Girls' Pick

Yep, we're still in Australia! And thanks to some supplemental curriculum I stumbled upon we'll be staying for one more week.  Spending three weeks in a continent hardly seems like enough time, Australia has so much to offer! 

Here are the picks for this week:

 Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo by Alison Lester

This book is amazing! I love it! What a great way to introduce children to Arnhem Land, which is in Northern Australia and is home to many different indigenous tribes and language groups. The book specifically focuses on Gunbalanya where Kunwinjku is the main language that is spoken.

amazon.com

The book is about a boy (Ernie) who is leaving his friends to live in Arnhem Land where is parents are working at a hospital. What makes this book so great is that its written as if Ernie is writing a letter to each of his friends for each of the Arnhem land seasons, there are six seasons! For each season there are different activities that each of Ernie's new friends are doing such as fishing, learning traditional Dreamtime stories, and playing sports.

amazon.com

Another great thing about this book is that there is a short section at the beginning of the book explaining a bit about Arnhem Land, and the pronunciations of the seasons. At the back of the book there is a small glossary with terms that may not be familiar to the reader. It's a very easy read and beautifully illustrated. I can't wait to read more books by Alison Lester!

amazon.com

Waking Up Down Under by Carol Votaw

Another book that I've fallen in love with! This is an adorable book about 12 different Australian animal babies waking up in the morning. When the babies that wake in the morning go to sleep at night the story transitions right into the nocturnal babies waking up. So there are always babies awake in Australia! The sweet rhyming words 

Wake up, little emu, nibble in the sun. Your feathers may not fly, but oh, how you can run!

 and the delightful illustrations of the baby animals by Susan Banta make this book a must read!!!

amazon.com