10 for 10 picture books

I discovered 10 for 10 last year while reading other teacher's blogs. Despite it costing me a lot of money, I thought it was a fabulous idea. When I read it was on again this year I decided it was time for me to tick a box on my to-do-list and get my own blog started in time to participate! So, below, for your reading pleasure is my current 10 for 10!

In no particular order...

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus - Mo Willems

Every year the children in my grade are mad for the Pigeon books - all of them! But 'Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus' always seem to come out on top. I enjoy the audience participation required and how the children seem to love the pigeon and are inspired to create endless stories of their own about him and his friends!Possum Magic - Mem Fox

Mem Fox is one of my favourite authors. 'Possum Magic' is my all time favourite book of hers but I have a soft spot for 'Koala Lou' too! I love the relationship between Grandma Poss and Hush and the beautiful pictures by Julie Vivas. I also love it's Australian-ness!
Just Another Ordinary Day - Rod Clement

The first time I read this book to the children I read it without showing them the illustrations and we talk about their own day. The second time we read it, I share the illustrations. I love their squeals of delight when they realise the illustrations are nothing like they imagined! The ordinariness of the text and the extraordinariness of the illustrations are a magic combination. I also love Rod Clement's 'Olga the Brolga' and 'Counting on Frank'.
Chalk - Bill Thomson

This book is one I discovered on last year's 10 for 10 and it's fabulous! The first time I "read" this to my grade their excitement was feverish...and then when I pulled out a bag of chalk their excitement was so loud the teacher in the classroom next door popped her head in to see what was happening!! We spent the rest of the morning drawing outside, and the children spent the afternoon "checking" out the window to see if their creations had come to life! It was fantastic to see the children so absorbed and believing so much in a book!
The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle

How could you not love the caterpillar? So many ideas, information and knowledge to share in one little book! And so inspiring!
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is definitely on my bucket list!

Animalia - Graeme Base

I have this as a big book in my classroom. It's been repaired many times as the children love it to pieces year after year. They especially love searching for little Graeme! A fabulous treasure hunt accompanied by alliteration. My personal favourite are the lions in the library.

Handa's Surprise - Eileen Browne

As you've probably guessed by now I love picture books that rely on the illustrations to tell the story. Handa's Surprise is another of those! Despite wanting to surprise her friend Akeyo, it's Handa who ends up with the surprise. The children love to look out for the animals as they steal the fruit.

The Wrong Book - Nick Bland

Nick Bland is another favourite author of mine. We love 'The Very Cranky Bear' in our classroom ("Ms Kay are you getting cranky like the bear?" has been heard several times before!!) but 'The Wrong Book' is an absolute favourite. Poor old Nicholas Ickle is just trying to tell his own story but everyone keeps interupting! Like the pigeon books, the children shout back at the book and are inspired to write their own versions of the text. Love it!

And finally...

My Place - Nadia Wheatley

All my other selections have been geared towards younger children as I currently teach children in their first year of school. This book however is one I loved to use when teaching older children - the illustrations still play a huge part in the telling of the story. It's a timeline documenting one house/piece of land and those who live there over time, from 1988 (Australia's bicentenary) to before European settlement of Australia. A great history lesson of immigration to Australia and a great place to start with children and their own personal histories. Recently reprinted, My Place also has inspired a television series.


That's it! My list! I'm sure if you asked me again in a few weeks the list may be a little different as there were so many books I love that I haven't included!

I hope I've introduced you to a new picture book or two...can't wait to read your list and find something new to share in my own classroom.

Jack Frost

The frost on the ground in the park when I was going for a walk the other morning. It looked so pretty sparkling in the sun. I should get out earlier more often!

100 Days of School

We celebrated our 100th day of school on Wednesday. We all, teachers and children, dressed up as hundred year olds!

I managed to stay in character all day! It was a lot of fun hobbling around, prentending to be deaf and mixing up all the children's names.....my throat was a little sore at the end though, from being croaky and old!

We made necklaces, first by placing 100 pieces of cereal on our 100s chart, then by threading the 100 'beads' on to the string...then we wore them and munched on them throughout the rest of the day.

The sugar rush didn't stop there! We also made and ate fairy bread.

We did lots of counting, made glasses shaped liked 100 and pictures from dot stickers (each child had 100 dots). I forgot to take photos of those! Whoops! We read two stories, One Hundred Hungry Ants by Elinor J. Pinczes and Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola. My SSO (school support officer...I think that's their current title...anyway, she helps the funded student in my classroom) read Strega Nona - not about 100, but about a grandma! She is Italian and was dressed as Nona Angelina. She spoke a mix of Italian and broken English all day. The children loved her! We had a lot of fun.

My favourite moment though came the next day. One of the children came up to me in the morning and said "We didn't do our reading yesterday. Granny Kay said we didn't have to because too much reading hurts her eyes." Just before our reading session started I announced to the children that I'd heard from one girl they hadn't done their reading the day before. One five year old swung around to the guilty "dobber" and yelled, finger pointing, "Granny Kay said not to tell her! You weren't supposed to tell!" The Dobber smuggly announced "Well there are just some things that Ms Kay needs to know!" It was hard not to laugh! All this from children who had spent the day before questioning exactly who I was and suggesting that I was just Ms Kay dressed up! Huh! 

Run, run as fast as you can

We're looking at Fairy Tales at school at the moment. It continues to surprise me how many children come to school with very little knowledge of traditional tales. But, it does make teaching them a whole lot of fun! We read 'The Gingerbread Man' the other day and then made some 'rip n' stick' gingerbread bread men that now adorn the classroom walls. I like them a lot. I think they look like they're in a parade. A Mardi Gras of Gingerbread Men!

Procrastination

I have a new procrastination tool - Pinterest. While trawling the loves of others I saw these under-the-stairs cupboards.

I love them! I really want them in my house. Only, I have no stairs!

Sufferin' Succotash

I went to the Cheesecake Factory once (Ok, so I've been more than once, but not that many times because they don't actually have the Cheesecake Factory in Australia).  I ordered Cajun Chicken Littles which I debated over for quite awhile because it was served with mashed potatos and succotash and I didn't know what the hell succotash was (The succotash is hiding behind the mashed potatos in the photo). Anyway, it turned out to be a good choice. I fell in love with succotash. I could not get enough. When I got home I googled succotash. Who knew it was so common place? Who knew there were so many different variations? Who knew Sylvester was actually muttering real words in the Tweety bird cartoon?