Rainbow Bear by Stephen Michael King

This book is a delight from front to back.  Yes once again I am going to talk about end papers!  In rainbow bear they look like pages from a colouring book and this is perfect for the theme of this story. Also I am so thrilled to see the front end papers are different from the back end papers.

On the first end paper we see a polar bear with a satchel walking down a small hill heading towards the city. Where has he been? Where is he going?  On the half title page Bear stands and watches some young artists standing at their easels. The title page shows a busy city scene.  I searched and searched for bear not thinking to look up! There he was - a passenger in a small yellow plane.

Arriving home Bear presents his wife with a dozen red roses (go back and look at the city scene and you will find the flower seller) and a set of crayons for his two cubs. After a joyous day together Bear settles down to sleep. In the morning he is transformed. A refreshing swim restores him but the next night and the next the same thing happens.  Finally one morning Bear sees some tracks in the snow and he traces the mischief makers.

I haven't met Stephen Michael King and yet he feels like a friend. His books and illustrations always make me smile. I love to read and re-read Where does Thursday go (Janeen Brian), The man who loved boxes, Henry and Amy and Mutt Dog.  Like many other books by Stephen Michael King I really hope this wonderful book is included in the 2019 CBCA Notables and from there makes the short list. Here are some teachers notes from the publisher.

One tiny thing to notice. I absolutely do not have a problem with this, but an astute reader will point out, polar bears and penguins do not live in the same polar regions. Rainbow Bear is an imaginative story that celebrates mischief and love in a family. I'm sure the science facts can be put aside for now. I highly recommend Rainbow Bear for school libraries and as a book to treasure in your own collection.

I would pair this book with Elmer and compare the wonderful design work on the grey elephants and while polar bears.

Image source: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-28202506

Our Big Blue Sofa by Tim Hopgood

One of our favourite things is bouncing on our big blue sofa ...

We're practicing for the Sofa Bouncing World Championships

What a discovery! This is a book with an extra and wonderful dimension - it is tactile. You can actually feel the funky fabric as it says on the cover. There are baby board books with this feature but I have never seen it on a picture book like this one.  Our Big Blue Sofa just has to be the perfect partner for Down the Back of the Chair by Margaret Mahy. I cannot imagine reading one without the other.

Our Big Blue Sofa opens with a list of found items such as a pizza crust, a pink paperclip, a pea, a gold ball, the letter Q from a game of Scrabble, a dead fly, $100 of Monopoly money and a tie - probably dad's.  A the back of the book there is a further list of more things found recently such as a pink sock, mum's car keys (again), dad's reading glasses (again) and dad's case for his reading glasses (again).

The kids love to bounce on the sofa and use it for imaginative play. It becomes a blue submarine, a blue hospital bed, a big blue hot air balloon, a big blue taxicab and a big blue elephant but all this jumping and wild play leads to disaster. What will happen to the sofa? You can see some of the pages here.

Our Big Blue Sofa, Tim's first book, was the 2007 winner of the Cambridgeshire Read it Again Award.  If you are looking for a copy of this book try to find one with the funky fabric. I am not sure if this feature is included with the regular paperback edition. I did enjoy the discovery that blue is Tim's favourite colour and Hopgood also seems such a fun name for a book about bouncing on a sofa.

Here are my thoughts about two other books by Tim Hopgood - Big and Little Answer. Of course you could also compare the art in Our Big Blue Sofa with the superb collage work of Lauren Child.

The patchwork bike by Maxine Beneba Clarke and Van T Rudd

I found learning to ride a bike was very difficult.  I know this was because I am so uncoordinated. Huge thanks to my patient dad who spent hours 'holding on' while I wobbled down a traffic-free and straight wide road near our house. My bike was brand new unlike this bike made from bits and pieces of found materials.  Patchwork seems to be the perfect name.  Riding this bike is such a joy for these children who ride under the stretching-out sky and live near the no-go desert.

• Their bike can shicketty shake over sandhills.
• The wood-cut wheels winketty wonk through fields.
• It can bumpetty bump through the village.

It will be fun to act all this out with our younger children riding our imaginary bikes around the library landscape.  With older children we will have discussions about poverty, recycling, wealth, material possessions, drought and developing nations.

The Patchwork Bike has been short listed for our CBCA 2017 awards.

The illustrations in this book have been painted on cardboard and then photographed.  I know the children will think they can actually feel the corrugated bumps.  I especially like the paint smudges on the end papers - they give a sense of movement, racing those bikes as fast as they can go.

The setting for this book is gently revealed.

• The narrator lives in a village.
• His home has mud walls.
• There is just one tree in the no-go desert.
• His mum looks like this :

It will be a joy this term to read books about bikes and bike riding. We have a good collection and I have this little bike made in Africa and sold at a Oxfam shops.  It is about 10cm long.

You can see more books about bicycles on this Pinterest Collection made by my friend from Kinderbookswitheverything.

If I was reading The Patchwork bike with a senior class or even a High School group we might also explore The Green Bicycle by Haifaa Al Mansour.  With a younger group you might dip into the series about the No. 1 Car spotter by Atinuke and compare the setting.  With all classes we will also look at Galimoto by Karen Lynn Williams along with this video.

You can read more about the author in this article from The Australian newspaper.  Van T Rudd is a street artist - I wonder how he came to illustrate this book?  His web site would be good to explore with a High School class and yes he is related to our former PM Kevin Rudd.

Take a look at these reviews :

Kids Book Review
The Patchwork Bike is a keeper, not only for the sheer joy of story but also for the conversations it will trigger: about life in Africa, the irrepressible joy of children despite their lack of commercial possessions and the satisfaction of recycling.

Children's Books Daley
 the resolution of the printing is so sharp that after multiple readings I still run my fingers over the paint and corrugated card, sure that I’ll feel the texture.


Here are some of the books we will explore alongside The Patchwork Bike.

Snow day by Richard Curtis illustrated by Rebecca Cobb

This book just had to be a winner.  I didn't even need to read it to know that.  Read my review of The Empty Stocking which is another book by this talented team and you will know why I wanted to add Snow Day to our library picture book collection.

Beginning with the end papers you can see lots of snowflakes.  Then on the title page we see Danny looking out of his window at the snow.  A snow day means a day off school for everybody.

"Well ALMOST everyone - because at 8.30 one little boy turned up for school.  His name was Danny. And he was greeted by his teacher.  His name was Mr Trapper."

This is a terrible situation.  Mr Trapper is the strictest teacher in the school and Danny is the "worst" student.  The morning is dreary and dreadful.  Thank goodness for the break.  Danny attempts to make an enormous snowman but he has some problems with the head.  Then something miraculous happens.  Mr Trapper steps over to help. They work together all through the break building large and small snowmen  "And after that they made a whole army of snowmen."  When school resumes the focus of their lessons together completely change. The day is a joyous celebration of learning and companionship.

Now we reach the half way point of this book.  Mr Trapper and Danny head home.  The next day it is school for everyone as usual.  Danny has a terrible day.  He is even given a detention by Mr Trapper.  "At break time, as had happened a hundred times before, Danny sat at one end of the detention room and Mr Trapper sat at the other."  My heart sank when I read these words.

I cannot tell you any more.  Grab this book today!  Even though we don't have snow days in Australia all children are sure to relate to the emotional twists in this fabulous book.

Some other favourite books about snow are Snow by PD Eastman and Snow Day by Ezra Jack Keats.  This book also reminded me of John Patrick Norman McHennessy the boy who was always late.