The Book Chook's New Job

I'm delighted to announce that my first column for Alphabet Soup magazine will be in the Spring 09 issue, due out mid August. I'll be answering kids questions about writing, and giving tips to hone their writing skills. You can catch editor Rebecca Newman's announcement about it on Soup Blog.

Read my reviews of Alphabet Soup Winter and Autumn 09.

Find some interesting ways to get kids started on writing here on The Book Chook with prompt generators and other online resources

Photo credit:  Greg Mitchell of Alphabet Soup Magazine

Storytelling, Technology and Media - What a Combo!

Recently, I wrote of a wonderful resource for children's literacy, Our Book by Us, brought to my attention by Carol Rasco, CEO of Reading Is Fundamental. Today I learnt a little more about the writer/illustrator of the mini books inside the resource, Peter Reynolds. For a start, I realized he's the guy behind the artwork in the Judy Moody books, which I love!

Peter is also the creative genius behind FableVision, a company which uses "... media, storytelling and technology to teach and inspire learners to reach their true potential." Three Book Chook passions all wrapped up in a multi-media company! How cool is that?

You can see/hear Peter talking about FableVision on this video. 

Currently, he's one of five finalists for the Entrepreneur of 2009 award, given by Entrepreneur magazine. I voted for Peter, in an effort to put the spotlight on children's literature and literacy - particularly the kind that encourages kids to achieve their dreams of being creative storytellers. If you'd like to vote for Peter Reynolds too, you can do so online.

Spark your inner artist! That's the catch cry for Animation-ish, software developed by Peter's company. He says it will have kids animating in minutes. I'll let you know if the Book Chook is animating inside a week. I just downloaded a 15 day free trial, so look for some action on my blog soon. I love finding exciting new ways to tell and share stories, but wouldn't it be wonderful if I could find a program that would teach me to draw!

Thinking Creatively

Before I became a full-time Book Chook, I used to teach Drama to kids outside school. I've always been fascinated by communication. Teaching drama to 7-15 year-olds showed me not only how inter-connected all the communication skills are, but also that effective learning best took place when kids were engaged in a task.

I believed then, and believe now, that teaching children to think creatively is one of the most important gifts we can give them. Surrounding them with other people's creativity in the form of literature, art, media, theatre, and music helps to nurture the creative seed that lives within us all. By encouraging kids to be flexible, imaginative and original, to take risks, ask questions, and improvise, we are giving them a great preparation for whatever they choose to do with their lives. In Drama, my students had opportunities to develop skills needed by actors, window dressers, surgeons, - and parents!

You don't have to be a drama teacher to nurture creativity in kids. One of the best things you can do is use creative language when you're sharing a task, or playing together. An ideal time is after you've been reading aloud. Here are some sample questions you can adapt to help your kids think creatively.

After reading a picture book...
What are all the reasons the giant might have been sad at the start of the story?
What if the axe had been blunt? I wonder what might have happened then?
How could we change this book cover to make it more attractive?
What would you have done if you'd been the little dog?

Would there be any problems if we had wings?

When you're playing with building blocks...
What if we put this big one on top?
What could we use this for?
What would happen if we made this out of jelly?
Can we make an upside down one?

When you're waiting somewhere...
The answer is "red". What might the question be?
The answer is "sardine". What might the question be?
What are all the different ways we could get home fast?
What if the sky were pink?
What does "sad" sound like?

Butt In!

Here's a creative story-telling activity for two, or a group. One person starts telling a story. Every so often, the other person (or go round the circle in a group) says a word that the storyteller must incorporate into the story. You can take turns, or have a time limit for youngsters who get really good at it.

Here's an example.

Trent: Once there was a pirate who was just about the meanest pirate who ever lived. He loved to sail the seven seas and...

Abby: banana

Trent: .and kidnap bananas so he could make them walk the ...

Marta: pyjamas

Trent: ...plank while he wore his pink pyjamas with yellow spots. One day...

Sam: savagely

Trent: ...the pirate saw a banana savagely beating up a purple hairbrush...

It certainly makes you think fast, and usually results in gales of laughter. Games like this are useful too, when you're on a journey, and you have the satisfaction of knowing you're banishing boredom, and encouraging creativity at the same time.

I'll be adding this activity to the Book Chook Bag of Tricks.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16964203@N07/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Early Literacy Activity Book

Those wonderful people at RIF have done it again. Carol Rasco, CEO of Reading is Fundamental, dropped by the Book Chook blog today to tell us about a great tool to develop early literacy skills. It's called Our Book By Us, and it's available from the National Writing Project site. RIF, NWP and the College Board's National Commission on Writing collaborated to produce the booklet, written in English and Spanish.

You can buy the print book, or download a pdf copy for free. I liked the six minibooks inside about a character called Sugarloaf, and the way the follow-up activities echoed what Sugarloaf was doing in the stories. Also in the booklet, there's a wonderful list of simple but creative literacy activities parents can do to help their kids develop the communication skills that are so vital to their future success. Peter H. Reynolds' illustrations are perfect for the pre-schoolers the book targets.

While I was at the NWP site, I took the opportunity to look around. There are several good resources there, including this great list of 30 Ideas for Teaching Writing (mostly aimed at Upper Primary/Secondary aged students).

Book Review, Sleepy Pendoodle

In Sleepy Pendoodle, written by Malachy Doyle and illustrated by Julie Vivas (Walker Books 2002), a little girl finds a tiny puppy and cares for him. She is desperate for the pup to open his eyes, and asks her uncle for advice. Her efforts to remember her uncle's instructions are just delightful, and made me laugh aloud. Young readers will rejoice with her when the puppy finally opens his eyes and takes his first steps toward being a big, red dog.

The author got the idea for Sleepy Pendoodle from an Irish folk tale, and I believe he has retained a hint of that in the book, with snippets of rhyme, strong rhythm and repetition making the story a pleasure to read aloud. I've just added Malachy Doyle to my list of picture book writers who demonstrate their own love of language and know how to encourage kids to love it too. How could any child resist the fun of "pendoodle" morphing into "popwaddle" and "penduddle"?

Julie Vivas is one of my favourite illustrators. The little girl in this picture book is an earnest pre-schooler with chubby hands, and hair bunches jutting every which way. The puppy, in various poses, is the essence of baby dog, especially when he finally opens his milky blue eyes. My favourite page is a double spread of pup and girl playing in the grass, where Vivas makes us feel the flick of his whippy tail, and the slobber of his wet lick!

Sleepy Pendoodle would be an excellent gift for a child who is soon to get a puppy, or one who loves dogs. It's also a super choice for a read-aloud. Follow up with some fun memory games like "I went to the store", Chinese Whispers, concentration or a variation on Kim's Game. Start a collection of names for baby animals - how many can you find? If you're really up for a challenge, take some photos of pets, and see if you can write a caption for each one.

What books about pets do you love?

Books for Beastly Boys and Ghastly Girls

Do your children like scary stuff? If they like to watch movies that have the rest of us under our seats, but are reluctant to read, I have one word for you: Goosebumps! These books by R.L.Stine may be disparaged by literary purists, but with millions sold world-wide, kids are certainly reading them. While I personally find them violent and simplistic, if my child wanted to read them, I'd cheer him on! Then, with typical Book Chook sneakiness, I'd see if I could use them as a springboard to guide him to other books.

The Scholastic site has some fun stuff to support Goosebumps books. Kids can make their own monster with Goosebump's MONSTER MAKER, by choosing from a range of body parts, then press play to see their monster come to life. They can also print out the background picture. It would make a great start to creating a story guaranteed to send shudders up any spine. While you're at the Scholastic site, take a look at the Goosebumps Graphix Game, Find Your Family, and all sorts of other activities for "ghouls on the go"!

Once children get started with Goosebumps, they might enjoy other "scary" books. Talk to your friendly librarian or book store owner, or check out some book-alike lists like this one from Sterling Municipal Library. If your child has seen Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, he might enjoy the books the movie was based on. There are some great creative activities at the Lemony Snicket web site, including one for inventing your way out of a dire situation.

What goes well with reading scary stories? Why, writing scary stories of course! Your kids might like to write a play they can perform, and accompany it with a soundscape. Soundscapes can be made ahead by recording all sorts of noises on a tape or computer. If that's too prescriptive for the performance, they can try using noisemakers and their own voices used at will during the play. A fun idea is to turn the lights off and read the story by torchlight, accompanied by your soundscape, so the audience relies only on their hearing and imaginations. OOOOH!

Some fantasy books have just enough scare factor to make them a logical next step for Goosebumps readers. The Deltora Quest series is a very popular one, and there's a lot of support material for it at the Scholastic site, too. Kids can choose to play games, learn more about the characters and books, and practise the sorts of challenges they will find in Deltora, "the land of magic and monsters."

Once kids become fans of the series, they might want to see what else this wonderful Australian author has written. Emily Rodda's Rowan of Rin books come highly recommended, and The Wizard of Rondo has been shortlisted for a Children's Book Council of Australia Award 2009.

Don't despair if your child wants to be a beastly boy or ghastly girl. Go with the flow that goes bump in the night, and let them read scary stories. Once seduced by the thrill of books that put them inside a ghost house or monster's cave, it's not such a stre-e-etch to go further along the pathway to reading.

And that's exactly where we want them to be!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/merrickb/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

More Writing Inspiration for Kids

Recently, I wrote about some online prompt generators for children to use to spark their writing. Here are some more ideas that might inspire your youngster to play with words.

RIF Reading Planet

There are all kinds of reading and writing activities at Reading is Fundamental. Storymaker gives kids a personalized story, based on some simple input steps. Children are encouraged to write book reviews, collaborate on a group story, and play cool word games.

Scholastic's Story Generator

This is neat. It's like playing a slot machine without losing any money. You press the buttons, and the wheels turn, slow down, and settle on your prompt. I got: "Write a fantasy story about an unpopular octopus whose best friend is a movie star". Then I had to pick a format for my story, chose newspaper, and got to create my story inside a front page template.  

   

Magnetic Poetry - Kids Kits Online

At this web site, children can choose from one of four sets of magnetic poetry. I chose Storymaker, and was given a tray of words. I dragged individual words to the screen. Unfortunately, the Official Secrets Act prevents me from revealing the wonderful story I wrote. Okay, plus I forgot to save it.

Learning to write is such an important skill for kids to develop. Let's use these Internet resources to encourage them to have fun with words, and help inspire a future generation of wonderful young writers. 

Photo courtesy PhotoXpress.com

Book Review, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a ballerina. There were no ballet lessons in my life, and I'd been gifted with a roly-poly physique - alas, I was more of a prancing Pudding than a Pavlova. Nevertheless, wearing bubble swimmers and a frilly half-petticoat, I danced my heart out to a scratched old recording of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. So it was with great delight and anticipation that I opened the beautiful picture book, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and set the accompanying CD to play.

I wasn't disappointed. Written by Sue Whiting, illustrated by Sarah Davis, and published by New Frontier (2009), this is the perfect package for any child who loves to dance. It is part of the Music Box series, created to introduce children to classical music.

It's also a great story. It tells the tale of candymakers, Marcus and Mary. The greedy King tastes their sugarplums and keeps demanding more and more. A Sugar Plum Fairy helps them meet the King's demands. But then he gets a Royal Bellyache and Marcus and Mary are ordered to find a remedy. Luckily, the fairy again comes to the rescue, and the candymakers make her a wonderful thank you gift, fit for a dancing fairy.

Sue Whiting has accomplished the delicate balancing act of remaining true to the original Nutcracker fairytale, without sacrificing the elements that make a great modern picture book. I loved the touches of humour, the use of onomatopoeia, the repetition that cries out for children to join in. At one stage, after the King has demanded more sweets, Marcus cries, "'Impossible! We will be strung upside down in the market square, so pigeons can poop on us.'" Kids will hang on every word when this book is read aloud! I also liked the message implicit in Mary's philosophy : "'We can only do our best. And that's what we will do.'"

Sarah Davis's illustrations just pop off the page, full of character and fun, yet subtly underscoring the fairy tale setting. There are lots of lovely details for children to marvel over, like a King who sleeps with his teddy, the candymakers' baby in various cute poses, and of course the fairy herself - an enchanting combination of sparkly magical creature and real little girl, with lollies in her tummy and wearing striped leg warmers.

The story is beautifully narrated by Antonia Kidman, and enhanced by excerpts from Tchaikovsky's music. Listening to the audiobook on CD, while following along in the print book, is a useful step for children on the pathway to independent reading. I also love audiobooks for travelling - a fun and educational idea to remember for long car or plane journeys.

What an excellent introduction to classical music this package would make - for libraries, for classrooms, and for families. You could follow it up with listening to more music by Tchaikovsky - the stirring Trepak is available on Youtube, as is Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy played on Glass Armonica, or you can share the Kirov ballet performance with your kids. If you're into acapella like me, check out this great techno Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy - I love to see people who enjoy their music!

Book Review, Too Tight Benito

Too Tight, Benito! by Janeen Brian (Little Hare, 2008) is a charming picture book for two to share, cuddled up in a snug place just like its main character wants to be. You see, Benito Bear has a problem - it's nearly time for his winter sleep and he can no longer fit all the way inside his cubby-hole. So Benito goes on a search for a new cubby-hole. He finds other animal homes, but rejects them, heading deeper into the forest until he finds a deep, dark hole.

Darkness where things might slither.
Darkness where things might hiss.
Darkness where things might flap or snap or snarl.

The visual sub text adds another layer to the story. On most pages, sometimes almost hidden, is a squirrel who shares Benito's quest. Children will have fun finding him, and enjoy the story's ending where he curls up with Benito in the newly-excavated, "... just-right, not-too-tight Benito Bear cubby-hole ..." Illustrator, Judith Rossell, provides images that will inspire young readers to dig and wriggle and squirm, just like Benito.

Every child I have ever known has loved making play-houses, or forts, or cubbies as we call them in Australia. They will also understand the way Benito's own imagination sends him fleeing from the dark hole, deep in the forest, back to his own safe environment.

I've read and reviewed several of Janeen Brian's books - By Jingo!, Elephant Mountain, Oddball, Where does Thursday go? - and admit I have great admiration for this prolific Australian author. She has an obvious delight in language, which she shares with her young readers. In Too Tight, Benito! I love the repetition of "snappity twigs and damp leaves, sky-high trees and swaying shadows." which somehow gets across the very essence of forest, and is so satisfying rhythmically.

Too Tight, Benito! is a great resource for children who are studying animal homes. After reading it, kids could discuss how they solve problems, what makes them feel safe, and what's good about sharing. It would make an excellent start to a Teddy Bear's Picnic, too! Why not ask your kids to choose a suitable outdoor space, create invitations for their friends, help you look online for yummy food to prepare, and think of other books about bears to enjoy while you're at the picnic. After lunch, it might be fun to create some new cubby-homes for Benito - but make sure they're not too tight!

Develop Imagination Through Literature-based Play

If you're a regular reader at The Book Chook, you've probably noticed how much I enjoy discovering web spaces that encourage kids to read and write. The new technologies can be so motivating, and also provide an authentic audience. However, like everything else in life I guess, we need to find a balance between technology and the other things we need. One of those needs is imagination.

Hopefully your own children know how to play by using their imagination. You've read to them from the moment they arrived, you've talked and sung to them, you've encouraged imaginative play - with books, rhymes, dress ups, toys, cardboard boxes, and paint. But what if you come into contact with kids who haven't developed their imaginations? Through marriage, helping out at a school, meeting new relatives or neighbours, you may meet kids who need to be taught how to play the 'old-fashioned' way.

One suggestion is to play WITH them. Use books as a springboard. Read a story together and then suggest making a game about it. If it's your game, you get to grab the best roles like Pirate Chief or Ugly Witch. Be sure to involve the kids by asking questions, or suggesting parts for them - I admit I have to reel in my tendency to want to be producer, director and leading lady! Once the kids are coming up with ideas, gently withdraw until all you have to do is throw in the occasional nasty chuckle, or guard the treasure with your feet up, reading.

An invented game my K-2 classes loved was called Go Dog Go. We'd start by sharing P.D.Eastman's classic beginner book, Go Dog Go. Then we'd find a part of the playground as far from other classes as possible. A group of children would pretend to be dogs, locked in kennels, A. The majority of the class would be rabbits, out eating the farmer's crops, B. Both groups would enter into their roles, either munching and taunting the dogs, or growling at the rabbits. Then after some question and answer routines, I would give the signal, "Go, dogs, go!" and release the dogs who would bark loudly and try to catch the rabbits before they could make it back to their warren, C (equidistant from A and B). Caught rabbits would turn into dogs in successive rounds of the game, until at last only the fleetest rabbits were left, facing a pack of slavering hounds.

No, the game really didn't have much to do with the book, aside from the name. Yes, we made enough noise to bring the Principal out into the playground. The kids just loved the game so much, and begged for it during our Physical Education classes. I would often see them playing it during lesson breaks. It sounds so simple, and it WAS simple, so I never really understood its success. Perhaps it was just an ideal combination of a great book, running freely, imagining, and making one heck of a lot of noise.

Lots of games can be adapted to suit a favourite book. Fairy Tales are wonderful fodder. You can take a standard hide-and-go-seek game and add some characters - say a giant or a witch seeking as many Jacks or Hansels as you have. Chasing games are even more fun if your teams are Gryffindor and Slytherin. Outdoor games help kids to get fresh air and exercise, but indoor ones can be a wonderful way to while away a wet afternoon. Encourage kids to act out stories themselves, or with toys or puppets. It's great way to involve literature in children's imaginative play.

Both outdoor and indoor imaginative play are more fun with the addition of props. Lengths of material, old hats, pipe cleaners, cardboard tubes and pieces, old makeup can all be put to good use, and encourage creativity far more than a standard costume purchased from a store.

Inventing a new game is great fun, but recycling an old one is good too. Some of the games we played as kids are not so popular now. However, some kids love to learn new games, so why not teach them your favourite skipping rhymes, cat's cradle patterns and tag games? Recycling just might start a new craze in your neighbourhood. If you're a little hazy on the rules, you and your kids might enjoy researching them at your local library, or on the internet - another great idea for reading together.

In my primary school, we played Fly, Queenie, cubbies, skipping games, elastics, Jacks, hopscotch. We had crazes on yo-yos, cat's cradle, some clapping games. We also had an elaborate role-play game we built around the book, The Borrowers. What games do you remember from the playground?

Photo courtesy PhotoXpress.com 

Book Review, Owl Babies

I have a favourite picture book to share! Granted, I discover favourite picture books almost weekly, but if you don't know it, please look out for this one. It's Owl Babies, written by Martin Waddell, illustrated by Patrick Benson, and first published by Walker Books in 1992.

The first thing you notice when you pick up the book is the wonderful cover art. Patrick Benson somehow manages to get so much character into each of three owlets perched on a branch. On the first page, we meet those baby owls: Sarah, Percy and Bill, and their Mother. But on the second page, we discover a problem - they wake up and find their Mother gone.

"Where's Mummy?" asked Sarah.
"Oh my goodness!" said Percy.
"I want my mummy!" said Bill.

Of all the picture book themes in the world, somehow the one about missing mothers seems to most resonate with both kids and adults. P.D.Eastman's Are You My Mother, also wonderful, immediately springs to mind. I guess it's because everyone can remember that feeling of stunned terror when they first realize they've misplaced their mum. Waddell demonstrates his complete understanding of those feelings by what he shows the owlets saying and doing. Especially little Bill whose repeated "I want my mummy!" will make kids giggle, but nod their heads wisely, remembering.

Working together, Waddell and Benson engage us in this delightful story. Words and pictures ratchet up the tension, building to the climax of Mother's homecoming. I'll bet every mum who reads this one aloud can hear herself in Mother Owl's announcement: "WHAT'S ALL THE FUSS?... You knew I'd come back." And of course they did, and so do we.

Owl Babies is definitely the sort of picture book kids will ask for many times. It's nice to feel the vicarious panic of not knowing exactly where your mother is. It's even nicer to share the baby owl's delight in her return. If you're looking for a picture book to convert into Reader's Theatre for your kids, this has the perfect combination of dialogue, repetition, narration and static movement you need. If you're not sure about what Reader's Theatre is, how it contributes to children's literacy, or how to go about writing a script for one, look for some posts about it on the Book Chook blog in the near future.

Inspiring Kids to Write with Prompt Generators

There are many great web spaces where kids can publish their own writing. Among others, I've described Cartoonist, PhotoPeach, Glogster, Notaland, Myths and Legends and Make Beliefs Comix. These sites are intrinsically motivating for kids who want to use words and images, (plus sound and video in some cases), to express themselves.

But what can you do when a child says, "I dunno what to write about."? Maybe he enjoys the web spaces, loves the tools, but is stumped when it comes to getting started with ideas for a story.

Brainstormer is an online interactive spinner that gives a young writer a random combination of a conflict, a setting, and what type of characters the story might be about. Just press the button in the middle to get a new combination. My story suggestion was about Amish characters who had to become fortunate in an art gallery. The level of vocabulary means this would be best for upper primary onwards. (My thanks to Keith Schoch for mentioning this one.)

You can find three other writing prompt generators at The Writing for Children Resource Site. Generator 1 asks you to click to get an adjective, a noun and a verb or phrase. I was invited to write a story about "The nuclear-powered chocolate bar that went mountain climbing." Generator 2 gives you three random objects and asks you to write a story about them, including why they are important. Mine were a tulip, a video game, and five poison berries. Generator 3 gives you your main character, his goal, the person or thing that gets between him and his goal, the setting, an event that's the turning point in the story, and a crucial object. My plot became: a third grade kid in a deep, dark jungle wants to get back home, but an earthquake is preventing him. Learning to meditate and a lucky sock lead to a happy homecoming. (Is the world of publishing ready for this?)

Ambleside Primary School has a simple and silly storymaker that asks kids to input words, then push a button to get a crazy story. I got:
One day while I was running in the kitchen a red toadstool fell through the roof. It immediately jumped on the bed and knocked over the bucket. Then it ran out the door into the bathroom and kicked a pig off the bench. It then knocked a glass of glue off the coffee table. After one thousand minutes of chasing the toadstool through the house I finally caught it and put it outside. It quickly climbed the nearest politician.

Alas, my generated story above is not great writing, but it might be a springboard to something else. Prompts are just a way to get started. What writers do once the ideas start to flow is up to them.

Photo courtesy PhotoXpress.com

Family Literacy Bags

Family Literacy Bags are a great idea from Reading Rockets. Developed so that teachers can support the role of parents as educators, the idea is to put two books into a zip top bag ( one fiction and one non-fiction), then add helpful information sheets of related interactive activities for parents to do with kids.

The bags are theme-based. There's one on Animals, Environment, Food, Folktales, Music, Time, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Their focus is on Kindergarten and First Grade. I love the fact that there are clear, accessible, and easy-to-understand suggestions for parents in each pdf, readily downloadable from Reading Rockets.

The activities would be fun and educational to link to any book that suits the themes, not just the ones suggested. For the Food theme, "get real" suggestions include a cooking with kids website, a visit to a dairy or farm, watching seeds sprout, gardening, and using the healthy food pyramid. There's also a puzzle-making idea, some role-play and discussion activities, and the bookmarks have suggestions for further reading.

I love Reading Rockets! Do yourself a favour and explore the whole website. It's well set-out, easily navigable, and incredibly generous in making available a wealth of resources to support kids' literacy.

Photo courtesy PhotoXpress.com

Book Review, Round Fish Square Bowl

Round Fish Square Bowl is a picture book that celebrates individual differences. If you have a child who walks to the beat of a different drum, this could be just the picture book for him.

Written by Tom Skinner, and illustrated by Mini Goss, it's a New Frontier (2007) book. It starts off, "Have you ever felt as if you don't quite fit in? A bit like a square peg in a round hole? Or a fish out of water, gasping for air?" I believe our society needs square pegs just as much as we need round pegs, old pegs, new pegs, pegs with two prongs or pegs with three. I love the fact that this picture book underscores that need, and does its best to help all little pegs be proud of their individuality.

The book works on different levels. It's not a narrative, more a wry commentary on not taking stereotypes for granted. It does this in a light-hearted, positive way.

Round Fish Square Bowl is also an exploration of language, encouraging young readers to think about expressions like "as stubborn as a mule" or "as poor as a church mouse". In the second half of the book, Tom Skinner stands those cliches on their heads, and introduces situations where the opposite is true. A mule's stubbornness can be used to save lives, a tortoise can beat the flashy hare with his own brand of steady determination.

Characters from fairy tales, fables and stories demonstrate the truth of the idea that being different can be a great success. My favourite page is the one where the poor church mouse actually turns out to be rich with family and friends, despite his shabby arm chair being patched and propped up with a tin can.

Mini Goss adds yet another layer to the story with her illustrations. They're very 'tactile', with the canvas of the original paintings being a feature. There's plenty of detail to make the visual text something for kids to ponder and giggle about, but the pictures are also large and clear - perfect for a group read-aloud. Key words are written in a special font, underscoring their meaning, and helping beginning readers.

As a follow up to sharing the story, it would be fun to try to track down the origins of some of the expressions, and of the characters. Some will lead to well-known tales like The Three Little Pigs, or The Hare and the Tortoise. But children might not be as familiar with Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatter, so use the book as a springboard to other stories. Have your children ever felt as if they don't fit in? What qualities make them different, and special? They could construct their own little book by using photographs of themselves doing the things that make them proud to be different. I have some suggestions for making digital stories or posters in earlier posts.

This is the first New Frontier book I've reviewed. I am very impressed with their website. It has fabulous, curriculum-related resources available for their books, perfect for homeschoolers, teachers, or anyone looking for educational activities linked to literature. Just go to New Frontier Resources page, and choose your book. There are stacks of excellent literacy activities available there for Round Fish Square Bowl, really adding value to an already valuable book.

Encouraging Young Readers

One of the things I loved most about being a teacher was that moment when a child realized he or she was reading. The light that dawned in their eyes rivalled any sunrise, and I swear pride made them walk taller. I don't actually remember learning to read myself, although my mother told me I could read before I went to school. What I do remember is the night I first understood that my son could read independently.

As a single working parent, most nights all I craved was SLEEP. If my son had had a nap at the babysitters, he was ready to party. One night I was lying next to him, reading aloud from the umpteenth book. After tunnel ball practice that day, my arms were sick of being vertical, so I handed him the book to hold. He took it and matter-of-factly continued reading the story aloud.

Flabbergasted, I demanded, "Why didn't you tell me you could read?"

He just blinked, and explained, "But you always hold the book."

Besides sharing the book-holding, here are some other ideas for parents or loving relatives to encourage young readers. (You can also find some ways of using videos to encourage reading in my recent post.)

Gift them with your time. Having your undivided attention will make any reading time special for your children. Ignore the laundry, the washing up, the latest episode of Idol. One-on-one time spent reading aloud will pay dividends far greater than clean clothes, crockery or some fly-by-night celebrity. Reading with your kids is an investment in their future.

Gift them with your praise. Lots of kids struggle with reading. For them, learning to read can take so much time and effort. Make sure you let them know you appreciate that time and effort by praising it. When your praise focuses on behaviours too, it reinforces the reading messages. Consider encouraging kids with comments like:
"I love how you're trying different kinds of books from the library."
"That was great when you used a funny voice for the duck!"
"I was so proud when your teacher told me you talked about our read-aloud book in show and tell."

Gift them with your own interest in sharing stories. Show your kids you love to read, listen to, participate in stories. Model love of reading by taking time to read when your kids can see you immersed in print. Also, there are so many wonderful literature-related events you can try. Story-telling at your local library, a puppet show about a folktale, a movie based on a book, a fairy-tale brought to life by a local theatre group - outings like these will make special memories, and reinforce the fact that reading-related activities are of high importance to your family.

There is no one guaranteed way to teach a child to read. If we parents encourage our kids rather than forcing them, if we use a range of strategies like reading aloud regularly, modelling reading ourselves, praising, and investing our time, I believe we are setting their feet on the pathway to a life-long source of education and pleasure.

Then they can hold the books for us!

Photo courtesy PhotoXpress.com

Book Chook Harry Potter Giveaway Winners Announced

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to have a flighty bird choose five random winners for a giveaway? Nevertheless, after minutes of shilly-shallying, Logo the Chicken pecked our five winners for the Harry Potter Giveaway. These people will each receive paperbacks of:

Book 5 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Book 6 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Book 7 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Thanks to everyone who entered. Congratulations go to: ShootingStarsMag, CherylS22, Susan Kusel, Yan and Mishel. I've forwarded your postal details to Big Honcho Media which will arrange delivery.

Use You Tube to Encourage Reading

YouTube can be a huge boon for parents who want to encourage their kids to read. You can use it to remind your children of some of their old favourite books.

Goodnight Moon

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Where the Wild Things Are

Fox in Sox

You can use YouTube to introduce new books. More and more movies are being based on children's literature. If your youngster is a screen kid, maybe he'll read the book AFTER watching the movie. Here are some intriguing movie trailers based on great books.

Where the Wild Things Are

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Horton Hears a Who

Nim's Island

Some companies commission a book series based on the characters or worlds in a movie. I must admit, I've rarely been impressed with this sort of merchandise. They often have great movie shot illustrations and sparkly covers, but lacklustre writing. Still, if it's part of a balanced reading diet, what the heck! A TV or movie tie-in can start kids on the pathway to reading via their love for Transformers or Finding Nemo.

Book Trailers or Previews are often made by authors as a form of book promotion. Sites like Blazing Trailers focus exclusively on books, and have a children's section, or you can use the search box at YouTube with terms like "children's picture book" to see what comes. I haven't read any of Deb Abela's books yet, but when I saw this trailer, I instantly decided to. Doesn't it look intriguing?

YouTube can also be a good way to learn new rhymes and songs together. Rhymes and songs help kids internalize language, an important step in learning to read.

Five Little Monkeys

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

The Elephant Song

and A Pirate Story (last two are great for young kids, both by Eric Herman)

Older kids learning a language can search for known songs in their language of choice, like Je m'appelle Funny Bear.

Some parents worry about how much screen time their kids get, and rightly so. When we change the passive use of screens to link to reading, though, everybody wins.

Book Review, Bubble Homes and Fish Farts

I heard of Bubble Homes and Fish Farts during our Literacy Blog Tour, Share a Story - Shape a Future, and immediately wanted to read it. My first glimpse convinced me that kids will love this non-fiction picture book. I guarantee that any book with "fart" in the title will make them take a second look! The cover art features bubbles of gas escaping from a fish, while a spider nearby thinks, 'P.U.! That's why I live in FRESH water!' That guarantees a third look. And once they start reading, they'll be hooked.

Bubble Homes and Fish Farts was written by Fiona Bayrock, illustrated by Carolyn Conahan, and published by Charlesbridge (2009). My copy is a sturdy paperback that looks like it would withstand much re-reading, and the delighted sharing of favourite pages.

The book presents bite-sized facts about creatures that have something to do with bubbles. From a shrew that walks on water to scuba-diving bugs, we meet bubbles used as weapons, protection and communication. Bayrock personalizes and explains facts to kids by relating them to things they'll understand. So the rattlebox moth seems to '... say "Nyah,nyah, na-nyah, nyah" to predators.' and the male gourami seems to be playing basketball when he spits eggs into his nest.

Carolyn Conahan's watercolour art is lovely. It's realistic but whimsical, if that makes sense. There is enough detail to satisfy, but an occasional animal wink or smile to accompany the speech bubbles that reveal each creature's thoughts. I love the double page fantasy spread at the beginning and end of the book - a mural of kids and critters painting and blowing bubbles on a sunny day really sets the mood for what's inside.

One of the many reasons to choose this book to share with your child is that it's an excellent model of the non-fiction information text type. Fiona Bayrock makes every single word count. Her writing is wonderfully descriptive without being flowery, and the tight, active style invites us to share the author's passion for natural science. It would also make a great choice for any dad who is uncomfortable reading fiction aloud, to share with his kids. I learnt so much from this book, and honestly believe any child or adult will marvel over each fascinating fact.

In the back of the book, there are more amazing facts about the bubble-makers featured inside, a glossary, and an acknowledgments page which impressed me, and made me fully understand the depth of research that went into creating Bubble Homes and Fish Farts.

After reading, kids might like to do some research into another theme that interests them - camouflage say - and collect facts related to their theme. Google's new Wonder Wheel feature can assist here, by helping refine search terms. Once they've decided on their facts, and written about them, encourage children to think about how best they can present those facts to others. Maybe they could also investigate the science of bubbles, read about making two metre bubbles at Instructables, or check out Fiona Bayrock's own website for some fun bubble activities.

You'll find more great reads at Scrub-a-Dub-Tub for the Nonfiction Monday Roundup.

Virtual Visiting - Switcheroo Zoo

Switcheroo Zoo is a website young environmentalists or animal lovers might enjoy.

At Switch Zoo, my favourite part of Switcheroo Zoo, you can actually create new animals, like this squirdish I morphed from a squid, bird and fish. There are lots of different combinations to try. Pictured below is my squebra with the story I made about him.

There's so much reading, writing and learning at this site. Kids are encouraged to write a story about their new animals in the Switch Zoo. There are games like Where Do I Live? that make it fun to learn facts about animals and their habitats. All the resources seem excellent, both on and off site.

I was truly amazed at some of the little videos. It was the audio aspect that was amazing - singing animals? Someone clever has used bird calls and animal noises to create Fur Elise and Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Youngsters who adore animals will love this site because there's heaps to see, learn and do.

Naturally, Switcheroo Zoo would make a wonderful springboard to studying animals and their habitats. But consider using it to spark an interest in other strange beasts, like those in different mythologies or myths. Kids might like to create their own weird combinations in art, and then write a description, a wanted poster, or create a picture book narrative about their beast. Be sure to check out the inspired art work from St John's Lower School in Texas, and some creative writing by 7th Grade students.

When everyone's exhausted after all that looking, listening, learning, and creating, what better follow-up to your virtual visit than curling up in a chair together, and sharing a real book about animals with your child?