Looking Back to November Past

Towards the end of each month, I like to revisit some articles I've written in 2009 and 2010. Not only does this mean new readers of the blog may find something useful otherwise buried in the archives, but it also reminds me of content I can refer to when I write new articles.

2009

Create with Fish at Poisson Rouge
No, you're not really creating with fish. Just me being finny funny. But there's beaucoup de creativity at Poisson Rouge. Encourage your young child to explore.

World Hello Day
November 21 was Word Hello Day, but the bits and pieces I suggest can be done with kids any day.

Reader's Theatre 1 and Reader's Theatre 2
I love what Reader's Theatre can do for kids. Here are two articles I wrote explaining what Reader's Theatre is, and how I go about adapting literature into a Reader's Theatre script.

Scrap Coloring is so much fun. Let your children unleash their inner designers!

Literacy in the Playground
This is a booklet I made with loads of playground rhymes for your kids to skip, chant and clap to. Download it from the Free PDFs page at my website.

2010

Creative Prompt - Start with an Old Picture
One of the Book Chook's Creative Prompt series, this guides kids through some ideas for using an old photo as a way to start being creative.

Photovisi - Easy Photo Collages
A free and easy online tool for creating photo collages

Creative Prompt - Look Within
Another in the Creative Prompt series. This time I suggest telling about ourselves and using an online tool like Notaland to express our own creativity.

Say No to Bullying
Some ideas and resources to help kids cope with bullying. "If we all work together, I truly believe we can make a change in society. If we can stop one child going to bed each night in tears, if we can prevent one suicide or total breakdown, why wouldn't we try?"

Crafting a Picture Book with Photos
A guest post from Aussie author, Tania McCartney, whose own Riley series of children's picture books were created this way.

Creative Prompt - Start with a Wacky Online Tool
More ideas for prompts to get kids creating.

Simon Says
Memory training online.

Making Books with Children - Newspapers and Books - Guest Post
From guru of book-making, Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord.

Let's Celebrate International Tongue Twister Day
Seashells on the seashore, anyone?

Creative Prompt - Start with Geometric Shapes
Another idea to use as a prompt for kids' creativity.

Let's Celebrate National Chicken Lady Day
How could I resist the idea of a holiday to celebrate chickens?

Book Chook Ideas for Making Books with Kids
Suggestions for ways to make digital and print books with children.

What's the Best Way to Say Merry Christmas? 
12 months old, but still has some great suggestions for your yule-tidal gift buying plans.

Find still more articles about children's learning, literacy and literature at www.thebookchook.com by clicking the subject area buttons in the right sidebar.

Play with Words and Images at Picnik

I've known about Picnik for a while. I registered there to use the free image editing service a year or so ago. But recently I decided to avail myself of more Picnik features by subscribing to their Premium content. It costs me about $25/year. So far, it's money well-spent.

What I like:

*Before I signed up for Premium, I liked that Picnik very generously has lots of free content. Premium has given me access to (for example) more stamps (clipart), more editing tools etc and the ability to upload up to 100 images at once. I just use my Shift key for the latter feature.

*Picnik is online, so I can use it from anywhere in the world I happen to be. If I'm away from my home image editing software, all I need is my password, and I'm able to use all the Picnik features, both free and Premium.

*Picnik users seem to be a happy, sharing bunch. There are zillions of tutorials online telling us how to do things at Picnik. And Picnik itself has lots of helpful articles. They also have a blog.

*Picnik is easy enough for me to use, and use quickly. Yes there are lots of tutorials, but to do most jobs, I didn't need them. I often use Picnik to add text to an image, edit an image with a special effect, make a collage of images, or add a border to an image. And I love that I can create an image from scratch, just by choosing a blank collage template as my background, and building from there with stamps, text and a border, the way I did above. I can probably do those things in Photoshop, but it takes me so much less time at Picnik. It works all the time and it does most of what I want.

I love playing with words and images. Picnik has contributed to that love by providing a simple, intuitive interface. I think you and your kids would enjoy playing there. I've used Picnik recently to help create images in Let's Celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day, and Link Reading and Craft with Bookmarks.

If you're interested in discovering more ideas on this topic, try my recent article, Book Chook Favourites - Playing with Words and Pictures, or browse articles under Creating in the right sidebar here at www.thebookchook.com.

Children's Writing - Fill in the Blanks

Thanks to Sandy Fussell from Stories are Light blog, I discovered two online places where children can play with story. The idea at We Make Stories and at Read it Yourself with Ladybird is to change some words in short versions of traditional tales or classics, and make a new story of your own.


At We Make Stories:

Remix-it lets you play at being an author. It's a fun way to make your own stories by messing around with some well-known ones. Will your choice of words make nonsense or make it even better? How does your story compare to the original?

Remix-it is the only free one of six activities linked to Puffin Books. Kids drag and drop the word they choose into a space wherever it's needed. They can then read their stories, and compare them to the originals.

At Ladybird Read it Yourself, Remix a fairytale is very similar:

Remix lets you change a story! Have a go and see if you can make a silly fairytale. Will your story be even better? Have fun!

Once kids choose a fairytale, they drag their chosen word to where there's a word missing. For instance, the gingerbread man can skip, run, dance, ride a bike or rollerskate out the door.

If you've been reading books like The Gingerbread Man, or Alice in Wonderland with your kids, these two websites might make a nice follow-up, giving kids the opportunity not only to revisit the story, but also have fun making a new one.

Another way of doing a fill-in-the-blanks writing activity is Mad Libs. There's a huge list of mad-lib type activities for kids at the Education Place. Mad Libs is a really sneaky way to teach kids grammar!

Children's Book Review, Vampyre

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

Vampyre is that rare beast, a picture book for older children. It was written by Margaret Wild, illustrated by Andrew Yeo, and published by Walker Books, 2011.

I am Vampyre. Feared. Despised.
I live in darkness. I long for light.

From the dark depths of his vampyre world, a vampyre boy reflects on the joyous days of his childhood and his current life as a vampyre. Thought-provoking and atmospheric, Vampyre is a monumental picture book about identity, making choices and being true to oneself ...

I am not a fan of the current vampire craze. But being a long-time lover of Margaret Wild's books, I took a look at Vampyre and was immediately intrigued. Its lyrical text shows us what it's like to be shunned and despised. The boy/vampyre must live in darkness, yet longs for the light. We can think of many reasons someone might long to live a different life to the one his family espouses, making this an excellent prompt for meaningful discussions. There's so much in Vampyre that is not said - provoking thought, and bringing emotions to the surface.

The illustrations complement the text beautifully. Yeo uses art to underscore the difference between the natural world and the world of the vampyres - a place of darkness, where light is shunned. The sombre colours and use of light/non-light contribute to an atmosphere of desolation, and increase our understanding of the boy's desperation. The choice of silver for the font throughout was inspired - it adds to the feeling that Vampyre is not just a picture book, but a special manuscript.

It's wonderful to see publishers producing picture books for older readers. Walker Books has provided excellent, comprehensive classroom notes for both primary and secondary schools. I'm tipping teachers and librarians will grab Vampyre and use it as a prompt for all sorts of wonderful creative and critical activities.

Find more Children's Book Reviews on The Book Chook by clicking Reviews in the right sidebar.

Ideas for Children's Christmas Gifts

Are you beginning to think of buying for Christmas? Books make great gifts. As Stephen King said, “Books are the perfect entertainment: no commercials, no batteries, hours of enjoyment for each dollar spent. What I wonder is why everybody doesn't carry a book around for those inevitable dead spots in life.”

A book paired with a toy is a wonderful idea too. This year, I hope Santa brings me a Llama Llama doll to go with my Llama Llama Red Pajama book.

I've been keeping an eye open for literacy-related gifts. Here are some ideas you might like to buy or create for a child you love:

*a magazine subscription
*a reading nook, or perhaps one complete with special comfy seat and optional furry friends
*a book suitable for writing secrets in
*a bundle or box of fun comics, novels and/or activity books
*a voucher for a special literacy-related activity like a trip to a pantomime, puppet show, art gallery or concert
*a torch/flashlight for secret reading under the covers
*a really special pen with some art materials
*a Mo Willems' Pals Read Poster
*a how-to book for a favourite activity, craft or sport
*Erin, of Small Types, has a wonderful list. She says, "What is the perfect gift for a young child?  I think it's one that includes something wonderful to read, something creative to do, and something to inspire unstructured, imaginative play."

*a digital reader and some e-books

*a Little Librarian kit (via Jen Robinson's Book Page)
*Zoe at Playing by the Book is the Queen of Book-Related Gift Suggestions!
*And here's the motherlode of Ways to Give a Book, from Mother Reader.

I asked some friends for their book recommendations.

Jackie Small of My Little Bookcase

1. My Little Bookcase recommends The Great Expedition- This book is a charming springboard into Australian history for little adventurers.

2. My Little Bookcase recommends The Aunties Three- An unruly and side-splitting story, which children will want to read over and over again.

3. My Little Bookcase recommends My Grandma’s Kitchen- A picture book and cookbook in one (with recipes from an iconic Australian cook), which would make a perfect gift for budding chefs.

Dee White of Kids Book Capers

Kids' Book Capers recommends Silvermay by James Moloney - Beautiful language, gripping action and great characters for readers 10+

Kids' Book Capers recommends Tantony by Ananda Braxton Smith - A hauntingly beautiful book for young adult readers. First in a trilogy.

Kids Book Capers recommends The House of 12 Bunnies by Caroline Stills and Sarcia Stills-Blott and illustrated by Judith Rossell - A fun read with gorgeous illustrations and a storyline that small children will relate to.

Emily of play talk learn

Emily recommends The Wonkey Donkey for children who like rhyming, have a great sense of humour and might need a little bit of extra practice with their /k/ sounds.

She also loves The 2011 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year for Young Children, Can We Lick The Spoon Now? - a beautiful book that sequences the steps needed to make a cake (including some mishaps along the way).

And her third favourite book is You Choose - each page asks a question about your imaginary life and you can choose one of the scores of alternatives to make up your own exciting life.

Tania McCartney of Kids Book Review

KBR recommends Marshall Armstrong is New to Our School by David Mackintosh – a whimsical take on how wonderful it really is to be different.

KBR recommends Nanberry: Black Brother White by Jackie French – an astonishing and moving tale from our white settlement past.

KBR recommends The Heart and the Bottle ebook by Oliver Jeffers – heart wrenching, beautiful and brimming with hope, this stunning ebook is one of the best we’ve seen.

Rebecca Newman, managing editor at Alphabet Soup magazine, recommends:

1. Raven's Mountain by Wendy Orr (Allen and Unwin). A young girl sets out to find help when a mountain-climbing adventure with her sister and stepdad goes wrong. A novel about courage and inner-strength.

2. Mbobo Tree by Glenda Millard & ill. Annie White (Scholastic Press). A picture book for lovers of folktales and myths. When a village is under threat, a girl the village has adopted as their own shows great courage and love.

3. Mr Tripp Smells a Rat by Sandy McKay & ill. Ruth Paul (Walker Books Australia). Perfect for kids reading their first chapter books - funny stories about a teacher and his school class.

Vicki Stanton of Buzz Words Books recommends:

For All Creatures by Glenda Millard, ill. by Rebecca Cool (Walker Books) - a vibrant picture book with lyrical text espousing gratitude for all the wonders of nature.

The Heroes of the Kokoda Track by Nicolas Brasch (black dog books) - junior non-fiction which covers this pivotal moment in Australian history in a way younger readers can readily access.

Northwood by Brian Falkner, ill. by Donovan Bixley (Walker Books) - a wonderfully quirky action/adventure/fantasy with balloon houses, girls who can talk to animals, and hidden kingdoms.

Jackie from Ready Set Read recommends:

Bailey by Harry Bliss- A humorous story of a dog's day at school. Entertaining for kids and parents alike.

Limelight Larry by Leigh Hodgkinson- A book about a peacock, written by a peacock. He thinks it's fantastic and so do we.

Follow the Line to School - Follow a line as it weaves through illustrations of a typical school day in this beautiful interactive picture book.

Angela Hall from Bug in a Book recommends:

Lazy Daisy, Busy Lizzie. (Mary Ellen Jordan & Andrew Weldon Allen & Unwin).  This book is simply fun rhymes about a dysfunctional farm. Instant favourite in our house.

Sounds Spooky. (Christopher Cheng and Sarah Davis, Random House).  This is one of those picture books which is more than meets the eye, and it's a little bit spooky. But in a fun way. Just gorgeous.

Out of Bed Fred! (Lucy Davey and Harriet Bailey Scholastic NZ).  So much fun can be had with a big family.  Brothers can be a handful and they will try to be tricky but there is no doubt that the rivalry is much loved.

If you still haven't found the best match for a special young reader in your life, click on Reviews in the right sidebar here at The Book Chook. Happy browsing!

Creative Prompt - The Burning House

What would you save if the house was burning down? What would your kids save? You need to decide if this activity is too stressful for your child/students. It's a fascinating one to think about for yourself and makes a great language or writing activity for teachers.

Here's a website that helps such a discussion get started. Take a look at some of the pictures and lists at The Burning House and discuss them. How different/the same are the choices? What kinds of people chose those items? Pick one picture and list, and describe the character who chose those things. Write a story about that character, including what actually happened in the fire. (Find more activities you could use with The Burning House at Nik's Quick Shout.)

Maybe your kids can assemble their own items and photograph them. Or they might prefer to draw the things they'd choose, or list and describe them. Consider using software like Comic Life to present their ideas, or make a slideshow or poster about them. Adding a creative component to discussions and lessons helps kids assemble their thoughts and beliefs, as well as express their feelings.

Find more ideas for encouraging creativity in children by clicking Creating in the right side bar. Find other prompts for creativity in the initial post in the Creative Prompt Series.

Image credit, Morguefile with additions at Picnik.

Children's Book Review, Where's Wally? The Incredible Paper Chase

Children's Book Review by Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com Check out more by clicking on the right side bar, Reviews button.

When my son was younger, he loved Where's Wally and other visual puzzles. He would have spent many pleasure-filled hours with Where's Wally? The Incredible Paper Chase by Martin Handford, published by Walker Books (2009). It's the seventh classic title in the Where's Wally? series. This book not only has the usual incredibly detailed pictures to pore over, but also includes a board game. The cards in the game involve kids in reading, and the fact that they are tongue twisters will have kids giggling in no time.

I really like the humour in all of the Where's Wally? books. There are so many visual gags to make kids and Book Chooks chuckle. The fact that each scene has hundreds of fascinating details invites kids to both share and discuss the book with their friends. They'll look for the given characters and objects on each page, at the same time as collaborating, taking turns, asking questions, hypothesising, inferring, analysing and problem solving - a lesson in thinking dressed up as fun!

Parents and teachers could extend the value of this or any other Where's Wally book by using it as a model for children's own creations, or a joint family book. Bird-loving children could make a Where's Willy? book featuring Australian birds like the Willy Wagtail. Or Where's Wombat? Forget alliteration and try a book called Where's Kyle, with photos they must find themselves in. You could add different family members or fantasy creatures by using a photo editing program.

According to the Walker Books website, the "Where’s Wally? books are a worldwide phenomenon, selling more than 50 million copies worldwide and published in over 30 languages, including Egyptian, Korean and Hebrew. Wally has reached celebrity status; such is his popularity that he has appeared in the primetime American TV shows Frasier, The Simpsons and Friends, as well as on the 1000th anniversary cover of Rolling Stone magazine as a cultural icon of the last 40 years." It's amazing to me to think that the ever-smiling guy in a red and white striped beanie who entertained my son almost 20 years ago has sold over 50 million copies worldwide. I hope Wally will continue entertaining and entrancing many generations to come.

How to Encourage Kids to Write

How can we encourage our kids to write? Writing is one way to communicate with others. So is speaking. While speaking is a natural part of family life, how many of us write with our kids, and in front of our kids? Making sure that writing is a natural and regular part of family life truly helps our kids' attitudes to writing. My suggestion is to have read o'clock and write o'clock every single day.

Reading usually comes before writing. Reading to our kids every day from when they are babies, helps them to love reading. According to Susan Sontag, "Reading, the love of reading, is what makes you dream of becoming a writer."

Another way to help our kids become writers is to talk about our process while we write. For instance, we wonder aloud about how to spell a word, or whether one long sentence would be better as two sentences. Allowing our children to overhear us make decisions like this about our own writing lets them in on our process, and gives them a model they too can follow.

Parents can encourage young writers by listening to or reading their stories. It's such an exciting time when kids learn the difficult skills of making marks on paper that represent words and sentences. It starts as scribble. Take the scribbles seriously, and the early stories seriously too. Enjoy each wonderful effort, and give positive feedback.

When birthdays or Christmas come around, think writing gifts. Young writers might enjoy a journal, a lockable diary, or interesting stationery for letters to friends. Pens, pencils, erasers and sharpeners make great accompaniments. Older writers might be ready for software like Scrivener that helps them organise the book they're writing, or perhaps they'll prefer exercise books and use them as writer notebooks.

The more kids write, the more they develop their writing skills. Look for any incidental writing opportunities that crop up. Friends coming over for dinner? Suggest your young writers create a menu. Grandma sent a lovely birthday gift? Wonderful opportunity for a thank you note. Story Time at the library? How about we try to write a story together a little like the picture book our librarian friend read aloud. Wet weekend? We could create a new board game, one with chance cards we need to write. Poem-in-your-pocket day next week? Can your young writers create their own poems and write them on some interesting paper for their pockets? Perhaps a teeny tiny paper in a teeny tiny envelope?

Are your youngsters motivated by contests perhaps? There's a great one going on at Writing Classes for Kids. It's the First Page Writing Competition, is free to enter, has sections for kids 8-12, 13-17 and Adults. Find more information at Writing Classes for Kids, and be sure not to miss this article giving excellent tips on writing a great first page!    

Writing is such an important skill for kids to master. Most school subjects require the ability to write in a clear and logical way. Adult life means we need to fill out forms, write grocery lists, compose absent notes, create advertisements to sell a bike. The invention of computers and apps may mean there is less handwriting produced, but we still need to know how to input text. And for those kids who love to write, it's a pastime that provides an outlet for creativity. So let's do all we can to encourage the young people we know to write, and to write as well as they possibly can.

Find Picture Books on YouTube

As the Book Chook, I'm in the lucky position of being inundated with requests to read children's picture books. I get to dive into new publications and keep an eye on what's happening currently in children's literature. But what about younger mums? Do they have much time to skim book reviews or browse book stores, searching for the latest and greatest books for their kids?

Here's a suggestion: use YouTube to entice your youngsters towards more wonderful picture books. You can find book trailers that give a sneak peek of the book's contents, but also there are whole picture book stories on YouTube. It's a great way to get an idea of whether or not a book will appeal. When your kids' birthdays come up, I just know picture books will be on your shopping list, so why not check out these video clips before you buy.

Some picture books I've found on YouTube

Duck Rabbit

Little Oink

Just a Snowman (read by author, Mercer Meyer)

Excerpt from the animated video of The Snowman (based on picture book The Snowman by Raymond Briggs)(Do you remember Aled Jones singing Walking in the Air? beautiful!)

Guess How Much I Love You - read aloud on CBeebies

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (read by author, Bill Martin)

Rosie's Walk

Harry the Dirty Dog

The Velveteen Rabbit -beautifully told by Meryl Streep

Click Clack Moo

How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?

Hello Baby - read by author, Mem Fox

Llama Llama Holiday Drama - read by author, Anna Dewdney

Owl Babies

Pete the Cat (includes the song!)

Noni the Pony

Video adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are

Trailer for My Heart is Like a Zoo

Trailer for Flotsam

Trailer for It's a Book

Trailer for The Last Viking

Bonus: Is this the future of picture books? (found this ages ago via Jeanne of A Peaceful Day)

So many wonderful picture books; so much compulsion to read or own them all! You might also like to read my post, Use YouTube to Encourage Reading.

Original image Wikimedia Commons

The Importance of Strong Female Leads in Kid's Literature - Guest Post

The Importance of Strong Female Leads in Kid's Literature
by Aleesah Darlison

In years to come, if my daughter is asked who her childhood role models were, I wonder if she will list so-called celebrities of today such as Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian and Snooki. Women like these dominate newspapers, magazines and websites for no other reason than that they’re pretty, bored, wealthy and ... and ... maybe it’s just me, but I find it hard to think of things these women actually have going for them. Great fashion stylists, perhaps?

Forgive the cynicism, but I think our girls need more. I hope they want more, too.

Almost every culture in our world is ruled by a patriarchal society. That’s the way it’s always been. Men hold the vast majority of the top positions of power in politics. They earn the most money in the corporate world. They earn the most money, sponsorship, TV coverage and adoration on and off the sporting field.

Our daughters have it stacked against them before they’re even born. Can we ever break this cycle?

The answer is: maybe. And maybe it all starts with how girls are portrayed in children’s literature.

In the words of Kofi Annan, “There is no tool for development more effective than the education of girls.”

All learning, all education starts with reading. Surely if we had stronger female role models in kid’s literature we might not have our daughters wishing the best they could achieve in life would be to look like Paris Hilton. If there were more Hermione Grangers out there (few and far between) they might grow up with a desire to be something other than a doctor’s wife, or better yet, a PRINCESS, the dream of all little girl dreams.

Age-old fairytales we still insist on reading to our children, despite their dark, doomsday and often terrifying nature, feed the monster idea of the ‘damsel in distress’. Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty. None of these classic heroines were capable of solving their own problems or of saving themselves. A male had to do it for them every time.

I’m reminded of the immortal words of Bonnie Tyler, bless her:

I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero til the end of the night
He’s gotta be strong
And he’s gotta be fast
And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero til the morning light
He’s gotta be sure
And it’s gotta be soon
And he’s gotta be larger than life

Heroes, heroes everywhere. Do we really need so many heroes? What would be so wrong with a few more literary heroines?

Even the recent cinematic retelling of Rapunzel as seen in Tangled has the heroine rescued from her tower by a man. Sure, she swings a mean frying pan, but she still remains sweet, innocent, girly, innocuous and disempowered to the very end of the tale. In all her eighteen years Rapunzel didn’t even CONSIDER venturing outside alone until a man came along?! I think not.

The oldest and most used basis for almost all storytelling is the Cinderella story, the rags-to-riches, the commoner-turned-princess tale. We’re all dying to live the fairytale. And heck, when we see shining examples of commoners marrying their princes and living happily ever after (so far), cases in point being Mary Donaldson and Kate Middleton, sorry Princess Catherine, why can’t all our daughters dare to dream of being a princess one day? It’s the ultimate fairytale come true.

Sure, the lengths these newly-converted princesses went to for the men they love is admirable. They changed their names, their personas, their nationalities, their mother tongue ... but these are exceptional circumstances. Besides which, there aren’t enough princes in the world to go around for everyone. The rest of us commoners are going to have to make our own fairytales come true. We can’t rely on a man to do it for us.

Luckily, our daughters have never been in a better position to empower themselves. Their opportunity, their right, is there for the taking. But girls are still being held back by society, social mores, senseless female celebrities, weak literary heroines and unfulfilling plot lines that are as outdated as Doris Day and Marilyn Monroe.

Our little girls can still dream and be feminine. And they should. But they don’t have to be the damsel in distress, the weeping willow that has everything solved for them by a male who comes dashing in to save them, annihilate the villain of the piece and sweep them off their feet for their happy ending.

One of the first rules of writing for children I was taught was that you must let the main characters in your story – ie the children – solve their own problems. It doesn’t work for readers if the problems are solved by an adult or other third party. Whatever the gender of these main characters, be it boy or girl, this one basic rule should always apply.

As a female myself, a mother of a thoroughly modern daughter, and an author of girl’s books, I may be coming from a rather biased angle in all this. I’ve just released four instalments in my feisty new girl-focused fantasy series, Unicorn Riders. The books are set in the mystical kingdom of Avamay and feature four main female leads: Willow, Quinn, Krystal and Ellabeth, who work with their unicorns to fight evil forces and protect their kingdom. They’re strong, empowered, independent heroines. They have faults and foibles. They’re real girls who learn from their mistakes. And they solve their own problems. Phew!

There’s no doubt about it. We need more books for girls. We need more girls as main characters. As it stands, males far outnumber females as protagonists in kid’s literature. And when we’re writing our female leads, they need to be more empowered and independent and less stereotypical. They need to rescue themselves. Simple.

Good books for girls are out there. If you’re seeking more bite in your female literary list, check out some of my favourite heroine-empowered tales:

• The Chronicles of Estelliana Series by Kate Forsyth
• The Ivory Rose by Belinda Murrell
• Wildwood by Colin Meloy
• Alice Miranda Series by Jacqueline Harvey
• The Littlest Witch by Martine Allars
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
• Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling (admittedly Hermione Granger is a secondary character to Harry Potter, the male lead, but she is a strong heroine nonetheless)

Others have written about and researched the subject of strong female role models in literature in far greater detail than what I can here. To find out more, follow these links:

http://childrensbooks.about.com/cs/strongfemales/a/strongfemales.htm
http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/05/25/where-are-the-girls-in-childrens-lit/
http://jenniek917.pbworks.com/f/Strong+Female+Characters.pdf
http://www.nerve.com/news/books/study-childrens-books-are-inherently-sexist
http://www.northnet.org/stlawrenceaauw/girlbook.htm

Yours in adventure,
Aleesah Darlison

Find out more about the Unicorn Riders series on Aleesah’s website. There are also some excellent resources, including colouring-in pages, teacher’s notes, chapter samplers and character profile pages.

Follow Aleesah’s We Ride As One Blog Tour posts by visiting these sites:

Monday 24 October: Kids Book Review with Tania McCartney, Fun Facts About Unicorns,

Wednesday 26 October: Running With Pens by Kerri Lane, Marketing Your Book,

Thursday 27 October: Books for Little Hands by Renee Taprell, Inspiration & Setting,

Friday 28 October: Running With Pens by Kerri Lane, Author Interview,

Wednesday 2 November: Bug In A Book with Ang Hall, Meet the Unicorn Riders,

Thursday 3 November: Read Plus with Pat Pledger, Series Review,

Monday 7 November: My Book Corner with Emma, Take the Unicorn Riders Quick Quiz,

Tuesday 8 November: Need to Read This with Sally Hall, Author Interview,

Thursday 10 November: Free As a Word with Oliver Phommavanh, Heroes & Villains,

Friday 11 November: Kids Book Capers with Dee White, Author Interview

Book Chook Favourites - Playing with Words and Pictures

A couple of months ago, I had a letter from Katie, asking me to name my favourite creative literacy resources. Creative literacy to me, covers platforms that allow some sort of interactivity, combining literacy, like reading, writing, or communicating, with creativity. I've told you about several Book Chook favourites already: Book Creation, Making Posters, Cartoon Creation, Word Play, Storytelling, Reading, and Customizing Ourselves. Today, I'd like to share some of my favourite online spaces where kids can play with images, and add text to that image.

Pizap

Pizap makes it easy for young people to choose a background or upload a photo, then add characters, effects, text, speech bubbles etc. Great for story starters! Read more details and see a sample in my blog post about Pizap. I also made the image top at Pizap, from a background and some of their stickers.

Iaza

Iaza is another online image editor where kids can edit photos, add stacks of interesting effects, and explore all sorts of options that add text, like posters, borders, and magazine covers. Read more and see samples in my post about Iaza.

Big Huge Labs

I've never written a specific post about Big Huge Labs, but have mentioned it in Book Chook Favourites - Making Posters and used it on Cow Appreciation Day. As you do. It's a great easy way for kids to make changes to a photo, often adding text as well, via a range of options.

Other posts where I've discussed using online editors as ways to involve kids in literacy are Tuxpi, FlauntR, Cartoonize Yourself, Quick Writing Online, and Add Captions to Images with Bubblesnaps.

Playing with words and pictures is a great way to involve kids in literacy and learning. The results might be used as a poster, a greeting for Granny, or be the spark of a story or poem. By encouraging our kids to create digitally, we are also helping them gain some of the skills they need for 21st century life.

Telling Stories with Words and Pictures - Guest Post

Tips on visual literacy from author/illustrator, Peter Carnavas.

Peter Carnavas grew up in Brisbane and on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. He later became a primary school teacher and taught for five years at Clermont State School. It was during his time as a teacher that Peter began to immerse himself in picture books and take his storytelling a little more seriously.

Peter’s first book, Jessica’s Box, was published by New Frontier in 2008. His tale of a little girl’s attempt to find friendship was shortlisted for the 2008 Queensland Premier’s Literary Award, the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s 2009 Crichton Award for Emerging Illustrators and was listed as a CBCA Notable Book for 2009.

Peter’s second book, Sarah’s Heavy Heart, was released in 2009, his third book, The Important Things was released in May 2010 and Last Tree in the City was released in late 2010. His fifth book, The Great Expedition, was released in May 2011.

Peter has presented at the Brisbane Writers Festival, Voices on the Coast Youth Literature Festival and the CYA Conference. He has delivered talks and workshops to many school children along the east coast of Australia. His books have been translated into many languages, including German, Italian, Portuguese, Taiwanese, Slovenian and Dutch.

Peter lives on the Sunshine Coast with his wife, two daughters and a scruffy dog that occasionally escapes.

Telling Stories with Words and Pictures
by Peter Carnavas

As an author and illustrator, it is my business to tell stories with words and pictures. In picture books, these two elements must work together to create meaning for the reader. This interdependence, the marriage of words and pictures, has always fascinated me and is what motivates me to make my own stories. In this article I hope to demonstrate how my books can introduce children to the ways in which words and pictures combine to make meaning.

Jessica’s Box
When I read the opening pages of Jessica’s Box to children, I always ask them where they think Jessica is going. They invariably answer correctly – to school – and wonder why I asked such an obvious question. I then explain to them that this is never mentioned in the text. They work it out by analysing the information presented: Jessica’s excitement and anxiety, her desire to make friends, the family’s conversations, the school bag on her back. Without realising it, children listen to the story but also construct their own meaning by reading the pictures and what is implied in the text. This is often called inferring, one of the most important skills children develop as readers. It is sometimes difficult to teach but children do it all the time and it is important for them to recognise when they do.

Sarah’s Heavy Heart
I love stories that say a lot with the opening line. This is what I wanted to do with Sarah’s Heavy Heart. It’s a simple sentence – Sarah had a heavy heart – but the meaning comes from its connection to the illustration, in which we see a girl hunched over, carrying an enormous heart on her back. The size of the heart emphasises her troubles but it is the white space surrounding her that drives it home. Everything around her is blank, empty, nothingness. When I explain this to children they immediately understand. I then contrast this opening with the final double page illustration: a full colour spread with a bright blue sky, rolling green hills and a smile on Sarah’s face. It’s an effective visual literacy lesson for children to learn and one they can easily identify and replicate.

The Important Things
There is a page in The Important Things which tells the reader that Christopher’s father is not around. This is purposely left open for children to interpret in their own ways, by using a phrase – his father had faded from their lives – accompanied by an illustration that reflects this (the colour faded from a photograph on the wall). The discussion that ensues is always interesting and, of course, should be dealt with sensitively. Children understand the feelings of the characters also by reading the illustration, including body language, expressions and a broom against the wall. Asking children what they know about the characters reveals just how much they infer while reading.

Last Tree in the City
The opening pages of Last Tree in the City do not mention Edward’s feelings towards the city but children understand clearly. With open questions – “What story is being told by the colours?” – children will answer and touch on many aspects of visual literacy and storytelling. They will tell you about the dullness of the city, the colour (and optimism) of Edward, the contrast between the boy and his environment and his subsequent feeling of isolation. They are complex themes but children understand them in picture books. The happiest page contains a slightly abstract phrase – Edward knew nothing but the tree – however children can hear it while reading the illustration and make perfect sense of it. This happiness is immediately followed by two spreads dominated by white space and, once again, children understand the emotional shift being told by the words and the pictures.

I have mentioned just a few ways in which these stories can be used with children in the classroom. The combination of words and pictures is a favourite theme of mine and it is something that children can grasp very well, as they are constantly reading into the illustrations and text in picture books. Through open questions and discussion, children can get a lot out of these lessons in visual literacy.

Children's Book Review, Look, a Book!

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

Look, A Book! is a prime example of what happens when you put two brilliant and creative people together, in this case author, Libby Gleeson, and illustrator, Freya Blackwood. This children's picture book was published by Little Hare Books, (an imprint of Hardie Grant Egmont) 2011.

Look, A Book! You never know where it might take you. When two ragamuffins stumble across a book in the dust their world begins to change. The familiar becomes fantastical, the mundane becomes magical, and a fractured community finds a focus. Set in a dreary, underprivileged, contemporary world, Look, A Book! is an exhilarating whirl through the magic of imagination that leaves the reader in an vertiginous trance.

Gleeson's message here is a wonderful one: books truly can transform lives. Isn't it heartening to realise that, regardless of children's birth circumstances, learning to read can open so many doors for them? No wonder the author wants us to:
hold (books) close, 
free from all
the dust and the dog and the rain.

Gleeson's writing in this book is spare, leaving lots of room for Blackwood's interpretation and our own imaginations. For instance, when the narrator warns the children to take care the rain doesn't fall on the book they find, we see the kids sheltering under a tea-cup, then paddling away in it. Elements we see on one page are magically transformed on the next. Blackwood's watercolours retain pencil sketch lines, giving the illustrations not only detail but life and movement. You will gain an idea of the range of Kate Greenaway winner, Freya Blackwood's work on her website.

I love that Look, a Book! celebrates what reading can do for us, and believe kids will too.

Find more Children's Book Reviews on The Book Chook by clicking Reviews in the right sidebar.