Bigfoot vs Yeti: a love story by James Foley

"The Bigfoot say it started when a Yeti threw a snowball across the rift. The Yetis say it started wen a Bigfoot threw some fruit across the rift."

Think about the word 'rift'. It can mean a large crack in the ground or a serious disagreement that separates individuals. In this book both meanings apply. 

Late one night two younger community members are left to guard the edge of the rift - a Bigfoot named Bevan and a Yeti named Yolanda. Yes, we have a boy and a girl. There is of course no way to cross the rift it is way too wide but "does it really go on forever?" After days of their journey Bevan and Yolanda finally come face to face and instead of fighting they help one another and "and slowly, ever so slowly, the rift began to narrow." Yes, this is a love story and the end does contain a heart-warming twist but for me the interesting part comes before this scene when it is clear there are still some community members Bigfoot and Yeti who "could neither forgive or forget." 

They were sent back "back to the village and the mist and the rift. And they're still there to this day, hurling insults into the wind."

As I was reading Bigfoot vs Yeti by James Foley I thought of these books (see below) which I used to share with my Grade Five students as part of a conflict resolution theme. Notice the title of Bigfoot vs Yeti also says - A love story. The ending reminded me of a favourite book - Clancy the Courageous Cow. 

The Two Giants

The Seed

Bigfoot vs Yeti (trailer)

Blurb: The Bigfoots say it started when a Yeti threw a snowball across the rift. The Yetis say it started when a Bigfoot threw some fruit across the rift. Who could say for sure? One night, a young Bigfoot and Yeti decide to find the end of the rift so they can finish the feud – once and for all. 

“So very clever! The buildup in this story and the unexpected (but perfect) change of colour from black and white to colour … James Foley has given us a story to remember and perhaps learn from too.“

– Dr Belle Alderman AM, Emeritus Professor of Children’s Literature, Director of the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature

This link will take you to different teachers notes for Bigfoot vs Yeti. Readings Melbourne list three reasons to read Bigfoot vs Yeti. Here is the Storylinks review.

This picture book is so clever on many levels. Big, serious themes such as conflict, culture, racism, war, history and social norms are all explored in an accessible and humorous manner but will invite deep discussion. ... The graphic novel elements, used for the most part in the book, will appeal to many readers, and the final page is a surprising, humourous and delightful ... Reading Time

Look for this wonderful book by James Foley:

Stellarphant

A snicker of magic by Natalie Lloyd

"A snicker?"

"That's magic leftover," Jonah explained.  

"Not good for much, not as fancy as it used to be - but enough to make it special."

There are some books, the best books really, that are so beautifully told that you just feel as though you are really there - in that town or school or home.  I have just spent three days in Midnight Gulch, Tennessee with my new friends Felicity Juniper Pickle, her best friend Jonah Pickett, her wise little sister Frannie Jo and all the other wonderful people of this magic town who are connected in ways you just need to discover.  I have also fallen in love with the idea of collecting words.  Felicity sees words hovering over people - real words and invented words but always true words.  This is such a terrific idea and by the end of A snicker of magic I wanted to collect all these words and put them in a jar for myself. This is a bit like the idea behind Donavan's word jar and the magic reminded me of A Tangle of Knots and Savvy.  The other lovely ingredient in this book comes from the town ice cream factory. You will want to eat huge spoonfulls of :

• Andy's snickerdoodle sucker punch
• Day's chocolate orange switcheroo
• Marsh-Mallory Mocha Delight
• Jim's just-vanilla's-all-I- want

But be very careful before you dip into Blackberry Sunrise.  "People buy it by the gallon because it helps them remember.  The problem is that you don't know what kindof memory this ice cream's going to dredge up.... if the blackberries taste sweet, you remember something good. But if you take a bite and the blackberry are sour, well ... "

A gulch is a narrow valley with deep sides.  This makes it perfect for a small community and perhaps for a place where you can feel safe and at home. Midnight Gluch is a town with a long history and with citizens famous for many different types of magic.  Sadly years ago magic seems to have left the town when two famous brothers, Stone and Berry Weatherly, known as the Brothers Threadbare held their famous duel in 1910.  When Stone lost the duel, after three days of frantic music, magic left the town and worse a curse descended.  It is now nearly a century later and Felicity feels she is cursed. Her mum is a wanderer.  The little family of three never stay long in any one town but as our story begins they arrive back in Midnight Gulch - the town of her childhood.

Here are some words from this book :
splendiferous
spindiddly
everlasting
snickerdoodles
clutzerdoodle
spunkter
siffle-miffle
apple fritter
hope
believe

Read this splendid review in the New York Times.  This reviewer loved A snicker of Magic so much she is predicting it will reach the Newbery for 2015.  "Every so often a book comes along where you say to yourself, “I feel privileged to know that I live in a world where books like this exist.” They are books that are forever imprinted upon your heart, a heartprint book if you will."

Apart from the books I mentioned above after you read A snicker of Magic you should look for Waiting for Normal and Pie.   Here is a blog site for the author who actually has a dog called Biscuit. Activities for this book from Scholastic.  Below I have included covers from the Italian and German editions of this book. You can listen to part of the story here. I do hope I have convinced you to read this magical book - I promise you will not be disappointed.

this tale offers all the other earmarks of fine storytelling, including colorful, eccentric characters, an original, 

highly likable narrator and a mighty “spindiddly” plot. 

Picture books for Older students from my Top One Hundred list

As a part of our 'one hundred book project' I have been reading books on the theme of conflict and conflict resolution with Grade Five. We started with War and Peas (Michael Foreman) which is about conflict but equally about wealthy nations and the developing world and our responsibilities to each other. The illustrations by Michael Foreman in War and Peas are especially scrumptious. The land belonging to the Fat King is depicted using cakes, biscuits and huge milk shakes. The final lines are SO important when King Lion from the poor nation suggests they should now live in peace. The fat king replies “Peace … never heard of it. What’s the recipe?”

Our next book was Tusk Tusk by David McKee. I love to read the Elmer books also by David McKee to my Kindergarten students, so it is good to revisit this talented author/illustrator with senior students. The elephants are at war. The issue is colour. The peace-loving elephants flee into the forest and are never seen again. The black and white elephants annihilate each other, and no elephants are left on earth until many, many years later some grey elephants emerge from the forest. Once again in this book it is the ending that is so important. I am sad to tell you the elephants with the small ears are looking at the elephants with the large ears and it seems conflict might once again be on the horizon.

Herbert and Harry (Pamela Allen) go fishing and catch a ‘treasure’ chest. Harry falls overboard and Herbert claims the treasure but with this comes the terrible burden of fear. Someone might try to steal his ‘treasure’ and so Herbert cannot sleep and he takes the ‘treasure’ to the top of a mountain far away and he buries it deep into the hillside and he sets up an enormous fortification to keep the ‘treasure’ safe. The heart of this story once again comes as a conclusion. Harry swam back to shore and has lived a long, happy life with his extended family. Years later Herbert still cannot sleep, ever watchful in case someone comes to steal his ‘treasure’. So who has had treasures in their life – Herbert or Harry?

Next we read The Butter Battle book by Dr Seuss. This is a book you could share with senior High School students but it is also accessible to Upper Primary even though the references to the Cold War are too abstract for them. The issue under conflict here is perfect and really demonstrates how sometimes we disagree over such trivial things. Do you put butter on the top or the bottom of your bread? The two sides in this conflict embark on an arms race to wipe each other out. The weapons and uniforms grow bigger and more outlandish as we turn each page until both sides develop a bomb. Neither can drop this bomb and so we have a stalemate. We also own the video of this story which is filled with lively songs

Other titles we will explore over the next few weeks on this theme include Fox by Margaret Wild, Grumpy little King by Michel Streich, Clancy the Courageous cow by Lachie Hume, The General by Janet Charters illustrated by Michael Foreman, The Conquerors by David McKee and The bear with the sword by Davide Cali.

Fox