October Coming up

There is so many celebrations coming up! If you want to celebrate any of these days that are coming up this week, click on the link and you will see picture books for the topic and things I have written in the past.

7th October is World Smile Day! This year it was on 2nd October because it is celebrated on the first Friday in October

7th October is World Architecture Day. This year it was on the 5th October because it is celebrated on the first Monday in October.

7th October is Bathtub Day, but Bathtub Party Day is on 5th December.

8th October is World Sight Day observed on the second Thursday in October.

8th October is World Octopus Day which is part of Cephalopod Awareness Week. 5th -9th in 2026 

9th October is Ageism Awareness Day.

9th October is World Egg Day. It is on the 9th this year because it is celebrated on the second Friday in October.

10th October is World Mental Health Day.

10th October is I Love Yarn Day. It is celebrated on the second Saturday in October.

11th October is International Day of the Girl Child and here.

14th October is Ride2Work Day. 2026 theme Cycling for a Greener Future.

As well we are bang smack in the middle of World Space Week (4th - 10th) Here are several ways to celebrate this.

Here 2022 Here 2023 Here 2025

The theme for this year is "Rocket Revolution," which highlights commercial spaceflight, reusable rockets, and startups making space more accessible. The students who use the school library love reading about space and rockets is an oft-requested topic.

11th October The International Day of the Girl

The International Day of the Girl (IDG) – observed annually on 11 October – is a global platform to advocate for the full spectrum of girls’ rights. This year, at a time when we are seeing a range of movements and actions to curtail girls’ and women’s rights and roll back progress on gender equality, we see particularly harsh impacts on girls.

Meet some girls who are transforming their worlds here.

SDG 4 Gender equality is still in need of advocacy because 122 million girls are still out of school.

To read about girls and education see this list of books. Start with this one: 

• The International Day of the Girl Child by Jessica Dee, Rona Ambrose and Simone Shin

Nine stories inspired by the real-life experiences of girls from all over the globe bring to light the importance of this day. Each story is set in a different country and sensitively describes an inequity faced by a character and how she addressed it. The challenges include gender-based violence, illiteracy, lack of access to technology, sanitation, nutritional disparity and child marriage.

I am off to the State Library tonight to watch Room to Read's film She Creates Change 

"To achieve gender equality in education across the globe, we must sustain our efforts, equipping girls with tools and fostering environments conducive to their success." - Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO

International Women's Day

As well as all the usual books that were on display for International Women's Day, I did something a little different with the books on display.

Had such fun at school yesterday. I went through the library catalogue and took all the books off the shelves that had the word 'girl' in the title and an adjective before it. eg Stolen Girl; Astro Girl; Butterfly Girl; Bold Australian Girl; One Girl; Drum Dream Girl; The Goose Girl; The Lost Girl; Brave Girl; Dear Girl; Ladybug Girl; Our Girl; Sparrow Girl; Gingerbread Girl; Fossil Girl; Stone Girl Bone Girl; The Little Piano Girl; etc. I displayed them and then we talked about all the things girls could be and adjectives. So simple, yet so effective and most of the books were borrowed!

There are quite a few novels you could use too, like Goth Girl; Rickshaw Girl; Reindeer Girl; Star Girl; Horse Girl.

8th March International Women's Day

It will be International Women's Day this week and it is always a good time to celebrate strong women. I have written about what books to display to celebrate this day in the library, but this year I thought to draw attention to two  gender issues and what teachers, teacher librarians and readers in general can do about this.

Firstly, there is the SDG Book Club and its list of recommended reading to address gender inequality in the world. See my Pinterest list of books here and my blog entry here.

Or secondly, just read a picture book which has a female protagonist to your class. This is important because male protagonists have long been the default in picture books and we need to show the girls we teach that girls can be the main character, can do amazing things and be exemplary humans. If you need convincing or some background reading start with  Sarah Mokrzycki’s article in the Guardian about Australian picture books. It is a good start then look at the research done in Early Childhood settings by Helen Adam and Laurie Harper.

If you are not sure what to read, try these and discuss what qualities their protagonist exhibits.

 

8th March International Women's Day

We always celebrate this day in our library and I have written about it on this blog several times before, but given the diatribe this week about children's picture books that was on a popular website I follow, I feel the need to recommend some picture books with female main characters that are certainly worth meeting. The posts were going on and on about how all the characters in the picture books for very young children, even if they were animals, were male, 'even the Gruffalo!' While I agree that, that may well be the case, and that 'he' is used more than 'she' in books, there is so much more available to children today than there used to be. The popularity of the series Little People Big Dreams by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara  proves that books about girls can be popular. They are among the most popular books borrowed from our Prep school library and many of the children have some copies of their own. Kate Pankhurst's Great Women series is also popular.

We keep popular series in boxes because Preschoolers want to be able to find their friends quickly. Most of the series do have male main characters, but there is Maisy and Angelina Ballerina (both mice),  Miffy, Eloise, Fancy Nancy and Pinkalicious and these are more popular than say, Pete the Cat; Splat the Cat; Scaredy Squirrel  and Grug.

For stand alone, any of these picture books have girls as the main character and are well worth searching out in your library. Happy International Women's Day!

• One Word From Sophia by Jim Averback and Yasmeen Ismail (See Nothing! and I'm a Girl! by Yasmeen Ismail)











• Pearl Power  by Mel Elliott (There are now three books about Pearl)













• Izzy Gizmo  by Pip Jones and Sara Ogilvie (There are now two books about Izzy)













• Dear Girl  by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Paris Rosenthal (See Amy's Uni the Unicorn books as well for a strong female main character)

• Where's Jamela? by Niki Daly (the five stories about Jamela who lives with her mother and grandmother give readers a very positive view of what women are capable of)

11th October International Day of the Girl

It is school holidays here, but I wish it was a school day because today is International Day of the Girl and my students and parents who are wealthy and educated still seem to need to be convinced at times that there is a gender gap. I have mothers saying to me, "Please don't let my boy borrow a pink book"; "Please don't let my girl borrow anymore building books"; "Do you have books that are boys' books?"; " My daughter loves Princess in Black,  what pink princess books could I borrow for her?"

This is in a country where women are more highly educated than men at the moment, but fewer of them are in leadership roles. This is at a coeducational school where the students have amazing opportunities and choices.

I am constantly putting together displays to counteract intrenched views. The library has an amazing collection of picture book biographies and picture books that feature girls and science, but today I would have put together a small display of books that encourage girls to be themselves, befitting this year's theme - GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable.

                      

I give every baby girl born to friends, a copy of Global Baby's Girls  and  a copy of one of Dream Big  by Joyce Wan or Baby Feminists  by Libby Babbott-Klein.













The display in the library would include these books:

      

Go girls!

12th July Malala Day

This week in my Year 2 Book Club, one of my students read the biography, For the Right to Learn: the Malala Yousafzai's Story.  She was horrified to think that there are places in the world where she might not be able to go to school. Another girl in the group read the biography of the first woman doctor, Elizabeth Blackwell, in Who Said Women Can't Be Doctors?  A discussion about education and gender resulted. The comments were very interesting, given that this group of students come from affluent, educated families, attend a private co-educational school and take education and the ability to get what they need for granted.  I took the opportunity to show the students the other biographies the library has about Malala and to encourage them to read other books about girls and education.

When Malala was growing up in Pakistan, girls were not allowed to go to school. Malala refused to stay home! She spoke out for education and was almost killed for standing up for her beliefs. To this day, Malala continues to work to ensure that every girl around the world has the chance to go to school. Malala Day is celebrated on her birthday, 12th July. The library has several books about her, including these:

• For the Right to Learn: the Malala Yousafzai's Story  by       Rebecca Langston-George and Janna Bock 

• Malala's Magic Pencil by Malala Yousafzai and Kerascoet
• Malala, a Brave Girl from Pakistan by Jeanette Winter
• Every Day is Malala Day by Rosemary McCarney
• Malala: Activist for Girls' Education by Raphael Frier and Aurelie Fronty
• Free as a Bird: the Story of Malala by Lina Maslo
• Malala Yousafzai: Warrior with Words by Karen Leggett Abouraya

And other picture books about girls who are determined to be educated:
• Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim Bridges
• Razia's Ray of Hope by Elizabeth Suneby and Suana Verelst
• The Girl Who Buried Her Dreams in a Can by Tererai Trent
• Nasreen's Secret School: A True Story From Afghanistan by Jeanette Winter
• Yasmin's Hammer by Ann Malaspina and Doug Chayka

8th March International Women's Day

Each year in the library we put together a display for International Women's Day. Usually it focusses upon the many picture book biographies that we have added to the library's collection. See all the female biographies listed here. But as well I try to share books that have a strong 'gender' theme or are anti stereotype. I feel that this is as necessary as it has ever been and reading 'that The wWorld Economic Forum predicts that the gender gap won't close entirely until 2186', we still have a long way to go.Here are three newer picture books that I haven't written about before.

• The Ricker Racker Club by Patrick Guest and Nathaniel Eckstrom really made me smile as at times the characters and situations sounded like the children I teach.The boys have created a club. Poppy really wants to be in the club and does everything the boys ask her to do. Finally the boys, Max and Ollie acknowledge Poppy's bravery and make her an equal partner in the club. Poppy succeeds, in the process showing how capable and spirited she can be. Use the illustration of the sign on the back cover of the book to start a discussion with the class before you even open the book to read.

"So much to like in this book; the rhythm of the text, the bountiful illustrations, the well defined characters and the strong messages of acceptance and empathy.  The story sets an ideal child’s adventure world as the ideal place to learn and grow emotionally..."   Reviewed by Chris Dayman

•  Extremely Cute Animals Operating Heavy Machinery by David Gordon.
Here there are some extremely cute (read dressed in pink and very girly) animals. When Karen's sandcastle is destroyed by three boys, Skylar, Mike and Trent, her friends are not daunted. They rally and come up with plan after plan to thwart the boys. What they build will not be destroyed and it involves driving a bulldozer!

• Beautiful  by Stacy McAnulty and Joanne Lew-Vriethoff.
This book is purely a celebration of girls and what they are capable of...'beautiful girls deserve compliments because they make the world...BEAUTIFUL.'

So many wonderful books to share with young children on a day well worth promoting.

9th March Seven Chinese Sisters

This week I'm continuing to look at picture books that empower girls to see themselves as very capable.  The Seven Chinese Sisters  by Kathy Tucker and Grace Lin is a favourite from my library. While this is an update or innovation on the Chinese folktale, The Seven Chinese Brothers that Margaret Mahy retells so eloquently, it is welcome, as it gives girls the chance to shine, solve problems, be proactive and to have the special powers. Each of the sisters has a special talent that they use cooperatively to thwart a dragon which has snatched baby Seventh Sister.

The sisters'  talents are ones that the girls I teach all would like to have and we have great debates over which sister they would choose to be. Unlike the brother's talents which really are unlikely, these girls have skills children relate to. The First Sister can ride a scooter as fast as the wind, the Second Sister is good at karate, the Third Sister can count beyond five hundred, the Fifth Sister is good at catching balls and the Sixth Sister cooks delicious noodle soup. Read and enjoy.

8th March I'm a Girl

Happy International Women's Day. I have had big success with the staff, parents and students today. So many of the books in my 'Inspiring Women' Display were loaned and one of the kindergarten teachers read I'm a Girl by Yasmeen Ismail to her class.

This is such a good book for today. It challenges gender roles and stereotypes. The 'girl' in the story is an aardvark, Yasmeen says, not a donkey. She dresses in shorts and a t-shirt. She likes to win.  The text says

I'm supposed to be made of sugar and spice 
and all things nice.
But I'm sweet and sour
and not a little flower.

I'm a girl! I'm a girl! I'm a girl!

and it celebrates difference, perfect for today and sending girls and boys the right message, we are who we are and we are not restricted by gender stereotypes. We should celebrate our strengths and our individuality.

If you haven't seen the book take a peek  here at the trailer.