Huda was Here by H Hayek

Huda is part of a large family but the main focus in this book is on Huda herself and her older brother Akeal. Their father has lost his job as a neighborhood security office and now he has been forced to move across the country to Western Australia to take up a new job, leaving the family behind. Huda is a problem solver and a young girl of action with a capital 'A'!  She is determined, yes determined to get her dad back and better yet to get his job back. Since his job was about security it seems obvious to Huda that she needs to instigate more crime in her area. If the crime rate rises, then her father will get his old job back. She does pledge not to hurt anyone. Her plans are for low level, but annoying crimes, that will surely make the authorities change their mind. Garbage bins are knocked over, graffiti is sprayed, shoes are moved while people are praying in the mosque and then, maybe she does go too far, there is a kidnapping!

"We make crime. we do things, here and there, to make everyone think there are criminals on the loose. ... We just do a couple of small, teeny tiny, harmless things to get people to believe real 'crims' are lurking around. Everyone gets scared. Then voila, they bring Pops back."

There is another intriguing layer to this story that hints at corruption. Why did dad really lose his job? Why does Uncle Ahmed give Huda $100. Is something going on at the corner shop? And does that lady across the road have some thing to hide?

There is also a delicious layer of humour in this story. Huda is mortified when her mother is employed by the school as a teacher's aide working with 'remedial kids' like Huda who actually cannot read very well and who certainly cannot spell as evidenced by her graffiti and the word crimanimals! Huda is also suspicious of their new friend Fadey and she is utterly infuriated when he keeps calling her Pip-Squeak. 

I loved the way H Hayek made me work hard reading this story. The plot is not linear but rather jumps back and forth between events and readers need to stay focused to join up all the puzzle pieces. The opening scene is gripping with Huda and her brother in jail - both refusing to talk to the police. You could easily read the first chapter as a book taster or book talk with your library group. This story certainly is a romp and a page turner, and I loved the voice of Huda.

Huda was Here is a title from the CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) 2024 Younger Readers Notable list.

Here are the CBCA judges comments: A layered and engaging novel that captivates the reader from its intriguing prologue through to its positive, heartwarming conclusion. Centred on Lebanese Australians, Akeal and his younger sister Huda, it is a fast-paced, stand-alone sequel, told from the perspective of Akeal, through clearly labelled dual narratives. Huda’s strong-willed determination respectively combines with Akeal’s sensitive loyalty to deliver wondrous episodes of suspense, humour and misbehaviour, revealing their love for each other and for their family. This novel creatively and simultaneously explores multicultural Australia, family life, corruption, community, hardship and determination in the context of living as part of a minority group. Humour pervades this delightful story, lifting it to deliver a relatable, skilfully crafted, age-appropriate and engaging mystery adventure.

The story is filled with heart and love of family, and will draw young readers in right away. Reading Time

Every reader will be instantly invested and pulled in by the strong connection; with Huda’s tenacity and sympathies with Akeal and what he must tolerate. As each chapter cleverly meanders back and forth in time, we discover how and why Huda and Akeal found themselves in this predicament…. And even more importantly how this will all end! Each twist and turn, keeps the reader completely invested and captivated. Read Plus

We are given an insight into the trials and delights of a family that is living in multi-cultural, contemporary Australia. Themes of courage, family, problem solving, conflict and current financial stress, all come together in an enjoyable and easy to read story of modern times and age-old family unity.

Here is a video review of the two books from this series. 

Huda and me is the sequel to Huda was here but it does completely stand alone. Here is the web page for H Hayek.

Huda and me

The Beak Book by Robin Page

If you thought beaks were just for pecking, think again. Kirkus

This is a very new and scrumptious non fiction book which looks closely at one attribute of birds- their beaks. Are you amazed someone could dedicate a whole book to this topic? I do hope you have discovered the wonderful books by Robin Page and her husband Steve Jenkins. I have included a few covers at the end of this post. This pair are masters of non fiction and they often focus on quirky and interesting aspects of the animal kingdom.

There are many levels to The Beak Book.  

You can read about 21 birds from around the world - Australia, New Zealand, North America, South America, Africa and Asia.

You can explore all the different ways birds use their beaks. Some will surprise you.

And you are sure to enjoy the glorious full colour close up illustrations of strange, wonderful, quirky, clever and elegant birds.

But there is one more level to this book. The word choice is perfect.  Here is a list of the words used to describe the function of each beak:

This beak is for: sniffing, straining, tossing, crushing, cooling, filtering, snapping, stitching, prying, stabbing, ripping, probing, skimming, plucking, sipping, climbing, battling, drilling, scooping, shredding and clutching.

Clutching is the puffin. You probably know I love puffins. "The puffin uses its flexible hinged beak and the sharp spines that line its mouth to clutch several fish at the same time."

Image source: Smithsonian Ocean find your blue

If you were sharing this book with a class you could begin by asking 'Why do birds have beaks?' and then use the answers as a jumping off point into this book. This is a book which I would recommend for every Primary school library collection. 

Here are some other wonderful books by Robin Page and Steve Jenkins:

Take a look at this post by my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything.  The topic of birds and their beaks is explored in one of our CBCA 2021 short listed books this year - Busy Beaks.

My friend also mentioned these books which explore the way birds use their beaks. Take a look at her extensive Pinterest collection of books about birds. A Peek at Beaks will be published later this year and Whose it is? Beaks by Curt Hart will be published before Christmas.

Most school libraries in Australia will have a copies of these two picture books.

Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds - exploring short listed book creators part 2

 

This is my fourth post for the 2021 Book Week celebration. In this post I will focus on the body of work of the Authors and Illustrators who are featured on the Picture Book of the Year short list. Make sure you take advantage of the amazing work of the CBCA which you find on this site. Click on the "Read More' tab for each book to see the CBCA Judges comments; reviews; author/illustrator links and more.

Freya Blackwood The Unwilling Twin

Freya has worked with some of the biggest names in Australian children's literature - Mem Fox; Libby Gleeson, Margaret Wild and the late Jan Ormerod. I especially love her two books which feature the poems of Banjo Patterson. Did you know the US version of Amy and Louis had a different title - Half a World away. Freya has also done three books as author and illustrator. My most favourite book illustrated by Freya is My Two Blankets. This book was featured by two Canadian academics at an IBBY (USBBY) conference in Seattle and I was pleased to include this book when I spoke at the Texas Book Festival. I also love the power of her illustrations in My Two Summers.

Meg McKinlay and Matt Ottley How to make a bird

Meg McKinlay has some terrific picture books many of which are sure to be in most Australian Primary school libraries.  I had a colleague who loved to read 'The truth about Penguins' (not pictured).

In this video Matt talks about How to make a Bird.

Here are my two favourite Matt Ottley titles and below this is a collage of other gems worth finding in a well stocked school library:

Philip Bunting Not Cute

Philip Bunting has over 25 books covering diverse subjects. His work is underpinned with extensive research but presented with a light touch and tons of humour. Here are some of his animal titles which you could compare or read alongside Not Cute.

Here is Philip's newest book due at the end of July.

And here a few more of his books:

Bob Graham Ellie's Dragon

Take a look at my post about Ellie's Dragon. Bob Graham cross references so many of his previous books - Let's get pup; Home in the Rain; Max; A bus called Heaven; Dimity Dumpty; Queenie the Bantam; How to Heal a Broken Wing; Jethro Bird Fairy Child; and The Poesy Ring. Here are some of my own favourite books by Bob Graham. His books have been short listed by the CBCA multiple times and he has won awards with the CBCA eight times. Jethro Bird, Fairy Child won the prestigious Kate Greenaway medal in 2002.

Maggie Hutchings and Felicita Sala Your birthday was the best

I love I saw Pete and Pete saw me by Maggie Hutchings. I expected it to be short listed this year. It did make the Notable list. Maggie is the author of Fairy, Unicorn, Mermaid, and Dragon illustrated by Cheryl Orsini.

Felicita Sala, who lives in Rome, has a very impressive body of work and a number of international awards. Here are a few of her books:

I am keen to see this book series by Ellen Potter illustrated by Felicia. Each book has around 140 pages which is a terrific length for a easy chapter book.

Gabriel Evans Norton and the bear

Western Australian author/illustrator Gabriel Evans has six book including his sequel to Norton and the Bear - Norton and the Borrowing Bear which is due out in September and his new book Little One (by Jane Godwin) will be published at the end of July. By the way several book seller sites list Little One as 320 pages but it is in fact a 32 page picture book!

Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds Book Week 2021 Part One

 Book Week 2021

Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds

Term 3: August 21-27

2021 Poster by Shaun Tan

Image Source CBCA 

In this series of posts I hope to help Teacher-Librarians as they prepare to celebrate Book Week and more.

Slogan or Theme 

Why not explore past slogans? CBCA call their slogans a theme but I prefer the term slogan - I tell students this is meant to be a 'catch phrase' to inspire reading and the exploration of books. I started in my Teacher-Librarian role in 1985 (Book Banquet) but Book Week had already been organised so my first slogan was Key into Books. We filled our library with very old keys on a display which we placed on the piano! The following year the slogan was Sail Away with Books. I was working in two school libraries and we filled the huge notice boards at both schools with waves in shades of blue and small folded paper boat fleets. The whole effect was terrific. 

Slogans I have enjoyed: 2001 a Book Odyssey; Oceans of Stories; Reading Rocks!; Book Safari; Books light up our World and Find your treasure.

Merchandise - every year the CBCA produce posters and other merchandise such as badges and book marks. Here is the NSW CBCA Order Form.

Book Week Short List

Book Week (note the word week not day) consists of many parts. One important part is the exploration of the CBCA Short list titles. There are five categories. Thinking of your students you can select which books to read to each grade. I would explore the Early Childhood titles with K-2; Picture Book of Year with 3-6; and invite class teachers to read one of the Younger Reader titles to their class as a serial read aloud because time in the library is way to short to read a whole novel. It is also important to allow some time to explore the Eve Pownall titles which can often lead to further research.

This is my first of a series of Book Week posts.  In a future post I will explore some short listed titles in more depth and make suggestions for companion reads. I will also explore the way you could include an author or illustrator study in your program.

As a starting point for the short list take a look at this in depth resource produced by the Ipswich Teacher-Librarians. It does include links to some of my posts about short listed titles.

You should also take a look at the amazing resources shared by the CBCA via the short list 2021 page. If you select the 'read more' button you will find the judges comments (100 words), a link to the Reading Time Review, and any teachers notes along with the publisher blurb and in some cases comments by the author and illustrator. This is a splendid resource. 

Display Ideas

Many Teacher-Librarians have begun making Pinterest boards with ideas for displays.

Here are two I found but there are lots of others.

Madison Aussie Book Week

Jane Greg Book Week 2021

Another idea could be to make displays of books linked with the slogan. Take a look at this Pinterest curated by my friend from Kinderbookswitheverything. She takes each phrase from the slogan and expands it with book ideas. Old Worlds (Stone Ages; Ancient Egypt; Ancient Greece; Knights) New Worlds (Robots; Life in Space) Other Worlds (Fantasy).

Coming next

In my next post I plan to share some ideas which allow the children to think creatively, design and make, write and problem solve. I am not a fan of the dress up parade and prefer to make the focus of Book Week (it is a week) on books and reading. I have worked in low and high socio-economic school environments. I watched in despair as kids compete for the 'best' outfit; kids come in Disney costumes from chain stores; kids come as Harry Potter or Wally; and some kids have no home support and so spend a miserable day in their uniform.

Here are a few short-listed picture books from the past which I still love to read to classes: