Daffodil Day falls on Thursday 25 August in 2022. It is the Cancer Council’s most iconic and much-loved annual campaign that raises life-saving funds for world-class cancer research. It’s a time of hope; where we come together to show our support for the 150,000 Australians diagnosed with cancer each year.
It is a time too to admire the beautiful flowers daffodils which are flowering in Australia right now. There's not a lot of literature for a display, but what there is very good. Start by sharing William Wordsworth's classic poem. After all, it is often touted as the world's most famous poem. Perhaps you do not need to read all of it, but there are many versions on Youtube. I like this one the best as it is read by a young person, is not over the top dramatically or accent-wise and the location shows the abundance and location of the daffodils well. Explainthe essence of the poem to your students. It could be as simple as the poet was feeling sad and takes a walk. He comes across a field of daffodils. The beauty of the daffodils makes him happy. Moments of solitude in the beauty of nature can then be recalled and bring the same happiness at a later time. Even in Ruby's Feelings, one of the small books about Ruby Red Shoes, like Wordsworth, Ruby notices that when she feels happy, 'all the world seems light, like sunshine and daffodils, all golden and bright'.
Given that I have just learned from my young students that if a flower is red, it's a rose and if it's yellow, it's a daisy or dandelion I thought a bunch of daffodils in the library with the books was in order.
I'm also feeling 'daffodilly' because my daughter who lives in London has just spent a few days in the Lakes District and been to visit Beatrix Potter's and Wordsworth's house and of course rang to chat about her experiences. She did say though 'shame there weren't any daffodils'. Well it is Summer there, not daffodil time. There's plenty here I told her.
Besides the books below which obviously feature daffodils these books may be of help too.
• Seeds, Bees, Butterflies and More by Carole Gerber and Eugene Elchin has a wonderful poem about daffodils.
• In My Yellow Shirt by Eileen Spinelli and Hideko Takahashi. In this story a boy wears his new yellow shirt and is transformed in his imagination into a duck, a lion, a daffodil, a trumpet, and other things.
In Who Ate the Cake? by Kate Leake things keep disappearing, including dad's daffodils.
The two above are my favourites! Love sharing That's Not a Daffodil! by Elizabeth Honey.
