I now work part-time for a boys catholic school and spend time in both the Early Years (EY) and Middle Years (MY) libraries. I have loved contributing to the collection management by suggesting new titles, weeding out old ones and trying to promote and find resources the students and teachers need. I also get to take some library sessions, and recently I’ve been talking to students about visual literacy. This is when messages, ideas and stories are communicated using images or videos, rather than language. It’s developing skills to interpret and make sense of images, and to find meaning in art ..read more

If you liked New Kid (by Jerry Craft), then I think you’ll also enjoy this When Stars Are Scattered. It’s not often that I write a blog post for just one book, but this one deserves a lengthy write up. The story centres around two orphaned Somali brothers living in a large refugee ‘camp’ in Kenya. The older one, Omar does everything he can to keep his younger, disabled brother, Hassan safe and fed. At the start of the book Omar is about 11, he doesn’t remember much about the early years of his life, he doesn’t go to school and he is frustrated by the conditions he lives in. I don’t want to gi ..read more

Barefoot Kids has sparked some really interesting conversations at our house this week. My kids can earn money in three ways: piano practice, doing my household chores and writing book reports; and I definitely don’t give them money for doing their assigned household chores. But we are getting to the point where they are really interested in getting more money and learning what more they can do with it – other than buy a packet of lollies. It’s also time for them to start thinking about a different source of money instead of the Bank of Mum and Dad. I heard @barefoot_investor launching his ne ..read more

A super talented friend of mine runs her own business, Grubbee, selling hand sewn bed linen and baby-related products, such as bibs and blankets. She has a great eye for trendy fabrics and can do custom orders as she makes everything herself. I often find myself stalking her Instagram page reminiscing about the baby years. Her photos are so well styled I forget about the sleep deprivation and only remember the angelic sleeping moments. I thought it would be fun to suggest some books that are good aesthetic matches for some of the delightful Grubbee items. Then at the end I’ll give a few of my ..read more

I think my eldest child was in grade 1 when I first had the thought that perhaps he’d be better off being homeschooled. He was performing well above the expected academic levels and really thriving at a school that I thought highly of. Yet I wondered if perhaps both he and I were missing an opportunity to bond, learn and grow together. These thoughts started when he’d come home from school and tell me about watching a feature-length movie, that he’d already seen at home. I’d think to myself that I should have kept him home that day and done something ‘more’ – such as go to the zoo or a farm ..read more

There are dozens of Lego sets based on space. There are space shuttles, space stations, lunar stations and more. Then there are all the Star Wars sets, but that’s a different blog post. While space and the moon haven’t been a huge obsession in our home, I know some kids get totally into space as a phase or as a precursor to life in the science/engineering sector. I’ve put together a list of some of our favourite space-related books (I’ve avoided aliens or supernatural sci-fi and stuck to astronauts, planets, and moons). The list begins with picture books for the littlies through to chapter ..read more

“Young readers … deserve books that illuminate and support their learning. Books should be relevant to their lives” Hartsfield, D. E., & Kimmel, S. C. (2021). Supporting the Right to Read: Principles for Selecting Children’s Books. The Reading teacher, 74(4), 419-427. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1954 It has optimistically been plastered over the internet that everyone is a reader, some just haven’t found their favourite book yet. I question the provenance of the idea, but part of me also hopes it’s true. It is a lovely thought that each of us can find that one magical book that will flic ..read more

As we were beginning our graphic novel rabbit hole I wrote a post with some of our favourites. Over three years later and we have enjoyed some really great graphic novels. Below is a list of some I’d recomend you check out. Some of the them are already super popular and others are more obscure. The Babysitter’s Club and Babysitter’s Little Sister, by Ann M. Martin, illustrated by Raina Telgemeier, Gale Callagan and Katy Farina I’d be surprised if you weren’t aware of these, as they have taken the kids’ book world by storm, much as the original did. If you have a reluctant 8-10-year-old reader ..read more

This game might have an unpleasant-sounding name, but we have had so much family fun playing it. To play you need an even amount of people, 3 pairs are good; 5 are better. Each pairing is split up and there are two sides that take turns to swap cards, trying to get 4 the same. Once one person has 4 of the same cards, they need to get their partner to shout “You’ve Got Crabs” by using their predetermined secret signal. For a very entertaining video about how to play, watch this video. Pairing a book with this game will depend on the recipient. This game can be played by kids as young as 5 righ ..read more

I know Chilli Heeler would have us all wait until kids are older to teach them a game as complicated as chess. But some kids are super keen on the game and desperately want to learn it. I happen to have one of those on my hands. My 5-year-old, Toby, often wants to play and once told me that he’s getting good at it. Quote: “I’m really good at chess. I beat Harvey and John.” Harvey is his cousin whom Toby had taught chess to that day, and John is his toy teddy. It’s always good to capitalise on fads or obsessions as opportunities to engage kids with reading. There are plenty of books about play ..read more