20th November Matisse: Life & Spirit, Masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou

The Art Gallery of NSW is holding an exhibition of art by Henri Matisse from 20th November until March and it will be something truly special! In preparation I have taken all the books about this French artist off the library shelves in order to start next year with a display celebrating his life and work. Many of the teachers at school focus on his work in art lessons during the year, but given that some students will visit the gallery in their school holidays and some others might be inspired to go in Term 1 after reading about him, a display in the library is warranted. We have over thirty books  about his work so it will look good. We can cater for the preschooler, the artist and the readers! Here is some of what will be in the display:

Blue and Other Colours with Henri Matisse

A Magical Day with Matisse by Julie Merberg & Suzanne Bober

   Oooh! Matisse by Jean-Yves Verdu & Mil Niepold    

         
Matisse's Magical Trail by Tim Hopgood & Sam Broughton

How the Snail Found its Colours by Haneul Ddang & Mi-Ran Yang

Henri's Scissors by Jeannette Winter

Matisse King of Colour by Laurence Anholt

Henri Matisse: Cutting with Scissors by Jane O'Connor & Jessie Hartland

Cut-Out Fun with Matisse by Nina Hollein & Max Hollein

Colourful Dreamer: The Story of Artist Henri Matisse by Marjorie Blain Parker & Holly Berry

Matisse's Garden by Samantha Friedman & Cristina Amodeo

The Mermaid and the Parakeet by Veronique Massenot & Vanessa Hie

Two picture books to read:

A Bird or Two by Bijou Le Tord

When Pigasso Met Mootisse by Nina Laden

and the piece de resistance

The Iridescence of Birds by Patricia MacLachlan & Hadley Hooper

For lunchtime cut and paste sessions a la Matisse which I will do with the students who choose to be in the library at lunchtime, inspiration will come from

The Swimmers by Ana Bianchi

23rd March Rain and Floods

So much of the east coast of Australia is experiencing heavy rainfall and we have been stuck in classrooms now for over a week. Australian children are not used to being outside in all weather. They do not have good wet weather gear so instead they stay inside and go 'crazy'. In the library I've had a lot of fun supplying students with books about rain and floods. They are preoccupied with it, especially the boys. There is not a flood book left in the library and once I looked I was surprised just how many we did have.

My favourite flood story is The Useless Donkeys by Lydia Pender and Judith Cowell. Of course its out of print, but the artwork showing the continuous rain is so good. It is set on a farm where the family keep two  donkeys, that the children love but dad wants to get rid of. When the floodwaters rise the donkeys end up on an island in the paddock. The oldest two children row to the   island to rescue the donkeys.

Another favourite that is also out of print is Children of the Yangtze River by Sven Otto S. In this story children need to vacate their school because the river is rising. They move animals and families to higher ground and once the river abates they help rebuild a village. 

Here's some other books about floods that are in the library and more easily sourced:

• Flood by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley

• Flood  by Alvaro F. Villa

• Flood  by Gillian McClure

• Flood Warning  by Katharine Kenah and Amy Schimler Safford

• Elmer and the Flood by David McKee

And some that just highlight incessant rain without a flood:

• Rain School by James Rumford

• Home in the Rain  by Bob Graham                                                                

• The Rhythm of the Rain by Grahame Baker-Smith

• Rain by Sam Usher

• Singing in the Rain by Tim Hopgood

• Rain!  by Linda Ashman and Christian Robinson                                                

• Rain Rain Rivers by Uri Shulevitz

• Who Likes Rain? by Wong Herbert Yee

• This Beautiful Day by Richard Jackson and Suzy Lee

• Float by Daniel Miyares

And when a child asks where do the animals go when it rains?                                

• Where Do They Go When it Rains?  by Gerda Muller

• Where Does Kitty Go in the Rain?  by Harriet Ziefert and Brigette Barrager

And you'll need to share some poetry:

• It's Raining, It's Pouring by Peter, Paul and Mary and Christine Davenier

• Talking Like the Rain by X.J.  and Dorothy M. Kennedy and Jane Dyer

• Listen to the Rain by Bill Martin Jnr and John Archambault

24th August Book Week

Another successful Book Week! The theme Find Your Treasure  proved to be a winner. On Thursday the students dressed as pirates or 'something they treasured' and the teachers had fun reading to three groups of children each over a two hour period of time divided into four 30minute time slots. In this way each student was able to share four wonderful book experiences with teachers that they don't have every day. The classroom teachers read to grades other than theirs. The specialists teachers, including the PE teachers, the music teachers, religion teacher,  the French teacher and the executive teachers read to students. The teachers were asked to choose their own books. I suggested that it be  'a book they treasure'; 'a book they love sharing with children'; a book that fitted the theme of pirates or finding your treasure and I made some suggestions for this or a book that fitted their specialty. The French teacher had fun with Mo Willems' Nanette's Baguette.  One of the PE teachers had kindergarten bouncing all over the place because of Doreen Cronin's Bounce and Stephen Michael King's Emily Loves to Bounce.

Some of the treasure related books chosen were:

• I chose No Pirates Allowed Said Librarian Lou. The library had a huge sign on the door saying PIRATES ALLOWED. I dressed as a pirate, but wore my glasses and a pearl earring like Librarian Lou as well. WE watched the trailer of the book to set the scene. The soundtrack is so suspenseful. Then I read the book with a very loud Pirate Pete and a very quietly spoken Lou. I also had a squawking parrot puppet who had trouble being quiet. The students loved the fact that Lou taught Pete to read and were quick to identify books as the real treasure. Each of them left the library with a bookmark on which they had written their name and favourite book.

• A Kindergarten teacher chose Just Right For Two. This lovely book features a suitcase in which Dog keeps his treasures. Great in for a discussion with the students about what treasures they would put in their suitcases. The story ends with Dog making friends with Mouse and realising friends are also 'treasures', an important message for students such as ours who have a lot of material possessions.

• The Head of Prep chose My Rows and Piles of Coins to read to Year 2 . This wonderful story about a young African child who is working hard to save money to buy a bike so he can help his mother really does highlight what some children value most and what value money has.

• A Year 2 teacher chose 'my favourite childhood book',  Harold's Purple Crayon and had a wonderful conversation with students about what they would draw if they had a magic purple crayon that worked like Harold's and whether or not that crayon would be a treasure.

• Another Year 2 teacher chose to read the shortlisted book,  The Second Sky which beautifully tells students not to yearn for what they do not have but instead value what they do have and make the very most of these treasures (or talents).

Others:
• What a Wonderful World and how our world is a treasure to be valued and kept safe. The Tim Hopgood version is good.
• The Princess and the Perfect Dish by Libby Gleeson...the treasure does not need to be grand, but rather 'special' for a reason. This is a 'perfect' book for this. It needs republishing.
• The Glassmaker's Daughter by Dianne Hofmeyr. This girl, Daniela seemingly has everything but still is not happy. Everyone needs to read this story!
• Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves just because it is a classic that children are less likely to know these days and there are some lovely versions sitting on shelves in libraries. Look for the Jean Chapman and Di Wu version.