LIBRARY NEWS
This Week in the Library
Welcome to week 6! This week we are following on from 'Sorry Day' and reading ‘Respect’, a wonderful new story by Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson, for Reconciliation Week. The story follows a young girl as she learns the importance of respecting nature, Country, her heritage and her elders. The illustrations by Lisa Kennedy Magabala use traditional illustrative techniques while also envisioning the future of Aboriginal art and culture. It is one of the most visually beautiful books I’ve read in a long time.
Our younger students will also be reading ‘My Lost Mob’ by Venetia Tyson and ‘Where is Galah’ by Sally Morgan. All classes are in the process of creating work for a shared display which I will show you in the coming weeks.
Whitney & Britney Fun
Last Wednesday, HTS joined in with 1,297,825 people in 14,469 locations* across Australia to simultaneously read ‘Whitney & Britney Chicken Divas’ for National Simultaneous Storytime day. This story was read in every class across K-6 and our students (and staff!) loved adding a bit of bling for the day. Thank you to all our families who supported their children with this, it was a lot of fun! (*ALIA, 28 May 2020).
Graphic Novels - They’re HUGE!
Comics and graphic novels, in particular, have had a phenomenal rise in popularity in the last few years. While they’ve always been trendy, they’re now also popular in ‘mainstream reading circles’ and it’s no different here at HTS.
Comics and graphic novels tell stories in both visual and written form. Comics are serialised stories that are told over many editions and often, many years. We get to know the characters slowly, we see different ‘snapshots’ of their lives and the stories may be linked and progressive. Graphic novels, on the other hand, are a single work in one book – a story from beginning to end. As the term ‘graphic novel’ suggests, they follow more the format and style of a novel. Graphic novels are not necessarily 100% comic book style, though they may be (Megan Daly, Children’s Books Daily).
Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Bad Guys and many of Ahn Do’s stories (Weirdo, Hot Dog, Ninja Kid) are by far the most borrowed books in our library and prove that this genre is popular with children of all ages.
Our secondary students are loving the new graphic novel collection too, particularly the manga (which is a whole other level of graphic novel!). If you haven’t seen any of these books lately, ask your child, they’ll probably have one!
New Books
‘More Than a Kick’ by Tayla Harris & Jennifer Castles.
AFLW player Tayla Harris was at work on the footy field when she kicked a goal. A photo of the kick showcased her incredible athletic ability and was posted online. The photo quickly became iconic as Tayla stood strong against online bullies. This is the story of Tayla's sporting career so far, and her hard-earned advice to young people navigating the ups and downs of social media (Allen & Unwin, 2020).
The Babysitters Club - Raina Telgemeier
For those of you who can remember the original series, there is now a new graphic version that I’m sure our students are going to love.
Other new series: 11 Birthday’s & Ellie’s War
Quick Bits
- Please help find overdue books, there are still quite a few at home.
- Thank you for the plastic bags that families have sent in - the students without library bags (and I) really appreciate it.
Happy reading,
Mrs Toni Fraser