Blog,  Home Education,  Home Education - Language Arts,  Home Education - Leaping into Literature,  Learning

Leaping into Literature: Six Years Strong

A Tradition begun way back in 2013 is still beating strong. As with every 4th Term for the past six years we enjoyed reading our way through piles of picture books, a tradition we look forward to each year. Our Leaping into Literature immersion as per usual was accompanied by the children giving their opinions and star ratings. This year’s participating children shrunk to only four; 13, 11, 8 & 5 years.  Due to the growing ages of the children we also included short chapter books, as the interest of some in picture books is beginning to wane just a little, my heart begins to break.

Short Chapter

Mr Pettigrew’s Harvest Festival – Leonard Clark 3 Star

Benjamin Franklin – Charles Michael Daugherty 5 Star

Return of the Wolf – Dorothy Hinshaw Patent 5 Star

 

Australian

Fabish the Horse that Braved a Bushfire – Neridah McMullin 5 Star

The Crow and the Waterhole – Ambelin Kwaymullina 4.5 Star

Sebastian Lives in a Hat – Thelma Catterwall 3.5 Star

Fox and the Fine Feathers – Narelle Oliver 5 Star

Tale of the Outback Hole – Robin Skirrey 4.5 Star

The Big Big Sea – Martin Waddell 4.5 Star

Banjo and Ruby Red – Libby Gleeson 4.5 Star

It’s a Miroocool! – Christine Harris 4.5 Star

The Tomorrow Book – Jackie French 3 Star

And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda – Eric Bogle 4.5 Star

Look See, Look at me – Leonie Norringtone 2 Star

McGillycuddy Could ! – Pamela Duncan Edwards 3.5 Star

Ducks to Water – Brett Avison 2.5 Star

 

Science

Let’s Find out about Fishes – Martha and Charles Shapp 4 Star

Let’s Go Rock Collecting – Roma Gans 3.5 Star

 

History

I Wish I’d Danced With Anna Pavlova – Leonie Young 4.5 Star

Fly, Kite, Fly: Story of Leonardo and a Bird Catcher – John Winch 5 Star

The Treasure Box – Margaret Wild 4.5 Star

 

Faith

Christopher the Holy Giant – Tomie dePaola 5 Star

 

Geography

One Step at a Time – Jane Jolly 4.5 Star

Peacock Girl – Lily Wu 5 Star 

The Seeing Stick – Jane Yolen 5 Star

The Sheep Beauty – Li Jian 4.5 Star

Dance of a Thousand Stars – Julia Hubery 3.5 Star

A Song for Jamela – Niki Daly 4 Star

Little Dog Lost Brave Dog named Baltic – Monica Carnesi 4 Star

The Magic Pillow – Demi 5 Star

Sora and the Cloud – Felicia Hoshino 2.5 Star

 

Creative Arts

Katie and the British Artists – James Mayhew 4.5 Star

Mind Your Gramma! – Yvonne Morrison 4 Star

I Love a Sunburnt Country 4 Star

Jabberwocky – Lewis Carroll 1 Star

My Shadow – R L Stevenson 3.5 Star

 

Miscellaneous

President Penny Baker – Kate Feiffer 4 Star

Fancy Nancy: There’s No day Like Snow Day – Jane O’Connor4 Star

Fancy Nancy: Bonjour Butterfly – Jane O’Connor 4 Star

Dewey There’s a Cat in My Library – Vicki Myron 4.5 Star

Don’t Worry Hugless Douglas – David Melling 3 Star

The Tomtes of Hilltop Farm – Brenda Tyler 3 Star

Auction – Tress Seymour 4 Star

Banjo Granny – Sarah Martine Busse 2.5 Star

2 Comments

  • Maria

    Hello,
    All these wonderful books! My son (4yo) stumbled upon the book Fabish at the library during the bushfires which was providential! We really enjoyed the book and he asked so many questions around horses and fires. It also came alive because we were reading the book when the bushfires were at their highest and we would wake up to a smoky filled sky.

    I’m wondering, aside from reading the books, do you have a literature curriculum that accompanies the books you have read? For eg: Memoria Press and 5 in a Row have literature guided programmes for the good books they recommend. In this way, history, cultural studies are also covered. Appreciate if you have any guidance that mirrors the above curriculums according to the Australian books you have recommended.

    Thank you.

    • Erin

      Hi Maria,
      Fabish is a terrific book! We read it ourselves recently as we also lived with bush fires for months. Isn’t it amazing how the right book often comes into our hands at the right time! So often happens.
      What a great question regards a literature curriculum, to my knowledge there is no Australian literature curriculum… but it’s my next plan to write some, to that end I’m first concentrating on creating a massive database of Australian Books, have you found that yet? For now have a poke around in there, loads of books on various topics. https://sevenlittleaustralians.com/australian-books/

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *