Brian Wildsmith Oxford reader series

See some pages inside this book here

Read more here

Beginning in the 1980s Brian Wildsmith created eighteen slim 16 page 'readers' for Oxford. The artwork is amazing. How lucky were the children who had these in their library or classroom. Each one ends with a surprise. The series began with The Cat on the Mat. I did have a copy of this one in my former school library but I had not seen other books from this series until I visited the Brian Wildsmith exhibition in Barnsey this year. And then luckily for me the library I visit each week had a few of the titles in their collection. Sadly these are all now out of print but I did find used copies for around AUS$20 each.

Image source: Brian Wildsmith books - click on the images on this webpage to see inside each book.

I took some photos from the books I borrowed this week and also one at the exhibition.

Here is the text from 'If I were you':

I went to the zoo, and I thought ...

If I were an eagle, I would fly to the moon.

If I were a walrus, I would swim to the bottom of the sea.

If I were a monkey, I would climb the highest tree.

If I were an elephant, I would lift a tractor high into the air.

If I were a cheetah, I would win every race.

But if you were me ... you would be free.

This shows you the structure of these stories with a predictable text pattern and then a final twist. Look at all the words a child encountered in this book and they also had a chance to try out the way commas work because each sentence was spread across two pages.

The Trunk is a wordless book and If Only, contains just two words - but there is so much to discover in the illustrations. 

Here is an interview with Brian Wildsmith's children 9Simon, Clare and Rebecca) about his art techniques. 

His work is more suggestive, visually strong, but honouring a child’s natural ability to understand the essence of quite complex paintings in a way that adults often fail to do. He once said, ’I paint what I see with my eyes and feel with my heart.’ From the tiniest of little insects feasting on flowers, to the mightiest of mammals, his art is filled with the joy of all that is best about our world – a world that is rapidly changing but with children that are fundamentally the same as they ever were.

The lonely book by Kate Bernheimer illustrated by Chris Sheban

Do you ever wonder how books arrive in our school library?  There are so many ways.  I might read a review or see a book in a shop or a student might suggest a new title.  One of the ways we find terrific books is via a very special bookseller in Sydney - Kate at Bloomin' Books.  Her selections are always such treasures. While I was away in 2012 she sent The lonely book and so this week I picked it up knowing I was in for a treat.

When the book (the hero of this narrative) is new it is very popular in the library passing from borrower to borrower "it hardly ever slept at the library."  Years and years pass and the book is now over looked and left on the shelf until one day it is found on the floor and borrowed by a little girl who rediscovers its magic "Daddy!' she whispered. 'This is the most beautiful book I've ever read.  Can I take it home?"  The last page is missing but this does not worry the little girl.  She is able to imagine her own happy ending.  The little girl keeps renewing the book but one day she accidentally leaves it behind at the library and a helpful volunteer places it in the basement thinking it is meant to be part of their book sale.  "And the lonely book missed Alice.  Though all the books were kept tidy and safe in the basement, it was very dark.  The book was lonelier than it had ever been."

Finally the day comes for the book sale.  It is raining.  Alice and her dad arrive at the sale.  Will she been reunited with her special book?  Everything about this book is special - the story, the emotional journey undertaken by the book itself and the gentle water colour illustrations.  This book will be one of the first I read to our students this year.

Throughout, Sheban’s soft watercolor illustrations present a warm, cozy depiction of the child’s communion with her cherished book.