Summer Time by Antonia Pesenti and illustrated by Hilary Bell

Summer Time by Antonia Pesenti and illustrated by Hilary Bell

The Rhyming verse on each double page spread encapsulates the feeling of summer that many Australians feel as the weather warms up, the magpies come out and the beach calls.

Summer Time by Antonia Pesenti and illustrated by Hilary Bell is the third collaboration between these two creators – previously producing Alphabetical Sydney and Numerical Street.

Australian children will adore this book with so many links to what their summer days are filled with – pools, beaches, bushwalks and birds.

Readers will see the magpies protecting their young and Golden Orb weaving spiders catching their prey.

It also highlights the heat and fragility of the natural world with bushfires that rage and black hollow trees that start to sprout green after bushfires.

It makes you stop and realise how lucky we are to have this beautiful weather and the waterways to spend it in.

Summer is my favourite time of year with the abundance of school holidays and the warm sunny days, the freedom to be outside and swim at the beach.

The illustrations are summery pastels  which evoke the feelings that summer brings and the night time changes in our starry sky.

Summer Time is a great book to use in the classroom for a look into the summer season of Australia. It is also a lovely way to explore rhyme and storytelling.

Children can create their own pictures of summer with a rhyming stanza to explore just how much they love summer!

What did we do?

Summer – Writing

What is your favourite thing (or maybe there are more) to do in summer? Students, using pastels and summer colours, draw an image of this activity.

Depending on the age group

  • Using the five senses, what happens in this image?
  • Write a rhyming stanza to describe this image.

Australian seasons

Compare summer in southern parts of Australia to that of the Top End. How is their summer time different? What would children do differently?

Bushfires

What causes them and how do we know when they happen?

How can we stop them from devastating the land and the animals?

Explore up to date newspaper articles along with the fires near me app.

Indigenous Australia

How did the indigenous people of Australia use fire to help? Can we use this advice in the current Australia?

What is the Emu in the sky? Explore other Australian constellations.

Testimonials – Jack and Jill Kindergarten, Berowra.

Testimonials - Jack and Jill Kindergarten, Berowra.

Thanks so much Vanessa for coming out and sharing your book “The Bee Detectives” with our children 3-5 years old. The experience allowed them to learn so much more about Bees. We have had our native Bees for several years and had beekeepers out before. Your book took an in-depth look into classification, different ways they live, how they collect pollen and make honey.  It created lots of meaningful conversation with the children; your interactive book reading allowed them to share these ideas with each other. The extended activity afterwards of the magnifiers provided by Vanessa was a great extension to the book. The children were so excited to be their very own Bee detectives and really extended their learning.
Vanessa Ryan-Rendall
2021-05-17T03:33:47+00:00
Testimonials - Jack and Jill Kindergarten, Berowra. Thanks so much Vanessa for coming out and sharing your book “The Bee Detectives” with our children 3-5 years old. The experience allowed them to learn so much more about Bees. We have had our native Bees for several years and had beekeepers out before. Your book took an in-depth look into classification, different ways they live, how they collect pollen and make honey.  It created lots of meaningful conversation with the children; your interactive book reading allowed them to share these ideas with each other. The extended activity afterwards of the magnifiers provided by Vanessa was a great extension to the book. The children were so excited to be their very own Bee detectives and really extended their learning.

Author Visit: Jack and Jill Kindergarten Berowra

Thanks so much Vanessa for coming out and sharing your book “The Bee Detectives” with our children 3-5 years old. The experience allowed them to learn so much more about Bees. We have had our native Bees for several years and had beekeepers out before. Your book took an in-depth look into classification, different ways they live, how they collect pollen and make honey.  It created lots of meaningful conversation with the children; your interactive book reading allowed them to share these ideas with each other. The extended activity afterwards of the magnifiers provided by Vanessa was a great extension to the book. The children were so excited to be their very own Bee detectives and really extended their learning. 
Teacher notes written by Vanessa
2021-04-21T02:54:08+00:00
Thanks so much Vanessa for coming out and sharing your book “The Bee Detectives” with our children 3-5 years old. The experience allowed them to learn so much more about Bees. We have had our native Bees for several years and had beekeepers out before. Your book took an in-depth look into classification, different ways they live, how they collect pollen and make honey.  It created lots of meaningful conversation with the children; your interactive book reading allowed them to share these ideas with each other. The extended activity afterwards of the magnifiers provided by Vanessa was a great extension to the book. The children were so excited to be their very own Bee detectives and really extended their learning. 

Georgie Donaghey

I was impressed with Vanessa’s professionalism in preparing the teacher notes for my picture book, In the Shadow of an Elephant. Her depth of knowledge on the multitude of topics covered was just incredible! She has compiled a 15-page document that will allow Educators and students an opportunity to explore conversations and discover different layers within the book. Georgie Donaghey
Teacher notes written by Vanessa
2020-08-01T07:42:45+00:00
I was impressed with Vanessa’s professionalism in preparing the teacher notes for my picture book, In the Shadow of an Elephant. Her depth of knowledge on the multitude of topics covered was just incredible! She has compiled a 15-page document that will allow Educators and students an opportunity to explore conversations and discover different layers within the book. Georgie Donaghey