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Beginnings and Endings

Sep24
Beginnings and Endings

Beginnings and Endings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beginnings and Endings

Jan Stradling

Jedda Robaard

ABC Books, 2023

34pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9780733342400

Swish the goldfish has died and Little Ted is sad.  But his friends are on the way to help him feel better and to remember that life is all about beginnings and endings.

This is a very gentle story about life and death featuring the familiar friends from the long-running Play School, which in itself will comfort those who are suffering a loss like Little Ted as they realise everyone,  even their favourite characters,  will encounter loss and feel sad.  It is entirely natural but Jemima, Humpty, Kiya and Big Ted have ways to help Little Ted feel a bit better and see that there is still wonder and beauty in the world.  And their advice is encapsulated in  the final page with ideas to help lessen the misery and look for the things that brighten our hearts.

This is another in this collection of stories designed to help our youngest reader navigate some of the trickier paths to growing up and with illustrations as soft as the text, it is one for all parents to have in the home library. 

The Cubby House Kitchen

Sep22
The Cubby House Kitchen

The Cubby House Kitchen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cubby House Kitchen

Amy Medley

Little Steps, 2023

32pp., pbk., RRP $A16.95

9781922833303

Emma collects apples to make an apple pie in her cubby house kitchen and invites Carlo and Sachi to help her. While they go to get the other ingredients, Emma places her four apples on the windowsill of the cubby and starts to get her utensils ready. But each time she turns around, an apple is missing.  Where are they going? Who or what is leaving the cores with teeth marks in them?  And when there are none left at all, how will she be able to make an apple pie?

Written for early learners, this book is an opportunity for young readers to predict who might be eating the apples while practising their counting skills as they count with Emma. It’s also a chance to introduce the concept of a recipe and its special format, maybe even finding a recipe for an apple pie and making it together with all the talk and measuring and anticipation that that brings, including sharing favourite foods. Something a little different with a lot of potential. 

 

One Little Duck

Jul21
One Little Duck

One Little Duck

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One Little Duck

Katrina Germein

Danny Snell

HarperCollins, 2023

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

 9781460761649

Five little ducks went out one day… and came home when they were called by their mother, “Quack Quack Quack Quack”.

But now there is only one little duck left at home and even though Mother Duck is happy for her last one to go over the hills and far away, she strikes trouble when it is time to call him home and she can’t remember how to quack!  So she tries Moo Moo Moo Moo instead -with s surprising result. Little Duck comes back for tea but with a friend in tow.  And so the pattern continues. Each evening , as she tries to find her quack, the roll at the tea table grows in length and diversity but she remains unflappable, just getting out a bigger cooking pot and more dishes and cutlery each time.  Until one night…

Young readers can have heaps of fun with this one, not only appreciating the rhyme and rhythm and building vocabulary and spelling patterns,  but also predicting and suggesting which friend might come home with Little Duck this time. And what might Mother Duck be cooking that they would all enjoy? They could even examine the camping picture and identify who is not there, focusing their suggestions on animals likely to be found on a farm. and how that creature might feel about being left out. Perhaps they could use the established pattern to add some more verses. Counting and sequencing activities as well as learning the ordinal numbers and positional words add extra possibilities but this would also work well with English as an Additional Language learners particularly if it were used in conjunction with similar stories like Old MacDonald had a Farm.  What a wonderful opportunity to create a mural to label all the creatures with words from lots of languages!!!

Parcel For Koala

Jul17
Parcel For Koala

Parcel For Koala

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parcel For Koala

Shelley Knoll-Miller

Puffin, 2023

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

 9781761046636

Koala and his other friends who like to sleep through the day are stuck in a tree full of squawking cockatoos who are keeping them awake.  They are tired and frazzled and just want to sleep. But then, on the back of a bouncing kangaroo, Postman arrives with a parcel.  Both Gorilla and Penguin have received parcels, so what could be in this one from Turtle? 

Knowing that in this adventure in this fabulous series for little ones, all the creatures want to do is get some sleep, young readers can have fun predicting what it might be that will help them do that.  Could it be a harp to play lullabies or a hammock to curl up in?  Perhaps some earmuffs to blot out those raucous cockies! Or is it something completely unexpected but which can be used to solve the problem anyway?

As with its predecessors, the thread of the story is presented on the endpapers helping the child to focus their thoughts on what is to come and predict what might happen, essential skills in becoming a reader.  As one who has taught littlies to read for over 50 years, to me this series is an absolute winner and should be in the hands of all those who want their children to become successful, independent readers.  It just works in building those early skills on so many levels and in so many ways. 

Emma Memma: How Are You?

Jul6
Emma Memma: How Are You?

Emma Memma: How Are You?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emma Memma: How Are You?

Emma Memma

Puffin,   2023

32pp., hbk., RRP $A19.99

9781761341083

Emma Memma is back to delight young readers with a new book in which she introduces her friends, at the same time teaching those young readers how to use Auslan to sign “How are you?”

Emma Memma waves hello
Can you wave a hello too?
Smiling, she signs and asks
‘How are you?’

Behind the the curly red hair, pink shirt and orange dress is  Emma Watkins, once known as the “yellow Wiggle” but also a woman passionate about raising awareness  of Australia’s deaf community, who already has formal qualifications in Auslan and who is currently undertaking her PhD in “the affective, artistic integration of sign language, dance and film editing.” In consultation with artists who themselves are deaf, she is producing and releasing a range of formats that as well as the storybook will include, an ebook, audiobook and an Auslan video translation so that all young readers can be entertained through “movement, creativity, inclusiveness and friendship”.

Aimed at the early childhood audience, this is a perfect way to help them understand that kids who have different needs are just like them, like the same things they do, and are easily included if we are just prepared to make a bit of extra effort. 

Feelings Are Wild

Jun29
Feelings Are Wild

Feelings Are Wild

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feelings Are Wild

Sophy Williams

Gavin Scott

A & U Children’s, 2023

24pp., hbk., RRP $A19.99

9781761180262

One koala feels grumpy

His naptime was too short.

Two bunnies feel nervous

What if they get caught?

As our little ones become more independent they not only begin to feel a variety of emotions but also begin to recognise and identify a range of them, some of which can be a bit scary if they are made to feel ashamed or guilty for expressing them. So this charming picture book (which is also a counting book) helps them understand that not only are these emotions normal, they are common and experienced by everyone so they, themselves, are no different from their siblings or their friends.  

Read together with an adult, they can be encouraged to look at the illustrations to work out what the characters are doing  and describe how they might be feeling, thus recognising and describing situations where they might have felt a similar feeling as well as extending their vocabulary and starting to understand cause and effect. Having the characters as animals puts the events at arm’s length so they have the choice about whether they share a similar situation or not.  Such opportunities help them learn to articulate their feelings rather than throwing frustration-driven tantrums because they don’t have the words, as well as teaching them that it is OK to talk about all sorts of feelings. Not every sentence has to start with “I am happy when…” 

But  what sets this book apart from the many that describe and acknowledge emotions generally, is that having raised the issue that raised the emotion, it then revisits the animals to see how it was resolved.  So the child learns that while having the “big feelings” is normal, they can be turned around and only last for a short time.  

IMO, young children can never hear the message that they are OK, that they are normal and just like everyone else often enough and this is a book that helps underpin that. 

 

Banjo, the Woylie with Bounce

Jun21
Banjo, the Woylie with Bounce

Banjo, the Woylie with Bounce

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Banjo, the Woylie with Bounce

Aleesah Darlison

Mel Matthews

Puffin, 2022

32pp., hbk., RRP $A19.99

9781760899257

For most of his short life, Banjo the woylie has stayed safe with his mum in her pouch or her nest but as he gets a little older, he ventures out at night in search of food for this little woylie likes two things above all others – mushrooms and bouncing! But there are those like foxes and feral cats who like woylies just as much and when one startles Banjo, he bounces off … only to find himself far from home and his mum with no more bounce left in him.  And it seems worse is yet to come because he is tempted by the sweet smell of fresh fruit and finds himself caught in a trap!

Before Europeans settled Australia, the woylie, also known as the brush-tailed bettong was found over much of Southern Australia but now they are classified nationally as endangered and even presumed extinct in New South Wales., mostly due to predation by foxes and feral cats.  So this addition to the Endangered Animal Series which focuses on our lesser-known indigenous creatures that are threatened, at the very least, and which includes Poppy, the Punk Turtle  and Coco, the fish with hands and Rusty the Rainbow Bird, highlights the plight of these tiny creatures  bringing their stories to younger audiences who are just beginning to understand that there is a wider world around them.

As with the others, this one also features bright, bold illustrations which  catch the eye immediately and a story written in simple but accurate vocabulary which respects the young reader’s intelligence, and which is supported by fact boxes that offer more information. Perfect for those with an interest in the natural world and who are looking to find out more. 

At the same time, its format is also the perfect model for older students to base a story and an investigation of another little-known creature of their own.  Start by asking , “What would Aleesah Darlison and Mel Mathews have needed to know before they could begin one of these books?”  An opportunity for meaningful research as well as those who prefer writing fiction and those who prefer writing non fiction and those who prefer illustrating to collaborate. 

 

 

Grandads are the Greatest

May30
Grandads are the Greatest

Grandads are the Greatest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grandads are the Greatest

Ben Faulkes

Nia Tudor

Bloomsbury, 2023

32pp., pbk., RRP $A16.99

9781408867570

It is the summer picnic especially for grandads and their grandchildren and a chance to celebrate their relationship.  But being a grandad is about the only thing the men have in common . For each one has a different career or interest – baker, barber, explorer, inventor, magician… But they all share one passion – their love for their grandchildren.

Written in rhyme this is a joyful  picture book that honours these special men and the wonder and happiness they bring to the lives of their young ones.  As well as helping the child to understand the structure of the family tree, it also offers them the opportunity to share what is special about their own grandfather and would be the perfect companion to What do you call your Grandpa?

One to set aside for Grandparents’ Day in your school. 

The Secret Boat

May25
The Secret Boat

The Secret Boat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Secret Boat

Mark Macleod

Hélène Magisson

Dirt Lane Press, 2023

40pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

 9780648899679

 

The child’s literacy development and mastery is underpinned by a rich, imaginative and informed vocabulary and the poems in this beautifully illustrated book certainly contribute to this.  Using a variety of familiar situations which “take the reader from beachside to countryside, from revolting to delicious, from realism to fantasy, and end with a suite of bedtime meditations” the clever, creative use of words paints pictures that little ones will love to here and visualise over and over again. 

Who doesn’t have a smile as they picture this…

It’s soft inside

my mother’s pouch.

I can hardly feel her hopping.

But on the way

back home again,

I’m squashed in with the shopping. OUCH. 

And who is not taken back to the beach when they hear this…

The bubbles giggle

up the sand, 

tickle our toes

on the shore.

They take a breath,

they run away

and then come back for more. 

Just listening to the rhythm and rhyme of language teaches children so much about how they, themselves, can and will express themselves, but taking a few moments to explore what is being said in these short, often whimsical, poems empowers them to be more observant of their world and try to describe it for themselves.  Next time they let the waves just tickle their toes they will think of the bubbles giggling as they make those toes curl up and jump.

While the Australian Curriculum has a strong strand that includes a focus on vocabulary, the NSW syllabus is more explicit requiring students from Kindergarten to use  “Tier 2 vocabulary to extend and elaborate ideas” with Tier 2 words being defined as “high utility for mature language users and are found across a variety of domains” which “add power and precision to written and spoken language” and this collection has all that is necessary to support that outcome.  Even if it is not used in the classroom formally, the images that are built as the words roll so naturally off the tongue to make the ordinary extraordinary make this just the best introduction to the poetry genre for young people and while the illustrations are exquisite, the words themselves are enough to just shut your eyes, listen and imagine.  

A Friend For George

May14
A Friend For George

A Friend For George

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Friend For George

Gabriel Evans

Puffin, 2023

32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

 9781761046506

George likes living by the sea, but he often feels lonely. He’d like to have a friend – someone to talk to, someone to share stories with and someone to laugh with. As that’s what friends do!  When he meets Claude the fish, George finally discovers the joys of having a special friend, as well as learning what it means to be a good friend to someone . . . especially when there is a conflict between what you want and what your friend needs.

Despite George being a dog and Claude being  fish in this anthropomorphic story, young children will relate to the characters as they, too, navigate  the making and keeping of friends which can be tricky at times.  It opens up the opportunities for discussions about what it is friends do – a phrase repeated often throughout the story – and how we need to learn to be unselfish and put the needs of others before ourselves.  

Often the greatest concern for those starting big school is the fear of having no friends and having no one to play with, so these sorts of books serve a need to help them learn how to make and keep friends so that by the time they step into the Kindergarten classroom, they have knowledge and strategies to draw on. To consolidate what they know they can create a class mural pf photos of being a good friend in action, not only repeating the phrase in the book but making them consciously aware of their interactions and relationships.

One to purchase and have on hand as transitions to new situations loom.