The Rattlebang Picnic by Margaret Mahy illustrated by Steven Kellogg

This book should be a Tuesday Treasure but I am going to talk about it today as I plan to use this book with a group of grade two children next week and this will be a good way to refresh my knowledge of this text.

First off this is Margaret Mahy so you can expect some terrific words. In the Rattlebang Picnic we have the family McTavish their car which is an old rattlebang. Here are some of the delicious words and phrases:

"We can go on picnics, and I will make pancakes and pizzas for us to eat."

"A plume of pure white cloud floated around the top of the mountain."

"the pizza was quite unyielding."

"the car gave a sickening lurch"

"the ten McTavishes could hear the sinister hiss of the red-hot lava ... "

It is a good day for a picnic. Granny McTavish bakes a huge pizza for the seven children and three adults but she bakes it at a low temperature for a long time and so all they can do is hack out a small section in the middle.  It is impossible to eat. They have to make do with cupcakes and apples. The picnic spot is at the top of Mount Fog and everyone enjoys a dip in the hot springs and then they settle down for an after-lunch nap. As they are dozing the mountain starts to jiggle and rumble. The volcano is about to erupt. Everyone jumps back into the car and they head off down the rocky "winding road - bumping and banging and backfiring - while the red-hot lava burbled furiously after them."

Look at this lava by Steven Kellogg - and this is a huge format book so the illustration has even more impact!

Disaster strikes - a wheel falls of the car and plummets off the cliff. What can they do? Of course they have Granny's pizza. The final page is sure to give you a smile. Sadly this book is out of print but if you have a copy in your library or personal collection hold onto it. There is a copy of the paperback edition for sale at AUS$277.

Here are some of the wonderful illustrations by Steven Kellogg.

Rattlebang picnic by Margaret Mahy illustrated by Steven Kellog

It is picture book month and so we are celebrating in our own way with a selection of special picture books.

The Rattlebang Picnic is a wonderful story of ingenuity and family life by master storyteller Margaret Mahy.  Can you begin to guess the location of this picnic :

"It was a beautiful morning.  A plume of pure white cloud floated around the top of the mountain.  The old rattlebang struggled up the winding,rocky road - bumping and banging and backfiring - then stoppped right beside the hot springs."

The McTavish parents have discussed things.  Jack McTavish explains they can either have a wonderful speedy car or lots of children but not both. They decide to have a few children and an old car.  "So the McTavishes had seven children and drove an old rattlebang."

Luckily Granny makes a pizza for the picnic and luckily Granny is not a very good cook.  The pizza will save the day in a most surprising way.

I love exploring all the books in our library by Margaret Mahy.  Her picture books are all gems. This book makes a terrific read-aloud and lends itself to an exploration of our books about volcanoes.

Over November we are featuring one picture book each day.  I will explore some of our week one choices over the next few blog entries.