Ginnette Cameron-Gardner- Primary Teacher/Librarain

I hope that you had a wonderful vacation and found lots of adventures within the pages of books.

So far 89 students have been entering their reading and 5 students have completed the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge.

In Year order those who have completed are:

Noa Rosenzveig: Year 4M

Aaron Berkowitz: Year 5D

Toby Seemann: Year 5D

Miriam Stubbs-Goulston: Year 6H

Aidan Sheps: Year 7 Rabin 

It is pleasing to see the number of students who are so committed to reading and recording that involvement in the NSW PRC that they are continuing on into High School. 

Tua and the Elephant by R.P. Harris, illustrated by Taeeun Yoo.

Ten-year-old Tua (whose name means ‘peanut’ in Thai) is at the night market in her home city of Chiang Mai as usual one evening while her mother, a waitress, is at work. Wandering the streets, she finds herself in an unfamiliar part of town, where she comes upon an elephant being abused by her owners. Without a second thought Tua takes the elephant and runs away with it to find a place where Pohn-Pohn (as the elephant is soon named) will be safe.  hey are pursued by the bad guys. She enlists the aid of friends, relatives, and even perfect strangers in the cause, to thrilling and comic effect.

The story immerses the reader in the culture of another country, offering insights into how people live in Thailand. Although the abuse of elephants is mentioned most of it has happened in the past and Tua witnesses very little of it directly. 

When I was little like you by Mary Malbunka and Waterlilies by Diane Lucas and Colwyn Campbell

We have many books that give an insight for children in how other people live and their cultures. These 2 books are in the non-fiction section of the Primary Library and are well worth examining. Both tell about being an Aboriginal child and learning from older people how to find indigenous food and how to prepare it, the games they played, and many other aspects of traditional life.