Saturday by Oge Mora

"Saturday was the day they cherished."

On Saturday the little girl and her mum go to the library; the hairdresser; take a picnic in the part; and on this Saturday there is a puppet show. It sounds like a perfect day BUT ...

Bookseller blurb: A mother and daughter look forward to their special Saturday routine together every single week. But this Saturday, one thing after another goes wrong - ruining story time, salon time, picnic time and the puppet show they'd been looking forward to going to all week. Mom is nearing a meltdown...until her loving daughter reminds her that being together is the most important thing of all.

Make sure you notice the calendar end papers - there is a tiny change from front to back. 

I am writing this blog in Australia and yes, this is an American book, but I think this is one you should consider reading to your class - all ages. The theme of this book is disappointment and how to cope when things do not go the way we expect. Saturday was published in 2019 and it is still available but only in hardcover and so it is way too expensive for our school libraries but I am sure you will find this book in some public libraries. 

Here is a Kirkus interview where Oge Mora talks about her work and this book. You can see more books by Oge Mora here. 

Thank you, Omu!

Things start to go awry almost immediately, but Ava’s mother is full of reassurances, and they have a strategy for dealing with disappointment: pause, close their eyes, breathe deep, and move on. But after the biggest disappointment comes at the end of a daylong string of them, it’s Ava who brings comfort to her mother in a touching moment that may bring tears to readers’ eyes. Kirkus Star review

Sleep Rhymes around the World edited by Jane Yolen

"Mothers and fathers all over the world sing and tell and tell lullaby rhymes to their sleepy children, whether those children doze in tents or huts or apartment houses that reach the sky."

First off I do need to say this book (1994) is long out print but I wanted to share it because I love the idea of collecting lullabies, books like this can be an interesting way to explore illustrators from around the world, and when I saw Jane Yolen's name on the cover I knew this book would be a special one.

Blurb: Sleep rhythms around the world presents a wonderful collection of lullabies from seventeen different nations. Each lullaby is illustrated by an artist native to the country represented. 

Here are some of the countries: Afghanistan; Nigeria; Finland; Uganda; Thailand; Italy; USA; Slovenia; Venezuela and Ukraine.

Illustrators with pages that appeal to me Italy - Maria Battaglia; Ukraine - Maria Peschena; Finland - Kristina Louhi; Iran - Feroozeh Golmohammadi; and Turkey - Mustafa Delogu. 

Read some review comments here. 

Jane Yolen also edited a companion volume entitled Street Rhymes around the world (1992).

Wild Berries by Julie Flett

 

Bookseller blurb: Spend the day picking wild blueberries with Clarence and his grandmother. Meet ant, spider, and fox in a beautiful woodland landscape, the ancestral home of author and illustrator Julie Flett. This book is written in both English and Cree, in particular the n-dialect, also known as Swampy Cree from the Cumberland House area. 

Wild Berries was published in 2013 but I see a new edition will be released this year [9781772291049]. With a group of older students in Australia you could introduce the topic of other indigenous peoples such as the Cree of Canada. This book would also be brilliant to use with in an art class in High School. 

Read this interview with Julie Flett about her work and you can see inside Wild Berries. 

Except for a passing fox and the occasional bird, animals are depicted as silhouettes, which adds to the episode’s overall visual simplicity. ... A sweet commemoration of a shared experience, presented with care and infused with intimacy. Kirkus Star review

Here are some other books to explore by Canadian illustrator Julie Flett - you should consider adding at least one of her books to your library collection. I mentioned Julie Flett in this previous post.