Special+Topics



Add your recommendations for books to accompany curriculum areas, special needs or particular topics here. Please include as much information as possible for each title, including the target age group (preschool, K-2, 3-4, 5-6, YA, teaching staff)

//All Cats have Asberger Syndrome//- Kathy Hoopmann ISBN: 9781843104810. (Uses pictures of cats and kittens to describe the features of Aspergers) //Round Fish Square Bowl//-Tom Skinner (There are also some great teaching notes by Sue Larkey at this link @http://suelarkey.com.au/media/Activities_-_Round_Fish_Square_Bowl.pdf ) //Looking after Louis//- Lesley Ely (It also comes in a Big Book)London; Frances Lincoln, 2004 Summary: There's a new boy at school called Louis. Louis sits next to me and I look after him. He's not quite like the rest of us. Louis has autism, but through imagination kindness, and a special game of soccer, his classmates find a way to join him in his world. //Ben and his helmet// series - Nelle Frances (addresses issues of school which might be troubling) [|www.nellefrances.com] __Others__ //Blue bottle mystery//-Kathy Hoopmann //All dogs have ADHD// - Kathy Hoopmann [ISBN 9781843106517] //My brother is autistic//- Jennifer Moore-Mallinos ; illustrations ; Marta Fabrega (2008) Hauppauge, NY: Barrons Educational Series, Inc., 2008 //Some kids have autism//**-** Martha E.H Rustad (2008) Mankato, Minn.: Pebble Books, c2008 //Thomas has autism//- Jillian Powell. (2006) London: Evans, 2006 //Understanding Sam : and Asperger syndrome//- Van Niekerk, Clarabelle. //Marshall Thompson is new to our school//- David Mackintosh (not about autism as such but ‘not fitting in' theme. The Aaron Blabey books //Charlie Parsley// etc (about kids who are different)  //Mr Chicken Goes to Paris//- Leigh Hobbs (about having a friend who is different, but who you love unconditionally)  //What it is to be me// - Angela Wine  //A friend like Simon// - Kate Gaynor  //I'm Here//- Peter Reynolds [ISBN 9781416996491] (wonderful book that sympathetically unveils the private world inhabited by a child with autism)  //Autism and Me -// Siblings Stories - Shapiro Ousie [9780807504871] (chapters with pictures and different stories and families)  //Ian's Walk - A Story About Autism// - Lears Laurie [9780807534816]  //Waiting for Benjamin - A story About Autism// - Altman Alexandra [9780807573648] (picture story book)  //I am Thomas// – Libby Gleeson (while not specifically aspergers does look at being different)
 * Topic || Recommendations || Age Range || Recommended by ||
 * Aspergers Syndrome/Autism || __Recommended by many__

//Since we’re Friends: an Autism Picture Book.// Celeste Shally and David Harrington ISBN 9780979471308 Awaken Speciality Press ages 3-8 This picture book is about two boys. One has autism, the other does not. The story of their relationship provides practical examples of how to make friends and navigate social situations that are often a struggle for children with autism.

//I am Utterly Unique: celebrating the strengths of children with Asperger Syndrome and High-Functioning Autism.// Elaine Marie Lawson illustrated by Vivian Strand ISBN 1931282897 Autism Asperger Publishing Company ages 3-8 Each page of this alphabet book celebrates one of the many talents and abilities of children on the autism spectrum, through the “colossal collector”, the “knowledgeable kid”, and the “teller of the truth”.

//The Red Beast: Controlling anger in children with Asperger’s Syndrome.// KJ Al-Ghani ISBN 9781843109433 Jessica Kingsley Publishers ages 6-12 When the red beast that lies sleeping deep inside everyone wakes up, it grows and grows. This book offers a range of strategies to help children on the spectrum send the red beast back to sleep.

UPPER PRIMARY FICTION //Mockingbird//- Patricia Tilton. Published by Puffin USA TEACHER RESOURCES/OTHER SUGGESTIONS //Big Blue Book of Ideas// Temple Grandin (person/film) //The Complete Guide To Asperger's Sydrome// Sue Larkey- runs inservices ( suelarkey.com -great resource) //Autism and Asperger Syndrome - 21st Century Medical Library//- Rodriquez Ana [9780822572916] //Autism Spectrum Disorders - USA Today Health Reports// -Rodriguez Ana Maria [9780761358831] //Asperger Syndrome What Teachers Need to Know//- Matt Winter (Jessica Kingsley Publishers ISBN 9781843101437) Jessica Kingsley Publishers (for Kathy Hoopmann books) http://www.jkp.com/catalogue/author/715 Footprint books: http://www.footprint.com.au/product-detail.asp?SubSection=Autism+and+Asperge rs&product=686707&ParentPage=product-listing.asp%3Fkeywords%3D%26scope%3D%26 Category%3DAUT00 || Primary || OZ_TL NET || //**Beyond the dust**// by Victor Kelleher //**From Kinglake to Kabul**// (Non fiction, eyewitness accounts from both places… contains letters from children in the 2009 bushfire area in Victoria to children in Afghanistan) //**Edward's Magic Paintbox**// by Sue Robinson and Helen Leach //**Bushfire**// by Tricia Oktober //**Drought**// by Tricia Oktober (focus on the effect on the wildlife) There is a new picture book by Alison Lester on Macquarie Island that could be useful. //**Raindance**// by Cathy Applegate (Life is harsh in a drought-striken part of the country, leading to a farm being put up for sale. However, the arrival of rain rekindles hope for the future. Large attractive illustrations capture the myriad of emotions and make the book a valuable tool for shared reading. Highly recommended. - CMIS review) //**Two Summers**// by John Heffernan - difference between a Summer of plenty and a Summer of drought. There is also a shortish novel (65 pages) called //**The long Sticky Walk**// by Edel Wignell. CMIS review : Novel. Based on an incident that happened in the 1886 floods in New South Wales, this is the story of a courageous young mother and her children and their attempt to escape their isolated farmhouse after it had been inundated by rising floodwaters. This is a really moving little novel, which develops from the very mundane family tasks to the awful realisation that the mother makes to save her family. It gives an insight into the family life of the early settlers compared with family life today. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">What about looking at the words of our //**National Anthem**//? Many students don't understand the words and/or sing the words incorrectly. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">What about the poem //**The Fire at Ross's Farm**// - Henry Lawson I think. And the one - not sure of title but it has line - 'we'll all be ruined, ' said Hanarahan. It's Aust'n too so should be easy to find in any good poetry book. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Singer/Songwriter Colin Buchanan wrote a song about the Marysville fires. It's available from his website, I think. Sun Music 1 by Peter Sculthorpe is a useful art music piece. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">//**A Ute Picnic**// by Lorraine Marwood. Walker Books 2010, ISBN:978 1 921529 77 1 There's a section called "**The Front Line and Other Poems about Change and Hardship**" with titles like Drought Survivors, Black Saturday and Discarding the Bones. I really like her no-nonsense approach and wonderful creative use of language. I believe there's enough meat in these poems, but they're not daunting to less able readers either. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">I remember reading //**Death of a wombat**// by Ivan Smith to a Yr 5 library class in the 1980s. It was an extremely moving account of a wombat in a bushfire with illustrations by Clifton Pugh (I think). <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">@http://www.amazon.com/Death-Wombat-Ivan-Smith/dp/0684135388 <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">I loved //**February Dragon**// by Colin Thiele when I was in Yr 5.....read it 20 times...but it is a novel. Very moving though. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14px;">//**My country**// / written by Dorothea Mackellar ; illustrated by Andrew McLean.https://outlook.education.tas.gov.au/uhtbin/cgisirsi/?ps=HwbePqwzwS/ESL/214110154/18/XBATH4/XTITLE/My+country+^2F <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;"> Publisher: Malvern, S. Aust. : Omnibus Books, 2010. Description: [29] p. : col. ill. ; 24 x 29 cm. Summary: My Country is regarded by many Australians as the universal statement of why they love their land. The illustrations in this text are by award-winning fine artist Andrew McLean. Audience: For primary school age children. Subjects: Children's poetry--Pictorial works. || Primary || OZTL ||
 * Australian Landscape and Natural Disasters || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">//**Wildfire**// by Chris Ryan