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The Boy with Flowers in His Hair

Mar18
The Boy with Flowers in His Hair

The Boy with Flowers in His Hair

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Boy with Flowers in His Hair

Jarvis

Walker, 2022

32pp., hbk., RRP $A27.99

 9781406392517

David has flowers in his hair and that’s just fine with all the other kids in the class, particularly his best friend. But when the bright, pretty petals start to fall off and David just has spiky twigs, things changed.  David was quiet, he didn’t want to play and he started to wear a hat. He never wore hats.  And when he took it off and reveled that he was twiggy, spiky and brittle, the other kids didn’t want to play with him either.  Until his best friend had an idea…

This is a touching story about what being a best friend really means – being there when your mate is at their most vulnerable, whether that be through illness or any other hardship that might strike.  The clichéed “thick and thin” that few are fortunate to experience, but when they do it means a lifelong bond that is remembered forever. Even though having flowers growing out of your head might be noticeable in the adult world, it is totally accepted as natural by the children who haven’t yet learned about adult perceptions or prejudices. But whether it’s because they’ve heard parental whispers or it just takes them a while to adjust to David’s new look, their attitudes and behaviour changes when he does, leaving him even more vulnerable than he would have been just dealing with its cause. Thank goodness for his best friend who supports him regardless.

While the story itself deals with David’s hair, which, while being the thing we often notice first about a person yet which is really the easiest thing to change, it could apply to any situation where the child feels isolated or marginalised and so, in the hands of a sensitive adult, it can help little ones share their own stories – perhaps illness, divorce, financial hardship, whatever – while helping to build compassion and empathy amongst their mates as they understand that their friend is still the same inside,  

Sensitively written and illustrated, this is one for the mindfulness collection that deserves to be shared and discussed and valued for its bravery/rarity in touching on a delicate subject in such a tactful way. I could use the other cliché, “Ask me how I know” but all I will say is that I have been David, and hopefully I’ve also been his best friend. 

A Good Place

Mar2
A Good Place

A Good Place

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Good Place

Lucy Cousins

Walker, 2022 

40pp., hbk., RRP $A25.99 

9781529501254

Bee, Beetle, Ladybird and Dragonfly are each looking for a new home.  They each want something different – Bee wants some beautiful flowers;  Beetle some dead wood; Ladybird some leaves and Dragonfly is looking for a pond – but just when they think they have found what they want, it proves to be not-so-perfect after all.  And then Butterfly comes to the rescue…

 A story for our youngest readers, with illustrations that look like their own, this is one that will appeal as it introduces them to the concept of each creature having different needs – it’s not a one-size-fits-all world.  It also alerts them to the diversity they will find in their own gardens, perhaps even encouraging them to plant one even if it’s just a pot on the balcony. But as well as the diversity, there is also the opportunity to look at the similarities of the four friends – the first illustration clearly shows the common characteristics of insects – perhaps starting them on their first investigation into the classification of the world’s creatures in general, and minibeasts in particular. 

Bright, colourful and engaging, for all its seeming simplicity, Cousins demonstrates that we can learn from picture books if we delve more deeply..

On The Origin of Species

Feb28
On The Origin of Species

On The Origin of Species

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On The Origin of Species

Sabrina Radeva & Charles Darwin

Puffin, 2022

56pp., pbk., RRP $A16.99

9780141388519

On The Origin of Species has been the definitive explanation of the theory of evolution since it was first published in 1859. 

Pulling together Charles Darwin’s observations from his travels around the world and his groundbreaking – and controversial – explanation of how species form, develop and change over hundreds of thousands of years, On The Origin of Species is as relevant and important now as it ever was.

So, this first ever picture-book retelling of  Darwin’s work  through stylish illustrations and a simple, easy-to-understand text brings evolution to the younger generation. Interspersed with relevant quotes from Darwin himself, and accompanied by many illustrations, this is a sample explanation demonstrating its ease of access…

“For most of human history, many people believed that everything in the world was created all at once. They thought that plants. animals. and people were always the same as they were now. But there were a few clever and curious scientists [such as Georges-Louis de Buffon and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck] who challenged this idea… ” But it was the travels and studies of Charles Darwin whose work and theories have endured. “In his book, Darwin explains that species are groups of living things that look alike and can have babies together,  But even if they belong to the same species, no two animals are exactly the same.”  

Even for those who have different beliefs about life’s first beginnings, this is a must-have in the school library’s collection if we are to provide students with a variety of viewpoints, and it is the perfect adjunct to those books that I’ve reviewed so far this year that may have created a curiosity about this planet and its inhabitants…

Our Country: Ancient Wonders

BANG! The Story of How Life on Earth Began

Australian Backyard Naturalist 

Earth is Big

We are One: How the World Adds Up

Australian Backyard Explorer

The History of Everywhere

The Amazing Meals of Martha Maloney

A Hundred Thousand Welcomes

Atlas of Amazing Migrations

Ouch! Tales of Gravity

The Same But Different

It also helps them understand all those books that have the “same but different” theme – having explored this work, they will understand the why that underpins the message. It encourages them to develop their own powers of observation and thus the discoveries they make so as well as comprehensive teachers’ notes , the endpapers also offer an immediate challenge. As well as the narrative, the book also includes an appendix (unusual in a primary-school text), a glossary and other elements that underpin the development of information literacy skills. 

 While, for some, this book may raise more questions than it answers, it is nevertheless an important addition to the library’s collection as we cater for those with a deep-seated curiosity about where they have come from. 

The Same but Different

Feb9
The Same but Different

The Same but Different

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Same but Different

Molly Potter

Sarah Jennings

Featherstone, 2021

32pp., hbk., RRP $A22.99

9781472978028

“I used to hate having a disability. I hated it so much. I hated being different and, you know, I didn’t want to be here anymore. I really didn’t… Whenever I turned on the TV or the radio or the newspaper, I never saw anybody like me.” Dylan Alcott Australian of the Year 2022.

Nobody who heard Alcott’s words during his acceptance speech could have failed to have been moved by his passion for making a difference for those with disabilities and such was their power in lifting both his profile and his message, that two days later Channel 9 delayed their main nightly news bulletin so we could all witness his final appearance in the Australian Open in its entirety.  And while the match’s result didn’t go to script, nevertheless his message was underlined as time and again the cameras focused on young wheelies in the crowd – all there to watch one who was already a hero and a voice, but one whose voice has just become infinitely louder!

Ever since the UN General Assembly declared 1981 to be the International Year of Disabled Persons (IYDP) with a focus on “a plan of action at the national, regional and international levels, with an emphasis on equalization of opportunities, rehabilitation and prevention of disabilities”. slowly, slowly progress has been made and now, as libraries have a real focus on the diversity of their collections, children are seeing themselves in the books they read and the movies they watch.

So the release and review of this book is timely. It explores the ways in which we’re all unique as well as the similarities we share. Using everyday examples, clear explanations and colourful illustrations by Sarah Jennings, this book prompts children to broaden their perspectives and rejoice in their differences while accepting those of others as what makes them unique. Including double-page spreads that focus on how we look, where we live, the languages we speak, what our families are like and what we believe in, it can start important conversations with children about diversity and inclusion. Early Years expert Molly Potter also provides a glossary of terms and notes for parents and carers offering advice on tackling prejudice right from the start.

It took 62 years for the AOTY award to be given to a person with a disability, and Alcott says his purpose is “changing perceptions”  – as educators we can start with our youngest students with books like this.

A Hundred Thousand Welcomes

Jan26
A Hundred Thousand Welcomes

A Hundred Thousand Welcomes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Hundred Thousand Welcomes

Mary Lee Donovan

Lian Cho

Greenwillow, 2021

40pp., hbk., RRP $A19.99

 9780063228658

“There are almost as many ways of making someone feel welcome as there are people on the planet. ” 

However, regardless of the race, religion, culture or creed there are two things that particularly permeate our need to connect with others, to seek acceptance if not friendship, and offer help and protection for those in need and that is the verbal language of welcome and the sharing of food.

In this book, written as a poem to the world as a “protest against intolerance, injustice and inhumanity” both are explored and explained through the text and illustrations. Beginning as a way to discover how to say ‘welcome; in as many languages as possible, it has evolved into an exploration of the various customs that usually accompany the word when it is spoken.   Sitting alongside the text, the illustrator illuminates this with pictures of everyday families sharing food as they welcome strangers to their homes, culminating in a huge four-page spread that has everyone at the same table.  There is even a pronunciation guide to help you get your tongue around the unfamiliar words. 

Even though there are many languages throughout the world, there is a limit to the number that can be included and so the author has selected 13 of those most commonly spoken – English, Indonesian, Arabic, Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Bengali, German, Hindi, Urdu, Lakota Sioux, Bashkir and Gaelic – immediately offering an opportunity for your students to add their own version both of the words and the customs, providing an authentic activity to celebrate both diversity and inclusion. Astute teachers would include a focus on the language of our First Nations peoples and a closer examination of the meaning, purpose and origins of the traditional Welcome to Country.

Just as the author discovered that there is so much more to ‘welcome” beyond the spoken word, so, too, there can be so much more to sharing this book to explore and share meaningful, purposeful learning. 

Winston and the Indoor Cat

Jan18
Winston and the Indoor Cat

Winston and the Indoor Cat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winston and the Indoor Cat

Leila Rudge

Walker Books, 2021

32pp., hbk., RRP $A25.99

9781760652609

Winston is an outdoor cat and because that’s all he has ever known, it suits him perfectly.  Then he spies the Indoor Cat and thinks that it is trapped so he devises a plan to free it so it, too, can enjoy the outdoors as he does.  But the Indoor Cat soon learns that it prefers the indoors – can the two ever be friends?

In the vein of the old story of the town mouse and the country mouse, this is a story that introduces the concept of being able to be friends even if you have differences in beliefs, values and habits.  Both the simple but powerful text and the gentle illustrations in their subtle palette convey a tone of harmony even though the cats are distinctly different.  

A good one for the beginning of the school year when new classes are formed and friendships forged even though everyone is a unique individual. 

 

 

The Mountain

Jan12
The Mountain

The Mountain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mountain

Rebecca Gugger

Simon Röthlisberger

NorthSouth, 2021

48pp., hbk., RRP $A29.99

9780735844575

The bear knows exactly what the mountain looks like—a forest. The sheep, octopus, and ant also know the mountain. It’s a meadow! It’s surrounded by water! It’s a maze of tunnels! The chamois and snow hare have their opinions too. It seems the mountain looks different to every animal. How can that be? And whose point of view is right, particularly when bird challenges them by asking if any of them have actually been to the top of it to investigate…

Reminiscent of the parable of The Blind Men and the Elephant,  this is a great story to demonstrate how we each see things through the lens of our own experience and form opinions based on our relationship to an object or situation.  It’s why witnesses to an incident can each have a different account because different things have different priorities for them or their personal experience throws something into sharper relief. It’s why this Kiwi who grew up with the rugged, jagged Southern Alps as her stage setting now sees the current backdrop of the Snowy Mountains more as rolling hills, even though she knows and understands the geological differences. 

Thus, it is a wonderful way to explore the concept of perception with even young students – read them The King’s Breakfast by A. A. Milne and have them draw the king then compare and contrast the drawings so they begin to understand how their preconceived ideas influenced their drawing.  Continue with either the description of the BFG (Dahl) or the hobbit (Tolkien) and discuss how, even when they were working with identical words, each drawing is different. Have them retell Little Miss Muffet from the spider’s perspective and venture into the world of stereotypes and even “judging a book by its cover.” 

One book – so many options.  Perfect! 

Green is For Christmas

Dec14

 

 

 

 

Green is For Christmas

Green is For Christmas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green is For Christmas

Drew Daywalt

Oliver Jeffers

HarperCollins, 2021

32pp., hbk., RRP $A17.99

 9780008496203

When Green Crayon claims that green is the only colour for Christmas, other crayons let him know that there would be no Christmas without them either. No candy canes or Santa without Red, no snow without White, no bells or stars without Silver and no cookies or reindeer without Brown!  Can they come to some agreement or will their Christmas be ruined because of their squabbling?

The mark of a great storyteller is one who can not only take a simple concept and turn it into an entertaining story, but who then opens up all sorts of questions that the reader can muse about, perhaps even investigate.  For example, crayons’ opinions aside, why are red and green the colours that are traditionally associated with Christmas, and having discovered the answer to that, ask if this holds true for Australia.  Are red and green the predominant colours of our Christmas period or would it be better to use the blue of the sky and the gold of the beaches, or maybe even the sage green of the bush?

Daywalt and Jeffers are developing a growing body of work featuring the iconic Crayons, seemingly simple in concept and appearance but each offering much to inspire our youngest readers to think deeply and investigate just how and why their world works.  Green is For Christmas is a worthy addition. 

 

Just Like Me

Nov22
Just Like Me

Just Like Me

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just Like Me

Tess Osborne

Zoe Osborne

Little Steps, 2021

24pp., pbk., RRP $A14.99

9781925839845

Zoe is delighted when a new girls starts at a her school and she is just like her.  She has a favourite doll, a pet dog and a naughty little brother just like she does. It is lovely to have a friend with so much in common.

But the story in this story is in the illustrations rather than the words as the reader is likely to pick up that Zoe’s new friend is not quite like her.  Or they may not, depending on what they have been taught because this book is designed to demonstrate that little ones do not see difference like colour or disability.  They see the way people are like them, rather than unlike them and that to look for difference is a learned behaviour.

But books like this can be a two-edged sword, thus moving them from their intended audience of little ones to use with older students because they can debate whether such books actually teach young ones to look for difference in their peers.  With the words saying one thing and the illustrations another so the message of the book is grasped, does this then contribute to that learning about difference? If they didn’t see it then, will they look for it now?  Or does it just consolidate that it doesn’t matter – kids are kids everywhere?  Food for thought.

 

A Different Sort of Normal

Aug20
A Different Sort of Normal

A Different Sort of Normal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Different Sort of Normal

Abigail Balfe

Puffin, 2021

240pp., pbk., RRP $A19.99

9780241508794

It begins with a poem, the last stanza of which says,

This is for ANYONE

Who has ever felt out of place

You don’t have to be the “odd one out”

You’re unique and that’s just great.

It continues with a childhood memory of a Punch and Judy birthday treat that she hated and when she later asked her mum why, her mum said, “I wanted you to be a normal child.  I didn’t want you to be an outcast like I was.”

The blurb says the rest…

Hi! My name is Abigail, and I’m autistic. But I didn’t know I was autistic until I was an adult-sort-of-person*.

This is my true story of growing up in the confusing ‘normal’ world, all the while missing some Very Important Information about myself.

There’ll be scary moments involving toilets and crowded trains, heart-warming tales of cats and pianos, and funny memories including my dad and a mysterious tub of ice cream. Along the way you’ll also find some Very Crucial Information about autism.

If you’ve ever felt different, out of place, like you don’t fit in . . . this book is for you.

While there are a lot of books that explore autism so others can have an insight, such as Annabel’s Dance; The Chalk Rainbow; and A Boy called BAT this is the first I’ve read that is written by someone on the spectrum for others on the spectrum.  It maps her journey through childhood through a time when she didn’t know that there was a scientific reason for her difference, just all the while feeling confused, unwanted and left out.  

It is a unique book, one for children and adults alike and made all the more poignant because of its honesty, truthfulness and lack of sugar-coating.  The author explains her reasons for sharing her story and while she had to navigate the world alone because she did not have a diagnosis, to help others pave a different path she has produced a poster that helps us to be an ally to those we know. 

Even though it is written directly to encourage children who are autistic to understand that while they ae unique, what they experience is not unique to them and they are not alone, it is one for anyone who has anything to do with children.  Because if we don’t understand we can’t empathise.