7th October World Smile Day

In 2022, World Smile Day will take place on the 7th of October 2022. The idea of the day is to do a simple act of kindness for someone to make them smile. If we all make the effort to do one thing to make each other smile, we'll all be grinning in no time. 

Smiling is a gesture that is understood across the world, whether you speak the same language or not. Sharing your smile makes you feel good, and makes the other person feel good too.

I have written about this day before and smiles before, but have realised that the library has even more books now that could also be used to celebrate this day. 

See these newer ones.

• The Smile Shop by Satoshi Kitamura

• The Smile by Marie Voigt

• How to Make a Shark Smile by Shawn Achor and Amy Blankson

• A Smile  by Raoul Follereau and Hoda Hadadi

• When You Smile by Charles Fuge

• The Lost Smile  by Nadia L King and Nelli Aghekyan

Then add a short chapter book The Smile  by Michelle Magorian

A couple of poetry books, Smile Out Loud  by Joseph Coelho and Even My Ears are Smiling by Michael Rosen

A biography,  Smile: How a Young Charlie Chaplin Taught the World to Laugh (and Cry) by Gary Golio and Ed Young

And a non fiction gem,  Never Smile at a Monkey by Steve Jenkins

14th March Beds, Sheep and Sleep.

I had been meaning to write more about beds and sleep because I have found it fascinating what is being borrowed from the library display. I thought of three topics and each is really a blog on its own, but this week I ran out of time to write each night. So here is an amalgamation.

Topic 1 Magic Beds
Probably the most famous book for this category is Bed Knob and Broomsticks by Mary Norton. Every child who had had this story read to them yearns for a bed like this. Another short novel that my children love is Ten in a Bed by Allan Ahlberg. Here a girl named Dinah Price is visited by a number of fairytale characters while she is in bed. But there are picture books too where the bed is capable of magic journeys and occurrences. Try:
• The Magic Bed by John Burningham
• Big Bouncy Bed by Julia Jarman and Adrian Reynolds
• Luke and his Amazing Space Bed by Luke Sheridan and Jen McCartney
• Outer Space Bedtime Race by Robert Sanders and Brian Won

Topic 2 Counting Sheep
How can there be so many stories about counting sheep when trying to sleep? My favourite is The 108th Sheep by Ayano Imai, but there are lots of others:
• One More Sheep by Mij Kelly and Russell Ayto
• When Sheep Cannot Sleep by Satoshi Kitamura
• The Sleep  Sheep  by Anna McQinn and Hannah Shaw
• Counting Sheep  by Kathryn Cave and Chris Riddell

Topic 3  What's Under the Bed?
Starting with books that have that as the title:
• What's Under the Bed? by Joe Fenton
• What's Under the Bed by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom
• There's an Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer
• Under the Bed by Paul Bright and Ben Cort
• The Crocodile Under the Bed by Judith Kerr
• Emus Under the Bed by Leann J. Edwards

13th July Sheep Day

This week there is a Cow Appreciation Day (the second Friday in July) and I got to thinking why isn't there a Sheep Appreciation Day, so I went searching and apparently there is on the 27th April, not that I have celebrated it here or at school before. Then I read Anita Silvey's blog and saw that it was Sheep Day in Ohio today. So I sat and made a list of sheep books that the children and I enjoy and there are quite a few. My preschool classes always start with Baa Baa Black Sheep, probably the nursery rhyme they know best, and then we branch out from there.

In some they are connected to counting and sleeping.
• One More Sheep  by Mij Kelly
• When Sheep Cannot Sleep by Satoshi Kitamura
• The 108th Sheep by Ayamo Imai
• The Sleep Sheep by Anna McQuinn

In others they just make the reader laugh!
• Baa Baa Smart Sheep by Mark Sommerset
• Pete the Sheep by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley
• The Great Sheep Shenanigans by Peter Bently
• Elfrida by Klara Fell
• Bea Rocks the Flock by Victoria Jamieson  
• Baa For Beginners by Deborah Fajerman  

There are those that reflect parables, fables, fairytales or have an important message.
• The Black Sheep by Elizabeth Heck (need to explain the saying?)
• The Lost Lamb by Melody Carlson (the parable)
• Prince Charming and Baabarella by Angela Glitz  (Cinderella story with sheep)
• Sheep in Wolves' Clothing by Satoshi Kitamura
• The Lamb Who Came to Dinner  by Steve Smallman
• Rocky and the Lamb by Greg Gormley
• The Lamb-a-roo  by Diana Kimpton (adoption theme)

There are stories where sheep behave like real sheep as all farm animals do in Kim Lewis' books.
• Little Baa by Kim Lewis
• Emma's Lamb by Kim Lewis

And of course there is the classic Australian book for toddlers Where is the Green Sheep? and Rob Scotton's series about Russell the Sheep, the sheep who is always different from the rest of the flock.

11th June Satoshi Kitamura (1956)

Satoshi Kitamura was born in Japan, resided in England for over twenty years and then returned to Japan in 2009. He is a prolific and well-regarded illustrator and writer of children's books who has a creative way with perspective and seems to enjoy crowding his books with sheep and cats. He won the Mother Goose award for most exciting newcomer to British illustration in 1983 for his illustrations for Hiawyn Oram's Angry Arthur. His Millie's Marvellous Hat was on the shortlist for the Kate Greenaway Medal last year. He has collaborated with John Agard, Roger McGough and Colin McNaughton as well as Hiawyn Oram.