CBCA Treasures from the past continued

I am continuing to hunt out past winners and short listed titles from our CBCA Children's Book of the Year Awards.  Here are three more wonderful titles which I am sure will still be found in any Australian Primary school library.

Millie Jack and the Dancing Cat by Stephen Michael King (Shortlisted 2004)

Stephen Michael King has a magic touch with illustrations. His titles have featured on CBCA short lists fifteen times. Scary Night (2015), Leaf (2009), Applesauce and the Christmas Miracle (2009), Mutt Dog (2005), Henry and Amy (1999), The Duck and the Darklings (2015),  Beetle Soup (1997), The Little Blue Parcel (1999), Layla Queen of Hearts (2007), Perry Angel's Suitcase (2009), The Tender Moments of Saffron Silk (2013), Pocket Dogs (2001), Where does Thursday go? (2002), and Snail and Turtle are Friends (2015).

"Milli could take a thing that was a nothing ... and make it ... a something! She found things other people threw away ... forgotten things, rusty thing. She cut them, bent them, pulled them apart and joined them together in amazing ways."

Milli feels forced to make plain and boring shoes because sadly the people of the town do not appreciate her creations. They tell her they only want new and ordinary things. Luckily all of this changes when Milli meets Jack and his cat. They are a pair of vagabond minstrels and their shoes and clothes have become quite shabby. In exchange for dancing lessons Milli creates the most wonderful clothes.  Shoes with curly toes, purple slippers with bells and clothes to match. All this awakens in Milli her desire to create something truly amazing.  Look for the teapot on the last page. I mentioned in my previous post that Stephen loves to include teapots along with cups and saucers and twirly birds.

I would link this book with The Junkyard Wonders and The Christmas Caravan. We have fifty five books in our library either by Stephen Michael King or illustrated by him. It would be fun to look for repeated themes and motifs in his joy filled illustrations.

Reggie Queen of the Street by Margaret Barbalet illustrated by Andrew McLean (Shortlisted 2004)

Reggie has good life but it is mostly of her own making. Helen and Doug are kind but they don't take Reggie for walks or throw balls or even visit the park. This is all fine with Reggie because she knows her neighbourhood. Her days are filled with the freedom to check for interesting smells and for cricket games with the local children. All of this changes one day, though, when Helen and Doug pack up and move to a different area. Reggie is homesick so she makes the long journey back to her old house.

Read more of my thoughts here. Margaret Barbalet is also the author of one of my favourite titles to read aloud to senior students - The Wolf illustrated by Jane Tanner.

Mutt Dog by Stephen Michael King (Shortlisted 2005)

Mutt Dog and Reggie should probably share their stories. Both suffer displacement and both find comfort in returning to the home where they truly belong.  Mutt Dog lives a homeless life. He eats from the garbage, sleeps under benches (occupied by a homeless man) and he wanders the streets all through the night looking for comfort and a warm space. One evening he finds a halfway house. Even though she is breaking all rules, a kind lady finds him a biscuit and makes him a cardboard box bed but in the morning she sadly has to send him away. Luckily this lady has a warm heart and a conscious. She sees what Mutt Dog needs is a home so she picks him up and takes him to meet her family.

I would compare this with Let's get a Pup by Bob Graham especially in the final scenes where Mutt Dog adapts to his new home. Here is a set of teachers notes. You might like to read an interview with Stephen Michael King.