18th May International Learn to Swim Day

International Learn to Swim Day is the perfect opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of teaching children to 

International Learn to Swim Day in May is designed to draw attention to the fact that every child needs to know how to swim and it aims to  heighten awareness of the importance of learning to swim and be water-safe.

In Australia we are heading into Winter not Summer.  Though to be fair, many Australian children swim all year round as swimming squads do run through Winter and often occur in indoor pools. Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children.

Teaching children to swim is high on the list of things my parents ask for books on, especially the ones with preschoolers who don't like the water or those of children who are not careful around water. 

Lottie and Walter by Anna Walker  is a new book, but perfect for reading with a child who is reticent about swimming and or giving it a go.  Heather Fell in the Water by Doug MacLeod is perfect for the other extreme. Heather is continually falling in water and her parents decide she will need to wear waterings (floaties) all the time.

Below is a list of books  in the library which will help encourage learning to swim.
Two factual books
* Learning Swimming by Katrin Barth
* Swimming  by Nick Rebman, and then lots of stories where children can see themselves, laugh at others and explore what to do next.

* The Magic Moment  by Niall Breslin
* George Goes Swimming by Nicola Smee
* Peppa Goes Swimming
* Topsy and Tim Learn to Swim by Jean Adamson
* Maisie Learns to Swim by Lucy Cousins
* Edward's First Swimming Party by Rosemary Wells
* Froggy Learns to Swim by Jonathan London
* Grug Learns to Swim  by Ted Prior
* Ruby Learns to Swim by Phillip Gwynne



* A Swim in the Sea by Sue Whiting
* Echidna Jim Went for a Swim by Phil Cummings
* Saturday is Swimming Day by Hyewon Yum
* Little by Little by Amber Stewart
* The Deep End  by Rebecca Patterson

* Clem Always Could by Sarah Watt
* Lollipop and Grandpa Go Swimming by Penelope Harper
* Grandpa's Big Adventure by Paul Newman
* The Deep by Tim Winton
* Mona the Champion by Sonia Holleyman







And some short chapter books to keep the swimmers interested
* Horrid Henry's Swimming Lesson  by Francesca Simon
* The Deep End by Ursula Dubosarsky
* Ella and Olivia Little Lifesavers by Yvette Poshoglian
* Diary of a Super Swimmer by Shamini Flint
* Sporty Kids: Swimming by Felice Arena

27th April World Tapir Day

What is a tapir? This is a question I was constantly asked in the late 1990s when my students were very keen on a series of books about Howard, a hippo and his friends that was written by Colin West. Howard has a 'special friend called Lucy. She's a tapir.' Back then I found it hard to find any books about tapirs and we couldn't just 'google' tapirs. We looked them up in an encyclopedia. 

I hadn't given tapirs a lot of thought for quite a while but then Polly Faber's Mango and Bambang burst onto the scene. It was so popular and I began to get that question again...what is a tapir? How do I say this word? So I went looking again. Now I can google and quickly satisfy my readers' curiosity. 

Imagine my surprise then when I read that there was a World Tapir Day. We had better celebrate it, especially now that there are four Mango and Bambang books in the series and they are so popular. Last week I picked up a new Phillip Gwynne picture book at the book shop called Brothers from a Different Mother  and guess what it was about a tapir. 
On the World Tapir Day website it said,





Despite their size, history and ecological importance, tapirs remain one of the least recognised species of animals.  In comparison with other animals, tapirs feature little in the collective consciousness and are frequently misidentified by zoo visitors.  Even in their home ranges, tapirs receive little attention, with exotic species featuring more prominently in zoos, children's books and the media.

So authors are doing something about it, it would appear. Will tapirs soon be as popular as sloths and lemurs have become in children's books? Here's what I found in my library to make a display for the first day back at school this term.

19th June Gregory Rogers (1957 - 2013)

Australian illustrator Gregory Rogers would have celebrated his birthday on the 19th June, but sadly he died on the 1st May, long before he should have. He was the first Australian to win the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal. He won in 1995 for Libby Hathorn's Way Home, a controversial and very different picture book at the time, about a homeless boy and where he called 'home'.

Greg then went on to produce his wonderful wordless series of three books, the last The 

Hero of Little   Street, winning the Australian Picture Book of the Year in 2010 among other awards.





I was pleased to see a new book today at the bookshop, What's Wrong With the Wobbegong?  written by Phillip Gwynne and illustrated by Gregory Rogers. I thought the illustrations were funny and was pleased to see that this review agreed with me. Wobbegong sharks, so Australian, black humour and a pertinent message...what more could we want?