Happy Spring!
Enjoy spring with books about this lovely season.
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By: Marya Jansen-Gruber,
on 3/20/2011
Blog: Through the Looking Glass Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Seasonal books, Add a tag
By: Marya Jansen-Gruber,
on 6/21/2010
Blog: Through the Looking Glass Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Children's book reviews, Nonfiction books, Seasonal books, Picture books, summer, Add a tag
By: Marya Jansen-Gruber,
on 2/16/2010
Blog: Through the Looking Glass Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Picture books, Children's book reviews, Seasonal books, Add a tag
Per-Henrik Gurth
By: Marya Jansen-Gruber,
on 1/25/2010
Blog: Through the Looking Glass Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Children's book reviews, Nonfiction books, Award Winning Books, Seasonal books, Add a tag
As promised I am posting two reviews about Wilson Bentley, the man who first photographed snowflakes. These titles are, of course, for children, but adults will also greatly enjoy them.
By: Marya Jansen-Gruber,
on 1/21/2010
Blog: Through the Looking Glass Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Children's book review, Nonfiction picture books, Seasonal books, Add a tag
In the last week or so Oregon, where I live, has been hammered by storm after storm. Loud winds have woken me up in the middle of the night, and the mountains around my town are all dusted with snow. Looking at the frost dusted trees as I drink my first cup of coffee in the morning gives me a great deal of pleasure.
Yesterday I read and reviewed a wonderful nonfiction picture book about snow. I was in my local bookshop sipping a latte and reading the book, when a lady came up to me and asked if she could look at the pictures because "they look so beautiful," which they are.
If you don't feel like going out to borrow or buy this book, you can buy it here on Amazon. Enjoy.
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By: Marya Jansen-Gruber,
on 3/20/2011
Blog: Through the Looking Glass Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Seasonal books, Add a tag
By: Marya Jansen-Gruber,
on 6/21/2010
Blog: Through the Looking Glass Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Children's book reviews, Nonfiction books, Seasonal books, Picture books, summer, Add a tag
Today is the first day of summer for us here in Oregon, and though it is not exactly hot, at least it isn't cold anymore. I have some great summer books on the TTLG website. For children who are specifically interested in the summer solstice and what it is, there is this title to read. Enjoy.
Ellen Jackson
Illustrator: Jan Davey Ellis
Nonfiction Picture Book
For ages 7 to 10
Millbrook, 2001 ISBN: 978-0761319856
Because the sun is so important to life on earth it was greatly venerated by the ancient peoples who lived on this planet. Often it was considered to be a god and thus on the day when the sun was at its highest point in the sky, the summer solstice, special rituals and celebrations were often held.
Illustrator: Jan Davey Ellis
Nonfiction Picture Book
For ages 7 to 10
Millbrook, 2001 ISBN: 978-0761319856
Because the sun is so important to life on earth it was greatly venerated by the ancient peoples who lived on this planet. Often it was considered to be a god and thus on the day when the sun was at its highest point in the sky, the summer solstice, special rituals and celebrations were often held.
Both in the Americas and in Europe circles of stone marked the passage of the sun in the sky and special spokes in the circles "pointed to the place where the sun rose on the summer solstice."
In Europe and Great Britain
Today remnants of these old traditions can still be found in some countries in Europe . In Ireland , Wales and Cornwall people still light bonfires on hill tops on Midsummer Eve and in Sweden
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By: Marya Jansen-Gruber,
on 2/16/2010
Blog: Through the Looking Glass Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Picture books, Children's book reviews, Seasonal books, Add a tag
Last Friday the Winter Olympics started, and my family and I have already spent some wonderful hours watching people doing the ski jump, speed skating around and around, and bumping down moguls. We have also witnessed some bone shaking falls. I discovered this morning that I had a book on my shelf that would suit the mood of these Olympic days, so I decided to review it for you.
Snowy sports: Ready, Set, Play!
Per-Henrik GurthPicture Book
Ages 3 to 5
Kids Can Press, 2009, 9781553373674
It is wintertime and it is cold outside. A group of friends put on their warm clothes and go outside to “play!” Wearing their hats, gloves, mittens, jackets, and earmuffs, they venture out into the snow and onto the ice to enjoy a variety of winter sports.
On the ice the friends figure skate, they play hockey, and they race around a track, speed skating. On the snow they downhill ski, snowboard, and fly through the air as they shoot down and off a ski jump.
Children will greatly enjoy learning about the winter sports described in this simple and charming picture book. Animals characters drawn in bright and cheerful colors fill the pages, and on every spread children are introduced to the names of some of the items seen in the winter scenes.
I am hopefully that I will be swishing down the slopes at Mount Shasta in California this Friday. Hopefully there will be enough snow. It has been uncommonly warm here this winter. Here we are wearing long sleeve t-shirts in Oregon while people in Tennessee are up to their ankles in snow!
I am hopefully that I will be swishing down the slopes at Mount Shasta in California this Friday. Hopefully there will be enough snow. It has been uncommonly warm here this winter. Here we are wearing long sleeve t-shirts in Oregon while people in Tennessee are up to their ankles in snow!
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By: Marya Jansen-Gruber,
on 1/25/2010
Blog: Through the Looking Glass Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Children's book reviews, Nonfiction books, Award Winning Books, Seasonal books, Add a tag
Snowflake Bentley
Jacqueline Briggs Martin
Illustrated by Mary Azarian
Non-Fiction Picture Book
Ages 6 to 8
Houghton Mifflin, 1998, 0-395-86162-4
Little Willie Bentley loved the snow. He loved to play in it and he loved to look at it, comparing the snow to “apple blossoms.” Unlike apple blossoms however, snowflakes could not be looked at for long because they quickly melted. It was hard to enjoy and study the snow when it disappeared so fast. Then, using a microscope that his mother gave him, Willie began to look at snowflakes up close and he would quickly draw the ice crystals that he saw through the eyepiece. Even working as quickly as he could Willie was never able to finish his drawings before the beautiful crystal formations melted.
Then, at last, Willie’s parents bought him a microscope that had a camera attached to it. Now Willie could photograph the snowflakes before they had a chance to melt, and he would have their images on glass plates to study at his leisure. After many months of failure Willie finally figured out how to take the photographs. He learned how snowflakes form, and that each and every snowflake is unique.
In time people began to recognize how beautiful and useful Willie’s photographs were, and he sold many copies of his pictures to people all over the country. When he was sixty-six Willie’s book “Snow Crystals” was published, and it is still read and enjoyed by scientists, artists and others who live all over the world.
With Mary Azarian’s superb woodcuts to illustrate it, this fascinating book captures the essence of a man who did what he loved even though he was made fun of, and even though he did not make any money from his passion. Bentley took his photographs because the beauty of snow fascinated him and because he wanted to share the beauty that he saw with others. We are able to see that though he was a scientist who studied the weather and snow formation, he was also an artist at heart who was happiest when he was capturing the images of snowflakes on plates of glass.
This book was the 1999 Caldecott Medal winner.
You can purchase this book through this blog here.
By: Marya Jansen-Gruber,
on 1/21/2010
Blog: Through the Looking Glass Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Children's book review, Nonfiction picture books, Seasonal books, Add a tag
Yesterday I read and reviewed a wonderful nonfiction picture book about snow. I was in my local bookshop sipping a latte and reading the book, when a lady came up to me and asked if she could look at the pictures because "they look so beautiful," which they are.
Here is my review:
The story of Snow: The science of Winter’s wonder
Mark Cassino with John Nelson, Ph.D.
Nonfiction picture book
Ages 5 to 7
Chronicle Books, 2009, 0811868664
This story begins in the clouds, which are mostly made up of air and water (invisible things), and “specks,” which we can see. These specks can be particles of soil, ash, or soot, pollen grains, or even living bacteria. Under the right conditions, water vapor sticks to a “speck” and sticks, forming an icy shell. As more and more layers of vapor stick to the speck, it grows in size until it forms a small ball of ice. This ball of ice eventually turns into a “hexagon-shaped ice crystal,” which grows until is becomes a beautiful, unique snow crystal.
The snow Crystal
Full of gorgeous pictures of real snowflakes, this wonderful nonfiction picture book will delight children who love the snow. It will also appeal to readers who have an interest in the weather and science. At the back of the book there is a section that will teach readers “How to catch you own snow crystals.”
You can find more books about Snowy Days on the TTLG website.
If you don't feel like going out to borrow or buy this book, you can buy it here on Amazon. Enjoy.
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Sounds like a wonderful book - and would go so well with the news I've just read this evening:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8473771.stm
There are some wonderful books about Wilson (Snowflake) Bentley for adults and children. I will post some links/reviews for you in the next day or two. He was a remarkable man. Of course when he was taking his gorgeous pictures of snowflakes almost everyone thought he was nuttier than a fruitcake.