bookreviews – Little Birdie Books

3 New Reads in October 2019

All the book publishers have been releasing their Christmas catalogues so it has been my mission to sort through the red and green and find the non-Christmas themed books for those who cringe at all-things Christmas. So here are my top 3 picks for this month – decided by what we like to look for in a book – 1) rich vocabulary; 2) strong story structure; 3) engaging and fun to read aloud and 4) provides opportunities for conversation.

1. The Caveman Next Door by Tom Tinn-Disbury

A beautiful debut book by UK author and illustrator Tom Tinn-Disbury, this book explores the challenges of being different and how friendship is a vital part of overcoming these challenges. Ogg the caveman really struggles to find into the modern world but luckily he has his neighbour Penny to help him fit in. This story naturally facilitates conversation about the modern era and how things are different in Ogg’s time compared to now. It demonstrates good story structure by showing a number of ‘attempts’ by Penny where she tries to fix the ‘problem’ of Ogg not fitting in. A story told without too much text (to allow room for conversation) but still full of rich vocabulary (e.g. refused, surrounded, furious, miserable, opportunity).

TOP READING TIP: Model comparing and contrasting language by using words ‘but’ or ‘however’ e.g. We know books are for reading, however Ogg thinks books are for eating!

2. Ice Boy by David Ezra Stein

A very cool tale about an ice cube who isn’t afraid of adventure, no matter what form it may take. Yes, you see Ice Boy transform from ice, to water, to vapour and back into ice (as hail!) A great way to introduce scientific concepts to little ones while telling it in a fun rhyming story. The powerful onomatopoeia (e.g., clatter, bloop, puff, boom) along with stunning illustrations help to convey the meaning of the story. You can also discuss print concepts such as the speech bubbles.

TOP READING TIP: Point out print! Highlight print concepts by pointing to them and explaining what they mean. e.g. This word says BLOOP! See how it is falling down like that. Bloop is the word for the sound of water falling into a glass.

3. Millie Muffin by Alisha Henderson

Alisha Henderson, the baker behind @sweetbakes_ debuts her first book in the Storybook Sweets Series – ‘positively sweet stories with recipes’. Millie Muffin thinks she is plain and wishes she was cupcake girl, pink and pretty with frosting on top. She helps her friends (adorable characters such as Matty Marshmallow and Papa Pie) on Buttercream Bend to see what is special about them and through this, realises that her best quality is the kind of friend she is. This story provides ample opportunities to discuss, explain and try out new vocabulary for both younger and primary school-aged children with words such as pondered, simplicity, reflection, selection, generous and worthwhile.

TOP READING TIP: When explaining new vocabulary to your child, it is easier for them to understand when you put it in a sentence rather than saying ‘it means…’ e.g., When you are generous, you give something or help someone, more than they think you would.

Are you excited about these books? Let us know if we have inspired to go check them out yourself!

If you want the ease of having new books delivered to your door every month, accompanied by helpful tips for parents and a fun activity for your child, our 6 month membership is perfect for you! Check it out here littlebirdiebooks.com.au/for-families

Thanks for hearing our call,

Your Little Birdies

Top 3 releases in September 2019

Spring is here and many new books are being released as I’ve started noting down titles I am adding to the Christmas shopping list (am I allowed to talk about Christmas yet?) . If you have been following along with this series, you know that as speech pathologists, Tania and I are on the hunt for books which tell a good story (with strong story structure), sophisticated vocabulary and provide opportunities for back-and-forth conversation with your child as you read. You can catch our previous posts for June, July and August. Let’s get into this month’s picks!

1. Who’s Afraid of the Quite Nice Wolf? by Kitty Black and Laura Wood

“Who’s Afraid of the Quite Nice Wolf” is a funny, heart-warming story about friendship and finding the courage to be yourself. The story also introduces children to the idea of stereotypes and how to break away from them. There are many great Tier 2 vocabulary words to introduce to your kids in this book, including fearsome, bold, pleaded, commenced and retreat. Tier 2 words appear more commonly in written text than in conversation, so they are important for reading comprehension and they are usually able to be used in multiple contexts. Providing a kid-friendly definition of these words will help your child to understand them, rather than having to ‘guess’ the meaning from the rest of the sentence or context. For example, “If you say something has commenced, it has just started.” Another great element of this book is the print concepts you can highlight.

Who’s Afraid of the Quite Nice Wolf (New Frontier Publishing)

TOP READING TIP: Make Print Pop – “This poster says “WANTED” – it’s written in big letters to get people’s attention. The poster shows photos of wolves and the numbers written under it tell us how much money you would get if you can tell the police where they are.”

2. The Immortal Jellyfish by Sang Miao

Death is a difficult concept at any age group and psychologists recommend books to be a non-threatening platform to explore these topics with young children. In this book, a young boy’s grandfather dies suddenly and he feels overwhelmed and confused. To his delight, they meet again in a dream, where his grandfather takes him to Transfer City, where our departed loved ones live on through our memories. In this modern, Eastern telling of the afterlife, death is not an ending, but a new start to life, just like the Immortal Jellyfish which is constantly maturing and then regressing, staying as present as our deceased loved ones do in our memories. The illustrations of this book are magnificent and the imaginative narrative makes for a beautiful, accessible approach to the idea of death for young readers.

The Immortal Jellyfish (Flying Eye Books)

TOP READING TIP: Talk about your own experiences, helping your child transfer information from boooks to real-world contexts. e.g. “When my dog died, I printed photos of him doing all the things he loves. When I looked at the photos, it reminded me of the wonderful life we had together.”

3. Two For Me, One For You by Jörg Mühle

Two friends share three mushrooms… who will get the extra one? This book is a great introduction to the genre of persuasive text with the two characters, Bear and Weasel each coming up with one argument after another for why they should have more. A twist at the end of the story sees the two friends outwitted by another creature in the woods! This is a fun story to read, again filled with many opportunities to explore vocabulary with words such as stunned, delighted, agree and grumbling.

TOP READING TIP: Highlight comparative language – “Weasel wanted another, but Bear wanted even more.” “Bear argued that his stomach was bigger than Weasel’s. Do you think your stomach is bigger than your brother’s?”

Let us know if you have read any of these or have recommendations for any other awesome new releases this month!

As always, your favourite books for enriching oral language and early literacy development are featured in our wide range of themed book boxes. Browse our selection here and visit our social media feeds (Instagram and Facebook) to see and hear more about the books and activities.

Book Week 2019 across the ages

We are halfway into our Book Week 2019 celebrations and today’s feature is BIG – featuring 3 books across 3 age groups: 0-3 years, 3-5 years and 5-8 years. Keep reading to see what we like about these books through our speech pathology lens and our top reading tip for each book! Let’s do this!

1. It’s not scribble to me by Kate Ritchie (0-3 years)

CBCA Book of the Year: Early Childhood Notable, Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year: 0-3 years Shortlisted

Cover of “It’s not scribble to me” (Kate Ritchie)

This book will engage little ones, whether they are artistic or not! Many parents and children alike will recognise aspects of this book in their own lives – from the parent who is frustrated at their child for drawing on the wall, to the child who is excited to draw, paint, colour all over the walls! The rhyme and rhythem of the language is highly appropriate for this age group while the pictures and words togeher allow opportunities for predictions and inferences. Each page is features a ‘child-drawn’ picture – sure to spark conversations during and long after reading and even inspire your child to draw their own unicorn or frog. You could easily share this book with older children and use language to compare and contrast how their drawing is same and/or different to the one in the book.

“It’s not scribble to me” (Kate Ritchie)

READING TIPS:
Pause to give your child a chance to ‘predict’ what the bear has drawn e.g. “It’s only a _____” (point as you pause), or “The black is a ____”.

2. Duck! by Meg McKinlay (3-5 years)

CBCA Book of the Year: Early Childhood Notable, Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year: 3-5 years Shortlisted

Duck runs around the farm shouting “DUCK!”, trying to warn them of something falling out of the sky, only to have the other animals exasperately explain why they are nothing like a duck. As speech pathologists, we love the descriptive language (“you have funny webbed feet and I have these fine cloven hooves”) and the moral of the story – to be a good communicator, you have use specific language! Nathaniel Eckstrom’s illustrations are captivating and changes in text type (bold, size, italics, font) encourage 3-5 year olds to explore print and understand how it affects how the story is read.

READING TIP: Make comments about how different character’s perspectives about the events, helping your child’s theory of mind to develop. For example, “Duck is beginning to feel frustrated because he feels the other animals are not listening to him but Sheep can’t understand why Duck would think to call him a ‘duck’.”

3. Under the Southern Cross by Frané Lessac (5-8 years)

CBCA Eve Pownall Award: Notable, Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year: 5-8 years Shortlisted

The older sister to Frané Lessac’s “A is for Australia”, this stunningly illustrated book represents all the beautiful elements of our diverse Australian cultural, geographical and social contexts. Educating this age group of readers through a larger-font introductory sentence of the location (e.g. “In Brisbane, the Ferris wheel spins up to the stars, for a sweeping view of the city – under the Southern Cross.”) and then drawing readers in deeper with facts that are embedded into the illustrations. The descriptive language creates a sense of wonder and excitement, sure to prompt many young ones to ask further questions, express that they have seen it before or make comparisons to where they live.

Cover of “Under the Southern Cross” (Frané Lessac)

READING TIP: Encourage your child to compare and contrast their own town/city to the ones described in the book. For example, “In Brisbane, we have a bridge too, called the Queen Victoria Bridge, just like how Sydney has the Sydney Harbour Bridge however, we do not have the Sydney Opera House.”

“Under the Southern Cross” (Frané Lessac)

We hope you enjoyed reading about these three celebrated books and taking on a new reading tip!

Our very own book boxes provide speech pathologist-approved books and play activities designed by us to encourage strong communication skills in your child.

Our Book Week 2019 special is running now – check out the SHOP page!

Q & A with Christine Sharp

“There’s a storm brewing and the hive must find a new home. With clouds filling the sky and thunder growling, Bertha bravely rises to the occasion … until she meets BEAR, that is!” Bertha and Bear is a book buzzing with friendship, about finding your place and the courage of one brave little bee. It is one of the two books featured in our Bear Hug book box, we are celebrating its release with a 5 question chat with the author and illustrator of this gorgeous book, Christine Sharp. Enjoy! Continue reading “Q & A with Christine Sharp”

Best Books for Babies

Have you got a baby shower coming up? We all know books are a perfect addition to any nursery but did you know that there are books specifically designed to capture the attention of young babies? Read on to see the best ones we recommend. Continue reading “Best Books for Babies”

Little Birdie Books

Book Boxes for Kids

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