'Flying High' by Carole More.
This book was in narrative format and followed
the story of a bird that slowly grows his wings and uses them to fly around
with the other birds in the sky. The bird starts off young and the book follows
his experiences growing up. The book is
a very descriptive and is illustrated with bright, eye catching colours. More’s
illustrations are designed to enable the reader to understand the story without
having to read all the words. This book contains the theme of fulfilment and empowerment.
These themes are evident throughout the storyline and main character. ‘Flying
High’ would be suitable for years reception to year two due to its bright
illustrations and simple language. This book could be used in the English curriculum
framework by asking students to identify the relevance of the books
illustrations to the books text.
'Fruit Salad' by Richard Swan.
This
book was in an information report format. ‘Fruit Salad’ gives descriptions of
different fruit, how they each taste, smell and how they are grown. Swan
finishes the book by describing how each of the fruits can be added together to
make fruit salad. Swan uses
illustrations to guide the storyline as he uses a minimal amount of text
throughout the book. This book would be suitable for year’s reception to year
three due to its basic format and simplistic language. This book could be used
to aid students in their spelling and ability to recognise fruit.
'The Carrie Diaries' by Candace
Bradshaw.
This novel is a before views look at the Sex
and the City television series. ‘The Carrie Diaries’ is a long novel that
follows the character Carrie. Bradshaw maintains a biased point of view throughout
the novel, this is obvious through her retelling of the books events. The novel
is written from a third person perspective and follows a narrative format with
an introduction, conflict and resolution. The themes in the novel include adolescence,
relationships and coming of age. This novel would be suitable for high school
students due to its themes and language. The novel could be used within the English
curriculum framework by asking students to analyse the novel and determines its
themes.
‘Clifford the big red dog’ by Norman
Bridwell.
I chose this
book because I remember reading and enjoying it when I was in Primary school ten
years ago! This book follows the story of a Dog called Clifford who grows into
an enormous dog that is no longer able to fit in his house! Despite his
enormous appearance Clifford has a big heart. Clifford’s character is made obvious
by Birdwell’s consistent use of similes. ‘Clifford the big red dog’ is a short
narrative story written in third person format. The books themes are friendship
and growing up. This book is suitable
for reception to year three due to the simple storyline and language. Bridwell’s
book is warm hearted and could be read to students to encourage them in
identifying the books themes of friendship and growing up.
‘Grandfathers Journey’ by Allen Say.
This book
was a really nice picture book that depicts a Grandpa telling a story of his
journey from Japan to the USA and the trouble he encountered along the way. The
Grandpa in the story retells his Grandson about his past and describes each
part of his journey in great detail through the use of metaphors and similes. The
story withholds themes such as relationships and immigration; these themes are
evident through the books storyline and character development. The book is
written in narrative format from the third person perspective. The book
contains detailed illustrations that aid the books text in telling the story. I would recommend this book for year’s four to
seven because of the books themes and storyline. ‘Grandfathers Journey’ could
be used in a Society and Environment unit of immigration and could act as the unit’s
introduction.
‘Because of Winn Dixie’ by Kate Di
Camillo.
This novel is about a girl with no friends who
finds a stray dog that she eventually calls Winn Dixie. The novel goes into the
relationship the girl has with other characters and how her new found friend,
Winn Dixie has helped change her life. The novels themes involve friendship,
relationships and love. Di Camillo writes the story in narrative format from
the third person perspective. ‘Because of Winn Dixie’ is a warm hearted novel
that could be enjoyed by students from years six to year nine. This novel was
also made into a movie which could be incorporated into a English unit.
Students could work to determine the books themes and language features.
‘Sophie’ by Mem Fox.
Sophie is a lovely book that involves the themes of
love, relationships and multiculturalism. The book is an emotional book that
relays a really nice message that students would enjoy. Fox writes Sophie from
a third person perspective. The illustrations in the book are bright and
detailed, inducing the readers in the story. I would recommend the book for
years three to possibly seven because of the books previously stated themes. ‘Sophie’
could be used within an English unit of work by asking students to study the
books themes and language features. This book could also be used in a Society
and Environment unit as it deals with the theme of multiculturalism and could
be a great introduction book for the students.
‘My Aussie Mum’ by Yvonne Morrison.
This book is written in poetic form using
stereotypical Australian slang. Examples of this slang include dunny, aussie
and sanga. The book is comical and is
written from a children’s point of view about their Mum. Morrison’s book
contains the themes relationships, identity and stereotypes. ‘My Aussie Mum’ is
a light hearted book and would be a great book to read before introducing poetry
to students. I would recommend this book for year’s two to five due to its
language, bright illustrations, comical feel and themes. This book could be
used in an English unit and read to students before beginning a poetry unit.
‘Follow
the Blue’ by Brigid Lowry.
This novel
follows the point of view of a teenage girl called Libby who is in high school
and experiencing adolescence. Lowry writes the novel in narrative format from a
third person point of view. ‘Follow the Blue’ consistently uses similes to
engage readers with the books events. The novel depicts themes such as
relationships, adolescence and depression. The language used throughout the
novel is simplistic and easy to follow. I would recommend this novel for year’s
seven to nine due to the novels themes and storyline. This novel could be
implemented in an English unit by asking students to read the book and study
Lowrys language features.
Young Blood
by Bob O’Brien
This novel
is an information report format. ‘Young Blood’ is a recount of past real events
that occurred in Adelaide, better known as ‘The family murders’. O’Brien writes
the book with re telling each event in great detail, taking a biased point of
view that the murders were wrong and his suspect, although not completely
proven guilty is the murder. ‘Young Blood’ is a great novel that engages
readers through the powerful language and detailed re telling of events. This
book is only suitable for years eleven and twelve due to its language features
and themes. ‘Young Blood’ could be incorporated into the subject of Psychology
due to the novels content.
'Belinda' by Carole Peters
‘Belinda’ follows the story of a cow called Belinda
that lives on a farm. The farm is filled with animals who befriend Belinda the
cow when she expresses loneliness due to being the only cow on the farm. Peters
uses the typical narrative format and writes the book from a third person perspective.
‘Belinda’ is full of bright illustrations that aid the text in the book and
engage the readers in the story. This book would be suitable for reception to
year four due to its simple language and easy to follow storyline. This book
could be used as a guide for students in creating their own story book.
'Bear Flies
High' by Michael Roson
This picture book follows a Bear and his travels to
the beach and describes the people he meets along the way. The book was filled
with bright, illustrations and contains more pictures than text and is
therefore quite a short book. Roson’s themes include friendship and independence;
this is evident through the books storyline. ‘Bear flies High’ is written in
narrative format from a third person perspective. This book would be suitable
for reception to year two because of its themes and simple language. This book
could be incorporated into an English unit by asking students to determine the
books themes.
‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ by Eric
Carle.
I’m sure
everyone is familiar with this book as it’s a popular one. The story revolves
around a caterpillar going through life eating his way through various days and
different foods. The story ends with him forming into a butterfly. Carle keeps
readers engaged through bright illustrations that override the minimal text on
each page. This was quite a cute book
that I would recommend for receptions to year two, due to the simple portrayal
of the themes of growth and identity. The book is well illustrated and the
language used is repetitive, therefore once again is suitable for reception to
years two. This book could be fitted in the English unit by asking students to
illustrate their perspective on the book.
‘Green Eggs and Ham’ by Dr Seuss.
I love this
book and I think every child should read it at some stage due to its poetic,
relatable nature. Green Eggs and Ham use both repetitive and poetic language
which enables the story to be told in a way that’s different to other picture
books. The books bright illustrations encourage students to engage with the
pictures and understand how they help tell the story. The poetic language
feature in this book encourages students to engage with poetry and understand
that poetry can help tell a story. I
would recommend this book for years reception to year four due to its simple language,
poetic nature and bright illustrations.
‘Tuck Everlasting’ by Natalie Babbitt.
This novel
depicts a family who never ages and becomes immortal because they have found a
spring of water that turns out to be the fountain of youth. This novel deals
with science fiction, relationships, love, life and death. This novel was a
good read and I remember studying it in high school many years ago. I would
recommend this novel for years eight to ten because of its previously stated
themes. ‘Tuck Everlasting ’is also a movie, therefore an educator could use
this and the novel in an English unit by asking students to read the novel and
watch the movie and determine the differences between the two.
‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ by Frank Baum.
I grew up
loving the Wizard of Oz film but had never actually read the novel until now. The
novel was quite good and it was interesting to compare the two against each
other. The novel deals with the same themes as the movie of identity, relationships
and friendships and is written in
traditional narrative format from a third person perspective. I would recommend
the novel for years six to nine, but older years could also read the novel and
possibly connect it to a film study.
