Where is the Green Sheep by Mem Fox

Hello,

I have read a picture fiction from Mem Fox called "Where is the Green Sheep?"

Where is the green sheep is a very simple picture fiction book for junior primary students where the illustrations and rhyme show us through the discovery of where the green sheep is.
The illustrations are quite funny and give a perfect description of what the text is telling us. Their is excellent use of adjectives to explain the journey into discovering the green sheep.

http://www.memfox.com/green-sheep-secrets.html

Heather

The Pirates Next Door by Jonny Duddle

This book is brilliantly illustrated and a unique narrative about a girl who wishes for a family with children to live next door to her so she has someone to play with. Her dreams come true when a pirate family; The Jolley-Rogers move next door for a while.
There's amazing puns throughout the book. The town name, 'Dull-on-sea' contradicts the future of the story where things are not dull at all.
There is also some a slight rhyming pattern throughout the book, it seems that the end words of the middle and last line rhyme, it just nicely ties the book together I felt.
The structure of the book is set out on some pages similar to a comic strip where not only do the readers have to read across the page from left to right, they also have to read top to bottom before moving to the next speech bubble.
The use many pirate/sea related terms which emphasise the story line such as; 'urchin', 'yonder', 'landsick', 'anchoring' and 'scurvy', just to name a few.
The books complication is the community's disgust and misery knowing that there are filthy pirates in their neighbourhood. The climax is when the community start a petition. Then the pirates just go on their way, back to the ocean, leaving each family a treasure proving that they are not bad people after all. The coda of the book is generally to not be stereotypical of people, especially people who are new to the community.
The illustrations are really a stand out point in the book and are really detailed and animated, making for a very enjoyable read.

 

The book is aimed generally at the years 4-7 range and focuses on basic literary techniques for that year range capabilities.

Jonny Duddle's blog contains information about the rest of the series and his beautiful illustrations.


By Emma Windebank

Flood By Jackie French

Flood by Jackie French is an amazing picture fiction book, which can be used as a task to gain interest in to a topic about floods for year 8 students or could be a great way to finish a unit on floods in primary school. The book is based on the Brisbane floods, which is where Jackie French grew up. The text is short but gripping, it keeps you interested in what is going to happen. The best part of this book is the fantastic illustrations by Bruce Whatley! It's as if the book has been recovered from the flood itself, it really gives you an emotional attachment to the characters as if you are feeling what they are going through.

Here's a PFD which could help for a lesson plan if you're interested..?
http://www.scool.scholastic.com.au/schoolzone/toolkit/Flood.pdf

Heather
 

The Boy Who Ate Himself by Colin Cardwell

This tale is a hilarious one. I had a giggle.
The book is called 'The Boy Who Ate Himself' which describes the whole plot of the story. The story begins by telling the reader that it is a horrific story and it is the scariest book on the bookshelf.

From the initial page it seems as thought the story is being told in the perspective of the creatures living under Harold's (the main character) bed.

Cardwell has utilised the method of rhyme to make his story flow and has displayed a wide vocabulary to challenge the directed age range of 4-5 year old children.

"An enormous gulp
          and his bottom had vanished,
   Harold Bartholomew
          was still feeling famished."

The story is highly fictional, a story about a boy eating himself due to his hate for eating vegetables is not realistic.
The author reinforces the coda of the story in the last few pages of the book when he tells about how Harold woke from the dream of eating himself and began to eat all his vegetables instead of junk food. This book would be a fantastic, intriguing resource for introducing young children to the topic of healthy eating and the concepts regarding healthy living.

The illustrations from this book are just fantastic, below is a page extract demonstrating the illustrative work of Tony Lowe.

By EmmaWindebank

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss

Dr.Seuss is a fabulous writer! He has changed the way our students can learn to read. When I was younger I would love to read any book that he has written, they are so engaging and you would get so much enjoyment just from reading the book. He is alwayed detailed in his discriptions of his character and they are also crazy character, which the reader can only image how they would act, from what the author has given them.

Dr. Seuss books would be a great reasource to use in the classroom. He aslo has his own website, which provides ample amount of information on him. Therefore students are able to any rescreach that they needed to, if they were going to research their favourite author.

This website aslo has a teacher reasource section, which contains lesson plans that we are able to use in the classroom. I strongly suggest that you check this out, as not only is it an interact website for teachers but as the students as well.

 http://www.seussville.com/books/book_detail.php?isbn=9780394800011

Teresa :)

Group Discussion: Week 6 Reading Workshop.

Hey girls!!
So this weeks topic was about reading. It was about using the headings in the chapter highlights to organise our notes for the chapters we had to read.

I thought it would be a good idea, if each of us talked about one, of the heading highlights that some of the notes that were organised into that.

For example: In chapter 6 one of the headings was Different types of texts. I then wrote how texts can be broadly classified as literary or factual, according to the purpose they are designed to meet. Literary text seek to entertain the reader, while factual texts convey information.

We were also asked to develop a glossary, and I thought it would be a good idea to choose one word that we didnt know before but do now. One word that I have learnt is, Syntax, which is the way words, phrases and clauses are structured in a sentence.
The words are:

Semantic information
Grammatical information

Syntax

Cohesion

Phonological information

Rhyme

Syllables

       Onset
       Rime
       Graphological information
       Blends
       Digraphs
       Sight words
       Directionality
       Morphemes

I think this is a really good idea, as we are able to moniter what we have learnt from the course so far!

Also with our third assignment dont forget to have a look at this website, it will help you with assignment 3!!
http://unisa.aquabrowser.com/?itemid=|unisa-bibs|1103566

Teresa
 

 

The Story of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson

This ladies, is one of my favourites of all time and I thought it would be appropriate to share with you all. The book is titled 'The Story of Tracy Beaker'. This book was published in 1991 and has been famous in Britain particular ever since.
Tracy is a 10 year old girl who lives in a foster center. She tackles many adventures with her ridiculously cheeky and naughty attitude. Wilson has really brought Tracy to life with her input of realistic journals written in the perspective of Tracy. Tracy becomes loved by the audience as she begins her heart wrenching quest abut identifying her real mum and surmising to the reality that she does not want to be in Tracy's life anymore. This story Wilson has written for the years 9-11 range of young girls who love a sense of adventure and humour.
The book is set out in an intriguing, unique way. Wilson has begun the story with Tracy writing a twenty page biography about herself. This incredible introduction to the story allows the reader to readily engage within the story before it actually properly begins. The way the illustrations by Nick Sharratt are so simplistic, yet so amazing and intriguing allows the reader to wander away from reading the text of the book and reading the images and becoming indulged within the crazy, unique life of Tracy Beaker.
The unique nature of Tracy's life as a foster child is something that many children who may read the book will not experience themselves, so Wilson has allowed the readers to see this experience through Tracy's troubled yet adventurous life.
The book was so incredibly popular in Britain that it became a television series (Where the story was brought to the small screen) which lasted two series, which resulted in a musical titled 'Tracy Beaker Gets Real', followed by a magazine series for young girls called 'Totally Tracy'. Wilson created an empire with this novel and empowered many young girls with her feisty, cheeky character, Tracy Beaker.

Wilson's website 

By Emma Windebank

Hairy Maclary From Donaldson's Dairy by Lynley Dodd

This book is about Hairy Maclary going for a walk, when she is joined by all her friends. This book follows a typical narrative structure, as we are introduced to the characters and the setting of where they are. They then encounter a problem, which results in having a resolution in the ending of the children's book.

Dodd uses short sentences, and has big detailed pictures throughout the story. This makes it very easy for the reader to follow and feel that they are able to read this novel independently if they needed to or if they wanted to.  Just like that hen book that we read durring one of the lectures, both the writting and the pictures tell the reader different things about what is actually happening in the book.
Dodd also writes this whole book using a cumlative rhyming text.

ps. Girls I think you should check this website! its really good!... http://www.puffin.com.au/browse/characters/hairy-maclary

It has and Ipad appt that you are able to download! It allows the students to touch and spell words, colour in the illustrations and interact with the story in many other ways which enhance the reader's experience without detracting from Lynley Dodd's original concept.

I think this would be a great resource for teaching an english class!

Teresa :)

All Through the Year by Jane Godwin and Anna Walker

This is a lovely picture book focusing on all of the events and activities partaken during one year, and 12 seasons. The book focuses on the Australian seasons (e.g. Summer in December, January and February) and on activities and events enjoyed by all Australian children in each month of the year. Some examples include the beach, Easter, Mother’s day, AFL grand final day, Royal Show day, Christmas concert practices at school, etc. This ensures that the book is relevant for Australian children and it is likely to be meaningful to them at a greater level.

The narrative is written using rhyme which makes it easier for children to remember and gives the story a rhythm that makes it more pleasant to the ear. It would be most appropriate for students in the early/primary years between years R-3. This book can lead to an investigation on more simple concepts such as the months of the year or the four seasons for younger students or it can get the primary age students to reflect upon the events that they look most forward to throughout the year.

Kirsty

PS.

The author doesn't have a website so I have provided a link to her Puffin Australia page which consists of a short biography and lists her achievements and books written to date.

http://www.puffin.com.au/contributors/jane-godwin

Here is the 'January' page from the book. The illustrations are equisite!

I Was A Rat by Philip Pullman

     Wow!!

Just finished a brilliant book-‘I Was A Rat’ by Philip Pullman.

Pullman did a brilliant job of writing in the third person, keeping me in suspense the whole way through. I kept wondering and wanting to know: “How did the rat become a boy?”

I love the way that the story moves to different scenes and comes together at the end, finally bringing the answer. The conflict escalates as Roger, in his confusion, moves from place to place.

 I also love the way that Pullman uses humour. The narrative intelligently developed, which drew me into the story, and intermittent sparks of humour punctuate the scene, just as I was least expecting it.

The story also has a political side to it, with a powerful use of satire. This engaged me on a deeper level and brought an underlying chill to the story.

I think that students from around the Year 4/5 year level would love to read this book. There are a number of activities you could do with students studying this book, including looking at how the author uses humour and satire in the narrative.

As there are newspaper articles written throughout the book about the Princess and the ‘Rat-Boy’,  cross-curricular lessons in critical analysis of media could be taught  as well as looking at the text structure of newspaper articles.

http://www.philip-pullman.com/

 

                                                                   Alex

Unbearable! by Paul Jennings

Recently I have been reading a number of Paul Jennings books, one of them being the series of short stories within the book, Unbearable! There are 8 short stories in the book, each lasting on average 10-15 pages, which is great for children who have short attention spans as they may finish a whole story in one sitting.

The stories are Licked, Little Black Balls, Only Gilt, Next Time Around, Nails, Yuggles, Grandad's Gifts and Smelly Feat. Each story is bizarre and ends with a slightly unpredictable twist.
Licked is a tale of a boy pranking his dad into believing that he licked the overused fly swat, when indeed it was lolly on the swat. Little Black Balls is an unrealistic tale that still has hints of reality as Sally's mum discovers little black balls in her pocket and the story begins of the paper man who saves animals and needs money to operate on one. This leads to the selling of an expensive opal to pay for it, and the eating of the opal by a goat randomly. Then Sally is forced to chase the goat around town waiting for it to poo out the opal.

The stories all relate to the theme of humour, and like many other books by Jennings the aim is to entice young males to read by intriguing them with humour. Paul Jennings' Website (for more titles)

These tales are suitable for boys (and girls) around the age of 9-12. The simplicity of the plots are contradicted by the unique structure that they contain.

By Emma Windebank

New cover

Old cover

Mirror by Jeannie Baker

This is one of the most unusual and engaging picture books that I have ever read. The book contains no words and is comprised of two parts which must be read simultaneously. One part reflects the life of an Australian family in Sydney and the other reflects the life of a Morrocan Family in the Valley of Roses, Southern Morocco.

The main message of the book is that although these two families look very different from one another, they are connected by some major themes including love, care and a sense of beloning within the local community. Hence, although the two families live on opposite sides of the world their lives are connected as they are part of the larger global community.

This book would be appropriate for students in primary school from years R-7 and it can lead in to a unit on multiculturalsm, cultural diversity, identity, etc. The main thing that struck me about this book was the intricate details of the images, which look as though they have been collaged. On the last page, Baker states that she did, in fact, collage the images using a combination of natural and artificial materials such as sand, earth, clay, paints, vegetation, paper, fabric, wool, tin and plastic. They are amazing to look at, so I would also encourage you to borrow this book for that reason as well as the fantastic story line and coda.

Kirsty

PS. Here is a short description of the book on Jeannie Baker's website:

http://www.jeanniebaker.com/mirror.htm

Group Discussion: Workshop tasks Week 5

Workshop 5 Summary

English Language and Literacy

Hello Everyone!

Here is this week’s workshop summary:

Discussion in small groups:

What is it you know from the lecture and readings?

The Nilsson reading had very good examples in it of story writing. The Kajder reading had some good points about digital story telling.

‘Photo booth’ video (our group discussion points).

·         Using questions from the lecture to analyse the text

·         The use of colours…black, grey and white. The colour red was used with the car and the blood making the story powerful

·         Lighting in the film was dull-part of the setting, symbolising the bleakness of the situation of war and what was to come (death).

·         The point of the digital narrative is not primarily about the technology, but to enhance the story. Don’t overdo it with using different aspects of technology just because you have it there.

Whole class discussion:

Every decision by the writers are conscious and deliberate.

E.g sound, landscape, clothing, setting.

Our assignments are 3 minutes-makes it harder for the setting to be established. Setting and characterisation need to be established quickly.

Copyright:

Take note of anything you take off the net. It is important as a teacher to use copyright free resources. There may be a license to use the image for non-commercial reasons. In your assignments, incorporate where you got the images from. .

Professional photos may be have a copyright on them.

License on copyright means that there are specified conditions for copyright.

Nilsson article:

·         Tips for people writing extended stories.

·         Putting the character in a difficult situation and the outworking of that can help create suspense for a good story.

·         Dickens asked himself questions about the story and where it was going. E.g. what would that character do? Why would they do that?

·         Story writing: Beginning often written at the end, A non-linear process

Wikibooks: a useful website for digital storytelling

Remember the story always needs to be central in a digital narrative.

Storyboarding: No fixed format

Next assignment: push the boundaries of your skills. Teach yourself something new. You will always need updated skills as a teacher.

                                                      Alex

Emily Rodda

Hi girls!

These past few weeks I have been reading Emily Rodd books, for the Author study assignment.
The first book was "The Timekeepers,' which is part of the Finders Keepers Sequel. The second book is from the Fairy Realm Sequel, and was 'The Charmed Bracelet'. Finally the last book is called "The Silver Door" which is apart of the Delta Quest Series.

I have really enjoyed reading these books, and they have even made me want to continue to read books outside of this course. I used to love reading when I was younger, however as I got older, the less books I would read. This just reinforces that some students need to be motivated to read, while others will naturally pick up a book and start reading. I was probably one of those students that needed to be motivated.

Teresa.

Complete Nonsense by Edward Lear

Hello again people!

I have just been reading a book called 'Complete Nonsense' (have a guess as to what kind of content it's about!) The author is Edward Lear.

It contains many limericks and other poetry.

There are a few appealing things about this book:

The first is that the content is about complete nonsense. This is especially appealing to children who like to laugh and are generally freer than adults to do just that.

The second is that there are many poems. Once you have read one (which dont take long to read), you are onto another one. The poems are short so are easy to read, making them more appealing.

Futhermore, the poems rhyme and contain adjectives that interest and can cause curiosity in their meaning, if indeed, the word isn't a familiar one.

I can picture students not only enjoying reading or hearing these poems, but also attempting to write some themselves. Limericks have a particular structure and rhythm and so are quite distinct. Classes from around Year 3 to Year 7 would be interested in this activity.

A teacher could start by getting groups to brainstorm rhyming words to do with current, relevant topics and in this way connect the learning. After this, adjectives could be introduced and so on leading to the final writing of the limerick.

                      Good fun

                                Alex

Just Tricking by Andy Griffiths

This week I have been extremely busy with re-reading my author study books, 'Tickled Onions', 'Toad Rage' and 'Once' by Morris Gleitzman. However, over the past few weeks I have been reading 'Just Tricking' by Andy Griffiths and managed to finish it off this week.
I remember reading the 'Just..' series as a child because they were really engaging and humourous. The books are written in first person from the perspective of Andy Griffiths at a young and mischievous age.

'Just Tricking' contains 10 short narratives which are structured differently and distinct from each other through the use of different fonts. They mainly contain an exposition, conflict, climax however, not all of his stories contain a resolution. Some stories have a twist at the end, or are not properly resolved. The books appeal to both male and female students between the age groups of approximately 8-14. They are great for getting males into reading, particularly if they aren't confident. For example, my brother was not a big reader at school but he loved these books and purchased the whole series. Although there are no major illustrations as such, along the borders of writing Terry Denton has illustrated comic-like pictures and written small captions. This further engages the reader and are separate from the narratives, reflecting intertextuality.

These books could be used in the classroom to introduce students to humourous narratives and how to structure them differently to achieve the desired effect. For example, ending the story with an ironic event but not necessarily resolving it.

Kirsty

PS. Here is a link to Andy Griffith's website. It's quite descriptive and provides an in-depth summary of each book.

http://www.andygriffiths.com.au/books/justtricking.htm

Group Discussion: Preworkshop tasks Week 4

Group Leader Week 4: Emma


Activity #2 from Winch  p269
Read the extract below:


Form and content:

• The child is recounting her experiences of the circus in a journalistic manner. It is loosely a narrative as it still maintains some  narrative features.

Text Encoding:

• Great spelling (only one error throughout).

• Lack of punctuation and capital use (no evident quotation marks, commas, capitals on proper nouns).

Text Participant:

• She was excited ("Oh terrific", 'it was good"). She displayed many emotions.
• She drew on her knowledge of the circus. There was not much knowledge evident besides what she saw whilst there.
• She knows that her writing needs to make sense to someone else, therefore she has to write in a way that conveys meaning in a conventional manner.

Text user:

• Expression of emotions:
• "oh terrific"
• "lets hurry"
• "good fun"
• "very funny"
• "circus was good"

•  Therefore, the overall tone of the text was excitement and joy as the child discusses her trip to the circus and the emotions that she feels. 
• Understands the genre of the text otherwise she would have not have been able to construct a recount.

Text analyst:

• Ideas to improve Kate's writing.
• Critical Literacy.
• View points.

***(focus on what children are doing instead of what they are not)***

Thunderwith by Libby Hathorn

Hi Ladies


I am going to be doing my author study on Libby Hathorn and I have now finished reading my third Libby Hathorn book called 'Thunderwith'. It is an award-winning Australian classic and been on screen.

 The story is about a girl called Lara, whose mother has died and she goes to live with her estranged father's family on a farm.

I found that it is quite an emotional book and I could feel the pain of Lara as she struggled to fit in with her new family. She was not welcomed or wanted from the beginning from her step mother and oldest step sister. She also was being bullied at school. Despite this, in the way that she handles certain events on the farm and at school, she becomes a courageous and strong girl. Hathorn describes Lara's thoughts and reasons for movement clearly and wholly so the reader can empahize easily with her.

Lara meets a dog who is like a companion and a light of hope in the pain of her living arrangement and while her father is away for long periods for work. She calls the dog 'Thunderwith' and she tries to escape the household whenever she can to go and be with the dog and to pour out her feelings. The readers interest is kept with the suspense of a couple of main events-but I do not want to give too much away!

Hathorn is uses descriptive language  to illustrate landscape and emotions. For example, the reader can surmise the use of 'dark bird' to mean depression or despair.

  I think that many school students-middle to upper primary could relate to and would like reading this novel. There are many who would come from mixed families, those who encounter bullying or have a close family member die and the story itself holds enough suspense to keep the reader engaged. The use of language could be explored in a teaching setting.

                                               Alex

Koala Lou by Mem Fox

Hi,
I have read a picture fiction from Mem Fox called "Koala Lou".
Koula Lou is a very sweet story of the eldest Koala who her mother used to tell her Koala Lou I do love you" one hundred times a day, then when her sibling were born, she felt cast aside.
Koala Lou decided to try and gain her mothers love back by competing in the "Bush Olympics".
Koala Lou would enter the Gum Tree Climbing contest and win. Training began, she jogged, did push ups and sit ups and climbed the tallest tree.
Despite all her training she came second and although she was sad she did not win her mother's love she discoved her mother loved her despite all of her efforts.

http://www.memfox.com/koala-lou.html
Cheers, Heather.

Australian Picture Fiction by Colin Thiele

Hey,

I have read a few Colin Thiele picture fiction books... all about Australian Animals. I think they would be great for reading time and for students to study further about Australian Animals.
1. Australian Nursery Rhymes, which has some nice poetry.
2. Australian Animal Versus, which has a little tale about different animals and they way they live.
3. The Australian ABC, which has an animal for all the letters of the alphabet

http://www.readings.com.au/search/results?query=Colin+Thiele&books=1&music=1&film=1


Cheers, Heather

The Paw Thing by Paul Jennings

This week as I prepared for assignment two, I have been reading books by the Australian author Paul Jennings. The Paw Thing was a favourite from my childhood, but I never really had the chance to analyse it before. I noticed how Jennings cunningly utilises techniques such as foreshadowing to intrigue the reader and make the plot understandable. As with any other Paul Jennings short novel, it ends with a twist. After the cat Singenpoo does not chase mice, he is not fed by Mac, (the take away shop owner), and is also accused of reading and disclosing the secret recipe to the rival take away shop next door. Singenpoo is eventually sent to be put down. The young worker, (who's name we never discover) saves the cat and feeds him secretly. When Mac's shop is overrun by mice, a healthy Singenpoo rescues the day and is made a hero and the accusations of Singenpoo disclosing the recipe are dropped. Mac lastly discovers a paw print on his secret recipe book. Cats can not read?! Or can they!?

The Paw Thing is suitable for children ages 9-13. For older readers the use of foreshadowing by Jennings makes the plot identifiable and not intriguing. Therefore, it would be a great piece of literature for younger children as they will still be able to let their imaginations do the wandering.

 

Paul's biography

By Emma Windebank

It's Potty Time by Tracey Corderay

Hey girls!
 It's Teresa here! Throughout this week I have been reading children's literature. One thing that I have really found interesting, is that I have ever realised that children books are mainly based on important aspects of development. This includes things like, the first day of school. I have been reading children's books, to see if this is the case. The first book I read, called Potty Time was based on a teddy bear, learning to use the potty for the very first time. This just reinforces that children literacy is based on important aspect of development for children.

Group discussion: Preworkshop tasks week 3

Group Leader Week 3: Kirsty

The preworkshop tasks were based on the ideas of Gamble and Yates (2008) from the Chapter 'Narrative: narration and structure' in the book Exploring Children's Literature. We were required to choose two books that we had recently read and create a story shape for them, identify the relevant basic plots and discuss the narrative techniques used by the authors.

The main things that we discussed and learnt from the reading is the fact that stories can have more than one basic plot. For example, The Hunger Games has a dual-plot consisting of 'tragedy' and 'voyage and return'. We also shared our story shapes which all consisted of a setting, action building to climax, climax, solution to a problem and a conclusion. Lastly, we talked about the large range of narrative techniques used by the authors. These included:

• Story shapes
• Suspense
• Conflict
• First person
• Present tense
• Coda
• Omniscient narration
• Rhyme
• Repetition
• Epistolary

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

This week I chose to read 'The Lorax' due to it's recent popularity following the movie and the message behind the story. Dr. Seuss creates a world that mirrors today's society, through the themes of sustainability and industrialisation. The story reflects the plot of a tragedy and a future quest for the boy who goes looking for answers on the Lorax. He discovers that the Once-ler chopped down all the Truffula Trees to make Thneeds (jumpers) for people (industrialisation). This had detrimental effects, not only on the trees, but also on the animals who inhabited that environment. The Lorax is the voice of the trees and advocates for sustainability in the book. The story ends with the boy being given the last Truffula Tree seed, hence the responsibility/quest of saving the trees for the return of the Lorax and the forest animals. This gives the reader the opportunity to interpret what happens next and how the forest will look after the boy has planted the seed.
The book is suitable for students ranging from Reception to Years 4/5 due to the story's complex and relevant themes. It is an easy and engaging read for young students, due to Dr. Seuss' use of rhymes, rhythm and 'silly' language. The illustrations are colourful and relate directly to the text. I think that the coda of the story is revealed on the last page when the Once-ler gives the boy the last Truffula seed. The instructions on how to care for and protect the seed sound like direct instructions from the author to the reader on it being everybody's job to sustain our environmnet.

Kirsty

Check out Dr. Seuss' wacky website - it's fun!

http://www.seussville.com/#/books

This is a link for the trailer of the movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU7M9J-BV8c

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I recently finished reading The Hunger Games series which consists of three books including, 'The Hunger Games', 'Catching Fire' and 'Mockingjay'. After watching the movie I went out and bought the books, which I highly recommend if you want an action-packed read! I will be talking about the first book, 'The Hunger Games'. The book consists of chapters and is set out in three sections (Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3). It is really easy to read and the cliffhangers at the end of each chapter make it hard to put the book down! You will enjoy this book if you like a thought-provoking read. The story is set in the future within the country of Panem (formerly North America) after war has wiped out most of the Earth's inhabitants. The ideas put forth by Collins reflect the notion of reality television in America and people's willingness to watch people do just about anything for 'entertainment'. If you watch, or have ever watched, 'Big Brother', The Hunger Games is contextually similar except the tributes (contestants) are all children who are fighting to the death on live TV. It is written in first person from the perspective of the protagonist, Katniss Everdeen who is a tribute in the games. I think that this book would be most suited to young adolescent students aged 12 and up. Regardless of whether you enjoy reading or not, I guarantee that you will become transfixed by The Hunger Games. It would be a great book to study as a whole class (middle/secondary school level) in regards to the complex themes and ideas that Collins subtly discusses. I also highly reccommend the movie!

Kirsty
http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/ - Suzanne Collins' website

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgssLmsOa2s  - The movie trailer

PS. I posted this last week, but it somehow posted as a draft. So I've fixed it and it's come up now. I was so confused when I didn't see this on the blog!!

Letters to a Princess by Libby Hathorn

Hello ladies!

Alex here again...

I have just finished reading my second Libby Hathorn book, 'Letters to a Princess'. I must admit, it was hard to put down. It is about a 15 year old girl who has an eating disorder and how she struggles with a difficult home and school life. Her outlet is to write letters to Princess Diana who she admires. The book is set out in chapters with her letters to Diana and also describing her every day thoughts and interactions in life.

 Quite relevant for middle years school students.


                    Alex

Introduction: Teresa Collela

Hey girls, its Teresa!

Just a few facts so that you are able to get to know me a little better. The Subject English is not really one of my best subjects, hence why I don't enjoy reading alot. However with this in mind, I had the best English teachers in high school, they were really good. I actually loved reading in there classes because they made English so much more enjoyable for me. The books that I tend to lead for are the fantasy novels, I really enjoy the story that they take you on.

One book that I have read, used to be one of my favourites when I was younger. The story was about a teddy bear and him learning how to use the big boys toilets for the first time. This story reminded me about what we were reading this week, and about learning about how children books were often written with significance. Therefore I can understand why children would love to read this book.