24th July Curious Creatures

I have had a lot of fun reading one of my favourite books to my K to 2 library classes this week. I know Book Week has been postponed until Term 4, but I was keen to get started on displays and exploring the theme 'Curious Creatures Wild Minds'. I wanted to start a discussion of this theme using the bunyip, an Australian mythical creature.

I asked the students to draw a creature. They all drew an animal that they could attach a label to. No one drew anything imaginary, extinct, or an amalgam of many animals. When I said, "Is a creature an animal?" The answer was a unanimous, "Yes." "So are you a creature?" Some hesitation, but finally a yes.

Then I asked the students to look at the picture above. "Is this a creature?" "Why do you say that?"
I asked them to make a mental list of three things they could see in the picture. I scribed the long list and there were some very interesting things on the lists, including a mobile phone, lipstick and a magnifying glass. Next, I asked them for one question they would like to ask this creature. There was the obvious like, "What are you?"; "What are you holding?"; "Who are you?" and  "Where do you live?" but there was also ones like, "Do you have friends?" ; "Why do you only have three toes?" and  "What is on your head?".

Lastly, I asked,  "Is this creature curious?" "What makes you say that?" This lead to a discussion of what the word 'curious' meant and after finding out that there are two meanings and that the second meaning is 'strange or unusual' there seemed to be consensus that it was a curious creature.

I then showed the students the cover of the book, The Bunyip of Berkley's Creek by Jenny Wagner and Ron Brooks, the book that won Picture Book of the Year in 1974, forty six years ago. They now knew what the character was, and many students then had anecdotes that they wished to share.

I read the story, slowly and quietly. The first page sets the mysterious tone beautifully. You could hear a pin drop while I read, so few children knew the book. I stopped only once to discuss and explain the sign which has the long words, 'Environment Preservation' and 'Trespassers Prosecuted'.

After reading, in pairs students discussed what they liked about the story and Year 2 pairs also devised a definition of a bunyip eg A bunyip is ... We listened to each others definitions and then amalgamated the pertinent bits to get something like this...
A bunyip is a large mythical creature which lurks (hangs around) in creeks, billabongs,              swamps and waterholes.

The Year 2 students had decided that bunyips weren't real, but wanted to know more, so we looked for other books in the library with bunyips and on Kiddle which they had used last term. We found these books:
1. What's a Bunyip?  by Nette Hilton and Roland Harvey. 
2. Bunyips Don't !  by Sally Odgers and Kim Gamble.
3. Emily and the Big Bad Bunyip by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley.

The students thought that Harvey, Gamble and Whatley had all seen Ron Brooks' bunyip, because they too had drawn the bunyip with a tail, floppy ears, a very rounded body and it didn't look overly scary.




If you choose to do this, do not show the students the Kiddle entry before you read the books, because it will give them a different view of bunyips from the one Jenny Wagner intended. It is for further exploration for the students who want to read up on Australian folklore or Aboriginal mythology.

Later I found three more books:
• Out of Nowhere by Tricia Oktober
• Rosie and the Bunyip  by Meredith Costain, and 
• The Butti Butti Bunyip by Dianne Bates

If there had been time we could have looked at and compared the four bunyip illustrations that appeared on Australian stamps in 1994, one of which was Ron Brooks' Berkley Creek one.


Well we ran out of time, but all the bunyip books were borrowed, some students went off to explore the Indigenous Book Bins and others took from all the unusual animal books that we had on display!

PS. Jenny Wagner seems to 'like' curious creatures! Her novel The Nimbin is also about an endearing curious creature. It is perfect for primary classes.

26th January Australia Day

It's Australia Day, a holiday in Australia, when Australians celebrate what is great about Australia and being Australian. It is celebrated on the 26th January because that is the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet of convict ships who came from England to settle at Sydney Cove in 1788. If you want picture books that look at this event, read The Peopling of Australia by Percy Trezise; An Uncommonly Fine Day by J.A.King or The First Fleet by Alan Boardman and Roland Harvey. These three books are old and out of print, but a good school library may still have copies.

The reality is that most Australian families celebrate Australia Day by going to the beach, getting together with friends for a barbecue or going to organised community events, such as the Ferrython, a Ferry Boat Race on Sydney Harbour. A picture book that is about this event is Fergus at the Race one of a series of books about Fergus the Ferry that is written by J.W. Noble and illustrated by Peter Townsend.

And lastly a picture book about spending Australia Day at the beach, Australia at the Beach. It is a long poem written by Max Fatchen which tells the story of a family's day at the beach with their friends. It is illustrated comically by Tom Jellett. It is told from a young girl's point of view. She is embarrassed by her younger brother, William who can't seem to do anything right...he loses his sandal, he takes off his bathers, he puts suncream on the lettuce instead of mayonnaise...As you read it, you will smile because most of us have been there:

... Then back to have our picnic.

We kneel on sandy knees.

Sausage rolls and sandwiches.

A chicken wing? Yes, please.

... Beach cricket now...How noisy.

We bowl and bat and shout.

Remember, I'm the umpire,

My finger's raised. You're out.

Such fun and perfect for a very hot day like this!

9th January

Continuing yesterday's Summer theme, I thought today I would make some suggestions for Australian books about the beach and holidays at the beach. Of course, there is Alison Lester's Magic Beach with its irresistible illustrations that make you want to be swimming in those waves too. Next, another oldie, but goodie, Greetings From Sandy Beach by Bob Graham. Every Australian family that has ever been camping, had someone be sick in the car or met bikies will relate well to this and if they haven't it is still a good laugh. Thirdly, Tim Winton's The Deep, a family story about the youngest child being brave enough to swim in deep water by herself. Roland Harvey's At the Beach with its postcards home to the grandparents telling all about the children's holiday at Crabby Spit. Australia at the Beach by Max Fatchen should be on this list too, but I want to feature it on Australia Day because it is about the archetypal beach celebration for commemorating this Australian holiday. And lastly, a chapter book which is also about the beach and camping, Skating on Sand by Libby Gleeson. This is the story of Hannah, the younger sister of twin older sisters who give her a hard time about skating, but Hannah's perseverance and obstinacy pays off.

11th December Roland Harvey (1945) William Joyce (1957) Neil Curtis (d.2006)

Roland Harvey is an Australian author and illustrator. He sometimes does both the writing and illustrating as he has in his new series of books At the Beach; In the Bush; In the City and At the Top End, but at other times he illustrates other authors' work. He illustrates Alison Lester's Bonnie and Sam series even though she likes to illustrate horses. His style is detailed, humorous, cartoon-like and combines watercolour, ink and pen.

William Joyce is an American author, illustrator and filmmaker. In my library the children enjoy George Shrinks and at this time of year his magnificent Santa Calls. If you look at his website you will see all the films he has been involved in. There is a very interesting interview with him at Reading Rockets.

And thirdly, Australian illustrator, Neil Curtis died on this day in 2006, aged 56. I do not know his birthdate and I am so enamoured of his Cat and Fish books and their amazing black and white illustrations that the year couldn't go past without me mentioning them. Of course he has illustrated other books, but Cat and Fish and Cat and Fish Go to See are standouts and not to be missed. Read the article in the Age to see how they came about. Not many children's books start with the illustrations and then the chosen author gets to write the story as Joan Grant did.