28th October Hug a Sheep Day

What a wonderful creature a sheep is...certainly huggable. We need to thank them for wool, cheese and lanolin among other things. The last Saturday in October is Hug a Sheep Day so head off to a farm or petting zoo to thank a sheep. In Australia we won't have a wooly jumper on, but we may have a fine merino singlet top or t-shirt.

There's some very endearing sheep in children's picture books, besides Shaun and the Green Sheep and a few dictatorial ones too!
Look for:

• Russell the Sheep by Rob Scotton
• Baa Baa Smart Sheep  by Mark & Rowan Sommerset
• The Sheep Who Hatched an Egg by Gemma Merino 

• Louis 1 King of the Sheep by Olivier Tallec

• Elfrida by Klara Fall & Heide Stollinger  
• Bea Rocks the Flock  by Victoria Jamieson   

• Prince Charming and Baabarella by Angela Glitz  
• Funny Machines for George the Sheep by Geraldine Elschner & Remi Saillard   

21st October Apple Day

Yesterday was Apple Day which is celebrated in Australia and it was the day of the Granny Smith Festival here in Sydney. This festival is held on the third Saturday of October to commemorate 19th-century pioneer Maria Ann "Granny" Smith, credited with producing the Granny Smith apple.  So last week we had 'apple' picture books, including stories, information books and even some apple craft books on display and I enjoyed reading and acting out Mr Brown's Magnificent Apple Tree with some preschool classes.

A new apple book that was added just recently is Enough Apples  by Kim Kane and Lucia Masciullo. It is a good book to add to your collection because it not only deals with apples, apple pies and cooking with apples.  It  also is one to add to your list of sustainability resources. Here is the booksellers blurb:

'When an orchardist's apple trees are crowded out by looming development, he learns how to transform his altered world so he can continue to bake the perfect apple pie. An inspiring story about urban greening and creative adaptation to change.'

  I have written about Apple Day before  so to see more of the books we displayed look here. And something to be happy about Apple Pigs  by Ruth Orbach is back in print and easy to buy once again.

10th October Ada Lovelace Day

Ada Lovelace Day is held every year on the second Tuesday of October. This is not her birthday. That is on 10th December, too close to school holidays and Christmas to celebrate then. Today is a day to celebrate inspirational women in science, technology, maths and engineering, in the hope that by shining a light on such people and increasing their visibility, they can inspire future generations. 

There is so much written about Ada's personal life. She has been the subject of novels, plays and now a large number of picture book biographies.This means that a large number of young children get to know about her 'mathematical genius' and she has become quite a mentor for young girls who enjoy STEM subjects.If you are looking to add books to your library for children as young as eight, these are perfect.

• Ada's Ideas: The Story of Ada Lovelace, the World's First Computer Programmer by Fiona Robinson

• Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine by Laurie Hallmark & April Chu 

• Ada Lovelace, Poet of Science: The First Computer Programmer by Diane Stanley & Jessie Hartland
and look out for these which will be here early in the new year

• Who Says Women Can't Be Computer Programmers  by Tanya Lee Stone & Marjorie Priceman

• Ada Lovelace by Isabel Sanchez Vegara &  Zafouko Yamamoto (part of the Little People Big Dreams series)

And there is a new series of bridging novels just available about an eight year old, third grade  student with a knack for maths, science and solving mysteries with technology.  Written by Emily Calandrelli, Ada Lace, On the Case is book 1 in the series.

6th October Badger Day

National Badger Day is celebrated on the 6th October annually. I find badgers beguiling. On a recent trip to Britain I was desperate to see one and when I asked where to see one this well-meaning woman said to me, "Oh dear, the only place you'll see one is dead on the side of the road." I continued my road trip and didn't give this comment too much more thought until the last day when about a kilometre from the airport as we were about to return our hire car I saw a badger, dead on the side of the road. In Australia we are quite used to 'roadkill' so my reaction I thought was completely out of character. I was a blubbering mess. 

Probably the first time I thought about badgers, as we don't have them in Australia, was when reading Wind in the Willows. Then when I started teaching Susan Varley's Badger's Parting Gifts was in every classroom and it made me sad. I wanted badger books that were happier and found Nick Butterworth's Percy the Park Keeper series where forest animals appeared so appealing. 

Now there are many more books to choose from in my library and I could put together a lovely display to celebrate today, starting with a plush badger bought at IKEA of all places. Jane Chapman's badgers always look friendly and fun in her illustrations for Karma Wilson's Bear stories. Her badger  in Paul Bright's  Grumpy Badger's Christmas even makes me smile.

The children in my library enjoy three 'badger' series:
• Suzanne  Chiew and Caroline Pedler's  Badger and the Great Storm, Badger and the Great Rescue, and Badger and the Great Journey

• The Mr Badger and Mrs Fox series by Brigitte Luciani  and Eve Tharlet. These five picture books are popular with my children who like the graphic novel format but are looking for shorter stories with coloured pictures.

• And of course there is Leigh Hobbs'  Mr Badger books which have dedicated Year 1 and 2 boy followers.

There are other stand alone picture books, but those above  will get you started on  a good display.

4th October Taco Day

Tacos are the Mexican equivalent of a sandwich and they are very popular with children so it is only fitting that there is a day to celebrate their existence. The two Dragons Love Tacos books by Adam Rubin together with the toy dragon are popular in my library and are often off visiting a family. Read them tomorrow and enjoy a taco filled with your favourite filling.

16th September International Red Panda Day

Red Panda Day celebrates that smaller panda that is found in the Himalayas. It looks cute, but it features in children's books far less than the bigger black and white panda. In my library there is only one fiction book, Red Panda's Candy Apples and it is written by a New Zealand author Ruth Paul. It is the sequel to Hedgehog's Magic Tricks in which the red panda is a character. A new fiction book, Amy the Red Panda is Writing the Best Story in the World by Colleen Venable will be published in November. The blurb on websites says

" An exuberant, hilarious guessing game about storytelling, creativity, friendship, and patience-with the most adorable animal menagerie you'll find anywhere! Amy the Red Panda starts to tell her best friend Mervin the Sloth a story when-uh-oh-a rainstorm of letters pours down! When it stops, Amy reads a sentence in the sky: Amy the Red Panda is writing the best story in the world... Marvin is there to give Amy just the right inspiration. A companion to Mervin the Sloth Is About to Do the Best Thing in the World, this funny-bone-tickling picture book brings back a cast of zany, irresistible animal friends and an inventive, playful format."

There are more nonfiction titles. Among them, these three:

 

2nd September World Beard Day

World Beard Day is celebrated on the first Saturday in September and it is not something I have ever given much thought to, but when I read that it was occurring, I thought I should. I am the daughter of a man with a beard, the wife of a man with a beard and the mother of a son who looks like a bushranger, his beard is so bushy. My brother has a beard too, so it seems as if I can't get away from thinking it is the norm for a male to have a beard.

Then I thought I'd look to see what the library had that I could put out on display and guess what there was more than I thought there would be. I immediately thought of Margaret Wild and Margaret Power's Creatures in the Beard which makes the students giggle because there is a robin , a mouse and a baby possum living in Nicholas's father's beard. This book was borrowed last week as it was part of a Fathers' Day display of picture books. As well there were

 • The Lumberjack's Beard by Duncan Beedie. It is a more recent version of this book, in that the lumberjack saves the animals in the trees by keeping them in his beard. It will be easier to find. It has a green message as well.

• My Dad Has a Beard  by Kellen Roggenbuck

• My Sister has a Big Black Beard and other quirky verse by Duncan Ball and Kerry Millard and

• Blackbeard the Pirate by Mick Gowar (one of the Hopscotch readers)