Teacher Notes
Illustrations © Kim Gamble
The Tashi books lend themselves to an enjoyable storytelling session in the library, but you can also
extend your storytelling into a few hours' or a whole day's study and discussion.
Here are a few suggestions to get you started.
Because the Tashi books appeal to a wide range of students (we receive letters and reviews from fans
as young as 4 and up to about 12 years old), we've provided a range of suggestions from simple to
more complex activities.
LANGUAGE AND WRITING
Word Find
For a quick Friday afternoon activity, download and photocopy the Haunted House Word Find Activity Sheet
(following).
Character portraits
You'll find portraits of a number of characters on the Tashi website: www.tashibooks.com/characters. Are your
students' favourite characters in our list? Have students write a brief portrait of one of the other characters from a
Tashi book.
Character names
Many of the characters in the Tashi books are wonderfully named for their traits. This gives the books a gentle
humour and makes them a joy to read aloud.
'Soh Meen' is the perfect name for Tashi's grumpy neighbour (Tashi and the Mixed-Up Monster), and a fortune
teller definitely looks ahead ('Luk Ahed' - Tashi and the Dancing Shoes). 'Not Yet', the shoemaker who never quite
gets people's shoes ready on time, appears in several of the books. Other examples are 'Princess Hoiti-Toiti' (Tashi
and the Phoenix) and 'Arthur Trouble', the naughty boy in class (Tashi and the Mixed-Up Monster).
Have students invent a character and come up with a name which represents their personality.
Vocabulary building
Anna Fienberg's vivid descriptions can provide inspiration for students to use new words and phrases in their own
written work. Make a list of some of the unfamiliar words in a Tashi story and research their meaning.
Write an adventure story
Jack's Uncle Joe appears in a number of the Tashi books. He always has a story to tell – on just about any subject!
But many of his adventures are only hinted at. Have students complete one of his adventure stories (for example,
they could write the crocodile story from the beginning of Tashi and the Dancing Shoes or tell what happened after
Uncle Joe walked through the wall at the end of that book).
Voice and setting
Lisa Hill of Mossgiel Park PS suggests that Tashi and the Stolen Bus 'has great potential as a stimulus for writing.
Teachers can focus on changes of narrative voice (from first person Tashi to third person Jack) and variations in
setting (from the Old Country to the present).'
Similes
Melissa Buske from Mercedes College, SA, points out the use of similes in Tashi and the Forbidden Room, 'such as
"a chill like iced water". These could be identified throughout the book and then students could use these in their
own writing and also create their own similes.'
Suspenseful writing
Ann McCabe from Open Access College/Braeview Primary School, SA, suggests that students could read the story
'The Three Tasks' from Tashi and the Forbidden Room and 'explore the themes of suspense writing in stories, good
versus evil and "forbidden" items … They could make up their own list of tasks for Tashi to solve in similar or
different situations.'
Stories from everyday objects
In the introduction to each Tashi book, Anna Fienberg tells us about the inspiration for the stories.
Sometimes her ideas come from looking at the world around her - the sounds in Tashi and the Haunted House
were inspired by Anna's son and his friend tapping on a piece of tin and an old roof tile at the park, and Tashi and
the Demons was inspired by seeing a Dragon's Blood Tree at the Botanic Gardens.
Look out of your classroom window or around the playground. Could any of the objects, shapes, shadows or
people inspire a character or an event in a story?
Fairytales and fables
Compare the modern Tashi stories to traditional fairytales and fables read in class.
ILLUSTRATION AND VISUAL ARTS
Drawing
For a quick Friday afternoon activity, download and photocopy the Big Stinker Drawing Activity Sheet (following).
Decoration
Gather feathers, beads and other shiny decorative objects and have children use them to decorate Tashi’s dancing
shoes on the following activity sheet.
Book cover design
After reading one of the Tashi books, go back and discuss the cover illustration.
Which episode in the book is shown on the cover?
Point out some of the details in the illustration. What colours are used and what mood do they convey?
Follow up by asking students to design their own Tashi book cover.
Using pencil and charcoal
Kim Gamble's pencil illustrations convey a strong sense of place and emotion, without the use of colour.
Have students try to draw a scene using only a pencil or charcoal.
Older students might study Gamble's illustrations more closely, looking at cross-hatching, shading and the use of
lines of different thicknesses.
For further inspiration, see if your school library has a copy of Kim Gamble's book You Can Draw Anything (Allen &
Unwin, ISBN 9781863736800).
Diorama
The illustration at the beginning of 'The Bandits' story in Tashi and the Giants is a nice pointer to another activity –
building a diorama.
Use a cardboard box to frame the scene, like Jack has in the picture.
Older students might also want to cut out silhouettes of characters like the dragon and the baron, and even use
paper fasteners to create moving joints (as Jack has done in the picture). These characters could be added,
removed and moved around the diorama, to create a puppet theatre.
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT, VALUES AND ROLE PLAY
Tashi's family and friends are very important to him, as are values such as honesty. His stories can be a good
starting point to talking about values.
Wendy Fletcher from the Centre for Extended Learning Opportunities, Tasmania, writes of Tashi and the Stolen
Bus: 'In this book Tashi introduces us to the idea of honesty and shows why we don't steal. He shows us that
people can make mistakes and be forgiven and that sometimes the most obvious solution to why someone
behaved in a particular way may not be the best one.'
Denise Tarlinton from Kurwongbah State School in Qld suggests this activity for Tashi Lost in the City: 'This text
lends itself to developing character profiles and role play. A hotseating activity where children take turns to take on
the role of Tashi while other students ask questions about the events of the tale or about their feelings would be
effective. Students could be asked to recall a time they were lost or separated from their parents – how did they
feel?'
HOLD A TASHI-THEMED DAY OR EVENT
You could involve one class or several in a Tashi party, day or event.
Have one class design invitations asking another class to join them at the event.
Hold a group storytelling session in the library or at assembly.
Cut out 'dancing shoe' footprints and tape them to the floor pointing the way to the library or assembly hall.
Students can 'leap' from one to another, like Tashi did in Tashi and the Dancing Shoes.
Have a group of students act out a scene from one of the books at assembly.
J A B B T F H D L M
A V H U A T R I C K
C W E N S C A R E D
K O L P H Q F J K X
H A P R I M R O S E
V B O O K E I D P A
R W N V J D E M O N
S T O R Y R N Q O P
Q S C T B L D M K N
P L O H N T R V Y A
WORDS TO FIND
Tashi Spooky
Help Demon
Friend Scared
Trick Book
Primrose Story
Can you find all the words
from the book Tashi and the
Haunted House?
The Tashi books are created by
Anna Fienberg, Barbara Fienberg
and Kim Gamble.
Published by Allen & Unwin. Illustrations: Kim Gamble. www.tashibooks.com
Decorate Tashi’s Dancing Shoes.
Colour them in, paint them or
glue on decorations.
The Tashi books are created by
Anna Fienberg, Barbara Fienberg
and Kim Gamble.
Published by Allen & Unwin. Illustrations: Kim Gamble. www.tashibooks.com
In Tashi and the Big Stinker, Tashi plays a
trick on a hungry giant. Can you draw the
rest of this picture of Tashi in the giant’s
kitchen? You could draw the giant, or
perhaps what he’s eating. You could even
The Tashi books are created by draw yourself with Tashi!
Anna Fienberg, Barbara Fienberg
and Kim Gamble.
Published by Allen & Unwin. Illustrations: Kim Gamble. www.tashibooks.com
