Tanglewood by Margaret Wild illustrated by Vivienne Goodman

I started my review of this CBCA Short listed book by looking at the subject headings assigned by the National Library here in Australia for Tanglewood.  My labels are quite different.  They have put Families, Fellowship and Trees.  Well at least we agree this is a book about trees or more specifically about one tree growing on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean.

One reviewer wrote :

This beautifully illustrated story does indeed discuss living and dying, loneliness, time and family, bravery and commitment, hope and determination

The text in this book seems very simple with the story of a tree on an island that is visited by a lone seagull but the message is profound.  The tree experiences a whole range of emotions which I think older children will certainly relate to.  The illustrations superb.  Moving from whole page to small boxes - square and rectangular they echo the emotions expressed by Margaret Wild. For example on the page :  "But nobody ever came."  there is a single white cloud in a huge sky of blue.

I am predicting this book will receive a prize in the CBCA awards but as you know I loved Herman and Rosie and I think The Coat is a special and important book and I am in awe of the work by Jackie French in A day to Remember so we will have to wait and see.

I am excited to read this book right across our school and it will be interesting to hear the reactions of the youngest children and compare these with the older students.  We will also look at other books about trees including The Great Kapok tree, A bear and a tree, and The Giving tree.  We might also look at some books about islands and spend a little time with Jonathon Livingston Seagull.

Here is a set of teaching notes.  Here is a short review.  In this blog a teacher shares his lesson content using Tanglewood.

Lightning Jack by Glenda Millard illustrated by Patricia Mullins

Here is a book produced by two great Australian talents. Glenda Millard - author of the wonderful Silk series and Patricia Mullins who makes horses come to life through her energetic  illustrations made using tissue paper collage.  This book has been short listed for our 2013 CBCA Awards.

The story is told in a rhyme and at times I felt like I was reading a Banjo Paterson poem :

"Sam Tully eyed the brumbies at the muster in the park 

and among them as they galloped he saw one that stood apart

from the other colts and fillies, duns, dapples, browns and bays;

a stallion, black as midnight, on his brow a jagged blaze.

A gallant horse, a midnight horse,

a horse called Lightning Jack."

This book would make an excellent gift for an overseas friend.  It is filled with wonderful Australian references such as Ned Kelly, Phar Lap, stringybark trees and sulphur-crested cockatoos.  It would be wonderful to record someone like Jack Thompson reading this book aloud.

There is a terrific link between this book and The Carousel by Ursula Dubosarsky.  In our school library we have many other books illustrated by Patricia Mullins including one I especially love - the counting book One Horse waiting for me.  We will also revisit all the diverse and wonderful picture books written by Glenda Millard.  How special she must feel to have two books on the short list.

Tonight I made an amazing discovery.  Glenda Millard has quoted this blog ... my blog ... on her own web site!   I feel very honored.

I talked about Patricia Mullins and her horses when I reviewed Jerry in this blog - take a look.

Lulu Bell and the Birthday Unicorn by Belinda Murrell illustrated by Serena Geddes

Perhaps you have wondered from time to time how I come to select books to talk about in my blog.  Well this book has come to me in an interesting way. The Deputy Principal of my school has a friend who works for a publishing company. The author (via the publisher) has offered to visit our school to talk with the students.  As a bonus the illustrator - Serena Geddes will come too. This means I have had the chance to read the first two books in the Lulu Bell series before they are released.

Lulu Bell is a lucky girl because, just like the author Belinda Murrell, Lulu's dad is a vet.  This means their home is filled with animals.  It also means dad can help with any animal emergency and this is exactly what he does in in both books firstly with a horse that is on the run and then with a little penguin that is attacked by a dog.  This second book is set in our local area - near Manly Wharf.

I did enjoy Lulu Bell and the Birthday Unicorn more than Lulu Bell and the Fairy Penguin.  This was because in the Birthday Unicorn there were some good "oh no" moments.  I knew right from the beginning there would be a disaster with the fabulous mermaid birthday cake mum has made for Lulu's younger sister Rosie.  What I did not know was exactly how the cake would be wrecked.  I predicted trouble with the little brother Gus but I was wrong.  I certainly did not predict how a unicorn might attend the birthday party.

These books will appeal to little girls who are just starting to gain confidence with reading.  They might not stand the test of time but these two stories have enough warmth and humour to make a young reader smile.

Some questions we will ask Belinda when she visits our school -

1.  Which book did she write first?  The Birthday Unicorn or the The Fairy Penguin.
2.  Why does the illustrator always have a smaller font on the front cover of books?
3.  What is the name of the font you used for the chapter headings - we really like it?
4.  Did your dad really catch a horse as you described in the story?
5.  We imagined the horse running down The Wakehurst Parkway were you thinking of this too?

If you like the idea of living with a vet you will also enjoy Welcome to the bed and Biscuit and many of the animal books by Dick King Smith.

The real thief by William Steig

One lucky class at my school are participating in a simple pen pal project with some children from Pennsylvania.  Their generous teacher sent a box of goodies for the students which included some books for our school library.  I have talked about Dominic in a previous post which is a book their whole school will read and so the teacher sent me two more Steig titles - which is how I came to read The Real Thief.

Gawain the goose is appointed by the King to guard the royal treasure.

"He had been chosen for the post by King Basil the bear because of his upright and trustworthy character, and he had accepted because he couldn't possibly have refused.  He loved the rough, gruff, fatherly King. His heart warmed in the King's presence. He admired his strength. He loved the smell of honey on him, on his fur, on his robes, on his breath. He wanted to please him..."

Only two people hold the door key to this fortress - the King himself and Gawain.  Inside there are jewels, medallions, crowns, money and gems.

One day when the king goes to count his treasure he discovers there are only 8,643 rubies when there should be 8,672.  Who is to blame? Who is the thief?  Since it cannot be the King.  Gawain stands accused.  He is completely innocent but the judge at his unfair trial finds him guilty.  Gawain flees the court and hides away in a cave out in the countryside.  Meanwhile the real thief has a huge moral dilemma to resolve.  Should he confess or leave Gawain to suffer.

I read this short book in one sitting. It is a simple story which raises issues of important morality.  I especially love the way Steig uses such a rich vocabulary in his books.   Here are some of the wonderful words in this book :

unpretentious
aftermath
vindicated
malicious intent
inconsequential
pall of gloom
smitten

This book would be ideal for a deep philosophical discussion and here are some questions to help you gather your thoughts.

Bliss by Kathryn Littlewood

There are some books that I read where I just scream at the main character.  I don't want them to fall into danger or make wrong choices or miss warning signs.  This is exactly how I felt right through Bliss.  Rosemary or Rose for short is a wonderful character.  She is full of self doubt and feels unloved and under-appreciated but she is really a very resourceful and caring girl.

Rose lives with her two brothers called Sage and Ty short for Thyme and her baby sister Leigh short for Parsley.  Have you worked this out Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.

The family, four children and mum and dad, live at their cake shop. "The kitchen of the Bliss home also happened to be the kitchen of the Follow your Bliss Bakery, which Rose's parents operated out of a sunny front room that faced a bustling street in Calamity Falls.  Where most families had a couch and a television, the Blisses had a counter filled with pies, a cash register, and a few booths and benches for customers."

Purdy Bliss and her husband Albert are called away on urgent business and so Rose and her siblings are left to manage the cake shop but this is no ordinary cake shop.  There is magic behind the refrigerator and a cookbook filled with secret recipes.  Just as they leave, Purdy gives Rose a little key to this important book "an ancient leather bound volume of enchanting recipes."  Rose promises to keep the book locked safely away and never give the key to anyone.

The dust has hardly settled following her parents departure when a mysterious Aunt arrives on a motorcycle.  Her name is Lilly.  "The figure removed its black helmet with gloved hands, coated in silver spikes. The rider was a young woman - the tallest, most sensational-looking woman Rose had ever seen outside of a movie screen. She had strong black eyebrows, a long Roman nose, and short black hair cropped close to her scalp in a chic pixie cut.  Her full lips were painted red, and her big white teeth glinted in the sun.  She was the kind of woman who looked like she belonged in the pages of a magazine - the kind of woman Rose secretly wished she would grow up to become."

This is a wonderful book. I think it would make a great read-a-loud for children aged 9 and up but be warned this is only book one!  There is a sequel called "A Dash of Magic" and I for one need to grab this second book tomorrow so I can keep following Rose and all the twists and turns of her frantic life.

Here is a review of Bliss.

Claude in the spotlight by Alex T Smith

If you are in need of a quick read and a terrific laugh out loud book run and I mean RUN! into your library and grab Claude in the spotlight.  I have talked about this cute little hound called Claude before.  I think these books just get better and better.

Claude and his trusty sidekick Sir Bobblysock go on an adventure where they find themselves in a ballet class. The class are rehearsing for a variety show which will be performed that very day.  Claude dazzles the teacher with his splendid dancing (there is a tiny fly inside his jumper) and so the teacher, with the perfect name of Miss Highkick-Spin, convinces him to enter. The prize is simply way too irresistible to say no - "the best act wins a grand prize - all the cakes you can eat from Mr Lovelybuns' Bakery. He is judging the competition."

There is, however, more than just a fly inside Claude's jumper.  There is a fly in the theater in the form of a ghost and all the acts are ending in chaos.  It is up to Claude to save the day, and perhaps he will even win the prize!

A day to remember by Jackie French illustrated by Mark Wilson

Huge congratulations to Jackie French for all her research and for telling us the story of ANZAC day - ANZAC Day as a commemoration. Equally Marc Wilson has clearly used primary sources as an inspiration for his drawings and illustrated photographs.  The images and text are a perfect partnership.

This book is sure to be given an award by the CBC as you can see it is short listed in the Picture book category.

I am not going to go into a lot of detail about A Day to remember because it covers so much of our history from 1915 to the present.  Over the course of this chronological text you can read about various conflict situations and wars that Australia has participated in and read about how our commemorations have evolved in cities and in country towns.

"Across the world, in places where Anzacs served or suffered, remembrances are held."

Over the last fifteen years a large number of excellent picture books have been published which we read to our students around the time of ANZAC Day.  Here is a list of some that are perfect for our youngest students.

Here are some teaching notes for this important book.

I am going to quote from the back cover :

"Each year on 25 April the nation stops to remember.  This is the story of that day.  This beautiful picture book traces the story of Anzac Day through the last century. From those who first stood in silence at dawn, and wore rosemary or poppies for remembrance, to children of today who wear their grandparents' medals, an ever-increasing number in Australia and New Zealand, and around the world pause to remember the first Anzacs landing at Gallipoli."