16th July Guinea Pig Appreciation Day

Guinea pigs are a species of rodents that are adopted as pets due to their domesticated nature and cute appearance. However, guinea pigs were not always kept in homes — they were originally seen as livestock and their meat was consumed by people. Said to have originated from the Andes mountains of Peru, the animals were initially wild and had to be trained. 

They are certainly a popular pet at school and because of this they are also a popular topic to read about. Luckily many authors have recognised this fact and have written a series of novels which have them as main characters. We all know Michael Bond's Olga and Betty Birney's Humphrey, but there are others.

Do you know Charlotte Middleton's Christopher Nibble? (picture books)

Ali Pye's Harry Stephenson?

Colleen Venable's, Guinea Pig Private Eye,Sasspants?

Jennifer Gray's Fuzzy and Coco from Guinea Pigs Online ?

Pip Jones' Piggy Handsome?

These are series for your die-hard guinea pig fans. Of course there are other stand alone picture books, novels and nonfiction. See here.

Hamsters have a celebration of their own on 12th April, but I often do combined displays, as we do not have hamsters in Australia. Stinky and Jinks, Pigsticks and Harold and Super Turbo are hamster series that students enjoy.

3rd November Sandwich Day

Sandwich Day is celebrated on this date because it is also the birth date of John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich for whom the food is named. This 18th century earl 'invented' the sandwich because he wanted to be able to eat using only one hand while he was involved in a 24hour gambling event. He instructed his servants to put his meat between two slices of bread. Now it is a favourite food has a myriad of fillings in many places, especially at lunchtime, in schoolyards and on picnics. One might even argue that a hamburger is a form of sandwich.

At school our library display will include the books below. The Giant Jam Sandwich  has become a classic, The Disgusting Sandwich is among the list of most borrowed books in our library and Daddy's Sandwich is a new acquisition.

13th January Michael Bond (1926) Rubber Ducky Day

Michael Bond is the English author who gave children Paddington Bear. The first story A Bear Called Paddington was published in 1958 when Bond was a cameraman with the BBC. The idea for the story started with a bear that Bond had bought his wife because it looked lonely on a shelf in a London shop. Paddington became very popular and a merchandising phenomenon. Paddington is easily recognisable no matter who illustrates him, and there have been many, and whether he has a red, blue or or even yellow hat. The toys and books seem to go through phases. They are either in big demand or sitting idle. Maybe it depends upon whether he is on television at the time and whether or not new editions have just been released.

However in my library, Michael Bond is better known for his series about a guinea pig called Olga than for a bear called Paddington. More readers become addicted to these books. Once a child, usually a girl, reads The Tales of Olga da Polga she usually comes back wanting another book about Olga and then she works her way through all six of these, and then often moves on to Betty G. Birney's series about Humphrey.

Rubber Ducky Day seems like an unusual day to be marking, but when you read about all the uses rubber duckies have assumed since they were invented it is little wonder that they have a day of their own. Sesame Street character, Ernie has a rubber ducky that is immortalised in song. Charities have races where they are purchased, let loose and then observed over a distance to see which one wins. This idea probably comes from an incident that occurred in the Pacific Ocean during a storm on January 10th, 1992. A cargo ship transporting them for a Chinese company lost 29000 rubber ducky toys overboard. Months later these ducks began to turn up all over the place. Some even made it to Australia. Eve Bunting used this event as the impetus for her book Ducky, illustrated by David Wisniewski and then Eric Carle also used it as the impetus for his book 10 Little Rubber Ducks. Obviously rubber ducks should have a high profile!

during a Pacific storm on January 10, 1992, over 29,000 rubber ducky bath toys from a Chinese company were during a Pacific storm on January 10, 1992, over 29,000 rubber ducky bath toys from a Chinese company were washed off of a cargo ship.washed off of a cargo ship.during a Pacific storm on January 10, 1992, over 29,000 rubber ducky bath toys from a Chinese company were washed off of a cargo ship.