julie Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge 

The last two books are still in print and available to buy new. They have both stood the test of time. Perhaps one of them should have won!

The authors at yesterday's event were called 'legends' and many are still writing, illustrating and being published, but it always interests me when I look back at the winning books to see which ones are still popular. When the Wind Changed  by Ruth Park and illustrated by her daughter, Deborah Niland is one of those books, written long ago, but still in print. Many parents of today's children consider it very dated and inappropriate for young children because it has a gun in it and there is a bank robbery. The adage about what happens to your face when the wind changes is not one that is used these days. However, when you ask the teachers on the staff, 'What was your favourite book as a child?' so often some teacher (usually male) will say this book. One year we had a match the teacher to the book contest and I put the books out on display. Yes you guessed it, When the Wind Changed  was the book that was borrowed the most.

Each of these three books have had a fortieth anniversary edition. Will this year's winners still be in print in 40 years. I wonder.

2nd September World Beard Day

World Beard Day is celebrated on the first Saturday in September and it is not something I have ever given much thought to, but when I read that it was occurring, I thought I should. I am the daughter of a man with a beard, the wife of a man with a beard and the mother of a son who looks like a bushranger, his beard is so bushy. My brother has a beard too, so it seems as if I can't get away from thinking it is the norm for a male to have a beard.

Then I thought I'd look to see what the library had that I could put out on display and guess what there was more than I thought there would be. I immediately thought of Margaret Wild and Margaret Power's Creatures in the Beard which makes the students giggle because there is a robin , a mouse and a baby possum living in Nicholas's father's beard. This book was borrowed last week as it was part of a Fathers' Day display of picture books. As well there were

 • The Lumberjack's Beard by Duncan Beedie. It is a more recent version of this book, in that the lumberjack saves the animals in the trees by keeping them in his beard. It will be easier to find. It has a green message as well.

• My Dad Has a Beard  by Kellen Roggenbuck

• My Sister has a Big Black Beard and other quirky verse by Duncan Ball and Kerry Millard and

• Blackbeard the Pirate by Mick Gowar (one of the Hopscotch readers)

7th September Threatened Species Day

"Threatened Species Day is a national day held each year on 7 September to commemorate the death of the last remaining Tasmanian tiger (also known as the thylacine) at Hobart Zoo in 1936. It is a time to reflect on what has happened in the past and how we can protect our threatened species in the future. A day to celebrate our success stories and ongoing threatened species recovery work."

While there are some books about thylacines I had kindergarten on this day and wanted to read something slightly easier. I had recently purchased Penelope the Mountain Pygmy Possum, which is a story about a pygmy possum in the Snowy Mountains, and these possums are endangered. I knew that the idea of the tunnel under the road would appeal to Kindergarten. They ended up comparing this tunnel with a possum tunnel we have nearby on the Wakehurst Parkway that goes over the road. The information page at the back of the book brought us back to the real issue of pygmy possums and why they are endangered. Many of the children are skiers and spend time at Thredbo so they made some very pertinent connections with the text.  Then the  children wanted to borrow other books about pygmy possums which we don't have, but many borrowed books about Tasmanian devils and bilbies, both of which do also need saving. The conversation came back to the issue of the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect too and Zoos Victoria, so this term's reading has made for some good connections, both text-to-text and text-to-world. 

SaveSave

30th May Puffin Day

As far as I know there is no such thing as Puffin Day. I'm instigating one! It was Puffin Fest in Scotland from the 15th - 25th May. I have a good friend who is off hunting puffins in Scotland at the moment. She has seen some, sat in a bus stop decorated with puffin paraphernalia and written about her adventures. I can't help but feel a little jealous. Then yesterday I bought a new puffin picture book and thought about my friend as I did so, to add to the library's already extensive collection - The Angry Little Puffin by Timothy Young. This book will really make you smile. The puffin in the story shares an exhibit at the zoo with penguins and has to listen to the visitors talk about him as 'that kooky little penguin', 'that funny-looking penguin' etc, and he is on a mission to make the visitors read and take note of his characteristics and how different he is from the penguins. It is a fun way to learn about the differences and to learn about an arctic bird that children in Australia are not likely to see. The reader gets the puffin's point of view. He is persuasive and it mixes graphics, speech bubbles for the visitors and text for the puffin's thoughts. Lots to talk about, use for teaching and just fun to read! See the trailer here.

Next week I'll get the library's books and puffin toy out, we'll celebrate puffins and practise using the word 'auk'! I love that word!

21st September World Alzheimer's Day

September is World Alzheimer's Month and today, 21st September is World Alzheimer's Day, a day when we need to raise awareness about Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia, and the need for more education, support and research. While there are now a few books that overtly explain this disease to young children, some of the more subtle picture books which depict older people and memories give teachers the ideal way in to discuss ageing, dementia and what their students know about it and have experienced first-hand. Five books that come to mind are
• Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox and Julie Vivas
• Remember Me  by Margaret Wild and Dee Huxley
• Mile -High Apple Pie  by Laura Langston and Lindsey Gardiner
• Still My Grandma by Veroni Van den Abeele and Claude K. Dubois
• The Memory Box by Mary Bahr and David Cunningham
The Memory Box is particularly good and I was pleased to see that someone agrees with me here.

22nd February Michelle Knudsen (1974) Norman Lindsay (1879 - 1931)

I know I wrote about Michelle Knudsen and her wonderful book Library Lion last year, but she has a new picture book out which I have just bought and I wanted to tell you about it. On Michelle's blog she says that it is being launched on her birthday at a bookshop in New York, but I bought it here in Australia about three weeks ago, and that never happens that we get books first, unless they are Australian books! The book, Argus is about Sally and the large, green, scaly creature that hatches from her egg when the rest of her classmates' eggs hatch to reveal cute, fluffy chicks, when the class is raising chicks for a science project. Lots of fun pursues as Sally tries to make her 'chick' conform. It reminds me of a cross between Robin Klein's Thing and Margaret Wild's Looking After Alice and Co. The illustrations by Andrea Wesson are wispy watercolours on predominately white backgrounds, but the gentleness of them suits the tone of the story.

Australian author, Norman Lindsay is the author of the classic, The Magic Pudding which has spurned many spin-offs, such as movies, toys and abridged versions of the book.

26th June Pearl S. Buck (1892 - 1973) Charlotte Zolotow (1915)

So much to talk about today, so each bit will be brief. Firstly, congratulations to Australian illustrator Freya Blackwood. Her illustrations for Margaret Wild's Harry and Hopper has won her the 2010 Kate Greenaway Medal. I know she isn't the first Australian to do so. Gregory Rogers won in 1995 and Bob Graham won in 2002, but she is the first Australian female illustrator and we have had a week of first Australian women with the new prime minister also being a woman.

I have included Pearl S. Buck because although she usually writes for adults her short novel, The Big Wave has provided me with some very memorable teaching experiences. I have never read it to a class without it being a huge hit. It has brought tears to tough ten year old boys' eyes. I have even read it to children as young as eight and now that there has been a tsunami in their lifetime it has taken on new meaning. There are other books around now to support it too, such as Kimiko Kajikawa and Ed Young's Tsunami!

Charlotte Zolotow is one of the veterans that I wrote about when I was writing about Eric Carle's birthday. Amazingly, she is 95. While she has written a multitude of memorable books, my favourite is still Mr Rabbit and the Lovely Present. I read it any excuse I can, Mother's Day, birthdays, when I want children to be kinder to each other, more thoughtful...whatever!

Lastly, a book on the refugee theme - Rainbow Bird by Czenya Cavouras. This book was created by a fourteen year old Adelaide girl who had many discussions with her grandfather about his trips to Port Augusta. Czenya says in the afterword that she wanted to challenge her readers to imagine themselves in a similar situation and then ask themselves how they would respond. Would they be as hopeful?

24th April Evaline Ness (1911 - 1986) Dorothy Butler (1925) Margaret Wild (1948)

I know very little about illustrator Evaline Ness, except that she is responsible for the Caldecott Medal winner Sam Bangs and Moonshine. This book is about a girl, Sam and her cat Bangs. She tells stories and one of these gets her into trouble. The resulting dilemma brings could bring up a discussion about morality or ethics. The book is dated, but still worthwhile. The illustrations are better than the text. The tone of the illustrations change as the tone of the story changes and they do get quite dark in places. Ness does cats really well!

Dorothy Butler, a New Zealand author and educationalist is probably better known for what she has written about books, children and reading than she

is for her picture books. I had read Cushla and her Books while I was at university and then years later, j

ust befor

e I had my first child I was introduced to her book, Babies Need Books. I used it in my consultancy work when running parent information evenings. I consulted it often to see what books Dorothy recommended, and I gave a copy of it to every friend who was having a baby. Then as my children grew I read the sequel Five to Eight. The library still has copies of these books in the parent reference section, and yes while the reading lists are no longer

current and the books maybe out of print, the theories and the sentiments expressed are as pertinent as ever. Used with current books which recommend book titles, such as Daniel Hahn's The Ultimate First Book Guide and the new Julia Eccleshare's 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up you can't go wrong.

And thirdly, it is prolific Australian picture book author Margaret Wild's birthday. It is hard to know what to say about her as she has done so much. She isn't afraid to tackle difficult themes. She has so much variety and because her stories are illustrated by a large number of different illustrators there is not a sameness about her books. My favourite is Fox, but Midnight Babies and The Pocket Dogs are most popular with the very young children.

P.S. What a wonderful birthday present for Margaret Wild, her book Harry and Hopper illustrated by Freya Blackwood has just made the shortlist for the Kate Greenaway medal! Freya's beautiful illustrations are certainly up against some interesting competition...Chris Riddell, David Roberts, Oliver Jeffers and Satoshi Kitamura among them.