Explore Outdoors ~ First Spring Rain

 Spring officially started this past weekend, and I've been waiting for sunshine and warmer weather for so long! So of course, it rained. And so, of course, I went walking outside between showers  ... 

What do you see when you go outside after rain?

Saving Seeds For the Future

Just in Case: Saving Seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault

Megan Clendenan, illus by Brittany Cicchese 

32 pages; ages 5-8

Charlesbridge, 2025  

theme: nonfiction, conservation, seeds, food

Only eight hundred miles from the North Pole, away from wars and weapons, safe from earthquakes, fire, and even an asteroid, buried deep in the Earth on an island in Norway, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault holds priceless treasure.

That treasure is seeds … more than 580 million of them, frozen and held for the future “just in case.” Seeds are the foundation of our food supply, says Megan Clendenan, but they are also our history. People have been planting seeds for thousands of years! Seeds are also our future, providing genetic material for future crops in case of a disaster. In this book, Megan takes us into the designing and construction of this seed vault. 

What I like about this book: I like how Megan describes a walk down the aisles of the vault as “a walk through the world.” There are seeds from almost every country. I like the short sidebars that take a deeper dive into some aspect of the vault (visits from polar bears and Arctic foxes) or practical use of the seeds (restoring crops to fields after a war). And I like the back matter, in which Megan explains in more detail why having “backup copies” of seeds and a diversity of varieties is so critical to the future of agriculture. Or, as I call it, “food.”

Beyond the Books:

Save your own seeds. “The best way to save seeds for the future is to grow them yourself,” writes Megan. And saving some kinds of seeds is pretty easy – especially seeds from lettuce, beans, peas, and flowers. 

Does your library have a “seed library?” Many libraries do, and it’s fun to “check out” seeds, plant them, and “return” a packet of saved seeds.

Make seed envelopes for seeds you save. Check out my activity guide for The Pie that Molly Grew for how to fold an origami seed envelope. Remember to label them with the kind of plant and the date you collected the seeds. 

Swap seeds with your friends. If you buy a pack of seeds, you might only need a few. So divide those extra seeds into home-made seed envelopes and host a seed swap event this spring.

Megan is a member of the STEAM Team Books group. You can find out more about her at her at her website www.meganclendenan.com. You can find more about recently released STEM and STEAM at www.steamteambooks.com

Today we’re joining Perfect Picture Book Friday. It’s a wonderful gathering where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copies provided by the publishers.

Explore Outdoors ~ the last acorn

 

While walking around a park in Salt Lake City a couple weeks ago, I noticed all the scrubby oaks had empty acorn caps attached at the ends of the twigs. It makes sense - jays and other animals would have snacked on the yummy nuts all winter.

 

But why did the acorns fall without their caps on?

 

 

The oaks are getting ready for spring, even as this particular tree holds onto a few leaves and this one last acorn.

 

 

 

This week as you walk around your neighborhood, look at the trees. Are any of them still holding tight to last year's leaves or nuts?  

A Tale of Two Butterflies

 

Monarch and Mourning Cloak: A Butterfly Journal 

by Melissa Stewart; illus. by Sarah S. Brannen 

48 pages; ages 4-8

‎Beach Lane Books, 2026

themes: nature, butterflies, art

 Look, a monarch!

 Bright orange wings

 keep it safe.

The first spread opens with a comparison and contrast of two butterflies you might find in your backyard: the monarch and the mourning cloak. The monarch is bright orange – a warning to predators that it is poisonous and they should stay away. The mourning cloak is brown – it blends in with the bark of trees so predators have a hard time finding it.

Monarch and mourning cloak are as different as two butterflies can be: one flies south in the winter and the other one snuggles under bark to hibernate. And yet they are surprisingly similar: they hatch from eggs, eat leaves, and undergo metamorphosis.

But this book is more than just an ordinary butterfly book. It’s a nature sketch book, a poetry journal, and an invitation to observe nature more closely. An invitation to engage with the world outside your door. An invitation to grab a sketchbook and head outside.

What I like love about this book: So Many Things! Beginning with the end pages: On the front end pages we meet the Monarch: there’s a quick overview of its life cycle, sketches of it in different stages of its life, and a range map showing where you’re likely to find monarch butterflies. The back end pages introduce the Mourning Cloak butterfly. 

Even before you get into the book, there’s front matter – a letter to readers explaining that this book is a collage of poetry and artwork that not only captures the lives of the butterflies, but shows the creative process Melissa Stewart and Sarah Brannen went through over the few years of creating the book.

Spreads reveal the secrets of the two butterflies in poetry and sketches, along with notes about when and where the butterfly observations took place, annotated illustrations, and even some color palates. These are pages that you’ll want to spend time on, because there is so much to discover. I am absolutely astounded by the awesome renderings of the spiky caterpillars.

There’s luscious language. “Changing, rearranging” – what better description of metamorphosis can you think of?

And there’s back matter (which of course I always love!) beginning with a section about “the joy of journaling” and how to create a sketchbook. And of course there’s more about butterflies, caterpillar time, and some great resources for kids who want to know more. This is a book that I would definitely have in my classroom (and I taught high school bio!). I don’t usually give stars, but I give this one 5 Butterflies.

I’ll be chatting with Melissa and other authors about their buggy books over at the Annual Arthropod Roundtable at the GROG  on Earth Day, April 22.

Beyond the Books:

Make a butterfly journal. This is a quick fold and “pamphlet sew” binding – and I usually use a piece of paper bag as a cover for mine. Directions are here.

Draw pictures of the butterflies and caterpillars you see fluttering (or crawling) around your yard this summer. The first ones I see are the mourning cloaks; they emerge from hibernation and are fluttering about before other butterflies. You don’t have to be exact, but if you can color in the wings, it helps you remember what you saw.

Write a poem about a butterfly you observe. Write a poem about a caterpillar you watch. 

Plant some native flowers for the butterflies in your area. An excellent resource is the XERCES Society.

Melissa is a member of the STEAM Team Books group. You can find out more about her at her at her website melissa-stewart.com. You can find more about recently released STEM and STEAM at www.steamteambooks.com

Today we’re joining Perfect Picture Book Friday. It’s a wonderful gathering where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copy provided by Blue Slip Media.

Explore Outdoors ~ More Galls!

 Last week I was hiking in Wasatch Hollow, a small nature preserve tucked behind a neighborhood in Salt Lake City. It felt like spring was nudging winter out, and we listened to the sparrows and a cooper's hawk. I'd noticed some interesting galls on the oak twigs and at the tips of the rose bushes. These are, as I understand it, galls caused by wasps. 

 

 

 

This one is called a mossy rose gall - and it does sort of look like moss growing at the end, doesn't it?

 

Now, before flower and leaf buds burst open, is the perfect time to see galls on bushes and trees. 

 

Can you find any galls in your neighborhood?

 

Home, Sweet Home

Today I've got a couple books about animal homes to share. Our theme: animals, nature, environment. 

Who Nests Here? 

by Karen Jameson; illus. by Ramona Kaulitzki 

48 pages; ages 4-8

‎Beach Lane Books, 2026 

 Who nests here?

Whose baby bed? 

Whose family home? 

Whose winter shed?

Spread by spread readers are introduced to visual clues and invited to guess the animal that each home belongs to. Constructed from mud and sand, rock and snow, and nests high in trees, they shelter a diversity of insects and crabs, frogs and squirrels, fish and foxes. 

What I like about this book: I like the “nature detective” feel of this book. One spread shows three homes – as in the spread below: a nest of twigs, a swelling on a twig, a nest of leaves. It invites the reader to study and make a guess before turning the page. I like that the rhyming text, and the space on the page that provides room for imagining. And I like the back matter where kids can find out more about animals that nest in mud or water, rocks or snow.

This is such a cute book that I had to ask Karen One Question:

me: Where do you nest? 

Karen: I write lyrical picture books from my cozy treetop “nest” in Southern California. My nest is filled with treasured book friends - George and Martha, Chrysanthemum,  Blue on Blue, Pug and Pig, Over and Under the Snow, Home in the Woods and many more. Baskets, bookcases, bins and shelves overflow with stories waiting to be savored. A big, soft, double wide reading chair is where I oftentimes dream and draft my stories. Other times, it is a story nest for me and a grandchild or two. We settle into books and snuggles as time slips away. 

My window seat is the best spot for gazing at the happenings outside. Sometimes the garden calls to me. I wander downstairs and out to the backyard to drink in the scented air of lemon trees, roses, geraniums, bottle brush, pink crepe myrtle blossoms and buds galore. The bees are visiting too, as are glorious, shimmering hummingbirds. In warm weather, small lizards bask on the planters doing push ups and chasing one another. I gather a few blooms, fill a small vase, and bring this little bit of heaven up to my nest to dream some more.

Thank you, Karen. That sounds positively delightful! After digging around in my book basket, I found another book about animal homes. This one is written in poetry.

Home 

by Isabelle Simler; translated by Vineet Lal 

68 pages; ages 6-9

‎Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2024

Here’s my little house, 

hanging from the tip of a willow branch, 

just like a fruit.

From bird nests to an octopus den, woven webs to shell-covered homes, readers are taken around the world to see how animals build their homes. Each poem offers clues to animal lives, and back matter provides more information about each creature. The intricate illustrations invite one to linger on the page.

Beyond the Books:

Look for places where animals in your neighborhood make their homes. Where do you notice ants? What about wasps? Do you notice squirrel nests in trees or gopher holes in your yard?

Build a fairy house out of natural materials you find outside: branches from an old Christmas tree, dried leaves, twigs, stones…  

Imagine your life curled up in a leaf or under a stone. Write a poem or draw a picture about what that would be like.

Create a cozy den or nest for yourself either inside or outside. I’m partial to pillow and blanket forts!

Karen is a member of the STEAM Team Books group. You can find out more about her at her at her karenljameson.com. You can find more about recently released STEM and www.steamteambooks.com

Today we’re joining Perfect Picture Book Friday. It’s a wonderful gathering where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copies provided by the publishers.

Explore Outdoors ~ Forsythia Galls

 Winter is a great time to take a closer look at shrubs and trees. You might find interesting fungi or lichens or... 

... knobby galls on your forsythia twigs. What makes these galls form? It's a mystery, says Amanda Bratcher at North Carolina State University. As cool-looking as they are, they harm the health of the forsythia. So I'll be pruning those twigs shortly!  

What interesting things do you find when you look closely at the twigs and stems of trees and bushes in your neighborhood?