With our 2.5-year-old we read all the time. She is a great critic, letting us know if the book is to be read ‘again’ or to be put ‘away!’ As well as a PhD in Education, I am also a trained teacher, having worked with preschoolers running Steiner Waldorf inspired parent and child groups and playgroups, so I am fascinated by the power of story. I try and choose books that are inclusive and age-appropriate, keeping the child in a magical space, as well as allowing for lots of laughs! I also love to share books that I am happy to read three times in a row!
I wrote...
Searching for the Ideal School Around the World: School Tourism and Performative Autoethnographic-We
This book shares the nomadology of Alys-we searching for the Ideal School. Fed up with the System, traditional mainstream education directed by neoliberalism, and high-stakes testing, I travelled to over 180 places of learning/schools in 23 countries that were educating differently. Through performative autoethnographic-we, I share these embodied experiences in poems, vignettes, journaling, and ethnodrama. I realised that the Ideal School is an oxymoron and that schools and schooling, even within innovative education, are not the future for learning.
By sharing stories from the ‘gems’ that currently exist in places of learning/schools, there is the potential and hope for a paradigm shift. Read this book to follow my journey as I share stories and trouble different innovative pedagogies (including Steiner Waldorf, Progressive, Democratic, and Montessori).
Our whole family loves this book about an Indigenous child’s smoking ceremony. As a white settler-colonial family in Australia we are keen to read and learn from Indigenous authors and the publisher, Magabala press, are outstanding in the quality of the books they publish. The simple yet effective computer-created artwork gives an intimate insight into the importance of the first lesson of law, connecting to Country, which leads to great conversations and reflection. The inclusion of Indigenous words within the story adds to the depth of sharing with the audience and allows the voices of the women to be heard beyond those who usually attend such an important rite of passage. A real treasure. I wish it came as a board book as our copy has had to be taped together many times!
We adore this book and know it all off by heart! Our 2.5 year old can often be spotted sitting ‘reading’ this book to herself, reciting the poems! The simple repetitive story tells the tale of a babysitter (Skinny Doug – although for some reason he has always been known as Lanky Dave in our house!) singing nursery rhymes to Bonnie and Ben, the children he is looking after. Such a lovely book to share and we have even added in our own extra nursery rhymes for the picture of the moon at the end. Judy Horacek’s bright and cheerful and inclusive artwork makes this a family classic.
Already a bestseller as a picture book, Good Night, Sleep Tight from Mem Fox and Judy Horacek, the creators of Australia's bestseller, Where is the Green Sheep? is now a beautiful board book. Incorporating timeless nursery rhymes, this charming bedtime tale creates a wonderful, whimsical world, which young children will enjoy again and again.
We first found this book in our local library, and we loved it so much we had to buy a copy ourselves. Our toddler loves ‘purr purrs’ and in this book, Scarface Claw, a ferocious tomcat, is asleep on the roof of the car when its owner sets off for a drive. Such adventures ensue, delighting us all. The illustrations and witty rhymes are fun to read and recite (yes, it is another that you end up knowing off by heart!).
Another rollicking picture book featuring the mighty Scarface Claw in the much-loved Hairy Maclary and Friends series.
It is a peaceful morning and Scarface Claw is happily snoozing in a spot in the sun, tail curled around and feet tucked in.
Suddenly, there was a shudder and sway, the whirr of an engine, then off and away.
And then off goes the truck down the drive - with Scarface ON TOP! Clinging on to the roof of the truck, Scarface zips along streets with his owner, Tom, oblivious to his rooftop passenger and everyone trying to get his attention as…
This is another delight that we found in our local library. The illustrations and design of Little Bird’s Day are exquisite – the background colours of the page change as the story moves through the day and at night the page is covered in stars except for the outline of a bird as it dreams about flying across the sky. The story is beautiful and the artwork by Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr is outstanding. It is no surprise that this book was nominated for several book awards in 2020. It should have won all the prizes. Another excellent Indigenous author and illustrator that I hope more people will read and share with their families.
★ "Pairing a lilting text and culturally resonant illustrations, this striking work soars." —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
★ "From two Indigenous creators, this gorgeous glimpse at the land Down Under will have broad appeal." —Horn Book, Starred Review
A joyful, universal story of a day in the life of Little Bird.
A heartening read-aloud about a day in the life of Little Bird, who sings the world alive, flies with Cloud, travels with Wind, nestles with Moon, and dreams of flying among the stars.
Sally Morgan’s poetic language and Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr’s sensitive artwork combine to make this a beautiful,…
Two young children jump out of the bath and run around their home naked until they get dried and dressed in their pyjamas and go off to sleep. We love being ‘nudie nudie’ in our house and the fun rhyming words in this book are regularly recited as we play! We also love the Rudie Nudie Christmas edition that came out in 2020. As someone from the UK living in Australia I love the details in this book that let me know it is set in Australia such as the house having a screen door to keep all those pesky mosquitoes out!
I am adopted. For most of my life, I didn’t identify as adopted. I shoved that away because of the shame I felt about being adopted and not truly fitting into my family. But then two things happened: I had my own biological children, the only two people I know to date to whom I am biologically related, and then shortly after my second daughter was born, my older sister, also an adoptee, died of a drug overdose. These sequential births and death put my life on a new trajectory, and I started writing, out of grief, the history of adoption and motherhood in America.
I grew up thinking that being adopted didn’t matter. I was wrong. This book is my journey uncovering the significance and true history of adoption practices in America. Now, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, the renewed debate over women’s reproductive rights places an even greater emphasis on adoption. As a mother, historian, and adoptee, I am uniquely qualified to uncover the policies and practices of adoption.
The history of adoption, reframed through the voices of adoptees like me, and mothers who have been forced to relinquish their babies, blows apart old narratives about adoption, exposing the fallacy that adoption is always good.
In this story, I reckon with the pain and unanswered questions of my own experience and explore broader issues surrounding adoption in the United States, including changing legal policies, sterilization, and compulsory relinquishment programs, forced assimilation of babies of color and Indigenous babies adopted into white families, and other liabilities affecting women, mothers, and children. Now is the moment we must all hear these stories.
Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption
Nearly every person in the United States is affected by adoption. Adoption practices are woven into the fabric of American society and reflect how our nation values human beings, particularly mothers. In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, the renewed debate over women's reproductive rights places an even greater emphasis on adoption. As a mother, historian, and adoptee, Rebecca C. Wellington is uniquely qualified to uncover the policies and practices of adoption. Wellington's timely-and deeply researched-account amplifies previously marginalized voices and exposes the social and racial biases embedded in the United States' adoption industry.…
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