May National Bike Month

It is the beginning of Spring in America and therefore a good time to get your bike out and start riding again, so they designate May as Bike Month. Here in NSW we have a Bike Week in our Spring in September, but the weather here has been ideal bike riding weather right now. We just had two weeks school break with weather that was perfect for picnics, biking, walking and playing outside. Queensland celebrates Bike Week from the 15th to 22nd May.

There are so many wonderful picture books about bike riding so pull them out and display them if you are a librarian or go to the library and borrow some to read with your children. America and Canada have a Ride to School Week at the end of May. Quite a few children I teach ride their bike or scooter to school, but unlike when I rode my bike to school, albeit in a country town , our school does not have anywhere to store them during the day and I see mums struggling to carry these vehicles as they walk home.  This year we are having a Ride Safe to School Week from 31st October to 4th November. We need one of them too, as I know that some of the children I teach do not know how to ride a bike and perhaps it isn't high priority.   Recently, a mother asked me when her kindergarten child would learn to ride a bike and she seemed quite shocked when I suggested that that was her job, not the school's.

Biking is a great outdoor activity and it doesn't have to be on the road. Take your bike to the park, the bike track or if you are under eleven you are allowed to ride on the footpath.

23rd April Shakespeare Day

23rd April marks the 400th anniversary of the death of English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. Isn't it amazing that he is still so revered? There are anniversary events everywhere, even here in Australia. Australian musician Paul Kelly has even chosen this day to release a new album Seven Sonnets and a Song where he has set Shakespeare's words to music.

Although my library only caters to children under eight, their parents and teachers we will still celebrate Shakespeare with a display of books. Many parents like to share the little Andrew Matthews and Tony Ross and Usborne versions of the stories. In this way young children know the stories well before they meet the Old English language versions. Other parents are avid borrowers of biographies, so they will be borrowed from any display and some of my Year 2 boys who love Marcia Williams' 'comic' format books will borrow her Shakespeare stories, so as you can see it is well worth making the effort. My own favourite Shakespeare books are the poetry illustrated by James Mayhew in To Sleep, Perchance to Dream and the exquisitely illustrated version of Romeo and Juliet by Margaret Early, both of which will be hard to buy now but may well be in your library, as they are in mine. What is in my school library is on my pinterest page.

If you are short of books, find the witches poem from Macbeth and have fun reciting it, acting it out and just playing with the magic of the words. There is a version here already done as a readers theatre script. I would use a more abridged version with my Year 2 students such as this, where language is the key element, not the gore or frightening aspects that many of the film clips of it emphasise.

27th March Ame Dyckman

I am always happy to add a new birthday celebration to the library calendar. Thank you Eric from Happy Birthday Author. I can now add Ame Dyckman. We have three of her books and each of them is very special in its own way and nothing like each other. Each has a different illustrator which makes them appear very different too. If you don't know them borrow them and enjoy what the very best picture books have to offer.

30th March Manatee Appreciation Day

We have a toy walrus in the library and we only have one book on walruses to loan out with it. We have more books on manatees, but no toy. We even have books on dugongs. This dilemma started me on a search and I found out about Manatee Appreciation Day. Manatees and dugongs are sirena and both need appreciation so as to be protected from becoming extinct. On Tuesday I will make sure these books are put out on display in the library. And I need to continue my search for a toy manatee or dugong and some more books about walruses!

10th March Ruby's Wish

Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim Bridges and Sophie Blackall gives both a historical view of education for girls and a Chinese view. Ruby lives in a compound in China with all her cousins, aunts, uncles and grandfather. She stands out because she loves the colour red and wears it whenever she can. It is a wealthy family because Ruby's grandfather pays a teacher to come to the house to give lessons to all of the children who want to attend.  Ruby revels in the lessons and works very hard in class as well as completing all the tasks she is expected to undertake as a girl in this household. One day she writes a poem:

Alas, bad luck to be born a girl; worse luck to be
born into this house where only boys are cared for.

Ruby's grandfather worried about what Ruby has written,  summons her to his office. Ruby doesn't want to upset her grandfather but finally she tells him that she doesn't want to finish school and get married. She wants to go to university. The story has a wonderful ending. Ruby is accepted into university and Shirin informs the reader that this is a true story about her grandmother, Ruby who was one of the first female university students.

This is a very powerful story. My Year 2 girls find it very hard to believe that girls haven't always gone to school and thus have lots of questions when reading this story. The photo embedded in the illustration on the last page is a lovely touch which makes it impossible not to be so very pleased about the conclusion.

9th March Seven Chinese Sisters

This week I'm continuing to look at picture books that empower girls to see themselves as very capable.  The Seven Chinese Sisters  by Kathy Tucker and Grace Lin is a favourite from my library. While this is an update or innovation on the Chinese folktale, The Seven Chinese Brothers that Margaret Mahy retells so eloquently, it is welcome, as it gives girls the chance to shine, solve problems, be proactive and to have the special powers. Each of the sisters has a special talent that they use cooperatively to thwart a dragon which has snatched baby Seventh Sister.

The sisters'  talents are ones that the girls I teach all would like to have and we have great debates over which sister they would choose to be. Unlike the brother's talents which really are unlikely, these girls have skills children relate to. The First Sister can ride a scooter as fast as the wind, the Second Sister is good at karate, the Third Sister can count beyond five hundred, the Fifth Sister is good at catching balls and the Sixth Sister cooks delicious noodle soup. Read and enjoy.

8th March I'm a Girl

Happy International Women's Day. I have had big success with the staff, parents and students today. So many of the books in my 'Inspiring Women' Display were loaned and one of the kindergarten teachers read I'm a Girl by Yasmeen Ismail to her class.

This is such a good book for today. It challenges gender roles and stereotypes. The 'girl' in the story is an aardvark, Yasmeen says, not a donkey. She dresses in shorts and a t-shirt. She likes to win.  The text says

I'm supposed to be made of sugar and spice 
and all things nice.
But I'm sweet and sour
and not a little flower.

I'm a girl! I'm a girl! I'm a girl!

and it celebrates difference, perfect for today and sending girls and boys the right message, we are who we are and we are not restricted by gender stereotypes. We should celebrate our strengths and our individuality.

If you haven't seen the book take a peek  here at the trailer.