In this post I will discuss a children’s novel called ‘The
day the sheep showed up’. It is a chapter book aimed at junior primary
children, with simple language, medium sized text and illustrations that
largely reinforce the events of the written text. The story follows a narrative
structure, where complications arrive for the barnyard animals when they awake
to find a creature they have never seen before in their yard. They set about
trying to categorise the unknown animal by comparing it to themselves,
‘It’s white like you,
it must be a goose. It’s got four legs like you, it must be a pig.’
They conclude their comparisons by deducing that the
sheep is just another barnyard animal like them and set about playing tag
together and noting how the sheep gets tired just like them.
Although the book presents a simple story, beneath it lies a
deeper message of acceptance and non-discrimination, which when presented in an
easy to follow narrative, allows for students to make thoughtful connections
and offers a focus for reflection. Given this deeper level of meaning, the
story could be used as a resource for upper primary year levels when discussing
tolerance and acceptance.
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