Home Sweet Home by Moira Butterfield and Clair Rozzite

Home Sweet Home by Moira Butterfield and Clair Rozzite
September 2019 Egmont

Blurb:

What makes a house a home? How is your house similar or different to others around the world? 

From tents and huts to bobbing boats and apartments high up in the sky – they are all wonderfully varied, but there is something that makes them all special . . . 

Meet a variety of families throughout the book in this wonderful celebration of different cultures. Discover gers in Mongolia, tree houses in Japan, apartments in Italy, eco houses, canal boats and much, much more.

I am always looking for new books that fit in with the curriculum in some way, and this book is perfect for Foundation HASS, Geography: 

Inquiry Questions

• What are places like?
• What makes a place special?
• How can we look after the places we live in?

The places people live in and belong to, their familiar features and why they are important to people 

Apart from the obvious link to the curriculum, this is an interesting and engaging book in it's own right.  It has a feature that I Hadn't thought about before, but I love it, and will be sure that I point it out when showing this one to schools.

I just assume that when teachers use a book in the classroom, especially with a particular lesson in mind, they will stop and ask questions relating to what they can see in the illustrations, to connect and engage with the students.  You should never assume though, because this might not come naturally to some.  So that's what I like about this book. There is a question prompt for every page.  You can see some what I mean by looking at some of the internal page images below.

For example, the first image below, looking at roofs.  It asks the questions: What does your roof look like? Do you know one that looks different to yours?

My Folks Grew Up In the 80s by Beck and Robin Feiner

My Folks Grew Up In the 80s by Beck and Robin Feiner
September 2019 Harper Collins

Blurb:
Travel back in time to the era no one has ever forgotten - the '80s - because those outfits were so rad you had to wear shades.

Welcome to the 1980s - a time when crimped hair and perms were cool, kids listened to cassette tapes, thought dancing on your head was the ultimate, and synth-pop ruled the school. 

My Folks Grew Up in the '80s is a stroll down memory lane for the kids who grew up then, and a hilarious chance to share the decade's outright weirdness with a whole new generation.

My folks may not have grown up in the 80s, but I certainly did. Well I was a teenager in the 80s. I am a self confessed 80s tragic.  To be honest as far as music and movies go, all of my favourites pretty much all came out in the 80s.

This book is a real walk down memory lane...complete with fluro colour palette.  

So many memories...

• Old school 'jaffle' toasted sandwich maker, I remember the tomato used to get so hot in those things, that you would get third degree burns when it dripped on your chin. (I actually bought one again quite recemtly!)
• Plenty of posters on my wall..although I was more Bon Jovi  and Bananarama than Kylie and Devo.
• Leg warmers and aerobics with Jane Fonda
• Trips to the video shop to borrow VHS movies, that had been watched so many time the quality was less than perfect.
• Having my finger on the record button on Sunday nights listening to the Top 40 radio show, ready to record my favourite songs...onto a cassette tape
• ...and hairspray...so much hairspray...I get flashbacks to New Wave Discos, every time I smell TAFT hairspray.

For 24 hours only, you can head over to my Instagram page and see the slightly blurry 80s photo version of the real What's Rebecca Reading in my stories!

Adults will smile fondly when reading this one, and kids will ask 'what's that?' and 'really?', and the answer will be 'Yes, really"

On a more serious note, it fits in really well with the Australian Curriculum,

HASS Year 1 - 

How has family life changed or remained the same over time
How can we show that the present is different from or similar to the past?

HASS Year 2

How have changes in technology shaped our daily life?