12th May Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day! Of course we've had all the books about mothers out on display for the last two weeks and all but two books have been borrowed! But, something very touching happened on Thursday when I had the four kindergarten classes in the library. A girl came up to me and said 'all the books have only got one child in them'. I soon realised that what she meant was that her mum had two children and she wanted a book where there were two children to take home and preferably two girls like her family. On a quick perusal, I found she was right, most books were about a mother and a child. I needed to think quickly.

Straight away I thought of these... 

• You're All My Favourites by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram. It was out.

• Mummy's Special Day by  Frances Stickley and Carolina Rabei. It was out.

• Five Minutes' Peace  by Jill Murphy. It was out.

• How to Raise a Mum  by Jean Reagan and Lee Wildish. It was out.

• Tucking Mummy In  by Morag Loh. It was in and she was happy to borrow it. Dilemma averted, but it made me think about what we had and so many of the books are about a single child who is doing something with his or her mother. Food for thought. Obviously, I need to broaden the offerings for mother's day for those students who are deeper thinkers or want to connect it to their family!

And if you are lucky you might find a copy of this old but lovely cumulative tale We're Making Breakfast for Mother  by Shirley Neitzel and Nancy Winslow Parker where two children are making breakfast in bed for their unsuspecting mother. Nothing goes quite as intended, of course.

4th October Jo Witek (4/9/68)

It isn't Jo Witek's birthday today, but I have just learned that it was her birthday a month ago and she isn't already on my birthday list, so I am adding her now. Also I have just bought her new book ready to use in the library with my preschoolers this coming term. It is called Brave As Can Be.

Jo Witek is an author, journalist and screenwriter who lives in France. Her three picture books available in English are illustrated by Christine Roussey, a French illustrator who also lives in Paris. The three stories, Hello in There; In My Heart  and Brave as Can Be feature the same small girl.

In each book she 'tackles' big issues for preschoolers, getting a new sibling, feelings and being brave. The sibling title doesn't work as well with a large audience, but is better one on one with a child who is awaiting the birth of a sibling. The feelings title is very popular in my library. It includes multilayered die-cut pages featuring decreasing rainbow coloured hearts, big white expanses, and a cute girl who explores her emotions stated as similes... "My heart is like a house, with all these feelings living inside." My heart "is as heavy as an elephant", "like a plant reaching toward the sky".  It has wonderful vocabulary for empowering young children when talking about emotions.


Jo's new book on bravery empowers young children to confront  scary situations head on, but in a playful manner. No doubt there will be more winning titles to come!

10th April World Sibling Day

World Sibling Day is a day for sibling revelry rather than rivalry. Get in touch with your siblings now. Think of all the good things you've done together.

Recently I had a birthday, and one of the nice things about the day was that everyone of my siblings got in touch. That is one of the pleasures that comes with having quite a few siblings. Of course, as children we weren't always that amicable and some of us got on better than others. Another pleasure for me is seeing whole families use my library so that I get to know the younger siblings long before they start school. Teaching each member of a family is quite an honour I feel.

There are so many wonderful books about siblings and their relationships, some of them quite famous in fact. Among others there is:
• Alfie and Annie Rose     Shirley Hughes.
• Frances and Gloria          Russell Hoban.
• Max and Ruby                Rosemary Wells
• Horrid Henry and Perfect Peter         Francesca Simon
• Judy Moody and Stink    Megan McDonald
• Ramona and Beezus       Beverly Cleary
• Anastasia and Sam          Lois Lowry
• The Pain and the Great One              Judy Blume
Each of these series hooks readers in, to keep reading more and more about what these children are doing to and with each other.

For very young children where it is more about sibling rivalry there are picture book series like these:
• My Big Brother, Boris; My Little Sister, Doris by Liz Pichon
• The Very Worst Monster; Silly Billy; Three Star Billy; It's My Birthday stories about Hazel and Billy by Pat Hutchins
• Share With Brother; Stay With Sister; Baby by Steven Layne

A common request in my library is for a book for a toddler about welcoming a new baby. There are many but I can't always remember one quickly when asked on the hop. Here are a few that are in my library that I pull out for this purpose:
• A Baby for Grace  by Ian Whybrow
• How to be a Baby...by Me, the Big Sister by Sally Lloyd-Jones
• One Special Day by Lola M. Schaefer
• I'm a Big Sister by Ronne Randall
• Big Brother Little Brother by Penny Dale

And just in case, you'd rather do the whole sibling thing with animals instead, there is a book by the fabulous Steve Jenkins and his wife Robin Page, Brothers and Sisters, Sibling Relationships in the Animal World.