Running in Circles by Shivaun Plozza

Dell (Adelaide) lives with her dad and three sisters. Mum left the family when Dell was only seven to follow her dream of finding evidence and perhaps even meeting aliens. Initially mum did contact the family but for many years they have not heard from her. Dell resents the way her birthday cards, if they were even sent, arrived well after the event and she is confused and furious as to why mum left them in the first place. None of this is fair to her dad or her sisters. Then mum arrives back in town. It is Dell who first sees her and her instinct is to protect the family from any further hurt and disappointment. The two youngest children, Prim and Una, don't have any memory of their mother - they were so young when she left. Summer, Dell's older sister does remember, and Dell is sure she won't want to revisit the hurt and disappointment that will to come when her mother breezes out of town again.

Slowly Dell watches with deep concern and even anger as each member of her family seems to fall under mum's spell. Mum is sure this new crop circle in Tully means friendly aliens want to help our planet with our climate crisis. Dell is a budding meteorologist so she knows this is all nonsense but then dad says the whole family needs to go to the crop circle at midnight on 7th June because that is when the aliens will arrive. 

Here are a few text quotes:

"I turn away and walk the circle myself. It's messy. It's not sugar cane this time, just long grass that's all squished and tangled like bed hair. ... I crouch, searching for signs the grass was flattened with a plank. Nothing. ... Just rain and grass and mud and footprints." pg 117

"Why is she here? In our house? The one she left? My heart constricts. What if she stays. If she apologises and becomes our mum again and loves dad and never leaves. Is that okay?" pg 161

"You should all read Quentin's book. He argues that every time they visit, it's been to heal our mistakes through the key lines. Humans cause so much damage. We're really the worst disease this planet has every known. She we think they'll finally speak with us directly, to teach us their ways and share their technology." pg 165

Fun fact - before you read this book (or after) you will discover that in 1966 a crop circle did appear near Tully. Read more here. And here is a detailed ABC News page with more information. 

Readers in Australia who do not live in Queensland may need a map to locate Tully and perhaps do some further reading about their record rainfall. And they really do have a big gumboot in the town. Also, the research topic that Dell and her friend Teddy have chosen about The Alligators Nest is a real place (even though there are no alligators in Australia).

Located in the Tully Gorge National Park 6 km north of Tully via Murray Street, this is a rainforest park which was originally popularised by a group of local scouts who gave it the name (there are no alligators in Australia). It is a day use picnic area fringed by rainforest which has lilies, palms, fern-leafed tamarinds and water ferns. Part of the appeal of the area is that the rainforest is home to eastern water dragons, nursery frogs and chameleon geckos.

The chapter titles in this book work as a countdown to the final showdown when the aliens are due to arrive on the 7th June. 

I had a small but good collection of books about aliens, UFOs, and occurrences like crop circles in my former school library. I was always fascinated by the books about The Nazca Lines for example. If you are visiting a library take a look at Dewey [001.9; 001.94 or 001.95].

Publisher blurb: When crop circles appear in Tully, North Queensland, twelve-year-old Dell knows it’s a hoax. She’s a future climate scientist who believes in facts, not science fiction. But Dell’s estranged mum is an extraterrestrial fanatic. She blusters back into town armed with alien conspiracy theories and a dazzling smile. If Dell can prove the crop circle is fake, surely her mum will hightail it out of Tully again, preferably before she causes Dell’s dad and three sisters further heartbreak. But as her mother’s claims grow more out of this world and alien fever takes over the country, Dell worries she’s fighting a losing battle. How can she convince anyone of the truth when they’re all so desperate to believe a lie?

One of the aspects of this story that I wrongly anticipated was the way Quentin Higgs, the pseudo-scientist working with Dell's mum, was sure to be exposed as a fraud and I expected to discover his main motivation was to sell his book but that didn't seem to eventuate. This could be a good discussion point with your class. 

Here are some things I discovered about crop circles (source - note this contains a lot of advertising):

From the 1960s to the 1980s, perhaps no term was more commonly associated with UFOs and extraterrestrial visitation than “crop circles.” As the name suggests, crop circles are massive, circular areas of flattened crops — usually wheat or corn — or other plants, which depict seemingly intentional shapes and other images when seen from above. (in the case of Running in Circles it is a sugar cane farm).

Crop circles amazed many people due to the large size of the indentations and the images they depicted. It’s little wonder why they led to speculation about alien craft landing on Earth. After all, some indentations appeared to mark where “saucers” had once rested. And others seemed to be messages from extraterrestrial beings ...

Two Englishmen proved that it didn’t take an advanced civilization or technology beyond humanity’s comprehension to create crop circles. In fact, all it required was a bit of liquid courage, heavy planks of wood, and some rope. Despite this, some ufologists insist that at least some crop circles were made by “nonhuman” beings.

In 1966, an Australian banana farmer named George Pedley allegedly witnessed something bizarre on his property near Tully. Pedley claimed to have seen a "flying saucer" lifting off — leaving behind a large, circular area of flattened plants in the exact same spot where the UFO had landed. Dubbed a "saucer nest," Pedley's crop circle was not an isolated incident. All around the Tully region, locals began reporting more saucer nest sightings

Readers aged 10+ will enjoy the intriguing story and family relationships found in Running in Circles with the advice do not skip to the end. You are sure to be on Dell's side hoping the truth will be revealed. It is rare to read a book for this age group where the mother is so awful - she left the family when the children were very young because she is obsessed with her belief in aliens. She even seems to bribe the kids with cafe treats and a 'pretend' interest in their lives and she keeps making promises that she has no intention of fulfilling - her betrayal of Summer is dreadful. On the upside Dels' grandmother, who is called Mo-Mo, is a wonderful support to Dell when everything seems to be crashing down around her. 

Thank you to Gleebooks kids for sharing their advance reader copy of Running in Circle and to UQP for the actual copy. Running in Circles will be released next week - 28th April 2026. You can read an extract here. 

Shivaun Plozza has a 2026 Older Readers Notable title: The Worst Perfect Moment. Read the Kirkus Star review. I am going to keep my eye out for another of her books from 2020 - The Boy, The Wolf and the Stars. 

Here are some other books I have talked about by Shivaun Plozza:

Meet me at the Moon Tree

Summer of the Shipwrecks

Further reading and other books to explore:

Non Fiction fans should look for this terrific series

Children of the Quicksands by Efua Traore

Publisher blurb: City girl Simi is sent to stay with her long-lost grandmother in a remote Nigerian village. There’s no TV, internet or phone. Not a single human-made sound can be heard at night, just the noise of birds and animals rustling in the dark forest outside. Her witchlike grandmother dispenses advice and herbal medicine to the village, but she’s tight lipped about their family history. Something must have happened, but what? Determined to find out, Simi disobeys her grandmother and goes exploring. Caught in the sinking red quicksand of a forbidden lake, her fantastical journey begins …

There are only a few main characters in this book but I did keep getting lost and so I wish a list of human and non-human (gods) had been included. The ending is a little abrupt and for me, confusing. I didn't understand why the children were suffering on the other side of the lake and also I still don't really know why hundreds of them were taken there over the years. I also should have made more use of the help glossary which is included at the beginning of the book.

Readers aged 10+ with plenty of reading stamina who enjoy stories set in different cultures and stories with elements of magical realism and danger may enjoy this story. 

Curious readers might dig deeper into Nigerian folklore:

• The Myths of the Yoruba: Deities and Legends from Nigeria
• The Ultimate Guide to Yoruba Mythology: Orishas, Legends & Spiritual Traditions
• Mythopedia (background reading for teachers)

The taking of the children from the village might also make you think of the famous poem about the Pied Piper. 

Children of the quicksand was a debut novel for Efua Traore - she won the Times/Chicken House competition which then led to the publication of her book. You can see her other books here. I do enjoy books published by Chicken House. On their page you can read an extract from this book. Here is a review from the journal Africa Access. 

This is a beautiful story with an evocative setting. The reader is drawn to the rich sights, sounds and smells of the remote setting with its mysteries woven into a story dealing with separation, grief and loss. It is Simi’s personal story, yet the history that she uncovers is also deeply powerful and moving: the story of a family dealing with loss in their own individual ways. It is her grandmother, Iyanla, whose secrets we want to uncover and, when we do, it is via a tale steeped in Yoruba folklore and magic. Books for Topics

Here is an alternate cover:

Read the Kirkus review

Bookseller blurb: A richly imagined magical adventure set in West Africa by a prize-winning new voice in children's writing, Children of the Quicksands introduces readers to Yoruba myths and legends while showcasing the wealth of culture, traditions, adventure, joy, pride, and love found in Nigeria. Both modern and fantastical, extraordinary debut talent Efua Traore takes us to the village of a modern day Ajao and the strange parallel world that lies beneath. In a remote Nigerian village, thirteen-year-old Simi is desperate to uncover a family secret. Ajao is nothing like Lagos--no cells phones, no running water or electricity. Not a single human-made sound can be heard at night, just the noise of birds and animals rustling in the dark forest outside. Her witchlike grandmother dispenses advice and herbal medicine to the village, but she's tight lipped about their family history. Something must have happened, but what? Determined to find out, Simi disobeys her grandmother and goes exploring only to find herself sinking in the red quicksand of a forbidden lake and into the strange parallel world that lies beneath. It must have been a dream...right? Wrong. Something isn't right. Children are disappearing and it's up to Simi to discover the truth.

Flood by Gillian McClure

It has rained and rained and the land is now totally flooded. The Fussy Hen is, well fussing. The sly fox is hungry. Old Slogger the ox just keeps her head down but eventually the water level is just too high. 

"The hungry fox was swept off his feet and Fussy Hen freed from his stare let out a squawk and flew up in the air and landed on Old Slugger the Ox."

Chaos ensues and somehow the hen ends up in nestled in the brush tail of the fox and the fox is now hanging on to the tail of the ox. They have formed a kind of boat. At first they go round in circles but then Fussy Hen discovers she can steer their group.

"And so on they went through the great flood, steered by Fussy Hen, looking this way and that from her nest at the back until they saw land."

The land is a tiny island with hardly enough room for this group. They have to put aside their differences and squash up close. Peace is restored while they wait for the rain to stop and the flood waters to subside. 

I love FLOOD. For several reasons. The brevity of the text. The drama, real drama. The characterisation. The way you enable us to suspend our disbelief and accept a pacific outcome. But what makes the book quite outstanding, and to my mind the most successful of all, is the fluidity of the way you have set the text, the images of ox, fox and hen wrapping round each other, and the all- enveloping downpour that swirls and rushes from page to page.  Kevin Crossley-Holland

There is one word early in this book which might make your young library group gasp! The hen is squawking in the rain the old ox thinks "I wish she'd shut up!" I know from past experience this will make young reader gasp - so if I was reading this book with a group I might say 'be quiet' instead. This book was published in 2014 so it is now out of print but it was nominated for the Kate Greenaway medal so it might be in your local or school library. 

I was curious about the author/illustrator of this book. Gillian McClure is from the UK. Here are some of her books:

Bookseller blurb: One day a strange cat appears at the door. 'My name is Tom Finger,' he cries. Each day he appears, and each day he leaves a strange and wonderful gift: a silk purse, a lace handkerchief, an embroidered needle case. Queenie is completely entranced by him - her brother though is convinced he is a witch's cat. But Queenie is determined to find out - and one day starts following the cat through the snowy forest, following a trail of red wool...What Queenie finds at the end of the trail is totally unexpected.

Other books about floods and long rain events. I have a Pinterest collection on this topic:

Storm by Jane Bunn illustrated by Dasha Riley

"The sky was menacing and dark. It looked like it could swallow anything and everything."

The television weather presenter advises everyone to say indoors. Jane's little dog Stampy is terrified. Jane is a problem solver and so she decides to research storms and write her discoveries in her journal which she then shares with her pup. To complete her research, she uses the library and talks with a meteorologist (her aunt). The result is a partially fiction book with full pages of weather facts. 

The author of this book is a television weather presenter from Channel Seven. Celebrity books do make me cringe - but I guess a television weather presenters would know her topic and also, she is perhaps a fairly minor celebrity - unless you live in Melbourne. She talks about her book here with Reading with a Chance of Tacos. (25 minutes) She might do further books and make a series. Hope she can take a look at this book set:

I had a little girl in my school a few years ago who was terrified of storms and especially upset of there was thunder and lightning. One day we had a very wild storm at school - actually this happened fairly often at home time. The little girl was with me in the library - I don't remember why - but I do remember comforting her during the storm and the kind reaction of her mum when she finally arrived. I would have loved to loan her this book once the storm had passed. 

I am not a massive fan of the illustrations in this book, but I do really like the combination of a fictional narrative about Jane and her dog linked with the fact pages about storms; lightning; wind; hail; storm safety; and predicting weather.

Publisher blurb: When a dark, menacing storm rumbles over Jane’s house, she has lots of questions ... Where do storms come from? What causes lightning? How does hail form? And most importantly, how do we stay safe? Discover all the wild-weather answers you need to know in this imaginative and informative story from weather presenter and meteorologist Jane Bunn.

Pair this with:

I am the Storm

Monsoon by Uma Krishnaswami illustrated by Jmel Akib

The word monsoon comes from an old Arabic word, mausim, meaning 'season'. The monsoon is a season of rain. 

This is a book about anticipation. It made me think of Come on Rain by Karen Hesse. The family go about their daily life, but everyone is sure the big rains are not too far away. They watch the sky and listen to the news. 

"The heat makes me feel like a crocodile crouching snap-jawed."

Then they hear some distant thunder. The grandmother tells stories of the monsoon of the past - wetter, fuller and longer. Then the shape of the clouds change looking like partridge feathers. Then more clouds gather. 

"Suddenly it is still, a stillness filled with promises of dampness in the air."

"Umbrellas turn into walking forests. ... The raindrops make me laugh out loud, thudding on earth and rooftops and on my skin."

This is a perfect book to use for class work about weather, global warming, rain or Asian studies and even though it was published in 2003 it is still available for less than AUS$20.

“The level of anticipation is so high that every engine rumble sounds like thunder….An expressive story about seasons, extremes, and waiting.” Kirkus Reviews

Bookseller blurb: Children play, birds call, and grown-ups go about their business during the hot days of summer in northern India. But in the bustle of the street and marketplace, everyone is watching, waiting for those magical clouds to bring their gift of rain to the land. Through the observations of one young girl, the scents and sounds, the dazzling colors, and the breathless anticipation of a parched cityscape are vividly evoked during the final days before the welcome arrival of the monsoon.

In the library of my friend they are reviewing books with low borrowing rates. Monsoon has only been borrowed by students twice since 2010 but I am sure it has been included in many of the class topic bulk book loans. I was excited to see Uma Krishnaswami on the cover of this book because I loved her little novel The Book Uncle and Me and a few years ago I discovered she lives Victoria, British Columbia, Canada which is where a friend of mine also lives. Uma Krishnaswami also spoke at the USBBY Conference held at Washington University in 2017 - Radical Change Between Borders. 

Summer Blue by Trudie Trewin illustrated by Marjorie Crosby-Fairall

Blurb and opening lines: "Marley and Moses lived in a place where the heat crept up and smothered the days in stiffing stillness. And it stayed and stayed."

On Monday the children try to play outside in their tree using grandma's fan as a way to try to keep cool. On Tuesday they spend time at the creek which has almost no water. On Wednesday they fill watering cans and take turns under the cascading water and so the week continues until the sky grows dark on Friday.

"Marley and Moses lived in a place where the rain, when it came, wasn't cold pin rain you had to run and hide from. It was fat, juicy 'come and play' rain."

Every child and adult runs outside to play and frolic and dance in the rain ... which "when it came, stayed and stayed."

There are many meanings to be inferred from the title – summer blue sky, summer blues/mood, and the dark blue of the sky when the rain is coming.

When you pick up this book flip it over and notice the contrasting front and back covers and then turn to the front and back end papers. They are splendid. Of course, there are other books about heat, summer, drought etc here in Australia which end with glorious rain but I think this book is a worthy addition to the cannon. I am thinking of books such as Mallee sky by Jodi Toering, Two Summers by John Heffernan, and Drought by Jackie French. The point of difference here is audience. 

This book is perfect to share with younger children. Summer Blue contains carefully crafty lyrical language and phrases – smothered the days in stifling stillness and heavy with heat and fabulous verbs linked to heat and water such as melted, dissolved, evaporated, oozed and poured. 

You can feel the cool water in the illustration where Marley tips the watering can over her head. The sense of place and time are very strong in this book. The motif of the fan works well when finally, it is so hot the pair of children cannot even share this tiny cooling device. 

I love the way the story ends with the rain still falling – this will open up some excellent discussions about weather, drought and floods with younger children and climate change with older students. The enormity of the arrival of the rain is mirrored by the way the whole landscape is shown using a birds eye view on the double spread where the sky turns black, grey and indigo. The digital illustrations have a beautiful soft almost nostalgic focus and there is a perfect shift in the colour palette from the hot summer and yellow grasses to the purples, blues and aqua tones of the rain filled pages. There is a wonderful change of mood capturing the joy and renewed energy of the children as they frolic in rain puddles and the mud. The ways the animals react to the weather and environment is also engaging and appealing – and very realistic.

The weather explored in this book is common in Australia - drought and rain - but the landscape depicted by Marjorie Crosby-Fairall is interesting. It does look Australian in some ways but the scenes also have a more universal feel possibly because they are painted with using a soft focus. Reading this book with a group of children it would be important to talk about safety - alerting your group to the potential dangers of playing in flood waters although in this book the water does look very shallow. Venturing into flood waters is a huge concern in country areas where so many little children, and adults too, misread the depth and treachery of heavy rain and floods. 

Summer Blue is a 2023 Children's Book Council of Australia CBCA notable title. You can see inside this book here. Take a look at other books illustrated by Marjorie Crosby-Fairall and for Trudie Trewin. 

Some years ago I started a collection of books that use the pattern of days of the week and while this is not a major focus of this story it is an interesting story device you could explore with young writers. 

Companion books:

All I want for Christmas is Rain

Rain for Christmas

It's a Miroocool

The River by Sally Morgan illustrated by Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr

"I love the river near my home. I look with my eyes, I listen with my ears, I learn about the life of the river. Look with your eyes, what do you see?"

The River uses the act of looking and listening to take note of what’s around us. The double-page spreads alternate between these two senses, asking either, “Look with your eyes. What do you see?” or “Listen with your ears. What do you hear?” Each question is then answered in a three-line response, naming the animal, describing its movement or sound, and mentioning the foliage. GLAM Adelaide

Read more about The River along with some ideas for using this book with your group of students on the Paperbark Words Blog and Joy Lawn. 

A universal story from Sally Morgan – this time a beautifully illustrated celebration of the life of the river. The River takes the reader on a journey of what their eyes can see and their ears can hear. See green ants crawling, hear frogs croaking, a goanna running, a fish splashing... Sally Morgan’s beautiful words and Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr’s sensitive artwork combine to make this a unique, distinctive children’s picture book with global appeal. Johnny infuses his illustrations with his fine-art aesthetic and his traditional motifs to bring each page to vivid life. Magabala Books

If you are looking for perfect indigenous picture books to share with any group of students try to find this series.  There are three books so far.

In 2017 Johnny was the inaugural winner of the Kestin Indigenous Illustrator Award. As the recipient of the biennial award, Johnny received $10,000, a mentorship and the opportunity to illustrate the children's picture book, Little Bird's Day by renowned author and illustrator Sally Morgan. Here is a video of Johnny reading his book. 

• CBCA 2020 Notable Book of the Year: Early Childhood
• CBCA 2020 Notable Book of the Year: Picture Book

A simple, universal story of a day in the life of Little Bird as she sings the world alive, flies with Cloud, travels with Wind, nestles with Moon and dreams of flying among the stars. Sally's gentle words and Johnny's intricate artwork combine to make this a beautiful, distinctive publication with global appeal. Johnny infuses his illustrations with his fine-art aesthetic, his traditional motifs and a quirky sense of humour. Magabala Books

Here is the newest book in this series. 

Another simple, universal story from Sally Morgan and Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr, this time, a beautifully illustrated celebration of rain. Thank you rain! is a joyful read, and is full of the plants and animals that welcome rain: raindrops in the treetops; birds singing in the rain; raindrops wetting the dry earth and filling creek beds; birds, frogs and kangaroos all enjoying the rain and finishing with Johnny dancing with happiness! Sally Morgan’s beautiful words and Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr’s sensitive artwork combine to give this distinctive children’s picture book global appeal. Johnny infuses his illustrations with his fine-art aesthetic and traditional motifs to bring each page to vivid life. Magabala Books

Here are other wonderful books by Sally Morgan - thanks to Children's Books Daily for creating this collage of covers.

Christmas is coming to Australia read Rain for Christmas

Many of us here in Australia know this second stanza of this famous poem by Dorothea Mackellar:

I love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains,

Of ragged mountain ranges,

Of droughts and flooding rains.

Rain for Christmas

Rain for Christmas, like the book from yesterday - Applesauce and the Christmas Miracle - explores our harsh climate and frequent natural (and man-made) disasters through a Christmas story. In our book today, as the title implies, it is a time of extreme drought. In the rural setting, beautifully painted by Wayne Harris, you will see a parched landscape where the grass looks like tall stalks of straw.

Here are a few text quotes to give you a flavour of this book:

"That Christmas was smack in the middle of the driest, hottest, summer anyone could remember."

Santa speaking - "Eureka! I've got it! We can take a giant snowball to Australia."

"Three times round the moon they flew, faster and faster and faster until the snowball burst into a million sparkling pieces, sending tiny fragments of glittering ice tumbling slowly down towards the earth."

This book might also make you think of the song Six White Boomers. 

Rain for Christmas was published in 1989 so it is long out of print.  Thank goodness the publisher (Cambridge University Press) used really good paper for this book. I have a second hand copy which looks as new as the day it was printed. Back in the 1980s and 1990s publishers produced books like this which are halfway between a picture book which usually has 32 pages and books like this which are longer and have more text than a picture book but with lots of terrific illustrations. These books could be described as larger sized junior novels. I do hope you can find a copy of Rain for Christmas to enjoy with your family this year even though here in my part of Australia we have actually had a very rainy start to summer.

Richard Tulloch is the author of several books (and some terrific plays) which I enjoyed sharing with classes who visited my school library - Danny in the Toybox illustrated by Armin Greder; and Cocky Colin from the Solo series.  I think Rain for Christmas might have been his first book.

Wayne Harris is the illustrator of these books:

I mentioned the larger sized junior illustrated novels of the 1980s and 1990s.  If you are curious about this format your school library might still have copies of books like Thing by Robin Klein; Birk the Berserker also by Robin Klein; The Extradordinary magics of Emma McDade by Libby Hathorn; Paolo's Secret also by Libby Hathorn; One night at Lotties House by Max Dann; and from the UK the original edition of Jeremiah in the Dark Woods by Allan Ahlberg. 

The Big Umbrella by Amy June Bates and Juniper Bates

"By the front door there is an umbrella. It is big. It is a big, friendly umbrella. It likes to help. It likes to spread its arms wide."

Yes it is raining. Time for this umbrella to go to work. One person, two people, four people, tall, short, hairy, even plaid - they all need shelter and the umbrella is happy to help.

The Big Umbrella is a picture book about kindness. It is one of those wonderful books you could share with preschool aged children but you could also share it with a much older group.  The text I quoted at the start of the post comes from the first six pages of this book. You will want to talk about the themes of inclusiveness, tolerance, compassion, community, and perhaps diversity but you could also use this book to talk about the structure of a picture book. Pacing, word placement, page turns, and the use of pages with no words. The illustrations by Amy June Bates are perfect. The Big Umbrella was first published in 2018 and it is still available but here in Australia the hardcover edition is quite expensive. 

A subtle, deceptively simple book about inclusion, hospitality, and welcoming the “other.” Kirkus

This cheerful, inclusive book encourages the reader to share resources, not by demanding that everyone shares, but by showing how community grows when shared.  First Thursday Book Reviews

There’s a calming and happy tone to The Big Umbrella and a wonderful mix of realism with fantasy that makes it engaging, uplifting, and full of wonder. It expertly walks the line of impossible and possible. The Picture Book Review

The book I could use as a companion to The Big Umbrella is this one:

Rain is a very complex phenomena to paint but in this book you can almost feel and hear the rain drops.

I do like books about rain and umbrellas. Yes this book - The Big Umbrella -  is about so much more but here are some other books on rain and umbrellas:

Come on Rain

Rain for Christmas

Home in the Rain

All I want for Christmas is Rain

I have been fascinated with umbrellas since I was a very young child and I read a story about a Chinese umbrella decorated with people who appear to be running when the umbrella is open. The story came from The Youngest Omnibus.  I decided (tonight) to begin a Pinterest collection of books about Umbrellas. I am also good at misplacing umbrellas - I wonder where they all go? I once had an umbrella decorated with umbrellas - sadly lost long ago.  I seem to have missed National Umbrella Day. It is celebrated on February 10th each year. I should also mention from time to time I do wish I had the umbrella used by Mary Poppins. 

It might be fun to fill your school library with Umbrellas or invite your school art teacher to create a display.

Image Source: Teachers Web