Knock Knock by Catherine Meatheringham ilustrated by Deb Hudson

 

Knock on some doors around the world.

Who will you meet?

What will you do?

Klopf Klopf I am Lotta in Germany; Tukituki I am Loa from Tonga; Kon Kon I am Yuzuki from Japan, Daqq Daqq I am Karim from Egypt, Toc Toc I am Mateo from Mexico, and Thak Thak I am Sana from India. For your youngest children there is a wild map at the back with each door and 'knock knock' word. The end papers could inspire an art activity. Oh, and when you knock on each door the young child who greets you invites you in to meet their family, share a meal, come to a party, visit their school, or play a game. Teachers should add Knock Knock their list of books to share for Harmony Day. 

With vibrant illustrations and fun knocking sounds, this is a joyous celebration of children, culture and language around the world.

This book gave me a huge smile because it is such a simple and perhaps obvious idea, but I have never seen a book before that explored the simple gesture of knocking on a door and the way this is so different around the world. I do hope the publisher has submitted this for our CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) Early Childhood award (2024). Many years ago the CBCA Book Week slogan was Doorways - this book would have been such a perfect way to explore that idea. 

Here is a web page for Catherine Meatheringham - she lives in Canberra. I previously talked about Milly and the Mulberry Tree illustrated by Deb Hudson. 

Catherine talked to The Canberra Times:

"All of my books have onomatopoeia in them, so I love books with sounds that encourage kids to join in with the stories, especially that early childhood market, so that they are part of the story and engaged," she said.

"This one, in particular, I'm really passionate about kids being exposed to different cultures and different lives, but also we have such a multicultural society in Australia and this is a way to showcase that element as well."

Reading Knock Knock, reminded me of another book - Norman Speak - which looks at the way a young boy needs to translate talking to his dog.

And Catherine Meatheringham and Deb Hudson have made a book about this too:

And I need to read this one:

I also thought of this old favourite - a book about knocking on a door, which I read to hundreds of Kindergarten children over the 33 years I worked in a number of school libraries. It would be a fun companion book and it is one of the best ever books to read aloud - with heaps of funny voices and tons of expression. 

Do Something for Someone Else by Loll Kirby illustrated by Yas Imamura

Do Something for Someone Else: Meet 12 real-life children spreading kindness with simple acts of everyday activism.

"The children in this book teach us that when each of us does something to face a problem we re passionate about we can change the world together."

This book is published by Magic Cat Publishing but here in Australia it is distributed by Walker Books. You can see inside this book here. You can see the author reading an extract from her book here. 

Many years ago I used to focus on children just like those found in this book. Young people who demonstrated amazing empathy, problem solving, determination and compassion. Today this list would also include the wonderful Greta Thunberg. 

I used to talk about:

Ryan Hreljac from USA

Iqbal Masih from Pakistan

Craig Kielburger from Canada

Daniel and William Clarke from Australia

If I was using this book (Do Something for Someone Else) with a class I would focus on one of the children each day over two or three weeks.  In this book we meet twelve children from around the world. Here is a list of their projects:

Sant Jordi from Spain "Preventing loneliness in older people".

Kesz Valdez from Philippines "Protecting children who live on the streets".

Havana Chapman-Edwards from USA "Diversity in children's books".

Winter Vincent from Australia "Providing clean water".

Marie-Astrid Mence from France "Encouraging the next generation of young Black ballet dancers".

Selin Örnek from Turkey "Using robotics to help blind people".

Katie Stagliano from USA "Growing a healthy end to hunger".

Emily White from UK "Supporting and campaigning for disabled people".

Christopher Kleynhans and Reece Slade from South Africa "Raising awareness of mental health issues".

Mohamad Al Jounde from Syria "Education for refugee children".

Elena Meyer from Germany "Inspiring children to engage with music".

Yuqiu Chen from China "Providing medical care for vulnerable people".

This beautifully composed picture book is a source of inspiration for primary aged children and the beginning to a generation of activists. A key literary addition to our schools, libraries, and homes. Reading Time

I mentioned Yas Imamura (Love in the Library) a couple of days ago and so my friend from Kinderbookswitheverything loaned me Do Something for Someone Else.

Are your Stars like my Stars? by Leslie Helakoski illustrated by Heidi Woodward Sheffield

"When you look at the world everyday,

You and me.

Do we see the same things?

Do you see what I see?"

What do these children see? Colours - blue, yellow, brown, green, red, pink, black and white.

"When you stare at the stars,

do you see the same light?

Does it glow in the darkness?

Is your white ... like my white?"

Blurb: "Picture the wonderful colours you see every day and imagine how others experience them. No matter where you live, all children gaze at a blue sky, bask in the warmth of a golden sun, dig in rich brown dirt, and stare at white glowing stars. But do you think all of us, everywhere, share the very same colours of the world? This gentle poetic read-aloud book encourages young children to consider how colour is experienced all over the world."

I love the gentle "message" of this book and the collage illustrations by Heidi Woodward Sheffield are rich and luxurious. I should also mention the origami stars on the end papers are just beautiful.

The best feature of the book is the highly textured,collage-style illustrations, many of which contain soft strokes of color that give the images a pleasantly dreamlike quality. Kirkus

I would pair this book any books in your library about colours along with this book:

Image Source: Book Mama.

Leslie Helakoski is a new discovery of mine. Here are some of her other books: