Floof by Heidi McKinnon

"Floof is floofy. Floof is very floofy. Floof is the floofiest! 

Good morning, Floof."

Floof (the book and the character) is so much fun. I am not at all a cat person but little Floof has brightened my day and captured my heart. I love her personality including her treachery when she takes the dog’s ball and gets up to all sorts of night time mischief. The style used for this book is simple and uncluttered keeping the focus firmly on Floof. Her name is just perfect and so much fun to say over and over.

The illustrations are so effective making Floof look so fluffy and her eyes are perfectly placed to convey her cheeky behaviour. This book has a delightful balance of words which say one thing and a text which goes so much further. You young reading companion is sure to laugh at all the naughtiness. 

We never meet her family but we feel their exasperation with this naughty cat in the background of so many pages. The mood is light and joyful.  Of particular note are the illustrations where we just see a paw or the tips of her ears, but even these tiny glimpses of Floof say so much. 

This book will fully engage any young reader or preschool group, it is written with a minimal but very effective text, and the layout of the illustrations is varied and interesting. Heidi McKinnon is not afraid to continue an illustration over centre of the page and she includes just the right amount of white space too. The end papers are a closeup of Floof's fluffy fur. 

Take a close look at the text quote at the start of this post. Notice the invented words, the repetition and the use of direct speech - the off stage narrator is speaking directly to Floof. 

Heidi McKinnon brings humour and joy to this splendid cat story. It’s a feel-good read for cat friends everywhere and will have you smiling with every page turn. With seriously cute (and floofy) illustrations in famously fabulous McKinnon style, you are going to wish you owned your very own Floof by the time you close the cover. Kids' Book Review

With humour and delight in equal proportions, this fun book will bring a smile to your face at each turn of the page. Red Reading Hub

You should also look for an earlier book by Heidi McKinnon - We found a Cat.

Meet me at the Moon Tree by Shivaun Plozza

This is a highly emotional story that follows the journey of grief taken by a family after their father dies quite suddenly. Each member of the family handles their grief in a different way but the main journey, for the reader, is through the eyes of the younger daughter Carina. She and her father shared a very special bond over science. Dad was a science high school teacher. Carina's father has told her a wonderful story about seeds that were taken in to space.

"On the thirty-first of January 1971, an astronaut named Stuart Roosa flew into space aboard the Apollo 14. They were headed for the moon, but Colonel Roosa wasn't going moonwalking ... his mission was to carry hundreds of tree seeds - loblolly pine, sycamore, sweet gum, redwood and Douglas fir - into space for an experiment. Scientists wanted to know if zero gravity made trees grow differently."

Carina calls these trees Moon Trees. She and her father had a plan to hunt for them all over the world. 

Mum, Carina, brother Jack and Gramps have now moved from the city to the aptly named very small town of Forrest in Victoria.  This is actually a real town with around 200 people. 

Mum is grieving but for her this means keeping busy and not talking and not showing any emotion. The house is in need of huge repairs and mum works all day and all night and it feels to Carina that her mum no longer loves her.

Jack is just angry - he does not communicate either. Instead he snips and snarls at Carina and at times he is just despicably mean to her. 

Gramps is trying to get on with life. He is optimistic that things will get better. He plans and builds a new garden, enjoys his coffee, makes friends in the town and tries to help Carina as she navigates this terrible time.

Carina is sad and confused and lost but she holds onto the hope that she can find moon tree. She is sure finding the tree will give her way to connect again with her dad. Carina does find the tree with the help of a friendly cockatoo and she also makes a new friend - a girl called Betty. This was one of those books where I just wanted to HUG the friend and thank her for her kindness and quiet wisdom. Every child who is suffering like Carina needs a beautiful friend like Betty.

Ways to identify a Moon Tree:

• Extra twisty branches
• Leaves that glimmer silver in the moonlight
• A feeling of being very ancient and very special
• Golden sap that sparkles with stardust

Meet me at the Moon Tree will be published by University of Queensland Press in July, 2023. I really like the cover by Verónica Fabregat Sebastiá. You can see other books by Shivaun Plozza on her web site.  I expect to see this book listed as a CBCA Younger Readers Notable for the 2024 award. Huge thanks to Beachside Bookshop for my advance copy (note sadly this wonderful independent bookshop is due to close at the end of June). 

Companion reads:

Catch a falling Star

A dog called Homeless

Bird

Wishtree

Mikki and me and the Out of tune tree

The Heart and Mind of Frances Pauley

This is a poem that heals fish by Jean-Pierre Siméon illustrated by Olivier Tallec translated by Claudia Zoe Bedrick

Arthur thinks something is wrong with his fish. Is he bored or is he about to die. Mum suggests the fish needs a poem! But where can Arthur find a poem? And what is a poem? First he looks in the kitchen but all he finds are noodles. He checks out the cleaning supplies but the saggy rag who is always damp and cold reples "no boem 'ere". Perhaps Lolo who works at the bike shop can help. 

"A poem, Arthur, is when you are in love and have the sky in your mouth."

Old Mahmoud is working in his garden watering his rhododendrons. 

"A poem is when you hear the heartbeat of a stone."

His canary Aristophanes says:

"A poem is when words beat their wings. It is a song sung in a cage."

Arthur also asks his grandmother and his grandfather and then he takes all the ideas he has gathered and explains them to his fish. Have you guessed - the words he has gathered form a wonderful poem.

— I’m sorry, Leon, I have not found a poem. All I know is this:

A poem

is when you have the sky in your mouth.

It is hot like fresh bread,

when you eat it,

a little is always left over.

A poem

is when you hear

the heartbeat of a stone,

when words beat their wings.

It is a song sung in a cage.

A poem

is words turned upside down

and suddenly!

the world is new.

Imaginative fauvist illustrations capture the fanciful, free mood of the text as well as the essence of a poem, which indeed can “turn words around, upside down, and—suddenly!—the world is new.” An enchantingly abstract invitation to ponder poetry. Kirkus

Every once in a while, you stumble upon something so lovely, so unpretentiously beautiful and quietly profound, that you feel like the lungs of your soul have been pumped with a mighty gasp of Alpine air. The Marginalian

Olivier Tallec’s work has been called “sensitive”, “stunning”, “breathtaking”, and “beautiful.” Tallec was born in Brittany, France, in 1970. After graduating from the École Supérieure D’arts Graphiques in Paris, he worked in advertising as a graphic designer, after which he devoted himself to illustration. Since then he has illustrated more than sixty books ... Enchanted Lion

Here are some companion reads:

Daniel finds a Poem (check out the comment by the author!)

Stanza

This is a poem that heals fish was published in English in 2007. I wonder how it came to be in my local book store? Very kindly the shop owner gifted this book to me. Very luckily, for you, I see it is still in print. But I am so sad to report my local independent bookshop has decided to close at the end of June. The wonderful owner has been a fabulous source of advance reader copies of books and also a terrific reading companion. I will miss their store, their books and most especially those early copies of books that are about to be released. 

Researching the topic of picture books that feature young poets learning to write poetry I found these and so I have added them to my enormous "to read" list:

Kirkus Star review (Sadly here in Australia this book costs over AUS$40)

Last: The story of a white rhino by Nicola Davies

This is such an important book which should be added to every school library collection. In March, 2018 the last male Northern White Rhino died. 

"This book was inspired by the true story of a real rhino named Sudan. Rhinos were once plentiful in Africa, Asia and even in Europe. But when Sudan was born, members of his subspecies the Northern White Rhino had been hunted almost to extinction for their horn. Rhinos' horn is made of the same material as you nails. Yet, some humans believe it has magical healing properties. Thousands of rhinos have been killed for their horn."

Here is a short video where Nicola Davies talks about her book. 

Publisher blurb Tiny Owl: A rhinoceros is captured by poachers and put in a zoo in the middle of a grey city, where all he can do is pace back and forth. He misses his home in the wild in Sudan, his mother, and the smell of earth and rain. He fears he may be the very last of his kind. Then one day, he is rescued and released back into the wild, to live free with the other rhinos.

Here are some Teacher Notes. Read more at Helping Rhinos and at the Rhino Resource centre. In this post Nicola Davies talks about her inspiration to write this book. 

The Golden Swift by Lev Grossman

In the first train adventure Kate and her young brother Tom meet all sorts of endangered animals and along the way they learn about the main threats - habitat loss, human behaviour, hunting, global warming and more. In this second instalment Kate once again boards the Silver Arrow but this time she makes discoveries about the ways people are trying to reintroduce species to their old homelands - places where they have not been seen for decades or even centuries. 

Publisher blurb: It's been a year since Kate and Tom became conductors on the Great Secret Intercontinental Railway, and life has changed completely! Delivering animal passengers to their rightful habitats using their very own secret steam train, The Silver Arrow, is exciting and magical and fulfilling. Until one day a new and mysterious train almost rams them off the track! Its name? The Golden Swift. Kate catches a glimpse of the conductors. They're children, like them, and they're dropping animals off at all the wrong stations! Kate is determined to catch up with their rivals and confront them. Her actions will lead to an adventure bigger than she could have dreamed of, racing through the highlands of Western Scotland, trekking in the Australian outback and diving down deep into the Bering Sea on a magical submarine. Kate will have to discover a whole new way to offer endangered animals safe and lasting homes … Read a story extract here. 

The blurb makes all of this sound very straightforward but interfering with nature is not an easy solution. On the surface this seems like a good idea to reintroduce species for example beavers to England, but in reality every action has a reaction. Lynx are taken back to Scotland but when the lynx kill some sheep the farmers begin to shoot them. Some of the relocations are successful but in the end Kate and her new friend Jag decide to retrieve all of the animals they previously moved to a new location.

Read more plot details in this review from Reading Time.

The snarky banter of the talking locomotive is an understated delight ... Kirkus 

Here is the alternate cover:

I do wish this book had back notes. I really wanted to know more about so many of the animals that were mentioned: cassowary, wolverine, kodkod, matamata, Przewalski's horse,Darwin's rhea, red-tailed phascogale, western Javan ebony langur, and the American burying beetle.

The Golden Swift is the second book in this series by Lev Grossman. I did enjoy the first book - The Silver Arrow. This second book was an interesting story but it didn't hold my attention in the same way as the first. The reason for the journey to find and rescue Uncle Herbert felt a little contrived and I was unconvinced when he explained why he had been missing. But mostly I just wanted to know more about each of the relocated animals and more about the real world success or failures of these schemes.

In a strange coincidence this is the second train journey I have read over the last couple of week.

The Dragon on the Train

This Old Thing by Cassandra Webb illustrated by Tony Flowers

Today is ANZAC DAY here in Australia. I do hope teachers try to read an ANZAC book with their students when school returns tomorrow.  This Old Thing is very new and it is a perfect book to share with your younger students. Here is my Pinterest with other titles.

Begin with the cover where you can see a young boy looking through an old suitcase - many of the objects scattered on the floor of the garage will be explored in the story. The khaki green immediately shows this suitcase contains items that once belonged to a solider. 

Turn to the start of the story and we see a school notice asking the students to bring something old for ANZAC day. Turning each  page we see the boy selecting objects from the suitcase such as a newspaper, slouch hat, tin cup, playing cards, a photo and a gas mask. On the facing page each of these objects is depicted in a scene from World War I - things used by the owner of the suitcase - his great-great-granddad.

The different end papers in this book are brilliant – filled with objects from the suitcase. (And very sadly you won't see these on the online version of this book from Storybox Library so I want to say please find the book and don't rely on the  video presentation) These curious things are sure to elicit lots of very meaningful discussions with readers.  The book design of the modern child on one page and the memory/scene of the war experience of his great-great grandfather on the other works so well and then Tony Flowers skilfully breaks this pattern and he puts the one scene above the other and finally merges them together in the final scene. Also at times the great-great grandad's story encroaches across the central ditch of the book which asks the reader to interpret how the generations are linked. 

Each object is linked in an interesting, and historically accurate way with its function in the war but there is nothing too confronting or violent here for younger readers. The repeated refrain will work well to hold their attention. Tony Flowers perfectly interprets the spare text.  Every illustration, especially those of the war, contains a wealth of unspoken stories. I love the way the boy has his dog and so does the young soldier. The faded image of the solider standing behind and gazing down at the young boy is a poignant moment of connection between the past and the present.

Taking a close look at the boy's face we see the boy almost joking around with some of the objects  (like the gas mask) and then the reality of what this object meant for the soldier. It’s also interesting how the boy’s facial expressions change as he becomes more aware of the significance of each object and the enormous sense of pride and recognition he experiences at the end. This is a wonderful book to explore that notion of memorial with young readers – how meaningful objects and stories of the past are and how they can help us understand history and the challenges our ancestors faced.

This Old Thing is that rare story: a tender tale that is neither sentimental nor cliched. It offers the reader something new with its double perspective; in the written and design/illustrative text. The child portrayed is an 'everychild' character and the accompanying author and illustrator notes deepen our understanding of the story and the literary approaches taken. The textured hard cover with the shiny texture of the title, boy, dog, chest and war objects are a wonderful prelude to the story. 

It is clear a huge amount of research has gone into the war scenes in this book but they have been created so carefully with an awareness the emotional maturity of the intended audience. At the same time this is a book that should be used with older students as a perfect way to discuss primary sources. I found a very comprehensive set of teaching notes from Tony Flowers where he describes his work at the War Memorial sourcing materials for this book. Read more about this book on the blog Reading Opens Doors.

I would pair this book with these:

Present from the Past

Waiting for Anya by Michael Morpurgo

The setting for this book is the village in Lescun in France. This is a small town located near the Spanish border. The location is so important because from here one man, with the help of a network, is smuggling Jewish children across the border to safety. No one in the village knows about this until Jo stumbles on the remote farm house where he finds a small shoe and sees two little eyes peeking out at him from behind a haystack in the barn.

Jo is charged by Widow Horcada to keep this vital secret but then the German soldiers arrive in the village and the danger escalates.

"Jo was so occupied with this thoughts as he made his way home that he took no notice at all of the empty, silent streets; but as he reached the Square his thoughts were rudely interrupted. The whole village was standing hushed and unmoving like mourners at a funeral. ... An armoured truck stood in the centre of the Square with four soldiers in black uniforms and shining helmets sitting erect in the back of it."

This book was first published in 1990 but it is still available. I picked up a copy at a recent charity book sale. Right up until page 160 of the 170 pages I was ready to list this book for Middle Grade readers then the story events took a terrible turn and I can see why this book was listed as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. I vividly remember the first "children's book" I read where a loved character was killed. Spoiler alert - the final scenes when young Hubert is shot could be very distressing for some students and even worse Benjamin and little Leah are captured and later we learn they perish in Auschwitz. This book is so short that you might think it is a junior book about WWII but recommend mature readers aged 11+. Here is the web site for Michael Morpurgo. Listen to an audio sample here. You can read a generous text extract here. Michael Morpurgo has written many other books with a WWII setting. 

I included lots of covers above because I do think it is interesting to discuss cover designs with students. Waiting for Anya was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and Guardian Fiction award.

While harrowing journeys like these have become familiar, this particular story achieves special resonance in its depiction of the innocent and guilty living side by side, settling into uneasy alliances and learning the lessons of war that leave none untouched. Kirkus

In 2020 this book was made into a movie.

Companion books for middle grade readers:

Belle and Sebastien

The Little Riders

What about Me?

Beyond Belief

Sydney Morning Herald article "Children are forgetting the joy of reading books"

Children are forgetting the joy of reading books 

by Catherine Naylor Sydney Morning Herald

This was the heading of an article in our Sydney Morning Herald yesterday (Saturday 22nd April).

Before I begin to express my thoughts about this important topic I think it is important to analyse the headline/tagline.

Forgetting - This is a silly word. Children are not forgetting they need to be shown how to read for enjoyment and they need to be helped to discover the wonders of reading and books and imaginative storytelling and that help comes via the application of a few very simply ingredients (more on that in a minute). Children are not forgetting they need access to lots and lots and lots of books and followed by time to actually sit and read. Children who discover the magic of being totally absorbed in a wonderful story won't forget the "joy". The issue here is not actually about children forgetting it is about setting children up to read with out distractions. It's about providing children with time and books and interested adults - parents, teachers and most of all school Teacher-Librarians. 

I found the online article which was used for the newspaper item. It is slightly longer and takes a different focus emphasising the issues of screen time. There are quite a few mixed up messages in both the print article and the one online. Catherine Naylor talks about screen time (20 hours a week for some children); recreational reading as a spare time activity (72.4% of children aged 5-14); and boys (only 68% read for fun). Then Catherine Naylor quotes an expert from the Grattan Institute who rightly identifies:

"Children need to read widely to build up their vocabulary and general knowledge. She encouraged parents to help their children rediscover the joy of books." "We want children reading widely and for pleasure."

Sadly there is no mention of school libraries or Teacher-Librarians. Take a minute to read this response from my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything. She makes some very salient points about teachers, new Australian syllabus documents, teaching phonics, the role of parents, helping children develop reading stamina, the role of the school library and teacher-librarian and the changes she has observed that have been happening in UK schools. 

Going back to the Sydney Morning Herald article the discussion then moves onto the issue of disadvantaged children who, very disturbingly, have a much wider reading proficiency gap. Next Catherine Naylor mentions all the other distractions our children have to navigate because we have made their lives so busy - dance, swimming, sport etc. And finally she talks about the expectation that children as young as Year One will know how to navigate the online world for school and for other activities. NO wonder reading has fallen off the cliff.

Of course I don't have a magical solution to these issues but here are a few of the ingredients that I think can help children with reading for pleasure.

Time - reading a book takes time and yes our children have so many distractions. We can't buy time but we can make time by proactively deciding how we (and our children) use the time we have in a day. This will mean turning off ... so you can turn on a book! The longer a child reads the better they become at sustaining this. Reading is a skill and like any skill it takes time and practice and training. My blog is called momotimetoread because I am passionate about the need for adults at home and adults in schools to provide children with TIME for reading. 

Heaps and heaps of books of all kinds - this especially applies in libraries and classrooms but also in homes and this is easy to do because we have wonderful public libraries in Australia plus here in NSW our children do have school libraries. If your school does not have a library ask why? And ask about the staffing - demand a Teacher-Librarian. I know books can be expensive to buy but they make wonderful presents. It is also great to visit charity shops and fairs. I buy lots of books at fairs. AND it is good to have these books in accessible places - the family room, bedroom, car, your tote bag and so on. 

Freedom to make choices - this also relates to giving children access to a wide variety of attractive books - novels, picture books, non fiction, graphic novels, poetry, biographies, audio books.

Interested adults who also read. This can be parents, teachers and especially your school Teacher-Librarian. There are millions of books out there. Please help your child or students to find books they will treasure.

Read to your child not just the youngest one/s and let your children see you reading too. Class Teachers need to do this too - read aloud to your class - every every every day!

So the real topic here should be reading for pleasure. A colleague of mine tells me teachers in some schools are actively discouraged from providing time using programs with names such as DEAR (Drop everything and read). I can hardly believe this could be true.  BUT if we don't give children time, as I have already said a few times here, then how can a child ever discover the "joy" of reading. 

This poster is a good summary of some of the points I have raised here. It comes from the UK (The Open University). 

And I am going to add one more word passion! A passion for reading can be infectious. 

Further reading:

Why Reading for Pleasure is Important for Kids Explore Learning UK

Supporting Reading at Home - Open University

Blog post - Always, sometimes, rarely, never - Momotimetoread

Libraries, Books, Time for Reading and more - Momotimetoread

The Book Whisperer

Raising an Active reader

Raising Readers

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser

The Vanderbeeker family (Dad, Mum, twins Isa and Jessie aged 12, Oliver aged 9, Hyacinth aged 6, Laney aged 4 and their three pets) live in a brownstone on 141st Street Harlem. The family love their apartment home. On the floor above live Miss Josie and Mr Jeet an older couple who have formed a close relationship with the family. On the top floor lives the landlord - Mr Beiderman. He is a reclusive and angry man so the children have to work hard not to make too much noise in certain parts of the building. It is only five days until Christmas and this should be a very happy time of preparations and presents but instead everyone is sad and distressed because Mr Beiderman has told the family he will not renew their lease and they must leave their home by the end of December.

It is time for action. The children meet and make plans. They devise a series of different ways to make Mr Beiderman, or the Beetleman as little Laney calls him, change his mind. 

I loved the problem solving in this story and the team work and the strong sense of community. I also loved the way each of the children have very different personalities and different skills/strengths. Here are some text quotes to give you a flavour of this book:

"The Vanderbeeker kids glanced around at their home, a brownstone in Harlem, New York City. It consisted of the basement; a ground floor with a living room that flowed into an open kitchen, a bathroom, and a laundry room; and a first floor with three bedrooms, a walk-in-closet-turned-bedroom where Oliver lived, and another bathroom, all lined up in a row. ... 'We've lived here most of our lives ... It's the perfect home."

"The kids exhibited an eclectic mix of  physical characteristics and loved comparing which traits they got from what parent. Isa inherited her mother's stick-straight black hair, which Isa always wore in a sleek ponytail or an elegant French braid, while her twin Jessie had Papa's wild, untamable hair, which she never bothered to do anything with. Oliver had Papa's unruly hair but Mama's dark eyes. Hyacinth got Mama's nimble fingers but Papa's large feet. Laney was an exact blend of both of her parents ..."

"So I've been thinking ... that the key to winning the Beiderman over is to play to our strengths."

Hyacinth is crafty, Isa is a musician (violin), Jessie is a scientist, Oliver is a thinker and Laney gives fabulous hugs! Laney is my favourite character and I also want to eat some of the delicious cookies mentioned in the story and the bakery goods from Castleman's Bakery especially those cheese croissants. 

"The kids transferred the remains from the morning's coffeepot into the teapot; then Oliver dumped three generous spoonfuls of sugar into it and Isa added milk. After Jessie stirred it, Isa placed the teapot on the tray and Hyacinth artfully arranged the pastries from Laney's bag. To their knowledge, the Beiderman had never experienced the joy of breakfast in bed, and they were certain that Oliver's excellent idea would win him over."

This plan ends in a disaster - I just exclaimed out loud when the precious teapot tipped off the tray and shattered outside Mr Beiderman's closed door.

I do enjoy books that include maps:

Image Source: Illustrator Jennifer Thermes

I am very late coming to this book as it was published in 2017. I kept seeing this book mentioned in book lists and blog posts but I wondered if it was just too "New York" for an Australian reader. It is not - this is a fabulous book for ANY reader. I read the whole book, 293 pages, in one sitting. An Australian child will have no idea about a brownstone but you can see this architecture on the cover and there are terrific line drawings by the author inside the book too. Oddly Ms Yingling did not enjoy this book. You can read her plot summary and comments here. 

A heartwarming story about family and community that will appeal to readers who also enjoy an old-fashioned feel. Kirkus

This debut novel reads like a joyous, heartwarming Hallmark movie. The conclusion seems inevitable, but the journey will fill listeners' minds with unique pictures of a loving family. School Library Journal audio book review

Here is something fun - a character interview by Karina Yan Glaser with her character Oliver. Here is an audio sample.

Awards:

• - A New York Times Notable Children's Book
• - A Junior Library Guild Selection
• - An American Bookseller's Association Kids' Indie Next List Title
• - A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Children's Fiction Book
• - A Southern Living Best Children's Book
• - A Nerdy Book Club Award Winner
• - A Massachusetts Children’s Book Award Finalist
• - A Georgia Children’s Book Award Finalist
• - A Bank Street Children's Book of the Year Selection

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street was a debut novel for Karina Yan Glaser. There are now six books in the series. The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street; The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden; The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue; The Vanderbeekers Lost and Found; The Vanderbeekers Make a Wish; and The Vanderbeekers on the Road.

The Vanderbeekers reminded me of the Hazel Green book series by Odo Hirsch and also View from the 32nd Floor which is a book I often think about and wish with all my heart had a better cover!