Zanzibar by Catharina Valckx translated by Antony Shugaar

Zanzibar has has a happy life until now.  His special skill is making delicious mushroom omelettes but one day everything in his world is thrown into confusion when a reporter arrives looking for a story. I love the name of the reporter (he is a lizard) - Achille LeBlab. You might think about the Greek story of Achilles and the idea of vulnerability. There is also the fun LeBlab - perfect surname for a newspaper reporter.

"I'm writing a feature for my newspaper. I'm looking for exceptional characters. Do you do anything out of the ordinary?"

Zanzibar sings for the reporter but it just sounds like a crow going CAW CAW CAW which makes sense because Zanzibar is a crow.  The reporter does not think this singing is worthy of his report nor is he interested in omelettes. Zanzibar goes to bed that night feeling defeated but in the middle of the night inspiration strikes.

"I haven't done anything remarkable yet, but it's never too late! I'm going to lift a camel! That's it! I'll lift a camel in the air with just one wing."

Zanzibar was originally published in French with the title L'incroyable Zanzibar. I love the way Gecko press source and translate books like this so we can enjoy them here in Australia. Catharina Valckx has been nominated several times for the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Award.

I recommend you add Zanzibar to your read aloud pile.  Here are some comments by the reviewer at Readings in Melbourne:

This quirky little gem of a book, with its delightful language, humour and simple childlike illustrations, is guaranteed to engage young readers. Accompanied by a wonderful cast of animal characters, Zanzibar discovers what it means to be extraordinary while learning to value the simple everyday things. At its core, this charming tale is also a celebration of the importance, support and encouragement of friends.

You can read more plot details in this Kirkus review.

Too Small to Fail by Morris Gleitzman

Oliver wants a dog. The perfect little dog is in his local pet shop. Oliver doesn't need to tell us - it is clear his mum and dad will not allow him to have a dog. Oliver visits the pet shop every day and sadly now the pet shop owner has banned him from entering the shop. As Oliver sits looking in the window trying to explain to the little dog why he cannot buy him a lady arrives. She enters the shop and, to Oliver's consternation, she buys "his" dog. Adding to this crazy scene she then dumps the dog into his arms and tells him to follow her down into the car park. Who is this crazy woman? How does she know Oliver's name? Where is she taking him?

Oliver is a rich kid with a sad life. His mum and dad own a bank. The woman who bought Oliver's dog (he names him Barclay after the bank his mum and dad like) is owed thousands of dollars by Oliver's parents. They are refusing to pay so Nancy has taken matters into her own hands.

All of this action takes place in the first two chapters of Too Small to Fail. If you keep reading (please keep reading this terrific book) you will also encounter an amazing camel, a tough young girl who has every reason to be sad and an ambitious young man who works for the bank. Barclay will be held for a ransom, Oliver will be kidnapped and some new and surprising friends will be made.

You can click the three review quotes below for more plot details.

It seems timely to read this book by Morris Gleitzman. In Australia we have just had a Royal Commission into banking practices. Too Small to Fail is set around the time of the Global Financial crisis in 2008. Mr and Mrs Newton (mum and dad) are motivated by greed and use fraudulent practices to make their money. Oliver has no idea about all of this but the dishonesty of his parents slowly becomes apparent and we watch him make sense of the adult corporate world.

Morris Gleitzman is also our Australian Children's Laureate for 2019-2020 and I recently read Melody Trumpet by Gabrielle Tozer and the parents in this story reminded me of the awful and misdirected parents in Too Small to Fail.

I saw Too Small to Fail at a charity book sale. I have been keen to re-read this book for some time. I have often referred to it here on this blog. This is one of the many books by Morris Gleitzman and it is one that I really enjoyed but perhaps it is not as well known as his more recent titles.

Here is an excellent set of teaching notes for Too Small to Fail. I do think it would be the perfect book to share with a Grade 5 class.

You can hear Morris reading the first chapter of his book here. The covers above are from UK and Australia.

Somehow, Gleitzman managed to create a believable voice narrating a funny, sweet, yet somehow serious story.  It was addictive, humorous and I stayed up late especially to finish it. Book Addicted Girl

Too Small to Fail is funny and sad simultaneously, which all Morris Gleitzman stories are. The child's point of view is taken seriously and given value, as it is in all Morris Gleitzman stories. There's a serious message at its heart, as there is in all Morris Gleitzman stories. The Bookbag

I love how Morris Gleitzman consistently manages to combine really intelligent and advanced themes with an intensely childlike sense of fun.  Kids Book Review

I would follow Too Small to Fail with What do you think Feezal, How to Steal a Dog, Melody Trumpet, and One Dog and his Boy.

Little Humpty by Margaret Wild illustrated by Ann James

In the hot, hot desert where the wind whirled and the sand swirled lived Big Humpty and Little Humpty.

Here is another title I have collected as a part of my focus on past CBCA winners and short listed titles. Little Humpty was awarded an Honour prize in 2004 and I have been reading it to Kindergarten groups every year since then.

Little Humpty stares straight at the reader from the front cover - he looks happy and ready for an adventure. On the first end paper we see him with his mother. Little Humpty is white - his hair/fur colour will change as he grows older just as human children's hair changes.

image source: https://umanitoba.ca/cm/vol11/no11/littlehumpty.html

Little Humpty is with his mum but it is easy to see that they are alone in the vast desert. Little Humpty needs someone to play with. His mum tries to keep him amused but Little Humpty has boundless energy. Big Humpty sees Little Humpty trying to play with rock, a scraggy bush and a small pebble. She knows it is time for the camels to trek to the big waterhole.

As they walk along Big Humpty keeps Little Humpty moving forward by playing a guessing game about the animals they will see at the big waterhole such as rolypoly hippos, tramping and trumpeting elephants and crocodiles going snip, snap, snippety snap.  The final end paper is an utterly joyous scene.

I adore the language used by Margaret Wild in this book. Each word is perfectly selected making this book a joy to read aloud and as I like to give each camel their own distinctive 'voice'. Turn the sound off on this video and just take a look at all the illustrations from this book.

"You know, Little Humpty, I love you best in all the world!' With a happy wriggle, Little Humpty said 'Tell me about the world, Big Humpty. Tell me!"

"Little Humpty played on his own for a while. He whooshed on his bottom down a billowy, pillowy dune."

"Big Humpty was awake until the stars went out."

Kindergarten children enjoy stories which employ a repeated refrain and this book abounds with them.  I would pair Little Humpty with Koala Lou by Mem Fox, Puffling by Margaret Wild and Owl Babies by Martin Waddell. Little Humpty truly is a book to treasure and it should be found in every library and home book collection.

Mysterious traveller by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham illustrated by P.J. Lynch

Twice each term the wonderful NSW School Magazine arrives in my library. There are four different editions and I always turn the pages to read the Bookshelf pages first.

This month one featured book is Mysterious Traveller.  I think the mark of a great story comes from a very satisfying ending and you will certainly find one in this book.

Issa earns his meager living working as a desert guide.  He awakes one morning and sees signs that all is not well.  "On this particular morning, however, the bottom edge of the sun was not as bright as usual.  Blurry. Veiled.  Issa squinted at it, then took a deep breath of the cold desert wind, testing it smell with his nose... he turned to go back to his house.  It was time for his prayers.  Then he stopped.  A flash of bright colour had tickled his eye.  A scrap of cloth fluttering from the thorn fence of his goat-pen... the pattern told him this. The ribbon had travelled a long way. And it was not the kind of thing that anyone would lose or throw away."

Issa heads out into the desert with his old donkey and half buried under the sands near a cliff he finds a camel.  While he tries to coax the camel back up onto its feet he hears a tiny cry.  A young child lies in a woven basket protected by the camel.  "This child, this baby, had huge black pearls for eyes.  Her body was wrapped in finest, softest cotton.  Something made from gold hung from a cord around her neck. something the shape of half a star. There were letters hammered into the gold, but Issa could not make sense of them."

I hope you can tell from these two quotes that not a word is wasted in this exquisite book.  Issa takes the baby girl , whom he names Mariama, and cares for her as though she were his own grandchild.  As his eyesight begins to fade, Mariama becomes his eyes.  All is well until one day when three strangers arrive at his door.  One of the men is clearly the leader or important one "and if Issa had been able to see, he might have recognized the pattern in the embroidery that trimmed his robes."

After reading this book you should also look for Cloud Tea Monkeys also by Mal Peet.

Peet and Graham have crafted an elegant story filled with gorgeous descriptions of the desert world and its storms.

The last straw by Fredrick H Thury illustrated by Vlasta van Kampen

Based on the idea of the straw that broke the camels back The Last Straw is the Christmas story told from the point of view of a camel who is asked to carry the gifts of the wise men.

Hoshmakaka is an old camel and his body is suffering all the aches and pains of old age but he is also an arrogant and boastful camel. He has a huge ego and so even though he is asked to carry enormous quantities of gifts for the baby king he does not give in although he does grumble under his breath the whole way.

"Why me? If these men are so wise, don't they know about my joints? My gout? My sciatica? What did you say I am to carry?  How much will it weigh? Besides I have other commitments.  There is a water-drinking competition in Rangal. Then I really must go to the cud-chewing convention in Beemish."  In spite of these objections Hoshmakaka agrees to  do as the voices have commanded.  He makes the boast that he is as strong as ten horses.  The young camels who walk beside Hoshmakaka on this journey to deliver rich gifts to the baby king use this boast to keep him walking.

Along the way more gifts are added including milk from some mountain goats, bags of ground corn, fine silks, two rare birds, pillars of oak, sweetmeats and pastries, jars of honey, jewels, beads, rolls of leather and twenty gallons of wine.  Finally one small boy brings a tiny gift for the baby - a piece of straw for his bed.

"And with that, Hoshmakaka fell to his knees... Then from the humble manger, a tiny hand reached out and touched Hosmakaka."

This is another one of those old Christmas books. It was published in 1998 but you might be lucky and find it in a library.  The illustrations and story remind me of books like The greatest treasure of Charlemagne the King by Nadia Wheatley and The Quilt makers gift by Jeff Brumbeau.  Here is a page of teaching ideas.

Lost Riders by Elizabeth Laird

When you step into a new book it is like holding the hand of the author. You have to trust that he or she will protect you from harm. Right from the first page I knew Lost Riders by Elizabeth Laird would be a harrowing journey and it was but thankfully Elizabeth Laird is a master storyteller with huge compassion. There were times when I almost stopped reading this book but now I am glad I persisted. Do not expect a trivial happy ending but our hero and his brother will at least be returned to their home and family. This is a powerful, emotional and important book suitable for a very mature Primary reader.

Rashid lives in Pakistan with his mother, baby sister and younger brother. Their father is dead and they are living in extreme poverty although as a young boy of eight Rashid has not yet realised the extent of his mother’s struggles.

One day a young Uncle arrives with an offer to take the boys to Dubai where they will have the best of everything “Clothes, toys, good education … rich Arabs bring little friends for them (their children) into their families. Treat them like their own. Give them bicycles and toy cars and all the food they can eat. They pay very well for them too.” This magical picture of life in Dubai is so far from the truth. The utterly horrible place where the boys are taken by people smugglers and the brutality of working as a camel jockey is, as I said, almost too awful to read but Rashid is a boy with a deep intelligence. He learns quickly which is partly how he survives but he also has an emotional intelligence well beyond his tender years.

I did not know anything about camel racing. Thankfully this practice is now banned. All of our reading is an experience and so although it was a difficult one I am glad Elizabeth Laird gave me the experience of meeting Rashid and other children like him.  I am really looking forward to hearing more from Elizabeth Laird at the IBBY Congress in London this year.

If you read this book you should also look for Ibqal by Francesco D’Adamo in our school library which is about a boy who is forced to work in a carpet factory.