Belinda Sciacca Blog posts

'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.