26th October Hug a Sheep Day

Every last Saturday of October, remember to mark your calendars. It’s a day to celebrate the fuzzy, gentle creatures that have given us so much. 

Whether you’re visiting a farm, knitting with wool, or just spreading the word, it’s all about showing some love to our woolly friends. And who knows? You might just make a sheep’s day a little brighter​​​​.

In the library sheep don't often get much glory unless their books are part of a display about farms or knitting, so this year with most of the library looking like a Halloween celebration, we thought why not?

Many of these books haven't left the library this year so it's their moment to shine.

• The Great Sheep Shenanigans by Peter Bently

• Pete the Sheep by Jackie French

• Elfrida  by Klara Fall

• Shearer by Neridah McMullan

• Baabwaa and Wooliam by David Elliott

• Kevin the Sheep by Jacqueline Harvey

• Where's the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox

• Where Will Sleepy Sheep Sleep? by David Metzenthen

• Let Me Sleep Sheep!  by Meg McKinlay

• Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw

• The Sheep Who Hatched an Egg by Gemma Merino

• Sheep Won't Sleep  by Judy Cox

• Russell the Sheep by Rob Scotton

• The Eleventh Sheep by Kyle Mewburn

• Too Many Sheep by Christina Booth

• Good Enough for a Sheep Station by David Cox

• Baa Baa Blue Sheep by Tony Wilson

• Baa Baa Smart Sheep by Mark Sommerset

• It's Time to Sleep,You Crazy Sheep by Alison Ritchie

• Louis I, King of the Sheep by Olivier Tallec

• Sleepy Sheep  by Lucy Ruth Cummins

• Little Bo Peep's Troublesome Sheep by Cressida Cowell

• Flocked by Chren Byng

• Little Lamb  by Piers Harper

 

And some chapter books:

• Lollylegs  by Pamela Freeman

• Sheep School by Ross Montgomery

• A Lamb Called Lucky  by Helen Peters

• Wigglesbottom Primary: the Talking Lamb  by Pamela Butchart

• The Sheep-Pig  by Dick King Smith

 

22nd October International Wombat Day

October 22nd is International Wombat Day. The wombat is a marsupial found in Australia,  The babies remain in the mother's pouch (like kangaroos) for the first six months of their lives before even poking their nose out of the backward facing pouch. It then still hangs around, living in the pouch for another 8 to 10 months.

Facts about wombats

• The wombat is related to koalas, kangaroos, and Tasmanian devils.
• They have very slow metabolism. It can take up to 14 days to digest a meal!
• All three species of wombat are protected under Australian law.
• They are fantastic diggers and spend most of their time underground in their burrows. 
• A group of wombats is called a wisdom.
• Wombat poo is cube-shaped, but without the sharp corners.

Abi Cushman's book Wombats  are Pretty Weird is a good place to start your exploration of wombats. Then read some nonfiction books such as:

• Wombat  by Christopher Cheng 

• Wombat  by John Lesley 

• George the Wombat by Aussie Ark

Next some stories:

All of Jackie French Diary of a Wombat  series.

• Sebastian Lives in a Hat by Thelma Catterwell

• Wombat Divine  by Mem Fox

• Wombat Stew by Marcia Vaughan

• The Beach Wombat  and The Snow Wombat by Susannah Chambers

• The Fire Wombat by Jackie French

• Wombat  by Philip Bunting

• Hairy Nose, Itchy Butt by Garry Duncan

21st October World Earthworm Day

World Earthworm Day is celebrated on October 21st to honour these under-appreciated animals. The date commemorates the month when Charles Darwin, the father of earthworm ecology, published his book 'The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Actions of Worms.' Earthworms are incredible little creatures found in the soil, eating a wide variety of organic matter.

So this is the day to read this book:

Learn the funny and fascinating story of Charles Darwin and the groundbreaking discoveries that resulted from his love of the humble worm in this hilarious, illustrated children's book. Charles Darwin is widely known for his Origin of Species book, yet Darwin had another great love, and that was for worms. Told for the first time for children, this is the silly and fascinating true story of how Charles Darwin came to discover that the humble earthworm is the most important species on our planet.

If your library doesn't have this book pull out your other books on worms.

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21st October Reptile Awareness Day

This book will not be here in time for this day as it won't be available til February 2025, but next time we celebrate Reptile Awareness Day it will be! Here is the sales pitch

This is the ultimate children's science book by DeadlyScience founder Corey Tutt, bestselling author of The First Scientists. Bursting with vibrant illustrations and cool facts about more than 60 reptiles, Corey celebrates First Nations knowledge about animals found on Country, from lizards and snakes to turtles and crocodiles.

Until it arrives you will need to make do with books you already have in the library.

Australian ones such as:

Or more generalist ones such as:

 

If you are looking for a read - aloud look for Joy Cowley's Snake and Lizard  series that begins with 

20th October International Chefs Day

There are many international chefs who have picture book biographies about them. See Joyce Chen, Julia Child, Alice Waters, Niki Nakayama, 
 and Georgia Gilmore.

On this day and given the state that the world is in currently, it is the two books about Jose Andres that I want to focus on here. He is an award-winning chef, food activist, and the founder of World Central Kitchen, a disaster-relief organisation that uses the power of food to nourish communities after catastrophe strikes.

When a terrible earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, chef Jose Andres knew he needed to help. Within a few hours of the disaster, he had gathered friends, flown to the island, and  begun cooking rice and beans for the hungry locals. This trip changed the life of the successful chef and led him to found World Central Kitchen, a disaster-relief organisation that has fed more than 200 million people affected by natural disasters, the COVID pandemic, and war, most recently in Gaza.

These two recently published books give children access to the life of Jose Andres and what motivates him to do what he does.

• Jose Feeds the World by David Unger and Marta Alvarez Miguens

• A Plate of Hope  by Erin Frankel and Paola Escobar

 

If we take the theme  'Growing Great Chefs' to heart, perhaps we should be putting books out on display that encourage the children to contemplate what it means to be a chef. Books like these:

 

19th October International Sloth Day

It's time to CHOOSE. Which sloth would you choose to play hide and seek with? Which sloth would you choose to go camping with? Which sloth would you choose to read you a bedtime story?

I haven't written about sloths since 2015 and there have been an abundance of sloth books published since then and sloths are a very popular topic and display at our library.

These are the most popular stories:

• Super Sloth  by Robert Sterling

• If I Had a Sleepy Sloth  by Gabby Dawnay and Alex Barrow

• Archie: No Ordinary Sloth and Archie the Arty Sloth by Heath McKenzie

• Sloths Don't Run  by Tori McGee and Roksolana Panchyshyn  

• Mindful Mr Sloth  and Waiting on Mr Sloth  by Katy Hudson

• The Sloth Who Came to Stay  by Margaret Wild and Vivienne To

• The Speedy Sloth; The Super Speedy Sloth  and The Speedy Sloth meets Her Match by Rebecca Young and Heath McKenzie

• Sloth Slept On  by Frann Preston- Gannon

• Mervin the Sloth is aAbout to Do the Best Thing in the World by Colleen Venable and Ruth Chan

There are three graphic novel series:

• Peter & Ernesto a Tale of Two Sloths (three books) by Graham Annable

• Jasper and Ollie (two books) by Alex Willan

• Sloth Sleuth  (two books) by Cyndi Marko

A series for newly independent readers

• Super Sloth by Aleesah Darlinson

 

18th October World Okapi Day

World Okapi Day is observed on October 18th. What's an okapi like? Imagine a zebra mixed up with a giraffe, and you've got it. Only found in Congo's rainforests, the okapi is a solitary,  herbivorous animal whose existence is threatened by illegal gold mining, poaching and the burning forests plants for agriculture purposes. This day aims to raise awareness of the need to protect forest ecosystems, as loss of habitat is directly linked with wildlife extinction. 

Many children won't know what an okapi is, but once they do they will be fascinated. See this short video. 

In 2020 when the Book Week theme was Curious Creatures Wild Minds I had lots of fun with my students identifying many of the less common animals, such as pangolins, aye-ayes, axolotls, tapirs etc and was surprised to find so many books sources which featured theses animals. See my entries from 2020 which feature curious creatures and this book:

• Weird and Wonderful Animals  by Rosella Trionfetti and Cristina Banfi

Once you have introduced okapis to your students, they will begin to find them in the index of many animal books and be bringing you the books to show you.

Two stories that specifically feature okapis are:

• Okapi Loves His Zebra Pants by Terri Tatchell and Ivan Sulima

• Okapi Tale  by Jacob Kramer and K-Fai Steele