Weeds Find a Way - Blog Tour & Author Interview

Weeds Find a Way
by Cindy Jenson-Elliott;
illus. by Carolyn Fisher
49 pages; ages 4-8
Beach Lane Books, 2014

Theme: nature, nonfiction

"Weeds find a way to live where other plants can't grow", begins Cindy Jenson-Elliott. They send their seeds into the world on parachutes or velcroed onto animal fur. The seeds find a way to wait until the conditions are just right for growing.  They grow and flower, providing insects with food and us with beauty. Whatever they need to do to survive, weeds find a way.

What I like love about this book: I like the seasonal structure. I like the repetition of "weeds find a way", and the celebration of how weeds solve problems they encounter. I like the bold illustrations and the "meet the weeds" section at the back - a mini-field guide with drawing and notes about weeds that we might find in and around our homes. I especially like the tone: weeds make the world a prettier place one blossom at a time.

Beyond the book: So many things today. Below is an interview with the author, but first some hands-on activities. 

• Draw a weed. Find a cool weed and draw or paint a portrait of it. Make it big!
• Adopt a weed. Plant a flag next to your weed so you can return to it - and so no one mows it. Then measure it and sketch (or photograph) it every few days. How does it grow? Do the leaves change as it gets taller? What does the bud look like? the flower? the seed pods? How far do the seeds travel?
• What do the weeds in your neighborhood find a way to do? 

When author Cindy Jenson-Elliott taught school, she took her students outside to study the weeds around the schoolyard. She graciously answered three questions about her writing.

Archimedes: What inspired you to write a book about weeds?

Cindy: I like introducing children to things they see all the time, but we don't really notice. Weeds - especially those in urban environments - make us ask "how did these plants get here?" People think of cities as "urban wastelands" but they are home to many plants. I hoe that children (and adults) will appreciate the small, oft-overlooked things in their environment ... like the weeds.

Archimedes: How did you come to the "weeds find a way" structure of the book?

Cindy: While in the school garden with students, I noticed there weren't too many vegetables, but there was a tremendous "crop" of weeds. So I turned that into our lesson and we studied how they grew, how they spread their seeds, and ways they created a home in the garden. There were no books on weeds, so I thought about what a book might look like. I knew I wanted to focus on adaptations.

Archimedes: How did the book change during the writing process?

Cindy: I originally envisioned pictures of weeds around the page with notes - like margin notes or a sketchbook. Then Carolyn (the illustrator) brought her ideas to the project and the weed pictures and notes got transformed into the "meet the weeds" section at the back. Another thing that happened was bringing a second, visual story into the book. That's the story of the girl and her dog going on a walks through the seasons.

Cindy says she's busy working on another book about gardening which may or may not feature weeds. Meanwhile, spring is on its way, and weeds will be finding their way into your neighborhood. So head outside and meet a few of them.

Drop by STEM Friday to see what other science books and resources bloggers are sharing.

Today's review is part of PPBF (perfect picture book Friday), an event in which bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books.

Then on Monday we'll head over to join the Nonfiction Monday round-up, where you'll find all kinds of great nonfiction for children and teens.  Review copy provided by Blue Slip Media.

This is the last stop on the Blog Tour. If you missed any stops, here's the tour schedule:

February 24 -     Growing With Science
February 25 -     As They Grow Up 
February 26 -     Kid Lit Frenzy
February 27 -     Sharpread
February 28 -     Children's Book Review
March 3 -           Let's Go Chipper
March 4 -           Just a Little Creativity
March 5 -           Unleashing Readers
March 6 -          5 Minutes for Books

Wordless Wednesday

Feathers are Not just for Flying

Feathers ~ Not Just for Flying
by Melissa Stewart; illustrated by Sarah S Brannen
32 pages; ages 6-9 (great for older children too!)
Charlesbridge, 2014

Themes: animals, nature, nonfiction

How can you not want to pick up a book with a huge peacock feather looking you right in the eye?

Opening: "Birds and feathers go together like trees and leaves, like stars and the sky." And most birds, notes Melissa Stewart, have thousands of feathers. But not all feathers are the same, because feathers have so many different jobs to do.

Did you know that juncos use their feathers to distract predators? That ptarmigans use feathers like snowshoes? Stewart shows many ways that birds use feathers, from keeping warm to carrying nest materials to making music. Sarah Brannen's gorgeous watercolors fill in the details.

What I like love about this book: I like the scrapbook-style design that makes it look like a field notebook. And I like the combination of simple text for younger readers complemented with sidebars (or text boxes) with more details.

On the first spread, Stewart writes that feathers can warm like a blanket. I love the way the supplementary text is shown at the bottom, as a scrap of paper "taped" into a notebook. In addition to the lovely painting of a blue jay, Brannen includes details of blue jay feathers and a woven blanket. Every page is a treasure!

I like how, at the back, there is a spread showing many kinds of feathers and explaining how scientists classify types of feathers. It's like a picture dictionary for folks who want to know the difference between a bristle feather and a contour feather.

I also like Stewart's "author's note" where she talks about the inspiration for this book - and how it took three years of tinkering before it came together. A wonderful reminder that books take time, and many revisions.

Beyond the book: Get out a notebook and a pencil, maybe some watercolors or colored pencils, and start watching what the birds in your neighborhood are doing with their feathers. Do they warn off other birds (or squirrels) at the feeder? Are they fluffing up on cold days? Are they starting to carry things to build nests?

Look closely at a feather. When you find a feather on the ground, bring it home to study. What kind of feather is it? Draw a sketch - maybe color it in with pencils or watercolors. Use a magnifying lens to look closer. What do you observe?

I've got birds on the brain today! Head over to Sally's Bookshelf and check out another bird book and activities. Drop by STEM Friday to see what other science books and resources bloggers are sharing.

Today's review is part of PPBF (perfect picture book Friday), an event in which bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books.

  On Monday we'll fly over to join the Nonfiction Monday round-up, where you'll find all kinds of great nonfiction for children and teens.  Review copy provided by publisher.

Wordless Wednesday

Squirrel Studies Beneath the Birdfeeder

Squirrels are pretty smart. Not only can they figure out the best route to your birdfeeder, but they remember where they’ve hidden nuts.

You don’t need to build a maze to test your backyard squirrels’ IQ, but you do need to think like a squirrel. For example, which is better: a big nut or a little nut? To find out, create a “squirrel feeding area” and offer your neighborhood squirrels their choice of peanuts of walnuts. Put ten of each out and count how many are left after each squirrel visit. Then replace so you have 10 of each.

Can squirrels associate food with a specific container? Since squirrels can see color, you might offer peanuts in a white cup and filberts in a black cup. Do they show a preference for one container over another? If they do, what happens when you put the nuts in the wrong container?

Squirrels can open a box and figure out how to get in vending machines, but can they learn how to open a plastic jar? If you have a large wide-mouthed plastic jar, put peanuts inside it and leave the lid off. Let the squirrels learn to associate the jar with food. Then put the lid on, but not very tight. Do your squirrels figure out how to turn the lid? Let me know if they do, because my squirrels got frustrated and bit the lid off my jar.

 

Check out other science resources and book reviews at the STEM Friday blog.

Wordless Wednesday

Who's at Your Feeder?

Every winter we hang a bird feeder from the clothesline. We fill it with sunflower seeds and millet and thistle... a whole mix of nutritious seeds for the local flocks. We also hang suet for the woodpeckers - then we watch from the living room window.

Here's who visits our feeder:
chickadees
nuthatches
juncos
blue jays
downy woodpeckers
hairy woodpeckers
red-bellied woodpeckers
mourning doves (they pick up seeds that fall)
goldfinches, cardinals, sparrows, turkeys and squirrels. Lots of squirrels.

Gray Squirrels who climb up the tree, clamber out onto a limb, leap onto the clothesline and tightrope walk to the feeder. They chew the suet. They scoop out seeds by the pawful, tossing them to bird and mammal below.

We wondered if giving the squirrels their own food would keep them from raiding the birdfeeder. So one day I lugged home ten pounds of unsalted peanuts in the shell. We put some outside on the chopping block. We tossed a handful beneath the feeder. We watched and waited. What we discovered: blue jays love peanuts! If the squirrels are too slow, the jays swoop in and try to make off with peanuts in their beaks. They fly around the house to the thicket of forsythia and lilac where they sit around their card table, playing poker and cracking the nuts.

What backyard wildlife visits your feeder? Check out other science resources and book reviews at the STEM Friday blog.