The King and the sea by Heinz Janisch and Wolf Erlbruch

Like a more elliptical version of “The Little Prince,” this book (which was originally published in Germany) assembles a series of very short tales about a king who has much to learn, mostly about power and its limits. His expectations — that others will obey him automatically, that the universe itself will acquiesce to his wishes — are thwarted again and again. Yet with each snub or disappointment, this king actually appears to be learning and gaining perspective, giving the book an unusually thoughtful, philosophical backbone.

The King and the sea has a subtitle :

21 Extremely Short Stories

Yes this is what you will find inside this amazing book.  Twenty-one stories ranging in length from 2 lines up to 12.  This is quite a philosophical book but one that I think will appeal to mature children who are prepared to think deeply about the ideas presented here.

I think this is my favourite story :

The King and the Sky
"I need a blanket', said the king. 'This minute!
And make it a good one.'
With that it began to snow.
Soft flakes fell around him.
'There's your blanket,' said the sky as it covered the
landscape in glittering white.
The king gazed in wonder.  'Thank you,' he said."

You might like to read this review.  With a class you could perhaps read one story each day and follow this with a discussion.  It might be good to compile a list of discussion questions taken from these daily readings and perhaps publish these for other classes to explore.  Here are a set of teaching notes.

Use your imagination by Nicola O'Byrne

It is always such fun to read a book when you know the outcome but you also know it will be funny and the baddie will be defeated.  Even the youngest child will predict the outcome of Use your imagination (But be careful what you wish for!) where we meet our two characters - Rabbit who is feeling a little bored and Wolf who has his usual wolfish motivation.  I am sure you have already guessed what this is.

"Why don't we write a story?" said Wolf. "I am a librarian, you know, and librarians know a lot about stories."

Perhaps the next page will help you recognize this story as rabbit says "What big ears you've got ... And what big eyes you've got!"  Wolf stops Rabbit thinking any further about these famous words with the repeated refrain 'Use your imagination'.  He tells rabbit to think of a topic such as a fairy tale. To think of a baddie (that's the wolf) and a hero (that's the Rabbit).  A setting (what about the forest) and now the story can begin. Luckily just in time Rabbit realizes he can use his imagination and he can change the predicable outcome of this story into something much better.

You might also enjoy Open very carefully a book with bite by the same author and Do not open this book by Michaela Muntean both of which you will find in our school library.

Inside this book there is a QR Code which allows you to access an audio version of this book.

You can see some sample pages here and I have included one below.

The line between a story they’re writing and a story they’re in is deliciously fluid. Suddenly the chase is on, and only Rabbit’s imagination can thwart the Wolf.

Dear Fairy Godmother by Michael Rosen illustrated by Nick Sharratt

Well it has been way too long since I shared my reading on my blog.  No real excuses except for an extended trip overseas which included the fabulous IBBY Congress, followed by massive computer issues which are now resolved in the form of a new machine!

I have read so many books and over the next few weeks I will try to share as many of them as I can starting with a terrific picture book I purchased from the bookseller at the IBBY Congress. I have chosen to start with this because I seem to have purchased quite a few post modern picture books that use fairy tales as their basis.  Also this one is by Michael Rosen and he spoke at the IBBY Congress and I found the courage to actually speak to him.  If you know the book Hairy Tales and Nursery Crimes (long out of print sadly) then it will make sense to know I said to Michael Rosen that I like to drink orange wash and I keep food in my sneezer!  Michael's presentation at the Congress was energetic, thought-provoking and utterly fabulous.

Dear Fairy Godmother is a lift the flap book but don’t let this device mislead you … this is a great read for all the family and for readers themselves from pre-school to upper primary.  The structure is quite simple. Each well known fairy tale character such as The Gingerbread Boy, the Giant, the Ugly Duckling and so on writes a letter to the Fairy Godmother seeking her advice.

Here is an example that made me smile

"DEAR FAIRY GODMOTHER  A LITTLE BOY KEEPS COMING UP MY BEANSTALK AND I’D LIKE US TO BE FRIENDS. I KEEP CALLING OUT “FEE FI FO FUM” BUT EVERY TIME HE SEES ME, HE RUNS AWAY.  WHAT CAN I DO?  GIANT

Dear Giant No wonder he keeps running away if you keep shouting FEE FI FO FUM! It’s really scary! Try saying Fum fee fo fi come and try my apple pie … and see what happens."

Another of the fairy tale books I bought is Goldilocks and just the one bear by Leigh Hodgkinson.  More on this one next time.  Also on the horizon I will talk about the Tillerman books by Cynthia Voigt which I have recently revisited and thoroughly enjoyed.