Book Review, Victor's Challenge

Children's Book Review written by Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com


Regular readers of The Book Chook will know how vital I believe it is to provide young readers with books that are suitable in readability without dumbing down. Victor's Challenge, written by Pamela Freeman, illustrated by Kim Gamble, and published by Walker Books (2009) is what I would describe as a junior novel. It's perfect for primary school-aged kids who want a shorter chapter book that's not as daunting as a middle grade chapter book, but will grab and hold their interest.


I was intrigued from the opening paragraph:


"I don't believe in princes!" Valerian's father declared, staring hard at Prince Victor. "What do you make of that, eh?"


It's tricky when the father of the girl you want to marry doesn't believe in you, right? When Valerian's father then goes on to stipulate challenges for Victor to complete, it seems our hero has no hope of success.


I loved Valerian AND Victor, both strong characters in their own way, even though Victor believes himself to be stupid. I also loved the humour in the story. Some of it is provided by the adults - like Victor's mother, the Queen, who when told Victor is to face a human-hating dragon as his first challenge, simply says, "Go on then, off you go." No helicopter parenting with this woman! There's also just the right amount of description to make vivid word pictures for the reader.


The story is bursting with fascinating creatures - like White Unicorn Owls and Very Large and Ferocious Orange Bats who sound a lot like archetypal Aussies. And Victor himself isn't a typical hero, all square jaw and muscle. He tends to blunder into solutions, or to bring them about because of his kind heart. It's so much more fun to read about heroes like Victor. His is a special kind of cleverness, and he becomes more confident and sure of himself as the story progresses.


Kim Gamble's occasional illustrations add both charm and meaning to the story. The sketches are an aid to comprehension, while sharing Gamble's vision of the characters developed by Freeman. My favourite is the fire dragon, but kids will love the humour of Professor Borage and the bats too.


Victor's Challenge is the second in the series which began with Victor's Quest, but it definitely stands alone. 


Find more Children's Book Reviews on The Book Chook via the Table of Contents.

Holiday Learning Fun

Here in Australia we had a decidedly Wet Christmas. There were lots of Christmas greetings orbiting around the web, but this one touched my heart - greetings to planet Earth from the crew on the International Space Station. One world - wouldn't it be great if we could all work together to look after it?





If you're on holidays and looking for some activities to do indoors that might sneak a little learning into your kid's lives, here are some Book Chook ideas:


Instigate a game of libraries! Encourage your kids to organize their books according to their own criteria. All the blue books together? Favourite books on the top shelf? Give each book a Dewey label? Younger children might establish a read aloud corner to share stories with their toys. Hopefully, this will result in your kids revisiting their older books, and spending time with new books they received as gifts. If you're all set for read o'clock, don't forget write o'clock too. Making reading and writing part of everyday life is great habit for kids to get into.


Christmas and New Year are ideal times to study other cultures. If it's dry/warm enough to go outside, why not check out your local library's books written for kids about different countries, their customs and ways of celebrating. Music is another element to add to your research, and also exposes kids to other languages. Here's a French lullaby to get you started.





For lots of families, Christmas means gifts received. Most parents want their kids to express gratitude for presents, but getting kids to write letters of thanks can be like extracting teeth! Why not try electronic cards as a solution? At easyhi, you can embed video, use photos as background, add animations and text. It's easy to do - you join up, confirm via email, and begin. If you want your kids to enthuse about writing thank yous for gifts, this might be just the way to get them started. And it's a great way to send snippets of your Christmas to distant loved ones.


Older kids might like to take a look at a new Scholastic site, You Are What You Read. People from all over the world who join the community are encouraged to share the five books that shaped their lives. I found this an interesting exercise to do as an adult. It's fascinating to not only choose the books but then state what they mean to you. What would your five books be?


Linking led me to the Reading Bill of Rights at Scholastic. This makes a great starting point to a discussion with your students, kids or workmates. Here's an excerpt:

WE BELIEVE that literacy – the ability to read, write and understand – is the birthright of every child in the world as well as the pathway to succeed in school and to realize a complete life. Young people need to read nonfiction for information to understand their world, and literature for imagination to understand themselves.

WE BELIEVE that the massive amounts of digital information and images now transmitted daily make it even more important for a young person to know how to analyze, interpret and understand information, to separate fact from opinion, and to have deep respect for logical thinking.

WE BELIEVE that literature and drama, whether on printed pages, screens, on stage or film, help young people experience the great stories of emotion and action, leading to a deeper understanding of what it means to be truly human. Without this literacy heritage, life lacks meaning, coherence and soul.

While you're in the discussing frame of mind, check out this blog post where Angela Maiers refers to a fellow who's advocating no fiction for school kids. Huh? Could it be like reverse psychology, that he thinks banning fiction will make reading more attractive? I don't know but I sure hope his idea doesn't catch on. Narrowing choice seems to me to be a sure-fire way to kill love of reading. It seems Scholastic agree with me, here's another quote from their Reading Bill of Rights: "...every child should be able to choose and own the books they want to read, for that choice builds literacy confidence – the ability to read, write and speak about what they know, what they feel, and who they are."


Are you interested in making videos with your kids but not sure where to start? Vimeo has a video school with lots of tutorials about video making like this one about how to import in iMovie. Why not use movie making software like iMovie or Windows Movie Maker to stitch together some of those family holiday snaps? If you're looking for an even simpler option, try PhotoPeach. Digital stories like this are a great way to get kids involved in communicating with an audience. The learning curve involves them in reading, writing, talking, listening and all sorts of critical and creative thinking. Best of all it's fun!


With Christmas over, lots of folks begin a giant clean-up, throwing out packaging, cards, boxes and wrapping. Stop! Why not have a giant craft-up instead? Challenge your kids to make villages, monsters, spaceships or cubbies by recycling junk. Don't forget all those catalogues. Grab some ideas from Turn a Catalogue into a Classroom.


I mentioned Isle of Tune in an earlier post. In case you missed it, I think it's a great online game for encouraging kids to experiment with making music.

Image credit E.E.Piphanies on Flickr

Just for Fun

Here are some delightful resources I've found in my online wandering. Some fit the blog's theme of children's literacy, literature and learning; others don't.


Have you seen the movie Big? I haven't but I loved this clip from it. To me, it demonstrates our innate human joy in creating music. Why not share it with your kids, then think of all the ways you can make music together.



While we're in the mood for making music, my new favourite game is Isle of Tune which I discovered via Larry Ferlazzo. Basically, you arrange a street scape and each element you add makes music. Try Demo Island where you can start building streets by adding to an existing layout, or start from scratch. Click on an element to bring up a menu which allows you to change the sound, or copy that element to add it other places on your map.


This is simple enough for younger children to manage. I'm not sure if it will start them on a career in music, but I love that Isle of Tune emphasizes experimentation and creativity and best of all, it's fun! If your kids are 10 and up, they might prefer to play with music at Incredibox, where they drag and drop sound icons onto characters.


I love some of the things technology inspires in creative people. Here's a multitrack collaboration between Trudbol (vocals) and Mesnier (guitar), Bye Bye Blues. Anyone else like Barbershop?



CBeebies have some Christmas games, perfect for younger kids. These are not your boring shoot'em - blast'ems. I liked Pantomime Collage Maker. You get to choose elements from a show like Aladdin or Cinderella, drag them to your stage, click to see them interact then press play to see and hear a cute song. What a great activity to do after you've read some fairy tales with your kids! You can decorate a Christmas tree, help an elf collect gifts by using arrow keys on the keyboard, make music with Zingzillas (not really Christmas-themed, and slow to load but great for auditory discrimination) and many more.


There's also a section for Christmas songs which wouldn't work in my area, Christmas stories, and a lovely craft section with ideas like a Finger Puppet Nativity.


Does anyone else have a Christmas family tradition of performance? Here's one of my heroes, poet Michael Rosen, reciting Boogie Woogie Buggy. Why not let Rosen inspire you and the kids to share some poetry, or learn it by heart so you can share it with your guests over Christmas?



Little Einsteins is a Disney TV show and has games, activities, music and stories for kids. I liked some of the creative art activities, and love the fact you can play classical music snippets while you create. And the Silly Song Machine is another way to have kids listen to classical music, this time while they organize voices to the beat.


Looking for more ideas to get your kids creating? Each Friday over the last several weeks, I've provided a prompt to help you start. You can link to the whole series here. For more activities that involve kids in creative thinking and expression, with an emphasis on writing, you might like these articles:
Making a Book at ToonDoo
Create a Story with Story Jumper
Fast and Fun Writing with Kids
Quick Writing Online
Keep Calm and Carry On
Learn Something Every Day
Fun with Words - Spell with Flickr


You'll also find some great word games and language activities in The Book Chook Bag of Tricks.


If you're looking for websites where younger children can interact and create online, you might like to read Little Treasures (Boowa and Kwala) Fun with Spot or Poisson Rouge.


See you back here at The Book Chook on December 30. I hope you enjoy your holiday as much as I plan to, and get lots of reading, writing and creating done! If you'd like to read about the changes to The Book Chook I'd like to make in 2011, check out yesterday's call for contributors. 

An Introspective and Call for Contributors

2010 is almost over. For me as a blogger, this year has been hugely successful. Is there such a thing as too successful? It has certainly felt that way sometimes.


You see, I've been trying to whistle a symphony with The Book Chook blog. No matter how I puckered and blew, I just wasn't making it. Symphonies are meant for orchestras. So I've made the decision to invite other instruments to join me. In 2011 some reviews at The Book Chook will be done by guests, and there will be more guest posts. I'm hoping  some people might even be brave enough to take on a permanent role. Lawks, we might end up with Book Chooks! (Even more feathers and fun.)


What I need is to find guest reviewers and article writers who know the blog. They should understand my emphasis on great children's literature, literacy and learning. They should share my philosophy of encouraging kids to learn in a natural way, by playing and having fun where possible. And they should write clearly and concisely because I can't afford to spend time on lots on editing.


If you're interested in writing a guest post or review of a book or educational product for The Book Chook, you can contact me with your proposal via the Contact Me tab.  All I can promise you is exposure to a growing global audience, plus a link to your own blog and/or website in your bio.


I'm hoping there will be other changes at The Book Chook in 2011. One thing I would very much like is to reach a wider audience. If you know someone, or a group of people you think might be interested in reading The Book Chook, please help me spread the literacy and learning love by inviting them to subscribe via RSS, become a blog follower and/or visit occasionally and leave a comment. If you're a fellow blogger, and you appreciate my posts about the 3 Ls - children's literature, literacy and learning - I'd love you to link to my blog, and/or grab the badge at left.


THANK YOU: To those of you who are followers, I love seeing your smiling faces in my sidebar widget! To those of you who read via RSS, or in email, please let me know if there's something you'd like to see on The Book Chook next year. To the people who take time to leave comments, and write emails, I appreciate that so much and love getting your feedback. YOU are what keeps me researching and writing - the fact that I have so much fun doing it is just the red nose on my reindeer!


Tomorrow I'll have some fun activities for the young and young at heart. The Book Chook will then be taking a break until December 30.

What's the Use of Word Clouds?

Someone asked me the other day, "What's the use of a word cloud?" I admit it, I love word clouds. There's something very satisfying to me in being able to create images that shows words in different ways, different sizes, fonts and colours. I've written about programs that help us generate word clouds like Tagxedo, Wordle, ABCYa, and even given instructions for how to add pictures to a wordle.


If you're new to the whole word cloud idea, here's my explanation of a wordle:


It’s a word cloud generated online. You put in text of your own, and Wordle does the rest. It’s fun to play, generating different fonts, colours and lay outs. The randomize button generates many different configurations of your very own wordle. There’s a gallery at the Wordle website to see others’ creations, a forum (some spam there, supervision necessary), and an associated blog by the Wordle creator, Jonathan Feinberg.


What use are wordles? Here are some of my ideas:

• After kids have played with Wordle, consider using it as a way for them to revise/learn spelling words. 
• Wordles could be created with family members’ names, and form the basis for cards or calendars. 
• Baby’s first words would make an interesting wordle. 
• Beginning readers might like to make a wordle of their recently learnt sight words. 
• For writers who are just starting out, a wordle can be a fun schematic representation of their favourite words. 
• You could use a wordle for labels in a room, or name tags. Just type in one word!
• Generate a wordle with each student's name in it, print and paste it onto your classroom door as an introduction. 
• Have kids list the things they like, then manipulate the wordle by repeating text to give it larger font. This would be an interesting activity to do with favourite books, movies, songs, friends' names etc.

If you want to generate a phrase or sentence as opposed to single words, the way I did in the wordle above, use the tilde (~) on your keyboard between words and Wordle will put them alongside each other. 

I also figured out how to use Wordle Advanced today. In the second box down, put your word/words followed by a colon, next to that add the number of times you want the word repeated, followed by a colon, then add the colour as a hexadecimal colour code. So for instance, to make the red BookChook in my second image, I typed:BookChook:50:FF0000. 

Find more ideas from Terry Freedman at The Educational Technology Site: ICT in Education, in Larry Ferlazzo's article, The Best Resources for Learning about Word Clouds, and from Lisa MacKenzie at Ideas For Teachers. 


Why not make a word cloud with your kids and use it as a card? You could use family names, greetings in other languages, favourite quotes or seasonal words like I did. 

Creative Prompt - Start with Illustrations

Before I get to today's creative prompt, I saw a slideshow recently which emphasized for me the importance of creativity. It's by Betsy Streeter, and won the Creative category in a Slideshare Contest.

The Best Question in the World

View more presentations from Betsy Streeter.

Today, I want to suggest that a great prompt for our own creativity can come from somebody else's illustrations. I know I've introduced the idea of using photos, pictures and other art work in my own prompts, and I loved the picture prompt ideas in Sandy Fussell's guest article, Becoming a Story Detective.  But by illustrations here, I am suggesting we start specifically with the work of illustrators, and allow them to inspire us to create something new.


The two obvious ways to do this are with children's picture books, and online.


Literature: combining literature and creativity is to me such a simple, natural process. Of course, it doesn't need to be an illustration from a picture book that starts you off. If your children love characters in chapter books, they might want to use them as a jump off point and begin a new story set in an author's world. But picture books are such a wonderful way to teach visual literacy that I find I tend to automatically analyse the art work and what makes it effective. Involving kids in that process encourages them to get the most out of a picture book. So I suggest you use picture books to encourage kids to become aware of different artists' styles and techniques.


They might like to go on to experiment themselves with those same techniques, or jump off into a new direction. A picture from Jeannie Baker's Mirror might spark a desire to dabble in collage creation, or perhaps to explore other creative ways to portray landscapes - with words, or oils, using toys and cardboard maybe, or even sculpting with sand.


Online: There are generous artists who allow us to use their own art work online without violating copyright. (With all of these, you need to make sure you understand the rules of the site, particularly if you intend to re-publish the work online.)


Storybird


I just love the range of top class illustrators and styles available at Storybird. It's a wonderful place to encourage kids to make a book of their own, using art work provided by adult illustrators. They choose pictures they can then drag to each page of their digital books. Perhaps you're thinking it would be more creative for your child to draw his own art work? Probably, but I think kids can learn a lot by looking at all sorts of art, whether it be in a real life gallery, in books or online.


Comic Creators


Many of the online comic creators allow us to use their own art work. Children just need to choose backgrounds, characters, props, speech bubbles/captions and then organize their stories and write the dialogue.


One of my favourite comic creators is Toon Doo. I used Toon Doo to illustrate yesterday's post, Are Manners Important? Toon Doo has several artists who supply different elements which are simple to drag into the panels. There's also a book making feature at ToonDoo where you can combine your single cartoons into a book.


Others I've recommended are Comic Master, Stripcreator, Beanotown, Creaza's Cartoonist, Story Maker, StoryJumper, Make Beliefs Comix, and Myths and Legends.


What I did


I decided to create a new book at Storybird, mostly because I found some gorgeous illustrations by Nakisha (bluedogrose) that I fell in love with. Without being derivative, there's a lovely Beatrix Potter feel to them. I'm sure you'll see what I mean when you look at my embedded book below. I examined all her illustrations and started dragging them into sections of my canvas as a story began to tease out for me.


As an adult, I find the bookmaking process at Storybird interesting and enjoyable. It's a bit like working on a puzzle. I look at the available art work and try to weave a story around the pictures. This is not the way it's done in the real world of publishing - usually a writer creates the word layer, then an illustrator creates the visual layer that accompanies it. But I find the process both challenging and creative, and recommend you try it soon with your kids.


Here's my new Storybird, Hold Tight to your Dreams. 


Hold Tight to Your Dreams on Storybird
My article today is the fifteenth in a series of prompts that I hope might spark some creative expression in your kids, and maybe you too. I hope you'll join me so we can all challenge ourselves to be more creative. You can catch the rest of the prompts at the first post in the series, by scrolling down to Update.


If you and/or your kids respond to this prompt and you'd like me to showcase it on my blog, I would be thrilled to do that. If you post it on your own blog, please let me know (in comments or email, via the Contact Me tab), and I'll add your link to the relevant post.


Update: Here's a lovely Storybird by a young reader, Jemimah, whose mum writes A Peaceful Day blog. Isn't it great to see children using online resources like this to create story!


A boy and his dog on Storybird

Then and Afterwards - Guest Post

Today it's my pleasure to introduce Australian author, Janeen Brian, to The Book Chook. Although this is the first time Janeen has shared an article with us, you've seen my reviews of her books, like Hoosh! Camels in Australia, Shirl and the Wollomby Show, Machino Supremo, I Spy Mum and many more which you can link to via my review of I Spy Dad.  


I'm thrilled to have Janeen here today, sharing some insights into her writing life and telling us about the stories behind the stories she writes. For more insights, check out her blog, Janeen's Jottings.


Janeen began writing soon after she turned 30 when she wrote small poems for her two young daughters. Although the writing bug began to bite, it only nibbled spasmodically, and it wasn’t until several years later that she began to have work published with an educational publisher. A background in teaching helped Janeen understand the philosophy of what was needed, although she still had much to learn about the craft of writing! Some 30 + years later, she has over 70 books published, many translated into other languages and many, like Where does Thursday Go?, Hoosh! Camels in Australia and Pilawuk: When I was Young, winning awards. She also writes stories, poems and articles for children’s magazines, both in Australia and overseas. Apart from being a fulltime author, Janeen loves to read, create mosaics from recycled materials, grow food and flowers in her garden, go to theatre and films, travel, attend several fitness classes and of course, spend time with her family and friends.


Then and Afterwards


Every book has its own story. The one the author intended to be read. But what are also fascinating are the countless mini-stories that occur as you, the author, create that one book.


Creating books lend itself to all sorts of serendipitous happenings, in all forms. Have you ever discovered a piece of information that seems to have been sitting around simply waiting for you to unearth it? Has there been an odd comment uttered innocently in an everyday conversation that somehow gave you a whole new slant on your life? Or have you discovered an object that evoked an idea - or was perfect in some other way? Claire Saxby once found a soft toy, blue whale in the gutter. She’d searched seriously in shops and other venues for just such a thing to use in an activity for her picture book, There Was an Old Sailor, but had had no success. What are the chances of that happening?


These mini-stories are endlessly fascinating to us as writers and readers. They’re like barnacles that adhere, one by one, to the main jetty pole, adding to its shape and texture.


But equally intriguing is: what happens to our books afterwards? I don’t necessarily mean at the launch or during those rigorous inroads of self-promotion. I mean the ones you don’t expect, the the surprises that add another layer or two to your fully completed written book.


Perhaps you never expected your book to turn up written in Braille? Or that your story would become a film. Or that a letter arrives from a stranger, explaining that your book was the first one their child had read from beginning to end.


My camel books, the award-winning, information book Hoosh! Camels in Australia (ABC Books, 2005) and the picture book Columbia Sneezes! (Omnibus/Scholastic, 2008, illustrated by Gabe Cunnett) now have several such legacies. As such, they have consciously or subconsciously enriched the book for me.


They’ve also demonstrated that while the books themselves are tangible and complete, they still pulse with possibilities.


Let me share a couple of afterwards stories with you.


During the research of Hoosh!, I was extremely grateful to the knowledge of Peter Seidel, Executive Officer of the Central Australian Camel Industry Association. He answered zillions of my layman type questions by phone or email, met me in Adelaide for an interview and provided me with industry information and photos. After the book’s publication, Peter proudly offered Hoosh! as a business gift, to many of his clients in US, Japan and Saudi Arabia, buyers of fine, disease-free Australian camels for the prestigious camel racing circuit.


Hoosh! also found a place in a display case in the South Australian Museum travelling exhibition called Australia’s Muslim Cameleers; Pioneers of the Inland, 1860s – 19303. The exhibition has travelled to many capital and regional cities in Australia since 2007 and is still on the move!


A copy of Hoosh! was placed in a little travelling bag, organised by the Quorn School Community Library, to celebrate ‘Reading @round the Region' in 2006. The bag also contained other camel bits and pieces such as the picture book, Little Humpty, photos from Pichi Richi Camel Tours and a pattern to knit a little camel, like Clive! This ‘camel bag’ was sent to outback and remote schools and libraries in the far north of SA for children and parents to use in their reading time.


In 2006, Hoosh! brought home an Honour Award in the Eve Pownall section for Information Books in the Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards.


Later young children devised a song with a string of verses, each including a fact discovered while reading Hoosh!

To the tune of ‘Go, Alice, Go!’ the first verse is:


Hoosh, the camel, has one hump.


Hoosh, the camel, has one hump.


Hoosh, the camel, has one hump.


Go, dromedary, go,


Boom! Boom! Boom!


(Lots of fun, especially if you swing your rear from side to side like a camel in the last line!)


And from Hoosh! evolved the picture book, Columbia Sneezes! It grew from a story devised by my grandson and I about a little soft toy camel I’d bought while doing fieldwork at The Voyages Camel Cup in Alice Springs.


Columbia spawned an amazing camel construction made entirely of balloons at the CLIC (Children’s Literature in the Centre) Festival in 2008! And a permanent sculpture is to be made of Columbia and set in a Storyboard Walk in a park in South Australia.


None of these eventualities could’ve been foreseen. But what joy it is to see your work remain malleable and to appear in various ways and venues previously unimagined. All our lives are made up of stories. We live by narrative. Stories shape us, guide us, and entrance us. ‘Once upon a time’ will always remain magic words –for the first story or the countless others that follow!


And the greatest joy continues to be knowing that I've played a part in encouraging kids to love reading.

(Image credits, top, Janeen Brian, camel image from Morguefile)

Are Manners Important?

It's time for another Book Chook rant. I honestly try not to interrupt my emphasis on children's literature, literacy and learning too often. However, I did it recently with Say NO to Bullying, and here I am with a rant today about teaching kids manners.


Bullying is such a huge issue and its consequences are so devastating, isn't it trivializing it to group it with manners? I'm sorry if you think that's the case. But perhaps if we help kids to learn the real reason to have good manners, we would have less bullying.


So what is the real reason? Why are manners important?


I believe that using good manners is the oil that keeps our society moving smoothly. Whether at home or at the global level, being human enough to admit mistakes, asking for something politely, sharing resources and collaborating are all skills that enable peaceful co-existence.


By teaching kids good manners, we are teaching them respect for others. That to me is the real reason behind good manners. By using words like "thank you", "please" and "I'm sorry", kids become less egocentric and begin to realize that they are not the centre of the universe. They acknowledge the importance of others in their lives, and reach out to them. They learn not to snatch, not to tantrum when they don't get their own way and to empathize with other people.


We're also teaching them a communication skill that will help them find their way in life. It works with all ages and levels of society. I believe it needs to be ingrained early into children's lives, by parents modelling good manners themselves, and insisting on good manners from when kids can talk. (I found a cute free manners chart for kids on the Story Time website. Check out the episodes while you're there.)


What's your view? Are manners old-fashioned, and my concern about them simply a by-product of my advancing years? Do you teach your children manners, at home or in the classroom? Any tips for others? What's important to you about manners?

Cartoon made by bookchook at Toon Doo.

Book Review, Hoosh! Camels in Australia

If your child isn't really into fiction yet, it might be that he (yes, I'm using that pronoun deliberately because in my experience this so often applies to boys) will find non-fiction books appealing. If that's the case, I have a great suggestion for you! Hoosh! Camels in Australia was written by Janeen Brian and published by ABC Books (2005). The author also supplied all photographic and visual material.


Hoosh! is not only an intriguing glimpse into Australia's history, it provides stacks of interesting facts too. Did you know that camels are used for weed eradication? How about camels spitting, myth or truth? What does a new-born camel calf look like? Do camels eat meat? Or tents? Or even baked beans? What's a cameleer? Like all great non-fiction books, Hoosh! Camels in Australia is studded with lots of intriguing photographs, text boxes and other snippets to marvel over. There are also teacher activity notes to support the book on Janeen Brian's website. 


This truly is an amazing book. The amount of research Brian must have done, the primary sources she plumbed and the people she interviewed must have taken months, years of work. What impresses me most though is the way she has taken all that raw material and turned it into entertaining, readable text. I loved it! I planned to dip into it over the course of a few days, but ended up reading it cover to cover in one sitting. Who knew camels could be so interesting? 


Hoosh! Camels in Australia is a must-have resource for schools. I can see non-fiction lovers grabbing it off library shelves (my copy is a robust, colour printed hardback book, but it's also available in paperback) and teachers will want it to support units on Australia or animals. While under 7's will enjoy all the pictures, I believe the text is aimed more at children over 10, both in style and content. If you have a youngster who loves books about "real things", then grab Hoosh! not just for him, but as an entertaining and fascinating read for the whole family.

One More Story - Review, Giveaway and Special Offer

One More Story is a neat idea for parents who want their children to read quality picture books online. Once you subscribe, your child and you have online access to a range of great digital children's picture books. I've seen other sites that offer books online, but I was impressed that these are books by some authors I know and admire (though mostly from the US.)


After you choose a title, the digital book opens and your child sees and hears the story being read. As well as looking at the original art work, kids can read along with the spoken story, because words are lit up to help them focus. Navigation is easy and works well. I also loved the music and sound effects which add a little atmosphere to each story. If kids are independent readers, they can turn the sound off and read without help. There's a tour you can take that explains it all much better than I just did, and you can enjoy the sample book, Pete's a Pizza, without logging in, plus send someone access to a book for two weeks as a trial. 


There's a special place for parents on the site that shares resources too. It explains a little about each book, and provides articles that support some of the books. There's a real emphasis on encouraging parents to read to their kids, and not pressure them to read before they're ready - Book Chook Feather of Approval!


Sites like One More Story will never replace the emotional closeness of a parent reading aloud to a child. However, I think it's a great idea to swap mindless screen time with this more educational screen time - by following along with the story and hearing it read aloud while they simultaneously look at the words, kids are learning to read and becoming exposed to new literature. One More Story might be where they first experience Martin Waddell's Owl Babies, but then they might recognize or ask for it at the local library, or ask Grandma to buy it at the book store.


Giveaway and Discount Offer


Alex from One More Story is offering one lucky The Book Chook reader anywhere in the world the opportunity to win a one year home subscription to One More Story. A teacher or librarian could also use the subscription at work. To enter, simply email me (via the Contact Me tab above) with One More Story in the subject line, and include your name and email, so I can contact you if you win, to forward your details on to One More Story. The winner will be chosen one week from today.


And that's not all! Each The Book Chook reader is eligible for a discount on subscriptions. Instead of $US44/year, $US27/six months and $US15/three months, which entitle a home user to unlimited access, Book Chook readers pay $US36/year, $US25/six months and $US14/three months. To take advantage of this offer, all you need to do is enter "bookchook" in the promo code space at One More Story's website.

Creative Prompt - Two Word Poem

Earlier this week, we had Lorraine Marwood as a guest at The Book Chook. (You might remember I reviewed Lorraine's A Ute Picnic and Other Australian Poems, too.) I was reminded when reading Lorraine's guest article of the resources she has for writers and children on her website. So our Creative Prompt this week is prompted by Lorraine.


It's called Two Word Poem. The idea is to create a poem from lines that are only two words each. How simple is that! After reading Lorraine's suggested age range goes from beginning students on, I figured this was something even a poetically-challenged chook could attempt. Lorraine advises the two words should be nouns and verbs, "the strong words of writing", and that the poem "maintains a rhythm without rhyme through the use of two words". You can see Lorraine's example at her website, along with more detailed guidelines.


What I did


I decided the rhythm would suit a sense of urgency, and plumbed my memories for a time of urgency. The one that sprang to mind was the day our domestic plane was late getting into Shanghai because of snow. We really really wanted to catch the international flight we were booked on, to get home to Australia. Here's my two line poem:


Going Home


So late

Run run

Bag's heavy

Must try

Grab cab

Jump in

Hurry hurry

Hold tight

Wheels screech

Eyes shut

Deep breaths

Made it!


This is a simple format that's readily accessible to kids, and you don't have to think about all the other features of poetry like metaphor. Why not try it with your kids soon?


My article today is the fourteenth in a series of prompts that I hope might spark some creative expression in your kids, and maybe you too. I hope you'll join me so we can all challenge ourselves to be more creative. You can catch the rest of the prompts at the first post in the Creative Prompt series, by scrolling down to Update.


If you and/or your kids respond to this prompt and you'd like me to showcase it on my blog, I would be thrilled to do that. If you post it on your own blog, please let me know (in comments or email, via the Contact Me tab), and I'll add your link to the relevant post.

Here's a two word poem, written by Australian author, Neridah McMullin. (I reviewed Neridah's picture book, Ponkidoodle earlier this year. ) She says, "Oscar is my 13 year old cocker spaniel who stills goes crazy with joy when I let him inside every morning. He never fails to make me laugh!" 

Bounding Dog

Gray morning

Backdoor opens

Bounding dog

Shiny floorboards

Slipping sliding

Slobbering joy

Greets Uggboot

Covered feet

(Thanks Neridah, I love it!)

Here's a two word poem by Matilda, 4 and 1/2. I love the way she's used the two word structure as her prompt, then danced off in a slightly different direction. 

At Dancing

Warm ups

Gallops

Dance

Leg bends

Butterfly wings

Another dance

Get a sticker

(Thanks Matilda!)

Image credit: Justin Shearer on Flickr