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Summer Reading Fun Week #7: Hello Australia!

25/7/2016

While I have never been in person to Australia, I am dreaming of the day I will be able to visit. Through the many books I have read, written by Australian authors and about Australia, I am totally curious to see everything for myself. Well, maybe not everything. I am not a big fan of critters and snakes and wouldn’t want to meet up with any of those (and I hear there are lots...).

Most Australians love the outdoors so I want to encourage you to do (and write and draw about) some fun outdoor activities this week. Organize a picnic or barbeque, go camping (I loved camping in our backyard when I was a kid), go on a hike, wherever you are in the world right now and write, sketch and draw about the things – little and big – you see along the way.

(Below is a picture from a German playground. Kids are having much fun climbing, playing and exploring there. Is there a fun playground nearby where you are that you could explore?)

Here are some title suggestions of books written by Australian authors and/or set somewhere in Australia:

Picture Books
Thunderstorm Dancing (Katrina Germein)
Possum Magic (Mem Fox)
My Grandma Lived In Gooligulch (Graeme Base)
The Eagle Inside (Jack Manning Bancroft)
My Farm (Alison Lester)

Chapter Books
The Cleo Stories (Libby Gleeson)
Rain May and Captain Daniel (Catherine Bateson)
Where in the World (Simon French)
The 65-Storey Treehouse (Andy Griffiths) Hitler’s Daughter (Jackie French)
Boy Overboard (Morris Gleitzman)

And here a bit from my summer holidays, not related to reading. Last week, I enjoyed a very special event with my family: watching an exhibition match between Bayern Munich and Manchester City. I have to admit, I am not a Bayern fan (but my daughter and my nephew are) but the atmosphere in the stadium was really great and so I had the best of times as well.
What kind of adventures are you up to during this summer break? Maybe you would like to share a bit in a comment to this post? I would love to hear from you :)

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Summer Reading Week #6: Welcome to the Caribbean!

18/7/2016

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I know, the Caribbean islands are not a continent but rather a part of the Americas... but who does not love this part of the world? It’s such a beautiful and vibrant place, consisting of 28 island nations and more than 7,000 individual islands. Some of the bigger and better known islands are Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. I hope you don’t mind that I decided to put in an extra stop before we are heading to our next continent.

If you have Internet access, look up some photos from the Caribbean, for example on the National Geographic website.

Over the past couple of years, I have come to love and appreciate the writing of two Cuban authors in particular: Alma Flor Ada and Margarita Engle, and I therefore want to highlight their beautiful books this week. Both have written and continue to write a variety of genres in picture book and novel format: memoirs, biographies, realistic and historical fiction. Many beg to be read out loud.
Here just a few title suggestions - I recommend exploring their websites for more titles and background information:

Alma Flor Ada

Margarita Engle

I Love Saturdays y domingos (realistic fiction, picture book)
The Three Golden Oranges (folktale, picture book)
Love, Amalia (realistic fiction, novel)
Home Dancing (realistic fiction, novel)
Island Treasure: Growing Up in Cuba (memoir)

http://almaflorada.com

Drum Dream Girl (picture book, biography)
The Sky Painter: Louis Fuertes, Bird Artist (picture book, biography)
Orangutanka: A Story in Poems (literary nonfiction, picture book)
The Wild Book (historical fiction, novel in verse)
Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings (memoir)

http://www.margaritaengle.com

And if you want more mystery and adventure from the Caribbean, have a look at Carol Ottley-Mitchell's Caribbean Adventure Series. I hope also this week, you discover something new and exciting to read.

Image source: http://www.caribbeanadventureseries.com

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Summer Reading Week #5: Hello Americas!

11/7/2016

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(While I am going to stay a little bit longer in Europe, enjoying the beautiful weather and wonderful books - currently: Michael Morpurgo's Such Stuff: A Story-Maker's Inspiration - I will let you move on to the next continent with your reading.)

This week we are stopping on not just one, but two continents: North America and South America (you get some extra book suggestions as a bonus ;) I have to admit that I did not know until recently where the name of these two large continents came from: from the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci. Isn’t that surprising, considering the fact that Christopher Columbus was the first to land in what is today America?

Somehow, when I think of America, I think of music, radios and television, maybe because as a child, this is where our technology in Germany came from. I got my first Walkman (a portable cassette player, kind of your iPod today) from a friend in the United States. Many of the movies I loved to watch when I was younger were produced in the United States, either by Disney or one of the big Hollywood studios. So, in addition to reading books set in America or written by an American author, I want to suggest the following activities:

Listen to an audiobook.

Watch a movie of a book you have read.
(For example, Disney just released the movie adaptation of Roald Dahl's The BFG.)

Here are some title suggestions of books written by authors and/or with settings from the Americas:

Picture Books
Last Stop on Market Street (Matt de la Pena)
Dreamcatcher (Audrey Osofsky)
Mango, Abuela and Me (Meg Medina)
Crouching Tiger (Ying Chang Compestine)
Come on, Rain (Karen Hesse)
Up and Down the Andes (Laurie Krebs & Aurelia Fronty)
A Pen Pal for Max (Gloria Rand and Ted Rand)
The Magic Bead Tree: A Legend From Argentina (Nancy Van Laan & Beatriz Vidal)
Ada’s Violin (Susan Hood)
Biblioburro: A True Story From Colombia (Jeanette Winter)

Chapter Books
26 Fairmount Avenue – and other books in the series (Tomie dePaola)
Fish in a Tree (Lynda Mullaly Hunt)
Brown Girl Dreaming (Jacqueline Woodson)
The Last Fifth Graders of Emerson Elementary (Laura Shovan)
Ruby Lu (Lenore Look)
Wonderstruck (Brian Selznick)
Duke (Kirby Larson)
City of the Beasts (Isabel Allende)
The Skirt (Gary Soto)
The Dreamer (Pam Munoz Ryan)

I hope you continue to enjoy your holidays. See you here on this blog next week :)

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Summer Reading Week #4: Hello Europe!

2/7/2016

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(I am posting this a bit earlier than usual since I am not sure about my Internet connection over the next couple of days. In case you are wondering, where I currently am, the pictures above give a clue :)

Our next (summer reading) stop takes us to Europe, which is theoretically not its own continent since it is connected with Asia. Modern day Europe consists of 50 countries, each with their own language and culture. It is the second smallest continent (Australia being the smallest). From a literature point of view though it is far from being small. Think of all the tales, stories, novels, and plays that have been and are still being written in Europe. Think of the Brothers Grimm or Shakespeare for example.

If you have a bit of extra time, check out this great video with 25 Facts About Europe That Most People Don’t Know – really surprising!

Europe is also known for its fine and very diverse cuisine. So in addition to reading some books from Europe this week, I want to encourage you to try out some recipes, either online or with the cookbooks you have at home. Find a recipe from a European country and with the help of an adult, prepare a yummy meal for you and your family. Maybe make Italian pizza, Greek souvlaki, Irish stew, or French crepes. (This is a great website to start with Kids Cooking Activities.)

Here are some title suggestions of books written by European authors and/or set somewhere in Europe:

Picture Books
The Red Apple (Feridun Oral)
Little Bird (Germano Zullo)
The Paper Dolls (Julia Donaldson)
Milo and the Magical Stones (Markus Pfister)
Dolphin Boy! (Michael Morpurgo)

Chapter Books
The Spaghetti/Pasta Detectives (Andreas Steinhöfel) - Germany
The Thief Lord (Cornelia Funke) - Italy
Mikis and the Donkey (Bibi Dumon Tak) - Netherlands
Adventures with Waffles (Maria Parr) - Norway
Emil in Lonneberga (Astrid Lindgren) – Sweden

So many wonderful books, so many beautiful places to see, special people to meet - that's what I love about reading. I have read some wonderful stories already this summer and keep reading and enjoying. I hope you do too!

Happy summer reading :)

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