Issue #3
Th e Honey
COOK wit h Billie!
Bees
: s e d u l c In
Yummy
honey pik
elet
recipe!
!
y m e R an f r e p su e k Meet a m to w o ! h R n A r J a e D L a MIN
S N R A E L Y L S! E E SAL B UT O B A ALL
Hi everyone!
Read with Sally!
Did you know bees help grow our fruits and vegetables? Find out more buzzy bee facts with Sally!
PUSH PLAY!
I’m so happy to see you back in this week’s holiday program. We have so many amazing, incredible an d super-dooper things for you to do this week! And I have another new Billie story to share with you: The Honey Bees. It’s about lots of different things we can do to care for our plane t, including looking after honey bees. They are su ch amazing little creatures and they are so important fo r our planet! Thank you everyone for all your lovely letters, drawings and book reviews, too. We lov e getting them so please keep sending them in! Lots of love,
Sally
xxx
PUSH PLAY! Have you started The Honey Bees yet? Why don’t you read along with Sally and see if you can finish it by yourself?
R E P O O D SUPER
7
QUESTIONS
with
Remy!
REMY lives in the country with her mum and dad and two big sisters. They moved from the city a few years ago and now have a
HUGE BACKYARD
full of fruit trees,
CHICKENS!
When it came time to write a new Billie B Brown book, Sally asked Remy for some ideas, and she suggested
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you do at Do you have a special job ns? home? Like feed the chicke chicken eggs. I also Remy: I collect the ening and we cook help mum with gard ow in the garden. with the vegies we gr so take our Silkie With my sisters I al , for long walks in a chicken, wels. It’s not really trolley filled with to like to do it. a job though, we just
OREO
Apart from making honey, why are bees important? Don’t they just want to sting us? Remy: Bees pollinate flowers. If we didn’t have bees, we wouldn’t have flowers and fruit.
‘R, R, R’. rtant? for? And why is this impo
What does R, R, R stand If you reduce, re-use . LE C Y EC R E E, C U ED Remy: RE-USE, R d bbish in the world, an ru ss le e’s er th en th and recycle ish If people throw rubb t. en nm ro vi en e th rubbish is bad for d k it’s a jellyfish, an in th ht ig m s le rt tu in the ocean, eat it and die.
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, glass, paper and Remy: Recycle cans astic bags. Also plastic. Don’t use pl vegetables. plant trees and grow
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vegetables and even
she should write about
2
at home What are things we can do et? to help look after our plan
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Do you have a favourite Billie book? Remy: I love
The Strawberry Thief but I also really love
The Honey Bees!
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What do you like the most about living in the country (Macedon)? Remy: No traffic. I can ride my bike around and I see lots of koalas, kangaroos and birds. I can’t imagine a kangaroo or koala in Melbourne except for at the zoo!
5
Who is your fav ourite chicken? Remy: I hav e a baby Polish chick en called
ROBBY, and she (I
think she’s a girl) looks like she has a wheat farm on her head!
All about verbs!
I wonder what Billie B Brown’s favourite letter is.
Today we are going to learn about verbs. A verb is a word that
TEACHER APPROVED
TEACHER APPROVED
Do you think it might be the letter B?
ACTIVITY
shows an action or a movement; it is a ‘doing’ word.
ACTIVITY
We are going to go on a letter B treasure hunt. As you read Billie B Brown In Billie B Brown The Honey Bees, the bees are
buzzing,
The Honey Bees, keep your eye out for words that begin with the letter B and
zooming, stinging and flying. These are all verbs and they
write them down. How many different words can you find that begin
tell us what the bees are doing. I wonder if you can think of a ‘doing’
with the letter B? I bet you’re going to be as busy as a bee!
word to finish each sentence below? Remember, the letter B
The hen is
.
The dog is
.
The cat is
.
The frog is
.
The fish is
.
The horse is
.
B
can look like this ...
b
or this ...
Words beginning with the letter B
I found this many different words beginning with the letter B:
‘Oh dear,’ says Billie. ‘You’re right. I haven’t been a good friend today. I didn’t even notice how scared he
I love to read and I know you do too! Did you know it is really
TEACHER APPROVED
was. Maybe he won’t want to be my friend anymore?’
ACTIVITY
Luckily, Billie B Brown knows how to be
important to think about what we are reading as we read it? I wonder if you were practising this today while you were reading. Read the two sentences and circle what happened
first in the story.
Good luck!
a great friend and she made sure her best buddy, Jack, was OK after all!
What makes you a good friend? Billie and Jack hide under the table. Or Billie decides to make compost with Jack for the class project.
Write down the name of one of your friends. What makes them a good friend to you?
Billie is worried that Jack won’t want to be her friend anymore. Or The bees fly out the window past Sara’s nose.
Billie’s dad tucks her into bed. Or Sara goes to Billie’s house for a play.
Draw a picture of yourself being a good friend.
TEACHER APPROVED ACTIVITY
At school Billie, Jack and Sara are learning all about ways to take care of the planet. They know about ‘reduce, re-use and recycle’, vegetable gardens and compost. Think of three things you could do to take care of the planet, then finish off the sentences below.
1.
I can
2.
I can
3.
I can
ur writing. o y h tc a m to Draw a picture
TEACHER APPROVED ACTIVITY
Super-dooper colou ring in!
Billie LOVES to colour in, almost as much as she loves making sandcastles!
Dot-to-dot! Join the dots to finish this picture of Billie.
Billie the hairdresser wants to give you a haircut with her purple scissors. Draw what you think it might look like.
Billie and Jack have made a twisty, turny maze in the backyard. Can you help them find their way back to the tent?
s e e B y e n o H e h T
! Z I U Q
How well do YOU know the Billie B Brown book,
The Honey Bees?
Take this quiz to find out! 1 In The Honey Bees, what does the B in Billie B Brown stand for? 2 Fill in the gap! The new girl in Billie’s class is called ___________. 3 Circle the right answer! To get the bees to leave the classroom, Sara opens a book window jar packet of chips
4 At school, what is Billie learning how to look after? 5 Billie wants to care for the planet by doing the three Rs. What do they stand for?
6 Which of these did Sara have on her farm? Circle all the right answers. chickens elephants honey bees
7 Billie learns that bees pollinate flowers. What will that help the flowers grow into? 8 Fill in the gap! Billie can’t have a beehive at home, so she thinks the ____________ should get one instead. 9 When Jack got stung by a bee, where did he have to spend three days? 10 At the end of the story, what does Billie think the school should get?
Answers 1. Bees (see page 2) 2. Sara (see page 4) 3. Window (see page 6) 4. The planet (see page 9) 5. Reduce, re-use, recycle (see page 22) 6. Chickens and honey bees (see page 23) 7. Fruit and vegetables (see page 25) 8. School (see page 26) 9. In hospital (see page 34) 10. Compost (see page 42)
A-MAZE-ing!
DID YO U KNO W ?
s e e B t u o Learn Ab
with Sally!
I’m lucky enough to have a little place in the country where I go to write my Billie books. There are lots of kangaroo families up there, lots of very noisy birds, and I’ve even seen an echidna a few times, too! Recently I decided it might be nice to have some bees on the property, as bees are so important and in lots of places in the world they are finding it hard to survive. You probably already know that bees make delicious honey, but you might not know that they also pollinate blossoms on trees and plants, which then grow into fruit and vegetables. So clever! So, I contacted a local beekeeper and he is going to put a beehive on my property. He told me I will need flowers to feed the bees, so I have planted lots of flowering native trees. The bees will also need water nearby. Luckily, I have a couple of dams with plenty of water in them.
keeper, is Daniel, the bee k so I will coming this wee are some make sure I sh u in our next o y h it w s to o h p lso thought edition. But I a ful for me to it might be use it more know a little b neighbours. ew n y m t u o b a e fun facts So here are som I researched about bees that . on the internet
Daniel!
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2
Bees live in honeycomb structures built from beeswax called hives. There are three types of bees in a colony: drones, workers and queens. The queen bee lays all of the eggs in a colony. She is busiest in the summer months, when she can lay up to 2,500 eggs a day!
3
4
Worker bees are females. They look after the hive and fly around looking for food. The average worker bee lives for just five to six weeks. During this time, she’ll produce around a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey.
Male bees are called drones and they do not have a stinger. Their job is to mate with the queen to produce more bees.
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Beeswax comes from the abdomen glands of a worker bee. They use the wax to form the honeycomb.
6 7
Bees are amazing at flying. They fly at a speed of around 25km per hour and beat their wings 200 times per second!
Honey is made from the nectar and sweet deposits that bees collect from plants and trees. Honey is stored in honeycomb as food for the colony. Luckily, there is always some left over that we can share too!
Now that you know more about bees, make sure you say hello next time you see one fly past. They won’t hurt you if you leave them alone. They are much too busy making honey! Bzz! Bzz! Bzz! See you next week. I’m off to have a banana-and-honey sandwich with sprinkles, just like Billie!
e k a M o t How S T E L E IK P Y E N HO Billie
LOVES cooking! Sometimes she
makes simple things like banana-andhoney smoothies. Sometimes she makes special treats like honey pikelets. No matter what she wants to cook, she always asks a grown-
/4 cup plain flour
3
Butter
1 teaspoon sugar
METHOD:
2.
help when she’s using the stove
s special recip e for honey pik elets. YUM!
1 egg
Pinch of salt
And she always, always asks for
Here is Billie’
150ml milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
up if it’s OK before she starts.
or oven. You should do that, too!
INGREDIENTS:
4.
1.
Honey
Put the plain flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a mixing bo wl, and mix them together with a woo den spoon.
Pour 150ml of milk into a measuring jug. Crack open the egg and pour it into the jug, too. Whisk the milk and the egg together.
Ask a grown-up to heat a frying pan. Add a knob of butter and let it melt.
3.
5.
Pour the wet mix ture into the dry mixt ure. Whisk them toge ther until you have a lovely smooth batter.
Spoon small dollop s of batter into the pan. As soon as small bubbles appear in the pikele ts, flip them. They’ll be ready so on after that.
6.
Pop your pikelets on a plate. Drizzle honey over the top and dig in!
Don’t for get to wash y our dishes!
e to d i u G ’s n w o r Billie B B
Making a
r a J d Min es gets CROSS m ti e m o s n w ro Billie B B ey Bees, n o H e h T In . D or FRUSTRATE k rstand why Jac e d n u ’t n ld u o c she her project. n o in in jo to t didn’t wan get her mind ’t n a c e h s s e m Someti ave you to slow down. H ay? ever felt that w
At school last year, Billie and her friends made a MIND JAR — and sometimes, when she needs to calm down, she brings it out.
r? a j d n i m a What is A mind jar is a jar with glitter in it. It looks pretty, and it’s also a great way to calm down when you’re upset or angry. The glitter represents thoughts or feelings. Shake the jar gently, imagining that the glitter is your emotions. The glitter will swirl up – just like our thoughts and feelings sometimes do. When our thoughts and feelings are all stirred up, it can be hard to think or see things clearly!
se a How do I u Shake your mind jar. Put the jar down, then sit quietly and watch mind jar? the glitter slowly settle. Your thoughts and feelings will settle down too, just like the glitter in the jar. Soon, you’ll feel more relaxed, and you’ll be able to think clearly and feel good again.
e to Would you lik jar? make a mind Here’s how!
• A jar (any ja r will do!)
• 100ml glyce rin • 2 tablespoo ns glitter • Warm water
Place a couple of tablespoons of glitter in the bottom of the jar. (TIP: Make a little funnel out of paper to get the glitter in neatly!)
1.
2. 3.
What you need!
Add a little bit of warm water, put the lid on and shake it up.
5.
• Dish soap • A hot glue g un
(if you have one! Make sure y ou ask an adult to h elp!)
Screw the lid on tight and shake to mix!
6.
Ask an adult to help glue the jar lid on to ensure there aren’t any accidental spills!
Add glycerin until the jar is almost half full.
4.
Fill the rest of the way with warm water (almost to the top!). Add 2 drops of dish soap.
This mind jar activity was given to us by Caitlin Cady, the author of a book called Heavily Meditated. If your family would like more information about meditation, perhaps you could check out her website, or even buy her book!
p e e k u Do yo
Next week!
? Y R A A DI Billie B Brown does!
Sometimes it’s fun to look back and see how much you have grown up!
The best thing that happened this week was
.
The Hat Parade
B Brown e li il B W E N D is a BRAN ad it yet? book! Have you re
This week, I have been reading
by
.
Something that made me smile was
.
The funniest joke I have heard is
.
If I could have a superpower, it would be
.
to win the school Billie really wants as made lots of hat parade. She h t when Billie gets amazing hats! Bu a horrible cold, stuck in bed with plans be ruined? will her hat parade
Sally interviews a designer!
! s e i t i v Acti
Tips to stay hy! lt a e h And much more!
Y R E V E u o y e r Se o f Y A D N led, MO
l i f n u f r e h t ano ed k c a p n o i t c a ! m a r g o r p y a d holi
You might have some of these Billie B Brown books in your bookcase, or they might be available as an
Launch timetable
ebook to borrow from your local library! Billie B Brown books can be found where all good books are sold. While it’s a bit tricky to get to the shops at the moment, we recommend checking if your local bookstore is doing delivery, or look up any of the fabulous Australian retailers who sell books online.
We are going to profile a different bookseller every week! UT
THE HAT PARADE Launching Monday 20 April THE SPOTTY HOLIDAY Launching Monday 27 April
FEAST T H G I N D I M THE 4 May y a d n o M g in h Launc
THE SOCCER STAR Launching Monday 11 May
O CHECK
‘Billie B Brown books are essential for every youngster taking those vital first steps on their reading journey. Not only are they fun to read but kids are also absorbing gentle life lessons while they have adventures with Billie and her best friend, Jack. The incredible warmth and compassion of Sally Rippin is bursting from every single page.’
Angela,
CLICK HERE!
Readings Kids Manager
n
collection/billie-b-brow
www.readings.com.au/
Contact us! While we can’t meet up at a wonderful book event right now, we welcome you to the Sally Rippin Holiday Program community. Let’s keep in touch. Email us! Do you have questions? Suggestions? Maybe you just want to send us a picture of a butterfly! We will be checking our mail, and Sally will be answering a selection of questions every week! mailbag@hardiegrant.com.au
EMAIL US