Billy and the Big New School by Catherine & Laurence Anholt

This book by Catherine and Laurence Anholt is about the anxiety that some children feel before starting school for the first time. Billy is quite concerned and worried about the big new school with the great big children. His mum tells him he is just like a litttle bird who doesn't want to leave its nest. Billy loves birds and takes some comfort in this and tells the birds he feeds in the garden all about his worries. That's when he finds a little sparrow who can't fly properly and who is being harassed by other birds. So Billy decides to take him under his human wing. And soon...just as the bird has to go back out into the big skies, so must Billy go to school.  And is school as bad as he thought? Pre-schoolers and adults alike will enjoy sharing and discussing this beautiful picture book with its insight into the joys and trepidations of  starting school.

Yeti and the Bird by Nadia Shireen

This newly released picture book by Nadia Shireen has a yeti as its main character. He is a lonely yeti until one day, out of nowhere, a bird lands on his head. The yeti, startled, tries to scare the bird but the little orange bird is unperturbed. So, a friendship blossoms as the yeti endeavours to help the little bird who has become disorientated whilst on a journey to sunnier climes in the south. Then comes the sad day when they have to farewell each other. This book is overflowing with gorgeous winter landscapes and would be a lovely book to snuggle up to during wintery nights. I have just purchased this book to take over to my grandson, Archie, when I next visit Perth.

The Landing A Night of Birds by Katherine Scholes

"Each great wing was as long as a man is tall. But in this wild wind the bird was tossed along like a paper plane - struggling over long mounds, bumps and heaps of troubled air. It flew with its head slung low and eyes half closed against the beating hail."

The story begins with a master of the winds, a beautiful, ageing Wandering Albatross, desperately carving his way through a violent storm. The next chapter switches to Annie, who along with her grandfather, Old Joe, awake to a violent gale to discover a sea of dead and exhausted birds struggling to survive in their yard. Quickly, and in difficult conditions, the two collect the living birds and give them asylum in their boathouse not far from their cottage. Annie is fastidious in her search for birds, not willing to leave one living bird out in the cruel elements. As it turns out, the birds are mutton birds (Short-tailed Shearwaters) returning from their marathon flight from the Aleutian Islands, off Alaska. Throughout the story the reader is continually questioning the relationship between the albatross struggling out at sea and the stranded mutton birds back on shore.  The story then takes a fantastical twist with Annie waking one night to feathery noises, and finding she can communicate with the birds. She learns of the legend of the mariner and the albatross. Interwoven with Annie's encounters with the Bard and the other birds is the struggle of the albatross. Eventually, the two stories collide.The illustrations by David Wong include water colour plates and ink sketches, and both masterfully bring the stormy tale to life. In the back of the book there is are some interesting author's notes containing information about the Wandering Albatross, the Short-tailed Shearwater and the Rime of the Ancient Mariner along with other information pertinent to the tale. I have two copies of this hardback book in our little library of rescued books for students to enjoy and share. 

A captivating illustration by David Wong

I could really relate to this story as one year whilst visiting Nek Beach on Bruny Island I was sad to see the hundreds of mutton birds who did not quite complete their epic journey. They were still graceful in death. Every year we go down to the viewing platform at Nek Beach to see both these beautiful birds and the little penguins over the summer holiday period.

Death at the Nek 2008

Short-tailed Shearwater

Graceful in death

'Hello, Barney' by Mary K. Pershall

This is a very moving and thought-provoking story and I must admit that had to wipe a tear or two away at the end. Long ago in the Australian bush, a little boy called William Jackson trapped a young cockatoo and put him in a cage (which I found hard to accept). He named him Barney. From that first day together until William was an old man Barney was his special pet. This is basically the story of what Barney saw from his cage in William's garden; the changing seasons, the passing years, the growing up of both children and the gum trees. And what happens when William Jackson is too old to care for Barney anymore...

The illustrations by Mark Wilson are simple stunning and how much character does the aged face of William Jackson have? Heaps. This is one of the best picture books I have ever read and raises many philosophical questions about caring for pets, and old age.

Uhu by Annette Macarthur-Onslow

This is one of the first books I purchased for use in the classroom when I started teaching in 1985. The book itself was first published in 1969 and it is still a very accessible text for todays' students. It won the Book of the Year Award in 1970. This book records a family's efforts to raise a baby owl to maturity.

For Uhu it was bound to be trouble from the start. He was one of the inquisitive ones who must tempt providence. There he was on the ground, having fallen out of the nest in his pine tree...a defiant white ball of fluff with enormous blackcurrant eyes and tiny beak clicking a warning to anyone daring to enter his territory among the roots and pine needles. For a creature born to inherit the forest this was all most humiliating. No doubt if I had not come along, a fox would have found him and made a hasty meal.

The language is very descriptive with challenging vocabulary, but entirely suitable to a capable upper primary reader.