Old Bob's Birds by C K Thompson, which I used in AO1, came up on eBay earlier this week for the ridiculous sum of $140.00. Which is frankly scandalous. No book is worth that much, and I offer some alternatives in this recent blogpost. The eBay listing caused some amused banter on our Aussie CM Facebook page, along with some lighthearted ribbing over the fact that I don't lend out my books. Which is true, I don't. I do, however, sometimes give them away.
Which made me think about the fact that I have a spare copy of C K Thompson's Wild Canary, and it might be time for a book giveaway. Yay!
Canaries are obviously not native Australian birds, and this book tells the story of a caged canary, Boofie, who is accidentally released into the bush. How can an ordinary canary, born and raised in captivity, survive the perils of the Aussie bushland? The story is delightful, and during Boofie's adventures you and he meet lots of other birds that do happen to be Australian, making this a great substitute for Old Bob in AO1, or in later years.
You can see the book in the picture. It is in pretty good condition, with a decent dustcover, which I will wrap in plastic for the winner. So how to enter? First of all, this give-away is only open to those who will actually use the book. That probably means someone in Australia, or an Aussie living overseas. Sorry to the rest of you, but I hope you'll understand.
1. Leave a comment here explaining how you plan on using Wild Canary in your homeschool. Next...
2. Like my FB page, and join the conversation. I like to know who you are. If you've already liked us (thank you), leave me a message there telling me so! I know counting follower numbers isn't cool, but I have never been one of the cool kids.
Edited to add: You need to do both to be in the running!
I'll choose a winner next Friday 10th June. Good luck.
It looks like a wonderful book. Good luck, Moms!
ReplyDeleteOoooh Jeanne! How lovely! I have no idea how I would use that since my baby is well above AO1. I just love gorgeous old books and that is a gorgeous old book. ❤ Jess
ReplyDeleteOoooh Jeanne! How lovely! I have no idea how I would use that since my baby is well above AO1. I just love gorgeous old books and that is a gorgeous old book. ❤ Jess
ReplyDeleteI still have the Kookaburra book I won from you eons ago! Madison affectionately calls it the book from Mom's Australian friend. Makes me smile just to look at it which I do often.
ReplyDeleteBook drooling here, spot some familiar titles :-) Have a few CK Thompson, though not that one. Will leave for someone else though as I'm already so blessed (seen my recent library post?)
ReplyDeletehttp://sevenlittleaustralians.com/library-reveal/
mm I do lend out books but sadly have lost a few over the years :-( You're possibly quite smart.
Aww, it's not my fault I was born in America, lol. I would totally use this book anyway :D But I understand, so I'll just say, Hi! It's me, Veronica :)
ReplyDeleteWow, that's so sweet of you. I have 2 doing AO1 and have been looking for decently priced books of CK Thompson.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeanne :) My 6yo daughter is starting AO1 next year and I'd LOVE some Australian books for her schedule. I haven't started collecting the AO1 books yet - no time like the present!! We love birds in our house and my older daughter currently doing AO3 currrently would also love this story I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeanne, I am scouring Abe and eBay for the books you suggest, and "wear the old coat, buy the new book" has turned into "wear the old coat, buy the old book." I too saw the $140 asking price for Old Bob's Birds. Grateful to friends like Belinda who loan me their precious editions!
ReplyDeleteWith my oldest doing AO1, and two more to come in the next three years I'd get huge use from another CK Thompson book! I've managed to borrow a few but haven't come across anyone with that one. I've talked to you privately about how much I love his books and what I'm doing about their scarcity...
ReplyDeleteI'm an American living in Australia and homeschooling in an eclectic CM style. I was lucky enough to find a couple of Leslie Rees Australian animal books at a church fete for 50 cents each last year. My son and I would love to learn more about Australian birds!
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome idea! I would use this to read to my 2 little boys who are animal and bird lovers and love Listening to anything that has animals.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeanne. This is my child's short story. His grandma who lives overseas has a male canary in a cage (something that I do not agree with but I do not say anything to my mother), she lives on her own and the canary is a companion for her. I try to videocall my mother on a daily basis. Because of the time difference (15 hours ahead), the videocalls are made around 7 am here, 4 pm on the other side of the world. Around this time my mother's canary sings every afternoon. My mother is a gently lady that takes the time to show the canary to my son and shares some stories about the canary. Since then (more than 3 years ago), my son has been nagging his dad to get a canary and to get a book about canaries, something that his dad does not want to buy for not having birds in cages. Someone suggested the book "Dr. Dolittle and the Green Canary" I haven't been able to buy it. So I believe this little one of mine would be over the moon if I show him the book. In the meantime we recently bought a sturdy bird feeder with the hope to set it up in a couple of days and to sit close to the window to see the birds to come and eat. My son asked: "Mum do you think we can see a canary?" Me: "We might see a canary if it leaves its cage and if it is looking for food; who knows". This is my little story and for sure I would be also over the moon if I win this gift.
ReplyDeleteI am working on getting the books for year 1 and I would use this book as part of our read aloud time. We also do a gentle nature study through observation and now that we can use the bird feeder our nature studies will be wonderful, with the hope, who knows to spot one day a canary. At the moment we have only watched videos on youtube of male canaries singing. We also watched the video of the bird aviary in Canberra and we have planned to take our child and also my mother who comes in two week times to that place that I am pretty sure they will enjoy. My mother will not bring the canary with her, but I am pretty sure I will read this book (If I win) to her. She does not speak English but for sure I will try to share the reading with her in her own language.
It's extremely kind of you to do a book giveaway. Good books are so precious these days. I have been collecting books for my 4yo and hope to start her with AO1 when she is ready. We are reading many good books according to the list on AO and your lists too. I have been looking for a year now but could not find any CK Thompson books around, so I think they are all snatched up upon your recommendations. �� I plan to use per your suggestion to use this winning book over T. burgess bird book as it is more relevant to us living in Australia. We are making bird feeders as well using orange skins, so hopefully we can see more birds in our backyard. That would be great nature learning. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to use this book to continue nature studies with my two daughters. I am an avid CM nut and my 10 year-old with autism loves nature studies and animals!!
ReplyDeleteHi Jeanne, It is very generous of you to offer one of your treasures. I'll be doing year 1 again next year so I'd love an Aussie sub for Burgess. And I didn't know you had a public Facebook page so I'll definitely head over and try to find it! Zoe.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeanne I don't comment much but will because this brings up an issue that causes problems, and that is facebook lots of people don't have it and I never want it. I was aware you were probably posting on it during your trip and missed the posts here. You are missed when not here. I find your posts interesting and thoughtful and I think you give people the strength to make it work for their situation rather than following things that are not working for them just because they are working for others. Please keep the blog posts happening. Were it possible to enter me into the giveaway I would treasure it. Thanks grace
ReplyDeleteAustralian living in the US (Allison from the AO FB group). Sorely missing a ready availability of quality Australian books, most especially about the Australian natural environment, and really wishing I had a St Vinnies down the road with a big book section.
ReplyDeleteMy girls are Y0 and Y1 and love birds. We read about them, identify them, watch them at our feeders. Would love to read them a story of the Australian bush through the eyes of a foreign bird.
Hi Jeanne, I would love this book to put in my private children's lending library, The Little Bookroom, which I hope will open in my basement this fall. I have a few other Australian books like Snugglepot and Cuddlepie.This book would be available to many,many children! Thanks, Bonnie
ReplyDeleteWe've been enjoying Warrigal the Warrior this year, and birds are a particular favourite of my kids:-)
ReplyDeleteEven the 12yo comes to listen when I read Warrigal (we didn't have it when he was younger), and a bird option for later this year would be delightful:-)
We would love to be in the running to win this giveaway. I haven't been fortunate enough to get any c k Thompson book in my hot little hands, with my oldest just finishing AO Yr 1 and more to follow behind her, this book will be read many times I'm sure. Thanks for the opportunity ��
ReplyDeleteThanks for this great article, it’s real pleasure to read it
ReplyDeleteSorry for my bad english… (It’s more easy to read, than write…)
Bonjour
ReplyDeleteJ avoue que je viens de trouver votre article par hasard et j admis que vraiment c est très intéressant. Tout mes compliments pour votre effort
J avoue que je viens de trouver votre article par hasard et j admis que vraiment c est très intéressant. Tout mes compliments pour votre effort
ReplyDelete