Fly by Jess McGeachin

My walk in the sunshine today (a Sunday) was disturbed by the sounds of things flying in the air. In just an hour I counted 5 helicopters, 4 small planes, 2 jets and a amazingly a paraplane. All of these were so noisy unlike the beautiful birds who also shared the sky.

Paraplane image source: https://www.easyflight.com/

I guess people have always been fascinated by flight but since we are not birds our flying machines need engines and these engines are so noisy. I was thinking about this as I walked and then I came home and read debut picture book Fly by Jess McGeachin.

Jess himself says:
While the story is fiction, I wanted the reader to be able to learn about amazing birds that exist in our world.

On one level, yes,  this is a book about birds. Lucy finds a tiny bird - a sparrow - with a broken wing. She is determined to help him fly. We already know Lucy is good at "fixing things".  She lives with her Dad. "It was just the two of them ... "

Dad explains the sparrow has a broken wing. "He won't be able to fly again."

Lucy does not agree. She is determined her little friend Flap will fly again so she draws up elaborate plans and builds an aeroplane. The pair take off into the sky and for a while they fly along happily. Flap sits safely in the back seat and it is lovely to know he can "feel the wind in his feathers again." Sadly the flight does not last long. The plane begins to disintegrate and plummet back to earth.

I'm going to pause here because at this point I would stop reading this book and allow the children to make their  predictions. When I read this book at the CBCA National Conference several months ago the image on the next page made me gasp.

Image Source: https://drawthemoon.com/fly

This book has so many layers.  It is a book about problem solving, inventions, flight, birds, determination, kindness and the power of imagination. On a deeper level it is also a book about grief, healing and relationships.

Here are some questions you could use to explore the deeper themes in this book:

• How do we know mum is absent? What might have happened to Lucy's mum?  Why didn't the author give us any specific details about this? 
• What are some ways Lucy tries to help her dad? (look closely at the illustrations)
• Lucy spends one weekend and a few afternoons making her flying machine - what does this tell you? Does it matter that this is not really possible?
• The back cover says "Not everything that is broken can be fixed."  What do you think the author means by this statement? How does the story demonstrate this idea.
• Talk about Flap.  What do you think the words "But then he was gone" might mean?
• On the last page Jess McGeachin says "it's probably best not to build a plane unless you really know what you're doing."  Do you think he really needed to include these words? Do you think they were his idea or were added by the publisher? Talk about this picture from Rose Meets Mr Wintergarten. The US publisher of this book was concerned children might climb onto roofs. What is your opinion?

I've read a few reviews of Fly and they all seem to focus on different aspects of this story. I like this because it shows this book is open to many interpretations.  The suggested audience for this book generally seems to be ages 5-8 but I would suggest it will also appeal to an older primary group because it contains so many unanswered questions along side the deeper themes of grief and healing.

Take less than a minute to watch the book trailer from Penguin. It is perfect. You can also see some pages from Fly here.

Reviews:
Reading Time
The Bottom Shelf
Better Reading

Fly will surely be included in the CBCA awards for 2020 - yes it is that good! Over the coming months I hope to read a selection of Australian picture books published in 2019 with a view to making predictions about these award.

I would pair this book with How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham;  Pete and Roland by Bob Graham;  Kate, who tamed the Wind by Liz Garton Scanlon and Gary by Leila Rudge. I would also read one of my favourite books Herbert Binns and the Flying Tricycle although this book is sadly long out of print. You could also compare Fly with The Storm Whale by Benji Davies and A Wish for Wings that work by Berkeley Breathed.

Teacher by Gabi Stroud

All the way through Teacher I had a conversation with Gabbie (in my head) so I thought I would use my blog to pen her a letter because her book seemed to be written about me! Here is my letter:

Hello Gabbi,

First off I am sorry I have been so slow to read your book. I know these are only excuses but when all my friends, many of whom are teachers, raved about your book I had two thoughts. Perhaps one of my friends might loan me their copy (this has now finally happened) and secondly, would I be able to cope with reading this book. I had read an extract from your book in a newspaper. Classrooms are raw places. I may not have met kids with the extreme behaviours you describe but I have met complex kids, kids who broke my heart and kids who almost broke my passion. I survived for a little longer than you only because I found my true home in the school library. I am certain if I had not moved into the role of Teacher-Librarian I would have found a different career away from classroom teaching.

If we were sitting together chatting I think I might begin by telling you about the parts of your story that echoed my experiences. I will begin with your words about the HSC (page 48) and your TER - well that's me!

" ... when I look back at my reports I wasn't as smart as I thought I was. I did well on things I could control, like bookwork, homework, behaviour and participation. In areas of understanding or knowledge I was consistently  average ... it's clear I wasn't always getting it ... I didn't have a deep conceptual understanding of the concepts being covered."   YES that's me in a nutshell!

You loved your Year 2 teacher Mrs Read. For me it was my Year 3 teacher Mrs Woods. At the end of Year 3 the names of the kids were read out and my friends moved off to their new class. I was left standing alone in the classroom. I started to cry. Perhaps I was staying down in Year 3. Then came the magical news I was going up to Year 4 and my beautiful Mrs Woods would move up to Year 4 with me. I love the way you remember Mrs Read's hair. I remember Mrs Woods had beautiful dresses and she gently taught me to play a simple percussion rhythm for our school play.

Class Photographs. You were up the back because you were tall. I was in the front or second row, not by choice, but because I was the second smallest kid in the class. I didn't want to be in the front row with my "squinty" eye which I had in every photo partly due to the sunshine but mostly due to my lazy eye.

Miss Jenny, the class teacher for your first prac, sounds wonderful. When I read this section of your book I wished this had been my experience.  My first prac teacher was working at such a ridiculous pace with weekly individual contracts for each child made using a 'purple horror machine'. I knew I could never aspire or even want to manage thirty kids using her program. My final prac teacher (whom I visited every week for a whole year) was the opposite. She loved having student teachers because they did ALL the work for her. She had two of us on her class in 1980. Years later I met her. I walked up with a big smile and said hello.  She had NO IDEA who I was and had no memory of my name or time on her class. I can honesty say I learnt virtually nothing working on her class except on the day my uni supervisor finally came to watch a lesson. The supervisor gave me some wonderful advice about how to use my voice and I thank her still, years later, because I think this is my real talent. I love to read books aloud using voices, soft and loud, in my role as a teacher-librarian. In 33 years of face to face teaching I never suffered laryngitis or other throat issues.

At the end of University we had a similar session to yours with students expressing panic. Not over how to teach reading (page 55) but over how to manage everything else - class roll marking, pupil record cards, discipline, playground duty, etc. I remember the atmosphere of panic at this final session. We felt we had be taught nothing over the last four years that could actually prepare us to work in a real school, with real kids!

I totally related to your description of your first classroom (page 95). Yours was a shed. Mine was an old wooden room with bare walls and no air con in a town where  nearly all summer days were over 40 degrees. Like you, I enlisted my mum to come and help. We covered the notice boards and cleaned up the room. I still cringe when I think how I carefully saved money to buy hessian to cover those brown notice boards. I didn't know then about flint paper. My mum and I climbed ladders, measured the boards, covered them and stapled with an upholstery stapler. The Deputy Principal arrived (it was the school holidays) I don't remember exactly what she said but her tone was so negative. She scoffed at our stupidity. What I had not realised was you could only use pins on that hessian and so hanging up the kids work was a real struggle. I did laugh though, years later, when I visited the school and saw my green hessian was still in place.

High School teaching is so different as you discovered.  It was different for me too working in a high school library (page 149).  I did a year of teacher exchange to a senior high school in Alberta, Canada. You watched the clock to time your 52 minute lessons and I watched the clock praying for an end to my 67 minute lessons. My grade 9 kids, in this rural Canadian school were very challenging. I won't go into details but four of the boys had 50 hours of community service orders each (this is one step away from juvenile prison). No one told me about the horrendous crimes of one boy until I was about to leave. In retrospect it was probably good that I didn't know.

Staff Meetings (page 208, 273, 321)
What can I say - everything that happened to you, every thought you had, every objection to impractical theory, every sigh over a ridiculous directive from on high - all of that happened to me. I wish now I had been more vocal but perhaps that would only have resulted in longer meetings. Ours were often in the morning so the finish time was set but time after time I found it so hard to 'pick up the pieces' and smile at groups arriving in the library after a particularly harrowing morning meeting filled with poor or 'cute' Powerpoint slides. Oh and yes, our staff meetings were in the library and think about this - it was my CLASSROOM! Chairs, left over coffee cups, papers, and a class at the door with their teacher tapping her foot because precious RFF minutes were slipping away. The only time I valued staff meetings was when I was 'allowed' to talk (at least for a short time) to the teachers about the treasures to be found in our school library. I hope the staff found these sessions useful and more importantly practical and possibly even inspirational.

Best Start (page 245) While I didn't ever administer this test I saw the pressure it put on wonderful, experienced, talented kindergarten teachers and the hours spent collecting and reporting on data. This time surely should have been used to work with their students, get to know them and then organise appropriate individual and group work.  Poor little kids - your first day at school and you are hit on the head with a battery of tests and YES it is true some parents even try to teach their kids so they don't fail.  These kids coming into Kindy are perhaps 4 or barely 5 years old. And now teachers also have the Professional Standards to comply with and the writing of their PDPs. I was so distressed to see young staff in my final school, as you say, devoting "their time to the accreditation paperwork" instead of preparing meaningful and creative lessons. And instead of visiting their school library to source materials and especially picture books to enhance their lessons. I have strong reservations about the ideas of 'google' a lesson activity and making a subscription payment a lesson service.

Your principal who told you to go paperless! (page 261) I think he worked at my school too.  Mine banded text books and then complained when everyone spent hours at the photocopier copying worksheets! And yes schools go in cycles. We abandoned the commercial spelling and maths programs and spent hours writing our own only to discover they were ineffective and so we went back to commercial programs which at least sequenced the skills especially in spelling. I kept asking why we were re-inventing the wheel but in the frantic rush of school no one had time to listen.

The part of your journey, that I had forgotten, was the grading system (page 213) awarding an A-F but with the expectation that nearly all the kids were awarded a  'C'. I remember my outrage and I wish I had spoken as eloquently and passionately as you at the staff meeting in my school when this madness was introduced. I could hardly read your description (page 220) of using a rubric for your beautiful art lesson.

Before NAPLAN the test was called BST.  I was working in a low socioeconomic school in a rural town. I couldn't directly protest against this test by withdrawing my actual children because I don't have any but I certainly said, loudly and often, that my kids (if they existed) would NOT sit this test. You said this too!(page 278)  The idea of kids as widgets continues to horrify me especially when all the analysis focuses on terms like value added.  By way of anecdote, we had a little boy in Year 3 at our school back in 1987 who was working below a kindergarten level. He was assessed as needing a special education placement.  The parents did not believe his K-2 teachers. When he sat the BST in Year 3 this little boy just did patterns by colouring the dots on the test paper.  He scored really well on the 'test' and so the parents' views were vindicated - their little boy was not behind, he was going really well.  This is sad on so many levels.

Casual teacher experiences. I wish I could copy page 285 of your book and post it to all Principals and other school executive staff. Time after time I have seen casual teachers given extra duties and the worst classes. This needs to be reversed. Schools could not survive without casual teachers who are prepared to come in at short notice and fill in for staff who are unwell or on leave. Teaching is not like an office job where you can call in sick. At school someone has to replace you and teach actual children! They should be thanked and treated with kindness. The regime at the moment feels like abuse.

Things you mentioned that I had forgotten:
Coils of phone cord twisting back into that familiar tangle.  (page 49)
Teflon toilet paper. (page 80)
Climbing under furniture to get those pesky computers to work in staff meetings. Principal mumbles the Powerpoint took him 2 hours to prepare!

My favourite part of your book was the letter you shared from your student Ed (page 128). I don't have a precious letter like this but I do meet parents from time to time who tell me I helped their child discover a love of reading and that warms my heart. When I retired two years ago a little girl wrote me a letter

Miss Lindgren,
You've helped us to discover the wonderful world of reading ... You've always been there for me when I've been upset and helped to cheer me up and keep me calm. You are kind and considerate and very calm in difficult or tricky situations. No matter what! Manaia G

This letter, out of all the hundreds I received after 33 years of work in NSW Primary schools, made me cry.  I found Manaia and asked her what I had done to deserve this praise. I must have really helped her.  It seems three years earlier, when she was in Year 2, she had been upset during lunch. I had sat down beside her (on the silver seats outside her room) and talked about friends and, well heavens knows what I said -  but for this one little girl it helped and I am proud of that.

Oh and thank you SO much for giving every child a BOOK for their birthday (page 319). How completely wonderful.

Educational philosophy
I cheered when I read your thoughts about:
Stickers and reward charts (page 202) In my final years I just refused to 'buy into' the whole school schemes of reward tickets especially when kids wanted to receive them for simple tasks like pushing in chairs! And don't get me started on house points which I see as pointless.
The importance of seizing the moment (page 251) It makes me so sad to see teachers feeling their is no time for this. I used to rejoice in my school library when a message would come could Mrs ... please have all the books about rocks, sunflowers, chickens, Vincent van Gough etc. Topics and activities coming from show and tell or news in the real world. In recent years I noticed this no longer happens.
A school is NOT business (or a factory - my words). "You can't put them in a graph. You can't capture them in a test." (page 272)

Your words on page 91 should be a chart in every classroom. Here is my abridged version:

• I want to be an organised teacher who is bubbly and happy ...
• I want to be thoughtful ...
• I want to wear bright colours to brighten my student's day
• I want to be knowledgeable and prepared (I would add flexible to this)
• I want to read with the children each morning ...
• I want to bring the newspaper into the classroom each day and make the world accessible
• I'll let them do their spelling test on a Thursday and then again on Friday if they need another go at it
• I won't go back on my word
• I want to show my students that I'm a learner too
• I want to make children feel fantastic about themselves.

If I could be bold and add to your list I would also include:
I will visit my school library and talk to the Teacher-Librarian as often as possible
I will take an interest in what my kids borrow from the library and the books they are reading
I will fill my classroom with books which I will display in an attractive and inviting way

Thank you Gabbi for your book. Reading it has had a huge impact on me. I think old and new teachers should read it along with all school executive and those elusive State and Federal Education ministers.

Best Wishes in your future with your precious girls
Margot

Cloud Boy by Marcia Williams

Harry Christmas (yes that is his name) and Angie Moon build a tree house in the backyard with the help of their fathers. These kids are great friends and almost share a birthday since they were born two days apart.  Angie calls them "almost twins." The new tree house is the perfect place to explore their passions. Harry loves clouds and Angie loves to draw. They name their tree house Artcloud. Angie is not keen on writing but she is given a diary and so much is happening in her life the diary becomes the perfect place to share her roller coaster of emotions.

Harry becomes ill. No one seems to want to tell Angie what is wrong. Harry is taken to hospital and it is clear this is very serious.

"Dear Diary,
I went to see Harry today! He was whiter than the bed sheets, his head was just one big bandage and there were drips and tubes everywhere - it freaked me out. He didn't talk but when I stroked his hand he grabbed by finger, like little Solo."

The relationship and difficult times experienced by Harry and Angie (as told by Angie through her diary) are only half the story, though. Grandma Gertie is staying with Angie and her family following the arrival of a new baby (Solo) and she has also come to see the exhibition of a special quilt. When she was a child Grandma Gertie was taken prisoner in Singapore and sent to Changi. The treatment of the prisoners, including very young children, was utterly terrible but Gertie survived and so did some of the letters she wrote to her cat, a quilt made in the camp by the children and the young boy who she later married when they were reunited as adults. Reading these letters allows Angie and Harry glimpse what Gertie went through during World War II and they are an interesting way to share this period in history with a mature primary school reader.

The making of a quilt is also used as a way to link the stories of past and present. Angie decides to make a quilt for Harry and to fill it with shared memories. The pace of her sewing and her decisions of the images to include match the details we read in the letters written by Gertie as she and the other prisoners work on their quilt. Make sure you watch this video about the making of the quilt.  You can hear Olga Henderson (nee Morris) who was the inspiration for Cloud Boy. Marcia Williams explains how she saw the Changi quilt in the V&A Museum in London.

"I saw the Changi Guide quilt in 2010 ... I was immediately struck by how, after so many years, this quilt is still a powerful symbol of young people's love and endurance."

If you share this book with a mature senior primary reader and they are curious to know more about the fall of Singapore I would recommend reading Lizard's Tale followed by The Happiness Box by Mark Greenwood.

When I read an emotional book I usually cry even when I anticipate the sad ending but in the case of Cloud Boy I didn't and this puzzles me. I did find Cloud Boy a compelling read and I did enjoy the voice of Angie along with the way she honestly expresses her emotions including her anger at Harry for being ill and her confusion about the way all the adults she trusts want to protect her from the truth.

Click on this link to read another review:

This is not an easy read in terms of subject matter, but it is worth acknowledging that not all children’s books can be filled with happy endings – not everything does end happily. However, there are glimpses of hope and optimism, and the possibility of how life continues despite the adversity faced. Minerva Reads

The Blue Songbird by Vern Kousky

"Once there lived a blue songbird. 
every morning she would wake up, hop to the edge of a high branch, and listen to her sisters' lovely songs. 
The songbird always tried to join in with them, but she could never sing like they could sing."

The blue songbird is not mute. Her song is not yet formed. Her wise mother suggests the songbird needs to find her own special song - "that only you can sing."

Songbird sets off, leaving her home and traveling great distances. She asks every bird she meets how she can find her own special song. The Crane sends her to the wisest bird who lives beyond the mountains.

Image Source: Brainpickings.

Songbird finds the wise bird - the Owl - but his only answer is 'whoooo'.  She flies on asking other birds, the pigeons and penguins, until finally she meets Mr Scary Bird - the Crow. He tells her to keep flying east to a small island.

"She flew through 
storm and wind,
through night 
and day, until she
was more tired 
than she had ever
been. But the
songbird did not
rest, for she
knew that soon
she'd find her
special song."

When she arrives at the island she makes an amazing discovery. Songbird has flown around the whole world. The island is her home. Her mother is waiting for her and now, after all those adventures, songbird has her own special song to sing.

When I saw this book during a recent library visit it instantly appealed to me. The cover has such a simply image and as one reviewer suggested it looks quite Japanese.  what I did not expect was such a powerful story about identity, self discovery and most importantly perseverance and tenacity.  This book is at heart a fable. It covers topics we've seen before - who am I, why am I here, there's no place like home, life is a journey of self discovery, experiences give us stories to share.

The paperback copy of this book is not expensive. I highly recommend this book as a great addition to any school library.

Kousky’s watercolor illustrations have a delicacy that matches both his prose and his heroine, simply rendered with daubs of light blue onto which are painted a little beak and dots for eyes. Kirkus

After reading this book I am now adding these two books to my "to read" pile.  One is by Vern Kousky and the other was suggested by Maria Popova in her detailed review (for Brainpickings) of The Blue Songbird.

The Lost Property Office by Emily Rand

This is a book about a lost teddy bear.  You have read books like this before. I am thinking in particular about Ducky's Nest and Finding Monkey Moon.  The difference with The Lost Property Office comes from the setting - this toy is left on the train seat and more importantly the difference is the rich illustrations depicting people from different backgrounds and cultures using the London Underground. I especially love the way Emily Rand draws Grandpa's hair and beard. Take look here at the Tate Shop web site where you can preview some pages from this book. The actual lost property office in this book is also a page to enjoy. You will find the usual things like bags, balls and books along with an iron, a violin, false teeth, frying pan and so much more.

You can see some of the wonderful illustrations by Emily Rand here on her website but I also wish I could show you the end papers from this book. They are a real treat. At first glance they look the same but on closer inspection different things have been dropped by people hurrying to their trains onto the station floor. The floor itself is also wonderful. It is exactly like the floor at a railway station. I do not know what material this is but I will call it crushed granite. The Australian distributor for this book - Hardie Grant uses the words charming and elegant to describe the illustrations.

The actual London Underground Lost Property office is at Baker Street Station (until 21st October, 2019). Take a couple of minutes to watch this video. Just under 10,000 umbrellas went into lost property last year but they are not the number one item.  Read more here. I also found this list from 2014 of the most lost items from one to ten.  I was happy to see Teddy Bears are not listed in the top ten.

I think this book would be the perfect addition to any library collection either in a school or in a public library. One more thing to think about - Emily Rand did not put her name on the front cover of this book - I wonder why?

The Swan's Gift by Brenda Seabrooke illustrated by Wenham Ma

Tuesday Treasure

Strictly speaking The Swan's Gift is not a Tuesday Treasure because I started that series of posts to highlight treasures from my former school library and we didn't purchase this book when it was published in 1995 but since it is out of print and it is such a beautiful story I have decided to add it to my blog. I was lucky to find a mint condition copy at a recent charity sale.

The Swan's Gift is a modern fairy tale. Anton and Rubina have seven children. Times are very hard and now there is no food. Anton sets out to hunt hoping to find a bird or rabbit - something they can add to their cooking pot which now only contains water.

Anton walks on and on in the freezing conditions. Finally, empty handed, he turns for home. Just below him on the lake he sees a beautiful white swan.

"Suddenly the juices flowed into Anton's mouth. He could taste succulent roast swan and see his children's faced glowing as his family sat at the table eating again. He raised his gun ... "

The tension rises as Anton puts his finger on the trigger. He feels as though the swan is looking directly at him. It is a magnificent bird.  Brenda Seabrooke uses words like "dazzling beauty" and "the most beautiful creature."

Anton drops to his knees. He speaks out loud "I can't do it."  A voice "as soft as snow or feathers ruffling in the wind" asks "why not?"  Anton knows if he kills this swan his family will have food for one or two meals but after a day or two they will all be hungry again. All of this beauty will be lost.

The swan lifts its wings and flies over the Anton who has now collapsed onto the snow. The water dripping from the swan's wings lands as frozen crystals. The crystals are harder than ice - they are diamonds. How will Anton use this treasure? What might other people do if they hear about this magical swan? What does the future hold for this family?

I would follow The Swan's Gift with The Paper Crane by Molly Bang.

Clifftoppers: The Arrowhead Moor Adventure by Fleur Hitchcock

One of my local independent bookstores was having a one day 20% off sale last weekend. Of course I raced (yes I did) inside and spent a happy hour browsing their children's book section. I spied the name Fleur Hitchcock on the cover of this book - I remembered I had read and enjoyed The Boy who Flew so I picked out this book and Cloud Boy by Marcia Williams (I am reading this one right now). Clifftoppers: The Arrowhead Moor Adventure is published by Nosy Crow and I am always assured of a good story from this UK publisher.

If you were a fan of Enid Blyton - either Secret Seven stories or Famous Five - you will enjoy this book and better yet you will want to share it with a young modern reader because while this story has all the elements of those older classics there is also a modern tone especially in the way these four children speak to one another. Of course their are also mobile phones and I loved the idea that the old phone box is now used as a street library. It was also refreshing to read that Grandpa is the family cook. His scones certainly sound delicious and you might enjoy the debate about where to place your jam and cream.

Cousins Ava and Josh from Birmingham, Aiden from London and only child Chloe have come to stay with their grandparents. Each day they set off on their bikes along with their dog Bella and of course, in the spirit of Enid Blyton, they take a delicious picnic lunch.

Cheese sandwiches
Tuna Mayonnaise sandwiches
Fried chicken
Scotch Eggs
Apples

The gang of four see some suspicious dealings between adults, they overhear an odd conversation by a women in ridiculous shoes and later they find twelve diamonds. These diamonds are from a much larger valuable piece that has been stolen and so our four heroes decide to find the whole set and capture the baddies.  It is all very improbable but the craziness of their scheme and their "daring do" are what make this book great fun.

Fleur takes a beloved concept of childhood adventures arisen out of freedom during holidays and brings it smack up to date and relevant to today’s children saying YOU can have adventures too. Lily and the Fae

The second book in the series was published this month.

Fishing - books to match a passion

Illustration by Anne Spudvilas from Joe's Boat.

As I mentioned I am working with some Grade 2 students assisting them with reading. One boy is a keen fisherman. He is so enthusiastic about this sport and can name all sorts of fish, bait and fishing locations.  I wanted to find a couple of simple fishing junior novels and some picture books to share with him. Sadly this has not been any where near as easy as I hoped.

Here are the the books I plan to show him.

Not a Nibble by Elizabeth Honey. CBCA Picture Book of Year 1997.
From the blurb: "Holidays at the beach mean camping, swimming, finding crabs, feeding the seagulls, walking, reading. Everyone has plans for things to do. Susie wants to catch a fish, but some people just aren't lucky at fishing. What she's lucky at is something quite unexpected and wonderful."
My favourite part of this story is the way Susie never gives up. She goes fishing day after day even though the others catch fish and she never does her optimism almost never fails.

Joe's boat by Raewyn Caisley illustrated by Anne Spudvilas.  From the Aussie Nibbles series.
Great Uncle Alan has died, but that was long ago. Joe and his dad arrive to sort things out but Joe can only focus on Alan's old boat and the promise of fishing with he great uncle's old friend Bob. Joe does catch a fish and the three of them enjoy a delicious meal on the beach.

Losing Reuben by Leonie Norrington illustrated by Beth Norling. From the MATES series.
From the blurb: "There are so many kids in Reuben's family that his mum has to count them! That way, no one gets left behind."
The whole family, mum, dad, nine kids and the new baby go prawn fishing. Dad and his brothers use a huge prawn net and Reuben has the difficult task of holding on - working as an anchor while the others drag the net out into the water. It is an exhausting day but Reuben overcomes his fear and the group catch lots of prawns which they enjoy eating on the beach. When it is time to go home mum counts the kids but Reuben is left behind. Were there 9 kids or perhaps 10?
Here are a set of teachers notes for Losing Reuben.

The Monster fish by Colin Thiele illustrated by Craig Smith. From the Solo series.
From the blurb: "It's time for the Big Boomer Fishing Contest! Ben's cousin Andy catches the biggest fish you ever saw - and then the most amazing thing happens."
Andy catches a huge snapper almost a metre long. It jumps into the boat which is amazing but the biggest shock is what comes next. A shark has been chasing the snapper. The shark grabs hold of the snapper with all the hooks and the line. The small boat almost capsizes. Sadly the shark, with the snapper in its teeth, breaks away. No one from the fishing competition believes this terrific tall tale.

Something Fishy by Geoff Patton illustrated by David Clarke. From the Kids & Co series.
"Con and I are going fishing. We're going to catch a shark. A big shark. A blue shark. A mean shark. we are tough."  But what bait should they use? Cat food = a cat fish; peanut butter = an elephant fish; bones = a dog fish; finally chips - no they don't work either.  Wait a minute - turn around boys - perhaps there was a shark in the river?

I did find this list of other titles which I also need to hunt out.

Image source: http://embarkonthejourney.com/lets-go-fishing-unit-study-and-free-printable/

Sarah's Two Nativities by Janine M Fraser and Helene Magisson

Sarah has two nativities because she has two grandmothers. One tells her the story about Jesus from the Koran and the other tells her the Bible story.  Janine Fraser introduces Sarah's multicultural family. She is the daughter of Sadek and Anna. Her grandparents are Ali and Azar and Maria and Paul. With Grandmother Azar, Sarah makes Kofte. We see the two sets of grandparents arriving at Sarah's house. Azar is carrying a tagine and Maria has a casserole.

Image source and recipe

With Grandmother Maria Sarah makes cupcakes.

Image Mary Berry Cupcake and recipe

"In Sarah's house, the Bible and the Koran sit together on a shelf - two books bursting with stories."

Sarah listens to her Grandmothers tell their Christmas stories about the birth of Jesus.

"I like these stories. They are the same in some ways but different in others. So how can they both be true?"

Her Grandmother Azar replies: "Some say only the story in the Koran is true, and some say only the story in the Bible is true. But how can we say one is truer than the other, when both tell of the mystery of God?"  I like the open ended nature of this answer. There is such a beautiful tone of cultural acceptance in this story.

On the last pages this blended family sit down together and share a meal - a meal of peace and family and love.  Take a close look at the final double spread.  Ali and Azar are sitting beside the cupcakes and Maria and Paul are looking at the dish of kofte.

If you are using this book with an older class and you wanted to explore the idea of a multicultural family sharing a meal take a look at this old television advertisement. It has lots of layers - the family, their clothing, the music track and all touch with a light touch of good humour.  I have had long discussions with groups of Grade 6 students using this ad in the past. We used to watch it two or three times as a way to "unpackage" all the ideas.

Thinking about the concept of belief, there are lots of Christmas books which highlight different cultural traditions at Christmas but this is the first book I have seen which compares important stories such as the ones in the Bible and the Koran.  Added to this, I appreciate the way Janine M Fraser has aimed her book at a younger audience. Take a look at this interview with the illustrator Helene Magisson. Even though it is not a Christmas book I would pair Sarah's Two Nativities with Same Same but Different.

I have been thinking about the 2020 CBCA awards this week and then this book popped up.  Surely this beautiful, important and timely book will reach the Picture Book of the Year short list next year.

Janine M Fraser is the author of a junior book series that I enjoyed many years ago - Sarindi and the Little bird illustrated by Kim Gamble.

Seahorses

Image source National Geographic: 

https://www.natgeokids.com/nz/discover/animals/sea-life/seahorse-facts/

I've been thinking and reading about seahorses today. My small Grade 2 reading group explored a simple non fiction book (from a reading scheme) about seahorses but first off we explored these books.

Seahorses by Jennifer Keats Curtis illustrated by Chad Wallace. This book proved a good way to introduce some vocabulary such as krill, holdfast, dorsal fin and small fry. Several of the children already knew the role played by father seahorses. I was not surprised to discover the author Jennifer Keats Curtis is a marine biologist.

In Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle we were able to discover other fish species where the father cares for the eggs such as the stickleback, tilapia, Kurtus nurseryfish, pipefish and bullhead catfish. My student group were also intrigued by the clear see through pages and colourful illustrations by Eric Carle. Most had read his famous book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Our general discussion led us to talk about the wonders of camouflage and I mentioned the Weedy or Leafy Sea Dragon. Next week we will need to explore a couple of texts about this amazing fish.

Image source: Australian Geographic

You're all animals by Nicholas Allan

Tuesday Treasure

sort of...

Billy Trunk starts at a new school.  He looks around the classroom but no one looks like him.

"One had teeth all down his nose
One was slimy
One was spotty
and one smelt really bad."

Billy is a young elephant. I guess you saw him on the cover. In his class there is a giraffe, a crocodile, a snake and an owl and other 'animals'. Now comes the first BIG mistake. When he gets home Billy tells his mum and dad he wants a friend "who's just like me."  Dad (wrongly) suggests they look on the computer:

MY NAME'S BILLY TRUNK I'M 7 I LIKE SKATEBOARDING

Billy gets a reply from someone called Frank who says he is also 7 and who also likes skateboarding. Billy replies saying he likes buns! That afternoon there is another answer from Frank. He likes eating buns too especially the crumbs. Now for the next MISTAKE:

DEAR FRANK I GO TO ROSEHILL SCHOOL FROM BILLY

Frank arranges to meet Billy at school. Billy describes himself as grey with big ears and a long nose. Frank says he is grey too and big-eared and he has a long nose! Has Billy found another elephant to be his friend? No Frank is a (spoiler alert) a mouse!

Back in 2000 perhaps we were not talking with children and teens about online stranger danger. I am sure Nicholas Allan did not intend online safety as a focus of his book. There is a 'message' in this book about making friends and accepting difference but today I would use it as a springboard to discuss the danger of posting your name, address, school and more online. This book is a Tuesday Treasure because it was recently culled from my former school library. Perhaps that was a good decision but I would like to suggest instead that you keep this book and share it with teachers who could use it with more mature students.  I do think this book will generate some very meaningful discussions.

Here is a quotes from a GoodReads reviewer which explains that this is a book to approach with caution:

"The book fails to teach children about the importance of e-safety as Billy talks to and meets with a stranger he has met on-line. This is a point I had to address following the reading which could lead on to teaching about safeguarding."

Beverly, Right Here by Kate DiCamillo

Buddy died, and Beverly buried him, and then she set off toward Lake Clara."

"I'm glad you're here,' said Iola. But I worry about you. You're too young to be away from home - I know you are. Surely someone is looking for you. But you give me comfort, and I can't help it - I'm glad you're here."

Why did I love this book?

The kindness of strangers is a strong theme in this book and in the previous story Louisiana's Way Home. I love the simple acceptance by Iola that Beverly has come to stay, perhaps for a short time, and that for now Beverly needs kindness, friendship, food and a place to stay.

The comfort of food. Beverly does not like tuna but Iola makes her a sandwich "it tasted like fish, but it also tasted good. Iola had toasted the bread and melted cheese on top of the tuna, and the sandwich was warm in Beverly's hands."  I get a great sense of comfort from that word 'warm.'  "There was something about sitting at the tiny table in the tiny kitchen in the tiny trailer and having Iola slide a plate of food in front of her that made Beverly feel like a little kid might feel - happy, taken care of."

The raw emotions.  Beverly desperately misses her dog Buddy, She misses her friends especially Raymie. Beverly takes a photo from the owner of the fish shop, where she is working.
"She took the picture of happy Mr. Denby out of her pocket. 
Happy Mr. Denby and his happy wife and happy kids ... 
Photographs like this were a lie. 
They promised something impossible. 
People were terrible to other people. That was the truth. She wanted Buddy. 
She wished he were sitting next to her..."

The power of words. Someone takes her flip flops when she leaves them on the beach after her first day working in the fish restaurant. I just gasped at the awfulness of this. Beverly has to walk back to the trailer park barefoot. With the word 'fire' Kate DiCamillo tells you just how totally painful this walk is:
"She walked through the sand and up to the hot pavement and down the side of the A1A in her bare feet.  She turned off A1A and walked down the sea-shell drive of the Seahorse Court. Her feet felt like they were on fire."

Meeting new people and making friends. I love the relationships which unfold in this story. Iola reaches out to Beverly.  Iola doesn't ask questions about Beverly's past. She is happy to accept Beverly right here and now! Beverly reaches out to the little girl Vera who wants to ride the mechanical horse outside the store. She befriends Robbie the little boy at the beach and patiently builds sandcastles with him. Beverly is so good at reading people. She knows Elmer is a decent and kind person. She knows Jerome is bad news. She doesn't criticise Frankie even though it is clear her dreams of fame and fortune are probably never going to happen. She even has some understanding of Mr Denby and his deep sadness missing his daughters.

The discovery of things I did not know. Beverly buys wax lips in the store and meets the boy with the unfortunate name of Elmer. I didn't really know what wax lips were but I was able to make a guess

The structure of the story. The words in the phone box about the crooked little house by a crooked little sea are a gently recurring theme and they are so perfect:

In a crooked little house by a crooked little sea.

Beverly shows the graffiti to Elmer. "It was strange, almost painful, to hear someone else say the words. It was as if Elmer were reading something that had been written inside of her, carved into her."

The importance of community.  I loved the scene where Beverly buys $40 worth of raffle tickets so Iola can win the turkey - such kindness but with out schmaltz then of course they have to cook that turkey and invite everyone to share a delicious Christmas meal even though it is the middle of the year and so we return to the comfort of food.

Here are a few more thoughts. I don't know how she does it but when I read a Kate DiCamillo book I really hear the voices of the characters - with an American accent - think about this because I am reading this book here in Australia.

I just re-read the review of Raymie Nightingale by Betsy Bird for the School Library Journal. I have said this before but Betsy is so eloquent. She says everything I think but don't manage to say.

How lucky am I?  My local store Beachside Bookshop very generously gave me an Advanced Reader Copy of Beverly, Right Here the third and final in the series that began with Raymie Nightingale and continued with Louisiana's way Home. Beverly Right here will be available at the end of September.

There will be a three book box set available in December this year just in time for Christmas. If you have a keen reader in your home I highly recommend you add this set to their Christmas stocking. I have added it to my wishlist.

"And I think all three books are about the power of community - the grace of someone opening a door and welcoming you in, and maybe most of all, having the courage to walk through that door once it is open."  Kate DiCamillo (letter to the reader in Beverly, Right Here.)

This is a story about the possibility that life can make you laugh and life can give you friendship. This is a story about tiny bits of trust.  This is a story about a feeling down in your stomach that's a whole lot like the flutter of the wings of a bird that just might begin to stir and maybe even, glory be, rise inside you. A Book and a Hug

The Colour of Home by Mary Hoffman illustrated by Karin Littlewood

Hassan joins a new class. Hassan has come from Somalia. Hassan's new classroom is in England. Everything is difficult, confusing, and very strange:

"In his real home he had lessons out of doors from early in the morning until the sun got too hot at midday. Here he had to stay indoors except in the middle of the day, when he shivered outside in the damp playground."

"... he didn't understand anything that anyone said - only his name and 'hello' and toilet'."

"After lunch, which Hassan didn't eat, because he didn't know what it was, Miss Kelly gave the children big sheets of gritty grey paper ... she gave Hassan paintbrushes and a pot a water and showed him where all the colour were."

Hassan paints the colours of his home. It begins as a beautiful picture of his white house, extended family, farm animals, his precious cat and mimosa trees in the sunshine but then Hassan adds terrible details of guns and violence and death.  His teacher knows Hassan needs to talk about what he has experienced back in Somalia so she arranges for a translator. The next day Hassan explains his painting describing the "noise, the flames, the bullets and the awful smell of burning and blood."

On the first day when his mother and little sister picked him up from school Hassan says he has no painting to take home but on the second day he is able to paint again and this art takes pride of place in their English flat which had looked drab. The new painting is a happy one with bright colours showing his home in Somalia in happy times.  Looking around the room Hassan sees new hope through the colours - the maroon prayer mat, the green cushions, an orange table cloth, a pink dress for his sister and sunshine in the blue sky outside.

Reading this book is a profound emotional experience.  I have read this book over fifty times aloud and I cry every time. In UK schools this book is listed for the youngest students but I save it for our senior class of children aged 11+.  I don't often ask classes to vote for a favourite book but when I did this in the past - The Colour of Home often came out the winner. I was so happy in 2012 to meet Mary Hoffman in London. I told her how much I love to read this book to students in a suburban Australian primary school. Here is a set of questions used by a UK school with a Grade 2 class.

I was reading a book illustrated by Karin Littlewood this week and I remembered she illustrated one of my favourite books to read to our senior students - The Colour of Home. It seems I have not talked about this brilliant book here so today I decided to share this very important and beautifully told story with you.

A picture is worth a thousand words and, in this case, helps a young immigrant Somali boy make the transition into his new culture. Kirkus

Horses in picture books

Illustration by Catherine Rayner. Read an interview here.

I am working with a young reading student at the moment and horse riding is her passion. She is experiencing difficulty with reading but when the text is about horses and competitions her reading greatly improves.  Here are a few of the books we have been reading together. 

You can see some older books here for example Pony Club by Gwenda Turner was published in 1998. Bertie at the Horse Show was published in 1996. Even though both of these books are over twenty years old they are perfect for a young horse lover. Perhaps this is another reason to think carefully before culling a library collection. The topic of horses is a perennial favourite with young children and books on this topic are always needed. For my student I needed books where the text is simple. I was happy to find these four books because they also have the most glorious illustrations. 

I have a Pinterest collection with other titles about riding, care of horses and of course children who love horses. You will also find some excellent titles in this collection by Megan Daley.

Readers will almost feel the wind in their hair and hear the thunder of hooves as they are inspired to pursue their dreams. Beautiful. Kirkus Star review

Read more about the inspiration behind this very beautiful book.

The Lost Stone of Skycity by HM Waugh

Sunaya has a gift. She can sense danger and safety. She can 'read' people. She's had these skills for a long time but only now does she realise not everyone can do these things. Sunaya and her nephew (who is only slightly older than her) have been sent to remote mountain region in the bitter winter. Their people usually travel to this region in the summer but right now Sunaya's father wants to hide his six prized nanny gotals so they are not taken as part of dowry. Notice that word gotals - this one word tells you this story is set in another world.  The winter mountains are home to the Ice People but for Sunaya and Danam the Ice People are perhaps just the stuff of legends or stories told by Great Aunt Mera.

Travelling through this bitter snow covered landscape Sunaya senses danger. Her Uncle, who is travelling with the children, has forged ahead. Suddenly the snow explodes into an avalanche and First Uncle is killed. Sunaya knows there is no point in searching for him and she convinces Danam to continue their journey. The pair take refuge in a small run down hut. Sunaya has had a sense that someone is watching them.  Indeed this is true - it is a group of Ice People including the Princess, who is next in line to the throne, and her brother the Prince Praseep.

The Ice People are seeking a Cloud Dragon.  The Cloud Dragon will be the protector of the Princess Rishala when she takes over from the dying queen. There is a prophecy:

"The Seers foretold that if we walked to the edge of the Dirt, we'd uncover her Cloud Dragon. We walked there and we saw your group. We watched you come down the slope. One adult, two children. One child in pants who read the slopes expertly, and a child in skirts following who knew nothing."

The problem is the Ice People have the wrong person. They think Danam is destined to be the next Cloud Dragon and so they are taking him away to complete a series of extremely dangerous and complex tasks.  In fact it was Sunaya who was wearing pants, Danam just had his cloak tied around him and it looked like a skirt. Sunaya needs to convince the Princess and her group that she should come to the city with Danam. She does not know about the prophecy, she does not really understand her own power but she is desperate to protect her nephew and the herd of gotals. One of the guards travelling with the Princess, a girl called Aji, seems to sense the truth and later she becomes a very important ally. But what about Vilpur who is also in this group - can he be trusted?

These tests, Sunaya learns, can be fatal. Praseep himself had hoped to be the next Cloud Dragon and take the role protecting his sister but he failed one of the five tests and only lived to tell the tale because he does possess powerful gifts. The tests are designed around: Strength, Courage, Resilience, Compassion and Fortitude. Sunaya must save her nephew but to do that she knows she must face these tests - and win!

The lost stone of the title is the reason for the division of this kingdom into "dirt people" and "ice people". Stones are powerful devices used by the Ice People but Sunaya needs to show serious errors were made in the past and "dirt people" are not really the enemy. Stories from the past need to be rewritten.

I loved the depiction of bitter cold in this story. Thank goodness Praseep can make fireballs.  They kept me warm. I try hard not to say negative things on this blog but, while I totally adored this story, I really really do not like the cover. If I had not been given an Advanced Reader Copy by Beachside Bookshop I am fairly sure I would not have picked up this book and that makes me sad. I do tell students "don't judge a book by it's cover" but of course with books (and sometimes people) this is something we all do. I highly recommend this book and I hope you can convince a middle primary reader to explore the amazing lands, palace and tests of the Ice People.

You can read part of Chapter One here. Read about HM (Heather) Waugh on her web site. I hope this book is listed as a notable title for our CBCA awards in 2020 - yes it is that good! Why did HM Waugh include goats (gotals) in her story? Read about this here. This book will be available from 1st October, 2019.

I would follow The Lost Stone of Skycity with Ottilie Colter and the Narroway hunt; Prisoner of Ice and snow and The Halfmen of O by Maurice Gee.