Sharing with Wolf by Melinda Szymanik illustrated by Nikki Slade Robinson

"My favourite food is grass, with the occasional daffodil. My favourite season is spring and my favourite colour is green. What about you?"

"My favourite colour is silver, like the moon. And my favourite season is also spring, because there is plenty of my favourite food around. It's in my nature."

Think about the cover and end papers with your library group or young reading companion. The sheep has a knitting basket and (on the end papers) the wolf has a book with the ominous title "50 ways with Mutton". Throughout the book keep your eye on the knitting basket - it has some fun labels.

Wolf is looking for a housemate. Lamb arrives. 

"I'm a quiet sort who loves minding my own business. It's true I do tend to follow the flock, but my wool makes very nice sweaters and bed socks."

The answer from Wolf is a little surprising. He says he cannot share with a sheep because ... well he likes to eat sheep.

BUT Sheep will not take no for an answer. Warning the ending might SHOCK you! Perhaps Sheep should have stayed with her flock.

Here are the teaching notes from Scholastic. Here is an interview with the author and illustrator. The suggested age for this 2020 picture book (I borrowed it from a library) is 4-8 but I think older children are more likely to enjoy the fun and perhaps not be too upset that maybe that little sheep has just become lunch for the wolf. 

The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi illustrated by Greg Hilderbrandt

Any copy of Pinocchio in English is a translation from the original story written in 1883 by Carlo Collodi whose real name was Carlo Lorenzini. His pen name, Collodi, refers to the name of the village where his mother was born. Every time I pick up a copy of Pinocchio I check to see the name of the translator. Often this is not mentioned. My copy featured today says: text adapted and abridged by Elizabeth Haserick.

So, as you can see my copy here today is both a translation, of course, and an abridged version. The actual novel of Pinocchio is 288 pages. I have not read the full book but my version today covers the main incidents. This one illustrated by Greg Hilderbrandt is long out of print but it is sure to be in many libraries. It is a long format picture book and would make a great family read aloud. 

Derived from the Italian words “pino” meaning pine tree and “occhio” meaning eye, Pinocchio’s name symbolizes his creation from a piece of pine wood by the woodcarver Geppetto. The name carries a sense of magic, mystery, and transformation, making it an enduring symbol of childhood wonder and imagination.

Pinocchio is available in many formats from board books to picture books and novels as well as ebook versions and it has been translated into 300 languages. There are also very simple versions such as one from Ladybird books. When I searched on Goodreads I found over 3500 versions of this famous classic.

The story was originally published in serial form as The Story of a Puppet (Italian: La storia di un burattino) in the Giornale per i bambini, one of the earliest Italian weekly magazines for children, starting from 7 July 1881. Near Florence you can visit Pinocchio Park. 

I found this plot summary:

Chapter 1: Pinocchio's Creation

In the first chapter, the kind-hearted woodcarver Geppetto creates Pinocchio out of a magical piece of wood. As soon as Pinocchio comes to life, he starts causing trouble and running away, setting the stage for his misadventures.

Chapter 2: Pinocchio's First Misadventure

Pinocchio encounters the cunning Fox and Cat, who persuade him to join a puppet theater. However, Pinocchio soon realizes that the puppet master intends to turn him into firewood. With the help of the Blue Fairy, Pinocchio escapes, but not without facing consequences for his gullibility.

Chapter 3: Pinocchio's Encounter with the Talking Cricket

Pinocchio meets the Talking Cricket, who advises him to be obedient and honest. Annoyed by the cricket's wise words, Pinocchio throws a hammer at him, inadvertently killing him. This impulsive act sets the stage for Pinocchio's journey of personal growth and redemption.

Chapter 4: Pinocchio's Trip to the Land of Toys

Pinocchio is lured to the Land of Toys, where children can play all day without consequences. However, Pinocchio soon discovers that the Land of Toys is a trap, turning disobedient children into donkeys. He narrowly escapes this fate but is left with donkey ears and a tail as a reminder of his foolishness.

Chapter 5: Pinocchio's Rescue of Geppetto

Pinocchio embarks on a mission to rescue his father figure, Geppetto, who has been swallowed by a giant shark. With courage and determination, Pinocchio saves Geppetto and learns the importance of selflessness and sacrifice.

Chapter 6: Pinocchio's Transformation into a Real Boy

Pinocchio's bravery and selflessness finally earn him the reward he has longed for – a transformation into a real boy. Through his journey, Pinocchio learns the value of honesty, bravery, and the importance of making virtuous choices.

I visited Italy last year. I was intrigued to see every market in Tuscany had Pinocchio puppets for sale in all sizes and price points. Then I went into a beautiful huge bookstore where they had a whole shelving bay full of different versions of Pinocchio. Here is my photo:

There are many ways you could read or use the story of Pinocchio with your class. In art you could compare all the different cover illustrations or look at the work of the famous illustrators below. This book is also a terrific example of a trickster tale. Take a look at my small Pinterest collection. As a read aloud, you could read one story incident each day. My friend from Kinderbookswitheverything shares the books that feature Pinocchio from her library. 

As you would imagine many very famous illustrators have created their own images for this famous story.

Roberto Innocenti (for older students)

Robert Ingpen (This version has 200+ pages)

Ed Young

Emma Chichester Clark

This version is retold by Michael Morpurgo and is part of a 

Reading Program called Oxford Reading Tree - Treetops

Here is a popup version due for publication in 2025:

Simon and Schuster [9781962098113]

Lane Smith

The Parrot and the Merchant by Marjan Vafaian translated by Azita Rassi

Mah Jahan was a merchant. She collected beautiful things to sell but she also collected birds.

"She kept them in cages or in chains so they couldn't fly away and leave her."

Her favourite bird was a colourful talking parrot from India. Setting off to trade in India, Mah Jahan asked her parrot:

"Tell me what I can bring you to make you happy."

Do you know what will make this parrot happy? 

Here are all her goods loaded onto her camels:

Just as she was about to head back home, Mah Jahan remembered to ask the wild parrots for advice - what will make her parrot at home happy? These parrots cannot talk of course and sadly one dies after hearing the question. On her return, Mah Jahan tells her parrot she has no answer to the question of happiness and that one of the wild parrots had dropped dead. 

"Mah Jahan's parrot said nothing, but after a moment it too suddenly went still, and it dropped to the floor of the cage."

Can you guess what happens when Mah Jahan opens the cage and gently lifts out her precious parrot. YES, it is a trick, and the parrot flies off to freedom (and back to India).

This book has the most wonderful art and a very satisfying story. Be quick - this book in hardcover is available now for a really good price. Since it was published in 2017, I am sure it will soon be out of print. I highly recommend adding this one to your library collection - the art is scrumptious. Or look for the paperback edition [9781910328255]. 

Publisher (Tiny Owl) blurb: This exquisitely illustrated story is an enchanting fable exploring how hard it is to give something you love freedom. The merchant Mah Jahan loves to keep colourful birds in cages, especially a parrot who can talk to her. But when the parrot asks her to bring something back from her trading trip to India, Mah Jahan learns a valuable lesson about how to treat the things and people you love.

This old Rumi tale is adapted by making the merchant a woman but is not otherwise significantly modernized. Iranian illustrator Vafaeian’s ornamented, often surreal illustrations depict Mah Jahan in enormous, colorful skirts and frequently surrounded by comparatively tiny servants. The parrot’s cage is likewise stylized, an ornamented circle that contains the unhappy captive. ...  This 900-year-old story has not lost its classic feel. Kirkus

Read about Marjan Vafaian here.

Try to find some other books about the thirteenth century poet and philosopher Rumi.

Read more about this book here.

Read more about this book here.

This story might remind you of The Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen.

The Circus Ship by Chris van Dusen

 

"Five miles off the coast of Maine and sightly overdue, a circus ship was steaming south in fog as thick as stew."

You could use this opening sentence as a way to begin your exploration of this book. If you are reading this in Australia, you will need a map to locate Maine. Then talk about what 'slightly overdue' might mean and the ramifications of this phrase. The fog is thick - how will that make an impact. What should the captain of the ship do? OH, and wait a minute what is a circus ship? Who or what might be onboard?

The next page helps a little. On board there are fifteen animals, and the ship is heading to perform in Boston. Over the page and yes, the captain - Mr Carrington - does think the ship should wait for things to clear but the aptly named Mr Paine, the circus boss, disagrees and so the ship continues on its journey but of course disaster strikes. The ship hits a reef and everyone, animals too, is thrown overboard. Luckily all of the animals can swim and so they make it safely to shore landing in a small village.

"They pulled themselves up on the shore - bedraggled, cold and beat - then staggered to the village on weary, wobbly feet."

The village people are amazed to find all of these exotic animals surrounding their houses. That night a building catches on fire. The circus tiger has been trained to jump through fire. He dives in and bravely rescues little Emma Rose. 

"The tiger's risky rescue changed everybody's mind - the animals weren't bothersome; the animals were kind."

That could be the end of this story BUT the circus owner is coming. He wants his animals back. The people of the village hatch a cunning plan. You will need to look very closely at this double page scene. Can you spot the fifteen animals? Luckily Mr Paine is not at all observant. 

This book is based on a true story. In 1836 a ship named The Royal Tar was sailing from St. John New Brunswick to Portland Maine. There were 103 passengers and the circus - a elephant, two lions, a tiger, a leopard, six horses, two camels, a gnu, two pelicans, snakes, birds and a full band. There was a disaster. The boiler overheated and the ship went up in flames. Many people and most of the animals perished but there is evidence that the elephant did end up on a nearby island and exotic snakes were also seen on a different island many years after the wreck.  I found this podcast (15 minutes) which recounts these events.

The Circus Ship was published in 2009 but the paperback version [9780763655921] is still available. Here is the webpage for Chris van Dusen. Read more about how he creates his art. If you haven't discovered his work, I highly recommend all of these:

With an older group of students aged 10+ The Circus Ship could be a terrific way to introduce this Australian middle grade book:

Evie and Rhino

When you pick up this book make sure you share the title page with your class or young reading companion. It's a terrific example of why fonts are important. 

Children will pore over panoramic spreads that invite them to find each of the 15 animals and celebrate a denouement that serves up Mr. Paine’s just deserts. Splendid! Kirkus Star review

Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood story from China by Ed Young

"Once, long ago, there was a woman who lived alone in the country with her three children, Shang, Tao, and Paotze. On the day of their grandmother's birthday, the good mother set off to see her, leaving the three children at home."

So what will the children do when a wolf, disguised as an old woman, knocks on their door. She claims to be their Po Po or grandmother and using very persuasive language and the children open the door and let her in. She immediately blows out the candle. In the darkness the children gradually realise this is all a trick.

"Po Po your foot has a bush on it." - it is hemp strings to weave you a basket.

"Po Po your hand has thorns on it."  it is an awl to make shoes for you.

Luckily these three children are very clever. They tell Po Po about some delicious ginko nuts in a high tree outside. Make sure you also think about the pattern of three in the story.

Lon Po Po won the Caldecott Medal in 1990. This ensures that it stay in print and here in Australia the paperback version is available for a lower price. This week I am talking about books written and illustrated by Ed Young because he sadly died very recently. 

Listen to this Fuse8n'Kate podcast where Betsy Bird and her sister talk in depth about Lon Po Po. 

My friend from Kinderbookswitheverything has a huge list of other Red Riding Hood stories. Look for these:

This one is a wordless book that I am very keen to read.

Aesop trickster tale The Fox and the Stork

Recently my friend the Teacher-Librarian from Kinderbookswitheverything gifted (loaned) an Aesop fable or a folktale to each teacher in her school. I always cheer when teachers ask to read Aesop's fables with their class. There are so many and they are such wonderful stories. I plan to borrow various Aesop stories and talk about them here over the coming months. They often contain the most scrumptious illustrations too.

The Fox and the Stork is a trickster tale. The Fox thinks he has tricked the hungry Stork when she cannot eat the soup he has prepared. Her long beak makes soup in a shallow dish an impossible meal. But later it is the Stork who tricks that silly Fox when she offers him a dinner in a narrow jar - perfect for her beak but impossible for the fox. 

Here are some editions of this story. I love the illustrations in the retelling by Karl Ruhmann illustrated by Alessandra Roberti (North South Books 2003). Of course you will also find this story included in most Aesop anthologies.

Karl Ruhmann is the author of another book I loved to read in my former library when we were exploring books about penguins - Filbert flies.

Quill Soup by Alan Durant illustrated by Dale Blankenaar

A stranger arrives in the village. His name is Noko and he his a porcupine. Noko is tired and hungry. The villagers are suspicious of strangers. When Noko asks for something to eat every householder refuses him.  He asks the warthog, the rabbit, the monkey, aardvark, pangolin and the meerkat. 

"None of them, they said, had any food."

"He could see from the villagers' sleek coats and rounded bellies that they were lying."

Noko is smart. He asks for a pot and, as the villagers watch, he pulls three quills from his back and puts them in the pot. He tells the villagers that the king loves his quill soup. Noko tastes his soup and comments that it would taste even better with a few carrots. And so the trick begins. A variety of tasty ingredients are added to the soup and when it is ready every one enjoys a delicious bowl.

This is a richly handsome hardback book that retells the traditional story that many of us know as ‘Stone Soup’. But this time the story is in its African form. It’s an ancient story, but apt for our present time, and for our children. Should we share? With strangers? Awfully Big Reviews

In this video Alan Durant reads his book. Here are a set of activities to use with this book. Dale Blankenaar is an artist from South Africa. You can see some of his work here. Quill Soup won a prize in the Northern Lights Book Awards (Food category) in 2020. Trickers Tales are an interesting genre to include in a library program along with Tall Tales. I recommend Quill Soup as a worthwhile addition for your Primary school library

Companion reads:

The Terribly Friendly Fox by Susannah Lloyd and Ellie Snowdon

Take a minute to look at the cover illustration and title.  Terribly, terrible? Can a fox be friendly especially when it's the evening of the Annual Woodland Creatures Ball. The Fox named The Wiley Fox claims he is a reformed character. He has adopted a new name - Gerald and he tells his host he is now a vegetarian.

This book contains a dual narrative.  You can read the words such as "Gerald turned out to be the life and soul of the party .. and boy, that fox could sing!"

Now check out the party guests.  There are five hens in the foyer of the house and five empty seats later at the dinner table. When the host mouse clears the table he finds two delicious puddings have been left uneaten. Playing a game of musical chairs for some reason it seems there are too many chairs. As you turn each page the crowd of happy party goers is shrinking. By the time the dancing starts there are only nine guests left out of twenty-four. Then we watch the conga line shrink - seven then six. Finally only our host is left.

"But how rude I was. ... I almost forgot to offer Gerald one of our little nibbles. He said not to worry, the other guests had been keeping him well-fed. In fact, he was a trifle full ... "

By the end of the party the guests have all "disappeared" and the exhausted host mouse heads off to bed. Gerald meanwhile lies trapped under fallen party decorations and the heavy chandelier.

Is there a happy ending? Perhaps yes if you imagine the guests might escape from inside the fox or perhaps no!

The Terribly Friendly Fox is a delightfully dark tale which is sure to make you laugh! My Book Corner

Dark humour can be a tricky balance sometimes in children’s books. Roald Dahl was the master at it and Susanna Lloyd has, in this story given us something that harks back to that, with a touch of Brothers Grimm thrown in too. David Ballard Picture Books

Susannah Lloyd has some activities for The Terribly Friendly Fox on her web site. You can see some of the charming illustrations from this book on Ellie Snowdon's web site.