Date achieved:
Monday 28th January 2019
Where?
Royal Botanical Gardens Victoria & at home
Why is this experience on the Challenge List?
Working in childcare this book tends to be a bit of favourite that gets read time and time again. Looking at the pictures in the book, I decided I wanted to recreate the book with my own pictures. Afterall it is an Australian book so why not use Australian scenic shots.
Description:
We’re going on a croc hunt written by Laine Mitchell and illustrated by Louis Shea, is a book similar to We’re going on a bear hunt but this is the Australian version that features iconic Australian animals and scenery.
I absolutely LOVE this book as it is almost like a song that children can sing along to because of its repetitiveness and the engagement in the story captures the readers attention.
So I was heading to the Royal Botanical Gardens Victoria to celebrate a birthday when I asked some cousins and my siblings to help me to recreate this book. As it turns out my sister and myself were the only ones that knew the book so I had to direct everyone where they needed to stand and how they were to pose.
We kept wandering around the gardens to find the locations that was needed for the next part of each scene. Some parts were easy to find and others were a bit more difficult to find, in the end it took about 30 minutes to gather all the photos.
For the next week I was putting the book together and adding the words. I decided for the crocodile page I added a photo of myself being “eaten”and it has an excellent look of me seeming to be utterly terrified of the crocodile, which perfectly fit into the book.
Would I do it again?
It would be great to recreate another book like this because then it becomes even more special to my family. I just need another children’s book to recreate, do you have an idea?
Highlight:
Now that my version is printed, laminated and binded with my siblings its a favourite book in our house because the children get to see themselves acting out the scenes in the book, making it really special!
When were trying to recreate the scene where we had to hurry back through the scrub we were having difficulty finding a place to do it. After a little while my brother started rolling down the hill and we decided to roll with that idea instead. Everyone loved this scene the best and most of them couldn’t stop laughing or rolling in the end.
Cost:
Free, I already had the book and the rest of the materials I found at home.
Further information:
I would like to acknowledge that We’re going on a croc hunt is written by Laine Mitchell and illustrated by Louis Shea and that I have used their words and their images as inspiration for my images. I have only used this version for my own personal use to share with my family and has not been copied in any other way. It is used as a book to read with my family to share these special memories together <3