new posts in all blogs
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: animals, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 25 of 1,689
How to use this Page
You are viewing the most recent posts tagged with the words: animals in the JacketFlap blog reader. What is a tag? Think of a tag as a keyword or category label. Tags can both help you find posts on JacketFlap.com as well as provide an easy way for you to "remember" and classify posts for later recall. Try adding a tag yourself by clicking "Add a tag" below a post's header. Scroll down through the list of Recent Posts in the left column and click on a post title that sounds interesting. You can view all posts from a specific blog by clicking the Blog name in the right column, or you can click a 'More Posts from this Blog' link in any individual post.
Over the past few weeks, we have experienced a lot of showers and storms rolling through the Mount Pleasant area. Lucky for us, we have been busy inside the office, but it brings up the question what happens to the animals during or after a storm?
A recent news article from FOX 25 in Oklahoma City discusses one organization, Wild Care Oklahoma, that has taken in over 700 animals since the end of May. Wild Care has stepped in to provide care for many animals directly affected by the damaging tornadoes, many of which were babies. The recent storms hit during the peak of “baby” season. This left many young animals orphaned in the aftermath of the tornadoes. A litter of skunks, two racoons, and species of birds, turtles, coyotes, and foxes have been taken in by Wild Care after the destructive storms hit. The organization’s Facebook page frequently posts pictures and videos of their in treatment or newly released animals each day. I highly recommend checking out this page and all the adorable animal babies! You can also check-out ways to help Wild Care or their upcoming events.
Also, Author Patti R. Zelch in her book Ready, Set…Wait!, illustrated by Connie McLennan, gives insight into what happens to animals during storms. This picture book follows nine different wild animals as they sense, prepare, and react to an approaching hurricane. Definitely a good read for a rainy day inside!
Link to the Wild Care Oklahoma Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/WildCareOklahoma
Wishing everyone a good day and stay dry wherever you are!
If you were eleven years old, would you pass up a trip to India with your parents to visit your relatives and instead choose to stay with an uncle on a small island off the coast of Washington State? The girl in this book, Poppy Ray, does exactly that. Her uncle is a veterinarian and Poppy thinks that she wants to be a vet when she grows up. She even has her own veterinarian medical kit which she takes with her. Unfortunately, when she actually gets there, she finds out that it is a lot tougher than she thought it would be. Her uncle is great and she loves the animals but she finds out that the sight of blood makes her sick and she has some trouble with the owners of the pets.
There are heartwarming moments and heartbreaking moments and some wonderful characters in this book. How do you think Poppy will do with the trials and tribulations of a busy veterinarian’s office? I guess you will have to read it for yourself to find out!
Posted by: Fran W.
Author: Palmer Brown
Publisher: The New York Review Children’s Collection
Genre: Children
ISBN: 978-1-59017-627-6
Pages: 56
Price: $14.95
Author’s website
Buy it at Amazon
Hickory lives with his siblings, Dickory and Dock, in the foot of clock. Living in the farm house is warm and safe, especially once he discovers how to disable mousetraps. But as he grows up, he becomes curious about the outside world, and one day he makes the choice to move to the field.
His family is supportive of his decision to strike out into the world, but once he arrives there, Hickory discovers he’s lonely. A grasshopper named Hope saves him from a cat, and the two become best friends. But, although mice can survive through winter, grasshoppers can’t, and the days soon grow colder.
Hickory is a delightful tale of friendship, in the tradition of Charlotte’s Web. Illustrations are in the old style of colorized pen and ink. The sad ending is a reminder to not take our loved ones for granted, and to enjoy every moment we have with them. I highly recommend this charming book.
Reviewer: Alice Berger
Author: Mary Packard
Illustrator: Lisa McCue
Publisher: Sterling Children’s Books
Genre: Children
ISBN: 978-1-4027-7230-6
Pages: 24
Price: $7.95
Buy it at Amazon
Little Raccoon has some nice things, and she keeps them to herself. When she is out collecting flowers, she makes sure she gets plenty, and she never shares. But one day as she gathers berries, she overhears her friends talking while she hides in the bushes, making sure to keep her basket to herself. They are having a party, and everyone will bring something.
Little Raccoon goes home and tells her mother, who suggests she should bring berry muffins to the party. When Little Raccoon arrives, her friends are thrilled to see her, and happy with the muffins. And they in turn offer her some of their own goodies. Little Raccoon now understands that sometimes it’s nice to share with her friends because it makes them happy, and they will share back.
It would be easy to turn this cute story into something preachy, but author Mary Packard has skillfully avoided this pitfall. Instead she shows kids the benefits of sharing, while the refusal to share only leads to feeling lonely and left out. Lisa McCue’s illustrations are bright and cheerful, and the animals are adorable. This feel-good story will be a hit with kids, while teaching them a valuable lesson.
Reviewer: Alice Berger
By:
Roberta Baird,
on 5/29/2013
Blog:
A Mouse in the House
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
a mouse in the house,
artwork,
children's illustration,
illustration,
roberta baird,
sketches,
animals,
bunny,
children's book art,
houston,
portfolio,
Random Sketches,
sketch,
Texas,
www.robertabaird.com,
Add a tag
Speaking of books, nice segue huh?
It’s going to be beautiful when it’s done. I’m really proud of what it’s shaping up to be, but sometimes you just have to take a break and sketch a bunny.
A bunny with a floral head dress. Because…. well she’s what popped out of my pencil!
Author: Rena Cherry Brown
Illustrator: Mikaila Maidment
Publisher: Schiffer Books
Genre: Children
ISBN: 978-0-7643-4155-7
Pages: 48
Price: $16.99
Author’s website
Schiffer Books
Buy it at Amazon
Lee’s mother is trapped in a fishing net while he’s still small, and suddenly he’s an orphan. When a rescue boat comes through, they bring him to the aquarium, where he meets other otters. But life in the aquarium is no fun when a bully named Brody steals all the food and attention.
One night an earthquake strikes, and all the otters are dumped in the bay. Lee is the only one who knows how to survive, and he tells them what to do until help arrives. But Brody has other ideas, and soon finds himself in trouble. Now, Lee needs to make some decisions. Does he help Brody? And does he return to the aquarium?
Otter Lee Brave is a cute story focusing on several difficult issues, through the eyes of this young otter. He faces the loss of his mother, the meanness of a bully, and an earthquake, which all challenge him to deal with these problems as best he can. But it’s his bravery that saves them all, and earns him the respect of a female otter that befriends him at the end.
Reviewer: Alice Berger
Fourteen years to the day yesterday, Sarah arrived. The neighbor dog who liked to wander the neighborhood, a sweet golden retriever who didn’t appear to like her own home, brought a stray Sarah right to our door. We were living in Pennsylvania in our first house. It had a huge grassy lawn Bill had to mow, and a spacious fenced-in yard that was plenty of room for the dog family. Sarah was thin and appeared to have just had babies, was skittish and nervous. She was young, about two years old, and appeared to be dropped off in the country to wander. She immediately took to our other beagle, Lilibeth, and they ran around in the grass and played. She was a mixture of sweet and a handful those early days. Bill said the famous words we now laugh at its absurdity, “On Monday we will take her to the shelter.” Monday arrived and it was too late. Sarah was already becoming a family member.
We learned more about her. She barked at everything. And I mean, every little outside sound. The one neighbor across the street, a cranky old man, complained. I jumped every time she barked knowing he would make some noise. She hated the car. And that’s an understatement. She’d navigate in a state of panic the seat to the floor to your lap and always lost her bowels at a point in the trip you couldn’t pull other. (I don’t miss those days). I still have a lasting scar on my leg from one car trip of her gripping down in terror. Lilibeth, once she decided Sarah was her sister, now didn’t like her and they competed like two sisters would. (I think Lilibeth wanted to be THE beagle girl of the house.)
Surprisingly, Sarah did fine on our one-way trip in a RV with the rest of her animal siblings to live in Arizona, and then her adventures really began. I have the funniest stories about Sarah and her curiosity and courageousness. The first place we rented was a tiny trailer we were not fond of. Lucy, our basset hound, got along well with Sarah, but perhaps, from the stress of the move they had a little tiff. Lucy had grabbed ahold of Sarah’s ear and if you know anything about dog ears, they are big bleeders. Because it itched, Sarah shook her head and zoomed around the tiny trailer in a panic. When we came home, we found what looked like a murder crime scene. There was blood on walls, floors, furniture; all from one ear. Sarah looked at me, looked at all the blood, and telepathically I heard her panicked voice, “Am I dying?”
Several years later, when we lived in our beloved Rio Mesa house in Cottonwood, Sarah liked to wander up the hill to visit a cute, male black labrador, and on one occasion came home looking like a pincushion. Apparently, she had a fight with a cactus that got in her way. The veterinarian spent most of her afternoon pulling needles out of strange places on Sarah, including her tongue.
I watched once in my own panic Sarah run into the road and a car slammed its brakes. She stood in the road and barked at that car for five minutes, telling it off. How dare it be in her way just like that cactus!
When Sarah could see she loved to play frisbee “flippee floppy” with her dad. She was expert at catching very high throws. But what I always thought was so remarkable about her is when I came to watch the game, she always made sure I was part of the fun. Bill would throw her the frisbee, she’d retrieve it and run back to me to give me a turn. Then she’d give it to Bill. She never wants anyone to feel left out, perhaps like she felt with her first family before us.
Our little family hit some seriously bad times when we grew and moved to another town in Arizona. I remember stumbling out of bed in the middle of the night, making my way to the floor in another room to just kneel and cry. It was one of those dark night of the soul evenings when I was truly miserable and broken do. As the rest of the family slept, Sarah woke up and followed over to me. She cuddled me close the rest of the night trying to take away my tears. We became bonded for life in that moment — my dog best friend and I.
A few years back when I restarted my life, it was just me and Emma and Sarah (and the birds and Speedy) to fend on our own. Sarah was already getting very old, had lost her sight, and then had her battle with Vestibular Syndrome, which left her head stuck in a permanent cock to the right perhaps mirroring her natural curious state she still carries. She surprised me many times over with her stamina in spite of her health issues. She’d bump into walls zipping around the house, and still does. The neighbor kids would watch me walk the Girls and always say, “Wow. She’s really old.” I could feel her grimace beside me. Sarah sees herself as a puppy inside. Her kindness and sweetness have grown even more in her elder state, she’s ever vigilant about watching over both me and Emma.
And now we are winding down in our journey. She’s over sixteen years old and the vet discovered in spite of her holistic diet and herbs, she now has liver cancer. It’s her exit illness; I know that. I hear her now often in my head — we are constantly communicating. She worries about both Emma and myself, how we will do when she’s not physically here for us. I worry about that too. She’s been a constant in my life and part of my support system and family. My foundation is being uprooted. I don’t know how I would have survived my last few years without the love and companionship of Emma and Sarah, my dogters. But I know her body can’t keep this up. She’s tired and I hate seeing her suffer at all. In spite of her pain, on her good days, that Sarah curiosity gets her stuck behind toilets, or under table chairs. She still wants to walk with us on some days even though she drags along. On days I think this is it, she surprises me with a burst of crazy energy. She tells me to stay close. I know with no doubt I will, even when she is in spirit and I can’t touch her soft fur I took care of for so long.
I don’t know what I will do when she crosses over to be with Foxy, Lilibeth, Jake Jake, my Mom and grandmother, and a slew of birds she knew. She will be in great company and I know they will take good care of her. Then she will be like the rest of them, popping in now and then to give advice or to nag, or maybe even give a little spirit hug. But for now, she is here on the physical plane, right beside me, with a few leaves stuck to her paws from some crazy adventure she just had on the back deck. I am sure later in the day, I will find her stuck under the table again, trying to find a quick way to get around the chairs. Thanks to Sarah I am learning my biggest lesson. I am in the moment, which I never am. I am either back there or in the future.
Love you Sarah. It’s been a privilege to be a dog mom to such a devoted and courageous spirit, and I will enjoy every minute now.
When the new stationery layouts landed in my mailbox a few weeks ago, I knew the "Thank You" card was trouble. I can't say why, but while the rest of them had little sparks of inspiration all over the edges, this card was a big, blank space. I left it for last and moved on with the rest of my work…
If you follow me on Twitter, you know I have a son, Elia or E. as most of my online friends know him. He will be 8 in July. He's curious, imaginative and won't take an easy answer. His questions demand spectacular revelations or something vague and mysterious enough to leave him thinking for a while.
You don't have to be a parent to work as a picture book illustrator. I've always lived the two things separately. For a long time, the illustrating process was just my own big ego trip. It was me, my 6 year old-self and sometimes, a more feminine version of Gaia appearing in my drawings. Then as E. grew older, I started to listen more. Not only he has a lot of questions, but has opinions, plans and most of all, stories!
Two weeks ago, I was finishing a big illustration and part of it was the image of a cycle. I won't go into details, but I had this flat circle and I was trying to avoid using arrows, while giving the idea of movement. Another blank space, no spark at all…
E. asked what it was and I told him the blue circle was water with different life stages of a sea creature. He looked at the screen for a while then pointing his finger and moving it around, said: "Like water in the bath tub". Boom! It was under my nose. A whirlpool!
As I solved this puzzle, I also had an idea for the Thank You card. The old robot needed new batteries and a new spark. A small explorer arrived to help. I had more fun designing this, than any other card in the group. I wasn't reaching out to the princess I've never been as a child, but to a little boy with golden wings.
There are so many things I don't do anymore, now that I am a parent. In the past I used to travel a lot and everything was a little bit easier and more adventurous. I could take risks. These thoughts only lasts a little minute though. Most of the time I'm too busy finding a good answer to the many questions I receive:
- Is a "brown dwarf" a sad star? The guy on tv says it's a star without light, a failed star...
- Is Mercury cold or entirely covered with olives? Not trees, just olives.
- If Mothra lands on our house, will my Flytrap plant be enough to fight it off?
- I think Dante the Elephant has a small phone book, do you know why?
- Do you keep cosmic piranhas in your socks drawer?
- Do you know the cartoonist who draws this comic? Really? Let's send him a note saying "Dude, you're awesome!"
- Would you rather have a daimon or a backpack with tentacles? Answer carefully, both are very cool, but you can have only one!
I don't think you must be a parent to illustrate or write picture books, but if you have one of these creativity bombs walking around your house, listen. Give answers, ask question, but mostly listen. They have opinions, unexpected solutions, silly plans and most of all, they love a good story as much as you do.
By:
Roberta Baird,
on 5/25/2013
Blog:
A Mouse in the House
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
cat on a wire,
houston,
tension,
Texas,
www.robertabaird.com,
a mouse in the house,
artwork,
mission impossible,
children's illustration,
digital art,
IF,
illustration,
Illustration Friday,
roberta baird,
animals,
cat,
Add a tag
Proof that cats do indeed watch television.
After his people watched the entire “Mission Impossible” weekend marathon, Miles, wanting to get “in touch” with the wild feline within and sneak up on his food, took the matter into his own hands.
If only he hadn’t miscalculated the height from the kitchen light to the floor, he’d be in kibble heaven right now!
We are excited to launch Common Core IRL: In Real Libraries, a new series with Kid Lit Frenzy, Great Kid Books, and 100 Scope Notes. Today we're exploring several books about frogs written for a range of readers. Our goal is to help libraries build their nonfiction collections as they support teachers in the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. Head over to these blogs to read
By:
Roberta Baird,
on 5/17/2013
Blog:
A Mouse in the House
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
octopus,
Texas,
www.robertabaird.com,
children's illustration,
digital art,
IF,
illustration,
Illustration Friday,
roberta baird,
animals,
children's book art,
houston,
liquid,
a mouse in the house,
artwork,
Add a tag
Gurggggggle swish…. slluuuuudge glump.… thorp…. bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop…..
Dogs on Duty : Soldiers’
Best Friends on the Battlefield and Beyond
By Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
Walker & Company. 2012
ISBN: 9780802728456
Grades 2 – 5
To write this review, I checked a copy of
the book out of my local public library.
Dogs are man’s best friend. We’ve
reached for the tissues when reading Finding Zasha (Barrow), Cracker!
: The best dog in Vietnam (Kadohata), Letters from
especially to all the animal moms out there
By:
Eric Orchard,
on 5/9/2013
Blog:
Eric Orchard
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
birds,
drawing,
animals,
squirrel,
mandolin,
boats,
pencil,
nature,
Nova Scotia,
music,
prints,
fantasy,
fox,
illustration,
Add a tag
Another peek at my new print, coming soonish! It's all done, inked, coloured etc. and ready to print.
Author: Jennifer Keats Curtis
Publisher: Sylvan Dell Publishing
Genre: Children / Animals
ISBN: 978-1-60718-6236
Pages: 32
Price: $9.95
Author’s website
Buy it at Amazon
What happens to wild animals when they are no longer wild? Sometimes people keep exotic pets until they get too big, and then they need to find a new home for them. Other animals become injured and no longer able to fend for themselves. These animals can be cared for in animal sanctuaries.
Animal Helpers: Sanctuaries is a photographic journey to some of the sanctuaries providing homes for wild animals in the United States. Sharing some of the animals’ stories, it explains how they came to be living there and what kind of care they are receiving. Animals need food, shelter, veterinary care, and even mental stimulation and enrichment, and all of these are offered to them in the sanctuaries.
In a perfect world, all wild animals would roam freely, with no need of sanctuaries. But these safe havens give some animals a second chance at life, even though they won’t be living in their natural habitat. This interesting and informative book explains the importance of sanctuaries in caring for wild animals who can no longer return to the wild.
Reviewer: Alice Berger
It's May already and I forgot about the blog, I gave up on a new portfolio site for now and on Tumblr. I have been working a lot though, so hopefully this is a good excuse!
This is an old drawing, maybe some of you will remember it. It started as a watercolour and traditional collage and was then forgotten on my old external hard drive. I found it and heavily reworked it in Photoshop. The original never really met my expectations, but now she's quite a character. Maybe, she has a story to tell. For now we're both enjoying the rain, hoping spring will last a little longer...
Read the rest of this post
By: David D Bernstein,
on 4/28/2013
Blog:
Children's Books, and Other Cool Stuff
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Young adult,
boys and girls.,
interview,
adventure,
and new books.,
butterflies,
animals,
Children books,
discovering yourself,
eternal life,
Experience,
family,
and love,
2013,
Middle Grade,
Add a tag
Welcome all to my first Author Spotlight feature where you will get a chance to meet a well known author and learn about the writing process.
Interview
1) What were your favorite children books, when you were growing up?
I read practically every Nancy Drew there was, plus Harriet the Spy, The Little White Horse, and I gobbled up all of Phyllis Whitney’s mysteries, A Wrinkle in Time, etc. I could go on, but I won’t. Basically, I read a book a day all during elementary school. Maybe that’s why I love writing for the middle-grade audience.
2) What was the inspiration behind writing your book?
Several things! The magical, mysterious world of butterflies . . . spooky Louisiana swamps, old plantation houses, islands in the South Pacific . . . and a girl who is connected to all those things through her Grammy Claire.
I love mysteries; too, as you can tell from my childhood favorite books, and I wanted to try my hand at writing an actual mystery that didn’t have ghosts or paranormal elements. Just a girl with a brain and secret letters and keys in a mysterious house, trying to help her grandmother who died in an untimely way and who slowly gives her secrets from beyond the grave to figure out the people who are trying to destroy these unusual butterflies.
It was also very rewarding to write about a very smart and very cool grandmother because I never knew my own grandmothers, (and I hope I can be a very cool grandma too someday!).
3) How many Drafts and rejections did you have before your book was published?
Since this isn’t my first book and it was already under contract to Scholastic through a proposal I sent to my editor, I didn’t have any rejections—but I racked up hundreds in the year’s previous to selling my first book. And, after my first three books were orphaned, and before I landed a three-book contract with Scholastic, I had a period of 8 years where I was writing like crazy, but not selling anything. Rejections come with the territory of publishing. Now I do about 3-5 drafts of a new book, and two more with my editor and one with the copy editor so each book goes through a lot of hand and eyes.
4) Why Butterflies?
Butterflies are inherently mysterious. They start out as a little tiny egg on a leaf, turn into a creepy-crawling green caterpillar, then become a white chrysalis or cocoon – and finally, almost like magic, this gorgeous, colorful creature hatches from a white blob and can FLY! And they look like dancing flowers.
Some of the most fun I had writing this novel was researching the butterfly quotes at the beginning of each chapter and putting them in a spot where they reflected what happened in a particular chapter. But two of the quotes do not come from *famous* or well known scientists or movies. One is from my daughter and the other is from Tara’s Grammy Claire herself.
5) What can "When the Butterflies Came" teach our children?
I write a lot about families with secrets; families who are going through tough times and upheavals and changes—and show how that affects my 11-12 year old main characters. The heart of every story is the knowledge that families are important and they love each other in the end. They can be crazy sometimes, but their core belief is that they work together despite difficult and heart-wrenching events. They stand up for each other, pull together, and can come through hard times stronger than ever.
6) Can you see your book on the Big Screen?
Not yet - and movie rights are still available! I’m hoping Hollywood—or even some small director—will hear my secret wish, or discover my book when his child brings it home from the library or the Scholastic Book Fair. . . a director that has always loved butterflies and falls in love with my book. I can always dream, right?
7) What future book plans do you have?
I just turned in my fourth manuscript to my editor at Scholastic for publication summer of 2014. She’s reading it now while I wait chewing my fingernails that she will like it and I won’t have to shred it and start all over (that’s actually happened to me before so I know first-hand how crazy-making it can be). This new book is middle-grade as well and has time slipping and a cursed doll and a girl who lives in an antique store.
Fall of 2014 will be my Young Adult debut with Harpercollins for a book I’ve been researching and writing for nearly ten years so I’m pretty thrilled about finally selling it. It’s an ancient Middle Eastern story about the roots of belly dance in the women’s world, including goddess temples, tribal warfare, camels, and frankincense.
Thank you so much, David, for a great interview and featuring me on your blog!
Here are a few links for your readers:
http://www.kimberleygriffithslittle.com/(I have some awesome book trailers on my website on the Home Page with on location filming in the swamps as well as original music by some friends of mine. Scholastic liked the one for
The Healing Spell so well; they commissioned the music to put on their website.)
Twitter: @KimberleyGLittl
By:
Roberta Baird,
on 4/26/2013
Blog:
A Mouse in the House
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
a mouse in the house,
artwork,
children's illustration,
digital art,
IF,
illustration,
Illustration Friday,
roberta baird,
animals,
children's book art,
houston,
mouse,
Texas,
Add a tag
Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depths of love. ~George Eliot
By:
Ellis Nadler,
on 3/20/2013
Blog:
Ellis Nadler's Sketchbook
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
man,
glasses,
iPad,
death,
hair,
cartoon,
words,
music,
drawing,
Nadler,
red,
animals,
Add a tag
Another page from my
Memoirs.
Paper53 on iPad. Click to enlarge.
by Lucy Cooke
Margaret K. McElderry Books 2013
This non-fiction book, ostensibly for kids, should forever change the synonym for sloth from "lazy" to "cute."
Many decades ago when I first learned about sloths and their sloth-like behavior they seemed to me a perfect insult. Calling someone a slug was up there but there was nothing that rolled off the tongue quite like "move it, you sloth!"
Sometimes your bad reputation precedes you, and it doesn’t matter what you do – you will be the one to get in trouble every time! That is exactly what happens in Here Comes Trouble! Our main character, Toby the dog, does not like cats – not slinky cats or spunky cats or snooty cats or snobby cats – not ANY cats. He thinks cats can just do whatever they want and NEVER get in trouble, including the cat who lives next door. Toby on the other hand gets into plenty of trouble and always seem be getting caught.
When the neighbor cat Pandora comes to stay and everyone thinks she is simply perfect, Toby knows better. He sees when she scratches up the sofa, and when she claws the curtains, and when she leaps up on the kitchen counter and samples the cake and simply prances off licking her whiskers. The trouble is, no one else ever notices, and so when Pandora gets herself into real trouble by climbing up a tree and getting stuck, Toby is the only one who can come to her rescue. He tries to bark to tell someone, but they just tell him to be quiet; he tries to run circles around the tree to get them to notice, but they just tell him to slow down. Finally Toby must use his muddy paws to write the message “CAT IN TREE”, which finally brings help running. In the end, Toby and Pandora find a way to be friends, and to get into trouble TOGETHER, which is always much more fun. This is a very fun read!
Posted by: Mary
The prompt "Urban" made me think of Paris, which reminded me of a story I heard on the radio about french efforts to increase biodiversity in cities.
Goat lawn mowers and bees on rooftops, sign me up!
This week's Illustration Friday topic: Wild
a little hand lettering to celebrate the explosion of spring...
By: sylvandellpublishing,
on 4/17/2013
Blog:
Sylvan Dell Publishing's Blog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Sylvan Dell Posts,
animals,
Children's Books,
deductive detective,
deductive reasoning,
detective,
duck,
educational,
educational books,
for creative minds,
fun,
logic,
math,
picture books,
sherlock holmes,
Sylvan Dell,
Add a tag
“Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth,” Sherlock Holmes has said about his method of detective work. In Sylvan Dell’s new picture book, Deductive Detective, our hero Detective Duck shows that he’s learned from the best! He dons his best deerstalker hat, his much-too-big magnifying glass, and solves the case of the missing cake with the same methods the pros use!
That is, a style of logical thinking called “deductive reasoning.” In deductive reasoning, someone finds an answer they’re looking for by first finding out what the answer isn’t. When Detective Duck examines the clues and finds out which of his friends couldn’t have stolen the cake, it leads him closer to what really happened!
Of course, you don’t need a weird hat and a magnifying glass to use deductive reasoning. These methods come in handy every day! If you lose a toy, for example (or car keys), you may make your search easier by determining where the item isn’t.
“Oh yeah,” you may say, “I didn’t bring it to my friend’s house; I wasn’t holding it when I walked to the living room, or landed on the moon. I wouldn’t have brought it to my parents’ room or under the ocean or into Mordor.” By deciding where you shouldn’t look, you now have a better idea of where you should.
This kind of logic process happens throughout the day, sometimes without you even being aware of it; you might say your brain is always on the case as much as any detective!
Apply deductive reasoning the next time you’re in the bookstore: subtract the books that don’t meet the highest educational standards, offer pages of activities and facts, offer online supplements, are fun to look at and fun to read! You’ll be left with books by Sylvan Dell like The Deductive Detective!
By: Brimful Curiosities,
on 4/18/2013
Blog:
Brimful Curiosities
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Crafts,
Book crafts,
2005,
Harcourt Children's,
Book Review,
Imaginative Play,
Printables,
Poetry,
Animals,
Add a tag
As I child, I understood the poetic magic of origami even before I knew the name of the art. One of my great-great aunt's many skills was paper-folding. She could swiftly make an origami bow tie appear out of a paper scrap. That fascinating talent was as magical ability as anything I'd ever witnessed, and it was always an honor to receive one of her tidy, crisp bow ties.
Since it's National Poetry Month, the kids and I picked up a few new poetry books at the library. One picture book we particularly like has an origami theme --
Fold Me a Poem by Kristine O'Connell George, illustrated by Lauren Stinger.
The summary on the copyright page states that the book is "a collection of poems about origami animals." In reality, the
Fold Me a Poem is much more than a collection. The poems, read together in succession, collectively tell a story about an imaginative boy who plays with his origami creations all day long, from the moment he wakes up in the morning until he falls asleep in his bed at night. The short poems are rather like private thoughts as he brings the origami animals to life, folding them into splendid creatures and playing with them afterward: "Forty bright sheets / of colored paper, / a world of animals. / Who will be next?" The animals race each other, hide, and get into trouble. Even the boy's cat joins in the fun, by attacking and injuring a poor pink ostrich during a "wind storm" produced by a fan. The cleverly designed square book has end papers that look like origami paper. In total, the book contains 32 original poems; it does not include instructions for creating origami animals -- however, the illustrator in her end note mentions various book resources.
This poetry book provides wonderful inspiration for showing children how to capture their own thoughts in poetry form on paper! All children need to do to write their own poems is describe their own play. O'Connell's poems are written in many different forms including haiku, apostrophe (poems of address), mask or persona poems, and process poems, making the book a useful springboard for teaching these styles. Lauren Stringer's painted illustrations beautifully accompany the poems and are instrumental in helping the reader visualize the poems. Stringer skillfully captures the origami creatures -- folding origami is hard enough, but painting all the shadows, showing the folds through illustration takes real talent indeed!
As for favorite poems, I adore "Night," a poem that tells how the boy adds his own star to the night sky. My son likes the poem "Tub" mostly because the illustrations for the poem show many of the origami creations waiting for a ride on an origami boat, including a bandaged ostrich. My daughter especially likes "Mystery" because it fully captures the wonder and joy of creating your own origami. Anything, yes, anything is possible with a little imagination.
Fold Me a Poem
by Kristine O'Connell George, illustrated by Lauren Stringer. Harcourt (April 2005); ISBN 9780152025014; 32 pages
Book Source: Borrowed from our local library
I am an Amazon affiliate and may receive a very small commission for products purchased through my Amazon links. (View my full disclosure statement for more information about my reviews.) Related Links:Kristine O'Connell George - Author WebsiteLauren Stringer - Illustrator WebsiteTeacher's Guide - Fold Me A PoemBaby Chick in Egg - Origami and Poem
Today is Poem in Your Pocket Day! When thinking about combining origami and poetry, we chanced upon a verse by the brilliant children's poet, Aileen Fisher. The poem "
Baby Chick" questions how a chick knows its way out of the egg. We've created a neat origami project to go along with the poem (plus the paper egg shell makes a neat, handy pocket to tuck the poem into!)
The directions to fold the chick and egg origami can be found at
http://www.kutchuk.com. The design is made from a single piece of paper. This is an easy, beginner origami project for kids. I created a pdf template with folding guides to make it even easier to fold your own origami if you'd prefer to use that instead. One is full color and the other can be colored-in by a child. Make sure to print with page scaling set to "none" or
unclick "fit to page" so that it doesn't resize the document. Click on the google doc links below to print your own copy (clicking on the image won't work).
To extend the poetry in a pocket idea and fold a poem, you could have your child write the poem on the paper before folding it into the chick/egg shape! Or, if your child can't write, print out the poem and tuck it into the pocket formed by the folded egg shell.
View Next 25 Posts
[…] Otter Lee Brave (bergersbookreviews.com) […]