Bridging the gap between global environmental issues and understanding it in our own lives.
Have a look at the notes I have produced recently and ask me how I can help develop teacher notes for your novel or picture book.
Esme’s Wish by Elizabeth Foster
The Amulet of Athlone by Ruth Devine (notes to come)
http://ruthdevinewriter.com/books/
Each week every child at our school has the opportunity to visit the school library whether it be during their class borrowing time or one lunch time when the library is open.
The books inside the library give each and every child the opportunity to visit a new world, walk alongside a new character or think completely differently to they ever have before.
So can these stories help us change the world? Of course they can!
Every book you read to your child, or they read to themselves helps them to look outside their own world.
Every time we laugh at a story we see how humour can help change the world for the better.
Every time we cry in a story we realise how precious our own lives are and how we can help others to be just as lucky.
Every time we look up something because we wondered about it after reading a story, we learn what is going on in our world.
Stories can help us change the world so encourage your child to keep on reading, read widely and read for a change.
Tiggy has a big imagination. She sometimes has BIG feelings too. But everything is A-Okay, because Tiggy has a very special secret….
Zanni Louise has created the beautifully told story of Tiggy. A young girl who is starting her first ever day at school – and of course like most children is worried about making new friends, learning new things and being brave in an unfamiliar place.
BUY HERE:
Tiggy and the Magic Paintbrush – A school day smile, is part of a new series for younger readers. Parents can read this story out loud or encourage new readers to have a go themselves. This is a wonderful story for beginning readers and one which can foster a love of reading.
Accompanied with delightful black and white illustrations by Gillian Flint, (with magical colour splashed in at the right moments) The reader meets Tiggy and her friends as they learn how to cope in a difficult situation – the first day of school!
Tiggy has her magic paintbrush with her all the time, and it can always help her out whenever she needs it. But sometimes having a magic paintbrush stops Tiggy from being herself and Tiggy needs to be brave enough to realise when it is time for her to rely on the goodness inside herself rather than the paintbrush.
Tiggy shows the characteristics many new Kindergarten children will show when they are in a new situation but she also shows resilience and self belief.
Children will love this idea of a magic paintbrush and it will possibly give them that little boost in the back of their mind when they feel nervous, worried or sad.
Tiggy and the magic paintbrush is a new favourite at our house and we can’t wait to read the next book in this series!
Check out my interview with Zanni Louise coming soon to this blog.!
What else can you do with this book?
Here are some questions you can ask children after they have read the book –
This year the theme for book week is Find your treasure, so each week in our library we will be taking part in a small activity where the theme will be promoted.
I have some much loved covers from my Who gives a crap toilet paper and instead of putting them straight into the bin they are being converted into book covers (see below)
Each book that has been covered has three clues on the front. The idea behind this is for children to see what sort of books could be ones that they treasure.
We have books about adventure, women’s rights, battles and laughter. Not only will children get to guess which books are hidden behind the paper, they will also discover these covered books hidden on our shelves throughout the year.
Finding treasure is exciting and I hope that by covering some much loved books other children will also discover that exploring in the library can be fun!
This year’s CBCA book week theme is Find your treasure. In our library the students will be participating in a variety of competitions with great book prizes!
Perhaps you would like to participate in some of these at your school?
Visit my Tpt store and for a term one special of $3.99 you can download and use these ideas too!
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Find-your-Treasure-CBCA-Book-theme-2018-3653620
There are two competitions each term for all terms of the year – Finding your treasure doesn’t end in book week!
Just some of the ideas…..
Term 1, Competition 2.
Choose a book that you have read recently and using your mathematical skills, be creative and explain e.g.
The cost of keeping a dragon as a pet,
The tuition fees of a magic school,
The money you would give to one of the characters and why,
Draw a map to scale,
Create graphs about the characters in the story. Choose at least 3 aspects of the book to use your mathematical skills.
Term 3, Competition One.
Find some facts about a treasure that has never been found but many stories have been told about it.
Present these facts in an engaging way for display in the library.
Know someone starting school this year? Or starting a new school?
Jessica’s box by Peter Carnavas might be one to share with them before they start on their way.
This story was written in 2008, has won many awards and has had many teacher notes and activities written about it, so I won’t add to it all but I really just wanted to highlight how great this story is for young children.
This book shows the young reader how important it is to be true to ourselves and that true friends will see who we really are and will love us for who we are – not what we have.
We can teach our youngsters about popularity and how it is fleeting (despite the messages the media throw at us). Peter Carnavas shows children through this store the importance of knowing who we are and how by knowing, we will find those who will support us through good and bad times.
We have loved reading Jessica’s box and it is one we will continue to visit in times to celebrate friendship or times when we need to re assess the difficult journey friendship can take.
So what else can you do with this book?
– Play a major role in your child’s education so you are aware of how they are feeling. Talk to them about school, read with them after school and be involved when you can.
– Talk about things you are good at and ask your child what they think they are good at. Tell each other what you are both good at. Do this as often as you can.
– For older readers – find times in the media when people have become popular because of one thing but then faded because that thing was gone or no longer popular?
– How is social media like Jessica’s box? How can we become popular on Facebook or instagram? Does this popularity really count?
How will you play a role in order to help your child thrive?
If you had one wish what would it be?
Esme Silver lost her mother 7 years ago and has just witnessed her father remarry a women she doesn’t like at all. She is not only upset at her father for remarrying but also upset that he wants to move on when she can’t. Her mother went missing 7 years ago for no apparent reason and it is this unknowing that draws Esme to a small cottage she has been told to avoid for the last 7 years after her father and his new wife depart on their honeymoon.
Not only does Esme discover more about her mother, she also discovered another world – and this world has many more links to her mother than she would like to think.
When Esme steps into this other world, she makes many true and good friends in the city of Esperance who help her to find out what has happened to her mother. She shows determination, clever thinking and a strong will as she journeys through a city which constantly surprises her with it’s twists and turns around every corner.
Esme’s wish is a marvellous story and a definite page turner. It is full of magic and wonder,imagination and marvel, creativity and friendship. Not only does Esme travel Esperance to find her mother, she travels through it to also save the city from certain destruction.
Esme’s wish by Elizabeth Foster is a book for readers aged 11 and up and perhaps one that may have a sequel….who knows? Perhaps I will have to ask Elizabeth Foster herself…..
So what else can you do with this book?
– Draw a map of Esperance and surrounding islands after you have read the book
– Make a list of the different gifts people can have. How do people have gifts in our world? Are they as revered as they are in this story? Are all gifts equal in this world and our own?
– What is a pearl made out of? Why are they precious? Can you find any stories throughout history related to pearls?
– As you read list the metaphors and similes and other types of figurative language. This book is rich in this type of language and a great way to study how you can add more to your writing.
There are so many more wonderful activities to do with this book – it’s a great book to share or read as a group!
Worried that your vegetable patch isn’t growing too well and perhaps isn’t making a difference to the world?
Or perhaps when you only walk once a week instead of driving you wonder if it is really worth it?
And how about the times when you are given a plastic bag because you forgot your reusable bags and you really need to carry something home in it?
All the small steps add up to big steps and every small step will inspire someone else to make a difference. Check out these books and the characters who made a small step to inspire others. ?
What small steps are you going to take today so you can make a difference in some one else’s life?
There were so many lovely books that I came across this year that encourage young readers not only to think about those around them in their own community but also those who live on the other side of the world.
Being a part of a community is so important and knowing how to look out for others in our community is something that we all need to do.
Being kind to others whether they be our next door neighbours, residents in our suburb or children we hear about in the news is something we should all encourage our children to think about. It should be something we as adults should think about too.
Once we think about others we can reflect on our own actions and perhaps make more sensible choices in what we buy, what we do and what we say. Every little thing we do will impact someone in someway and taking a leaf out of one of these books might just change an action you are going to take today.
Ada’s Violin by Susan Hood
Say Yes: A story of friendship and hope
Children in our world: Refugees and Migrants
Whatcha Building by Andrew Daddo
I’m Australian too by Mem Fox
The Ones that Disappeared by Zana Fraillon
I heard somewhere once that a sign of a good book is one that can make you cry, make you laugh, warm your soul and make you question the world you live in – this book has done just that.
I’m not the best wordsmith around and I do not think I can’t express how much this book resonated with me.
The History of Bees, told by Maja Lunde is a story told through the eyes of three parents in three different time periods.
Tao lives in 2098, China, George in 2007, USA and William in 1851, England. Each of these characters have children of their own and each of these parents are trying to create the best world that they can for their children – the way they think they should be.
Listening to a recent podcast on parenting, this book made so many links. Research shows that as parents we all have set ideals on how our children should act in the world and we believe that by acting a certain way or saying certain things that we are going to shape our children the way we see best. But as you read on in this story you can see that despite every parent’s effort to make their children a certain way – each child chooses their own path and explores the world they want to.
BUT – don’t despair, the children are influenced by the good actions of their parents, just in a different way they expected.
The children in this story are strong, smart and determined. The encompass free thinking, risk taking and problem solving. They show how much love parents have for their children despite the path they take.
The History of bees explores Bees through story. You will learn about one of the first beehives that was created to carefully extract honey without disturbing the bees, a farmer who experiences Colony Collapse Disorder on all of his hives and a mother who lives in futuristic China where people are the pollinators of flowers as all the bees have died.
I cried as I finished the last few chapters. I cried with happiness, sadness and concern. If the world means anything to you and if you have children – this book will mean so much more.
We need bees and one of the key messages in this book is how important it is for us to keep bees in a more sustainable way, stop the mass production of honey or crops and learn to live in more harmony with the world.
Maja Lunde has written many wonderful books but this is one you must read today.
What else can you do with this book?
Buy local honey (we love this honey!!)
Look at Save the bees website and support what they are trying to do in Australia.
Check out my other posts on bees! :
The Battle of Bug World by Karen Tyrell
