8th May World Donkey Day

World Donkey Day is celebrated on 8th May every year. It is a day dedicated to recognising the donkey and bringing attention to their many amazing characteristics. For many years, the donkey has been of great service to humans. All around the world, this animal has served as a beast of burden and mount. It has survived and thrived even in areas with harsh climates and tough terrains. Donkeys are known for their endurance and persistence. This makes them respected and loveable animals. Their ability to succeed is partly due to their stubborn nature.

It is because donkeys have been around for so long that they turn up in stories and history all the time. They have a role in the nativity story, world war stories, folk tales and humorous stories.

What the library has:

War stories:

Donkeys were used during both wars to carry equipment and supplies, to ferry injured soldiers and to create tracks in inaccessible and steep terrains.

Simpson and his Donkey by Mark Greenwood

There are other versions of this story as well, such as Only a Donkey  by Celeste Walters.

Roly and the Anzac Donkey  by Glyn Harper

There is another version of this called Donkey Man too.

Nativity stories:

Mary travelled to Bethlehem on a donkey so he has a presence in most retellings of this story. However some of the picture book versions give him a much bigger role and he may even be the narrator.

The Little Donkey  by Gerda Marie Scheidl

The Christmas Story as Told by Asselus the Christmas Donkey by Janet Duggan

And others

• Clopper, the Christmas Donkey by EmilyKing

• Clip Clop the Bethlehem Donkey  by Jessica Johnston

• The Donkey's Song  by Jacki Kellum

Donkeys seem to be popular at Christmas in general and the story Father Christmas and the Donkey by Elizabeth Clark has been published with different illustrators and is still in print.

Donkeys feature in traditional stories such as fables, folktales and fairytales.

The Miller, the Boy, and the Donkey. This version of the fable is by Brian Wildsmith but you will find others. There is also another  Aesop fable The Donkey in the Lion Skin.

Donkey Skin is a Perrault fairytale with many similarities to Cinderella.

There is a donkey as main character in the Grimm fairytale The Bremen Town Musicians  too.

Riding Backwards on a Donkey by Sean Taylor

Mullah Nasruddin (Nasreddin Hoca), the eight-centuries-old "wise fool" character originating from Turkey the subject of thousands of funny, wise tales, jokes, and anecdotes told across the Middle and Far East and retold today around the world and you will find the story about riding backwards on a donkey elsewhere too and see statues of him on your travels. A story about a donkey and an ox also appears in the Arabian Nights.

 How Many Donkeys?  by Margaret Read MacDonald is a fun story that will have students counting in Arabic.

The Donkey and the Garden by Devora Busheri is a Jewish story based on Midrash Hagadol, and tells how Rabbi Akiva overcame his fear of humiliation to go from humble shepherd to legendary Jewish leader, with a little help from his clever wife and a donkey with a garden on its back.

Tangki Tjuta Donkeys  by Tjanpi Desert Weavers

This story focusses on donkeys and their role in an Indigenous community in South Australia.Donkeys are malpa wiru, valuable friends and helpers in the families and desert community of Pukatja (Ernabella) in the APY Lands of northern South Australia. People set off on their donkeys for picnics and longer journeys, always returning home safely.

Donkeys make us laugh. Not sure why, but many stories about them humorous.

And if you only want to read one donkey story don't forget the best one Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig.

6th December Mitten Tree Day

 

Mitten Tree Day celebrates the gift of warmth. It's a day to collect mittens, hang them on a Christmas tree, and then hand them out to those in need. Those who live in cold climates understand the necessity of mittens. This winter clothing item is essential for keeping the hands warm while outdoors. It may be cold in the Northern Hemisphere but it is getting quite hot here and everyone is looking forward to the end of school and the summer holidays.

This post would be more relevant in July here, so I have filed away a note to self, celebrate mittens in winter next year because we have quite a few books which feature mittens.

Two favourite mitten stories  spring to mind immediately, Three Little Kittens  who have lost their mittens and the Ukranian folktale, The Mitten where a number of animals seek shelter in a mitten they find in the snow.

Other books to look for in the library:

12th November Diwali

It is nearly time for Diwali, the Hindu festival of light that celebrates the victory of good over evil,  and as quite a number of the students at my school will be celebrating we always have a book display. 

Currently Kindergarten and I are reading folktales too, so yesterday we read an Indian folktale, The Old Woman and the Red Pumpkin which was a 'big hit' with them. As a result of this my Diwali display grew to include Indian folktales and other stories.

There are many books about Diwali available, but look for these in the library as they will cover all aspects and enable you to answer any questions the children will have:

• Binny's Diwali by Thrity Umrigar

• Shubh  Diwali by Chitra Soundar

• Lighting a Lamp by Jonny Zucker

• It's Diwali by Kabir Sehgal

• Happy Diwali  by Sanyukta Mathur    

• All About Diwali: Things to Make and Do by Swapna Haddow

• Rama and Sita  by Malachy Doyle

• Rama and the Demon King by Jessica Souhami

• The Story of Divaali  by Nilesh Mistry

• Rama's Return  by Lisa Bruce

• Chook Doolan: Let's Do Diwali  by James Roy 

• Rangoli by Anuradha Anath     

Some Indian folktales to look for:

• The Elephant's Friend  by Marcia Williams

• The Old Woman and the Red Pumpkin  by Betsy Bang

• No Dinner! by Jessica Souhami

• Grandma and the Great Gourd by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

• Monkey  by Gerald McDermott

• The Monkey and the Crocodile by Paul Galdone

• Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young

• Under the Great Plum Tree  by Sufiya Ahmed

• Once a Mouse... by Marcia Brown

• Pattan's Pumpkin  by Chitra Soundar

• The Elephant's Garden  by Jane Ray

• Jamil's Clever Cat  by Fiona French

• Manu and the Talking Fish  by Roberta Arenson

• The Tiger Child  by Joanna Troughton

Stories:

• The Tiger-Skin Rug  by Gerald Rose

• Stay for Dinner by  Sandy Parappukkaran

• Amma's Sari by Sandy Parappukkaran

15th March Favourite Folktales

As it is Folktale and Fable Week and I wrote about fables yesterday, I thought I'd share a few favourite folktales today. What is a folktale? A definition I have borrowed

Books in the folktale genre contain stories that have been passed down from generation to generation, often by oral telling. The folktale genre includes, but isn’t limited to: myths, tall tales, legends, fables, and fairy tales.

The stories have often been passed down from one generation to the other until no one remembers who first made up the tale. They tend to focus on broad themes and there may be multiple versions of the tale.

There's so many to choose from, and I have not included any fables, fairytales or myths.  The following are culture-based and are ones that I love to share with classes. Quite a lot has been written for teachers about being careful not to read a folktale to students and let them believe that it is indicative of the culture today. For this reason many teachers will not share Tikki Tikki Tembo. I think it is better to share good stories and talk about there place in time and culture.

Here's ten I love!

• Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema and Leo and Diane Dillon (African)

• Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe (African)

• The Seven Chinese Brothers by Margaret Mahy and Jean and Mou-Sien Tseng (Chinese)

•Two of Everything by Lily Toy Hong (Chinese)

• Why Ducks Stand on One Leg by  Sherry Garland and Jean and Mou-Sien Tseng  (Vietnamese)

• The Old Woman and the Red Pumpkin by Betsy Bang and Rachel Merriman or No Dinner! by Jessica Souhami (Indian)

• The Talking Eggs by Roberts D. San Souci and Jerry Pinkney (Creole)

• The Princess Mouse by Aaron Shepherd and Leonid Gore (Finnish)

• Anansi and the Spider by Gerald McDermott (African)

• The Green Frogs by Yumi Heo (Korean)

Christmas books for Over 6s

Now for Advent Books to read to the over 6s. I love sharing these because there are so many opportunities to talk about the 'real meaning of Christmas', to consolidate work that classes have done in history units in class, to hark back to discussions in Circle Time and to draw on travel experiences.

1.  Cat in the Manger by Michael Foreman;  The Witness by Robert Westall;  Room For a Little One by Martin Waddell or any other nativity story where the point of view is changed. These three look at the story from the animals point of view. There are many others as well. The donkey's view also often appears in picture books. It is always interesting to be a bystander and report on an event and I enjoy asking students to do this themselves so these stories give them a starting point to form their own view. I read about a picture book this week that gives Joseph's view. How modern!

2.  Refuge by Anne Booth or Flight by Nadia Wheatley. While these two stories appear to tell the story of the journey to Bethlehem they also allow the reader to broaden the concept of Mary and Joseph's journey to encompass the plights of refugees in their journey in search of a safe place.

3. The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie DePaola. I have included this as a folktale that explains why poinsettias are part of the Christmas tradition. If you can't find this, look for Cobweb Christmas  by Shirley Climo or  The Spider's Gift by Eric Kimmel  which are folktales explaining why we have tinsel on trees.

4. The Christmas Caravan by Jennifer Beck is a lovely story about Simon who wants to enter a competition. This gives you many opportunities to discuss competitions, decorating homes at Christmas and what is required to really appreciate Christmas. It also looks at Southern hemisphere Christmas traditions. Perhaps pair it with The Boxing Day Test by Sharon Willis.

5. Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost and Susan Jeffers. While strictly speaking it is not a Christmas story it has snow and Susan Jeffers has used touches of red and green with the black and white of night and snow to evoke a very special setting in New England in Winter, when it is Christmas. The vellum cover on the book adds to the mystery and gives it the feeling of a present.

6. Silent Night  by Lara Hawthorne is a new book that brings this beautiful carol by Joseph Mohr to life by featuring the world's diversity as it moves through the lyrics. There are other versions though which highlight the origins of the carol. See Silent Night Holy Night which has beautiful Robert Ingpen illustrations and Silent Night which has Susan Jeffers' illustrations.

7. The Story Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden. This story can just be read from the novel version, but I love the picture book edition illustrated by Barbara Cooney. I serialise it with my year 1 classes and right from the first sentence, 'This is a story about wishing.' they are hooked.

8. The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski and P.J Lynch is another picture book which draws readers in, allows them to empathise with the characters and be surprised by the ending. The students love the foreshadowing and the lightening of the illustrations as the story progresses and Jonathan's demeanour changes.

9. The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston and Barbara Cooney. I usually read this book to Year 2 in the week of  Remembrance Day in November. This makes the discussion of World War 1 and Ruthie's father's absence very pertinent. This is the nativity play story for older students. They revisit their nativity plays, the standing on chairs and the carol singing.

10. In Flander's Fields by Brian Harrison-Lever  and Norman Jorgenson tells the story of Christmas in the trenches during World War 1 when the fighting stopped, a robin is rescued and the soldiers sing Silent Night in English and German.


11. Fair's Fair  by Leon Garfield. This short chapter book has been published in many formats and with various illustrations. If you can't find the picture book version illustrated by Margaret Chamberlain read it to students without pictures and make them visualise for themselves because hers are so evocative that the rest pale to not be worth sharing.  This story about Jackson, an orphan is set in Victorian times and is told with such suspense that it is a bit scary but the ending is just what student readers require. A good friend found me a new copy of this at the Lifeline Book Fair, so you too could be lucky.

12. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and Quentin Blake. I recommend this to parents of avid readers because when they share it their children make comparisons with Fair's Fair and other books they have read at school and they bring it back saying what great discussions the family had. I grew up with this story as my father had a record of someone reading it that we listened to every Christmas.

Others not to be missed:
Coming Home by Michael Morpurgo; The Polar Express by Chris van Allsburg; Manger by Lee Bennett Hopkins; and Cat on the Hill by Michael Foreman.

Merry Christmas and happy reading.