13th March Noela Young (1930) Diane Dillon (1933)

Noela Young has been illustrating children's books in Australia for over fifty years. She is probably best known for her illustrations of The Muddle-headed Wombat by Ruth Park. She has illustrated many novels by Emily Rodda and Gillian Rubinstein as well, but her picture books have very special qualities, especially when they deal with sensitive and serious themes such as old age and death, as Grandpa by Lilith Norman and Toby by Margaret Wild do. I cannot read Toby without crying. The illustrations of that beautiful golden retriever 'get to me' every time.

Diane Dillon illustrates with her husband Leo, who I wrote about on 2nd March. Their most recent book The Goblin and the Empty Chair was written by Mem Fox, so here there is an Australian and American collaboration of March birthdays! For me this book is a departure from what I would expect from both parties. Check it out and see what you think.

12th March Virginia Hamilton (1936 - 2002)

Not much to say today. The only birthday I could find for today was Virginia Hamilton and I am not familiar with her books at all. I know though that she has won every major award to do with children's literature, including the Hans Christian Anderson Award, so I do need to learn more about her work. Her website enlightened me somewhat. Now to locate some books.

A postscript to my elephant books... I forgot to include Baby by Tania Cox and Ann James. One of the kindergarten classes at school came to borrow it yesterday as a follow up to one child's news. All the children were abuzz with the news of the elephant calf.

10th March Birth of an Elephant

Today a new baby elephant was born at Taronga Park Zoo. This is a momentous event and tomorrow the children at school will be full of talk about it so I will need to get out elephant books. Last time an elephant baby was born they were besotted. Hopefully this one will thrive and they will have another calf to visit. We have a large number of both stories and factual books about elephants, but those that deal with the birth of elephants and baby elephants will be best. Among the display will be these books because each of them is a beautiful and factual depiction of elephant life:

• Little Elephant Thunderfoot by Sally Grindley & John Butler

• Bashi, Elephant Baby by Theresa Radcliffe & John Butler

• Kidogo by Anik McGrory

• Elephants by Steve Bloom

11th March Wanda Gag (1893 - 1946) Ezra Jack Keats (1916 -1983) Jonathan London (1947) Ronda Armitage (1943)

It would seem that if you want to make it in the world of children's books, then the 11th March is a good day to be born! There are four birthdays today, starting with Wanda Gag whose books were among the first picture books that were specifically designed for children. Millions of Cats with its repetitive, rhythmic refrain "hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats" and fancy curly font is a classic, and still in print! If the Caldecott Medal had existed in 1929 it surely would have won, instead of receiving a Newbery Honour Award.

Secondly, someone who also has an enduring reputation, Ezra Jack Keats. He won the Caldecott in 1963 for The Snowy Day. Peter, the main character in this story appears in many of Keats' books, growing older in each one. Peter is an African American child with such endearing physical features and the books depict the simple routines of family life and a multicultural urban setting with great warmth. See A Letter For Amy; Goggles! and Peter's Chair.

Next, another American, Jonathan London. As well as all his Froggy titles he has a series of picture books about animals in the wild which are beautifully illustrated by Jon Van Zyle. My favourites are The Eyes of Gray Wolf and Honey Paw and Lightfoot, perhaps because being about wolves and bears, animals that I have no experience of, I find them fascinating.

The other author, Ronda Armitage was born in New Zealand but now lives in Britain. She is probably best known for The Lighthouse Keeper series of books which are illustrated by her husband, David Armitage. My favourite is still the first book, The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch. I use this series of books with Kindergarten to teach problem/solution. Mr Grinling always seems to have a problem and Mrs Grinling always manages to solve his problems. The vocabulary is rich and the children remember words like 'catastrophe', 'varmints' and 'lackaday'. More recently she has written two books about Small Knight and George which have illustrations by Arthur Robins.

9th March The Mitchell Library is 100!

The Mitchell Library in Sydney opened its doors to the public on 9th March 1910. It has survived one hundred years of collecting and resourcing the people of Sydney. While you may think there is nothing there for children as young as those I teach, it is still worth a visit and it could be fascinating for many children who have only experienced a school or municipal library.

Look at the statue of Matthew Flinders outside the library and then find the bronze statue of his cat Trim sitting on the window ledge behind him. This brave cat came to Australia from England with Flinders and then was there for the circumnavigation of Australia too. Flinders kept a diary and Trim was 'the star' of it. Years ago Annette Macarthur-Onslow illustrated his journal and it was marketed under the title of Trim, but it would be long out of print, but The Mostly True Story of Matthew and Trim by Cassandra Golds and Stephen Axelson would be easier to find and it even has teaching notes to accompany it that come from the Curriculum Corporation.

10th March Jack Kent (1920 - 1985)

Jack Kent illustrated lots of books, but my favourite is his retelling of the Danish folk tale The Fat Cat. I have never read it to a class that haven't been riveted. They love the concept and gaze in amazement as the cat keeps eating more and more and looks more and more balloon-like. The names Skohottentot and Skolinkenlot are fun and the repeated refrain gets them joining in. The library's copy is tatty because it is well-loved!

8th March Kenneth Grahame (1859 - 1932)

Kenneth Grahame is best known for Wind in the Willows but for young children I think The Reluctant Dragon is more accessible. Both have been published in abridged editions and this makes the essence of the stories and their plot details readily available to children, but they inevitably lose some Grahame's wonderful language and turn of phrase. I like the abridged version of The Reluctant Dragon that Inga Moore has created. Her illustrations show the very gentle dragon who really doesn't want to behave in the more stereotypical dragon manner.

A newer book, Kenny and the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi of Spiderwick fame is inspired by Grahame's Reluctant Dragon. This is the story of a rabbit called Kenneth (Kenny) and his two friends, George who is a bookshop owner and retired dragonslayer, and Grahame who is a dragon who enjoys reading poetry. While this spoof is not as literary as the original it is easier to read and children will read it themselves! It too, is worth a look just for the illustrations.