Gooney Bird Green by Lois Lowry illustrated by Middy Thomas

Blurb: There’s never been anyone like Gooney Bird Greene at Watertower Elementary School. What other new kid comes to school wearing pajamas and cowboy boots one day and a polka-dot T-shirt and tutu on another From the moment Gooney Bird Greene arrives at Watertower Elementary School, her fellow second graders are intrigued by her unique sense of style and her unusual lunches. So when story time arrives, the choice is unanimous: they want to hear about Gooney Bird Greene. And that suits Gooney Bird just fine, because, as it turns out, she has quite a few interesting and "absolutely true" stories to tell. Through Gooney Bird and her tales, the acclaimed author Lois Lowry introduces young readers to the elements of storytelling. This book encourages the storyteller in everyone.

The library I visit each week is going through a lot of change. The Teacher-Librarian is on leave for a short break and her replacement has decided to very heavily "weed" the collection. Putting aside the unprofessional and inappropriateness of this task by some one who is just "filling in" I am curious about her criteria. From what I have observed it all seems to be about age and condition of a book and not borrowing frequency or use by staff or value to readers or usefulness in a curriculum sense. And the process is not following the library collection development policy. It is all quite distressing, sad and haphazard.

With this in mind I decided to borrow a few of the older junior fiction books - titles I previously read and enjoyed - hopefully I can save them or at least see for myself if they should be saved. One of these books is Gooney Bird Greene - a book from 2002 - that I first talked about here in 2013. In the past Gooney Bird Greene was a book I often recommended to Grade 3 teachers as a terrific class serial or read aloud book.

I reread Gooney Bird Greene this week and I loved it all over again. What struck me this time, apart from the interspersed "tall tales" Gooney tells her class, were all the wonderful clothing descriptions. Teachers could use these as a writing stimulus for a class.  Here are some examples:

"She was wearing pajamas and cowboy boots and was holding a dictionary and a lunch box."

"Gooney Bird Greene was wearing a pink ballet tutu over green stretch pants, and she had three small red grapes, an avocado, and an oatmeal cookie for lunch."

"On Friday, Gooney Bird was wearing Capri pants, a satin tank top, and a long string of pearls. Her hair was twisted into one long braid, which was decorated with plastic flowers. There were flip flops on her feet."

"She was wearing a ruffled pinafore, dark blue knee socks, and high top basketball sneakers ... (and her) earrings dangled and glittered and were very large."

"Gooney Bird was wearing gray sweatpants, a sleeveless white blouse with lace on the collar, and amazing black gloves that came up above her elbows."

I also loved all the individual class characters - shy and silent Felicia Ann; Malcolm who is often found under his desk; Barry Tuckerman who likes to make important speeches; and sensitive little Keiko.

There are six books in the Gooney Bird Green series:

Book 1: Gooney Bird Greene

Book 2: Gooney Bird and the Room Mother

Book 3: Gooney the Fabulous

Book 4: Gooney Bird Is So Absurd

Book 5: Gooney Bird on the Map

Book 6: Gooney Bird and All Her Charms

Here is the web site for Lois Lowry. Her most famous books are Number the Stars (a book that still haunts me) and The Giver. Here is the Kirkus review of Gooney Bird Greene. Listen to the first few pages here - the audio book sounds terrific. 

The front of my copy of Gooney Bird Greene book mentions other feisty girl characters such as Anastasia (Lois Lowry) and the Blossom books (Betsy Byars). I would also add this long out of print book Freckle Juice and Clementine (Sara Pennypacker). Gooney Bird is also a little like the famous Pippi Longstocking. 

Nimesh the Adventurer by Ranjit Singh illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini

 

It is the end of the school day. Nimesh sets off on his journey. He is a boy with tons of imagination. He knows he not really at school - he is in a cave with a sleepy dragon; the school corridor is filled with sharks swimming under the water; out on the road Nimesh finds himself on a dog sled at the North Pole. Every page turn is a visual delight. Your young reading companion will enjoy finding all the clues in the illustrations and this is a book you could read many times because you are sure to make new discoveries.

This fun, fast-paced narrative will have readers eager to turn the page and imagine their own fanciful scenarios. Kirkus

Here is a web site with teaching ideas and a wonderful story telling video by Love My Books. You can see the whole book here.

I am preparing a talk for IBBY Australia focusing on International illustrators. In the course of my research I saw this book for a really good price. It reminded me of this one:

This book also reminded me of:

I also like keep my eye out for books which celebrate using your imagination. I have a Pinterest of books on this topic which I started with some Kindergarten teacher colleagues who set up a unit of work on imaginative stories to use with their classes.  This initiative made my book heart smile. I also like to collect Tall Tales.

Read this interview with Mehrdokht. Here are some other books illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. She was born in Iran but now lives in the UK:

Rex The Rhinoceros Beetle by M.G. Leonard illustrated by Duncan Beedie

This book caught my eye because I adored Beetle Boy by MG Leonard. Now she has written a beetle picture book.

Buster has found a huge banana. His friend Rex is VERY impressed when Buster describes the way he climbed a huge tree, cut down the banana with his sharp horn and defeated an angry snake but is this really a tall tale? The truth is revealed with the arrival of a hungry chimp. The chimp takes the banana and then reaches out to snack on a tasty beetle or two. Rex expects his friend to spring into action but instead Buster cowers in fear.

In addition to a fun story about truth and lies, heroism and loyalty, Rex The Rhinoceros Beetle also contains four pages of facts about the rhinoceros beetle.  Did you know:

• Only boy rhinoceros beetle have horns
• Baby rhinoceros beetles eat rotting wood
• Rhinoceros beetles can't bite or sting or hurt you
• Their horns are hollow and light
• Rhinoceros beetles live everywhere except Antarctica

Here is a video of MG Leonard talking about her book and then reading Rex The Rhinoceros Beetle.

MG Leonard loves insects especially beetles. If you are looking for a brilliant Middle Grade series I highly recommend all the book in the Beetle Boy series:

The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Applet

As the title suggests the setting for this story is a swamp in the east Texas bayou.  Sugar Man swamp is home to a number of animals but of importance in this story are two raccoons, a rare bird that mayb even be extinct, some alligators, dangerous rattle snakes and the Sugar Man himself. He is a bit like a yeti or a Sasquatch. Growing in the swamp are various wonderful tall trees and some very special sugarcane. From this cane you can make muscovado sugar.  Paradise Pies Cafe use this sugar to make delicious fried pies - fresh baked each morning.  Also waiting to be found in this swamp is an old car.  It is a 1949 Sportsman DeSoto

The true blue scouts of the title are two racoons named Bingo and J'miah. The live in the old car and when lightning strikes, the radio in the car springs to life with words of wisdom, warnings and a weather update. Right now, though, the most dangerous thing in the swamp as far as Bingo and J'miah are concerned is a large group of hungry wild hogs who are heading straight for the sugarcane. Our scouts need to warn the Sugar Man but how do you do this when he is asleep and likely to be real angry if woken too soon.

For the humans who live near the swamp there is another danger:

• Who is the enemy? Sony Boy Beaucoup who wants to drain the swamp.
• Who is the hero? It is Chap (full name Chaparral) who plans to save a boat load of money to pay off this vile man. It is Chap who plans to find that missing car, and the missing rare bird (Ivory-Billed woodpecker) and hopefully prove the Sugar Man is not a myth. But maybe this last part might not be such a good idea?

I adored, I am going to say that word again - adored reading this book.  I had read The Underneath by Kathi Appelt so I was very keen to experience another of her books. Oddly it has taken me almost a year to do this.

Can you imagine in taking 2 or 3 or 4 or even 5 story lines and tossing them all up in the air. I am sure you are visualising this as a huge tangle. NO Kathi Appelt does this with the ease of a consummate circus performer. Some how she blends all these story threads and gives her reader an utterly splendid story set in the swamps of Texas.

I knew from the beginning, from the very first chapter, I was going to enjoy this story. I read the whole book in one go while sitting on a train travelling to southern NSW. I think Kathi had me hooked with words and phrases such as:

nosiree
falderal
'Houston we've got a problem'
'It was glory hallelujah, get out the biscuits, my-oh-my-oh-my.'
'He was clearly up the tree without a parachute.'
'Those pies kicked their stripy booties.'

This book gives you such a strong sense of place and the people and it is so funny yet poignant too. Here is a description of Sonny Boy Beaucoup the man who plans to sell the swamp and turn it into a Alligator World Wrestling Arena and Theme Park.

"... the man was all decked out in a fancy blue and white seersucker suit with a red bow tie. He wore white wing tip shoes, with the thinnest socks Chap had ever seen. The socks were so thin, Chap could see the light-colored hairs of the man's legs through the sheer knit. How would they ever protect his ankles from the biting fleas that lived in the swamp?"

If you read this book with a group (and I'd suggest this would be a terrific thing to do) here are a set of Book Discussion questions from the publisher. You can listen to an audio sample of the first chapter here.

In a honeyed dialect, the omnipresent narrator directly engages readers, ricocheting between the hilarious human and critter dramas to a riotous finale.  A rollicking, ripping tall tale with ecological subtext. Kirkus Star review

As I sunk into the marshy land of the swamp, it was Appelt’svoice, that honeyed drawl, that I heard as if she were sitting beside me whispering into my ear, “All will be well, sister.”  And indeed, it was. Nerdy Book Club

There’s rollicking humor and wild adventure and zesty danger here, as well as a thread of poignancy to anchor us. There’s a marvelously complex web of folks and their enterprises, all unknowingly barreling towards one grand mash-up. And there’s a swamp to save, with its rich habitat hanging in the balance. All of this is told in a delightful, folksy, storyteller’s voice, with short (at times very, very short!) chapters that pop in on one scene, then switch to another locale, keeping us turning those pages to find out more. Orange Marmalade Books

Squidge Dibley destroys the School by Mick Elliott

This is story is a huge romp. Here is a quote from the publisher web site:

Things are going downhill fast for class 6PU at Craglands South Primary School. They've changed teachers more times than most kids change their socks, and their latest one is so strict they aren't even allowed to sneeze. But just when it seems like the school term has been turned into a prison term, a new kid arrives.

• A kid unlike any other kid at Craglands South
• A kid named Squidge Dibley
• He's small, quiet and strangely ... squidgy
• And he's about to change everything

Squidge Dibley destroys the school is the perfect book for a reluctant reader. There are plenty of laugh out loud moments. Vice Principal Hoovesly is wonderfully despicable character. Padman is an excellent narrator and Squidge, even though we don't hear from him directly, is a kid you might not want in your class unless your class is as bad and unlucky with their teacher as 6PU. The things he can do will amaze you.

I would follow this book with a couple of old titles which might be in your school Why I hate School by Michael Fatarsky (Kris Stanhope) and Problem Child by James Roy. If you enjoy books by David Walliams you should look for the Squidge Dibley series.

Take a look at Mick's web site. I was excited to see he mentions The Mysterious Benedict Society.

This book will be available on 25th June.  Huge thanks to Beachside Bookshop for my advanced reader copy.

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.

Tales of Olga da Polga by Michael Bond illustrated by Catherine Rayner

Last post I was talking about cover designs.  The Tales of Olga da Polga was first published in 1971 and so this classic book has undergone many different cover designs.  I was lucky to borrow the one illustrated by Catherine Rayner. It has black and white illustrations which are perfect but I have discovered there is also a colour version (2015).

The tales of Olga Polga is one of those classic books that appears on most read-aloud lists. I am not sure why I had missed reading it until now.

Olga is a wonderful character. If you have read other books about guinea pigs such as the series about Humphrey by Betty G. Birney and the Pee Wee trilogy by Joanna Hurwitz you will have met a character similar to little Olga.  I love this description right near the beginning of the book:

"There was a kind of charm about her, something in the set of her whiskers, an extra devil-may-care twirl to the rosettes in her brown and white fur, and a gleam in her eyes, which set her apart. Even her name had an air of romance. How she had come by it was something of a mystery, and Olga herself told so many fanciful tales about moonlit nights, castles in the air, and fields awash with oats and beautiful princesses  ..."

Olga is a natural storyteller. She enthralls her audience with her tall tales of guinea pigs in Peru and how they came by their rosettes and a wonderful tale about a tower of guinea pigs who sent one of their kind to the moon.

Olga is a force of nature. She is very confident and somewhat opinionated but somehow also quite naive and this gives her a sweet charm.  I am looking forward to exploring some of the other stories by Michael Bond about little Olga. There are six in the series along with some omnibus editions and picture books. Each chapter, and there are thirteen, in The Tales of Olga da Polga can stand alone and so this is a perfect book for a family or class read-aloud.

The best word for this/these stories really is fun. They are fun to read, fun to hear, fun to see, and fun to imagine. Both parents and kids will love Olga da Polga. Expect many nights reading about this fascinating guinea pig, from the creator of Paddington Bear.  Kid Lit Reviews

Our Kid by Tony Ross

"Go straightly to school Our Kid. Don't be late again.

So I shoffled my homework into my bag and took the short cut."

Taking the shortcut is a big mistake. Our Kid is indeed late for school and he loses his homework too.
He tries to explain the series of events that happened on his way to school including the pirates who take his school bag but of course he is not believed and is sent to the naughty corner.

This book is filled with delightful invented and onomatopoetic words:
You have to dunkle your hooves in the water.
I rode on the deck and off be bumpeeded down the road.
These were dinopirates, so some were squiddly, but others were felumpingly big.
I cried, as the pirates sniggled and bounded away.


I do enjoy a tall tale. Books like On the Way Home by Jill Murphy and John Patrick Norman McHennesy the boy who was always late by John Burningham are firm favourites and now I have Our Kid by Tony Ross. Read the Kirkus review. This is a book you must share with a child there is so much to enjoy including the great title - Our Kid (he is a goat!)

Hating Alison Ashley by Robin Klein

Hating Alison Ashley was first published in 1984 and that is the year I read it.  We have packed up our school library for new carpet and at the same time culled some of our older books.  Our copy of Hating Alison Ashley is in bad shape and it has the unappealing movie cover so before adding a new copy to my shopping cart I thought I should re-read this classic story.  This book was so famous in the 1980s that it became a movie (it received a great deal of criticism) and a play.

Hating Alison Ashley is 32 years old and if you need to find evidence of the way our lives have changed this book can provide so many examples - here are few :

• At the camp rain forces them inside for "an evening of projected colour slides."
• The school secretary uses a golf-ball typewriter
• Valjoy, Erica's sister, works at a milkbar
• School worksheets are made using a spirit copying machine
• Clag Glue, Quick Eze, Letraset
• Library borrowing using cards
• Prisoner on TV
• Mums with rollers in their hair and smoking
• Film cameras and a school dark room
• Record albums "I can't play any for you right now, ... the stereo needs a new needle. I'm terribly fussy about scratching my records."
• Making a phone call from a public phone costs 20 cents

There are some moments in this book where the writing just sparkles.  Teachers who read this book will smile when they read :

Four teachers take the Year six kids to camp.  "(Miss Lattimore) hadn't wanted to come along to the camp.  From the sick bay I had heard her having a fight with Mr Nicholson ... She'd threatened to quit the Education Department and earn a living making macrame flowerpot hangers ... But since none of the other teachers on the staff, except Mrs Wentworth, wanted to come to the camp, Miss Lattimore had to give in. Mr Kennard didn't have any choice. He was straight out of teachers' college."

Erica shows Alison around Barringa East Primary School and takes her to the library. "Mrs Cheale took a real shine to her straight away. She showed Alison the new books that hadn't been processed yet.  Usually if someone dared lay a finger on any uncovered books, she changed from a patient teacher into a monster with fangs and a black velvet cloak. ... Alison ... was telling Mrs Cheale that her aunt was a librarian. Librarians always seem fascinated if you know someone else who is a librarian."

"It was funny none of the teachers' kids were enrolled at our school.  You'd have thought it would be more convenient for them."

Also Robin Klein creates such masterful contrasts between the glamour of Alison and the grungy, messy chaos of Erica (Yuk, Erk or Gherkin),

"She was wearing this soft blue skirt, and a shirt the colour of cream, with not a crease nor a wrinkle nor a loose thread anywhere ... Long, pale-gold hair caught back with a filigree clasp, and tiny gold roses, the size of shirt buttons, in her ears."

ALISON "... she had a chicken drumstick wrapped in foil ... a stick of celery with the tips curled, a tiny perfect tomato like a ruby ... and a smart white drink bottle with a gold lid filled with orange juice.  She also had a straw in a cellophane wrap."
ERICA "I'd ordered a meat pie, an ice jam donut, and this lovely yellow banana, just begging to be unzipped and eaten."

"The coat hangers she'd bought along weren't the old wire ones from dry cleaning; hers were all padded and crocheted."

Even though the story feels dated I still really enjoyed reading this book again.  Erica is such a funny character but she is also real girl who needs a true friend.  Listen to this little audio sample.   Here is an assignment to use with this book.

Sadly Robin Klein became ill in 2005 and is no longer able to write.  Her final books were fabulous.  I especially loved Came back to show you I could fly, People might Hear you and Games.

Tales for very picky eaters by Josh Schneider

This is a book you should read just for the fun of the storytelling.

Tales for very picky eaters has five simple stories with tantalizing titles:

• The tale of the disgusting broccoli
• The tale of the smelling lasagna
• The tale of the repulsive milk
• The tale of the lumpy oatmeal
• The tale of the slimy eggs

James does not want to eat these food but through good humour and wild storytelling his father is able, each time, to change his mind.

James asks about an alternative to broccoli. (Personally I adore broccoli and I feel sad that brussels sprouts and broccoli receive such bad press.)  His father offers dirt, used chewing gum or a sweaty sock flavoured with apple and cinnamon.  James changes his mind!

James complains the lasagna smells funny. His father explains he will now have to fire the troll who labours hard to make this lasagna down in their basement.  The troll  will have to return to his old job working for the rat circus.  James feels sorry for the troll and decides to eat the lasagna.

"Milk is repulsive and I won't drink it.' 'That's probably a good idea,' said James's father.  "Milk give growing children strong, hard bones.  Think of all the great things you could do with nice soft bones." It is easy to imagine what happens next when James thinks about all the sports he loves to play.

This little book was the winner of the 2012 Theodore Geisel Award. We have nearly all the past winners in our library.  Here is the review in Kirkus.

Children love seeing how the father spins these outrageous tales, until at the very end James turns the tables on his father when he actually decides to try something new.