Man vs Beast Robert Muchamore

Hi,
At placement they've had a real problem with the boys in upper primary years reading novels. I thought I could read something that the boys might enjoy...
This is the sixth book in the cherub series it starts when a 14 year old boy witnesses his mother getting assaulted by two masked men who are working for the Animal Freedom Militia as his mother works for a research company that experiments on animals.
James is the main character in all the Cherub books and he and his friends are Cherub agents they are all teenagers, they wear skate t-shirts and look like regular kids, but they're not. They are trained professionals who are sent out on missions to spy on terrorists and international drug dealers. Cherub agents hack into computers, bug houses and download crucial documents. Mainstream animal protection groups have always stayed within the law, but there’s a new band of liberationists argues that if humans and animals are equal, then it's right to kill or threaten one human in order to save the lives of many animals. Together James, Lauren and Kyle are sent on a mission to bring down the Animal Freedom Militia, they succeed in their mission and return home.
There was a lot of action throughout the novel, the issues the teenagers were dealing with are very similar to the issues year 7 – 10 students are dealing with and I feel they would be able to connect to the text better than I did. On a mission Lauren becomes a vegetarian because of all the animal torture she has witnessed. Kyle finds a boy called David and they are together throughout the rest of the book, Kyle isn't very popular on campus anymore. I would only recommend this text to boys who are interested in cruelty to animals as it can be very disturbing.
I didn’t really enjoy the style of writing, the text has many problems and resolutions however I felt there were too many character’s having conversations that were hard to keep up with. The story is narrated from the third person, but each scene would have about four different characters talking throughout most of the text and I struggled to connect with the text.

for more in the series http://www.cherubcampus.com/book6.htm

Heather

The Dream of the Thylacine

Hi,

I picked this book because I thought it would be a great text to share at school as it is the story of the Tasmanian Tiger. I don't think this picture fiction is very good for young children. The Authors have tried to allure the reader by writing in the first person as if we are in the thylacine's mind and feeling what he is feeling as he is trapped and wants to run and fish. The author has used different size text to draw the reader toward specific words as it states; "Prowl Rage Howl". The next pages are of visual text which have been painted of what the Thylacine remembers of his past when he was out in the forest. Then a picture of him behind wire with text on a wooden fence "Mourn Ache Yearn" dreaming about running through the forest. Then the words "rest now" the Thylacine is no more except through dream.
This text is captivating through the first person narration and the visual text is quite gripping as you take on the Thylacine's journey. I'm not sure what age group this is aimed at, I think it would be challenging for students under year 3 level however it doesn't have much writing to consider. The visual text can be critically analysed by students in upper middle years.

teacher's notes on pdf at
http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=397&book=9781742373836

Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl

Hi,
I have never read this one before and thought young students might find it interesting so I thought I should know how it goes in the book as it has been made in to a movie.

This is an excellent text for developing independently reading confidence for students in year 5 and 6 as it begins with very short one paragraph per page text with visual text to guide students. The text uses different adjectives to expand the reader’s vocabulary but are not hard the students can easily sound out any challenging words.

Roald Dahl’s writing engages the reader through occasional rhyme

“Boggis and Bounce and Bean

One Fat, one short, one lean.

These horrible crooks

So different in look,

Were nontheless equally mean.”

Dahl also created a rhythm to his writing

“On a hill above the valley there was a wood.

In the wood there was a huge tree.

Under the tree there was a hole.

In the hole lived Mr Fox”.

This is a story about a cunning fox who steals his dinner from three farmers to feed his family. The farmer set out against the fox until one night the fox gets shot and loses his tail.  The farmers then try to dig him out of his home, but Mr Fox digs his way to safety, they try to use caterpillar tractors and it becomes a race to dig for their lives. The farmers try to starve him out, but Mr Fox has a plan, he digs away and comes up in the chicken coop, he takes three of the most ‘plump’ chickens.

He keeps digging and on his travels he meets the badger and his family who tell him that all the animals are starving because of all the hunters waiting in the area. Mr Fox invites the badger to join him and they continue to dig to towards the next farm and find the ducks, but they realise rabbits can only eat vegetables. They take one last crusade toward the last farm and saw the cider, Mr Fox  tasted it, it felt like medicine, so they grab a bottle and take it back to their home. They put on a feast for all the underground animals while the farmers still wait above ground.

Visual texts were used to tell the story such as; “As the machines bit away more and more soil from the hilltop, it looked like this”. This book has been retold and made into a movie, but the novel is a great read for students as it is a very interesting story as you wonder what the fox is going to do next.

Heather

http://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/fant.php

The Elves and the Shoemaker by the Grimm Brothers

Hello,  this is a classic fairy tale, but my niece loves to read it, so I thought I’d share it with you.
A shoemaker and his wife worked hard but were very poor. I love how the visual text on this story draw attention to the character’s feelings. The author has not created character developed except for the critical emphasis on the fact that he is a shoemaker. He or his wife do not get given names as it is not them that are the focus in the story but it is the struggle they are going through.
The shoemaker had one piece of leather left, just enough to make one pair of shoes. Before he went to bed he cut out the leather and left it on the work bench ready for him to sew the next morning. The next morning the shoe maker got up to sew the shoes, but where the leather was were two perfectly made shoes. That morning a woman came into the shop to buy a pair of shoes, she was so pleased with how they were made she paid twice the usual price. The shoemaker used that money to buy two pieces of leather. Before he went to bed he cut out two pairs of shoes ready to be sewn the next morning. The next morning the shoemaker went to his workshop to find the two pairs of shoes had been sewn perfectly. A man came into the shop that morning and was so astonished at how well the two pairs of shoes were bought he took both pairs. The shoemaker bough four pieces of leather and this went on every morning, many rich people came into the store to buy his shoes, so in time he and his wife became rich. The shoemaker still had no idea how his shoes were being sewn, so he and his wife stayed up to see who helps make the shoes. They hid in the back corner and at twelve o’clock in came two tiny elves, they were dressed in old clothes and had no shoes. The elves did not finish until all the cut out shoes were sewn then they ran quickly away. The shoemaker wanted to thank the elves for all their work so he and his wife used the softest leather to make clothes for the elves. They cut and sewed socks, shirts, jacket, pants, hats with a feather in it and of course tiny shoes. On Christmas Eve instead of leaving pieces of leather for the elves he left the clothes and hid in the corner again. At twelve o’clock still in their old clothes the elves came in. Talking and laughing they put on all the new clothes, caps and shoes and dancing and singing they skipped out the door. The shoemaker and his wife never saw the elves again, but they were rich and happy and from that day forward they always had good luck. 
The story guides the reader with intrigue through the discovery behind the mystery shoe maker. It is an exciting tale, which creates hope for the reader that the character will find happiness. The Grimm brother’s create a warm feeling in the text that would be an excellent activity for shared reading or independent reading for year 2 – 3 students (depending on their reading ability).

http://www.authorama.com/grimms-fairy-tales-39.html

 http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/4350/

New adaption by mike Kenney includes teacher resources
http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/teacher/english/elves/index.htm

 

 

 Heather

Muddypaws by Moira Buttfield

Muddypaws by Moira Buttfield and Illustrated by Simon Mendez

Muddypaws is a sweet picture book about a boy ‘Ben’ who gets a puppy and he doesn’t know what to call him. He ponders different names by looking around his bedroom and looking in a story book, he decides to let the puppy hunt for names. The puppy looks behind a flower pot, knocked it over and made muddy paw prints everywhere. Ben took the puppy to the park where the puppy went to look behind a tree, he ran and ran and jumped in the mud and made muddy paw prints everywhere. Ben went to his neighbours house to have a look in their garden, the puppy leaned over to look in the pond and he lent over further and fell in the pond and he made muddy paw prints everywhere. Then on the way home the puppy thought he might go digging in the garden, he brought all the mud inside and made muddy paw prints everywhere. He didn’t mean to find a name for himself but he was the muddiest puppy ever. MuddyPaws.
This picture fiction is narrated from a third person perspective using Ben speaking and the puppy’s thoughts to interact with the reader. It is a short, cute story about the first day of having a new puppy and the challenges owning a pet can create. This text has an easy to read flow to it which allows children to follow and get involved at a young age. The illustrations are simple but help explain the story in the written text. I think junior primary students will really enjoy reading this text especially if they have an interest in animals. I like the way Butterfield uses a boy ‘Ben’ as the main character I think it encourages a wider audience although I think the text is specifically aimed at year 1 - 2 students.

http://www.moirabutterfield.com/under5s.html

Heather

The Three Little Pigs and the Fox by William H. Hooks

Hooks writes his own version of the famous tale of the three little pigs grown up. The two eldest (males)  have become too large by their overeating and are prompted by Mama to go out and seek their fortune.

  I like the humour in this story. The opening tells of a very long time ago, ‘..back when the animals could talk around these parts.’  The adjectives used to describe the fox are a treat and he known to the pigs as  ‘…mean, tricky old drooly-mouth fox.’

  In comparison with the original version of the three pigs, this Appalachian version has names for each pig and certain traits about their personalities. For example, Oinker is a Mama’s boy.

  There is repetition in this story, as in the original version.  Mama Pig: ‘It’s time you set out to seek your fortune’. Also: ‘You’ll be fine if you remember three things.’

Rooter (the first pig) is met by the fox while he has decided to sit down to eat. Against his mother’s warning he doesn’t watch out for the fox as he is obsessed with eating.

His brother is none-the-wiser and both pigs are taken captive.

As Sundays pass, the season changes, and Hooks alerts the reader to the fact in this way ‘The leaves turned all red and gold, and the nights got real nippy.’

Baby Hamlet is the pig with the difference. She initiates leaving home instead of being prompted as the other two were. Hamlet recites to Mama what Mama’s advice was to her brothers.

Hamlet’s character is even more impressive. She is on the alert for the fox and when he does come to her she is ready. She is not only the only one out of the three to build her house, but I love the ending where she is sharp enough to quickly outsmart the fox. She gains information from him enough to know where her brothers are being held prisoners, and goes on to rescue them.

The story could be read for reception to year 2 students. The original version could be read as well and it would be interesting for students to compare and contrast the two stories. They may be able to think of an alternative ending or write an Australian version of the story after brainstorming things like traditional Australian foods and phrases.

                               ISBN: 0-02-744431-7                                     

                                          Alex

Uno’s Garden by Graeme Base

Hi, I read Uno's Garden by Graeme Base and this is how the story went..

On the first day of Spring Uno finds a forest with trees and animals including a Snortle Pig. Uno decides to build a hut there for him. Uno has children so he builds more buildings for them, he build’s himself a little garden and in his garden lives his Snortle Pig. Other people follow Uno’s lead and it starts to create a village. More buildings are built for more people.

Hunter’s come and try to catch the animals, this starts to show the beginning of people taking over. Tourists come to see the animals and the village turn into a town. More buildings are created for the tourist and the village has less space. People build a railway so they can see the animals quicker, which mean more buildings and less space for plants. Scientist come to research the animals, but the animals disappeared because the buildings take over the forest and there is less space for animals and plants to grow. A fisherman comes to the river next to the city, all he finds is a car tyre and get sick, the growth of the city created a demise of the forest and town becomes a city.

One morning people wake up and all they can see is buildings, they feel upset. The city becomes abandoned because it’s too dirty and polluted.

Uno still lives there in his garden and living with him is his Snortle Pig. Many years go by and they pass away, but Uno’s garden remains there. Uno’s children look after the garden and build more environmentally friendly homes. The more the children take care of the area the animals return to the area, but no snortle pig returns. Over the years all the animals return to the garden and they build envirohabitat pods and the grandchildren continue to maintain a sustainable future by building an equal amount of building to plant and animal ratio. By the first day of Spring the forest is created with perfect balance. The enviroconservational balance is maintained to create a perfect area, however a Snortle Pig never returns.

This book has excellent illustrations, there is a grid of all the trees and animals on every page. The book starts with lush green forest and many animals. As the trees and garden grows so does the animals. More building and people that come to the area the fewer animals there are. The plants and animals decline to zero. When the children take care of the forest the animal and plant numbers begin to increase until the first day of spring when the numbers resume back to its original status.

This picture book creates an entertaining way to teach children about sustainability in the environment and the reasons why it is so important. I would definitely recommend this picture fiction to primary school students as this text meets the learning criteria for environment and sustainable futures.

http://www.graemebase.com/publish/index.html
lesson plans: http://www.curriculumpress.edu.au/rel/sustainability/unos-garden.php
http://www.penguin.com.au/products/9780670041916/uno-s-garden

Heather

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis

The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe by C.S Lewis illustrations by Pauline Baynes

Hi,

This is a story about four siblings who were sent away from London because of the air raids and went to live with an old professor and what happened to them while they stayed there. On a rainy day the children decide to play hide and seek, Lucy, the youngest hides in a wardrobe and steps back into an icy cold mystery land. She starts walking through the snow and stops when she sees a lamp post, a faun speaks to her and leads her to his house, but when she goes back to tell her siblings they are not convinced that her story is true as time seemed to go so fast in Narnia.

Edmond follows Lucy into the wardrobe and gets tempted by the Queen to bring his other siblings back into Narnia, however the Queen turns out to be the evil witch. When all the four siblings are in Narnia they go to visit the faun but he is not there. A beavers takes them back to his place for dinner and there Edmund make an escape to see the Queen. The beaver tells all about Narnia and the battle between Aslan and the White Witch. They begin their journey after Edmond and Father Christmas comes to bring them presents which have magic powers that they can use to fight against the White Witch.

Along their journey the snow begins to melt and grass began to show. The beavers had taken Lucy, Peter and Susan to see Aslan where they had gathered an army of animals to help fight against the witch to get Edmund back and restore all land back to Narnia.

This story is set from a third person perspective, with quite simplistic entertaining writing. The story keeps you in suspense and engages the reader with the character’s feelings through monologues. It has short chapters, which gives you an idea of what the chapter is about. The illustrations give a guide to the writing with a slightly scary picture of the story illustrated by Pauline Baynes. This book is excellent for year 7-8 readers and I think girls would love the fantasy story, but I think it is also entertaining for boys.  
 
about C.S Lewis
http://www.harpercollins.com/author/microsite/About.aspx?authorid=5865
about The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
http://files.harpercollins.com/PDF/ReadingGuides/0064409422.pdf

Heather

Jack and the Beanstalk by Richard Walker

Hi,

I read Jack and the beanstalk by Richard Walker and illustrated by Niamh Sharkey. It is a picture fiction story of a boy who is sent by his mother to sell their cow for money to buy food. He goes to the market and meets a man who offers him magic beans, as he loves magic he takes them for daisy his cow. He gets home and shows his mother the beans and she throws them out the window. Overnight the beans sprout up to the clouds, jack climbs it to see where it goes. He arrives at a castle in the clouds, he goes inside and meets a little lady who tells him to hide behind a bag of gold before he gets seen. The giant comes down and orders the little lady to get him his golden goose and music from his golden harp. Jack crept out while the giant was sleeping, he took a bag of gold and left it by the top of the beanstalk. He grabbed rope from his house and climbed back up to get the gold. The little lady, golden goose and magic harp were all waiting for his return to take him with him. He climbs down the beanstalk and as the giant tries to follow him he uses the rope to fling him in to the universe and he is never to be seen again.

This text is written from a third person perspective, it is simple for primary school students to follow. The story should explain that you should not be greedy as it can get you into danger, but it is not the best picture fiction for children to learning from as Jack gets everything that he wants by stealing. It is a light hearted read for junior primary children to use in silent reading time.

http://store.barefootbooks.com/uk/jack-and-the-beanstalk-3.html

Heather

Fire Song by Libby Hathorn

 

I thought I had already put the blog of this book up here as it was the first of all the books I read! I have been unable to locate the blog, so here it is:

 Fire Song was the first of three Libby Hathorn books I read, and it is the story of a 12 year- old girl who is faced with the dilemma of being ordered by her mother to burn down the family home. Her mother is insistent on this plan, as they are poor and would use the insurance money to live on.  Ingrid is anxious about the plan and is reluctant to do this for two main reasons:

1. She knows it’s the wrong thing to do

 2. The house was her Grandmothers, and was passed onto her family to live in

Hathorn takes the reader on a journey into Ingrid’s thoughts and the personal dialogue and reasoning that goes on in her thinking. The anxiety and ambivalence is made clear to the reader throughout the story:

‘What was she thinking? She couldn’t ask the Kleins for their help, Mr or Mrs. That was impossible! Hathorn (2009, p. 57).

There are also many other passages which contain emotive words and use of punctuation to influence the reader.

The plot structure is one of ‘home and away’. Ingrid goes out and does errands and later in the book she also goes to visit her mother in hospital after she has a stroke. Running into other characters which Ingrid assesses as potentially being able help her, adds to the home and away structure.

As students read this book they would come across themes such as family relationship dynamics, poverty, morals, prejudice and religion and death. These themes can be seen in the other Hathorn books I have read: ‘Letters to a Princess’ and ‘Thunderwith’. Students from around 10 years old and above could compare the similiarities of these texts, and critically analyse how Hathorn has used words and images to represent character and to sway emotions and opinions.

      Some information on Libby and her work:   www.libbyhathorn.com/biography/video.html

                                                     Alex

Zoo by Anthony Browne

This story relates easily to some typical family dynamics. While the prospect of a family outing to the zoo can be exciting initially, the intended experience can soon be diminished  with kids fighting, hunger, boredom, members wanting to go in different directions and other annoyances. This is what this book displays well.

Browne uses page one to introduce the characters. It’s a portrait of the family from a child’s view-each character.  All are going to the zoo. The book is written in the first person, but the character’s actual names are not used. Their relationship to each other is presented, however. The only actual name the reader hears of is the brother’s name-Harry. This is to present the story from the young child’s perspective.

Browne uses the description ‘really excited’ to set the mood at the beginning of the exposition. The mood soon turns negative as the family antics kick in with hunger, boredom, fights, and Dad being embarrassing.

I like how Browne describes the response as Dad cracks a joke. ‘Everyone laughed except Mum and Harry and me’. This wording shows Dad as a significant person and his position in the family unit.

Mum is the one who’s looks sad as she goes along with the family. This illustration is showing the reader that the families behaviour and their relating to each other at that time is disappointing to her.

 This is confirmed near the end: ‘I don’t think the zoo really is for animals,’ said Mum. ‘I think it’s for people.’

The main character misses the point Mum was trying to make but takes this thought from Mum and dreams about it literally, as he becomes the one who is locked up in a cage.

 

                                        Alex.

 

 ISBN: 978-0-099-21901-9

The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

The Adventures of Captain Underpants is a chapter book with a twist. The chapters are very small, with some chapters being comic strips and others being a flip book called Flip-O-Rama (a chapter entirely of pictures which can be ‘animated’ by flicking the pages really fast).

The book is aimed at students from year 2 to 7 (depending on reading ability). The small chapters are a great way of introducing students to independently reading chapter books. Also the story line is a very fun and intriguing one. Suitable for students who like to read adventure books. The Adventures of Captain Underpants is about two boys George and Harold, who love to create comic books about the hero Captain Underpants (a creation of their imagination). One day they hypnotise their principal Mr. Krupp (using their hypnotic ring) to become Captain Underpants and the adventures begin!

The story is really interesting to read due to the small chapters and the comic strips, animated pictures and cartoon illustrations. The story is told from a third person perspective which allows the reader to see everything that is happening in the story and allows the narrator to swap between past and present very easily when describing flashbacks.

Captain Underpants is actually a series of small chapter books, which is great as it gives students who love to read humourous, adventure books a character in which to love and create imaginative stories about.

I loved reading The Adventures of Captain Underpants, and Pilkey’s imagination is sure to captivate any reader, no matter how old they are.

Youtube clip: The Adventures of Captain Underpants, 2010, online video, accessed 23rd Sept 2012. 

Pilkey's webpage 

By Emma Windebank

An Egg Is Quiet by Dianna Aston

This book is a lovely book about eggs and where they may be found. It is set out like a non-fiction narrative picture book, but is really an information book.

Each page discusses a different property of eggs: Where they are found, what they look like, their different colours, their different shapes, their disguises, their different sizes, their different patterns, their different textures and the different things that may be inside of them.

The book is apparently aimed towards year’s reception to two by the Premier’s Reading Challenge. I think this is accurate. The book would be a fabulous resource when studying a topic on eggs and animals. There is a lot of information in the book; each illustration has a description of what animal it came from.

A picture of a “tubular egg” from a dogfish has the caption; “While most sharks give birth to live young, some sharks, like the lesser-spotted dogfish, begin life in a leathery egg case with tendrils. The tendrils anchor the eggs to seaweed so they won’t be swept away by the ocean current.”

 I found this to be really interesting and make the book more interactive as the reader reads the large amount of captions accompanying the illustrations.

The illustrations by Sylvia Long are absolutely superb. I was captivated by the extreme detail in the illustrations and how many there were. There has been a great amount of effort put into this book. A great read for inquisitive students who love to read informative books and learn.

Dianna Aston's webpage: details of her other publications

 Some of Aston's other publications such as "The Butterfly is Patient" follow the same structure as "An Egg is Quiet" and are accompanied by the same beautiful illustrations.

By Emma Windebank

A Leaf Can Be… by Laura Purdie Salas

The things that stood out most whilst reading this book were the stunning illustrations by Violeta Dabija and the simplistic nature of the story. 

Most of the pages only have two words on them, a great read for children who may not have yet developed a broad vocabulary. There is a significant rhyme scheme throughout the book. A double page reads, “sun taker”, “food maker”. So simple, but makes complete sense when the initial page is read and since the illustrations are detailed and beautiful. 

This book would be suitable for 4 to 5 year old (Reception to year 1). It would make a fantastic resource for introducing a SOSE or Science topic on nature. Also it would be a fantastic resource for introducing rhyme as a literary technique to students.

Also at the back of the book is a more information regarding of all the rhyming words throughout the book which would be really handy when using it as a cross-curricula resource. 

Even more brilliant is the fact that it has a glossary at the very back explaining words like “chlorophyll” and “photosynthesis”. 

AND even more brilliant is the section for further reading with other resources that may aid in students understanding the book and the topic that may partner with it.

This is very peculiar as this book is considered to be a fiction picture book, but is actually a non-fiction information book when used in a different perspective.

I loved this book; it was really captivating, yet so simple. I think young children would love this book also!

Laura Salas' webpage: Information regarding her other books

Laura Salas' blog: her thoughts on other authors and poetry

By Emma Windebank