5 Places You Can Find Picture Books

So you want to add more picture books into your classroom. That’s great! But where are you going to find them? And how are you going to find them without spending every single cent you earn? Here’s some ideas for finding picture books for your classroom library collection!

1. Your favourite book shop (or other place to purchase books)

The first place you’ll probably look for picture books is your local bookshop. If you’re lucky enough to live near an independent bookstore, it’s definitely worth building a relationship (ie: visiting as much as you can to admire the prettiness) with the shop. Independent bookstores often have books you can’t find elsewhere and booksellers are often well informed about upcoming releases you might like to try out. 

Even if you have a book chain rather than an independent bookstore near you, it’s worth building relationships with the staff. My local QBD bookstore has staff who have been there so long they’ve helped nurture my kids into readers. And they always have good recommendations for me when I’m looking for something new.

For low cost books in Australia, Kmart, Target and Big W have smaller selections, but are usually good for the most common books and a few hidden gems. However, if you’re wanting something from another country or something more rare, you might need to look towards online bookshops. It’s worth shopping around a bit with these - sometimes it makes it easier to find a good deal. 

2. Second hand/op shops/thrift shops/ marketplaces/garage sales

When I first started teaching, I built my classroom library from local op shops (thrift shops). Then I went to the big Lifeline Book Sale which is usually held in Brisbane each year and left with armfuls of affordable second hand books.

These days, it’s worth checking online marketplaces like Facebook or Gumtree to find second hand picture books. And don’t forget the humble garage sale - my daughter’s kindy teacher is an expert at finding high quality second hand books at those.

3. School library

What if you have absolutely no money for picture books and you need them right away? Talk to your school librarian about some great books to borrow from the school library. Your librarian might have a system to make sure you can rotate books in and out of your classroom which suit what you’re teaching or which work for certain topics you want to cover. And if there’s a book you really want and the school library doesn’t own it, they might be willing to add it to their ‘to-buy’ list.

4. Public Library

Don’t forget your local public library! Mine is brilliant for new and interesting picture books - high quality books I haven’t seen anywhere else. Like school librarians, the librarians at your local library might be able to help you find the most appropriate books and some libraries also have special borrowing limits for teachers!

5. Organise buying with other teachers

If you’ve got teacher friends you’re willing to lend books to, organise it with them so you don’t double up the books you’re buying. Whether it’s just one other teacher or a small group, create a list of books you’d all like and let the other teachers know when you buy one of the books off the list. Then you’ve got borrowing rights to books from your teacher friends and they can borrow yours. It might be worth that little extra organising to get books at a lower price!

How do you build a classroom library without spending a fortune? Let us know in the comments.

Related posts to read:

• Exploring Three Galarious Goods Picture Book Studies for Upper Primary

• Five Reasons to Use Picture Books in Middle Grades Classrooms

• Five Ways to Explore Picture Books in the Classroom

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Finding Extra Time in the School Day to Read Picture Books

We know that reading picture books in the classroom is beneficial for many of the grades, but how can we fit that reading time into a busy school schedule? The lack of time in the classroom is real, but here’s a few ways to sneak extra reading into your classroom time.

Fit in reading at the beginning of the school day

Reading a short picture book is a great way to set the tone for the day. On those grey, miserable days you can begin with something funny. Something thoughtful can be used when you’ve got a lot of heavy thinking work planned for the day. You can even fit a short book into a morning meeting, especially if it fits in with what you’re talking about.

Still lacking time? Read the first couple of pages, then leave the book. Allow students to delve into it at other times during the day.

To teach reading concepts

Picture books can make great mentor texts. You can explore rhyming with almost every Aaron Blabey book or explore how Nick Bland makes his characters come to life in The Very Cranky Bear (complete with use of speech for another mentor lesson.) Picture books tell stories with surprises, stories with quests and stories with lessons to learn. Picture books can also be used when you’re looking at writing skills, from character to plotting.

Still lacking time? Use a page from a picture book to teach a particular skill . . . and keep the book available for students at other times.

After breaks

After a busy break running around and engaging with their peers, a book can be a great way for students to wind down and focus on their next session of work. While this is a great time for a chapter of a novel or silent reading, you might like to change it up a little with some picture book time. If you’ve got a class with some playground behaviour management to work through, this can also be a time to use books which explore behaviour, feelings and emotions.

Still lacking time? If you usually do silent reading after breaks, take a minute or two to introduce new picture books or ‘sell’ a forgotten picture book to the class. Make sure you have a system for when 5 people want to read it first!

In those 5 minute gaps

School days are filled with those 5 minute gaps - when a lesson doesn’t quite go as long as you think it might or you’re waiting for a specialist teacher or an event within the school. These are the perfect time for part of a picture book if not the full book. It doesn’t have to be the full class - if you do rotations in your classroom, you might have one group which finishes early - this is a great chance for a picture book (either with an adult or a student reading it aloud, or the students just sharing it together). 

Still lacking time? Plan a week where you give yourself some 5 minute breaks. You wouldn’t want to do it every week, but it’s good for students to see reading prioritised. 

As part of literacy rotations

If literacy rotations are part of your classroom environment, these are the perfect places to fit in picture books. You might examine them in a more indepth situation, ask different groups to complete activities based on picture books, or just ask students to read them - either individually or as part of a pair or groups. There may not be a place for them every week, but you can fit them in at least some of the time.

Still lacking time? Plan a special ‘picture book focused’ rotation. Think about spelling or word activities based around picture books, writing activities inspired by picture books and reading comprehension questions or graphic organisers which can work for any picture book. This might work particularly well when combined with study of a particular commemoration or holiday such as Anzac Day or Christmas.

How do you make time for picture books in your classroom? Let us know in the comments!

Related posts to read:

• Five Reasons to Use Picture Books in Middle Grades Classrooms

• Five Ways to Explore Picture Books in the Classroom

• 7 Great Books to Integrate With Australian History and Social Studies

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5 Engaging Picture Books Featuring Australian Animals

Australian authors LOVE to create picture books about Australian native animals. After all, many of them are rather cute, some of them carry around babies in their pouches and - although kangaroos don’t always jump down the middle of the street (unless you’re in Canberra), many of them can be spotted around the major cities, while others might be just a short drive away. 

It’s hard to recommend just a few books starring these lovely animals, but I’m giving it my best shot (while reserving my right to write another post in the future!). Here’s 5 of my favourites.

1. Don’t Call Me Bear by Aaron Blabey

Koalas are not bears. Warren the koala wants everyone to understand this. He’s quite happy to spend his time telling you why . . . but don’t be surprised if he gets a little cranky if people insist on calling him a koala bear.

This is an interesting picture book because it combines non-fiction - the discussion about koalas not being bears and where you can really find bears is true - and fiction - koalas and their friends don’t usually talk and koalas are often a lot sleepier than they are in this book! Students can explore the rhymes that the author uses and look at some of the extra details in the illustrations.

Don’t Call Me Bear is also a great text for students who are discussing similarities and differences between different animals. Students can look at the features of a bear and the features of a koala, comparing and contrasting them. This can be connected to research activities, where students use different sources to explore the habitat, diet and features of koalas. 

You can use the printables from the Don’t Call Me Bear! book study to scaffold koala research with your students

2. Josephine Wants to Dance by Jackie French

Josephine has a dream to be a ballerina, but how will she deal when an emergency situations leads to her being asked to take the leading role?

This is a Jackie French classic, created with Bruce Whatley, which explores what it means to hold onto a dream even when other people don’t believe in it. It’s a great book for identifying favourite moments - there’s lots of very memorable illustrations which bring the text to life. (My favourite? Stretching the ballet shoes to fit Josephine’s large feet!)

While we don’t have too many kangaroos in ballet companies, students can spend some time looking at how different animals move, creating lists of verbs and writing descriptive language to describe their movements. Students can also examine some of the different ways dancers jump - watching a range of dance videos - and can create a kangaroo inspired dance of their own.

3. Possum Goes to School by Melanie Carter

What happens when a possum leaves the comfort of a tree and finds itself inside a school building? This is the question posed in Possum Goes to School as the possum in question causes chaos and destruction wherever it goes.

Possums are pretty common in Australia - many children are familiar with the thud and scramble of a possum running across a roof at night (we seem to have a possum the size of a man who tramples our roof!) It’s also not unusual to hear of them finding their way into less than ideal spots. Students can definitely use this book as inspiration for research on possums and why they behave the way they do!

This is also a great book for young students getting to know their school. The possum visits all sorts of places within the school - places which students might need to know in their own school. Students can go on their own ‘possum walk’ visiting some of the places in their school which feature in the book (the library, the tuck shop and the playground included!). Students might also like to create a map of the places the possum visits, either individually or as part of a group.

Are you interested in creating a map based on Possum Goes to School? A mapping activity is part of the Possum Goes to School book study, with a worksheet and place cards.

4. Not Cute by Philip Bunting

Until recently there haven’t been a lot of books about quokkas, which is a pity because they’ve got one of the best names of all the Australian animals. And they’re very cute.

Or not cute according to the quokka at the centre of this Philip Bunting picture book. Quokka goes to great lengths to let us know that they aren’t cute . . . but it is possible that they should be a little less stubborn!

If you’re reading this book with students who have already read this one, ask them to keep the story to themselves for the first read through. The surprise twist in the book is BRILLIANT and it’s a reaction worth experiencing! Once you have read it together, students might like to go through it in more detail, exploring how Quokka tried to convince the others that he was not cute.

Students can also discuss what the lesson of this story might be and what might have happened if Quokka had behaved differently. 

5. Eric the Postie by Matt Shanks

Eric really wants to be a postie and he knows he’s be really good at it. But he’s never given the chance he deserves.

Students might like to look at the reasons why Eric would make a good postie and use those reasons to create their own job descriptions for post deliverers. They can talk about which of those features real posties need and which ones aren’t as important. They can also discuss whether it was right for Eric to take the letters even though he wasn’t the official postie.

This is a great book to team with a letter writing unit. Students can write their own letters and post them into a classroom postbox - you might even like students to help you create a postbox for the classroom.

What’s your favourite picture book about Australian animals? Let me know in the comments.

Related posts to read:

• 7 Reasons We Love the Pig the Pug Books

• Exploring Australian Picture Books About Weather

• 12 Books to Read After Whitney and Britney Chicken Divas

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4 Literacy Activities for The Wrong Book by Nick Bland

Go away! You’re in the wrong blog post!

Unlike Nicholas Ickle, the very frustrated narrator of Nick Bland’s The Wrong Book, I don’t really want you to go away. But I do want to tell you about this wonderful picture book and to offer just a few ways you can explore it, pull it apart and bring it to life in your classroom with these literacy activities.

The Wrong Book tells the story of the aforementioned Nicholas Ickle who really wants to tell a story about . . . well, before he can tell us what the story is about he is joined by a bunch of unexpected guests - from mischievous monsters to a plague of rats. With repeating text, extra details in the illustrations and constant anticipation, this is an excellent book to use in lower primary classrooms. 

Here’s some activities for The Wrong Book you might like to try with your students:

1. Reader’s Theatre

This is the perfect book for some reader’s theatre and there’s a range of ways you can approach this with your students. If you keep the text as it is, the only speaker is Nicholas Ickle, so you can have the teacher reading most, with the students chiming in for the refrain “Go away . . . !” while other students act out the visitors. Or a range of students could divide up the lines for Nicholas Ickle.

If you wish to have non-speaking roles acted out by the students, you can spend some time - as a whole class or in small groups, exploring what each of the different visitors are doing. This allows students to practice their visual literacy skills and also allows you to incorporate some drama through mime into your activity.

If you wish to have more speaking roles, you can work with the students to imagine what each of the visitors might say. When you have brainstormed this together, you can work collaboratively with the students to write a new script.

2. Conversations between the different characters

What would the monsters say to the Queen? What kind of conversation would the pirate have with the elephant? These are great questions for students to discuss and write about as they’re reading The Wrong Book.

By putting themselves into the ‘heads’ of the non-speaking characters, students are examining the ways they behave in the illustrations - again working on their visual literacy skills - and inferring what they might say. Students can also explore whether the characters might speak differently to different characters - would the elephant be more polite to the queen and a little crankier with the monsters

3. Why Did They Come?

Why did the different characters walk into Nicholas Ickle’s book? Were they supposed to be there? What is their motivation?

As students develop a better understanding of all the different characters in The Wrong Book, they can engage in activities where they create new motivations and worlds for these characters. Students can work in pairs or small groups to brainstorm why the different characters turned up then contribute their ideas to the whole class to create a display. 

Would you like to try this activity with your class? The printable resources for this are available as part of The Wrong Book picture book unit study.

4. What does this book tell us about books?

What is Nick Bland trying to tell us about books with The Wrong Book? Students can definitely spend some time contrasting and comparing The Wrong Book to other books they know. One very interesting aspect to discuss is the way that Nicholas Ickles talks both to us, the audience, and to the other characters in the book. Students might like to draw connections with other books which have characters breaking the fourth wall - such as The Monster at the End of the Book or Do Not Open This Book

Right as we’re finally about to get Nicholas’ story, the book ends. Students might like to explore if the book had to end at that point. This could even lead to a mathematical exploration as students investigate whether picture books have a certain number of pages and ask whether The Wrong Book really had to end when it did.

Have you read The Wrong Book with your class? Tell us about your experience in the comments!

Related posts to read:

• Explore the Pig the Pug Series with these Writing Tasks

• 3 Easy Ways to Explore Alpacas with Maracas

• 12 Books to Read After Whitney and Britney Chicken Divas

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Drawing and Describing a Place: Exploring Settings in Novel Studies

How important is the setting when we’re exploring a novel? For some people the obvious answer is - well it depends on the novel. But many novels we explore in the classroom have rich and vivid settings and many of those settings benefit from a closer look. Here’s one easy way you can explore the settings when you engage in a novel study with your class.

Why settings are important

There are a range of reasons why settings are important to our stories. Sometimes even the seemingly mundane setting - a school or a suburban house - still tells us a lot about our characters and the events which are happening. But many settings are important for other reasons.

Sometimes the setting plays a starring role in the action of the story. The twisty path which requires Annemarie to move a little slower in Number the Stars has a direct impact on the events of the story. Similarly the magic of Terabithia comes as much from the place itself as it does from Jess and Leslie playing there with their imaginations - and has a direct impact on the most important part of the story. The different places Rowan and the other characters journey through in Rowan of Rin often decides who can go on and who will have to stop the journey at that point.

Other settings set the scene to allow us to better understand the story. Barringa East Primary tells us so much we need to know about the whole neighbourhood - and Erica Yurken - when we read Hating Alison Ashley. The refugee camp and then the detention camp which Jamal and Bibi find themselves in during Boy Overboard allow us to see both opportunities and hopelessness. 

Sometimes the settings allow us to ask more questions. What does Coraline’s other house tell us about her real house? What does Leslie’s house tell us about her and her parents in Bridge to Terabithia? Why do the Rangers live tucked away in little cabins in the Ranger’s Apprentice books?

Why should we draw the places?

Once we recognise that the settings are important, we need to look at how our students can further explore them. One easy way is to look at what that setting contains.

By drawing the settings, students are looking at them from a different point of view, away from the words on the page. Students may not draw a setting perfectly, but they can think about what details they should include, beginning to think about which features are the most important. Students can also use this experience of drawing the setting to develop more questions about it. They might ask why an author chose to include a particular detail or why one aspect of the setting was more important to the main character than another.

Students can go further by labelling or annotating their drawing. They can add words, arrows or symbols to their drawing to add extra meaning or to help them gain a better understanding of the place created by the author.

Another way to draw the setting is from the bird's eye view, like a map or a diagram showing the different elements of the place. Students might like to combine a map and a drawing to show a better understanding of the setting.

Why should we describe the places?

Once students have moved the words from the book into pictures on a page, they can go back and describe the setting in their own words. This helps students to cement their understanding, to show how the characters interact with the setting or how the setting plays a role in the narrative.

An easy way to write a description is to think about what the setting looks like, what it sounds like and what it might feel like to the people who are standing in that setting. This way of describing a setting ensures that the experiences of the characters is related back to the setting. Students can also write a more traditional description or they could reflect on how a stranger or a different character might describe the setting differently to the main characters. 

These words and drawings can be placed together and students might like to return to one or both of them to adjust them as they continue to look at the novel. You can also combine the different drawings and descriptions in the class, allowing students to explore the different ways their classmates experienced the same setting. This is a great activity to put together as a classroom display or to show in the school office or the school library.

Have you drawn and described settings with your students? Share your experiences in the comments!

Related posts to read:

• Exploring Author Intention

• Addressing Controversial Topics in the Classroom

• 3 Ways to Engage Students with Folding Vocabulary Lessons

• The What Would You Take? Project - A Hands On Classroom Activity

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12 Books to Read After Whitney and Britney Chicken Divas

Whitney and Britney are the singing chickens coming to your classroom! But what books can you explore with your students once you’ve finished the story of the Chicken Divas? Here’s a list of 12 related picture books I’ve put together for you!

Books about Chickens

1. Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins

Rosie goes on a walk, not realising that she’s being followed by a fox. The poor fox - who is obviously up to no good - is met with disaster every step of the way. This is a great book for comparisons - comparing what Rosie does with what happens to the fox, but also comparing the relationship between fox and chickens in Chicken Divas and the relationship in Rosie’s Walk.

2. Peggy by Anna Walker

Peggy is happy living in her little house, getting on with her daily activities . . . until one day a gust of wind blows her away and she finds herself in the middle of a city. Peggy needs to use her problem solving skills to get back home. Students can compare the behaviour of Peggy with the behaviour of Whitney and Britney - deciding which of the activities are ‘normal’ chicken activities and which ones are a little more unusual.

3. Banjo and Ruby Red by Libby Gleeson and Freya Blackwood

While this story focuses on Banjo, the best chook dog, you can’t forget about the spirited Ruby Red who defies the barks of Banjo until she can’t anymore. This story explores the friendship and love between these two animals and is a great story for prompting discussion about whether animals can have feelings and relationships.

Books about Performing Animals

4. Alpacas with Maracas by Matt Cosgrove

If you’re looking for animals who want to perform, you can’t go past that other musical (or not so musical) duo, Macca and Al. This is another great book for comparisons - looking at the different ways the animals put together their acts and the way they were received - and a great excuse for a class dance party!

5. Dance is For Everyone by Andrea Zuill

What do you do when an alligator turns up at your dance class? This gentle book is a great exploration of some of the issues that might arise when unexpected animals just want to dance. Students can brainstorm some of the other issues of animals turning up wanting to dance, explore animal themed music like The Carnival of the Animals or Flight of the Bumblebee or even create a dance featuring animals.

6. Josephine Wants to Dance by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley

Josephine just wants to dance - even when her brother tells her she can’t. When the ballet company needs her, she’s thrilled to leap her way into the performance. This is a lovely book looking at why an animal might like to perform - students can explore some of the reasons Josephine wants to dance and create their own reasons for Whitney and Britney.

Books about Solving Mysteries (like Dora)

7. What the Ladybird Heard Next by Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks

When eggs go missing from the farm, the ladybird and her friends have a mystery to solve. This is a more complex problem than Dora’s but it’s delightful watching the animals working together to outwit the terrible crims and the different types of poultry make this a lovely follow up to Chicken Divas

8. The Very Hungry Bear by Nick Bland

Bear also has a food related problem - he’s hungry. Polar Bear can solve his problem, if Bear can solve Polar Bear’s problem. This is a great book for retelling - looking at the different problems the characters face and how they eventually solve them. 

9. Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox and Julie Vivas

This is a very different type of problem Wilfred is trying to solve - he’s trying to help his neighbour find her memories. This is a lovely book to make connections between the past and the future - just like Dora used to be a performer and remembers this when she discovers the Chicken Divas, Wilfred uses different tools to help his neighbour remember her past.

Books about Foxes (And Wolves)

10. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka

Foxes get a bad reputation in books. But just like Dora is a sweet fox who gets on very well with everyone around her, Alexander T Wolf wants you to know that he’s a really nice guy, wolves aren’t all bad and the story of the Three Little Pigs is just a big misunderstanding. This is a great opportunity to discuss how foxes and wolves are represented in media and why they are almost always the ‘bad guy’.

11. Fox  by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks

Fox is more true to stereotypes in this picture book more suited to middle and upper primary readers. Exploring friendship, trust and loneliness, this is a great book as a contrast to Chicken Divas. Students may like to compare the different ways text and fonts are used in both books and how they influence the way the readers read and react to the two books.

12. Hattie and the Fox by Mem Fox and Patricia Mullins

Just as we started with a book with a chicken and a fox, so we end! Hattie can see something, but all the other animals dismiss her . . . until all of a sudden we see the sneaky fox! This is an easy to read book which students can also compare with Chicken Divas. Students might like to question why Lucinda Gifford chose to make Dora a nice fox, when foxes are so often portrayed as sneaky or dangerous.

Have you got any other books you would add to this list? Leave a comment to let me know.

The link on this page are not affiliate links - these books are usually available from a wide range of retailers, as well as your school or local library

Related posts to read:

• 5 ANZAC Day Picture Books to Use in Your Classroom

• 6 Great Books to Integrate With Australian Social Studies

• 6 Exciting Books for Students Who Love The Ruins of Gorlan

• 10 Books for Classrooms Exploring Boy Overboard

• 9 Brilliant Books to Read if You Love Nim's Island

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5 Reasons to Explore The House that Cleaned Itself in the Classroom

Frances Gabe was tired of cleaning her house. So she experimented with cleaning tools and designed and invented and adjusted her designs until she had a house that cleaned herself.

This real-life story is brought to life in the amazing picture book The House that Cleaned Itself by Laura Dershewitz and Susan Romberg. It’s a lovely and engaging book, perfect for the classroom. Here’s some reasons you should be exploring it in your classroom.

1. It’s a great biographical picture book

I adore biographical picture books. I love the way they highlight the lives of interesting people - both well known people and those who should be better known. I love the way authors manage to use limited space and words to explore complex lives. 

In the classroom biographical picture books show students how you can tell real stories through a familiar medium. They’re an accessible way of learning about the subject - using words and illustrations to allow students to gain a better understanding or inspiring students to undertake further research and reading about the subject. They allow students to get a good understanding of why the subject is important, why they are being written about, before they get into the details of how they got there. 

The House that Cleaned Itself is one of the best biographical picture books I’ve read. It’s incredibly clear - we meet our subject, see her problem, see how she works on that problem. She can see why she is remarkable and what challenges she faced. We can also read between the lines to see why she undertook these projects and what kind of person she was. We can wonder who else is similar to Frances Gabe and what qualities we would like to emulate ourselves.

We can also use this book as a template for biographical picture books of our own. This would be especially useful if you were researching inventors or scientists who have worked to solve problems.

2. There are so many opportunities for science exploration

The House that Cleaned Itself shows us that Frances Gabe didn’t just jump in and start inventing. Instead she did a whole lot of research, experimenting to see how different chemicals worked and hypothesising how she might use them.

There are so many science questions raised in the book which we can explore in the classroom. We can look at how water works and how it can be guided and moved in different ways. We can explore how we can effectively drain water from a space and even how we could collect and reuse water.

Frances Gabe also explored how she could protect belongings in her house. This is a great exploration we can continue in the classroom. We can experiment with the impacts of water on different surfaces - what it does when it touches or rests on paper or cloth or wood. We can experiment with different forms of waterproofing and make recommendations to use in a self-cleaning house.

Cleaning products is another area students can experiment with. During the 20th century cleaning became more scientifically influenced, especially as new machines and new cleaning products were invented. Students can experiment with different dishwashing methods or products, different ways of getting stains out of cloth even different methods of cleaning marks off a ‘wall’ surface. This is particularly good for exploring cleaning ‘old wives tales’ and whether natural kitchen products can clean as well as commercial cleaning products (and there’s an environmental angle students can also explore).

3. The book is all about design

Design is such an exciting subject to explore in the classroom. The House that Cleaned Itself is a perfect introduction to design thinking. Frances Gabe identified a clear big problem (she hated cleaning her house) but also lots of smaller problems (how would she clean her dishes? How could she protect her books? How would she drain the floor?). She experimented and brainstormed solutions and built prototypes. She engaged in troubleshooting when something didn’t work and went back and tried again. 

Students can reflect on the design process as they tackle their own design challenges. They can talk about big design problems - in their homes or classrooms, in their local community, in the world - and identify smaller problems which they can design solutions for. They can experiment, brainstorm and design. They might troubleshoot and fix issues, not being discouraged when something goes wrong.

4. The illustrations are perfect for further exploration

Meghann Rader’s beautiful illustrations are well worth exploring. Inspired by technical drawings, they tell us so much about Frances Gabe and the activities she was undertaking. Students can compare the drawings of Frances Gabe and the differences between the beginning of the book and later in the book. They can look at how the illustrator has used line to show movement - of water, of plants and of ideas. They can examine technical drawings and compare them to the illustrations - and use this style to create their own illustrations.

5. The additional material inspires more exploration

As with so many books from The Innovation Press, The House that Cleaned Itself includes additional material in the form of an authors’ note and bibliography. These easily prompt more questions for exploration - who are the other inventors who have worked out of their homes? How would Frances Gabe’s inventions be useful for NASA? Why was Frances Gabe’s invention mostly forgotten?

This additional material allows a deeper exploration and better understanding of the book and the subjects around it. It encourages students to take more time, to research issues raised in the book and additional material and to draw conclusions from this. It’s perfect for a classroom where students really think about books and the subjects they cover and it’s ideal for a classroom which values STEM education.

The House that Cleaned Itself is available from book retailers including Amazon and Book Depository. You can find more amazing books from The Innovation Press here.

If you’re exploring The House that Cleaned Itself in the classroom you can find a comprehensive book study here. You can also find a free activity from that book study here.

Related posts to read:

• Exploring The Girl With a Mind For Math in the Classroom

• Exploring Three Galarious Goods Picture Book Studies for Upper Primary

• Five Reasons to Use Picture Books in Middle Grades Classrooms

• Five Ways to Explore Picture Books in the Classroom

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Exploring Unreliable Narrators in the Classroom

Books which tell us the story from the perspective of one of the main characters can often have unreliable narrators - narrators you can’t quite trust 100%. These unreliable narrators can be fascinating to explore in the classroom - allowing us to take a closer look at the intentions of the author and what kind of person these characters are.

The Unaware Narrator

Jamal in Boy Overboard (by Morris Gleitzman) is sure that he and his sister have arrived at a soccer match. Only to discover that he is terribly wrong.

Jamal is a character who often only has part of the story. He is forced to fill in the gaps with the knowledge he does have, but many times his conclusions aren’t right and he has to reassess and draw new conclusions. As readers there are times when we are aware that he doesn’t have it quite right (or we soon find out that is the case) and we have to assess whether we will believe his next conclusion, or treat it with a level of scepticism.

Morris Gleitzman writes a LOT of characters like this. Which makes sense because childhood often feels like this - like you have some of the puzzle pieces, but someone’s hidden the picture which helps you put them together.

Another great example of a character like this is Mothball the Wombat from Jackie French and Bruce Whatley’s Diary of a Wombat story. In this case, the illustrations soon let us know that the scratching post is a ladder and the furry enemy is really a doormat, so we find ourselves carrying two narratives through the story - the narrative in Mothball’s head and the narrative we can tell from the illustrations.

Exploring Unaware Narrators in the Classroom

These can be great fun to explore in the classroom because our own knowledge, experiences and schema may be able to help us fill in the gaps. Comparing what our narrators think is happening and what is really happening allows us to understand where our characters come from - whether they’re boys or wombats.

It also allows us to explore the intentions of the author. An author study on Morris Gleitzman books would be particularly interesting, looking at what information he gives his narrators before the events of the book, what conclusions they draw from that information when they’re in unfamiliar circumstances and what they learn going forward.

When we explore a character like Mothball, we can also look at the choices the author has made - the wombat understands certain terms like sleep, scratch and - of course - carrots, but hasn’t come up across concepts like garden beds, door mats or washing lines. Why has the author made those choices for our wombat narrator? How would the story be different if there were different choices?

The Deliberately Unreliable Narrator

Erica Yurken is the best thing since sliced bread. Or at least she is in her own mind. And in the stories she tells others.

Robin Klein’s classic novel Hating Alison Ashley is told from the perspective of Erica Yurken who constantly creates stories about herself and others to amuse herself, get herself out of trouble or to impress other people - including Alison Ashley.

If we just listened to Erica, we would probably be inclined to hate Alison Ashley ourselves. But there are things which make us question Erica’s trustworthiness - times when she gets caught out in her stories, times when she contradicts herself and times when we glimpse her through the eyes of other characters. The author knows that Erica is not reliable and wants the reader to know this too.

We find another unreliable narrator in the Do Not Open This Book series from Andy Lee. Our narrator desperately wants us to stop turning the pages (because dreadful things happen to him when we do), so he’ll try anything to stop us - even turning the book around so we’ll turn the pages from back to front. The illustrations, eventual confessions and meta-knowledge of how books work allows us to know that our narrator is not the most trustworthy of characters - even if he’s only being unreliable to save his own skin.

A. Wolf is also just trying to save his skin in The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. He’s found himself in jail and he wants us to know that it’s not his fault at all - it’s all because he needed to borrow some sugar.

In this case, it’s our own background knowledge - our understanding of fairy tales - which makes us question his honesty. After all - we’ve never heard this story before. But we keep reading to see how he’s going to justify his terrible crimes.

Exploring Deliberately Unreliable Narrators in the Classroom

The biggest questions we can ask in our classrooms when it comes to deliberately unreliable narrators is why do they behave like this? Why are they trying to mislead us - the readers - and what will they get if they manage this?

We can also challenge students to write first person narration like this. To consider what motivates a character and then have them tell a story where they work to convince the reader of something which may not be quite true. This works particularly well when students begin with well known stories like fairy tales and myths and try to tell the story from the perspective of the ‘bad guy’.

What unreliable narrators have you come across in your reading? Have you used a book with an unreliable narrator in your classroom? Leave a comment below.

Related posts to read:

• Introducing Nim's Island

• Introducing The Ruins of Gorlan (Ranger's Apprentice #1)

• Using Boy Overboard in the Classroom

• Introduction to Rowan of Rin: Classroom Discussions and Teaching Resources

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3 Ways Students Can Use Folding Resources to Explore Characters

You probably know how much I love interactive notebook resources! So far I’ve written two blog posts exploring how to use them to explore vocabulary and how to make comparisons. But as someone who adores book studies, I couldn’t resist sharing some ways you can use interactive notebook resources to explore character. (Don’t miss the free resources as well!)

Note: While I have created the majority of the folding resources shown here, I have used one template from Tangstar Science. These interactive notebook templates are very high quality and they’re a worthwhile investment for any teacher!

1. Lifting Character Folding Resource

These folding resources use a picture of the character’s face (or the whole character) to combine creativity and understanding of the character in one resource.

Students are provided with a ‘cover’ image of the character with a side or top tab. They cut around the outside, then fold the tab on the dotted line. The tab is pasted into their notebook or onto paper and the cover is lifted so students can write about the character under the cover.

This is a really adaptable resource because students can use a template or create their own character images. As long as they include a side or top tab, it works as a folding resource.

Take it further

• Students can use it to explore a character they’re writing about

• Students can work in pairs or small groups to explore all the main characters of a book. These can be put together to create a display

• Students can recreate a ‘scene’ from a book with the lifting character resources.

2. Circular Character Folding Resource

A circular folding resource is a great way for students to explore particular characteristics of a character.

Students cut out the circle and between the tabs, fold up the tabs, then paste the middle into their notebooks or into paper. The top of the tabs include different aspects of the character for students to explore - they write the answers to these under the tabs.

Take it further

• Students can create multiple folding resources to make a display.

• Students can use this in their own creative writing to assess the characters they’re writing

3. Character Booklet Folding Resource

This is a great way for students to take a really in-depth look at a character. Students can use a folding booklet to explore questions like what kind of character they are, why they behave the way they do and their relationships with others in on compact resource.

Students cut out the folding resource on the solid lines and fold in the sides on the dotted lines. They answer the questions on the inside, then add details or decorate the outside.

Take it further

• Students can leave off the name of the character and challenge others to work out who the character is

• Students can use these as part of a ‘book talk’ or ‘book promotion’ for a character

• Students can create these as assessment for a particular book

Related posts to read:

• 3 Ways to Engage Students with Folding Vocabulary Lessons

• 3 Ways Students Can Use Folding Resources to Make Comparisons

• 5 Topics to Explore with Rowan of Rin

• Lessons from Three Characters in The Ruins of Gorlan (Ranger's Apprentice #1)

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3 Ways Students Can Use Folding Resources to Make Comparisons

I love folding resources and interactive notebook resources. They’re a great tool students can use to understand, remember and share content and ideas. I’ve previously shown three ways you can use folding resources to explore vocabulary. Today, here’s three ways students can use folding resources and interactive notebook resources to make comparisons.

Note: While I have created the majority of the folding resources shown here, I have used one template from Tangstar Science. These interactive notebook templates are very high quality and they’re a worthwhile investment for any teacher!

1. Opening Folding Resource

This resource uses a background and flaps to compare different characters, people in history, events and more. Students attach flaps or tabs to the sides or the middle of the background sheet, with a heading or headings on the outside of the resource and the similarities and differences or characteristics under the flaps.

This is particularly good when looking at the similarities and differences of characters. Students can write the character names on the front of the resource and lift one flap to share the similarities and the other to share the differences. You can also extend the resource to 4 or 6 characters and write some of the qualities of each character under the tabs.

Because this organiser just uses straight lines, students can easily make their own. Or you can download the free resource to get a printed copy.

2. Sliding Resource

This resource uses a folded ‘sleeve’ and an insert card to make comparisons. When it’s completed, the students can slide the insert card back and forward to see the comparisons. These can go into notebooks or be used to create classroom displays - especially for complex topics or novel studies.

Students make the sleeve by folding the two side sections backwards and fastening them behind the middle section. The card - which has a dividing line in the middle - then slides through.

This would be particularly good when exploring government or civics topics. Students could compare different levels of government, the roles of different people involved in government or even different types of government.

3. Turning Card Resource

This resource includes a pocket and an insert. The insert is created by folding a piece in half and fastening it together. Students can write about one thing on one side and one on the other (or similarities on one side and differences on the other. These can also be used to make a wall display.

The tabs on the pocket are folded back so they are tucked behind the main part of the pocket. These tabs are then fastened to the page or display board. The prepared insert goes inside the pocket and can be taken out and ‘flipped’ as required.

As well as characters or events, this can be used to compare settings of books, famous historical figures, things from a long time ago and things from now, different books - even different animals!

Related posts to read:

• 3 Ways to Engage Students with Folding Vocabulary Lessons

• The What Would You Take? Project - A Hands On Classroom Activity

• Using I'm Australian Too in Upper Primary Classrooms

• 5 Topics to Explore with Rowan of Rin

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