13th May Train Day

I have written about books for train lovers before but it was back in 2017 and now I have a whole new lot of train enthusiasts looking for books in the library. What is it about trains and young boys? Yes in my library it is boys. Of course any book about Thomas the Tank Engine and The Little Red Train by Benedict Blathwayt are still popular, but I thought I'd look at some other favourites and just how long trains have been a fascination for young children.

Picture books about trains for children have existed for quite some time, when you consider that the Little Golden Books: The Little Engine That Could (1930) by Watty Piper, Tootle (1945) by Gertrude Crampton, The Train to Timbuctoo (1951) by Margaret Wise Brown and The Little Red Caboose (1953) by Marian Potter have existed for so long and are still in print. 

Cherished by readers for over ninety years, The Little Engine That Could is a classic tale of a little engine who, despite her size, triumphantly pulls a train full of wonderful things to the children waiting on the other side of a mountain. The repetitive refrain hooks in very young readers and keeps them eager to continue. Many versions of this story now exist. It has been reillustrated, abridged and even made into a movie.

Watty Piper is the pseudonym for Arnold Munk, the author behind the classic retelling of The Little Engine That Could and cofounder of Platt & Munk Publishers (now part of Grosset & Dunlap.) Munk's retelling of the beloved children's tale has sold millions of copies since its 1930 publication and inspired generations to believe they can. As of 2001, Tootle was the all-time third best-selling hardcover children's book in English. All of this certainly confirms that trains are a popular topic for young children's books and reading!

Other 'oldies' are Choo Choo: The Story of a Little Engine Who Ran Away (1937)   by Virginia Lee Burton, The Little Train (1940) by Lois Lenski, Two Little Trains (1949)  by Margaret Wise Brown and Leo and Diane Dillon, 1,2,3 To the Zoo (1968) by Eric Carle, The Caboose Who Got Loose (1971) by Bill Peet and The Little Train (1974) by  Graham Greene and Edward Ardizzone and Freight Train (1978) by Donald Crews.

The six stories by Benedict Blathwayt about The Little Red Train  and his driver Duffy continue to amuse even me when I get to read any of them aloud. Huffitty-chuffitty . . . huffitty-chuffitty . . . huffitty-chuffitty puff" went the smoke from the Little Red Train's funnel. Chuff-chuff, chuffity chuff, whoo. . . oo. . oo! There's plenty of train noise to make.

I can just remember steam trains. I have memories of standing on the bridge over the railway line in the country town I grew up in, listening to the loud noise and getting covered in smelly smoke. This memory is front of mind when I share Charlotte Voake's Here Comes the Train with children. I do like steam trains and many of the trains depicted in children's picture books are steam trains still, despite the fact that most children nowadays are unlikely to have seen one unless their family has taken them to a museum or rail open day.

These children's books that are popular have steam trains involved in the adventure:

• Steam Train Dream Train  by Sherry Duskey Rinker & Tom Lichtenheld

• Oi! Get Off My Train  by John Burningham

• Down By the Station  by Will Hillenbrand

• The Cat, the Mouse and the Runaway Train  by Peter Bently & Steve Cox

• How to Train a Train  by Jason Carter Eaton & John Rocco

See the covers of these books here on Pinterest.

It is the sounds that trains make on the tracks that often provide a rhythm for the story and a myriad of opportunities for onomatopoeia. That's why poems such as  A Peanut Sat on a Railroad Track  and Philip Booth's Crossing remain. There is an illustrated version of Crossing. It was Bagram Ibatoulline's first foray into illustration and although it is quite American it is a beautiful book.

Here in Australia, train journeys can be very long. The trips that take days like The Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin, and the trip on The Indian Pacific from Sydney to Perth via the Nullarbor Plain still seem to excite tourists enough to pay the large fares. They are historical railway journeys and because trains have featured in the history of remote Australia there are picture books that celebrate them:

• The Shop Train by Josie Wowolla Boyle & Paul Seden

• Tea and Sugar Christmas by Jane Jolly & Robert Ingpen

• Bob the Railway Dog by Corinne Fenton & Andrew McLean

Of course there are other avenues to explore. There is all the wonderful nonfiction information books. There are subways, stations, station masters, everything related to trains to explore ...

8th May One Warm Coat Day

While thinking about jumpers, I also wondered about jackets and coats and whether they had days of their own. There is a day to celebrate leather jackets on 14th July. There appears to have been a National Coat Day on the 20th June, but why would Americans need to wear a coat in June? Then there's One Warm Coat Day on October 6th.  One Warm Coat Day is run by a not-for-profit charity in the United States that works to provide a free, warm coat to any person in need and to raise awareness of the vital need for warm coats.

One Warm Coat’s mission is to provide free coats to children and adults in need while promoting volunteerism and environmental sustainability. Thirty years ago, one woman with one coat sparked a movement that has led to over 43,000 coat drives across the United States, providing more than 7.3 million free, warm coats to children and adults while keeping more than 18 million pounds of textiles out of landfills. One Warm Coat believes in each person’s right to shelter from the elements and is committed to sharing warmth one coat at a time. 

This is a fantastic initiative. In many parts of Australia many of us only don a coat if we are going to Tasmania, Melbourne, the snow or the mountains or are off overseas, as it is rarely very cold.

Are coats common in children's books? 

• There are many beautiful editions of the bible story about Joseph and his coat of many colours. See:

Joseph's Coat of Many Colours by Katherine Sully

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice and Quentin Blake

Joseph by Anna Fienberg and Kim Gamble

The Coat of Many Colours by Pauline Baynes and Jenny Koralek

• A coat features in the fable about the wind and the sun. See

The Contest Between the Sun and the Wind by Heather Forest and Susan Gabor

The North Wind and the Sun by Brian Wildsmith

• A coat features in this Turkish folktale, The Hungry Coat by Demi. It features Nasrettin Hoca, a version of Nasreddin Hoca who was a philosopher, wise, witty man with a good sense of humour. His stories have been told almost everywhere in the world, spread among the tribes of Turkic World and into Persia, Arabia, Africa and along the Silk Road to the China and India cultures.

• Other fiction picture books which feature a coat.

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Taback Simms

Blurb: When Joseph's coat got too old and shabby, he made it into a jacket. But what did he make it into after that? And after that?

The Goat's Coat  by Tom Percival and Christine Pym 

Blurb: When Alfonzo the goat discovers a host of creatures who need help, he doesn't hesitate. Using his precious, much-loved coat, he finds ways to solve their problems - fashioning a boat for frogs out of a cuff, for instance. But soon he's down to the last thread and it's started to snow... What will he do?

The Coat by Julie Hunt and Ron Brooks

Blurb: The Coat stood in a paddock at the end of a row of strawberries. It was buttoned up tight and stuffed full of straw and it was angry. 'What a waste of me!' it yelled. Then along came a man. 'I could do with a coat like that,' the man said. 

The Pocket Dogs by Margaret Wild and Stephen Michael King

Blurb: Mr Pockets' two small dogs, Biff and Buff, love to ride in his big coat pockets. But one day a hole appears in the right pocket and it gets bigger...

The Jacket by Sue-Ellen Pashley and Thea Baker

Blurb: about a much loved colourful coat that is passed from Amelia to Lily, to Lilly’s dolls, the cat with her kittens and finally breathed new life in to once more as the worlds most fabulous teddy bear for Lilly’s younger brother. 

A Coat of Cats by Jeri Kroll and Ann James

Blurb: When an old woman is moved to a "shiny new apartment," she is forced to leave her seven cats behind. But cats have long memories, as well as nine lives, and they miss her as much as she misses them. Late one night, the old woman braves freezing weather to check on her cats, and discovers that she means as much to them as they mean to her. 

The Tiny Woman's Coat by Joy Cowley and Giselle Clarkson

Blurb:The tiny woman makes a coat of leaves with the help of her animal friends. The trees, geese, porcupine, horse and plants all share something so the tiny woman can snip, snip, snip and stitch, stitch, stitch a coat to keep herself warm.

A Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton and Brooke Boynton Hughes

Blurb:  Using lyrics from her classic song "Coat of Many Colors," the book tells the story of a young girl in need of a warm winter coat. When her mother sews her a coat made of rags, the girl is mocked by classmates for being poor. But Parton's trademark positivity carries through to the end as the girl realizes that her coat was made with love "in every stitch." 

The Coat by Severine Vidal and Louis Thomas 

Blurb: Ah, the coat. So warm, so beautiful, so red. It's all Elise has really wanted, and she's been waiting forever. Lighthearted and poignant, this book offers a glimpse at the hardships confronting those who are experiencing homelessness and inspires us to treat them with compassion and respect.

The Bird Coat by  Inger Marie Kjolstadmyr and Oyvind Torseter

Blurb: The tailor Pierre has a big dream: He wants to fly. To make this outlandish vision a reality, he decides to sew a garment that is up to the task: his very own, resplendent bird coat. This tale was inspired by the true story of Franz Reichelt, dubbed "the flying tailor," who in 1912 jumped from the Eiffel Tower in an attempt at flight.

Beware the Killer Coat  by Susan Gates ( a short novel that is out of print but may be in a library) *

Blurb: Andrew hates his jumble-sale coat from the moment he first sets eyes on it. Big, red and shiny, with sharp, teeth-like zips and flaps that look like nasty green eyes, the coat clings to Andrew like an octopus. This is no ordinary coat, he is sure; it's a killer coat that wants to hurt him. The problem is that his mother won't take his worries seriously.

While making this list, I was surprised to see just how many of them are about recycled coats or the repurposing of coats, perfect for teaching about sustainability and over consumption.

7th May Jumper Weather

Sweater Day is on February 4, because in America, people are getting ready to snuggle into their warmest sweaters in the depth of winter. The World Wildlife Fund (W.W.F.) established Sweater Day and advocates it every year. The circle of life means human depletion of natural resources negatively impacts animal wellbeing and their habitats. Consumption of fuel pollutes the environment and water, endangering the lives of animals. Changing our little habits can make a difference.

I'm not sure we have an equivalent, like Jumper Day in Australia, but as I walked this week in Orange with my sister and today, with a friend in Sydney, it most definitely was a jumper or sweater day! A couple of weeks ago we were basking in warm sunshine sans jumper.

Why so many names for what is a  type of knitted garment that is worn over the upper body? Americans call them 'sweaters'. As you might have guessed, sweater comes from sweat—the earliest sweaters were worn by rowers, and were intended "to produce sweating and reduce weight."

Australians and Brits call them 'jumpers'. The word is derived from an old French word, “jupe" which was a type of short coat. At some point in time the word in English became “jump" and then eventually “jumper".

Of course there are other names for various versions of overgarment designed to keep us warm. There is jersey, cardigan, sloppy joe ...

Sadly there is no gazetted Jumper Day. There is however a Christmas Jumper Day in Britain on 8th December, once again in the Northern Hemisphere's winter. It was instigated by the Save the Children Fund in 2012 to raise money.

At school during Autumn it is fun to watch the leaves on the trees outside the library windows change colour. We often do a display of Autumn books and as it gets colder and the trees are bare we begin to think about a display linked to knitting and making things indoors.

There are some good 'jumper' picture books that I have enjoyed reading.

Look for:

• Jack's Jumper by Sara Acton

• The Huey's in the New Jumper by Oliver Jeffers

• Where's My Jumper  by Nicola Slater    

• Sheep to Jumper by Fiona MacDonald

• The Bush Jumper by Jean Chapman and Ali Beck

• The Best Jumper by Lynne Garner

• Little Bear's Big Jumper by David Bedford and Caroline Pedler

• Extra Yarn  by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen 

• Otto Goes North  by Ulrika Kestere

• Unravelled by Leanne Hatch

• Woolly Jumper: The Story of Wool by Meredith Hooper

• Brrr! Where Did the Dinosaurs Really Go? by Kes Gray and Nick East

• Lester's Dreadful Sweaters  by K.G. Campbell

• Squirrel's Sweater  by Laura Renauld

• Sweater Weather by Matt Phelan

• From Sheep to Sweater  by Robin Nelson

My two favourites to read aloud to preschool classes:

And the newest:

There's a fun activity for this book on Sara's webpage.

And if you want to read about penguins wearing jumpers , not because they're cold but rather affected by an oil spill, read these:

• Flipper and Finnegan : the true story of how tiny jumpers saved little penguins  by Sophie Cunningham and Anil Tortop

• Penguins Don't Wear Sweaters by Marrika Tamura and Daniel Rieley

7th to 13th May Amphibian Week

Amphibians are unique. They begin their lives in the water, but most of their adult life is on land. And they are ectothermic, meaning their body temperature relies on external sources, like a rock heated by the sun or a river or lake. Amphibians are sensitive to invasive species, drought, disease, and other changes where they live. So researchers study amphibians because they often show early signs of stressors, like disease and climate change.

Jodi Rowley, from the Australian Museum who was named in The Australian’s Research 2023 magazine as research field leader in zoology, says that amphibians are one of the least understood and most endangered groups of animals on the planet. She notes that, according to the authoritative IUCN Red List, 41 per cent of amphibian species worldwide are threatened with extinction.

Year 2 at my school classify animals into their groups as part of a Unit of Inquiry they are undertaking. The students don't always find this easy as they don't necessarily know a lot about animals beyond their generic name. As they learn more they become fascinated by amphibians, partly because they have no knowledge of any, other than frogs and they really like that they can live in water and on land.

One year while they were doing this unit, in the library we embarked on learning more about salamanders. We started with Minton,  a well-loved series of books about a salamander called Minton which started with The Hottest Boy by Anna Fienberg and Kim Gamble. The students did not know what a salamander was and were curious. There are no salamanders and newts native to Australia, so it wasn't that easy finding nonfiction books at their level to research further.

We found three:

• Salamanders  by Nick Winnick

• Fun Facts About Salamanders  by Carmen Bredeson

• Lifecycle of Salamander by Robin Nelson

There is some fiction as well:

• The Salamander Room  by

• Spike  by Michelle Knudsen

• The Fiery Salamander  by Colin Thiele

Look here for books about the more popular amphibians, frogs and toads.

Of course frogs, toads, salamanders and newts will feature in any book that is specifically about amphibians. See my Pinterest page on Animal Classification for suggestions.

If your students are young, these are perfect:

• Amphibians Living Things and their Habitats  by Grace Jones

• Amphibians Live on Land and in Water by Sarah Ridley

• Do You Know About Amphibians? by Buffy Silverman

• Amphibians  by Angela Royston

Foot note: The Smooth Newt has been introduced to Australia near Melbourne and has started to spread. This probably occurred because a pet salamander escaped or was dumped.