By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: April 12, 2011
Learning to Nurture Nature
Gardening, recycling, composting, and being at one with nature (including our vanishing honeybees) and all it has to offer; these are great ways to connect young children with our environment and encourage them to nurture our special one-of-a-kind Earth.
Picture Books
Compost Stew
By Mary McKenna Siddals (Author), Ashley Wolff (Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 4-7
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Tricycle Press; 1 edition (March 23, 2010)
Source: Publisher
Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for the Earth uses a clever and entertaining rhyme that, just as the title suggests, gives a great recipe for making compost. All of the ingredients are familiar household products, such as vegetable trimmings, coffee grounds, and oatmeal. At the back of the book the “Chef’s Note” can be found—it’s another witty rhyme all of its own and teaches readers what shouldn’t go in compost. The illustrations, which are rendered in gouache and collage, compliment the tone of the recipe with the use of more familiar recyclable materials.
Add this book to your collection: Compost Stew
Sofia’s Dream
By Land Wilson (Author), Sue Cornelison (Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 4-7
Hardcover: 19 pages
Publisher: Little Pickle Press LLC; 1st edition (November 24, 2010)
Source: Author
Sofia’s Dream was written for the sole purpose of inspiring children to take care of the earth. Beginning with the cover image of an angelic young girl soaring high in the sky, her eyes full of hope and untarnished optimism, a magical tone is set for the story. Wilson’s appreciation for nature and environmental protection shine through in this powerfully uncomplicated picture book.
Add this book to your collection: Sofia’s Dream
Water, Weed, and Wait
By Edith Hope Fine (Author), Angela Halpin (Author), Colleen M. Madden (Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 4-7
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Tricycle Press (August 10, 2010)
Source: Publisher
Gardening requires a little hard work and patience, but the benefits are plentiful. In Water, Weed, Wait, Miss Marigold&rs
Author: Caroline Lazo
Illustrator: Kyrsten Brooker
Published: 2008 Random House (on JOMB)
ISBN: 037583754X
Chapters.ca Amazon.com
Radically textured paint and collage illustrations combine with informative rhyming text as the imagined journeys of a young girl’s cat become an upbeat introduction to the landmarks and traditions of Europe.
Other books mentioned:
More cats on JOMB:
Be sure to pop over to Sarah Reinhard’s blog for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.
You know, I love Poetry Friday. I really, really do. You can post your own poetry--say, about spring, or about (hellish) winter, or about graduation--or you can just post a picture of your cat and link it tangentially to a Poetry Friday book review.*
Today I review a rhyming picture book over at Book Buds for Poetry Friday. The book in question is the utterly fun Someday When My Cat Can Talk, by Caroline Lazo and illustrated by Kyrsten Brooker. In Someday When My Cat Can Talk, the little girl protagonist imagines what her cat would say if he could talk. And, guess what? He takes a witty trip around Europe and has great things to say. Check out this fabulous stanza, which is my Poetry Friday entry:
He'll speak fondly of the snail he met
while camping out near Cannes.
And he'll whisper why she's hiding
from the chef at Cafe Sands.
Oh, snap! That's one smart cat. (And one smart picture book.)
My cat, however, pictured above, is a different sort of animal. I imagine his thought process as follows: Paper! R-i-i-i-i-p! [Blank] What's that sound? Food? [Blank] What's that sound? Food? Food? Food? [Blank] [Blank] [Blank] [Blank] R-i-i-i-i-p!
And, yeah, that's pretty much it for poor Norbert. He's a book killing, pear-shaped, dim witted, sweetheart of a cat. We love him, but he is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
----------------------------------------
* Speaking of original poetry...can I just say that I am getting several hits per day from people searching for "pedicure poems"? I'm honestly truly shocked by this.
----------------------------------------
Also, did you know it's Vampire month? I'll be back in a few hours with a Vampire graphic novel review!
----------------------------------------
Writer2be is on the roundup. Head on over and leave your links!
Last week’s column focused on the havoc that automated spellcheckers can wreak when a suggested “correction” turns out to be utterly wrong. More often, though, people who over-rely on spellcheckers can run into trouble when a misspelling is actually a legitimate word and therefore isn’t flagged as an error. There’s a well-circulated bit of verse (with variations going back to 1992) poking fun at people’s tendency to ignore mistakes that spellcheckers miss:
Eye halve a spelling chequer,
It came with my Pea Sea.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks I can knot sea.
Eye ran this poem threw it,
Your shore real glad two no.
Its vary polished in it’s weigh.
My chequer tolled me sew.
(more…)
Share This
.jpg?picon=380)
[…] blog that podcasts children’s book reviews. The book I’m going to link to is Someday When My Cat Can Talk but you should really take a look around the site because it totally rocks! I’m always […]
[…] Someday When My Cat Can Talk […]