Lift Off 100 Tips to Energize by Sarah Merson

Not sure if the kids in my class need to energize themselves much more, but anyway, this is a new edition to the Little Bookshelf of Little Books in the quiet room.  There are quite a few penguin covers there now. 

This entusiastic little book is full of ideas to lift your energy levels. Maybe I should keep it on my desk along with the Little Book of Calm;  a bit of a dichotomy really! 

Tired eyes, lethargic limbs, and fuzzy minds will be things of the past. With exhilarating exercises, energizing foods, and clever mind and body techniques to lift your spirits, you can put the va-va-voom back into your life.

Such is the claim on the back cover of the book.  Maybe all those tired teachers in the school can come up to The Little Classroom up the Back and give it a test run. We'll see.

A Book of Silly Jokes compiled by Robert Rath

Do you enjoy jokes? Do you like to tell them? Inside this book you will find all kinds of riddles and knock knocks enhanced with the bold  illustrations of David Neuhaus. These jokes were apparently collected from kids and cover a wide range of topics from animals through to vampires and volcanoes. This book will be going into the basket with all the other jokes books in The Little Library of Rescued Books. 

How does a dog stop a video?
He presses the paws button.




What has eyes but can't see?
A potato.

A Bear in My Bedroom by Mary Small

A Bear in My Bedroom written by Mary Small was published in Australia in 1976. It is a chapter picture book with beautiful water colour illustrations by Australian artist Ingrid Van Dyk. The main character, Andrew, is a lacklustre six year old British boy, who has a very mundane life with two parents too busy working to notice him. One day his somewhat eccentric Aunt Philomena who has been living in Australia, comes to stay, and Andrew's life suddenly becomes much more exciting and meaningful. Sadly the day comes when she must return to Australia leaving a very forlorn Andrew behind. Then, one day a package containing a koala bear arrives on his doorstep which Andrew immediately discards in disgust believing himself too old for such toys. However, this is no ordinary koala, it comes to life during the night times and Andrew soon finds himself involved in all sorts of adventures in Australia after realising they can move to and from the two countries through a secret tunnel. Andrew meets kangaroos, a cheeky kookaburra, sheep, goannas, fairy penguins and even a bunyip!  There are ten chapters in all and it is a sizeable read for a "picture book."  This is a beautiful hardback edition and for any child who enjoyed Enid Blyton books or the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, they will surely enjoys this book too.

Author, Mary Small was born and educated in England and settled in Australia in 1962. She worked as a speech therapist until she married and after travelling widely with her marine scientist husband she took up writing stories for children.

Ingrid Van Dyk was born in Sydney and studies art at the National Art School. After receiving her Diploma of Sculpture she decided to study for her Diploma of Education. However, instead of teaching she took up book illustrating.

Swan Lake by Lisbeth Zwerger

Another Lisbeth Zwerger book for our little library, nestled alongside Hansel and Gretel. This is one of the best-loved ballet of all time and Hans Christian Anderson medal winner Zwerger does a superb picture book adaptation. The haunting story or an enchanted swan princess is brought to life through her gentle water colour illustrations which are reminiscent of English illustrators of the 19th century. Her version is based on Tchaikovsky's original 1877 ballet and has a happy ending rather than the tragic one of the 1893 production. The young prince is out hunting one day and he nearly injures a swan with one of his arrows.  This swan turns out to be an extremely beautiful princess under the spell of an evil sorcerer and the young prince is desperate to win her hand in marriage.

The Best Primary Poetry Anthology Ever selected by Lesley Pyott

It seems I have had this poetry wonder forever...well since my third year teaching in 1986. I have used it countless times to inspire children to poetry and it covers many topics, some being: Ghosts, The Circus, Trains, Animals, Cats, Dogs, People, The Beach, just to mention a few of the chapters in this book. Not only does it have a wide variety and forms of poetry, but it also includes some helpful suggestions to get students writing. This book now joins the poetry section in our Little Library of Rescued Books. It contains my favourite poem ever by Alfred Lord Tennyson:

The Eagle

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

Out of the Ashes by Michael Morpurgo

This is one of the most powerfully emotional children's  books I have read.It is simply told but really delivers a powerful blow. I had heard of foot and mouth disease but until I read this novel had not really understood the implications it causes for whole communities and the heart break it brings to each farming family watching their life's work destroyed before their eyes.  This is Becky Morley's story of how she and her family coped with losing all that was precious to them over a few short months, and of her sudden awareness that even her very strong dependable dad cannot cope with such a soul destroying experience. It is told through a diary she received as a thirteenth birthday present from her dad. It tracks the family's days before the outbreak, during the outbreak, until it reaches it heart wrenching conclusion. But, it is also a book about hope and the support that communities give in such times of hardship.  I have always appreciated the illustrative powers of Michel Foreman and his illustrations really do justice to this amazing story. I would also recommend his novels War Horse and Butterfly Lion.

Flipping Brilliant by Patrick Regan and Jonathan Chester

A feel good, often amusing, gift book that likens penguins to people. It contains some little lines of wisdom and the photography is brilliant, as the title suggests. "Life is not black and white. There are two kinds of penguins: the white ones coming toward you and the black ones going away from you. That probably qualifies as the oldest joke in the Antarctic. It's not true of course. There are actually seventeen different kinds of penguins...It's tempting to sometimes see the world in black and white and to take unwavering positions about right and wrong. But things are seldom that simple..."

Each double page spread has a photo and some words of wisdom. The photos are fully explained in the back, regarding the penguin/s in the photos and the location. It's a nice little read and might be worth a revisit from time to time; just to help keep things in life in perspective.

Jonathan Chester, the photographer, is also an author and a film producer. The photographs in this book are from his many Antarctica expeditions. Author, Patrick Regan, has written quite a few gift books including Punch Out the President and The Book of Bad Habits.