Celebrate Special Days in 2024

More on this topic in a future post - read more here as an introduction

My local magazine Tawny Frogmouth published a list of days to celebrate in 2024. I picked out a few and added one picture book to match. I have added links to my friend Kinderbookswitheverything blog page because her blog is an outstanding resource for teachers. Her posts celebrate all sorts of days throughout the year, and she has been blogging since 2009! This post can only touch the edges of the wealth of material you will discover when you explore Kinderbookswitheverything.

January

3nd Greta Thunberg’s birthday

22nd Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day

Floof

26th International Environmental Education Day

February

2nd World Wetlands Day

3rd Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day

18th World Whale Day I have so many favourite whale books so it was a challenge to select just one:

Whale in a Fishbowl

24th Possum Appreciation Day. (You will probably read Possum Magic by Mem Fox)

March

3rd World Wildlife Day

I can see Nature's Rainbow

6th Learn What Your Name Means Day

14th International Day of Action for Rivers

21st International Day of Forests

The Girl who Planted trees

April

4th International Carrot Day

14th Reach as High as You Can Day

17th Bat Appreciation Day

22nd Earth Day

It's up to Us

25th World Penguin Day

Tacky the Penguin

May

9th Lost Sock Memorial Day

Lisette's Green Sock

14th Dance Like a Chicken Day

Bear and Chook by the Sea

17th National Endangered Species Day

Last the story of a White Rhino

20th World Bee Day

Bee

23rd World Turtle Day

June

1st World Reef Awareness Day

5th World Environment Day and 8th World Oceans Day

22nd World Rainforest Day

Over and Under in the Rainforest

26th Chocolate Pudding Day

July

16th World Snake Day

19th Stick Out Your Tongue Day

26th World Mangrove Day

The Sea, the storm and the Mangrove Tangle

28th World Nature Conservation Day

One Potoroo

31st Uncommon Musical Instrument Day

Sonam and the Silence

August

2nd Ice Cream Sandwich Day

14th World Lizard Day

September

7th National Threatened Species Day

On the trail of the Plains wanderer

10th National Bilby Day

This is not an Egg

27th Save The Koala Day

29th World Rivers Day

The River

October

10th World Porridge Day

21st Count Your Buttons Day

Corduroy

24th World Kangaroo Day

It was you, Blue Kangaroo

26th Howl at The Moon Day and Night (International Moon Day 20th July)

The Boy who Loved the Moon

November

4th World Numbat Day

13th World Kindness Day

I walk with Vanessa

15th Clean Out Your Fridge Day

The Amazing Adventures of Chilly Billy

December

4th Wildlife Conservation Day

5th World Soil Day

6th Put on Your Own Shoes Day (Shoe buying Day January 14th)

Those Shoes

11th International Mountain Day

Up the Mountain

End of Year Summary 2023

Momotimetoread began in 2008 and now it is 2023. This has been an interesting reading year.  I blogged nearly every day and thanks to the wonderful library I visit each week, I found some special book treasures. I did devote quite a few posts to books published in 2022 from Australia which were either sent to me for judging (Children's Book Council of Australia Picture Book and New Illustrator) or books that won our CBCA award in 2023. I have not listed these in this summary post. I was not permitted to talk about the 2022 Picture Book entries until our CBCA awards were announced in August. You can use the CBCA label from my sidebar to explore these. 

In this list today you can expect to find books from around the world (especially USA, UK and Canada) because I believe we are so lucky here in Australia - we can share books from any country where they speak English and also there are a wealth of translated books each year which are often wonderful discoveries. Not every book listed here was published in 2023 but these were books I read or discovered. Sometimes it takes a while for an international title to reach us here in Australia and I also mostly wait for the paperback editions of US and UK titles which also take time to arrive. 

I blogged just over 440 books this year and I have reached 1.3+ million page views. 

Books I enjoyed the most:

Tyger by SF Said illustrated by Dave McKean

Foxlight by Katya Baylen

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

Summer of the Gypsy Moths by Sara Pennypacker

Willodeen by Katherine Applegate illustrated by Charles Santoso

The Summer We Found the Baby by Amy Hest

A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus

Long Road to the Circus by Betsy Bird illustrated by David Small

Maizy Chen's Last Chance by Lisa Yee

Surprise discoveries:

Little Robot by Ben Hatke

The Secret of the Magic Pearl by Elisa Sabatinelli illustrated by Iacopo Bruno

 The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers

Some Questions about Trees by Toni Yuly (Picture Book)

Ajay and the Jaipur Moon by Varsha Shah

The Elephant in the Room by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Alone by Megan E Freeman (Verse Novel)

Sunshine by Marion Dane Bauer

Best new Australian titles for middle grade:

The Fortune Maker by Catherine Norton

Two Sparrowhawks in a Lonely Sky by Rebecca Lim

Scar Town by Tristan Bancks

Picasso and the Greatest Show on Earth by Anna Fienberg

Being Jimmy Baxter by Fiona Lloyd

The Lorikeet Tree by Paul Jennings

Best Australian Picture books:

The Balloon Blow up by Andy Geppert

Eat my Dust by Neridah McMullin illustrated by Lucinda Gifford (Biography)

Pocket Treasure by Wendy Shurety illustrated by Juliana Oakley

The Concrete Garden by Bob Graham

I am Lupe by Sela Ahosivi-Atiola illustrated by Yani Agustina

A Life Song by Jane Godwin illustrated by Anna Walker

Stay for Dinner by Sandhya Parappukkaran illustrated by Michelle Pereira

Before you were Born by Katrina Germein illustrated by Helene Magisson

Cub and Brown by Edwina Wyatt illustrated by Evie Barrow (junior novel)

A small sample of some of the best International Picture Books:

Who lives here? by Julia Donaldson

Knight Owl by Christopher Denise

The Barnabus Project by The Fan Brothers

Lizzy and the Cloud by The Fan Brothers

Most interesting Australian Non-Fiction Book

Australia: Country of Colour by Jess Racklyeft

Books I hope teachers will read aloud:

Dogtown by Katherine Applegate

Leeva at Last by Sara Pennypacker illustrated by Matthew Cordell

The Lost library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass

Favourite illustrations:

Night Lunch by Eric Fan illustrated by Diana Seiferling

The Baker by the Sea by Paula White

Poppy's House by Karla Courtney illustrated by Madeline Kloepper

Pigeon and Cat by Edward Hemingway

Best verse novels:

Under a broken Sky by Mariko Nagai

Odder by Katherine Applegate

Alias Anna by Susan Hood and Greg Dawson

Starfish by Lisa Fipps

The Way of Dog by Zana Fraillon

Here is a tiny sample of the books I really want to see in 2024. I also plan to add more graphic novels to my diet - I need to experience more titles in this form. 

These are from my shop wishlist which has 450+ titles - yes, it is a little out of control:

Peng's Vase: A Chinese Folktale by Paolo Proietti illustrated by Angus Yuen-Killick

Oh, Sal by Kevin Henkes

The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown

The probability of everything by Sara Everett

Simon sort of Says by Erin Bow

Gold by Jed Alexander (and also his two other wordless books: Olive and Red)

Rise Up with a Song: The True Story of Ethel Smyth, Suffragette Composer by Diane Worthey illustrated by Helena Perez Garcia

The School for Whatnots by Margaret Peterson Haddix

The Little Green Envelope by Gillian Sze illustrated by Claudine Crangle

Escape to the River Sea by Emma Carroll

Birdsong by the Billabong by Maura Finn illustrated by Cate James

Catching a Story Fish by Janice N Harrington

'You'd talk the whiskers off a catfish,'

Grandpa says, 'and the shine 

off a new penny.'

I like to talk.

I like to spin stories,

this-is-what-I-did stories,

this-is-what-I-saw stories,

stories to make my brother giggle-bouncy

and wiggly as a worm,

stories to make my Daddy lean in

and hold me octopus-tight,

stories to make Mama's eyes

shine birthday-candle bright.

My name is Katharen but my friends and family call me Keet - Keet Keet Parakeet.

"I used to be Keet-Keet Parakeet.
I used to talk to anyone.

I used to talk anywhere.

But now at school,

words are peanut-butter sticky

and tight was lids on pickle jars."

This seems like a perfect book to end my reading year. It is a verse novel and I adore this genre. It is a book that I knew nothing about, so it is a surprise discovery. This is a book that celebrates the power of storytelling and the importance of courage to use your voice. I love the new friendship between Keet and Allegra. And the paperback edition (2023) of this book has just been published so we can afford to buy it here in Australia. There is even a poem you could use from this book when you talk about our CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) 2024 slogan - Reading is Magic. 

Ms Lindle is the school Teacher-Librarian:

"Ms Lindle won't mind.
She says getting lost in a book
is a magic trick
which means that I'm a wizard."

I love Ms Lindle.  When Keet enters a story competition I can hear her warm voice when she says:

"It's a good story, Katharen.'

'Really?' I ask,

'Absolutely-truly-ruly-

no-mistake-for-certain,' Ms Lindle says."

Moving house is hard for Keet and at school the other kids tease her southern accent:

"Grandpa, the kids say I talk funny.

They laugh at my words.

They're mean. Grandpa. And I don't like,

I don't like, I don't like school at all."

Blurb from the author webpage: Keet knows the only good thing about moving away from her Alabama home is that she'll live near her beloved grandfather. When Keet starts school, it's even worse than she expected, as the kids tease her about her southern accent. Now Keet, who can "talk the whiskers off a catfish," doesn't want to open her mouth. Slowly, though, while fishing with her grandfather, she learns the art of listening. Gradually, she makes her first new friend. But just as she's beginning to settle in, her grandfather has a stroke, and even though he's still nearby, he suddenly feels ever-so-far-away. Keet is determined to reel him back to her by telling him stories; in the process she finds her voice and her grandfather again. This lyrical and deeply emotional novel-in-verse celebrates the power of story and of finding one's individual voice.

Keet's is a simple and familiar-feeling story, but one that is understated, fully realized, deftly written, and utterly absorbing ... School Library Journal

Awards

• Winner of the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People
• Arnold Adoff Poetry Honor Award

Janice N Harrington includes ten different poetry forms in her story and these are listed at the back. 

"This lyrical novel in verse effortlessly weaves together multiple poetry forms to introduce readers to Katharen, called Keet, a young girl who loves to talk and spin stories.... The poems effectively convey conflicting emotions; different styles (haiku, concrete, blues, etc.,) express moods and nuances without being distracting."  Booklist

New Girl Blues

I got the New-Girl blues.

I got those back-to-school and don’t-want-to,

do-I-have-to-Mama? do-I-have-to? blues.

Blues in my thinking, blues

in my walk. Blue and lonely lonely

because of my New-Girl talk.

I got the New-Girl,

don’t-want-to-go,

don’t-make-me-go blues.

You could use this book with a class as a way to explore poetry forms plus there is a wonderful public speaking topic idea - The Dream Report.

I would pair this book with:

The One Thing You'd Save