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.

The Night Walkers by Otto Coonz

Gulls are dropping out of the sky, dead, Cecil the local tip attendant has mysteriously disappeared and, now Nora's neighbour Martin Craven is suddenly ill and stays in a darkened room away from the light.  Mr Craven's housekeeper, Mrs Cribbins knows something is wrong after Martin tries to attack her and infect her with his soul-destroying illness, but no-one will believe an old lady.  After visiting Marty, Nora's brother Tony starts exhibiting the same symptoms and is taken to hospital. Nora suspects that this mysterious infection afflicting many of the children in Covendale is something far more sinister than just a virus. But no-one will listen to her, not even her parents. So with the help of her friend Max, she sets out to rid the town of this evil.  This book came about because of author, Coontz's concern for environment protection. Despite it's environmentalist bent, it is a gripping read. I read it in one sitting. If you like horror or adventure, give this one a go. I think I'll have to now get hold of his more well-known novel called Isle of the Shapeshifters.

101 Wacky Facts About Mummies by Jack C, Harris

Do you like to read about weird stuff? If you do all the unbelievable facts about mummies are here in this little paperback. Once a tomb was discovered with over a million mummified birds! I feel sorry for whoever had to count them. Sometimes ground up mummies were used to cure stomach aches. Imagine sprinkling that on the top of your spag bol! Mummies often still have their toenails and eyelashes, now that's pretty gross.  There are no mummy-making manuals to be found, it seems a topic too sacred to write about, or maybe nobody wanted to share their secrets. This is an engrossing read and once you start you won't want to put it down. 

No one knows exactly what secret ingredients the Egyptians used for preserving their mummies. But scientists know that the ingredients included oil of cedar (similar to today's turpentine) and natron, a mineral with a high salt content.

The text is sprinkled with ink illustrations and is divided into the following chapters: Will the Real Mummy Please Lie Down? Wrap Session, The First Mummy Wrappers, Tomb It May Concern, Grave Robberies "R" Us, Farewell Mummy Dearest, I Want My Mummy, The Chinchorro Connection, Natural Beauties and Better Left Shut: The Tomb of King Tut.  Now, did you also know that apparently only a few thousand mummies have been discovered so that means hundreds of millions of mummies are still out their waiting to be discovered. So get your shovel and start digging...failing that, grab this book and start reading.

The Bamboo Cutter's Tale by Sayumi Kawauchi

The first bilingual book in our little classroom library, this book tells the story of a bamboo-cutter who finds a small girl in in a bamboo stick sheathed in light. He takes her home and he and his wife care for her. Soon she grows into a beautiful young maiden and men from all of the country want to marry her. However, she has no desire to marry and leave her loving parents. As time progresses she tells them she must return to the moon. This book has a mix of  full colour plate illustrations and also some black and white ones.The Japanese translation accompanies the text. This is not a demanding read and story is enchanting.

The Emperor's New Clothes retold by Susanna Davidson

This version of the famous tale by Hans Christian Anderson is very accessible for most readers and supported with comical, colourful illustrations complete with speech bubbles by Mike Gordon. This hardback has been organised into five short chapters: Nothing to wear, Slimus and Slick, The two cheats, The emperor's visit, and, The royal procession. The king has just about every style of royal clothing, but he is not satisfied. In fact he has seven thousand, three hundred and twenty-two outfits. He wants new clothes, he wants something special. Little does he understand the great swindle which is about to take place. This is a gentle and amusing read, with a really creative and quirky treatment of this age-old tale.