Book Champion: Oliver

oli_dragonology_BC

This week it is Oliver’s turn to be a Book Champion (his twin brother was featured last week). Oliver has chosen Dragonology by Dr. Ernest Drake.

What have you learnt about dragons from Dragonology?
How they share their gems, how big they are, different types and how dragons breath fire, how they hatch out of their eggs and how they become friends.

What does a dragon look like? Do they make good pets?
Pets for humans?! They’re not alive right now – but will be in the future.

What would you do if one came to visit you?
If it was a Chinese Lung I’d give it chicken then a hug then it would swim away.

What other types of dragons are there?
This book only has a few types.

What is your favourite?
My favourite flying type is the arctic frost dragon because my favourite power is ice.
I love the Asian Lung, their poo is called dung. It’s true!

What do you need to catch a dragon?
A net, a cannon and a thing-a-ma-jig …

What sort of things can they do?
The frost dragon can – he is the only one who can and he can breath ice.
They can swoop double loop-de-loops!

What do they eat?
They can eat anything except humans. They can even eat gems – that’s how they get their power.

How do you stop a dragon breathing fire?
You put water in it’s mouth and voila!

What is your favourite bit of Dragonology?
Chapter iii (that’s roman numerals). It’s about dragon biology and physiology.

What ages would like the book? Would you recommend it?
My age – 6 or 7. it’s a very cool book with lots of fold-outs.

Do any dragons live in Canberra?
They used to. Dragons are still alive… the good types.

Book Champion: Xavier

Walk in NY00_champ

Xavier is seven and lives in Canberra. His book of choice is A Walk in New York by Salvatore Rubbino.

Why do you like this book?
I love New York! I love the flag, I love the Empire State, I love the Statue of Liberty, the Chrysler, those things that they eat. I really like the bridges, the Williamsburg, well, all of them. And the Guggenheim. I like the piece-of-cake building. I like the New York fire brigade. I also like the baseball symbol for the New York Yankees.

Who else would like this book?
A lot of people from New York: New Yorkers.

If you could walk around New York where would you like to go? Why?
Empire State, Guggenheim, Rockefeller Centre (for Lego), the Chrysler, Greenwich Village for yummy things.

What do you think the city would be like?
Very busy. Lots of noise, lots of buildings towering over you.

What games do children in New York city like playing?
Baseball and basketball

What is your favourite part of the book?
The Empire State building pages because the Empire State is my favourite building in New York City.

In the story it says that you can buy all kind of things at Macy’s. What would you like to buy from there?
Probably a t-shirt with ‘Big Apple’ or something on it. A New York cap… that’s it.

What would you buy for your brother?
Some Lego. Lego Chima, the Eagle’s Castle.

How many New York Hot Dogs could you eat in one pop?
In one minute? Probably about two…

How many taxis do you think are in New York?
2,569.

What sort of noises would you hear?
Honking, sounds of engines, sounds of shouting and talking, dogs woofing, maybe a little bit of music.

What other cities would you like to walk around?
Hawaii: lots of volcanos
Cairo: lots of ancient artefacts
New Zealand: so I can see the squirrels
Rio de Janeiro: for the night lights
Iceland: is there ice there? Does it snow?
Tokyo: great sushi and temples

I’ll think of some more later…

Telling tales

story arc

Six-year-olds learn about main characters and recognising problems and solutions in stories today. When I was six I was busy creating problems, not analysing text. Here is our six-year-old muse’s first attempt at a story arc:

One day the monster came.
He came on a sunny day.
He came from a castle.
He was fun.
He was a Dad.
But he was a monster.
It was his birthday.
But he was near road works.
He fell in a hole.
The end.