Personal Reading Program: Week 3

This week I have read 2 picture books.

Title: Mirror

Author: Jeannie Baker

This book has no text in it; the story is read through the pictures, this is the most noticeable feature. The book has two sides which mirror each other. The two stories are about an Australian family and a Moroccan family. The two stories not only mirror each other but end up interacting with each other. The book focuses on the similarities of strangers, lifestyles and cultures, as well as the connections that can be made between them.

Title: The Hidden Forest

Author: Jeannie Baker

This book shows young readers an unknown world, the world under the sea. It describes and shows the sights, sensations, textures, and experiences of swimming underwater. The text prompts the reader to carefully examine the illustrations for what is being described. The narrative focuses on Ben and his experience, and shows how exploration and new understandings change his mind about fishing. What appears to be just a book about a boy fishing is also a lesson in respecting the environment.

Personal Reading Program Week 2:

This week I have read 2 picture books.

Title: Dust

Author: Colin Thompson

This picture book is about famine. It uses short powerful sentences to deliver its’ message. The use of minimal texts allows room for the reader to make connections to what they know about the issue and comparisons to their own life. This contemplation is aided by the illustrations which are each a response to the text by a different artist. This book would help introduce young readers to the issues of the 3^rd world.

Title: Fearless

Author: Colin Thompson

This book is a comical look at identity. The writing is conversational and easy to read, it gives information about the characters’ personalities and examples to support the information. It gives insight into the character Fearless. There is no dialogue, but the text is structured in an interesting way and is very descriptive.

PRP Post 1

Tomorrow When the War Began


Tomorrow When the War Began is a teen fiction book written by John Marsden.  This is a book that I first read during my final year of primary school.  Reading this book again brought back some great memories for me.  I found the book even more enjoyable now as I am now more equipped to understand the story and themes being presented through this book.  I can now see the emotion that is being conveyed through this story when the invasion begins and felt a real connection to the characters because of this.  This was something that I seriously missed as a child as I was more focused on the action that was presented by this novel.  It is a very enjoyable and entertaining read with an action packed story.


Toad Rage


The second Book that I am looking at for this week is Toad Rage by Morris Gleitzman.  As a child I had read many of Morris Gleitzman’s novels but not this one.  This like a lot of the other teen novels by him that I read during adolescence was very humorous and entertaining.  This story is based around the life of its main character, Limpy.  Limpy is an Australian cane toad who becomes tired of all of his relatives becoming flattened on the roads by humans so he sets out to find out why humans hate cane toads.  It is a very entertaining, light-hearted and funny novel to read for young adolescents.  The descriptions that are used within the book really help to capture the readers imagination.

Week 3 Team Leader Summary

This week we were asked to discuss story shapes and basic plot points outlined in our readings.

We first explored story shapes, and made some discussion regarding the purpose and intent of circular story shapes. Although it was agreed that circular story shapes are most likely to be found in narratives whose plot involves characters leaving and returning home, we all found that the books we had read over the previous week did not fit this plot line and were more easily constructed as linear story shapes. Complex shape structures, with several peaks and lows as well as ‘squiggly’ areas in between that represented chaotic events during which characters experienced happy and uncomfortable events simultaneously appeared most prominent in novels and short stories; and despite the chaos within the plot, each ended with a clear and satisfying conclusion that tied in the events of the story.
However, the picture books we examined proved to be much more complicated. One in particular presented a very confusing and ambiguous plot which we could barely decipher. Another was so depressing and had such little plot development throughout the book that we felt there was little to be said about the story shape – it might curve downwards or perhaps just point down like an arrow – but I felt that nothing substantial was gained through the reading.

The ambiguity of picture books continued in our discussion of plot points. Although we had not trouble identifying plot types for the short stories and novels that were discussed, once again we struggled to define several of the picture books. However it was our discussion about the differences between the ‘quest’ and ‘voyage and return’ plots that took up most of our conversation. I found it difficult to decipher a difference between the two types of plot, my argument being that any character embarking on a voyage is seeking something – although perhaps only metaphorically – just the same as a character on a quest. Although it was argued that a voyage and return plot refers to a character wandering far from home whilst a quest involves bringing something home, endeavouring to obtain something or complete a task, I have still somewhat failed to see a truly defined difference between the two.
It is evident to me that there is considerable overlap in plot types, particularly in novels with complicated story shapes, and that many stories are likely to contain elements from several plot types in order to enrich the narrative.

About Me

My name is Kaitlyn Smith and I originally went to university to study art. I then worked as a waitress for 3 years. This left me feeling unfulfilled and wanting to do more with my life. I decided to become a teacher. This seemed perfect as my I had a love of knowledge, I had always tried to share that love with others, and I’ve always loved interacting with children. As a teacher I plan to support a love of learning in all students and encourage in them a curiosity about the world.

As a reader, I became hooked when my best friend convinced me to start reading in primary school. I read as many books as I could. I loved fantasy and science fiction novels. I learnt that the thicker the book the more likely it was to have a detailed story, and the longer it would take me to read it. That is how I came to read many different authors, from Isobelle Carmody, to Sara Douglass, to Sherri S. Tepper, to Brian Aldriss, to J.R.R. Tolkien. I still read avidly, although now I read a wider range of genres. I still read fantasy and science fiction but it is now interspersed with biographies and histories, classical and general literature, and the occasional crime or horror novel.

Bianca's Week 2 Post

This week I've chosen to discuss two picture books that I read for my Personal Reading Program.

The Black Book by Menena Cottin (translated by Elisa Amado from Spanish) and illustrated by Rosana Faría was very physically striking as the entire book was presented on black paper with white text accompanied by Braille. Written from the perspective of a blind child called Thomas each page discusses how he “sees” various colours through the use of other senses including taste, smell, touch and temperature. The illustrations are unique - rather than colour on paper, the pictures are raised line artworks which must be felt more than seen.

In addition to being an interactive and original method for young children to explore colours and senses, it is also an introduction to the lives and perspectives of the blind, and how aspects of the world in which we live and often take for granted might be viewed from a different perspective. As a teacher, one might ask children to describe each colour mentioned in the book without using the sense of sight, giving the students an opportunity to explore various adjectives and descriptive words and enhancing their vocabulary. I suggest this book be read with 5-7 year olds.

I’m Sure I Saw A Dinosaur by Jeanne Willis and illustrated in watercolour by Adrian Reynolds is an entertaining story composed in rhyme. A young boy is sure he sees a dinosaur at Sand Bottom End, but is it really a dinosaur? As the whole town gets involved in the search, it’s clear that someone’s up to something!

I particularly enjoyed the poetic devices used, including consistent repetition and excellent use of alliteration. The surprising but humorous plot twist at the end accompanied with hidden dinosaur illustrations and clues mixed into the pictures on each page were also entertaining; and left the reader returning to the beginning to read the story through again with a greater understanding of the real motive within the narrative.

Interestingly, this book was listed at my local library for 4-5 year olds but is likely to be better suited for older children between 7-9 years who can read the somewhat challenging text independently.

About Me

Hi my name is Michael Menadue,

I am currently studying a master in teaching primary and middle school.  Initially as I grew up I was not interested in becoming a teacher and in fact was completely against it as my mother is a teacher.  From a young age I have been very passionate about sport and love almost all aspects of it, due to this I have played a huge range of sports in my time such as football, basketball and table tennis.  Due to this I began a degree in human movement at UniSA.  It was during this degree that I realised that despite initially not wanting to become a teacher, working with children was something that I really enjoyed.  This is the reason that I have become my masters of teaching after the completion of my human movement degree.

English has not been a topic that has interested me greatly in the past although I don’t mind reading when I find a good book.  This will be an interesting course for me and will hopefully provide me with a greater interest in reading and the English language in general.