If I had a Unicorn by Gabby Dawnay illustrated by Alex Barrow

Children will enjoy the experience of reading this book again and again, 

noticing something new each time. Kirkus

Publisher blurb: Have you ever imagined what it would be like to have a unicorn for a pet? Besides being much less angry than a troll and far more conveniently sized than a giant, unicorns only ever eat ice-cream for breakfast AND… every time you get upset they feed you candyfloss! In this humorous, energetically rhyming tale, a little girl experiences exactly what life would be like with a magical creature for a pet – from sprinkling stardust on grumpy parents to sliding into football practice on a rainbow. This book celebrates the magic of unicorns in a way that will appeal to children who are allergic to pink.

At the start of Children's Book Week here in Australia I walked along the road to our local Street Library and I found some picture book treasures. Someone must have cleared out their bookshelves over the weekend - winner winner!

One of the books I picked up was If I had a Unicorn published by Thames and Hudson and it is in almost mint condition. 

Why do I like and recommend this book?

• The end papers are based on the famous Unicorn Tapestries. 
• The seven individual hangings known as "The Unicorn Tapestries," are among the most beautiful and complex works of art from the late Middle Ages that survive. Luxuriously woven in fine wool and silk with silver and gilded threads, the tapestries vividly depict scenes associated with a hunt for the elusive, magical unicorn.
• This image is also referenced later in the story.
• The opening pages of this book are written as a rebus - what a fabulous way to begin this story.

• This book links perfectly with the CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) slogan 'Book an Adventure':  "My unicorn would check his hooves - we'd travel far and wide ... Each day a new adventure. Just imagine - what a ride!"
• I love that this is a unicorn book that can be enjoyed by boys and girls. So many unicorn books are very pink and have more appeal to girl readers. 
• Very young children will enjoy calling out the 'forbidden' word when that pile of rainbow *** appears.

Here is the website for Alex Barrow. 

Gabby Dawnay has several other books in this series. I also need to find her book The Library Book illustrated by Ian Morris and her series about the seasons called A Field Guide (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter):

The Great Stink by Colleen Paeff illustrated by Nancy Carpenter

I have decided I am not very good at asking questions. I need to be way more curious. I have been to London several times but it never occurred to me to ask about or research the word embankment. More about that in a moment.

This book begins in 1500. In London at this time sewers carry rainwater to rivers so the city won't flood. Poop or poo and pee go into deep holes called cesspools. When these become full it is time to hire nightsoil men who sell the poo (poop) to farmers as a fertilizer. Jump forward to 1819 and people are installing flush toilets. Some people connect their toilets directly to the sewer and so pee and poo now end up in the river!

The first epidemic of cholera hits London in 1832 and 6,563 people die. Problem is no one makes the connection between this catastrophe and the sewerage going into the river. The government believe the cause is in the air in pockets called miasmas. Oh no - now they order people to send their waste straight into the Thames. AND people are drinking this water too. Another cholera outbreak and 14,137 people are dead. 

Meanwhile a young man called Joseph Bazalgette takes on the job of mapping the sewers of London.

"The sewers are a disorganized, haphazard, higgledy-piggledy mess."

Finally, the authorities call for help - they need a civil engineer. Joseph is the chief engineer. He designs a system of gigantic sewer pipes which will move the sewerage out to the ocean. The debate continues into 1856. This scheme will be very expensive - too expensive. By 1858 the city is almost unlivable. The hot sun of summer adds to the stench - it is now the Great Stink! Finally, the parliament give approval for the building of the huge pipes.

"It is almost impossible for Joseph to find open space where he can build new sewer pipes without causing roadblocks, traffic and major headaches for Londoners. So in some areas he creates man-made riverbanks called embankments."

The final pages of this splendid book talk about the situation in our world today with the disposal of sewerage and also list alternate schemes. There is also a detailed timeline, further reading list and bibliography. 

Read a very detailed interview with Seven Impossible Things featuring Colleen Paeff and Nancy Carpenter. Colleen Paeff has other links on her web page. Here is a set of detailed teachers notes with science experiments. In this blog post Mr Schu talks to Colleen Paeff. 

This informative exploration of London’s sanitation history will delight nonfiction fans interested in history, ecology, biography, and more. Kirkus Star review

Back to embankments. You can read more here and here The story of London's embankment. 

As a part of their science or geography topic our Grade four students used to investigate waste disposal systems. I am not sure if this is still the case but I used to read quite a few books (some were very funny) about poo.

Here are a couple of videos you could use with a primary class:

Where does the water go? - Sewerage treatment Melbourne

How Do Sewer Systems Work?

A brief history of toilets TED (High School level)

Awards for The Great Stink:

• 2022 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book, Association for Library Services to Children
• 2022 Golden Kite Award for Nonfiction Text for Young Readers, SCBWI
• 2022 Cook Prize Honor Book, Bank Street College of Education
• 2022 Notable Book, American Library Association
• 2022 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People, Children’s Book Council
• 2022 Texas Topaz Nonfiction Gem, Texas Library Association
• 2022 Best STEM Books K-12, National Science Teaching Association
• 2021 Best Informational Books for Younger Readers, Chicago Public Library
• Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Squiggle, Diddle, Plop! by Guundie Kuching

Tuesday Treasure

Poo or poop is popular topic with our younger readers. Squiggle, Diddle, Plop is perfect in so many ways. It is funny. It will spark curiosity (do wombats really have cube shaped poo?), the illustrations are a delight and one more thing - this book celebrates dung beetles.

Echidna produces a small brown poo. He shows platypus.

"Oh!' laughed Platypus.
'You've done a SQUIGGLE. 
I'll do one, too!"

And so the pattern is established. We meet Tiger Snake, Flying Fox, Frilled Lizard, Kookburra and Wombat. Their deposits are described as a quibble, a diddle, a plop, a swish, a twirly and a fuddy-duddy. The best page, though, is right near the end. Everyone has produced a poo but now what will they do? Echidna suggests they make a cake. Now the dung beetles can move in and do what they do best.

There are sure to be some other books illustrated by Guundie Kuchling in Australian school libraries. Guundie was born in Austria but now lives in Western Australia.

I have another post about poo.  Here is a site that shows photos of different animal scats if you need to do some background reading. You might also like to read some non fiction books on this topic. The two by Jill Bruce are perfect to read alongside Squiggle, Diddle, Plop!

Pigeon Poo by Elizabeth Baguley illustrated by Mark Chambers

I watched a young library user exclaim with delight when she spied this book in a school library recently. Pigeons and Poo - what's not to like!

"In a perfect town with tidy streets,

And flawless lawns with shiny seats,

A pigeon swooped and looped the loop,

And left behind a trail of ... "

The pigeon poo/poop lands everywhere. On people, umbrellas, dogs and flowers. It is time for the community to solve this problem but their invention means trapping the pigeon. This is sad and probably not a good solution. It takes the kindness and clever thinking of one little girl to come up a better idea - a pigeon nappy!  In America this book is called Pigeon Poop.

This is just a little book to read for fun. No deep messages just some clever rhyming and a few laughs. Pigeon Poo is not a new book (published 2012) but you might find it in a school or public library. Here is another terrific and recent book about pigeons which I enjoyed - Gary.

If you want some further laughs around the topic of animal poo take a look at these: