My rows and piles of coins by Tololwa M Mollel illustrated by EB Lewis

This is one of the most important award stickers you will ever see on a book.  It is awarded for books that continue the messages of Martin Luther King Jr.  My rows and piles of coins was published in 1999 and received an Honor award.

My friend at Kinderbooks and I were talking about books to read when we share the CBCA short listed title The Patchwork Bike later this term.  I am so glad my friend mentioned this book.

"By the dim light of a lantern, I feasted my eyes on the money. I couldn't believe it was all mine. I emptied the box, arranged all the coins in piles and the piles in rows. Then I counted the coins and thought about the bicycle I longed to buy."

Saruni longs for a bike.  Not just so he can enjoy riding but so he can help his mother on market days. His kindness is inspirational as is the generosity of the person who eventually makes sure this young boy does get a bike of his own.

Here is a review which will give you more detailed of the plot. You can see a video of the whole book here.  There are a lot of sets of teaching notes available for this book.  The author Tolowa M Mollel was born in Tanzania (the setting for this story) and now lives in Edmonton in Canada. He has written 16 books so I need to investigate them and add some more to our library.  I was also excited to see EB Lewis has done a new cover for Because of Winn Dixie.

Tilt by Mary Hoffman

Why did I pick up this book on a recent shopping expedition?

• Firstly the cover - Tilt - great title for a book about the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
• Secondly the author - I do love the writing of Mary Hoffman (I met her in London in 2012).  I always to read her book The Colour of Home to our senior classes.

The suggested reading/interest age for Tilt is 12+ but there is no reason why a senior Primary student should not read this book.

Netta (Simonetta) watches her father working on the tower at Pisa.  It is leaning but this is not the fault of her father. He is the head mason of the city but there have been other masons before him.

"Oh I know girls aren't supposed to be interested in the structure of buildings or in stone carving. But all my life I had seen my father come home from his work covered in marble dust or seen him drawing his designs for statues ... His work fascinated me, spoke to my every instinct, and I couldn't pretend to be keen on learning how to cook or clean and sew, as real daughters were supposed to."

So this book embraces themes of women's rights, science and technology, STEM subjects along with a fascinating historical setting of Pisa in 1298 all in just 92 pages.

Here are five questions with Mary Hoffman about Tilt.  Tilt is designed for readers with dyslexia. You can read more here.  You might like to read this detailed review.

The evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

"It turned out to be not a book at all but a wooden box trickily carved and painted to look like a calf-bound volume. Strange, I fiddled with it and found the catch and the box opened. Inside was a waxed paper parcel containing a thick roast beef sandwich. ... Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life really."

This is a description of a gift to Callie (Calpurnia Virginia Tate) by her Grandaddy.  None of her six brothers have even dared to talk to him but over the summer of 1899-1900 Callie ventures into his world - his workshop, his scientific endeavours and discovers her own passions and curiosity.  She reads the work of Darwin and her grand father shows her how to record her observations in her notebook - how to observe the world.

In 1899, though, a young lady is expected to learn sewing, knitting, cooking and housekeeping. Callie is eleven, almost twelve, and she has no interest in these things.

"My biscuits were like stone, my samplers askew, my seams like rickrack. ... My mother's life was a never-ending round of maintenance. Not one single thing she did ever achieve but that it had to be done all over again, one day, one week or one season later. Oh the monotony."

Callie does her best to rage against her mother's expectations so she can follow her desire to study plants and animals.  She has a warm relationship with her brothers but they do not share her interest. The title is simply perfect as we watch Callie evolve into a different girl aided by the gentle and wise encouragement of her precious grandfather.  Each chapter also begins with a quote from Darwin's famous book The Origin of the Species.

You can see this book is a Newbery honor book. I read all 338 pages in one day - yes it is that good!

Here is an excellent and very detailed review in the School Library Journal.  Read about Jacqueline Kelly and the sequel to The evolution of Calpurnia Tate.  Take a look at the Kirkus star review.  here is an interview with Jacqueline Kelly well worth reading.  Listen to this audio sample taken from page 14.

As an added bonus there are some wonderful words in this book :

quadroon
pestiferous
chivvied
repose
citadel
tenuous
perspicacious

I would follow this book with Chains and of course the sequel - The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate.

Set in a time of great change, this story combines humor, beautiful writing, and unforgettable characters, to give readers a book that they will remember long after 

the last page is read.

Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim Bridges illustrated by Sophie Blackall

I mentioned in a previous post that we have been exploring picture books with an Asian focus with our senior classes.  One of the first books we looked at was Ruby's Wish and it certainly generated some deep discussions.

Ruby is living in China in the early nineteenth century.  Her grandfather has made his fortune on the Gold Fields or "Gold Mountain.   That was what the Chinese called California when many men left to join the Gold Rush there."  As was the custom of the time, Grandfather has many wives and many sons who also have many wives and they all live together in a magnificent home.  "So at one time, the house was filled with the shrieks and laughter of over one hundred children."

Life is good for Ruby. She like to wear red but this is traditionally meant for celebrations.  This does not deter Ruby who adds a red ribbon to her jet black hair when her mother insists she must wear somber colours.  Grandfather is generous and so all the children are provided with lessons.  In spite of this, though, things are not always equal for boys and girls.  Ruby observes that girls are expected to learn cooking, keeping house and embroidery while the boys are free to play after class.

Ruby is careful with her calligraphy and is noticed by her grandfather.  One day she uses her calligraphy skills to write a heart-felt poem.

Alas bad luck to be born a girl; and worse lucky to be born 

into this house where only boys are cared for.

Her grandfather is given the poem and Ruby is summoned to his office. This is where the real skills of Ruby shine.  Her grandfather asks for examples of this inequality.  Her first example is small and unimportant. The boys get better cakes, Her second is also fairly minor. The boys have splendid lanterns in the shape of goldfish and dragons while the girl's are plain. Finally she makes her most important point :

"the boys will get to go to university, but the girls will be married."

How will her grandfather react?

Here are a set of teaching notes, Kirkus review and illustrator web site.  A note at the end of the book explains that this story was inspired by the author's mother - the real Ruby who did indeed attend university as one of the first female students.  You can see the whole book here.

Diva and Flea by Mo Willems and Tony DiTerlizzi

The message—about the value of trying new experiences 

and learning to trust—lies lightly on this lively tale. 

The cover of this book says
Diva and Flea a Parisian Tale
As told and shown by Mo Willems and Tony DiTerlizzi

On the last page it says (this made me laugh)
"Some names and places in this story have been altered to protect the privacy of the animals involved."

These two tiny details really set the tone for this a terrific book :

• You will not predict the plot
• You will not predict the relationship between Diva (dog) and Flea (cat)
• You will enjoy the setting right beside the Eiffel Tower
• You will learn new words such as 'flaneur'
• You might marvel that Mo truly did meet little Diva in Paris

Diva lives in a Paris apartment.  "Diva took her job very seriously...   And if anything ever happened, no matter how big or small, Diva would yelp and run away. Diva was very good at her job."

Flea is a large cat.  "Flea did not have a fixes occupation ... he was a flaneur. A flaneur is someone (or somecat) who wanders the streets and bridges and alleys of the city just to see what there is to see. A great flaneur has seen everything but still looks for more, because there is always more to discover."

Flea and Diva will of course meet in this story but how their relationship unfolds will astonish you. When Flea first sees Diva she yelps and runs away.  This amuses and intrigues Flea and so for several days he plays the game.  He walks past the courtyard of 11 avenue Le Play and Diva yelps and runs away. Then one day Diva stops and asks "are you trying to hurt my feelings?" The next day Flea leaves Diva a dead mouse as a peace offering. Diva would prefer a ribbon and so the two share their first laugh.

I love their developing relationship.  Diva has things to learn from Flea about being brave and stepping outside and also about the wonders of the city of Paris.  Flea has things to learn from Diva about patience and friendship and life in a human home.

Look closely and you will see a picture of Mo Willems himself by Tony DiTerrlizzi near the end of the story and make sure you read the final pages about their inspiration for this warm story.

Here is the cover in French.  Read this review for more details.  Now take nine minutes out of your busy day and watch this video where Tony and Mo discuss their collaboration.

The Junkyard wonders by Patricia Polacco

"Mrs Peterson showed us how to shine."

"In my old school ... all the kids knew that I had just learned to read ... that I used to be dumb. Everyone knew that I was always in special classes."

Sadly Trisha finds herself in the special class in her new school and even worse this class is called The Junkyard.  Luckily this class has the  best teacher!  Her name is Mrs Peterson and she looks at her class and sees a group of wonderful individuals.

Genius is neither learned not acquired.
It is knowing without experience.
It is risking without fear of failure.
...
It is imagination without boundaries.
It is creativity with out constraints.

The class form tribes.  I love the way this is done using scents - vanilla, almond, lemon and cinnamon. The talents of each child emerges.  Jody loves poetry, Gibbie loved to building things, Thom made everyone laugh and Trisha can draw. Mrs Peterson tells them the junkyard is a place "full of wondrous possibilities! What some see as bent and broken throwaways are actually amazing things waiting to be made into something new. Something unexpected. Something surprising."

The Vanilla team find an old wrecked model airplane and so their project begins - to get this plane into the air and make it fly to the moon.  They raise money for a motor and prepare for the school science fair.  There are obstacles of course.  Some of them seem insurmountable and totally unfair but this tribe keep persevering right up to the big launch day.

If the ending does not move you to tears the final page will.  Here you can read that this book was inspired by a real class of wonders and a real teacher called Mrs Peterson and yes the author Patricia was in her class.

This is a truly special and important book which I would like to share with all senior classes.  We have purchased this book to support a class unit on the book Wonder and it seems to be the perfect partner.  Take a look at Patricia Polacco's web site.  She is the author of 115 books!  You can see some books below which also feature wonderful teachers like Mrs Peterson.

• Teaching activities
• Trailer
• Vocabulary ideas
• Publisher notes and discussion questions

Bee illustrated by Britta Teekentrup text by Patricia Hegarty

The art in this book is simply stunning.  Our students are so lucky to have access to books like Bee. Begin with the end papers - on the first spread you will see a few white and yellow flowers against a green background.  At the end the background is totally obscured by hundreds of flowers of all colours.  Such a celebration. Why?  Well the bees have been at work of course.

I have talked about bees in a previous post.  This book is a simple rhyming text and yet somehow the wonder and complexity of bees comes through.

"Carrying pollen from place to place, Bee always leaves a tiny trace."

On each page there is a hexagonal cut out as you can see here.  You can see some children's art here inspired by this book.

Teckentrup’s mixed-media illustrations are the star of this picture book, depicting fields of poppies, daisies, and more, 

the bee always at the center of the die-cut peephole, 

which gets smaller as the pages turn. 

Applesauce weather by Helen Frost illustrated by Amy June Bates

I am not sure how I came to find this little verse novel but I am so glad I did.  This is a gentle story about a brother and sister - Peter and Faith and their Uncle Arthur.  Each year Arthur and his wife Lucy arrive at the farm in time to harvest the first apples but this year is different.  Sadly Aunt Lucy has died and Faith wonders if her precious Uncle will feel he is still able to come.

Faith

All day, Mom's been saying, Don't expect
him, Faith. Try not to get your hopes up.
Chances are, he won't come this year.

But where
         did this gingerbread come from,
                with the warm lemon sauce
                            he loves?

It's not it could magically appear
the minute Uncle Arthur
came walking through the door.
Mom had to buy the lemons
           and bake the gingerbread
                    so she could cut this piece
                    for Uncle Arthur
                    and he could ask for more.


Take the time to read this interview with Helen Frost where she explains the real life connections which inspired her story.  Here are a set of teaching notes.  Take a look in our library for another special poetry book by Helen Frost called Step Gently out.  Read this star review in Kirkus.

I would follow this book with books like Sarah Plain and Tall,  Pearl versus the world, Little dog, Lost, and  Missing May.  Here are some more verse novels you might try to find.

Hug this book by Barney Saltzberg illustrated by Fred Benaglia

Later in the year we will gather in the library with all our new Pre-school children and their parents for a night at school.  I am always on the look out for books to read on this night.

One is for 1 is always a winner and so is Tap the Magic Tree and Press Here. Now I have Hug this book!  Here is a little piece of the text :

You can read this book to a hippo
You can read this book in the bath
If you read this book being tickled
I dare you not to laugh!

This is a noisy joyous rhyming book with retro illustrations by French illustrator Fred Benaglia.  The final message is the most important one.

Even though this book is over
it isn't really the end.
You can start at the beginning
and read it to a friend!

I really love the writing of Barney Saltzberg.  Read my review of Crazy Hair Day.  One more thing - when you find this book make sure you look under the dust jacket - there is a lovely surprise.  Barney Saltzberg is also a musician.  I have one of his CDs.  Watch this trailer and hear this book as a song.

... delight young readers with a lolloping rhyming tale about all the glorious things you can do with a stack of pages bound with a spine (hint: SO MUCH!).

White fur flying by Patricia MacLachlan

Beautifully told, quietly moving and 

completely satisfying.

A friend recently said to me that in our role as a Teacher-Librarian it is difficult to think about writing a book because we have the works of too many wonderful writers to compare with.  I understand how true this is when I read books (just a few names I could list more) by Kate Di Camillo, Isobelle Carmody, Odo Hirsch, Avi, Karen Hesse, Sharon Creech, Glenda Millard, EB White, Michelle Paver and the author of this book Patricia MacLachlan.

The quote above comes from Kirkus and I was thrilled to see they gave White Fur Flying a star review.

Phillip has moved in next door to Lena and Alice.  Their mother rescues Pyreenes dogs.  Phillip has stopped speaking.  His mother and father have left him with an aunt and uncle but they are not used to small boys and seem cold and distant although this is not their intention.  Lena and Alice invite Phillip over to their house and there is an immediate bond between the boy and the huge gentle dogs that live in their house. Phillip also meets a talking bird who is a new addition to the household recently bought home by their father who is a vet.

"Phillip laughed suddenly.  It was the only sound we'd heard from him. It had burst out of him, somehow, like music.  ... He reached out and patted May. She sniffed his face, making Phillip close his eyes happily."

Two new dogs arrive in the house and one, called Jack, is quite young.  A gate is left open.  It is night. The weather is wild.  Jack escapes. On this same name Phillip disappears.

This is one of those short books (112 pages) with a powerful story about kindness, healing and the importance of acceptance.  I loved White Fur Flying.  Look for it in our library today.

You might also enjoy Belle and Sebastien.  I also recommend every book by Patricia MacLachlan.  I recently talked about The Poet's Dog and Fly away.

It’s a book that explores the healing process 

and how people, and even animals, can help one another. 

Firegirl by Tony Abbott

"It wasn't much, really, the whole Jessica Feeney thing. If you look at it nothing much happened. She was a girl who came into my class after the beginning of the year and was only there for a couple of weeks or so."

"As horrible as a I thought the girl would look, when I imagined what burned people looked like, it was nothing compared to what stepped into the room.  ... Was she in pain right now? It seemed like she must be. As if being in that skin would make you want to scream and scream and scream until you died"

As you can see from these quotes Firegirl is a confronting story.  It is the story of a boy called Tom and his class in Year Seven.  Through Tom's eyes, the reader pieces together the story of Jessica - the new girl.  She has been badly burned in a accidental fire and the family have relocated to be near the hospital where she is undergoing regular and painful treatments.  Tom is horrified by Jessica's appearance but his humanity and kindness take over and gradually he comes to see Jessica as a real person and not just a damaged face.  In contrast Tom's friend Jeff is simply brutal.  He will not hold Jessica's hand for the class prayer time, he makes harsh comments about her and about Tom's relationship with Jessica.

Listen to an audio sample.

Tony Abbott is the author of Secrets of Droon - a fantasy series for younger readers.  Oddly we now have two books in our library called fire girl.  The other is a fantasy book which I do highly recommend.  We purchased Firegirl by Tony Abbott for a class who are planning to study Wonder. Firegirl would make a good comparison novel for a very senior class.  The themes are reactions of the class are too confronting for middle primary readers.  Another book you could use with Firegirl is the verse novel Motormouth. Firegirl is a previous winner (2007) of the Golden Kite Award.

Jessica Feeney joins their class. She’s a burn survivor who’s in town for treatment. The students don’t know how to act around her.  Kirkus

This powerful, emotional novel told in first person will touch readers' hearts. Some situations come only once in a person's lifetime, but they are enough to change that individual forever. Don't miss the opportunity to be moved by FIREGIRL.  KidsReads

Though fleeting and fragile, Tom's connection to Jessica changes his perspective on himself, his peers and friendship, and underscores the reward of reaching out to another—of getting "out there." Publisher's Weekly

The white fox by Jackie Morris

I adore the cover of The White Fox and I think this is why I picked out this little book (84 pages) on a recent shopping expedition.
.

Originally I thought we would put this book in our junior fiction section but now I have read it I will put it with our main fiction section because this is such a sensitive story which middle primary readers are sure to enjoy.

A white fox is seen down near the docks in Seattle.  Sol is more than curious.  He feels a desperate need to save this wild creature.  He knows in the past cats living down at the docks are caught. "His dad told him they took the cats to animal shelters where they were re-homed but Sol wasn't sure. No one would want these crazy stunted spitting wildcats. He had his own ideas of what happened to them."

Each week Sol receives a letter from his grandparents who live in the Arctic.  While it is never stated in the text you can see below that Sol and his family are Inuit people.  Sol hears that 'his white fox' has been captured.  He begs his dad to take him down to the docks.

"And I know I can't have a fox, and it's not yours to give anyway. But he needs to go home. ... he doesn't belong here. He belongs to the wild."

Their journey from Seattle to Alaska takes six days and gradually Sol talks to his dad about his unhappiness at school and he dares to ask about his mother who died in a car crash when he was just two.  Sol and his dad form a new bond. When they arrive, the grandparents give the father and son space and time to settle in.  Sol's grandmother shows him the carvings made by his mother. Sol feels comfortable and at home for the first time in his life. Now he needs to convince is father that this is the place they need to be.  This is truly their home.

Take time to read this review.  We have several other books in our school library illustrated by Jackie Morris.  She is such a skilled illustrator.

Miss Hazeltine's home for shy and fearful cats by Alicia Potter illustrated by Birgitta Sif

"Then there was Crumb, the most timid of all. 

He dashed through the door ... and hid."

Miss Hazeltine opens a home for cats.  Shy cats and fearful cats arrive with their owners and alone. Gently she cares for each one. Teaching new skills such as climbing, pouncing and making new friends.  She also offers reassurance explaining to little Crumb that she too has her fears - of mushrooms. owls and the dark.  One day Miss Hazeltine leaves to collect a bucket of milk.  When she fails to return it is little Crumb who overcomes his fears and organises everyone into a search and rescue mission.

I am not really a cat person but the illustrations and warm resolution of this story made me smile. Birgitta Sitf is an illustrator from Iceland.  Watch this little video where she explains her creative process.  I love the name of her little daughter Soley which means Buttercup in Icelandic.

Look for another book by Birgitta Sif in our library called Oliver which was short listed for the prestigious Kate Greenway Medal.   We also have a fabulous book in the biography section of our library by Alicia Potter called Miss Harkness and the Panda.  Here is a set of teaching notes for Miss Hazeltine's Home for Shy and Fearful cats.

I would follow reading this book with The Adventures of Miss Petitfour.

A caring young woman who takes in homeless cats finds her kindness rewarded when she suffers in turn.

Fabish the horse that braved a bushfire by Neridah McMullin ilustrated by Andrew McLean

Fabish the horse that braved a bushfire has been short listed for our 2017 CBCA awards.  It is in the section for Non Fiction called the Eve Pownall Award.

This book is a true story and so I would have liked to read more about this remarkable horse.  The setting for this story is explained on the final page :

"The Black Saturday bushfires occurred in Victoria on the 7th of February, 2009. The series of fires burning across the state became a firestorm, causing destruction that rivalled that of an atomic bomb. It resulted in Australia's highest ever loss of life from bushfire."

Fabish has finished his racing career and is now living in a paddock with seven yearlings.  "The youngsters were a wild bunch. With their tails up high, they pranced and tossed their heads, and sped around the paddock."  The summer is an especially hot one and one afternoon Fabish smells smoke. The trainer opens the gates and Fabish and the yearlings gallop away.  Meanwhile the trainer gathers the precious racehorses into the stables.  He works hard to keep the fire away and keep the horses calm. In the morning he steps outside to confront the devastation. Surely Fabish and the yearlings didn't stand a chance. "Yet he thought he heard something."

The illustrations in this book are perfect. You can almost smell the charcoal blackened trees and every horse lover with appreciate Andrew McLean's skill.

Neridah McMullin read about Fabish.  I found this article in Thorough Bred News.  Here is an item about other brave horse called Jeune Mark.

Here are a set of teaching ideas.

Bushfires are a harsh reality in Australia.  Here are a selection of books we will read on this topic.

A book of coupons by Susie Morgenstern

This is one of those really precious books (first published in French 1999, US English edition 2001) that I have been recommending for many years.  The terrific thing about internet shopping is the way you can now find copies of long out of print titles often in mint condition.  I did a little shopping the other day and found A book of Coupons and my copy arrived last week.

In just 62 pages Susie Morgestern gives us a picture of this little class of students in their last year of Primary school.  The new teacher is a disappointment - or is he?

"There he was, sitting behind his desk like some unmovable tree trunk ... Could all those wrinkles be real?"

Mr Noel (some people call him Santa) then surprises the students by presenting each of them with a book of coupons.  "I love giving presents, and I am going to give them to you every single day. I'm giving you the whole year of lessons for free. I'm giving away books. I'm giving away penmanship and spelling. I'm giving away math and science. ... I'm even throwing in the cataclysms."

Some sample coupons :

• One coupon for sleeping late
• One coupon for skipping a day of school
• One coupon for being late for school
• One coupon for getting out of trouble
• One coupon for dancing in class
• One coupon for clowning around
• One coupon for giving the teacher a kiss on the cheek

Later that day he gives the students a copy of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.

"My gift to you is the story, the characters, the words, the ideas, the style, the emotions. Once you have read the book, 

all these things will be yours for life."

The angry school Principal keeps visiting the classroom at the 'wrong' times. She sees dancing the first time she calls in.  She is determined to get rid of this inappropriate teacher.  The next time she enters the room she sees a real cataclysm.  The kids have decided to use the same coupon at once. Then there is a day when all the kids stay home. Except for Charles who used his stay home coupon earlier in the year.  Charles and Monsieur Noel write a new set of coupons for the aptly named Principal - Madame Incarnation Perez.

• One coupon to tell a joke
• One coupon to take a bubble bath
• One coupon to go on a picnic
• One coupon to make up a poem
• One coupon for a spin on a merry-go-round

At the end of the year all of the students have a special coupon for Mr Noel himself.  Yes he does have to retire and sadly the Principal did not get to read or enjoy her coupons and yet somehow the ending is just perfect.

If you are looking for a little book that will warm your heart read A book of Coupons.  If you are looking for a joyous book to read aloud to a middle Primary class read A book of Coupons.  If you want to share a book about kindness with a young reader - grab hold of A book of Coupons.

You might like to read my review of Sally Morgenstern's other book Secret Letters from 0-10.  I also recommend watching the French movie To be and to Have after reading A book of Coupons.