13th August International Wolf Day

Wolves once ranged the majority of the world’s northern hemisphere and were adapted to a wide variety of ecosystems. Over time, that has changed.  Wolf numbers are now vastly reduced in these areas.

Originally, the Grey Wolf was the world's most widely distributed mammal. It has become extinct in much of Western Europe, in Mexico and much of the USA, and their present distribution is more restricted; wolves occur primarily but not exclusively in wilderness and remote areas.

Currently, wild wolf populations representing two distinct species of wolf are found in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa – the gray wolf (Canis lupus), and the red wolf (Canis rufus). Worldwide, the gray wolf, is not under threat.  The red wolf,  found in North America, is considered critically endangered. The biggest threat to wolves is humans whose tolerance of them is a problem.

Given that Australian children would never see a wolf in the wild, it always fascinates me to see how many students at school are so interested in them, not in storybook wolves which there are plenty of, but rather in real wolves and not all of them think they are ferocious and should not exist. They are very sympathetic to wolves and so because of this the library has quite a large collection of nonfiction books about wolves such as these:

         

                        

24th May Brother's Day

It is interesting that today is designated as Brother's Day because with my enrichment group today the word 'brother' was a topic of discussion because one of the group had read Gerald Rose's book How St Frances Tamed the Wolf and in the text St Francis called the wolf, Brother Wolf and she wanted to know why. A very fruitful discussion followed about how words could have meanings other than their literal one or common one and that they could also have 'shades of meaning'. I thought this of particular interest because the group of children were all five or six years old.

On the subject of brothers, in the more regular sense, my favourite books are Penny Dale's Big Brother, Little Brother and Margaret Mahy's The Seven Chinese Brothers. None of these three books are new, but all are well worth searching a library for.

29th June Beanie Festival

Alice Springs has just held their annual Beanie Festival and it never ceases to amaze me what some people can make from wool. There are beanies that take book characters has their starting point. There are yet others that tell a whole story. A beanie depicting The Very Hungry Caterpillar was a winner. There was another depicting The Rainbow Serpent. One lady even managed to fit the whole of Ned Kelly's Gang on a beanie.

One of the book displays last term was of all the books in the library about knitting and yarn. The newest inclusion was Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen. This story celebrates a young girl, Annabelle's ingenuity as she goes about changing her monochromatic world by knitting for everyone. This book has also just won The Boston Globe-Horn Award for excellence in children's literature, but it was very hard to move off the shelf in my library. Compared to the colourful covers of other books it just did not appeal to my young audience. I will need to do more to sell it.

While on the subject of wool though, I need to tell you that two six year old boys in my Book Club were having a quiet chuckle and discussion about a page in Nadia Shireen's Good Little Wolf where the little wolf has wrapped the big wolf in wool.

I can't find it to show you so you'll have to find the book. It is funny and highly improbable and thus appealing. The book also has a good ending, one that not many authors would risk in this day and age for this age group!

8th June Judy Sierra (1945) Penny Dale (1954) Best Friend's Day

I wrote about American author Judy Sierra's birthday last year, but this week I purchased Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf! for a unit of work on 'wolves and fairytales' which I have planned for a Year 1 enrichment program and I was so excited by it that I had to write about Judy's birthday again so I could tell the world what a good book it is! B.B.Wolf visits the library (any book with a library in it is worth reading...) and resists all temptation to eat anything. It is such a giggle. Now I need to order Tell the Truth, B.B. Wolf! which is also illustrated by J.Otto Seibold and which I didn't know about till now when I looked at Judy's website.

It is also British author illustrator Penny Dale's birthday. She is well known to the children in my library because of Ten in the Bed and Ten Out of Bed which are on the Premier's Reading Challenge list. She has several other books though which are just as worth reading and her most recent one, Dinosaur Dig is sure to be a hit because it has preschool boys' three favourite things, dinosaurs, diggers and building sites.

And thirdly, it is Best Friend's Day, a good day to search out all those best friends in literature such as:

• Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel

• George and Martha by James Marshall

• Houndsley and Catina by James Howe and Marie-Louise Gay

• Dog and Bear by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

• Gossie and Gertie by Olivier Dunrea

• Benny and Penny by Geoffrey Hayes

• Bear and Chook by Lisa Shanahan and Emma Quay

• Cat and Fish by Joan Grant and Neil Curtis

30th April Honesty Day

Honesty Day is a special day celebrated every year, encouraging everyone to be truthful and open in all aspects of life! It is a challenge to us to be be truthful in all we do.

For young readers honesty means being truthful in words and actions. It means not telling lies, not taking things that don’t belong to them, and keeping their promises. It’s a simple principle that forms the foundation of trust and integrity.

It is also something that the young children I teach find hard at times. They are very used to getting what they want when they want it and they are reluctant to wait, persevere, own up or take responsibility for their actions.

Picture books focusing on honesty show children the importance of being truthful and handling difficult situations with integrity. Some of the books that are recommended are very dogmatic and/or heavy-handed. I would rather a story where students get to discuss what has happened and what could or should be done.

It’s Felix’s birthday tomorrow! His best friend, Fiona has promised to bake cupcakes to celebrate, and Felix can’t wait. But the next morning, Fiona arrives at the party with no cupcakes . . . and a tall tale that’s as colourful as raspberry icing with lemon sprinkles. Fiona’s little lie points the finger at three likely suspects, but Felix has a feeling that she might be getting in deeper and deeper. 

When Finn accidentally breaks his grandma's precious clock, he tells a teeny tiny little lie - and blames it on his sister instead! Soon, Finn's little fib is OUT OF CONTROL, and it's getting in the way of everything! Can he find a way to tell the truth?

When Little Croc and his friends find a purse filled with money, they must decide whether to spend the money or turn in the p

But being the best takes time and training, especially when it comes to having the loudest growl. Then, one morning, disaster strikes--Fred's GRRRRR is gone! Oh, no! Will Fred find his GRRRRR and realize that there's more to life than being a winner?

When Betty Bunny breaks a lamp, she has a brand-new idea: Blame it on someone else (like the Tooth Fairy)! Then a vase gets broken and Betty Bunny really didn't do it. But now no one in her family believes her. Honest lies, white lies, crying wolf—how can one four-year-old figure out the right thing to do?

The bear’s journey from forest to city and back home again is full of happy accidents, funny encounters, and sensory delights. The story is so engrossing, it’s not until the very end that we begin to suspect this is a TALL tale. 
 

Ruben sees a dollar bill fall out of someone’s purse. He picks it up and puts it in his pocket. But when he gets home, he discovers it’s not one dollar or even five or ten—it’s a hundred-dollar bill, more than enough for a new bike just like Sergio’s! But what about the crossed-off groceries? And what about the woman who lost her money?

Feeling lonely after moving to a new neighbourhood, Colette invents a story about a lost pet bird to gain the attention of the neighbourhood children. As the interest of her new friends grows, it leads Colette into a web of embellishments. 

An Emperor challenges the children in his kingdom to grow a seed. Ping tends to his seed but only has an empty pot when spring arrives. The king rewards Ping for his honesty by making him the next emperor.

“Nothing ever happens here,” the shepherd thinks. But the bored boy knows what would be exciting: He cries that a wolf is after his sheep, and the town’s people come running. How often can that trick work, though? 

There are many versions of this fable. It doesn't have to be this one.

Truth is a matter of perspective. Alexander T. Wolf tries to persuade readers that the mishap with the three little pigs is one big misunderstanding.

If your students are older or you want to take this concept further look for these two books.

In this spare, ingenious story that reads like a modern-day parable, follow a sad little fact that is locked away for telling the truth. In its underground prison, it meets other facts, all hidden away because they could not lie. Finally, with the help of a few skillful fact finders, the facts are able to spread truth--something that ultimately can't be denied. Though some people continue to ignore them, the facts are out in the world, ready for anyone who wants to hear, because "a fact is a fact," and that's that.

Do you know the difference between a fact and an opinion? It can be a hard thing to understand. Some things are facts--like the number of robots in this book. Other things are opinions--like which robot would make the best friend, or which robot dances best. And sometimes to tell the difference between a fact and an opinion, you need to wait to get more information--that's because facts can be proven true or false, and opinions are things you feel and believe--but that you can't prove. 

Books by French authors and illustrators.

I am beginning to think about displays for next term. They will be big because in that term there will be Book Week (Reading is Magic) and the Olympic Games in Paris. At the moment in the library our display for Italian Festa is still out because the books are still being borrowed. Books by Italian authors and illustrators are being borrowed too, so I began to think about French children's book creators. Of course there are the classics and old favourites such as Antoine de Saint-Exupery, John Bemelmans, Jean de Brunoff, René Goscinny and Tomi Ungerer, but there are many others worth looking for  in the library.

The most popular would probably be Stephanie Blake, Olivier Tallec, Barroux and Michael Escoffier. 

Stéphanie Blake (1968) was born in Minnesota, but she lives and works in Paris.  Her works have been translated from French into English and her most popular books are the irreverent Simon the cheeky rabbit series.

Olivier Tallec (1970) was born in Brittany and now is an illustrator based in Paris, France. He graduated from the École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués and has illustrated more than one hundred books.

Stephane-Yves Barroux was born in Paris,and grew up in Morocco. He studied photography, art, sculpture, and architecture in France at the famous École Estienne and École Boule. He strives to create unusual artwork and when creating a picture book, he tries to surprise the little kid that is inside himself. 

 

Michaël Escoffier (1970) was born in France in 1970. He lives in Lyon, France, with his wife and two children. Michael is the author of several successful children's picture books that have been translated into English.

Others to look for

Hervé Tullet (1958) is a French artist, performer, illustrator and children's literature author who has written over 80 books. His 2010 book Press Here remained on The New York Times Best Seller list in the Children's Picture Books category for over four years. 

Christine Roussey (1981)  is a highly acclaimed author/illustrator. She lives in Paris. She is the illustrator also of The Growing Hearts series which celebrates the milestones of a toddler’s emotional development, from conquering fears and expressing feelings to welcoming a new sibling. The author of these books Jo Witek (1968) is also French.

Nadine Brun-Cosme (1969) is a French author who has been writing for over twenty years, and is the author of many popular picture books  including the wonderful Big Wolf and Little Wolf series which is illustrated by Olivier Tallec.

Katherine Anne (Kate) Banks (1960 – 2024) was an American children's writer who lived and worked in France with her Italian husband and two boys. Many of her books are set in France.

Matthieu Maudet was born in Nantes, France and has dedicated himself to illustrating comics and books for children. Maudet began collaborating with the author Jean Leroy, who is also French on children's books in 2008.

Eric Veillé (1976) was born in Laval and studied at the Duperré School in Paris. While working as an artistic director in publishing, he decided one  day to devote himself to writing and children’s book illustration. He has since released many books, as author and illustrator.

Mario Ramos (1958–2012) was one of Belgium’s most influential picture book makers. He was born in Brussels to a Belgian mother and a Portuguese father, but his books are 'very French' and his birthday, 7 November, is celebrated in France and Belgium as Mario Ramos Day.

Who have I forgotten?