Budgie written and illustrated by Steven Woolman

Easy Fiction Treasure

Lou finds a lost budgie in her garden. She brings him inside because he is hurt. Over time Lou and her little budgie become the best of friends but then one day he escapes out the back door. Lou whistles around the neighborhood. She makes a flyer but it seems her little friend is lost forever until one day a lady arrives with a box. Inside there is a budgie but is he really the one Lou lost?

Budgie is a simple story and it is easy to read but it packs a strong emotional punch. It is easy to relate to Lou and to sympathize with her love of this little bird and the tremendous loss she feels when he is gone. I love junior novels that include this extra depth packaged in simple language, a larger font and perfect illustrations.

Budgie is from the Solo series. I was looking for a book to share with some of my reading students. We read a NSW School magazine article about keeping budgerigars as pets. I started our session by sharing my favourite Bob Graham title - Pete and Roland. 

Next week we will take a look at Budgie. Just as I was preparing to use these books with my reading group a wonderful item appeared in our Sydney Morning Herald showcasing the photography of Leila Jeffreys.  When I saw this photo I knew it would be the perfect way to introduce this activity.

Image source: https://tinyurl.com/yy9uprgp  Sydney Morning Herald

Solos are a fabulous series for newly independent readers. I especially love Hot Stuff, Green Fingers and Sticky Stuff.

Steven Woolman was an exceptionally talented Australia illustrator. He sadly died in 2004. The most striking aspect of his illustrations were the variety of styles he used. Here are some of his books:

CBCA Picture book of the Year, 1995 The judges described it as a book of “landmark significance [which] breaks new ground in its unity of text, picture and book design.”

I love to read this book aloud to Grade 4 - it is a book with a powerful story and it uses a very rich vocabulary. The mystery of Caleb's identity will keep your listeners guessing right to the end.

This book is essential reading especially now as we focus on global warming and young activists such as Greta Thuberg.  This illustrations in this book are spectacular. They are based around the idea of pieces of stained glass.