2nd February Sled Dog Day

According to this website sled dogs have been in existence for over 3000 years. If so, they do need a day off to celebrate! On the news at the moment we are hearing about just how much snow some places in the northern hemisphere are experiencing, but the only way most Australian children will experience this sort of snow and the role dogs can play in it is to read about it. Last year I had bought a wonderful husky puppet and put it on display with two books about Akiak and Balto, and then I was being asked lots of questions by a group of my Year 2  and they wanted even more books. When I looked I was surprised how many books there were about the Iditarod race and individual sled dogs who had done very heroic deeds.

6th January Bean Day (Part 3)

Now for having fun with Jack and the Beanstalk. When I survey my four kindergarten classes to see which fairytales they know, unlike many others, they do know this story. When questioned further they know there is  a giant, magic beans and a beanstalk. A few children will know Fee Fi Fo Fum, but not many. So they are very happy to read and compare versions and then look at 'corrupted' modern retellings. If you know the original well then it is easy to laugh at the spoofs. Many of the spoofs are in small chapter book format too, so they are ideal for my budding readers.

I love Raymond Brigg's Jim and the Beanstalk. Mary Pope Osborne has swapped Jack for Kate in Kate and the Beanstalk. Who can resist a book with the title Jack and the Baked Beanstalk? It has a modern twist where the beans come in a can, but still Jack's mother throws the can out the window in disgust. Jack  by Liesl Shurtliff is a novel length 'true story of Jack and the Beanstalk' which takes the concept of fractured fairytale to its full extent and makes a good serial. It's Not About the Beanstalk by David Parkin is a short chapter book which is part of a series about three friends who explore fairytales from around the world. Collect together all the versions of the beanstalk story you can find and have some fun!

20th May Mary Pope Osborne (1949)

Mary Pope Osborne is very popular in my library because she is the author of the Magic Treehouse Books. Years ago when they were new there were several expat American families at school who introduced them to me and their friends. The problem was we couldn't buy them here in Australia so I had to wait till someone went home to America and bought some for the library. Now the early titles are readily available here and the books have built up quite a cult following. Initially I thought that Australian children wouldn't be interested in stories about the Civil War, Thanksgiving or the Wild Wild West, but the dedicated followers will read them all. The later books from Number 30 onwards which form the Merlin Series interest the children even more than the first 29. There are also Research guides accompanying the stories which are written by Mary's husband, Will or sister, Nancy. These are less popular with my children but some, such as the one on the Olympics are borrowed more frequently.

Mary Pope Osborne does write other books. In the library we have her Tales From the Odyssey, a set of six books which starts with The One-eyed Giant. They are well read because Year 2 do a unit of work where they study Greek Mythology. Year 1 look closely at Fairy Tales and in that unit's bulk loan I include her modern fairy tales Kate and the Beanstalk; The Brave Little Seamstress and Sleeping Bobby.