How to be Prime Minister and Survive Grade Five by Carla Fitzgerald

My friends fall into two groups - those who care deeply about politics and seem to know so much about every controversy and those, like me, who only have a cursory interest perhaps focusing on a small range of issues such as Education, Environment, Health and Aged Care. I am sure many Primary aged readers are curious about the political process and perhaps they even wonder what life might be like if your father was PM.

Let's look closely at the cover of this book - I spy Julia Gillard (first female PM of Australia) and John Howard (25th PM of Australia). But who are these other people?  The PM in this book is obviously based on our last PM -  Scott Morrison but his photo is not on the cover. Morrison has two daughters; they did live in Kirribilli House; the girls attend a private school (but it was nowhere near Kirribilli House); and our Scott did run away to Hawaii. Some might say he was also an accidental PM.  

I should also mention there are beautiful jacaranda trees growing in the area around Kirribilli House so the issue is a real one. I think the cover designer is also referencing the PM portraits in Parliament House in Canberra. You could explore this with your class. 

Here is an interview with the author and Joy Lawn on her blog Paperbark Words. Here is a video review with Oliver P. 

Publisher blurb (University of Queensland Press): Imagine your dad gets the top job but isn’t exactly up to it. Then he sneaks off on holiday, leaving the country without a leader. What would you do? When Harper’s dad becomes the prime minister he’s terrible at it. He was thrust into the top job after a heroic boogie-board rescue of two kids (and a labradoodle) from a shark attack, but surviving government is proving hard.  Their family is a laughing stock, and Dad disappears to a ‘conference’ – but he leaves his phone behind. With her little sister, Lottie, Harper must secretly take his place and decide on a new policy by the end of the week. She finds herself torn between ideas – should she ban plastic bottles? Or make weekends longer? Can she prove a kid can lead the country better than a grown-up?

Here are a set of very comprehensive teachers notes for this book. The text messages in this book add a terrific touch of humour. 

Grade 6 in my former school studied government in Term 2 prior to their excursion to Canberra.  For this topic I used these books in my school library and we focused on former Prime Ministers researching quirky life details and achievements.

When I did this unit of work the following was true:

• 10 Prime Ministers were defeated at a general election: Deakin, Fisher, Cook, Bruce, Scullin, Chifley, McMahon, Fraser, Keating, Howard. 
• There have been 20 changes of Prime Minister without an election. 
• Reasons include: Vice-regal intervention: Whitlam; Voluntary departure: Barton, Fisher, Page, Forde, McEwen, Menzies ; Party-room coups: Hughes, Menzies, Gorton, Hawke; Death: Lyons, Curtin, Holt; Defeat in Parliament: Deakin (2), Watson, Reid, Fisher, Fadden 
• There have been 7 Prime Ministers who never won an election: Watson, Reid, Page, Fadden, Forde, McEwen, McMahon. 
• There have been 10 Opposition Leaders who contested elections but never became Prime Minister: Tudor, Charlton, Evatt, Calwell, Snedden, Hayden, Peacock, Hewson, Beazley & Latham. 

Today I found these two books from the UK which might appeal to readers who enjoy How to be Prime Minister and survive Grade Five:

This one looks good too:

If you want to take the themes of this book and give them a more serious focus I highly recommend this fantastic book about children and activism:

Do Something for Someone Else

Finally try to find a really old book - Battle for the Galah Trees by Christobel Mattingley to compare with this book. Thanks to UQP for sending an advance copy of How to be Prime Minister and Survive Grade Five.

Smooch and Rose by Samantha Wheeler

I have said this many times before but I really do not like covers like this one we see here for Smooch and Rose.  The little strawberries are important as is the koala but I there is no reason to have a photo of little girl lying on the grass. I wonder if a cover like this will appeal to the target audience.

Rose has lost both her parents and now lives with her elderly gran on a strawberry farm.  Times are becoming tough and suburbia is encroaching on her rural environment.  One evening they find a koala that has been attacked by a pack of dogs.  Sadly the koala dies after they take her to the vet but he tells Rose that there must be a baby.  "There was milk in the pouch.  I think she might have had a baby riding on her back when the dogs attacked her.  ... A baby won't stand a chance out there on its own,' said Craig. 'If you do find it, wrap it up warmly and bring it straight back in."

They do find the baby koala and Rose learns about the work of wildlife carers.  Meanwhile Gran has been forced to sell the farm.  The koala habitat and unique gum trees are threatened.  Rose must find her political voice.  She learns about activism, petitions and overcomes enormous shyness to present a moving a persuasive speech to the council which ultimately changes the development plans and the koala colony is saved.

Here is a review with some good web links.  Here is the author site with a sample chapter.  This is a fairly simple book but it has a good heart as does Rose who you are sure to be cheering for right to the end.

The Book Uncle and me by Uma Krishnaswami

So much about this book intrigues me.  I have questions but my copy of the book cannot answer them.

The Book Uncle and me was the 2011 winner of the Scholastic Asian Book Award (SABA). I have not heard of this award.  Is it open to any book published in Asia? Or only titles from Scholastic?  What is the criteria for this award?  An Asian author, Asian setting, a book in an Asian language?

An internet search reveals SABA is a joint initiative by Scholastic and the National Book Development Council of Singapore, the award is an attempt to recognise and celebrate children’s writers of Asian origin and books that reflect Asian experiences.

Most intriguing of all though, for me, is who did the illustrations for this book - I love them and was this book originally written in English or another language?  The imprint page lists Scholastic as the copyright holder of the illustrations. This does not help me.

Book Uncle is not Yasmin's uncle - Uncle is a title used by the community as a form of respect to an older person.  The Book Uncle is, however, a book person.  In his retirement from teaching he has set up a barrow lending library in a busy Indian city. He happily lends books to anyone for free - the perfect library!  He is also happy to recommend books.  Yasmin herself is the perfect customer.  She has set herself a target of reading "one book every day, forever. I started last year right after I turned eight, which ready feels like a billions years ago, because now I am past four hundred.  Books, I mean."

This book is about activism.  The city planners are now requesting a huge licence fee from the Book Uncle.  He cannot pay this and thus packs up his library and heads home.  Yasmin is devastated.  Then she finds an effective way have this unjust requirement reversed.  In schools we often look for books that show democracy in action and Book Uncle and me is perfect for this purpose.  I really enjoyed Book Uncle and me - it is quick to read, and celebrates a strong sense of community.

If you enjoy this book you might also look for The Battle of the Galah Trees by Christobel Mattingley or My name is Will Thompson by Robert Newton.