Agatha May and the Angler Fish by Nora Morrison and Jessie Ann Foley illustrated by Mika Song

"Each of you scholars will research a creature that lives in the ocean. 

You'll learn all its features."

"Pick any sea-dweller from under the sun, but no two children 

may choose the same one!"

There is SO much to enjoy about this book. Agatha May is a clever child, but she is bouncing along to her own beat - I love her nonconformity. I also love her passion which in this case is for Anglerfish. Agatha waits in the line for her turn to select a fish to research:

"As Agatha listened, the tears gathered fast. She had no merit points! Her turn would be last! She was tardy and dreamy, her interests were odd, her fingers were charcoaled, her breath smelt like cod!"

I have listed this book as a picture book (fiction) but really it is both fiction and nonfiction. Agatha talks with so much authority about this fish and at the back of the book there are two pages of facts and further read. 

One of the brightest students I was ever lucky enough to work with in my Primary school was a little like young Agatha. Her schoolwork and desk were always completely messy (seemingly disorganised) but young Blair knew where everything was. I am sad to say her messy habits did infuriate her class teacher just as we see in this book with Mrs Marino. I wish I could wind back time and share this book with that teacher from my school. Blair was one of our school leaders and I know by the end of the year the teacher did come to appreciate her outstanding intelligence, but it did take a long while for him to understand this Grade Six girl. (She is now a senior associate in a legal firm).

Read more about the Anglerfish here. You might find a book in your school library about Anglerfish or a general fish book might have a chapter with details of this curious creature.

The satisfaction of seeing Agatha May rewarded for her fixation is rivaled only by Song’s marvelous watercolor embodiment of Agatha May’s untidy, obsessive self. Kirkus

My Beautiful Voice by Josephy Coelho illustrated by Allison Colpoys

"My heart starts booming, my skin becomes a raging river,

I feel scared and nervous inside. But then.. "

"I feel my voice inside me ... It feels like it wants to be heard."

The terror of public speaking is a genuine feeling for many adults and children. Add to this publicly reading a poem of your own composition and that fear is multiplied many times over. My Beautiful Voice is the story of one boy and the way he overcomes his fears with the help of a wonderful, vivacious, energetic and loving teacher. Miss Floatsam is a force of nature. When our narrator's work is snatched by a young girl in the class "Miss Flotsam gazes at her with eyes that can turn thunder into summer rain."

When you share this book with your class, though, you will need to be prepared for the ending - spoiler alert- we never hear the actual poem that the child has so carefully crafted.  I call this a Harvey Slufenburger moment. Have you read the famous book by John Burningham where we travel with Santa on his long and dangerous journey to the home of Harvey Slufenburger all the way anticipating the wonderful Christmas present? I love the way children always sigh over the words "I wonder what it was". 

With My Beautiful voice though, we do have some hints about the poem and so, after reading this book for the first time, you could go back and gather up some of the possible ideas:

"A flutter of fabric filled with the spice of colour."

"quiet heroes and beautiful unheard songs."

"like her long-lost languages in shut up tombs and finding new accents in rainbow bustling markets."

I highly recommend My Beautiful Voice as a book well worth adding to your Primary school library picture book collection or perhaps you will shelve it (as my copy has been classified) at 361.37 which oddly is a number for social work and specifically volunteers. 

Publisher blurb: Follow a child who is so shy she doesn't speak. With the encouragement of an enchanting and magical teacher, she writes a poem. But a poem is meant to be read aloud! She musters all her courage, stands at the front of the class and shows her classmates that she does have a voice. And her voice is BEAUTIFUL! The perfect way to encourage empathy in young children and show shy children how to feel brave.

Joseph Coelho lives in the UK and from a young boy he wrote poetry: I wrote poems about how I was feeling, poems about life at school, angry poems, sad poems, funny poems and sometimes I’d nervously share those poems in my drama class. Perhaps My Beautiful Voice is partially autobiographical. 

Allison Colpoys lives in Melbourne - so we have another delicious book mystery - How did the pubisher Frances Lincoln (UK) bring these two book creators together.

Nana Akua goes to School by Tricia Elam Walker illustrated by April Harrison

When you enter my creative world, I want you to FEEL something . A tug at the old heart strings. Perhaps a distant memory you stored away. April Harrison (illustrator)

It is Grandparents Day. This means you invite your grandparent to talk to your class. The idea is that each older person will share with the class "what makes them special."

Zura is worried. Her Grandmother - Nana Akua is her most favourite person in the world but she has seen the way other people react to the markings on Nana Akua's face.

"Nana Akua looks different. When she was younger, her parents followed an old African tradition. They put marks on her face to show which tribal family she belongs to, and to represent beauty and confidence. These marks will never go away."

Nana Akua is so wise. She suggests they take a special quilt to show the class. They will use this to explain the Adinkra symbols used by the Akan people of Ghana. You can see all of these marks on the end papers of this book. The way Nana Akua explains the markings and then finds a way to share this experience with the young children is ingenious and perfect. 

This book made me cry. I am someone who cries over many things - movies, television commercials, children singing in an assembly and novels but I cannot think of a time a picture book has made me cry. I don't think this is a bad thing - I think it is a testament to the power of this writing and the poignancy of this beautiful story. I didn't cry because I was sad I cried because this story moved me deeply. 

Harrison’s mixed-media collages use texture, line, and both neutral and bright colors to create memorable characters and moments that invite readers to linger over each spread. Here is a story that is both highly specific in the culture represented and universal in its expressions of emotion and heritage. Horn Book

A wonderful springboard for cross-cultural understanding conveyed through deeply symbolic art. Kirkus Star review

IBBY has six important goals. Here are two of them which relate to this book:

• to promote international understanding through children's books
• to give children everywhere the opportunity to have access to books with high literary and artistic standards

I am sad to see this book is very expensive here in Australia which may mean it is not able to be purchased for many school libraries but if you can spare the money I would love to see this book added to your Primary school collection. In this video Tricia and April talk about their book and and this video you can see the whole book.

Here are some other books by Tricia Elam Walker (Dream Street is due for publication in September and Ekua Holmes is her cousin); and What is Given from the heart illustrated by April Harrison.

Louisa May Pickett the most boring person in class by Rod Clement

Do you call it news? Do you call it Show and Tell? I'm talking about the time in the school day, usually in the morning, when members of a class take turns to talk about something or to show something precious to their friends. Teachers are always looking for ways to make these sessions more interesting. For some curious reason children do love Show and Tell but oddly they worry about performing for public speaking. These two activities are quite closely linked.  Show and Tell feels like a good way to prepare for public speaking.

Louisa May has been a champion at Show and Tell for the last three years but now she has moved to a new school - Bobbin Head Primary.  A little note to readers in Sydney, Australia - there really is a place called Bobbin Head but sadly there is no Primary school there.  It is a beautiful bush suburb. For her first Show and Tell Louisa takes along a sabre-toothed Tiger skull.

"I think I should start nice and slowly.
I don't want to look like a show-off ... well not on my first day."

There is a shock coming. Her skull is 'beaten' by the head of a Tyrannosaurus Rex bought in by Jake.  The pattern is established. Each day Louisa brings something amazing only to be gazumped by another kid in her class.  Here is a list to show how this works:

Louisa
Juggling mouse
Ruby
Tap dancing and singing rat

Louisa
Complete samurai suit
Anthony
Warrior troll outfit

Louisa
Meat-eating plant
Reginald
Black rhino - he eats her plant

She even has a talking chair that recites the complete works of Shakespeare, solider ants dressed as soldiers and an Eiffel Tower made from match sticks. But each and every time another student presents something bigger, or better or more amazing.  By May 3rd she admits defeat. She stand in front of the class and explains:

"My name is Louisa May Pickett
and I have nothing to show you and nothing to tell.
I did nothing all week.
I stayed at home with my parents.
I ate.
I slept.
I sat around and
thought about ... nothing.

And you know what?
I loved every minute 
of it!"

This is such a funny book and it is a good way to explore the concept of:

one-upmanship

I work with a small group of girls in a local school and their teacher would like them to participate in the NSW Premier's Reading Challenge this year.  I am not sure if this is the right project for these girls who all find reading very difficult but they are keen to participate and reach their goal of reading twenty books. Luckily the challenge does allow for special needs students to read books from a different book list. These girls are in Grade 5 but I am sourcing books for them from the Grade 3 and 4 lists. I shared Louisa May Pickett with them last week when we were looking at a range of possible titles to begin the challenge.

Louisa May Pickett was published in 2005 and since that time it has been given a new cover and a new title! I wonder if there was an issue with the word 'boring'? The good news is you can still purchase this book.

If you want to follow up this topic of class news try to find this terrific read aloud title -  Gooney Bird Green. Your school library might also have Whoppers by Moya Simons and the sequel Even Bigger Whoppers from the Aussie Bites series.  Here are a some other picture books about Show and Tell. Read my review of The Frank Show.

After you read Louisa May Pickett you might like to pick up an earlier book by Rod Clement - Just another Ordinary Day.  It has a similar tone and theme.  You could then read other books by Rod Clement such as Edward the Emu.  You can listen to an sample of Edward the Emu here. It is one of Rod's most famous books.