1st October International Raccoon Appreciation Day

Reading about raccoons I get the impression that many Canadians and Northern Americans feel similarly about raccoons to the way Australians feel about possums. They are pests! They eat everything you don't want them to eat. They play havoc in your garden and on your roof, but like possums, they look cute and do have some endearing features. Watch this short video and you will hear what some of those are. Unfortunately I also read that they are called 'trash pandas'. Is that like our 'bin chickens'?

Raccoons feature as characters in a large number of picture books because they look the way they do and the mask adds to their intrigue and subterfuge. Get reading...

Probably the most famous of the picture book raccoons is Chester, the star of The Kissing Hand, by Audrey Penn. This book and its myriad of sequels highlights issues that young children deal with, but because they are raccoons and not children, the children experience similar fears vicariously and are better able to take the advice on board. There is a toy of Chester and our toy gets to visit the preschool often to soothe students with separation anxiety.

Similarly, Jim Arnosky's Raccoon on His Own allows young children to experience an adventure by paralleling the exciting-and often frightening-experience of a child's first adventure away from home through the eyes of a raccoon. 

The Robber Raccoon  by Lou Kuenzler and Julia Woolf is much newer. Here Rosie is a mischievous raccoon being chased by the police. Why?

School for Bandits by Hannah Shaw will make you smile. Ralph's parents are worried about him. How will Ralph ever become a great raccoon bandit like Grandpa Cutlass or Uncle Whiskers? It's time Ralph learned some bad manners . . . at Bandit School. 

Secret Pizza Party by Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri is a big hit in our library. Not sure if it is pizza, secrets or the raccoon but it is worth searching out.

The Littlest Bandit by Ali Pye appeals to my readers because here the littlest of the raccoons is the hero of the day.

Hungry Roscoe  by David Plant is a story with a twist. Most animals long to get out of the zoo. Roscoe, however, is set on getting in. Fresh, juicy fish, ripe and shiny vegetables, and most importantly, regular feeding hours - what more could a hungry critter want? 

Lucy in the City by Julie Dillimuth and Laura Wood is a story designed to develop children's spatial thinking skills, so here the reader gets to help Lucy navigate her way home.

Hunter's Best Friend at School by Laura Malone Elliott and Lynn Munsinger is a great story about the perils of friendship, peer pressure and mischief-making.

Mine! by Frederica Muia is a nearly textless joy about a greedy raccoon who hoards everything for herself.

Because we are in Australia and do not have raccoons there isn't an abundance of nonfiction texts about raccoons on the shelves. This, Raccoons  by Kate Riggs is the best though as it explains the appearance, behaviour, and habitat of the ring-tailed North American mammals and allows our students to compare them to our possums.

30th September Save the Koala Day

 

I have written about koalas before here and here, but there's a new book just published by Stephen Michael King, Koala Ark  which is a book every library should purchase to add to their stock of koala books. On his website Stephen has written about the impetus for this book. There are published teaching notes and these discussion starters.

The library has these other koala books.

27th September Scarf Day

Scarf Day? Why? It is getting too warm here to wear a scarf so I'm guessing it is a northern hemisphere thing. Celebrating scarves through picture books? Necessary? Probably not, but it could be done.

My favourite scarf book is Margaret Wild and Kerry Argent's Miss Lily's Fabulous Pink Feather Boa, where the scarf is actually a boa, which is a long, thin decorative scarf made of feathers or a similar material, worn by women at parties or as part of fancy dress. Another favourite is Nette Hilton and Margaret Power's The Long Red Scarf, but it is old and out of print and depicts an exceptionally dangerous looking scarf.

Three other titles the library has are:

• Barty's Scarf by  Sally Chambers   

• Little Owl's Orange Scarf by Tatyana Feeney

• A Scarf and a Half  by Amanda Brunton and Catalina Echeverri

And that's about it! But it got me thinking about broadening the definition of scarf and the sort of questions my young students ask about head coverings on children in picture books that have characters who wear hijabs, khimar, or headscarves. 

I teach in a school where there are very few children who practise the Islamic faith, but where many of the students and/or their parents were not born here, and thus the students are global wanderers and are fascinated by difference. They travel overseas regularly and most of them have seen more of the world than I have.

I remember having a great discussion with a class about Kelly Cunnane's  book Deep in the Sahara  and talking at length about wanting to emulate customs, parents and or fashion, just as Lalla does in this story where she wants to wear a malafa just like her mother and older sister.

I remember also when I first read The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad, and the students were fascinated by the hijab and the fact that an Olympian wore one. It certainly gives a new perspective to the first day of school. Ibtihaj's sequel The Kindest Red  will be here in January and it too highlights the hijab.

Other books that would continue these discussions would be:

• Mommy's Khimar by Jamilah Tompkins-Bigelow and Ebony Glenn.

• Under My Hijab by Hena Khan and Aaliya Jaleel

• Layla's Head Scarf by Miriam Cohen and Ron Himler

And very excitedly I am looking forward to getting a copy of Hana's Hundreds of Hijabs which was  published on the 20th September by Barefoot Books. It is written by Razeena Omar Gutta, a South-Asian Muslim who was born in Zimbabwe but who is now living in Australia. Here's the blurb:

Hijab styling in the context of creative fashion brings a unique, positive and fun perspective to a sometimes misunderstood religious practice. Readers unfamiliar with hijabs will learn about how they are worn, while children familiar with hijabs will see their own experiences reflected . Children with large, overflowing collections of favourite items will relate to Hana's dilemma. Clever and humorous story about creative problem-solving.

To see other books where there are characters in hijabs see this list. World Hijab Day is observed every year on February 1st  to honour Muslim women who wear the hijab.

26th September Dumpling Day

Dumpling Day by Meera Sriram is the perfect book to start off this day. It is a rhyming celebration of one of the world's most universal foods! Readers follow ten diverse families as they cook dumplings inside their homes in preparation for a neighbourhood communal meal.  Authentic recipes for all the different dumplings and a map showing their regions of origin are included in the endnotes. 

Some sources say that dumplings originated in China, but dumplings are found in many of the world's cuisines. As a child I ate dumplings that were more like floury balls of dough in with meat and gravy and we had golden syrup dumplings for dessert and neither of these dumplings were anything like the dumplings I now eat and love, especially if they have been steamed.

So what is a dumpling? Put simply it is a small mass of dough that is often wrapped around a filling that is then baked, boiled, fried or steamed. Wikipedia has a list of dumplings from every country. Gnocchi is even considered a dumpling!

Many of the picture books that have 'dumpling' in the title do seem to have more Asian-type dumplings, but what ever you decide to use to celebrate this special day I am sure they are yummy.

Look for these books for starters:

• Our World of Dumplings by Francie Dekker

• Dumpling Soup by Jama Kim Rattigan

• Dumplings For Lili  by Melissa Iwai

• The Ugly Dumpling by Stephanie Campisi

• Boy Dumplings by Ying Chang Compestine 

• Dumpling Dreams  by Carrie Clickard

• Little Dumplings by Susan Rich Brooke

• Luna's Yum Yum Dim Sum by Natasha Yum

• Fearsome Beast and Dumpling Feast by Yves Stening

• Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang and Charlene Chua

         

And if you can't celebrate Dumpling Day, look out for Noodle Day on the 6th October and World Pasta Day on 25th October.

25th September World Rivers Day

“Rivers are the arteries of our planet; they are lifelines in the truest sense.”
~ Mark Angelo

 World Rivers Day takes place on the fourth Sunday of September.  It’s a  time to reflect on the significance of rivers to the health of the earth. Today, World Rivers Day is observed in 100 countries around the world where those involved show the community and society at large how they can limit the threats to depleting waterways.

There are so many wonderful picture books about rivers, many with beautiful artwork and a text that allows young students to explore all the uses we have for rivers and how we may be damaging their water quality and feasibility.

See:

A River by Marc Martin

There is a river outside my window. 
Where will it take me? 
So begins an imaginary journey from the city to the sea. From factories to farmlands, freeways to forest, each new landscape is explored through stunning illustrations and poetic text from this award-winning picture-book creators.

Rivers by Peter Goes

This breathtaking journey along the most important rivers in the world takes us from the Nile to the Amazon, the Mekong Delta to the Mississippi, the Murray to the Waikato. 

The River  by Patricia Hegarty and Hanako Clulow

Follows a little fish on her epic journey downriver as she travels out into the unknown. 

What is a River?  by Monika Vaicenaviciene

"What is a river?" an inquisitive young girl asks her grandmother as the pair sits together on the river's banks.  The river becomes a vessel for enormous complexity, a lens through which the interconnectedness of our shared earth can be understood.

River Story by Meredith Hooper  and Bee Willey

Follow a river from its beginnings as a mountain stream formed from melting snow, as it rushes over rocks and through valleys to the busy city, and finally to its end, where it joins the sea. 

River by Elisha Cooper 

Here readers can follow a traveller's trek down the Hudson River as she and her canoe explore the wildlife, flora and fauna, and urban landscape at the river's edge. 

On the River  by Roland Harvey

Roland Harvey and his new pelican friend are off on an adventure to walk, fish, canoe, raft, windsurf, sail, paddle-steam, houseboat and even fly their way along the Murray River, from its smallest beginnings in the high country to where it meets the sea.  

Song of the River  by Joy Cowley and Kimberly Andrews

"Come with me. Come with me. I will take you to the sea," sings the stream to Cam, the mountain boy. And so Cam's adventure begins, an adventure in which he will see many strange and wondrous sights, and make a marvellous discovery. 

 

As Strong as the River by Sarah Noble

Good book to look at the simile of the title and compare it with the life of the bears that fish in it.

Song of the Mekong River by Na-Mi Choi and Sinae Jo

The Mekong River is called 'the lifeline of Vietnam.' The Vietnamese people's lives are dependent on the river. They build houses on it, do business on their boats, and farm crops at the mouth of the great Mekong River. This book is about Tui who lives in a water village. 

Sacred River by Ted Lewin

This book is about the River Ganges and the illustrations really capture the importance of the river to the people who live in India. Long out of print, this book and The Children of the Yangtze River which is also out of print are two of my favourite books. There is so much to talk about, wonder about and question in these two books about the impacts of river life in India and China.

Amazon River  by Sangma Francis

Take a journey through South America along the winding Amazon River, spotting tree frogs, piranhas, snakes and tropical insects along the way. Where does the river begin, and where does it end? Which animals dwell in its murky waters and how much life does it sustain in the habitats all along its banks? 

We're Sailing Down the Nile  by Laurie Krebs and Anne Wilson

Set sail along the mighty Nile River to experience the wonders of Egypt. The lilting, rhyming story text is followed by eleven pages full of educational information about ancient Egypt, gods and goddesses, a helpful map, and much more. 

Amazing Rivers  by Julie Vosburgh Agnone and Kerry Hyndman

Takes readers on a tour of the world's waterways, revealing the animals that call them home, the societies that rely on them, and the environmental issues threatening them along the way.

Rivertime  by Trace Bella

A tender and beautifully illustrated tale of a boy and his bird-watching uncle, on a paddling trip on Australia's Glenelg River. A story about slowing down, growing up, and connecting with the land and its creatures.

The River  by Tom Percival

Rowan loves the river; it's just like he is. On some days, it's quiet and calm, on others it's light and playful, and then there are the days when it roars along, wild and angry. But when Rowan goes through a particularly difficult winter, the river freezes - just like Rowan. Can Rowan find a way to release his frozen feelings, and allow the river to flow freely once more?

And given that many rivers here in NSW are flooding again and major roads are cut it is ever more important for students to understand the role of rivers in our world and the dangers that beset them.

23rd September International Day of Sign Languages

 

Theme for 2022:
Sign Languages Unite Us!

 Some books to highlight sign language:

• What the Jackdaw Saw by Julia Donaldson and Nick Sharratt

This book about friendship and sign language was created by Julia Donaldson, author of The Gruffalo, with a group of deaf children in a workshop organised by the not-for-profit organisation Life & Deaf which helps deaf children to explore their identities through poetry, film, performance and art. 

• Moonbird  by Joyce Dunbar and Jane Ray

A Moonchild blows a bubble that pops on an Earth baby and surrounds him in silence. He cannot hear or speak. His parents, a King and Queen, are devastated when they realise but a Moonbird teaches the little prince how to use his hands and eyes to communicate. 

• Hands and Hearts by Donna Jo Napoli and Amy Bates

A mother and daughter spend a sunny day at the beach together where they swim, dance, build sandcastles, and, most importantly, communicate. But their communication is not spoken; rather, it is created by loving hands that use American Sign Language. Readers will learn how to sign 15 words using American Sign Language with the help of sidebars that are both instructive and playful.

• Jack Signs by Karen Hardwicke and Amanda Walker 

The heart-warming tale of a little boy who is deaf, wears hearing aids and discovers the magic of sign language - based on a true story!

Our school library still has a copy of The River of Silence  a picture book by Sarah Bertels and Catherine Hewitt which is a children's story with the appropriate sign language symbols accompanying the written text. Colourful illustrations tell the story of a river in search of its sound, conveying the message that it is not necessary to hear to appreciate beauty. Written for the author's deaf son, the book won the Lothian Centenary Children's Picture Book Award.