Gold Rush Girl by Avi

"San Francisco was set amidst steep, scrubby hills the colour of dead straw, with dusty, sandy dunes an little shrubbery. ... (There was a) muddle of low, wretched, lopsided buildings. These pathetic structures came right down to the water as if they had slid off the hills into a great jumblement."

Times are hard for the Blaisdell family who live in Providence Rhode Island so father declares he will travel to San Francisco where gold has been discovered. Even the US President has declared this land is filled with gold. Surely it will be easy to gather enough gold to restore the family's fortunes. The plan is for father with travel with his young son Jacob while Mother and Victoria (Tory) aged fourteen will join them in a few months.  This plan, however, does not suit young Tory who longs to break away from convention and find adventure.  Her life motto from Jane Eyre is:

Your will shall decide your destiny

Tory contrives a plan to stowaway and travel with her father but she has no idea about the dangers she will meet and her first sight of San Francisco is so very different from the town of her imagination. Then father heads off to the goldfields and Tory and Jacob are left to fend for themselves. This place is filled with crime, gambling, drinking and wild men. Tory does find a way to survive, she is such a resourceful and sensible girl, but then one day Jacob disappears.

Gold Rush Girl was published in 2020 but the paperback has only just arrived here in Australia.

In this video Avi reads chapter 6.

Avi describes his book: Victoria Blaisdell longs for independence and adventure, and she yearns to accompany her father as he sails west in search of real gold! But it is 1848, and Tory isn’t even allowed to go to school, much less travel all the way from Rhode Island to California. Determined to take control of her own destiny, Tory stows away on the ship. Though San Francisco is frenzied and full of wild and dangerous men, Tory finds freedom and friendship there. Until one day, when Father is in the gold fields, her younger brother, Jacob, is kidnapped. And so Tory is spurred on a treacherous search for him in Rotten Row, a part of San Francisco Bay crowded with hundreds of abandoned ships.

Middle-grade readers will thrill over this swashbuckling adventure  ... Historical Novel Society

A splendidly exciting and accessible historical adventure. Kirkus

His storytelling is rich and visual and will stimulate your senses. Readers will smell the stench of San Francisco — the rotting boats,  street sewage, drunken and sweaty men, and soaked sailcloth tents. They will feel what it’s like to trudge through thick mud and dense fog. Children's Books Heal

This book would be a terrific class read aloud book especially if you are studying the Gold Rush era or teachers might select one or two scenes to read aloud such as when Tory and her new friends finally find Jacob but Tory is confronted by a wild man with a gun and then the ship catches on fire.(Chapter 40 and 41).  

Here are some other books about the Gold Rush ears with Australian and US settings. You might also be able to find a wonderful book called The Rusty Key Adventures by Gary Hurle (sadly long out of print):

Image from To the Goldfields by Rachel Tonkin (published 1999)

Here are some other books by Avi:

The Button War

The Book without Words

I first discovered US author Avi through is Poppy book series. 

Sophie takes to the sky by Katherine Woodfine illustrated by Briony May Smith

Sophie is a shy child who prefers her own company. She finds many every day things quite frightening and so the family leave her at home when they head off to the Fair. On the poster there are clowns, rides, fireworks and wild animals but most thrilling of all is the huge hot air balloon. Sophie loves the idea of a balloon floating across the sky. 

After the family all head off, Sophie decides she will go, she will be brave. She overcomes some of her fear of dogs and strangers and manages to hitch a ride with a local farmer who is also going to the fair. Once she arrives she finds the hot air balloon which is of course tethered to the ground. She peers inside and then quietly climbs in. At that moment the balloonist arrives and before she can speak, they lift off into the sky. It is thrilling and quiet, after the noisy fair, and simply wonderful. 

Late last year I talked about Sky Chasers by Emma Carroll. My book today is an easier read about a similar time period and the thrill of riding in a hot air balloon.

Sophie takes to the sky is based on the true story of Sophie Blanchard who was born in France in 1778. She was sixteen when she made her first hot air balloon flight. 

"She became famous for her daring night-time flights, for launching fireworks from her balloon and for dangerous adventures like crossing the Alps by balloon."

This book comes from the Little Gems series - click the link below to read about other books in this terrific series which I will say once again should be added to every Primary school library collection. 

Here is another book from the Little Gems series by Katherine Woodfine:

Rose's Dress of Dreams

I do love illustrations by Briony May Smith:

Margaret's Unicorn

Little Goose's Autumn

Overlooked Classics

On Facebook this morning there was a post listing a dozen overlooked classics as selected by an Australian author Allison Tait (not that any of her middle grade selections are actually Australian but there are plans for an Australian list later and I desperately hope will NOT include The Magic Pudding - a book which has not stood the test of time in my view). This overlooked classics list is quite timely as debate rages over changes to popular books by Roald Dahl. I won't add fuel to that debate here. 

I agree with some of Allison's choices and naturally disagree with others so I thought I would do my own list of overlooked classics. I do welcome this discussion because I am often infuriated when people ask to hear about "new" books when there are SO many wonderful books we can share with young readers. 

Just to quote from the Facebook post:

"Classics are an interesting area. Some of them withstand the test of time beautifully, both others just seem tired an old-fashioned."

The list on Facebook does not suggest the usual classics of The Secret Garden; Pippi Longstocking' Charlotte's Web and Anne of Green Gables because, perhaps, everyone knows these? 

Here are a few of my comments about Allison Tait's list:

Noel Streatfeild - I have talked about Ballet Shoes; When the Siren Wailed; Thursday's Child -  am not sure which book is my own favourite.

The Dolls House by Rumer Godden - but my choices would be Miss Happiness and Miss Flower and Holly and Ivy. 

Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman - every book by Karen Cushman could be on this list of overlooked classics. I am so happy that I once had dinner at in IBBY Conference with Karen and I was able to (badly) express how much I adore her books. I love The Midwife's Apprentice; and The Ballad of Lucy Whipple.

Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kastner

Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel - these are terrific but seem like a strange addition when most of the list seems aimed at readers aged 10+

Carries' War by Nina Bawden - there are so many wonderful WWII books to include - Goodnight Mister Tom; When Hitler stole Pink Rabbit; and more recent books such as When the sky falls by Phil Earle and The war that saved my life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.

A little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett - Take a look at my post about the "sequel" by Holly Webb - The Princess and the Suffragette. 

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken - this would be on my list too.

You might begin your exploration of "overlooked classics" by reading a definition:

Books for Keeps What Makes a Children’s Classic?

Thinking about my list I wonder if there is a cut off date? Should I do a list by country - USA, UK, Canada, New Zealand and of course Australia? 

Perhaps this is a task for another day. For now here is my list of thirteen classic titles which I am going to save and add to my own 'to read' or re-read list. I know many of these are also quite obvious choices and I am sure I could easily list more:

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan

Heidi by Johanna Spyri

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis and sequels

The Railway Children by E Nesbitt

Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt and companion books

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin

Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian

Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Poppy by Avi

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende (this blog is named after his book Momo)

The Incredible journey by Shelia Brandford

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Can I add one more? The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge

If you are looking for more ideas I highly recommend this book:

I restricted myself to thirteen books but the more I think about this I would love to add these but perhaps they are too recent to be called classics?

Time Stops for No Mouse by Michael Hoeye and sequels (1999)

Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver (2004)

Junonia by Keven Henkes (2011) I know this might not yet be a classic but I do love it SO much

Frindle by Andrew Clements (1996)

The invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (2007)

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry or The Giver

I could go on and on and on and on ....

Mystery Musicians by Rodney Martin illustrated by Svjetlan Junaković

 

This is a lift the flap guessing game book. It is just so clever. On the first page there are two drums with drum sticks. Lift the flap to answer the riddle:

"I live in the desert and I clump through the sand. I have two humps I can thump in the band. I am a ..."

Yes you are right - a camel.

Here is another:

"I live among rocks and I like the high land, I have two horns I can blow in the band. I am a ..."

Mountain Goat

A flute turns into an octopus; a grand piano is a huge bear; the clarinet is an elephant and the French horn is a chameleon lizard.

This is another wonderful but sadly long out of print book. Perhaps I should start a new blog where I just focus on out of print books. I do worry that I keep sharing books here on my blog that you may not be able to find.

The format of this book is the first thing I noticed. It is long and tall. Mystery Musicians was first published in Zurich in 1999. My copy comes from Era in South Australia and was published in 2001. 

Svjetlan Junaković comes from Croatia. For his lasting contribution as a children's illustrator, Junaković was a finalist for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in both 2008 and 2010. You can see more of his work here. 

Here is another book from the same series:

I am going to keep my eye out for another series illustrated by Svjetlan called Animagicals published in 2001. 

Apples for Little Fox by Ekaterina Trukhan

Adult readers have read this plot of this story many times but for a young reader this will be a new story. Fox loves reading and he especially loves mystery stories. He also loves apples and libraries and his perfect day involves collecting a few apples from the trees in his forest on his way to the library! Life is good but Fox would love some action. Then we turn the page and as readers we can see the action is already underway but of course Fox does not know this. A group of masked animals are collecting all of the apples. When Fox sets off to the library the next day all of the apples are missing. 

"A mystery for me to solve! At last!"

As he continues his journey, Fox meets each of his friends and he tries to ask them about the missing apples but everyone is too busy to talk. Finally he reaches Rabbits home where he smells something delicious. Have you guessed what it is?  Spoiler alert - Rabbit has baked a delicious apple pie because everyone is gathering to give Fox a very special surprise Birthday Party! The final words of this book gave me a warm smile:

"In the middle of the party, Fox saw that the whole apple pie had disappeared. But he didn't need to investigate that mystery."

I do have a Pinterest collection of picture books with apples. Here are some other books about surprise birthday parties"

Once again I am so sorry to say this book is out of print even though it was only published in 2017. The cover caught my attention - I like the bold, graphic design and I had not heard of this illustrator. She is originally from Russia but now lives in Montenegro (well she did in 2019).

Here are some other books by Ekaterina Trukhan:

Here is her website. And here is a 2019 interview where she talks about her work. And here is another interview where you can see more of her illustrations. 

Wolfred by Nick Bland

 

This book puzzles me. A friend told me this week the Teacher-Librarian at her grandson's school offered this book as something truly special to young students in Grade One. Her grandson "won" this book and he was thrilled but really is this book for children as young as six? I know books should extend the reader's experiences but I am not sure many children would have encountered a bell boy in the lift of a very fancy hotel - do such things still exist?

Reading Time ended their review with the words: Recommended for lower primary ages.

Wolfred is given a job as a lift attendant. He is not allowed to speak or interact with the celebrity guests. His only outlet comes from writing stories each day about his observations. He posts these, via paper planes, to people in a nearby apartment building. Is this a reference to tabloid news or gossip columns? Eventually the boss, who is a real pig, discovers the stories and Wolfred is fired. On the same night the boss is pignapped and it is Wolfred who saves the day because he recognises the thieves are wearing a disguise. They are crocodiles dressed as sheep!

Wolfred is one of those books with lots of references to other books (Intertextuality). To understand the references in this book readers need to know about:

The trope of wolves in literature

How are wolves portrayed in stories? Wolves in folktales like Little Red Riding Hood, Peter and the Wolf, and The Boy Who Cried Wolf are portrayed as cruel and cunning. Phrases like “a wolf in sheep's clothing,” “throw them to the wolves,” and “cry wolf” all paint a picture of wolves as malicious creatures.

King Kong

Wolf in sheep's clothing (in this case though the baddies are crocodiles) - a reference to Red Riding Hood - their teeth and their tails were too long. And of course WolfRed - he is wearing a red suit

Little Bo Peep

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Readers also need to understand puns such as "Fancy Pants Tower"; "the boss was a pig"; and "never say boo to a ghost". The title is a play on words too.

There are visual jokes too - the lion is wearing an ermine cloak and a crown; the Fancy Pants Tower has a neon light shaped like fancy pants - is this a reference to the Trump Tower? The tortoises have lightning blot images on their caps (a reference to the hare and the tortoise by Aesop); the lift goes as high as the moon (bear in an astronaut suit) and down under the ocean.  There is an image which references Chinese New Year and the hint that a dragon set a tree outside the lift on fire. 

There is an tone to this story about the rich and poor divide and about privilege and the class system in society. You also need to notice all the pot plants that Wolfred has been cultivating. Here are some STEM ideas based on Wolfred. I recently talked about another book by Nick Bland - Walk of the Whales.

Nick Bland has another book about abuse of power and reforming of a character:

King Pig

If you use Wolfred with a group of older students - Grade 4 and up you could then look at this book:

If you want to look at another book set in a lift try to find this one which would be a better choice for a Grade One or Kindergarten reader:

We're Stuck

Meet the illustrator Květa Pacovská 1928-2023

 “A picture book is the first art gallery a child visits.”

Květa Pacovská

“The placing of colours one over the other. It depends on the relation, proportion, rhythm, size, amount and how we place colours together. It is like music. Each individual tone is beautiful by itself and in certain groupings we create new dimensions, harmony, disharmony. Symphonies, operas. And books for children.”

Books illustrated by Květa Pacovská really appeal to me - they are so very different from picture books we see in Australia. I had a few of her books in my former library including the intriguing Little Match Girl but sadly the staff member who replaced me disposed of every one of her books - this made me very sad. 

Here is the IBBY post about Květa This image is one we all associate with IBBY and it was created by Květa Pacovská.

Květa Pacovská born in 1928 in Prague, Květa Pacovská graduated from the Prague School of Applied Arts, where she studied Czech modernism and was introduced to the European avant-garde. Her work merges the aesthetic traditions of children’s book illustrators with influences from modern artists, such as Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Joan Miró. She draws, paints, and creates collages in which she experiments with the links between image and text. In addition to illustrating nearly sixty books, Ms. Pacovská has held numerous one-women shows and regularly takes part in international art exhibitions. Fittingly, she received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for children’s book illustration in 1992.

Here is a Pinterest collection with over 300 images by Květa Pacovská.

Cinderella

Hansel and Gretel

The Little Match Girl

Here is a page from The Little Match Girl

Here is a list of some books in English by Květa:

• One, Five, Many (1990) 
• Midnight Play (1994) 
• Flying (1995) 
• The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen (2005) 
• Unfold/Enfold (2005) 
• The Little Flower King (2007) 
• The Sun Is Yellow (2012) 
• Number Circus 1-10 and back Again (2012)

Awards

• 2008 Golden Ribbon Award, Czech section of IBBY
• 2008 Le Prix du plus beau livre Francois 2008 for a book《A l’infini》, Paris, France))
• 2006~7 The Golden Illustrator, APIC, Barcelona, Catalunya
• 2001 The Sankei Children’s Books Culture Award, Paper City, Tokyo, Japan
• 2000 Grand Prix, Mobius international des Multimedias Competition for CD-ROM Alphabet, Paris, France
• 1998 Bologna Ragazzi Special Award
• 1997 Johanes Gutenberg Prize, Leipzig, Germany
• 1993 Graphic Prize Fiera di Bologna for Children
• 1992 The Hans Christian Andersen medal
• 1991 The Most Beautiful Books, Vienna, Austria
• 1965 BIB Grand Prix

Her book form is beyond the limit of a fixed book and print production. It suggests a new possibility of the book as an object which is three-dimensional and stimulates the senses. These books induce the instinct for play by using interesting materials such as Aluminium and tracing paper. These experimental books give children lots of possibilities to develop their imaginations and encourage their own creativity.

Take a look at Fishink to see more of her work.