29th December Summer

It's Summer   

 

Take a trip to the beach where you'll find the best sandcastles ever built, fish and chips for lunch, lots of boats and a few perfect waves.

In my last blog I was bemoaning the Summer weather, but then it came good and now today it is very overcast again. When it was warm and sunny with brilliant blue skies and glistening sea I began thinking about which picture books epitomise Summer in Australia. They need to include the beach, swimming, doing nothing, cicadas, flies, mosquitoes, blue bottles, seagulls, picnics, cherries, mangos, zinc cream, sunburn, cricket, camping, fishing, outdoors, barbecuing... Of course they could include drought and bushfires, but I'm not including those here. I came up with this list. My childhood summers were a cross between Perfect  and Magic Beach as I grew up on the South Coast of New South Wales in a rural idyll like the farming area depicted by Freya Blackwood, but spent my school holidays at Hyams Beach in Jervis Bay at my grandparents' rental cabins so experienced the wonders of the beach depicted in Magic Beach  by Alison Lester.

Why I Love Summer by Michael Wagner and Tom Jellett *

Sunny days, weekends at the pool, games in the backyard, daylight until late and long, lovely holidays . . . that's summer, the best season ever.  

Summer by June Factor and Alison Lester *

Celebrate a special summer’s day and all that it brings: changing weather, family gatherings, lots of fun and . . . Christmas! 

Summer Time by Antonia Perenti and Hilary Bell *

Summer is here. Put your school shoes away, 
The long, lazy days can begin. 
Mangoes and magpies, municipal pools… 

Perfect  by Danny Parker and Freya Blackwood *

On a perfect day, the hours stretch endlessly ahead. Scribbling with chalk, running with kites, digging for shells ... paddling, climbing, dreaming. 

Greetings From Sandy Beach by Bob Graham *

The story of one family's camping holiday at the beach.

Magic Beach by Alison Lester

Visit a perfect beach where you can swim, surf, splash through the waves, build sandcastles, beachcomb, explore rock-pools, muck about in boats, fish from the jetty, and build a bonfire under the stars. 

Summer Blue by Trudie Trewin and Marjorie Crosby-Fairall

Marley and Moses lived in a place where the heat crept up and smothered the days in stifling stillness. And it stayed and stayed. A captivating story of a searing Australian summer and waiting for the welcome relief of rain.

Little Dog and the Summer Holiday by Corinne Fenton and Robin Cowcher

The summer holidays stretch out forever. Little Dog and his family set off with their caravan. A nostalgic and delightful story about the way family holidays used to be. 

Two Summers by John Heffernan and Freya Blackwood

Rick is coming to visit the farm again. But will he recognise the farm? Will he have as much fun as last time? Same friend. Same farm. Totally different landscape.

Australia at the Beach by Max Fatchen and Tom Jellett

A story of sun, surf, picnics, fish and chips, and one-legged seagulls. This is how one Australian family spends Australia Day at the beach, from packing up the car to getting dumped by a wave, playing beach cricket, and coming home sandy and exhausted.

Not a Nibble  by Elizabeth Honey

Holidays at the beach mean camping, swimming, finding crabs, feeding the seagulls, walking, reading. Everyone has plans for things to do.

Of course there's many other Australian picture books that could be on this list such as The Deep by Tim Winton, A Swim in the Sea by Sue Whiting, Jetty Jumping *  by Andrea Rowe and two that are no longer in print Mr Plunkett's Pool by Gillian Rubinstein and Sunny Faces  by Jeri Kroll. The cover of this last book shows children's faces that are slathered in zinc cream just like ours were and this illustration really makes me smile. Unfortunately I can't find a picture to show you and the book is at school and I'm at home. The books marked with an * are on Story Box Library if you don't have a copy in your library. Other books about summer can be found here.

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!