17th April Bat Appreciation Day

Bat Conservation International (BCI) was founded in 1982 by a group of concerned scientists who recognised the importance of protecting bats. Bats contribute towards controlling pests, create rich fertiliser for landowners, and pollinate fruit and flowers. BCI aims to conserve bats and their habitats through a combination of education, conservation, and research. Human activities such as deforestation, mining, and irresponsible tourism have caused a substantial decrease in the bats’ population.

I have very mixed feelings about bats. There is a colony that live very close to where I live that certainly make a mess and lots of noise, but I'm sure that they were here long before people and houses because we have some very large Moreton Bay fig trees also in the area. Sadly, our council allowed one of these figs to be removed by a new home owner recently. 

One good thing about bats is that they make great book characters and being nocturnal and hanging upside down fascinates children. Any display of bats in the library is always a hit whether we do it for this date or more commonly at Halloween when we can decorate the library with lots of bats.

Amara and the Bats by Emma Reynolds would be a good book to start with because here is a Citizen Science-type story. Read the blurb:

Amara loves bats! Her favorite thing to do is to collect bat facts and watch the amazing mammals fly at night by her house. But when Amara moves to a new town, she learns that her beloved bats no longer roost nearby because so many trees are being cut down. 

Amara is upset. What can she do to help? She’s just one person, and the problem feels so much bigger than her. But after doing some research, she discovers that there are many young people making big changes all around the world. Inspired to take action, Amara gathers her new friends to help save the bats. Together, she knows they can make a difference! 

Often in bat stories the main bat character is young and afraid of the dark or flying which is the case in these:

• Scaredy Bat by Jonathan Meres and Anders Frank

• Fiona the Fruit Bat by Dan Riskin and Rachel Qiuqi

• Little Bat  by Tania Cox and Andrew McLean

• Nightsong  by Ari Berk and Loren Long

Or others are scared of bats as in 

• I'm Not Scary by Raahat Kaduji

Wanting information?

• The Bat  by Elise Gravel

• Bats by Elizabeth Carney

• The Bat Book by Charlotte Milner

Just for fun:

• Superbat  by Matt Carr

• Bats in the Library (plus other titles) by Brian Lies

• I Am Bat  by Morag Hood

• If I Had a Vampire Bat  by Gabby Dawnay and Alex Barrow

• Batty  by Sarah Dyer

And if all else fails...you can't go past

• Stellaluna by Janell Cannon

10th April National Farm Animals Day

Each year on April 10th, National Farm Animals Day focuses attention on the humane care of farm animals. This is a day celebrated in the USA, but it is pertinent here too, as we are in the midst of The Sydney Royal Easter Show (6th to 17th April), Australia's largest annual event.

Here, the country and the city join together to enjoy animal experiences, produce competitions, rural past times and carnival fun. This show was first held in 1823. It is run by the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW which rewards agricultural excellence and invests in agricultural programs and rural communities, so of course supports humane care of farm animals.

While there is not an abundance of books about the Royal Easter Show, there are these books: Show Day by Penny Matthews and Andrew McLean, The Show  by Nan Hunt and Bettina Ogden and A Day at the Show by Gwyn Perkins,

and of course, there are books about dog shows, cat shows and pony competitions a plenty.

A fun way to talk about how farm animals are cared for might be to look at books where the animals demand to be treated differently as they do in Farmer Duck  by Martin Waddell and Betty Cronin's series that started with Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type. 

Many of my Year 2 girls get hooked on the Juliet Nearly a Vet series by Rebecca Johnson because there is lots of animal care and competitions.

And these, just because they feature farm animals who triumph and are favourites!

14th April Dolphin Day

National Dolphin Day is celebrated on April 14th. On this day, we celebrate dolphins — one of the most intelligent and friendly mammals in the world. Dolphins are cetacean mammals that belong to the same family as whales and porpoises. Dolphins are not only intelligent but are also very social and have both astute hearing and eyesight.

There are 36 different species of dolphins. Four species live in the fresh water of the Amazon River. The largest dolphin is the Orca—otherwise known as the killer whale.

Dolphins use echolocation to navigate the ocean. They can put one half of their brain to sleep so they can literally sleep with one eye open.

Noise pollution in the sea and trawlers fishing nets are dangers that dolphins are contending with.

Dolphins, like whales fascinate children and any book display featuring them is very quickly denuded.

Here's some books from our library that are frequently borrowed:

And look out for this new one!

23rd March International Day of the Seal

Oops, I missed this day. We have done seal displays in the library before, but it must have never been as a celebration of this day, but rather just as a popular topic with children. I have become fascinated by seals since I saw two a couple of weeks ago swimming in Sydney Harbour. They were very entertaining, really playing up to the bystanders filming them on their phones.

A seal is a type of animal called a pinniped, which is Latin for “fin-footed.” Other pinnipeds include the walrus and sea lion. What makes seals different from other pinnipeds is that they don’t really use their flippers to walk. When on land, they usually slide around on their bellies. In the water, their flippers help them swim really fast. Seals are also much quieter and smaller than their sea lion and walrus cousins.

This helped me to know the difference between seals and sea lions, who have their own days of celebration. World Sea Lion Day is 30th May and World Walrus Day is on 24th November.

Five seal stories to recommend:

 

Seal Surfer by Michael Foreman

A boy and his grandfather watch as a baby seal is born on the rocks near their home and from that day a special friendship is created between them.

Found  by Sam Usher

It's a warm summer's day, so Boy and his grandad pack up their provisions and head for the seaside.  There's so much to do, from exploring rock pools to building a magnificent sandcastle. But their day takes a different turn when they go for a swim and find a baby seal caught up in a net. Its rescue leads Boy and Grandad on a thrilling underwater adventure! 

Saving Seal  by Diane Jackson Hill and Craig Smith

Seal has made his home in the waters of a coastal village, but he often finds himself trapped and ensnared in the plastic rubbish filling the Bay. Fortunately, he is rescued by Lizzie and Grandpa Dave. 

Sydney the Seal Saves the Sea  by Andrea Reitmeyer

When Sydney meets a new buddy, they decide to embark on an adventure, exploring the ocean. During their journey, the two friends discover that their beautiful home is covered in litter. The two companions seek help from nearby humans, who vow to help keep the ocean clean for Sydney's animal family. 

Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas  by Lynne Cox and Brian Floca

Based on a true story about an elephant seal - an animal that normally prefers the wilds of the Southern Ocean - who defied the odds and gained fame when she persisted in returning to Christchurch's Avon River, time and again, to make herself at home on the banks of the river and to bask in the sun in the middle of busy roads. 

While these might be my picks, you will find more on my Pinterest.

31st March Crayon Day

It's Crayon Day!   

I felt sure I had written about this day before, but I can't find where. Because we put together a creative display for Scribble Day many of our crayon books are already on loan or on display. 

Origin of Crayons

Unfortunately, the origin of crayons is somewhat blurry when looking at pertinent historical accounts. However, the word itself came from the combination of two Latin words which are “crale” (chalk) and creta (earth). Crayons are made by combining different pigments with oil. This practice has been done for thousands of years. It has been done by different cultures including Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians. However, such crayons were used only by artists and not by children at home and at school. The reason is that such crayons made before contain compounds that may be harmful to children, especially when ingested. The breakthrough in crayons came with the crayon produced by Joseph Lemercier back in 1828. Instead of using oil, he used wax for producing crayons.

During the 20th century, more and more crayons were produced in the USA. In 1902, Edwin Binney and Harold Smith invented the Crayola brand of crayons and now children have access to a number of different types of crayons.

If you want to find out more about crayons, the library has these books:

Here's the true story of an inventor who so loved nature's vibrant colours that he found a way to bring the outside world to children - in a bright green box for only a nickel! With experimentation, and a special knack for listening, Edwin Binney and his dynamic team at Crayola created one of the world's most enduring, best-loved childhood toys.

How does wax turn into a colorful crayon? Follow each step in the production cycle--from melting wax into a liquid to coloring a fun picture.

Join Buddy, every first-grader's favorite Weekly Reader pal, as he goes behind the scenes at interesting real-life places where people do interesting real-life work. What Happens at a Crayon Factory? takes readers inside a real factory to see how crayons are made. 

There are lots of stories, starting with the ever so popular series about crayons by Drew Daywalt that started with The Day the Crayons Quit and the ubiquitous Harold's Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson Here's some others:

• Red: A Crayons Story  by Michael Hall

• Frankencrayon  by Michael Hall

• The Crayon Box that Talked by Shane Derolf and Michael Letzig

• Creepy Crayon  by Aaron Reynolds

• My Crayons Talk by Patricia Hubbard and Brian Karas

• A Day With No Crayons by Elizabeth Rusch and Chad Cameron

• The Magic Crayon  by Amy Sparkes and Ali Pie

• Pete the Cat; Crayons Rock  by James Dean and Kimberly Dean

• Crayon  by Simon Rickerty

• Gurple and Preen  by Linda Sue Park and Debbie Ridpath Ohi

• Crayon Road  by Joni Jong and Joy Cowley

• The Last Crayon by Fifi Colston

• The Life of a Crayon: A Colourful Story of Neverending Beginnings  by Christopher Willard and Holly Clifton-Brown 

• Blackie, the Crayon by Miwa Nakaya

• Allie All Along by Sarah Lynne Reul

• How the Crayons Saved the Rainbow by Monica Sweeney and Feronia Parker-Thomas

2nd April Geologists Day

For many people, geology could be considered an underappreciated science. This may be especially true when it is compared to other sciences such as physics, biology or chemistry, but if you are dealing with five to eight year olds like I do geology is probably their favourite science. They come to library after lunch with a rock in their pocket that they found on the playground or in the garden and ask what is this? I empathise with them because I loved rocks as a child. My father was a science teacher who was besotted with rocks. We'd be on a family holiday and he would stop the car and get us four children out of the car to look at some geological marvel. It may have been a plug, a cirque, a moraine, an incline/syncline in a cutting, shale, mica or some other unusual rock we hadn't seen up close. 

Geology is the study of the composition of rocks, soils and other natural materials. It is also the science of the Earth's physical structure and its life recorded in rocks. It has been around since Ancient Greek times. Rocks tell stories. The books on rocks, crystals and fossils are always borrowed especially if we do a display.

So it's time to put together a book display about everything to do with geology , including the historical geologists that have helped people understand our world better. 

Start with something general and then explore the 552 area of your library.

These are some of the popular ones in our library:

Looking for biographies? Try:

And hopefully one day there will be biographies about Inge Lehmann (1888 - 1993), a Danish seismologist who discovered that Earth has a solid inner core inside a molten outer core.

Looking for picture books? These are worth searching out, but there's plenty more if you look in the catalogue:

Happy rock hunting.