We've curated a list of some truly wonderful and entertaining bug books for kids ages 4 to 99. We've also included the game Bug Bingo, and it's the bees-knees.
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Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Ages 4-8, Ages 9-12, Book Lists, Nature, Science, Butterflies, Bugs, featured, DK Publishing, Animal Books, National Geographic Children's Books, Nature Studies, Sterling Children's Books, Environment & Ecology, Detective Books, Bugs & Spiders, Princeton Architectural Press, Nancy Honovich, Backyard Books, Books About Flies, Charlotte Caldwell, Christine Berrie, Darlyne Murawski, Kathrina Iris, Maggie Li, Rachel Elizabeth Cole, Tangled Oak Press, University of South Carolina Press, Add a tag
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JacketFlap tags: featured, Boyds Mills Press, Geology, Animal Books, Nature Studies, Environment & Ecology, Speed Interview, Daniel Levitin, Donald Kroodsma, Jeff Sayre, Kenn Kaufman, Kim Kaufman, Liz Cunningham, Ages 4-8, Ages 9-12, Science, Chapter Books, Author Interviews, April Pulley Sayre, Add a tag
Which five words best describe The Slowest Book Ever? April Pulley Sayre: Chewy science for wondrous pondering.
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JacketFlap tags: Q&A, Adam Gopnik, Nature Studies, Ian Frazier, Lauren Redniss, Elizabeth Kolbert, Christiane Ritter, Stephen J. Pyne, Add a tag
Describe your latest book. My new book, Thunder and Lightning, is about weather and humankind through the ages. How did the last good book you read end up in your hands, and why did you read it? I'm reading Ian Frazier's On the Rez, which was given to me by a friend. Fantastic book. Aside [...]
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JacketFlap tags: Francesca Lia Block, Lists, Biology, Brian Lies, Janell Cannon, Diane Ackerman, Randall Jarrell, Nature Studies, Frank Herbert, Bill Schutt, Jack Couffer, Thomas H. Kunz, Zachary Thomas Dodson, Add a tag
Bats are a much-maligned animal. Long thought of as creepy or evil or diseased, a closer look reveals that the wide variety of bat species also possess an amazing array of attributes and perform all sorts of vital ecological roles: from pollinating bananas and mangoes to eating so many insects every night that they save [...]
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JacketFlap tags: Ages 4-8, Ages 9-12, Winter, Picture Books, Snow, Nature, Science, featured, Animal Books, Winslow Homer, Jim Arnosky, Roger Tory Peterson, Audubon, Nature Studies, Seasonal: Holiday Books, Illustration Inspiration, Sterling Children's Books, Environment & Ecology, Polar Animals, Natural History Books, Bob Kuhn, Bruno Liljefors, Charles Tunnicliffe, Add a tag
Artist and naturalist Jim Arnosky has been honored for his overall contribution to literature for children by the Eva L. Gordon Award and the Washington Post/Children’s Book Guild Award for nonfiction. His latest book is "Frozen Wild."
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JacketFlap tags: Botany, Nature Studies, Shelf Talkers, Staff Pick, Thor Hanson, Add a tag
With playful and elegant prose, conservation biologist Hanson takes on something so small but so powerful: the mighty seed. What begins as an exasperated attempt to break open a seemingly impenetrable seed shell leads to an in-depth exploration of the origins, functions, and human exploitations of these incredible little vessels of life. Books mentioned in [...]
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JacketFlap tags: Books for Girls, Animal Books, Girl Detectives, Nature Studies, Environment & Ecology, Out, Detective Books, Pipsie Nature Detective Series, Rick DeDonato, Tracy Bishop, Ages 4-8, Picture Books, Nature, Add a tag
PIPSIE and Alfred solve the mysteries of nature, and show kids how to solve them, too.
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JacketFlap tags: Girl Detectives, Nature Studies, Detective Books, Pipsie Nature Detective Series, Rick DeDonato, Tracy Bishop, Giveaways, Nature, Add a tag
Enter to win a copy of Pipsie, Nature Detective: The Disappearing Caterpillar, written by Rick DeDonato and illustrated by Tracy Bishop. Giveaway begins March 30, 2015, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends April 29, 2015, at 11:59 P.M. PST.
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JacketFlap tags: Ornithology, Nature Studies, Shelf Talkers, Staff Pick, Helen Macdonald, Add a tag
Shocked by her father's unexpected death, lifelong falconer Helen Macdonald decides to take on training the fearsome goshawk, considered amongst the most difficult birds to train. This beautifully written and touching memoir traverses the obscure world of falconry to living through grief, ending up in a place of hope and recovery. Books mentioned in this [...]
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JacketFlap tags: Ages 4-8, Non-Fiction, Nature, Photography, Bugs, Author Showcase, Nature Studies, J.C. Donaho, Add a tag
J.C. Donaho is a photography hobbyist that has combined his career in animal welfare and biomedical research, to create an early reader book well suited for young naturalists.
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JacketFlap tags: Ages 4-8, Picture Books, Math, Science, Animals, Counting, featured, Numbers, Lola Schaefer, Animal Books, Nature Studies, Geoff Waring, Add a tag
This whimsical and educational book combines a love for both animals and numbers, which makes it a great way to get animal lovers excited about math while giving them the opportunity to learn more about the individual animals as well.
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JacketFlap tags: Gardening, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature Studies, Original Essays, Annik Lafarge, Doug Tallamy, Douglas Tallamy, Rick Darke, Add a tag
Last week while looking through a bathroom window, I spotted a male towhee foraging in the leafy ground layer of our garden. Melinda and I delight in the birds that share our home habitat, and over the years, as our place has become more wooded, the avian diversity has continually increased. The towhee meant a [...]
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JacketFlap tags: Nature Studies, Shelf Talkers, Staff Pick, David Allen Sibley, Birds, Ornithology, Add a tag
If, like me, you tuck binoculars under the driver's seat, then you know rock-star naturalist David Allen Sibley. But even if you can't tell a chickadee from a Carolina wren, you should still buy this hefty guide (if only to drool over Sibley's gorgeous illustrations). Books mentioned in this post The Sibley Guide to Birds, [...]
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JacketFlap tags: Pacific Northwest, Nature Studies, Shelf Talkers, Staff Pick, Robert Michael Pyle, Biography, Add a tag
Pyle beautifully and poetically captures both time and place in this collection of essays. Village life and nature entwine in Gray's River, a tiny hamlet in rural southwest Washington, as Pyle meditates on the cycles of human, flora, and fauna. At once an accounting of both a year in passing as well as a simpler [...]
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JacketFlap tags: Pacific Northwest, Nature Studies, Benjamin Hoff, Opal Whiteley, Book News, Biography, Biology, Add a tag
The nature diaries of Opal Whiteley are amazing for their magical, wide-eyed descriptions of forest and farm life. Raised on a Willamette Valley settlement in the early 20th century, Whiteley claimed to write this diary on scraps of paper at the age of six. Though her claims were disputed both in her lifetime and after, [...]
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JacketFlap tags: Biography, Botany, Nature Studies, Shelf Talkers, Staff Pick, Ruth Kassinger, Add a tag
A lively botanical excursion: from the world's largest pumpkin to a truly black petunia, this is a delightful romp through the world of plants. Books mentioned in this post A Garden of Marvels: How We... Ruth Kassinger Used Hardcover $21.00
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JacketFlap tags: Lyanda Lynn Haupt, Nature Studies, Original Essays, William McDonough, Environmental Studies, Add a tag
A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Michael Toms for the iconic New Dimensions radio show. Toms, often called the Socrates of Radio, showed up for the interview with a legal pad that was completely filled with tiny handwritten notes and queries about my book Crow Planet. He knew [...]
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JacketFlap tags: Taxidermy, Nature Studies, Shelf Talkers, Staff Pick, Add a tag
Taxidermy has been a particular fascination of mine ever since I was a small child. My family's favorite pizza parlor was covered with nature's lifeless bounty, as was Marsh's Free Museum in Long Beach, Washington, where we had a beach house. With Jake the Alligator Man as a close personal friend, it is no wonder [...]
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JacketFlap tags: Nature Studies, Shelf Talkers, Philip Connors, Staff Pick, Add a tag
Every summer Philip Connors runs away from home. He spends half the year in a remote fire lookout savoring the solitude and the joy of monotasking. His wonderful book, Fire Season, will make you want to quit your job, sell the house, and find your own little piece of wilderness. You've been warned. Books mentioned [...]
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JacketFlap tags: Staff Pick, Robert Michael Pyle, Nature Studies, Shelf Talkers, Add a tag
Nature can seem remote and disconnected from daily life. But it doesn't have to be. All you need is a sense of wonder, kindled easily enough by this wonderful book. With insatiable curiosity, a poet's keen eye, and a deep concern for every form and facet of life, these essays romp and root through subjects [...]
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JacketFlap tags: Nature Studies, Shelf Talkers, Staff Pick, Robert Michael Pyle, Add a tag
The Tangled Bank is a collection of writings by local naturalist Robert Michael Pyle from the respected social and environmental magazine Orion. Far-reaching in subject matter, from conservation to beer to banana slugs, The Tangled Bank breathes excitement on the seemingly "mundane" and allows us to (re)visit the world around us with fresh eyes and [...]
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JacketFlap tags: Jack Nisbet, Botany, World History, Pacific Northwest, Nature Studies, Original Essays, Add a tag
When we were growing up, my brother and I devoured all kinds of science fiction. One moment we were waiting at the comic book store for the new pulp installment of the "slow glass" series; the next we spent trying to break down the radioactive process behind a B movie that allowed giant ants to [...]
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JacketFlap tags: Outdoors, Pacific Northwest, Nature Studies, Shelf Talkers, Staff Pick, Jon Bell, Add a tag
Some 50 miles southeast of Portland lies the highest peak in the state of Oregon: Mount Hood, a 700,000-year-old stratovolcano. The fourth tallest in the Cascade range (around 11,240 feet high), Mount Hood is currently rated fourth by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in terms of "size and potential damage of an eruption." There is, [...]
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JacketFlap tags: Dr. Sally Hodson, Whales, Author Showcase, Nature Studies, Ann Jones, Add a tag
Author Showcase
The Children’s Book Review
Published: August 31, 2012
—A Children’s Book About Orcas Whales—
How 100 Year-Old Granny Leads her Clan
Granny’s Clan: A Tale of Wild Orcas
By Dr. Sally Hodson
Illustrated by Ann Jones
ISBN: 978-1-58469-172-3 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-58469-171-6 (hardback)
Ages 4 to 10, fully illustrated, 32 pages
There is a 100 year-old hero living in the deep blue sea of the Pacific Northwest. She is a 7,000-pound great grandmother and an awesome athlete. She has successfully led her beleaguered clan through very tough times, and is their undisputed leader. Meet Granny, an orca (or killer whale), the hero portrayed by a whale expert in a new children’s picture book, Granny’s Clan: A Tale of Wild Orcas.
Based on actual orca (killer whale) research, this book combines science with the real story of how family, friendship, and a grandmother’s love are helping this magnificent but endangered orca clan to survive.
Author Dr. Sally Hodson, formerly executive director of The Whale Museum in Friday Harbor, Washington, is uniquely qualified to tell this tale. And she tells it from the perspective of two young real-life cousin whales in Granny’s clan.
Illustrator Ann Jones lives on the shore of Orcas Island, Washington, and also knows the whales well. Working with pastels in vibrant color, she was careful to show the whales with their unique fins and color patches so that they are individually identifiable.
Granny babysits, plays with her great-grandchildren, and teaches them much like a human granny would do. The whales have a language with dialects, share food, care for each other, and have traditions that are carried on for generations. “As the matriarch of her clan, Granny carries the critical knowledge needed by her family to survive. She is the heartbeat and the wisdom-keeper for her clan,” says Hodson.
“Once we feared orcas and shot them. Then we became intrigued and captured them to entertain us in marine parks. Next we studied them and found that they are unique individuals who live complex social lives with their families. Now they are endangered and we are trying to save them from threats we created in our shared environment. During the century of her life, Granny has experienced the entire range of human behaviors towards orcas. Yet, unlike many other elders of her clan, she approaches boats and the humans who watch her.
Once Granny swam right alongside the boat Hodson was on. “She lifted her head above
water and held that position while she looked right at me. Making eye contact with a one-hundred year old orca is an experience that cannot be described.”
Granny’s Clan uses actual incidents as the basis for the story. For example, Hodson learned from the captain of a whale-watching ship of a time when the clan was resting close to shore, swimming closely together as they typically do when “asleep.” But two young whale’s weren’t ready for sleep. They were breaching and making lots of noise! So Granny dove down and called the young ones to her, as could be heard on the ship’s hydrophone. She “sang” to them and evidently told them to rest—because all three soon resurfaced and rested quietly!
Hodson was intimately involved in the 2002 rescue and release of Springer, a young and undernourished whale lost in Puget Sound. With huge public support and cooperation among agencies, the young whale was successfully re-united with her clan.
Hodson has also personally received an orca courtesy. While on a kayaking trip, she found herself in the path of Granny’s clan. With their dorsal fins showing, the clan was moving, and she was in the way. Although she tried to paddle close to shore to get out of their path, she suddenly saw that a tall male dorsal fin was headed straight for her kayak. But then the whale saw her, and gently and quietly slid beneath the surface and passed underneath her. “I was traveling in his home environment and he responded with gentleness and respect,” she said.
Hodson, who lives on Orcas Island, Washington, received her doctorate in education in 1979 from the University of Colorado, with a focus on environmental education, ecology, and animal behavior, and worked as a marine naturalist for several years. Detailed information about orcas is in Granny’s Clan as well as on her website, www.sallyhodson.com. Simultaneously with the release of the book, Hodson is also providing numerous free lesson plans and resources for teachers and parents on the publisher’s website, www.dawnpub.com.
Ann Jones is a retired elementary school teacher who has always had a close tie to nature. When she and her husband moved to 20 acres of land in California they planted 40,000 tree seedlings that are now tall trees. In 1992 they retired to Orcas Island where she noticed every detail about the orca whales. “I know how the water moves to make room for them as they dive down or come to the surface. I know how the mist tucks next to the islands in the distance.” She took up her interest in art in a big way. Her pastel paintings are now well known. She has completing commissioned works as well as gallery paintings.
Jones was just getting ready to start painting Granny for this book when she heard the distinctive sound of orcas exhaling. She ran to the shore and there was part of the clan, only about 20 feet away. What an auspicious start!
The Author Showcase is a place for authors and illustrators to gain visibility for their works. This article was provided by the author. Learn more …
Original article: Granny’s Clan: A Tale of Wild Orcas
©2012 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.
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JacketFlap tags: Science, Animals, Joyce Sidman, Award Winners: Books with Honors, Ages Nine to Twelve: Books for Third Through Sixth Grade, Sweet Dreams: Books sweet enough for bed time, Picture Book - Wordless, Environment & Ecology: Earth conscience, Nature Studies, Ages Four to Eight: Books for Pre-School Through Second Grade, Add a tag
Add this book to your collection: Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman
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