This fortnight the Teacher-Librarians are exploring the theme of ‘Strange and Unusual’. We have been reading (out loud) texts such as Night School by Isobelle Carmody and Anne Spudvilis. Other texts explored include: The Life of a Teenage Body-Snatcher by Doug MacLeod, Doctor Who – Decide Your Destiny, various ‘graphic’ retellings of classics such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Hugo) and The War of the Worlds (Wells), Scarygirl by Nathan Jurevicius, and My Hiroshima by Junko Morimoto.
Curled up and reading
Each of the texts has been chosen to reflect an alternative or unusual way of writing, or an unusual subject matter. The students have been particularly interested in My Hiroshima, as it is such an emotive and difficult subject to depict in picture book format – traditionally thought of as a format for younger children.
Perhaps surprisingly, The Twilight Zone graphic novels have also been very popular reads during this time. Each story is complete, and is usually based on an episode of the 1950-60s TV show. Students have made comments such as, “This is weird!”, or “There’s no real ending.” This is part of the aim of introducing this style of writing – that some stories are open ended, or deal with ideas beyond current comprehension.
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