24th February Possum Appreciation Day

I read that this day existed in my local free newspaper, but when searching the internet, I can find no reference to it. Not to be confused with Opossum Day which is the 17th October. Possums are Australian. Opossums are American. Some say that Sir Joseph Banks called them possums because he thought they looked like opossums. They are both marsupials, but not related.

However having not celebrated possums on my blog before I decided to do it anyway. After all I have done squirrels and raccoons which we do not have here in Australia and many here think possums are absolute pests!

In the black of night, Australia’s 27 species of possum and glider scamper across our roofs, dart along branches in secluded rainforests or peer tentatively from tiny hidey-holes.

They have  large eyes to capture more of the light at night. They have adapted to watch for owls, quolls and pythons, but their biggest threat – humankind – has increasingly encroached on their territory, destroying old-growth forest and its sheltering, century-old treehollow sanctuaries.

Where I live in Sydney there are two main species of possum that can be found, the brushtail possum and the ringtail possum and the children I teach are fascinated by them because they see them often in their backyards or in the bush near their homes. They notice the rope tunnels above local roads to allow the possums to cross aboreally.

Most books for children about possums are either factual or treat them as cute childlike characters such as in the most well known possum story Possum Magic. Go to the library and you might find these very Australian books

• Blossom Possom by Gina Newton and Kilmeny Niland

• Town Possum, Outback Possum by Yvonne Morrison and Heath McKenzie

• The Midnight Possum by Sally Morgan and Racklyeft

• Goodnight Possum by Coral Vass and Sona Babajanyan

• Possum Goes to School by Melanie Carter and Nicola Oram

• Possum in the House by Kirsten Jensen and Tony Oliver

• My Possum Plays the Drums by Catherine Meatheringham and Max Hamilton

• Echidna Scaly-tailed Possum and Echidna by Cathy Goonack and Katrina Goonack

• Possum's Big Surprise by Colin Buchanan and Nina Mycroft

• There's a Possum on the Porch  by Conny Fechner

• Hush, Little Possum by P. Crumble and Wendy Banks

• Bat vs Poss by Alexis Moses and Anil Tortop

• Penelope the Mountain Pygmy Possum  by Gordon Winch and Stephen Pym

• Tiny Poss and the Migrating Moths  by Julie Murphy and Ben Clifford

• Pip and Pim  by Ruth Hegarty and Sandi Harrold

• The Urban Escapees  by S.P.Ramage and Nettie Lodge

• Where do the Stars Go?  by Katie Stewart

• Oliver's Landing by Rebecca Johnson

•  Jump Baby by Penny Matthews and Dominique Falla

• The Long Way Home by Emily Rodda and Danny Snell

• Larry Leadbeater by Jo Watson

• The Kid Whose Mum Kept Possums in her Bra by Dianne Wolfer

If like me  you have been reading to school children for  a long time you might have squirrelled away a copy of Possums in the Roof by Julie Morris which is based on a true story, where a house has a loose roof tile and during a storm the roof leaks so the father climbs on to the roof to fix it. Unbeknown to him a mother possum has put her two babies in the roof cavity to keep them safe while the storm is raging. When she returns mother possum is distraught. When I read this story to children you can hear 'a pin drop', they are are so worried and yet eager to learn what happens. It creates so much discussion about children, parents and separation.

Possum  from the Solo Bush Baby series is also worth looking for.

23rd February Pinocchio Day

Pinocchio Day is celebrated on February 23rd every year. The day marks the anniversary of the release of the Disney film, Pinocchio in 1940. For most of us, Pinocchio is a character from a cartoon or movie who is  a wooden puppet whose pointy nose grows every time he tells a lie. But the original  story written as a novel The Adventures of Pinocchio in Italian by Carlo Lorenzini (pen name Carlo Collodi)  became the first internationally known work of Italian children’s literature. 

The written story is not primarily about lying. Yes, Pinocchio tells lies, but that's just part of his general misbehaviour; he's selfish and unreliable. He's a scamp, a kid who, as we might say today, makes a lot of poor choices. The moment Geppetto carves him out of the miraculous block of wood, Pinocchio runs away and refuses to go home. His antics lead to poor Geppetto’s arrest. 

Look in the school library for some picture book versions of the Pinocchio story. These are in English, but if you have Italian speaking students the story exists in Italian in picture book format.

And if you don't have many versions and like me you do have a very young audience, the display can be 'stretched' by adding books that are cautionary tales about fibbing and not telling the truth.

These are good choices:

• Pig the Fibber by Aaron Blabey

• Kevin  by Rob Biddulph

• A Bike Like Sergio's  by Maribeth Boelts

• The Whopper  by Rebecca Ashdown 

• The Truth According to  Arthur  by David Tazzyman and Tim Hopgood

• Collette's Lost Pet  by Isabelle Arsenault

• The Boy Who Cried Wolf by B.G. Hennessy

• Finn's Little Fibs by Tom Percival

14th February Library Lovers Day

We had fun doing this display. I gave each teacher a heart template and asked them to write or draw what they loved about the library. I then made them into a heart for the library door. The students can read what the teachers have said while they wait at the door to come in. As well we made some small badges to affix to any book that is about loving the library. If a child borrows the book they get to keep the badge! Some students were so excited about it...funny because they are bits of red paper.

13th February Pancake Day

  Pancake Day is coming!

I am always excited when my Kindergarten classes actually have a lesson on Pancake Day and next week they will! I will read them my favourite pancake book Princess Priscilla  by Stacey Apeitos (see my earlier blog for a plot precis) and we will share Christina Rossetti's poem and add some actions.

Of course there are other books I could be reading and I know that Princess Priscilla might not be easy to find.  I also really like Mr Wolf's Pancakes by Jan Fearnley, Mama Panya's Pancakes  by Mary and Rich Chamberlain and The Elephant and the Bad Baby by Elfrida Vipont where at the end of the story all the characters go back to the baby's house where his mother feeds them all pancakes.

Whatever you choose to read, enjoy it with young children and feel inspired to make some pancakes!

There's a Pinterest page with other suitable titles here.

9th February World Pizza Day

February 9th has been the official World Pizza Day since 2000 and people all around the globe celebrate with this cheesy dish!

When my children were small going out for pizza was a treat. Sometimes we made them at home, but pizzas were associated with birthday parties. Now the children I teach are very quick to tell me pizza is their favourite food and they could eat it every night!  

Nevertheless if you want to read about pizza parties there are several books to choose from: 

Then these four are fun too!

Still hungry? Explore the history of pizza...

or make a young beginning reader love you with a gift of a Pizza and Taco book or two!