15th September Respect the Aged Day

Every year on the third Monday of September, Japan comes together to celebrate Respect for the Aged Day, or Keirō no Hi. This Japanese public holiday is celebrated annually to honour elderly citizens. It began in 1966. 

Japan doesn’t just respect their elders—they have a larger demographic of older community members than any other country. Those older than 65 years old make up 29 percent of the population, while over 1 in 10 people in Japan are over 80 years old. As life expectancies are long and birth rates remain low, experts expect the trend to continue. 

Whether children are in Japan or elsewhere like in Australia having respect for older people is a good thing and reading about interactions between young and old increases empathy and ease with older people. There are so many wonderful picture books that highlight the relationships between children and older people and I'm sure you have your own favourites. Here's twelve of mine:

24th July World Cousins Day

Cousins Day is an annual celebration of the special relationship that exists between cousins, a time to tell your cousins how much you appreciate them. “First cousins” are children of one’s aunt or uncle and whose closest common ancestor is a grandparent. Cousins often become lifelong friends through bonding at family reunions and get-togethers, holidays, birthday parties or weddings.

I don't have a lot of cousins and those I do have do not live nearby, so there is not that special bond, but my siblings and I have made sure that our children do know each other and see each other occasionally. 

Books about cousins 'weren't on my radar' until I heard debut author Sharara Attai speak at a CBC function about her new book. I then looked up the catalogue to see if we had any books because I could think of families at school whose cousins were also at school. We did not have many, so I thought this book would make a good addition.

What we had:

There are some others:

27th January Family Literacy Day

Family Literacy Day 2025 Theme: Learn to be Green, Together

Family Literacy Day on January 27th is a time to reflect on the power of reading and writing, especially for young learners. Literacy is the foundation of all future learning, and it’s never too early to start fostering a love for books and words in children. From the moment a child is born, they begin absorbing the language and skills that will shape their future educational success.

Literacy isn’t just about learning to read and write; it’s about communication, problem-solving, and understanding the world around us. For young children, literacy is a crucial skill that helps them develop cognitive, social, and emotional abilities. Research has shown that early exposure to books and language development is one of the most significant predictors of academic achievement later in life. Children who are read to regularly develop stronger language skills, have better vocabulary, and are better equipped to tackle challenges in school.

“Family literacy refers to the way parents, children, and extended family member use literacy at home and in the community. Family literacy occurs naturally during the routines of daily living and helps children and adults get things done.” – Hayden, R. & Sanders, M. (2007).

It refers to the role of parents, grandparents, and any other family member in increasing the reading and writing competencies of the family. Especially as a child spends more time at home than at school, the family's support in enhancing their skills is crucial. It can refer to time spent outdoor, fun activities, and games. Research shows that one year of parental education has a more significant impact than a higher parental income. 

For quite some time now, I have been buying books at Lifeline Book Fairs for my sisters and friends who are grandmothers. In this way they have a box of books at their place for when their grandchildren visit and they have an activity that the grandchildren will ask to partake in. One of my friend's husbands told me at Christmas that he wasn't convinced that reading to the children made any difference and he took the books from me to keep me happy, until he spent holiday time with another family member where the grandchildren were not interested in being read to or looking at books. He also commented on the differences in vocabulary, sentence structure and questioning, just all oracy skills and engagement with adults.

This made me smile. He is such a convert now. He tells all his friends at the golf club about reading to their children and grandchildren.

My daughter is home for the Australian Day Long Weekend and yesterday she went to visit a  friend who had just had a second baby. 'Mum I need a new book for the baby and some 'recycled' books for the big sister.' Luckily I could oblige!

So my contribution to this year's theme about being green together is to keep ensuring that any books that children have outgrown are recycled to a new reading home until they too can hand them on. You cannot have 'too many books'...recycle their use. Children love revisiting old favourites and so do their parents.

This article Bonding over books: The benefits of reading with grandparents by Tricia Kings is well worth reading for further ideas and suggested books.

26th January Ashley Wolff (1956)

Last year I bought a book called Baby Bear Sees Blue and was just 'blown away' by the illustrations. I love linoprints and they are probably my favourite form of artwork.  Many of the artworks in my home are linoprints. I wondered why I hadn't seen any other books by this illustrator, so went in search of other books by Ashley Wolff. Surprisingly there were quite a lot already in the library, but none had memorable illustrations like this one. I hadn't remembered that Wolff was the illustrator of all the books in the series about Miss Bindergarten. I love the illustrations in Compost Stew  but hadn't realised they were hers. So now I am on the lookout for more of her books. I was pleased to see that I need to buy Baby Bear Counts One  which was published at the end of last year. I went to Ashley Wolff's website to learn more about her and her techniques for the bear books. There I learned that her bear books were  inspired by the bear cub in McCloskey's Blueberries For Sal and I found this review

Wolff’s illustrations, black linoleum-block prints washed with watercolors, feature bold lines, strong
compositions, and sensitive uses of color that will draw readers into the pictures. Excellent for group
sharing…. The quiet text is made up of Baby Bear’s questions about the sensory wonders of his world and his mother’s replies, and given a chance, young children will be happy to supply the answers first. An engaging concept book with just enough narrative for its audience.

~Booklist

As well as linoblocks she uses collage and two books about grandparents interest me now - I Call My Grandpa Papa and I Call My Grandma Nana. These books explore the names various children and cultures have for their grandparents - just perfect for Grandparents' Day at school!

Happy Birthday Ashley Wolff. You are now on my radar!

30th October Grandparents Day

Grandparents have always played a valuable role in our society by offering care, love and guidance to their children and grandchildren.

On Sunday 30 October 2011, the NSW Government will officially recognise this contribution with the inaugural Grandparents Day. Join us in celebrating the important role grandparents play in our community.

At school we have Grandparents Day in September and the students invite their grandparents to school for a concert and to look in their classrooms. And while they are there many grandparents donate a book to the library in their grandchild's name, so I too am very grateful to grandparents.

There's a myriad of books out there about how special grandparents are, that it is hard to decide what to highlight. Perhaps I should only recommend Australian ones!

Three newer ones by Rosemary Mastnak make being a grandchild seem like fun:

* Dancing with Grandma

* Cooking with Grandma

* Adventures with Grandpa

Two for very young children by Anna Walker

* I Love My Grandpa

* I Love my Grandma

Two by Margaret Wild

* Our Granny illustrated by Julie Vivas

* Piglet and Granny illustrated by Ron Brooks

A Bob Graham

* Grandad's Magic

A Gretel Killeen

* What'll We Get For Grandma? and

* Over the Hill and Around the Bend with Granny and Bert (and Me) by Helen Lunn