Scholastic Teacher Essentials: Issue 5 2024

CBCA SHORTLIST 2024

Congratulations to all CBCA Book of the Year Award shortlisted authors, illustrators and publishers for 2024. Enjoy value packs containing each title from the featured categories.

UNLOCK THE MAGIC

811. NEW! Guess What We Are Doing Today?

The children in Mr Luke’s class are bursting with ideas about what they might be doing today. 24-pp hardcover.

$18.99 TE $12.00

813. NEW! Protectors

The thrilling third instalment in Wylah’s warrior adventures inspired by First Nations history and culture.

304 pp.

$15.99 TE $14.00

816. NEW! Marion and the Forty Thieves

An immersive and historical fictional retelling of the life of Marion Selina Neitenstein, the only girl onboard the Nautical School Ship Sobraon anchored at Cockatoo Island between 1892 and 1911.

256-pp hardcover.

$19.99 TE $16.00

814. NEW! Wurrtoo

812. NEW! Hooray, Hooray, It’s Library Day!

A lonely library book sits on the shelf, hoping for small hands to choose them for a reading adventure. 24-pp hardcover.

$18.99 TE $12.00

Wurrtoo the wombat leaves the safety of his burrow to climb the tallest tree in the Forest of Dreaming. A unique middle grade story combining features of classic literature with author Tylissa Elisara’s Narungga, Kaurna and Adnyamathanha heritage. 160-pp hardcover.

$19.99 TE $16.00

817. NEW! Astrochimp Blast off into David Walliams’ first ever graphic novel adventure, where Chump the chimp enters intergalactic chaos. 224 pp. $22.99 TE $15.00

UNLOCK THE MAGIC OF STORYTELLING

818. Comprehension Dice

Boost students' comprehension and expression skills in a fun and interactive format.

6 soft foam dice, each 43mm x 43mm x 43mm.

$24.99 TE $24.00

819. NEW! Roll a Story Dice

Help children develop story-telling and oral language skills! Includes colour-coded themes, such as people, animals, food, places, transport, feelings, weather, actions, sports and objects.

10 dice in a carry bag.

820. Tri-Blocks Phonics Tub

Turn each Tri-block and manipulate the middle sound (CVC, CVVC), change a blend (‘sp’ to ‘sl’ or ‘st’), or change the spelling (y to i) when adding a suffix. Tri-blocks let you know the spelling rules by their colour-coding and their systematic phonics progression.

90 colour-coded Tri-blocks and teaching guide.

$49.99 TE $49.00

$24.99 TE $22.00

822. Aspirations & Dreams 10-Pack

Ten beautiful picture books to inspire children to follow their dreams.

10 books,

$165.89 TE $35.00

821. NEW! Tri-Blocks Word Building Cards

A set of self-checking, word-building cards that can be used for sounding out or identifying sounds in various one- and two-syllable words. 40 cards.

$24.99 TE $24.00

823. 50 Sight-Word Phrases

Designed for differentiation, these cards teach students how to visually scan text more efficiently, developing their confidence to try new texts or express ideas in writing.

50 cards, each measuring 20cm x 5cm.

$14.99 TE $13.00

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL

825. NEW! Sensory Discs

Discs providing five different tactile and visual sensory experiences. 5 sensory discs, each 12cm diameter. $49.99 TE $45.00

826. NEW! Gemo Dolls

Students use stackable pieces to construct dolls that better help them to comprehend their inner world and emotive states. 6 dolls measuring 9cm x 5cm when assembled.

$69.99 TE $62.00

827. Why Should I?

Picture Book 3-Pack

Help young children understand the importance of social skills with three gentle stories.

3 books, each 32 pp.

$29.97 TE $19.00

828. Healthy Me Mental Health Readers

Levelled readers written to create awareness of mental health and to help promote well-being strategies. Covers reading levels 1 to 20. 10 readers, each 24 pp.

$99.50 TE $79.00

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL

829. Wiggle Seat

Sensory Chair Cushion - Mint

Wiggle seats provide an outlet for excess energy by allowing children to quietly move while working, enabling them to better focus and be more productive.

Measures 33cm diameter. Includes hand pump.

$39.99 TE $36.00

5-Pack - Pastels

5

830. Wiggle Feet Sensory Cushion

A tactile, customisable and durable feet wiggling cushion, perfect for redirecting excess energy. Measures 38cm x 30cm. Comes inflated with easy-inflation pump included.

$39.99 TE $29.00

833. Medium Book Tub

834. Large Book Tub

832. Small Book Tub

STEM IN ACTION

835. NEW! What is AI?

All of the answers to children’s questions about AI, presented in Neal Layton’s signature style. 32 pp.

$16.99 TE $14.00

837. STEM Explorers Pixel Art Challenge

836. Artie 3000 Coding Robot

Students can write custom code to program Artie to draw a unique design, or select one of the pre-programmed designs, shapes or games.

Includes WiFi-enabled drawing robot; drag-and-drop visual programming software; 4 coloured markers; and a quick-start guide. Requires 4 AA batteries (not included).

$139.99 TE $99.00

838. Silly

Science Hi-Lo Readers

Students craft cool 2D pixel art by solving maths and coding problems! 402 pieces.

$39.99 TE $35.00

Who said science has to be serious? Four Hi-Lo readers with an interest age of 9-12 and a reading age of 6-7, perfect for reluctant readers who are intrigued by the silly side of science.

4 Hi-Lo readers, each 32 pp.

$51.96 TE $25.00

839. NEW! MathcubesShape, Length and Area

Students explore geometric principles and measurements in 30 progessively challenging hands-on activities. 63 pieces. $49.99 TE $48.00

840. NEW! Mathcubes - Angles

Help students to decipher the secrets of angles with fun-filled tactile activities. 62 pieces.

$49.99 TE $48.00

62 PIECES

62 PIECES

CONSTRUCTIVE PLAY

841. Straws & Connectors

Students of a wide age range can use the straw and connector pieces to engage in open-ended play. Includes 130 straws, 100 connectors, guide and calico storage bag. $54.99 TE $45.00

843. NEW! Classroom Doll House Pack

Students use templates made of recycled corrugated card to design and decorate 2-storey, 5-room doll houses! 12 cardboard houses, each measuring 33cm x 30cm x 23cm when assembled.

$44.99 TE

842. Plus-Plus Metal Suitcase

This set provides all of the creativity and focus benefits of open-ended play while also being BPA-free! Include 500 basic pieces, 100 neon pieces, 1 baseplate and guide book. $56.95 TE $52.00

844. NEW! Doll House Furniture Pack

Add adorable furniture to doll houses or dioramas with easy slot-design assembly. 18 cardboard pieces of furniture, largest measuring 12 cm x 7.5cm x 7.5 cm when assembled.

$29.99 TE $25.00

845. NEW! Playing with Collage Jeannie Baker imparts her collage secrets, demonstrating how she uses the world around her to explore important issues. 40 pp. $16.99 TE $14.00

18 BLANK PIECES

INSPIRE EXPLORATION OF THE UNKNOWN

846. NEW! ABC Disability Paralympian swimmer, medal-winner and disability advocate

Sarah Rose presents a big-hearted guide to disability, full of letters, learnings and laughs. 32-pp hardcover.

$24.99 TE $20.00

848. NEW! Father of the Lost Boys Young Readers Edition

The extraordinary story of teacher and community leader Mecak Ajang Alaak, who led the Lost Boys of Sudan on a four-year journey from Ethiopia to Kenya to protect them from becoming child soldiers.

208 pp.

$17.99 TE $14.00

847. NEW! Follow Your Dreams: 100 Inspiring and Extraordinary Jobs

A beautifully illustrated guide encouraging students to think outside the box about their future careers. 144-pp hardcover.

$29.99 TE $24.00

849. NEW! Unreal: Can You Tell Fact from Fake?

The Myths and Legends and Natural History exhibits have been mixed up at the museum. Students will have fun guessing what is real, and learn what to look for when looking for the truth.

64-pp hardcover.

$29.99 TE $24.00

850. NEW! Nightlife

A nighttime journey across our landscapes, uncovering the vibrancy and diversity of Australia’s nocturnal animals.

32-pp hardcover.

$29.99 TE $24.00

851. NEW! Oceans at Night

Explore the wonderful world under the waves, and see what ocean animals do at nighttime. 32-pp hardcover.

$24.99 TE $20.00

852. NEW! The Opal Dinosaur

The true story of the 1984 discovery and identification of Fostoria dhimbangunmal, whose bones were fossilised in beautiful opal. 32-pp hardcover.

$24.99 TE $20.00

853. NEW! Jiggliest Jellyfish

An exciting expedition into the deep blue to uncover the world of jellyfish. 24-pp hardcover.

$26.99 TE $22.00

854. NEW! Plantabulous!

Plantabulous! presents 26 iconic and unique native plants for students to discover in their local park, bushland or even in their school! 64-pp hardcover.

$29.99 TE $24.00

856. Weather Pack

Introduce

855. NEW! Dung Beetle: On a Roll

Explore the fascinating and incredibly important role that tiny dung beetles play in our environment. 32-pp hardcover.

$24.99 TE $20.00

857. Sensational Australian Animals

Discover the unexpected sensory abilities of over 145 native Australian animals. 64-pp hardcover. $29.99 TE $25.00

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: MR LUKE

Internet teacher sensation Mr Luke has well over a million Tik Tok followers as he hilariously recounts funny things his ‘tiny humans’ in his class say. He has just released his first book about imagination and the joy of reading.

Guess What We Are Doing Today? is a celebration of books and imaginative play with a diverse cast of characters, perfectly primed to coincide with Book Week 2024!

Q&A – LUKE SPRINGER

Can you please briefly introduce yourself?

Hello! My name is Luke Springer, but you might know me as Mr. Luke from my social media profiles. I’m a primary school teacher in Adelaide, South Australia, where I have the joy of teaching first-year students—or as I like to call them, my "tiny humans"—during their exciting and fun introduction to big school!

Tell us about what sparked your desire to be a teacher?

Teaching runs in my family, with both of my paternal grandparents having been educators who travelled the world to teach. Growing up, I was naturally inclined to help others, inspired by my younger brother whom I helped to coach in basketball and navigate the world, much like my older sisters did for me. Additionally, from the moment my first cousin was born during my ninth-grade year, I was drawn to spending time with her and helping at her mum’s mum&bubs club. Teaching felt like a calling, and I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have turned my passion for nurturing young minds into a fulfilling career.

How did the story come to you?

The story was inspired by the pure, honest, and imaginative conversations

I have with my students. Their ability to think beyond the obvious and their magical view of the world made it natural to bring such creativity to life in a book.

What is your approach to books and reading in the classroom?

We adore books and reading! It's all about making reading engaging, fun, and exciting. We aim for our tiny humans to be thrilled about learning. Watching them begin to read, recognising sounds, and gradually reading books

independently is magical and incredibly rewarding. Encouraging a love for books and reading is fundamentally what it’s all about!

How will you be celebrating book week with your students this year?

Book week is one of the best weeks of the year! There will definitely be plenty of dress-ups—after all, it’s a whole week. I might need to invest in some new costumes, which is just as exciting! We plan to flood our learning space with new books, read more than usual, create our own books, and step into the roles of authors and illustrators. It’s all about celebrating the wonders of books, the adventures they allow us to embark on, and the joy of reading!

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

If I could choose one superpower, it would definitely be teleportation. The ability to instantly travel anywhere in the world—or even beyond—aligns perfectly with my adventurous spirit. Whether it's for exploring new cultures, visiting remote natural wonders, or simply skipping the daily commute, teleportation would be an incredible way to enhance my life and experiences. An added bonus if I’m able to teleport my class too! Imagine the adventures we’d be able to go on! Our field trips would be amazing!

ABOVE: Mr Luke getting into character to celebrate Book Week!

Thank you, Luke’s energy and spirit was definitely something I wanted to capture, so I’m really glad that comes across in the illustrations.

When I first heard I had an opportunity to work on this book, I immediately watched as many of Luke’s videos as I could. He’s made a lot, so there was plenty of material to work with!

In my early illustrating career, I drew a lot of caricatures of people and, I have to say, that Luke is a caricature artist’s dream! He’s got such an expressive and animated face. That big wide smile, glasses and signature hair bun all help bring the character to life.

What are your childhood memories of visits to the School Library?

Growing up in England, school libraries weren’t the vibrant fun places we know today. At least mine weren’t. My very first primary school was a creaky old building like something from a Charles Dickens novel. I can’t remember it even having a library, but if it did, it was probably full of smelly ancient books and ghosts. As a result I wasn’t really interested in books as a kid. But I loved comics and comics were not the sort of things we were allowed to read in libraries anyway. They were bright and colourful and silly and funny. So I used to get comics delivered to my house every Friday. Sometimes they came with the daily newspaper, tucked up inside like a special treat.

Whenever I’m lucky enough to visit a school library now, I am absolutely blown away by the truly magical and colourful places that they are. Full of books for everyone, no matter what they like to read. Including comics! If these libraries had existed when I was at school, I don’t think I’d have ever left.

Please tell us about the process of receiving a manuscript and turning it into a story

The first thing I do is read through the manuscript several times and try to visualise what concepts and imagery will best suit the text. Imagination is a really strong theme in this book, so I had to try and find a very clear visual difference between the playful thoughts of the children in the beginning and the almost magical transportation once they enter the library.

Once I’ve settled on the approach, I then plan out the entire book from start to finish.

I’ll then send that off to our editor, Laura. then together we’ll see if everything is flowing as it should. Do the ideas support the text? Do the page turns fall in the right place?

Once we’re happy with that stage, I’ll go through and tidy it up.

After those are approved, it’s time to move on the final coloured version. I produce everything in Photoshop, but it’s still hand-drawn via a large drawing tablet. This is really useful for the designers who then get to work with my files and lay in the final text and fonts.

ORDERS DUE :

WORDS AT WORK

858. NEW! You Rock My World

A heartwarming and vibrantly illustrated story written almost entirely in idioms, giving students a memorable way to learn them.

32-pp hardcover.

$27.99 TE $22.00

860. NEW! Contraction Dominoes

Help students to learn contractions in an interactive format.

28 pieces in collector’s tin.

$19.99 TE $18.00

859. NEW! Magic E Flips

A double-sided flip stand for teaching the split digraph (or magic e). Photographic images are included to provide word building examples. Measures 30cm x 15cm.

$19.99 TE $19.00

861. Magnetic Punctuation

Jumbo-sized, colourful punctuation magnets, perfect for whole class instruction.

Includes 4 full stops, 4 apostrophes, 4 commas, 2 colons, 2 semi-colons, 3 question marks, 3 exclamation marks, 4 brackets, 4 double inverted commas, 4 single inverted commas, 1 ellipsis and 1 hyphen.

$35.00 TE $25.00

862. Literacy Games Multi-Pack (K-2)

These boxed sets of colourful mats and word tiles make learning and practising key skills fun. Four boxed sets of learning mats: Word Families (10 two-sided word-family mats, 144 letter tiles and teaching tips); Sight Words (10 two-sided mats, 120 word tiles and teaching tips); Long Vowels (10 two-sided mats, 60 word tiles, and teaching tips); and Short Vowels (10 two-sided mats, 60 word tiles and teaching tips).

$79.96 TE $55.00

863. Reading Accelerator (Set 1)

Fast track reading progress with various reading skills activities.

Includes 25 cards. Smart Tray sold separately. $24.99 TE $24.00 864. Smart Tray A unique card matching system teaching a variety of literacy and numeracy skills. Measures 27cm x 26cm. Cards sold separately. $14.99 TE $14.00

865. Common Exception Word Cards

Each card uses sound buttons and phoneme frames to help children memorise tricky words and identify the decodable parts. Includes 111 cards.

$24.99 TE $24.00

A GLOBAL MINDSET

868. The Crayons Love Our Planet

The Crayons celebrate the vibrant array of colours in our natural landscapes, and why they need protecting. 32-pp hardcover.

$24.99 TE $22.00

870. Oxford Atlas (Foundation to Year 2) 10-Pack Buy in bulk and save!

Each 112 pp.

$439.50 TE $309.00

872. Globetrotters 4-Pack

869. Our Values 5-Pack

A beginning taste of the social and cultural values underpinning modern society, with a focus on the value of diverse experiences. Each 32 pp. Upper Primary.

$109.95 TE $29.00

871. Oxford Atlas (Years 5 to 6) 10-Pack Buy in bulk and save!

Each 216 pp.

$439.50 TE $309.00

Explore the world with this engaging educational series that offers students a detailed look at countries through maps, statistics, facts, photos, and cultural insights.

Each 32 pp.

$79.96 TE $69.00

Teacher Essentials

875. NEW!

Record Breakers at the Olympic Games

A comprehensive history of the Summer Olympic Games, showcasing records, achievements and vibrant images. 128-pp hardcover.

$36.99 TE $35.00

877. Sam Kerr: The Complete Collection A fun and inspiring illustrated series all about soccer, school, friendships and following your dreams. 5 books, each 176 pp + slipcase. $49.99 TE $39.00

879. Diary of a Netball Star 3-Pack Liz Watson loves reading, baking, and hanging out with her BFF, Katie. But there's one thing she loves the most... netball. Each 144 pp. $44.97 TE $20.00