3rd February Bubblegum Day

The first Friday in February is Bubblegum Day. It began in 2006 when children's author Ruth Spiro decided that there needed to be a day to celebrate education, philanthropy and bubblegum! She has written a book called Lester Fizz, Bubble-Gum Artist, but I have not seen it. If I was looking for a book about bubblegum in my library I would resurrect my favourite B is For Bubbles  by Pamela Shrapnel and Noela Young. It is long out of print, but I have kept my library's very tatty copy on my shelf of 'specials'. It is perfect for Year 1 children who have lost teeth and just cannot blow bubbles with gum.

If you haven't got this book then the much more recent  Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum by Lisa Wheeler  is lots of fun to share with children and Chavela and the Magic Bubble  allows for a much deeper discussion about diversity and ecology.

7th August Play Day

In the UK 7th August is Play Day. It seems amazing that we need to encourage children to play, but we do.

The campaign recognises that:

• Children should feel welcomed where they live and feel part of their communities.
• Parents want their children to be able to play outside.
• Public space should be designed and managed with children's play in mind.
• Children and young people need to be involved in planning the places and spaces where they play.

Each year the campaign has a theme and this year it is Playful Places. With these aims in mind and because Kindergarten at school are currently doing a unit on 'building', I thought it would be good to collect together books that would help the students plan their own playgrounds.  Starting with the Oxfam book  Come and Play With Us which looks at children playing all over the world, students could list some of the things they think are important for play.

Next compare the type of play in Noella Young's  Keep Out or Tess Brady's Nobody's Granny and that in Playground Day by Jennifer Merz to look at how play has changed for children today from impromptu child-constructed outdoor games and cubby building to organised playgrounds. 

Lastly share books such as Let's Build a Playground by Michael J. Rosen or  My Dream Playgound by Kate Becker and Jed Henry to encourage some student designing of their own. Perhaps part of this could also include an evaluation of an existing playground they use!

13th March Noela Young (1930) Diane Dillon (1933)

Noela Young has been illustrating children's books in Australia for over fifty years. She is probably best known for her illustrations of The Muddle-headed Wombat by Ruth Park. She has illustrated many novels by Emily Rodda and Gillian Rubinstein as well, but her picture books have very special qualities, especially when they deal with sensitive and serious themes such as old age and death, as Grandpa by Lilith Norman and Toby by Margaret Wild do. I cannot read Toby without crying. The illustrations of that beautiful golden retriever 'get to me' every time.

Diane Dillon illustrates with her husband Leo, who I wrote about on 2nd March. Their most recent book The Goblin and the Empty Chair was written by Mem Fox, so here there is an Australian and American collaboration of March birthdays! For me this book is a departure from what I would expect from both parties. Check it out and see what you think.