Eve Pownall Award for Information Books

Pre-Book Week Extravaganza 2015

Holroyd City Council Library ServiceChildren’s & Young Adults’ Team

Renea

Lisa Kirsty

Monica

Eve Pownall Award for Information Books

Award to outstanding books which have the prime intent to document factual material with consideration given to imaginative presentation,

interpretation and variation of style.

Eve Pownall c.1961Image – Newcastle Morning Herald collection, Newcastle Region Library

Mary’s Australia : How Mary Mackillop Changed Australia

by Pamela Freeman. (Black Dog Books)

• Themes – Australian history, Catholic church, Charity, Mary Mackillop and the Sisters of St Joseph

• Classroom Ideas - http://walkerbooks.com.au/statics/dyn/1401406061694/Our-Stories-Marys-Australia.pdf

• Pamela Freeman wrote a fictionalised biography about Mary Mackillop in 2006 – titled ‘The Black Dress : Mary Mackillop’s Early Years’ – look at fiction and non-fiction as genres

• http://www.pamelafreemanbooks.com/blackdress.html - background to Black Dress, interview and links to sites with more information about Mary Mackillop

• Timeline exercise – children parallel key events in their own lives with key events in Australia

• Game – Match the year to the event

Audacity: Stories of heroic Australians in WartimeCarlie Walker (Department of Veterans’ Affairs)

• Appropriate for Stage 3 and 4• Themes – war, bravery (or audacity), medals, Australian history, military services,

conflict, peacekeeping, heroism, Centenary of World War 1• Includes lots of activities / questions to get young people thinking more about a

topic – in red ink throughout the book• Includes lots of photos and paintings – primary source evidence, a bibliography

including web links, a reference list, glossary and a map which pinpoints where the stories in the book takes place

• Craft – create a poppy or replica medal• Memorial Box Outreach Resource – great for schools – includes authentic and

replica artefacts that students can handle plus photos, case studies, uniforms, equipment etc. – pay for freight

• Research a soldier from your local area, a conflict or other acts of audacity

Audacity: Stories of heroic Australians in Wartime

Carlie Walker (Department of Veterans’ Affairs)

Read related stories from notable list including ‘I was only nineteen’ by John Schumann and Craig Smith.

• Themes – religion, adolescence, Australian society, diversity, multiculturalism• Teaching Notes are very comprehensive -

https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/childrens/young-adult-non-fiction/Coming-of-Age-Amra-Pajalic-and-Demet-Divaroren-9781743312926

• Suitable for a high school audience• Look at religion and beliefs – how this shapes us; comparative study • Focus on one story – what can you relate to?• 25 Insane Coming of Age Ceremonies from around the world -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdHRDjJn_w4

Coming of age: Growing up Muslim in AustraliaEdited by Amra Pajalic & Demet Divaroren

(Allen & Unwin)

• Themes – Christmas, rationing, isolation, trains, outback Australia, rural communities• Perfect for primary school children – Stage 1, 2 & 3• Good as a straight read• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vAh-p0-cPA – A short black and white film made

in 1954 with footage from the actual ‘Tea and Sugar Train’• http://www.ontherails.com.au/pdf/TeacherNotes_TS.pdf - Teaching Notes about the

film• Wrap books in Christmas paper• Christmas crafts / songs• Interactive display – train with flips that show what each carriage contains• Use a train set for your display or for a game

Tea and Sugar ChristmasJane Jolly. Illustrated by Robert Ingpen

(National Library of Australia)

• A massive book full of detailed illustrations and interesting facts about the penal colony of Tasmania

• Teaching notes available from Text Publishing

https://d2wzqffx6hjwip.cloudfront.net/text-publishing/assets/3a/3b610049d111e49d8bf9a34ac5f060/Barnard_A-Z_Teachingnotes.pdf

• Simon Barnard has extra information about each topic on his website and an extensive bibliography http://www.simonbarnard.com.au

• A-Z of any given topic – ‘A-Z of Holroyd’ or ‘A-Z of students at Merrylands Public School’

• There are so many horror stories to share with children• Pick a convict mentioned to research more about them – date of birth, death,

marriage, children, occupation etc.• A game show

A-Z of Convicts in Van Diemen’s Land Simon Barnard (Text Publishing)

Emu by Claire Saxby. Ill. Graham Byrne (Walker Books)

Emu by Claire Saxby. Ill. Graham Byrne (Walker Books)

• Straight read – two people (narrator and NF informant)• Teacher’s notes - ideas and craft templates

http://classroom.walkerbooks.com.au/home/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Emu-Classroom-Ideas.pdf

• Nature Storybooks series • Read other Emu books like Edward the Emu by Sheena Knowles or Karana : the

story of the father emu by Uncle Joe Kirk• Research other Australian animals – physical description, habitat, diet• Look at eggs and the different, shape, colour of eggs and what surprising things

come out of eggs• Old Man Emu – John Williamson• Emu craft & puppet

Emu by Claire Saxby. Ill. Graham Byrne

(Walker Books)Look at indigenous stories of the Emu – astrology (the emu in the sky); Dinewan the emu – why the emu does not fly

The Aboriginal "Emu in the sky". In Western astronomy terms, theSouthern Cross is on the right, and Scorpius on the left; the head of the emu is the Coalsack.