Azizi and the Little Blue Bird by Laila Koubaa illustrated by Mattias De Leeuw translated by David Colmer

"Not that long ago, in a country that still exists today, Azizi was relaxing in an orange tree."

Azizi hears his father hanging portraits in their lounge room. They are huge and portray very ugly people. His father explains he has to hang them - these are the two rulers Tih and Reni. The family have to appear to be loyal and at all times they have to be careful about what they say incase 'the walls have ears'.  Readers will begin to feel the oppression and fear of their lives, and this is only page two!

"Tih and Reni ruled the Land of the Crescent Moon with an iron hand. And they stuffed their stomachs full from early in the morning until late at night. ... (their) courtyard was filled by an enormous white cage that had all of the country's blue bird locked up inside it."

I would stop reading at this point (sorry to interrupt the story), but can you anticipate an act of heroism? Also why are they locking up all the birds? Why would these cruel rulers be afraid of little blue birds? What power might the birds have? (twitter, twitter!)

As Tih and Reni grow in power (and size) the people seem to shrink and almost disappear. Then one day a blue bird lands on the window ledge of Azizi's house. Azizi and his mother have made garlands of jasmine which they attached to twigs tied together with red threads. The little blue bird tells Azizi to gather the jasmine and join all the threads together. It is time to fly to the castle. Azizi is now so small that their sewing needle is almost like a sword. Remember how big Tih and Reni have become - their bodies are like huge balloons. 

"swift as an arrow, Azizi and the little blue bird drilled a hole right through Tih and Reni. Everything the greedy rulers had stolen exploded into the sky like giant fireworks, and the key to the big white cage shone among the vases, carpets, and dishes."

The little blue bird and Azizi set all the birds free.  I love the final sentence:

"And as Azizi and the little blue bird did somersaults in the star-filled sky, the sweet smell of jasmine rained down over the Land of the Crescent Moon."

The blue birds are representative of Twitter, and the widespread censorship of the internet by various governments during the revolutions – when I worked this out, suddenly the story made a whole lot more sense, and became more than just a poetic tale.  Bookseller NZ

I picked this book up at a recent charity book sale. I wonder who previously purchased it here in Australia. This book was originally published in 2013 in Flemish with the title Azizi en de kleine blauwe vogel by Book Island. There are teachers notes on the publisher page. You could use this book with students aged 10+ as a good discussion starter. The book size is extra large and the illustrations are colourful, appealing and very detailed. 

Bookseller blurb: Azizi lives with Umma and Baba in a country ruled with an iron fist, whose leaders capture all the blue birds and lock them up in a white cage in the courtyard of their palace. While the rulers swell and bulge like hot air balloons, stuffing their stomachs from morning till night, the people shrink and suffer until they are almost invisible. One day, when Azizi is no bigger than a pine nut in a glass of mint tea, a little blue bird escapes from the cage. Determined to live in fear no longer, Azizi and the little blue bird set out on a journey to free the people of their cruel and greedy rulers and bring peace to the land once more. This contemporary fairy tale of freedom against oppression is inspired by the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia.

This gorgeous story is reminiscent of traditional fairy tales, with a brave hero, evil villains and a plucky sidekick. The descriptive writing is superb, conjuring images of a warm land bathed in sweetly scented air that is slowly turning into a place of hardship and oppression. Book Trust

From The Book Trail: In 2010 the Jasmin revolution in Tunisia inspired Laila Koubaa to write the story of Azizi and the little blue bird. Inspired by the Arab Spring and the blue birds of Twitter… Crescent Moon – The setting of the novel is a despotic place where every household must display their pictures; free speech is stifled, and the people live in abject fear. The rulers decree that all the blue birds in the land must be captured and locked in a big cage in the courtyard of the palace. But one day, a tiny blue bird escapes and flies to Azizi’s house…. Despite his young age Mattias De Leeuw (1989) is one of the most prolific illustrators of his generation. He is a talented artist who can create a character in a few quick lines. Some reviewers call him the Flemish Quentin Blake.

Here is a list of some similes found in this book:

• as small as a pine nut in a glass of mint tea
• poppies glittering like red diamonds
• like a knight on horseback
• swift as an arrow
• like giant fireworks
• danced like palm trees
• curled like calligraphy

I wonder if this might be a book you could compare with this title from our CBCA 2024 short list which also explores the power of social media.

That Bird has Arms

How to break a world record and survive Grade Five by Carla Fitzgerald

Sam is obsessed with one book - we would call it The Guiness Book of Records. Sam calls it The Big Book of Records. He reads this book at school, in the school library at lunch time, with his best friend Vihaan after school and on weekends. If you look closely at the cover you can see some the world records that Sam has tried to beat and yes, they are all fairly crazy! For example: most sticky notes stuck on a face in one minute - 60 - set by someone in USA in 2014. 

In his class the teacher announces a new assignment.

"In 500 words describe your proudest moment. You will be asked to read your work to the class and are welcome to bring in any certificates, trophies or other relevant objects to help describe this moment."

There are two key words in this assignment that cause Sam huge distress - certificates and trophies. His sister has certificates displayed all over their fridge. And there are trophies in her room and other parts of the house because, even though she is only nine years old, it feels to Sam that she is the family superstar, and he is almost invisible. 

The class assignment gives Sam and idea - IF he can break a world record, and IF he can do it all the official way and have witnesses and time keepers etc, and IF he can submit this to the World Record people in time, he MIGHT get a certificate and he MIGHT gain some recognition in his family and best of all he MIGHT have something fabulous to share for this school assignment. The other kids MIGHT even be hugely impressed.

Of course, some records are impossible, some are messy, some cost money and they don't much of that in his one parent family, some rely on involving others such as his friend or sister but then he hits on the best record that he surely can achieve - the most scoops of ice cream balanced on a single cone - 125 - set by someone in Italy in 2018. And luckily Sam is friends with the man who drives the local ice cream van. 

Publisher blurb: Sam is a kind and thoughtful eleven-year-old, but he thinks he’s not that great at anything. His sister, Ava, is a soccer star and his best friend, Vihaan, is an award-winning artist. The one thing Sam is good at is knowing all about the extraordinary feats in the Big Book of Records. When Sam is set a class project about a moment he’s proud of, he can’t think of anything and takes inspiration from his favourite book. He knows he’ll be proud of himself if he can break a world record! But breaking a world record isn’t easy. And things get even harder when someone close to Sam needs his help and he must decide: will he be good? Or be the best?

You do have to stick with this book because the real action or purpose or poignant moment doesn't happen until page 250 and the whole book is only 278 pages so this moment is nearly at the end of the journey we have taken with Sam as he tries to break a world record and gain some level of fame in his family, class, and neighborhood.

This book will appeal to readers aged 10+. It is an easy book to read and Australian readers will understand the local references. One small example is the Good Guys electrical retail store from here in Australia is called The Great Guys in this story. 

Each chapter begins with a world record (some are real and some specific to Sam):

Longest Handstand 11.82 minutes; Heaviest watermelon 159kg; Most socks put on one foot in under thirty seconds = 22 socks; Largest collection of garden gnomes 2042; and so on. 

Here is the website for the author Carla Fitzgerald. Thank you to UQP for this advance copy. How to break a world record and survive Grade Five will be published at the end of July, 2024.

I previously talked about:

How to be Prime Minister and survive Grade Five

I once made a library display or set of posters with book that incorporated grade names - but sadly most of these are now out of print.

I was a Third Grade Spy; Captain Jimmy Cook discovers Third Grade

Keena Ford and the Second Grade mix-up

The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary

The Last fifth grade of Emerson Elementary

I Spy ABC by Sally Anne Lambert

I picked up this 1992 picture book from a recent charity book sale. I would be very tempted to (sorry if this horrifies you) to cut this book up and laminate the page and then use it in a preschool or with your own child as a fun rainy-day activity.  This is an old book and my copy is only in fair condition so it seems quite okay to treat it this way. I do like the soft-focus almost nostalgic illustrations and the small letter motifs on the bottom of each page. Read about Sally Anne Lambert here. 

Each page is a game of "I spy" with objects to match the letter. It is a little similar to Animalia by Graeme Base but not as sophisticated. And luckily for parents there is a help list on the last page of all the things you need to find on each page.

For example on the  W is for Whiskers on a pussycat's nose - you can also see:

• a wagon
• a weasel
• a wall
• a wheelbarrow
• a witch
• a wishing well
• a waistcoat
• a web
• a watering can
• weeds
• a window
• and a pair of Wellington boots

ice cream, igloo, infant, iguana, Indian costume, imp, island, insects, iron, ink, instruments, icing, ivy

Teddy, trumpet, tassel, table, television, telephone, tankard, turret, train, tortoise, tiger, tent, thimble, trees, toothbrush, toothpaste, tissues, toadstools, truck, telescope

Australian illustrator Louise Pfanner paints gorgeous name paintings using this idea of objects that match letters - each one of her pieces is a sweet discovery. Take a look here to see some of her work. If you have a new baby in the family her work would be a very special gift. 

One Snowy Night by Nick Butterworth

"One winter's night it was so cold it began to snow. ... He made himself some hot cocoa and got ready for bed. Suddenly, Percy heard a tapping sound. There was somebody at the door."

On the doorstep Percy, the Park Keeper, finds a very cold and miserable squirrel. Naturally Percy invites him to come inside. Just as they settle down, though, there is another knock at the door. 

Very young children respond well to patterns in stories. I am sure you have anticipated both the pattern here and the dilemma as more and more of the park animals arrive to shelter with Percy. 

"The animals pushed and shoved and rolled around the bed, but there was just not enough room for all of them."

Luckily there is one more visitor - the mole emerges from under the floor - but I bet you can't guess how he 'solves' the problem.

One Snowy Night was first published in 1989. My copy from a recent charity book sale is a 2019 reprint. Here are some other books by Nick Butterworth about Percy. I think there are more than 30 altogether including board books, activity books, individual picture books and bind-up versions. In this video Nick Butterworth reads After the Storm:

Games by Robin Klein

Kirsty invites Patricia to come along for a weekend in an old country home owned by her Aunt Maude. Kirsty and her best friend Genevieve are 'cool kids' who wield their power over quiet shy girls like Patricia. The three girls catch a train and then walk along undefined paths to reach this remote house. Kirsty has a plan to invite a group of boys who go to the school next door to their posh girl's academy. To fill in time (and later we discover) to scare innocent Patricia, Kirsty and Genevieve hold a seance. They tell Patricia about a woman who was murdered in the house years ago and then they weave all sort of mischief into the seance and place things around the home such as a solitary candle at the bottom of the stairs to try to spook Patricial. BUT while they are playing their game a young boy arrives. Kirsty is utterly obnoxious towards him and he flees. But did he really leave. And who replaced the fresh wildflowers Patricia picked and had placed in a vase in the kitchen with dead weeds? Who left a single white glove on the windowsill in the upstairs room where she was trying to sleep? How did the music box suddenly started playing? Why is there no one there when the phone rings? And what about the piece of paper in the typewriter which has the words "Polly put the kettle on". Oh and there is that awful lingering smell of lavender. 

There are lots of mysterious and frightening noises around the house and there is a wild rainstorm raging outside which all adds to the atmosphere of this 'ghost' story but it is also a story about these three girls - one vicious, one cool and calculating and one a gentle girl who feels out of place in the school as a scholarship student. Patricia starts out weak and compliant happy to have been invited to this weekend but as the night progresses, she gains confidence and finally enough strength to confront the cruelty of Kirsty and Genevieve. Patricia is a strong girl and way more mature - she has been caring for her mum ever since her dad died. Her mum clearly has serious mental health issues.

The chapter titles in this book add to the mystery - "This is the house that Jack built"; "Here comes a candle to light you to bed"; "Simon says"; "Hush a bye baby"; "Polly put the kettle on"; "Three blind mice see how they run"; and "I spy with my little eye."

"There is a fine build-up of suspense, and the supernatural element is created with skill. There are three levels of games played: the malicious games of Kirsty and Genevieve, which are played on Patricia; the menacing game that Darcy plays on the girls; and the fame the author plays on the reader." The Oxford Companion to Australian Children's Literature by Stella Lees and Pam Macintyre.

I have a box of older books collected from charity bookfairs, street libraries, and library discards. I found Games at the bottom of the box last week and thought I would revisit this having first read this book in 1986. 

Has this book stood the test of time? Yes, even though there are no mobile phones which modern readers might find curious. And there is a reference to AIDS. What I did discover is that this book is very much a Young Adult title - for ages 13+. It contains very strong language - oddly I had no memory of this. In fact, I had this book in my former Primary School library but after this reading I would certainly pull this book off my shelves and pass it on to a local High School. It is interesting to look at the range of covers above. The first one is the hardcover from 1986 and this is the one I had in several Primary School libraries. 

I took at The Proof of the Puddin': Australian Children's Literature 1970-1990 by Maurice Saxby to see what he thought of Games. He used these words in his descriptions:

• "cruelly repulsive Kirsty and Genevieve"
• "two obnoxious teenagers in the skillfully plotted and adeptly narrated thriller, Games."
• "a cat and mouse game."
• "Patricia is led to take stock of her life and reassess her sense of social values."
• "vicious"

Take a look at my previous post about Robin Klein. 

Pictures at Play: Metafiction in Art Eric Carle Museum

 

Image from Julie Morstad It Began with a Page

Pictures at Play: Metafiction in Art

Metafictive books: those that tell stories about stories and about the art of storytelling itself. Artists experiment with styles, typography, and page design to delightfully disrupt the rules of how books usually work. 

Metafiction is not a new concept. Also on display are such classic titles as Peter Newell’s The Hole Book (1908), Dorothy Kunhardt’s Pat the Bunny (1940), and Crockett Johnson’s Harold and the Purple Crayon (1955).

The exhibition at the Eric Carle Museum is from May 4 - November 3, 2024 and it will feature the work of 29 illustrators. Wish I lived there so I could go! Read more here. [There is a bonus surprise at the bottom of this post]

I have added links to the illustrators webpages:

Aaron Becker, Richard Byrne, Lauren Child, Jason Chin, Raúl Colón, Lulu Delacre, Tony DiTerlizzi, Deborah Freedman, E.B. Goodale, Ekua Holmes, Oliver Jeffers, Barbara Lehman, Brian Lies, David Macaulay, Barbara McClintock, Oge Mora, Yuyi Morales, Julie Morstad, Christopher Myers, Kathryn Otoshi, Brian Pinkney, Jerome Pumphrey, Jarrett Pumphrey, Peggy Rathmann, Adam Rex, Dan Santat, Lane Smith, Melissa Sweet, Don Tate, Corey Tabor, Chris Van Allsburg, David Wiesner, Mo Willems, Pamela Zagarenski. 

My posts:

• Aaron Becker
• Deborah Freedman
• EB Goodale (she did the cover for the US edition of We are Wolves by Katrina Nannestad).
• Oliver Jeffers
• Brian Lies
• Oge Mora
• Melissa Sweet
• Chris van Allsburg
• David Wiesner

The exhibition has three thematic sections:

Speaking Out. While characters typically speak to each other in picture books, sometimes they break the fourth wall to speak directly to the reader.

Pictures within Pictures. Metafiction creators love the idea of infinity—infinite ways of reading and infinite meanings of a book.

Books about Books. Metafiction plays with the physical parts of a book. Characters can misbehave or battle each other across the pages, they can disappear into the gutter, or readers can even see themselves holding the same book they just opened.

You're finally here!

Here are a few books that match the topic of this exhibition:

Wordless books by Barbara Lehman

This is a Dog

Bear Hunt

Zoom

Press Here

The Wall in the Middle of the Book

Open this Little Book

Do not open this book!

This might be a bit of a stretch but our 2024 CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) slogan is Reading is Magic and I think you could add in some books from this post.  My friend from Kinderbookswitheverything (see below) has been exploring this theme in a variety of very creative ways but perhaps another idea might be look at books that 'break the fourth wall' - they certainly are examples of book magic!

KINDERBOOKSWITHEVERYTHING - explore these links - they are fabulous:

Reading is Magic: Magic: Everyday Items

Reading is Magic: Magical Creatures: Genies

Reading is Magic: Vocabulary

Reading is Magic: Potions, Spells, Charms and Curses

Reading is Magic: Magical Creatures: Magicians vs Wizards

Reading is Magic: Magical Creatures: Fairies

The Secret Boat by Mark Macleod illustrated by Helene Magisson

As a writer, I knew from childhood that poetry was what I could write. It was not a conscious choice. The form chooses you, because the kind of ‘story’ you want to tell is intimately tied up with the ways it can be told. A picture book is quite like a poem. It communicates through imagery, so it is succinct, multilayered. There are silences and gaps, where the reader is invited to fill out 

the bits of the story that are not being told in the words. Mark Macleod

This poetry collection (poems all penned by Mark Macleod) was only published in 2023 so I was surprised to find this at a recent charity book sale and it only cost $2. The retail price is $25. Then I opened it up and found this copy has been signed by Mark Macleod with the message 'thank you so much!'.  I love mysteries like this. I wonder who owned this book and why they decided to donate it to the charity book fair? I plan to gift it to either a school library or a young reader.

Bookseller blurb: The Secret Boat is a collection of poems for younger readers by Dr Mark Macleod, mixing humour and whimsy with quirky ponderings, conundrums, dreams, longings and childlike observations. The poems take the reader from beachside to countryside, from revolting to delicious, from realism to fantasy, and end with a suite of bedtime meditations. Their inclusive values and playful read-aloud language make them perfect for bedtime, the classroom and play, and offer opportunities for young people to learn and to question. Helene Magisson's meticulous and luminous illustrations enhance the magic with their subtle alternative readings.

See some of the art from this book here. I imagine this book can be found in many school and public libraries. The poems would be perfect to share with a young group of children aged 6-8. The end papers have tiny images all taken from the book - and among them I spied a pelican. Here is the poem:

Pelican

Pelican landing on the lake

slow as a seaplane

with a long swish,

your pink beak

like a cabin bag

crammed full of slippery fish.

Opposites

Under over

In and out

Up and down

Whisper shoud

Big and little

Lean and fat

Happy sad

Bumpy flat

Strong and weak

Smooth and rough

Messy neat

Gentle tough

Thick and thin

High and low

Short and long

Stop and go

Even if it is not used in the classroom formally, the images that are built as the words roll so naturally off the tongue to make the ordinary extraordinary make this just the best introduction to the poetry genre for young people and while the illustrations are exquisite, the words themselves are enough to just shut your eyes, listen and imagine.  The Bottom Shelf

I was lucky to have Mark Macleod as a lecturer of the Children's Literature course I studied in the 1970s. He certainly introduced us to some amazing books some of which I still think about such as Z for Zachariah by Robert C O'Brien; My Darling my Hamburger by Paul Zindel; and The God Beneath the Sea by Edward Blishen and Leon Garfield. And I well remember his presentation at a conference where he talked about the idea of quiet stories. Based on this I started a Pinterest of them. Mark used to pen a blog - it still makes interesting reading.

From the publisher site (Dirt Lane Press)

MARK MACLEOD has worked in almost every possible area of books for children: as a bookseller, editor, Publishing Director for Random House and for Dirt Lane Press, Publisher at Hachette Australia and as publisher under his own name imprint, Mark Macleod Books. Mark has won awards for distinguished service to Children’s Literature, and for many titles he has published, and is himself the author of several books, has been National President of the Children’s Book Council of Australia,

a television and radio presenter and a senior academic.

"As an enthusiastic young lecturer, I would go to the Children’s Bookshop in Sydney every payday, and blow far too much money on books I wanted to read, to have and to share. Those people have taught me what works."

HELENE MAGISSON is a French-Australian artist who originally trained in medieval illumination and art restoration. Since turning her skills to children’s illustration she has illustrated dozens of books, several of which have been awarded recognition. The Secret Boat is Hélène’s first book with Dirt Lane Press.