Music for - and with - the birds!

Today kicks off the Great Backyard Bird Count - you can find out more about that here. Meanwhile,  I can't think of a better way to celebrate than to share a book that includes birds!

Beatrice and the Nightingale 

by Patricia Newman; illus by Isabelle Follath 

48 pages; ages 6-9

‎Margaret Quinlin Books, 2026

theme: music, biography, birds

 No one knew Beatrice would make history.  

Beatrice grew up surrounded by music and learned to play instruments. When she was nine, her mother brought home a cello, and Beatrice dreamed of sharing its music with the world. And she did. Then one night when she was playing her cello in the garden, she heard a nightingale echoing the notes she played. Beatrice played some more notes, up and down the strings – and the bird followed. She wanted to share this miracle like she had shared her cello performances. And then she had an idea: broadcast her cello-nightingale duets on the radio.

What I like about this book: The language is luscious. When Patricia Newman is describing the music surrounding Beatrice, she uses similes like “Violin as lively as a butterfly.” I like how Patricia shows Beatrice figuring out how to share this miraculous musical connection with the world, and some of the logistical problems she had to overcome. And I like the back matter: a timeline of notable moments in Beatrice’s life, and a look at the early days of radio and the controversy over the recording – some people claimed it was a hoax.

Patricia has written many books about STEM topics, from picture books to YA. I wanted to know more about what drives her to write, so I asked her One Question.

Me: What is your favorite thing about writing nonfiction?

Patricia: Nonfiction has the power to change people’s minds and call them to action. I love to connect readers to true nature stories with happy endings. Our news media tends to focus its energy on negative environmental headlines, and our children are listening. The people in my books, whether present-day scientists or historical figures like Beatrice Harrison, inspire hope in readers. In Beatrice and the Nightingale, Beatrice celebrated birds through her musical gift. But she didn’t stop there. She shared her passion with the world, and by doing so, connected millions of people to the miracle of nature. I call Beatrice and the Nightingale a Teach the Hope book.

Beyond the Books:

Come up with some similes to compare the sound of a musical instrument to something in nature. Patricia Newman used “violon as lively as a butterfly” in her story.

Spend time listening to one kind of bird. Try to learn one of its songs. If you play a musical instrument (like a recorder) try to repeat the bird song on that. Then sing – or play – the bird song you learned outside. How do the birds respond? I used to play loon calls on my recorder, and the loons would sing back to me!

When you listen to birds singing, how does it make you feel? If you don’t have any songbirds around, you can listen to a nightingale here. Try to capture how the birdsong makes you feel by painting or drawing or writing poetry or moving…

Patricia is a member of the STEAM Team Books group. You can find out more about her at her at her website www.patriciamnewman.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.

Crows Come Together

 

I Am We: How Crows Come Together to Survive 

by Leslie Barnard Booth; illus. by Alexandra Finkeldey 

44 pages; ages 5-8

Chronicle Books, 2025 

theme: birds, behavior, community, winter

I spill across the sky like ink—

fill the night with jagged cries.

I have one thousand eyes.

With the opening of the book we are invited into a winter flock of crows – a flock where one crow is part of the many because, as Leslie writes, “one set of eyes isn’t nearly enough.” With lyrical language she shows how the flock works together for survival. 

What I like about this book: The lovely, poetic language pulled me right in to the crow’s reality of winter survival. I love how Leslie explains that “we” is stronger than “I” – even if it is just for a night’s roost. There is a wonderful nod to the witches in Macbeth, and the recurring theme that night casts the spell that binds the birds together. The illustrations are perfect: dark, but not dreary! And there is Back Matter where curious readers can learn more about crow families, bird intelligence, social learning, and winter survival.

Every time I read a book by Leslie, I feel like she’s found a new way to tell a story. So I had to ask her One Question.

Me: How did you come to this way of telling a story about crows? And did you explore other ways of telling the story?

Photo by Kristal Passy Photography

Leslie: This story began with the concept of crows as social creatures that cooperate and collaborate to survive. I was particularly struck by the fact that crows benefit from the vigilance of other crows--by moving and resting as a flock, they can in a sense "see" with a thousand eyes. I had also been thinking, at the time I wrote this piece, about the power of cooperation more generally. We humans are inextricably bound to one another--our happiness, health, and survival depend on the actions of families, communities, and nations. Because the collective is the focus of this story, when I wrote the first draft I chose first-person plural point of view. While other aspects changed from draft to draft (I worked to add tension and create more of a narrative arc), the point of view remained consistent.

Beyond the Books:

Check out the video and activities at Leslie’s page for educators. There’s a lot to do there!

Get to know a crow. The best way is to find a place to watch them in your neighborhood, or at a park. If you want to know how to identify a crow, check out this page from Cornell’s All About Birds

Fold a paper crow. Instructions here.

Leslie is a member of #STEAMTeam2025. You can find out more about her at her website, lesliebarnardbooth.com

https://www.lesliebarnardbooth.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 the publisher.

Falling in Love with Pond Scum

 

Magic in a Drop of Water: How Ruth Patrick Taught the World about Water Pollution 

by Julie Winterbottom; illus. by Susan Reagan 

48 pages; ages 6-9

‎Rocky Pond Books, 2025

theme: biography, water, STEM

When Ruth Patrick was five years old, she fell in love with pond scum.

How can you not want to keep reading with a line like that? The story: she and her dad were out on a nature hike and brought home a number of things to study and (if they could) identify. Among those things: a bottle of slimy brown pond water. When Ruth looked at a drop of that water under the microscope she found glassy gem-like things. Diatoms. She was entranced and wanted to learn more!

But back in the early 1900s girls didn’t study scummy pond water. And they weren’t encouraged to study science. But with her dad’s support, Ruth went to college to study diatoms, and ended up teaching us about water pollution.

What I like about this book: The language is luscious. Here’s how Julie describes diatoms: “jewel-like shapes… ovals made of beads, circles filled with pearls, shimmering stars, lacy triangles…” It’s enough to make you want to collect your own pond water and look for these algae treasures. There are other similes and metaphors tucked into the text. I like how the story expands as Ruth discovers that studying diatoms can tell bigger stories. Stories of floods, and even about the presence of chemical pollution. Stories on a larger scale, from pond to rivers to the ocean. And I like that there is back matter – more about Ruth Patrick and a timeline to put her life and discoveries into a context we can relate to. Also, the end papers are amazing – kudos to Susan Reagan, the illustrator, who captured the magic of diatoms on the page.

I was amazed the first time I saw pond water under a microscope. So I had to ask Julie One Question…

Me: What made you want to write about Ruth and her pond scum (and diatoms)?

Julie: When I first read about her in a book of essays about women in science, three things leapt out at me that made me want to do a book about her. The first was the story of how her father introduced her to the world of microscopic life in ponds and streams when she was only five years old. I thought that was a wonderful way into a scientist's life for young kids. The second was the incredible beauty of diatoms: what wonderful illustrations they would make, I thought. And the third was the important work that Patrick did to get government and industry to do something about water pollution, long before it was a public concern. Pollution is still such a pressing issue, and one that I think many young readers care about.

Both Julie and I were struck by the parallels between Ruth Patrick and Rachel Carson. They were contemporaries, both women in science and studying creatures in water, as well as the impacts of pollution. 

Beyond the Books:

Investigate pond water. Collect some and pour it into a clean white bowl (a plastic take-out container works well). Do you see pond scum (algae)? Do you see any insects? Use a hand lens to get a closer look. You might find fairy shrimp!

What happens when water is polluted? Pour some water in a bin and add some plastic ocean animals. Now pollute the water – great instructions here! Can you clean it up?

Go on a Pond Scum Safari with Sally Warring from the American Museum of Natural History. Remember to take your sketch pad so you can draw the cool micro-life you discover! Link here.

Julie is a member of #STEAMTeam2025. You can find out more about her at her website, julie-winterbottom.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 the publisher.

The Big, the Bad, and the Ugly

Fantastic Flora: The World’s Biggest, Baddest, and Smelliest Plants

by Ann McCallum Staats; illus. by Zoë Ingram 

144 pages; ages 8-12

‎ MIT Kids Press, 2025  

When plants face a problem, they can’t get up and move. Rooted to the ground, they have to find nutrition, fend off predators, and survive whatever conditions the environment throws at them. They thrive, writes Ann McCallum Staats, by “using brilliant – and bizarre – adaptations.” Some have thorns, others entice insects through the use of chemical signals.

With that in mind, Ann divides her book into four sections, focusing on The Big, The Bad, The Smelly, and The Exceptionally Strange. You probably know at least one really big plant: the giant sequoia. And you may have seen photos of cars driving through one, or many people holding hands to circle a tree. You may have even heard of the biggest of them all, General Sherman which stretches 275 feet into the sky. But did you know that a sequoia’s roots can stretch more than 150 feet from the base? 

Trees aren’t the only huge plants. There’s a water lily whose leaf is so big that you could use it for a raft!

What makes a plant “bad?” How about those that kill off animals nibbling their berries, roots, and leaves? Or those that, by simply touching their sap, could blind you. Certainly there are plenty more bad actors, and I’m sure we can each think of our “most despicable plant” (my vote goes to cholla cactus).

Then there are the smelly ones… the ginkgo which looks lovely but stinks up a storm! And skunk cabbage, one of the earliest plants to emerge in our snow-covered northeast, but carries a certain perfume. Of all the stinkers, the corpse plant whose name may be the most honest. It really does smell like a rotting carcass, and all for the sake of attracting flies to carry its pollen to another flower.

The plant kingdom is so diverse that you’re bound to find a few oddballs, and Ann shares three. One is a plant that’s turned the tables in a bug-bite-leaf world and dines on insects. Another disguises itself as a stone, and a third is a dainty orchid with flowers that look like flying ducks. Orchids are notorious tricksters, and have co-evolved some intricate partnerships with pollinators.

This is a fun book to read, and I wanted to know more. Ann graciously answered a couple of questions.

Me: How did you come across this idea for presenting a book about plants: the biggest, baddest, smelliest? 

 

Ann: I was staring out my office window one day and noticing the pattern of browns and golds (it was winter so no leaves). I decided to write about plants as a kind of challenge to myself. As a former teacher, I was often given a curriculum that could be boring--it was my job to make it engaging for kids and I enjoyed that task. I had low expectations for plants, but once I started a little research, I was astonished by some of the incredible adaptations plants use to survive. Seriously, some of the plants I showcase have seeds that explode, anti-fish armor, and berries so toxic that eating just a few is fatal. I was hooked. As for the structure of the book--the big, the bad, the smelly, and the exceptionally strange, that took some thought. I knew that the organization scheme was key. It couldn't be chronological or based on who, what, where. When I was brainstorming and finding fun facts, it came to me that this structure would work well for the topic. I wanted to highlight how amazing plants really are, once you ‘dig’ in.

Me: I love the "Be-Leaf it or not" features. How did those develop? Because I notice there are plenty of longer sidebars.

Ann: These recurring features focus on some cool fact that I wanted to include but that didn’t quite fit into the text of the chapter. I guess I'd call them breakout boxes. They provide an extension of the chapter and fun additional factoids. They are a little different from the sidebars which are more scientific in nature or offer a more in-depth explanation of something. The “Be-LEAF it or Not” pullouts ask a question and then share a little, fun tidbit that goes beyond the chapter. I really like the way they designed the book with these breakout boxes highlighted. 

Ann is a member of #STEAMTeam2025. You can find out more about her at her website, annmccallumbooks.com

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publishers.

If you Save a Pelican...

Plight of the Pelican: How Science Saved a Species (Books for a Better Earth) 

by Jessica Stremer; illus. by Gordy Wright 

40 pages; ages 5-8

Holiday House, 2025   

theme: birds, endangered species, conservation

 For millions of years, pelicans have flown over Earth, skimming the salty sea breeze…

… then diving down to scoop and gulp the fish in the ocean. But in the 1950’s something started happening. Fewer pelican chicks were born – and pelicans weren’t the only birds with declining birth rates. The problem: thin eggshells caused by bioaccumulation of a pesticide, DDT. This book shows how action by scientists and farmers and just regular folks helped save the pelicans. And the eagles.

What I like about this book: What begins as a lyrical flight of words across a page grows into a call for action. Author Jessica Stremer shows how scientists began questioning the role of – and fate of – DDT as it spread from fields to streams and the ocean, from insects to fish to pelicans. I like how she asks questions on the page – even as laws prohibited the use of certain chemicals, could pelicans be saved? And now, even the list of plants and animals threatened by environmental risks grows, Stremer shows that we know what to do.

Back matter focuses on the history of the environmental movement, the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, and passage of the endangered species act. There’s more information about the pelicans and about how DDT harms birds. And there’s a short – but important – list of ways kids can “be the change.”

After finishing this book, I knew I had to ask Jessica One Question!

Me: How can adults best support their children’s work to make the world a better place for pelicans and other animals?

Jessica: I think one of the best things adults can do to support their kids is to find out what activities most interest them and enable that interest. If they have a child who likes to tinker, maybe they can build some type of wildlife habitat together. If they have a child who likes to explore the outdoors, take a hike somewhere new. Bring a bag for picking up trash and a journal for some quiet time of observation. The more we invite children to be part of the natural world, the more they'll feel a sense of duty to care for it.

Thank you, Jessica! Jessica is a member of #STEAMTeam2025. She’s talked about her books a couple of times here on the blog: Great Carrier Reef and Fire Escape . You can find out more about her at her website, www.jessicastremer.com

Beyond the Books:

Make a pelican – or an entire flock of them – out of paper plates. Here’s how. 

Test how strong eggs are. The dome shape of eggs is what lends them their strength (at least when they’re not affected by DDT). If you’ve got some eggs, a few bottle caps and a pile of books, you can test how strong an egg is. This video shows how. 

Read more about threats to birds and meet some of the birds on the brink of extinction (here’s an article to get you started). What can you do to bring awareness to the need for bird conservation?

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.

Spring is a Season for Hatching!

themes: Animals, nature, growing up, eggs

Watching and Waiting: What Hatches from Nature's Nurseries

By Sara Levine

32 pages; ages 4-8

Millbrook Press, 2025  

When you find something interesting and beautiful 

… what should you do? Should you poke it and prod it? Open it up to see what’s inside? Granted, that is the way curious naturalists discover things. But if you open things up, then what’s inside won’t grow anymore, says Sara Levine. So maybe you could wait?

What I like about this book: Using gentle, lyrical language, Sara ponders how one might observe nature without harming it. In particular, she offers strategies for watching how eggs develop and waiting to see what hatches out. She draws examples from birds, insects, amphibians, and reptiles. Back matter discusses what eggs are, egg cases and galls, and how to be an “observational scientist” – something anyone can do. The photos are gorgeous and will have children looking closer to study the details.

Sara is a member of #STEAMTeam2025. You can find out more about her at her website, www.saralevinebooks.com She's also a guest author joining me at the 5th Annual Arthropod Roundtable over on the GROG Blog on April 16. 

Butterflies come from eggs. But what happens when they grow up?

When a Butterfly Goes to School (Board Book)

by Laura Purdie Salas; illus. by Chloe Niclas 

7 spreads

‎Creative Editions, 2025

What does a butterfly do at school all day? From art class to science, story time to lunchtime we follow swallowtail and her friends.

What I like about this book: I have to confess that I loved the lunch break the best – the butterflies zip and sip their way through the flowers. The luscious artwork supports lyrical prose as the words ask us to suspend reality and join a butterfly on a normal day at butterfly school.

Beyond the Books:

Go on a gall walk. You can find round galls on the stems of goldenrod, bumpy galls on leaves, and fluffy galls on leaves as well. Find out more about galls – and see some examples – here and here.

Birds aren’t the only animals to lay eggs. Find out what other animals lay eggs, and what kind of eggs they lay. 

If you were a butterfly, what sort of things would you learn at school? What might you do in art class? In science? At story time? At play time?

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.

Up into Space!

Who doesn’t love adventure! And where can you go for the most wild, far-out adventure these days? Up, up, up into the sky … maybe even into space. These three books explore themes of space, exploration, and biography.

Up, Up High: The Secret Poetry of Earth’s Atmosphere

by Lydia Lukidis; illus. by Katie Rewse 

40 pages; ages 8-11

Capstone Editions, 2025

Where does the sky end and space begin? This is one of the questions author Lydia Lukidis sets out to explore in her newest book about the atmosphere. 

Written in poetry, she looks at what is beyond the tallest trees and biggest buildings. 

To find out,

squeeze into a space suit.

Strap yourself

into a spacecraft.

Hang on tight.

Five, four, three, two, one …

      blast off!

What I like about this book: It’s a journey. As we rise into the sky we wave at a climber atop a mountain, pass through tumultuous clouds, and watch as meteoroids streak by.  Higher than the space station! Higher than a satellite! And then it’s time to turn around and head back to earth. Text boxes on each spread explain some of the phenomena we see on our journey, and back matter presents the layers of our atmosphere in an easy-to-understand graphic.

Up, Up High is the companion book to Deep, Deep Down: The Secret Underwater Poetry of the Mariana Trench which I reviewed a couple years ago. Check out Christy Mihaly’s interview with Lydia earlier this month at the GROG blog. Lydia is a member of #STEAMTeam2025. You can find out more about her at her website, www.lydialukidis.com

Reaching for the Stars: A Mission to Space 

by Roxanne Troup; illus. by Amanda Lenz 

40 pages; ages 4-8

Schiffer Kids, 2024   (August 28)

For years, NASA planned and exciting new mission. Just a few more minutes until ignition. 

Suit up for a lyrical space adventure that heads beyond the moon to where stars are born, comets zip, and galaxies come in all shapes. This book celebrates the return to space exploration beginning with the Artemis mission to the moon.

What I like about this book: It's a fun way to encourage kids to imagine themselves going to space. Actual NASA photos are incorporated into the illustrations, making it even more realistic. At the back is a glossary of words that are "out of this world" as well as notes from the author and illustrator. 

She Went to Space: Maine Astronaut Jessica Meir

Fran Hodgkins  

32 pages, ages 5-8 

‎Down East Books, 2025 (earlier this month!)

The sky was black. It wasn’t the sky, really. It was space. And Jessica Meir was stepping out into it.

Jessica Meir hails from Caribou, Maine, the second-largest city in Aroostoock County and just 12 miles from the Canadian border. The county itself is huge, about the size of Rhode Island plus Connecticut, and well-known for potatoes, timber, tourism and – now – birthplace of an astronaut. Not just any astronaut, either. In 2019, Jessica and her partner-in-space Christina Koch made history completing the first spacewalk made solely by women. They spent more than seven hours outside the International Space Station replacing a broken power unit.

What I like about this book: The biography is compelling, but Fran adds more. There’s a checklist of requirements to be an astronaut - do you qualify? And there’s a side-by-side comparison of ocean and space… to help explain why Jessica studied the ocean in order to eventually (she hoped) reach her dream of becoming an astronaut. 

Back in October I interviewed author, Fran Hodgkins about why she wanted to write Jessica’s biography. You can read that interview here.

Beyond the Books:

Where does the sky end and space begin? How far do you think you'd have to go up, up, up to get out of our atmosphere? And does space start before that point or after? Here's how a NASA scientist explains it.

You can find some fun activities in Lydia's educator's guide. One of them is to compare how a rocket (or any object) falls - with and without a safety parachute. Check it out at her website here.

Was an astronaut born in your state? Find out here at this NASA link. Then find out more about them… and write your own Local Astronaut story!

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. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copies provided by the publishers.

Oddball Armadillos

The Oddball Book of Armadillos 

by Elizabeth Shreeve ; illus. by Isabella Grott 

40 pages; ages 7-10

Norton Young Readers, 2024  

theme: armadillos, evolution, nonfiction

Are they giant roly-poly bugs? Time-traveling dinosaurs? Crazy mixed-up turtle-rabbits? No! They’re armadillos…

… small mammals with tough, scaly armor. Modern armadillos may be as small as 6-inches, but some of their prehistoric ancestors were as big as cars! In this book, Elizabeth Shreeve introduces readers to a variety of armadillos found around the world: pink fairy armadillos, nine-banded armadillos, the screaming hairy armadillo, and more. She discusses armadillo adaptations, behavior, and migration for modern and prehistoric animals. 

What I like about this book: As with The Upside-Down Book of Sloths, Elizabeth Shreeve presents information about armadillos in layers. Some pages feature large text with conversational language, while others have smaller text with sidebars providing more details. That makes this book perfect to read as a picture book to younger kids (6-7) and as an informational book for the 7-10 year old crowd. Some of those sidebars highlight cool stuff, like how armadillos walk under water and how artists have been portraying armadillos for the past thousand years or so.

Armadillos are odder than I expected! So I knew I had to ask Elizabeth One Question: What inspired you to write a book about ancient armadillos?

Elizabeth: Great question! Armadillos are related to sloths, a topic that I explored in The Upside-Down Book of Sloths (Norton Young Readers, 2023). My editor was all-in for a companion title about the “little armored ones” and their prehistoric kin. Armadillos, both living and extinct, help us understand the natural history of the Americas, a topic with special meaning for many students. Plus who doesn’t love an oddball? By celebrating life-forms that are less familiar, we can send a message about embracing differences and finding connections. Let’s appreciate all of Earth’s creatures!

Thanks, Elizabeth. And with that, let’s go have some Beyond-the-Books fun!

Learn more about armadillos at the San Diego Zoo website 

Armadillos can roll up into a ball. Can you? What other animals roll up in a ball to protect themselves?

For older kids: Check out the Adaptation Game in the teacher’s guide at Elizabeth’s website. It’s a card game developed specifically for the book, and shows how the traits of animal populations help them survive in the environments they live in.  

Elizabeth is a member of #STEAMTeam2024. You can find out more about her at her website.

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. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Small Seeds, Big Dreams

 

Saving Delicia: A Story about Small Seeds and Big Dreams 

by Laura Gehl; illus. by Patricia Metola 

40 pages; ages 3-7

Flyaway Books, 2024    

theme: seeds, trees, conservation

Every summer afternoon, Kari and Cookie sat in the shade of the beautiful Delicia tree listening to Old Otis tell tales from way back when.

Back then, the world was filled with delicia trees, but now only one remains. What happens if it disappears? Kari wants to make sure it won’t – that there will be delicia fruit for children in years to come. And she has an idea for how to do it. All she needs is the old freezer in Otis’s shed.

What I like about this book: Though it’s fictional, the story reflects some of the realities we see in our world. Disease and environmental changes have pushed many plants to the edge of extinction. People are trying to save those plants – especially crops – by collecting seeds and storing them in seed banks. Author, Laura Gehl goes into more details about seed banks in her author’s note at the back of the book. “Already,” she writes, “seed banks have helped restore crops around the world that were killed by natural disasters, wars, and pest infestations.” Seed banks play an important role in preserving our planet’s biodiversity!

I always love the opportunity to chat with Laura about her books, so I asked her a couple of questions. Okay, three.

Me: What inspired you to write about saving seeds (and creating a seed bank)?

Laura: When I first began learning about seed banks, I was fascinated. I was particularly amazed as I read about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which is located close to the North Pole. Picturing thousands of seeds stored safely for the future, in a plethora of shapes, colors and sizes, ignited my imagination. I knew I wanted to write about seed banks, but finding my way to the story took a long time. I tried a number of different approaches, trying to craft a story introducing seed banks to young readers that would be interesting, inviting, and inspiring. I hope I succeeded in the end! 

Me: Do you garden - and have you gotten any seeds through seed swaps or seed libraries? 

Laura: When my oldest two kids were little, we lived in an apartment building with a community garden, and we enjoyed growing tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables there. Then we had two more kids and life got too hectic for gardening to fit into our schedule. When COVID took over the world, my oldest son came home on the last day before schools closed with a tomato plant rescued from the environmental science class. That started a new spurt of gardening for our family, and we grew lots of tomatoes, lettuce, and herbs that summer. (My in-laws, who are avid gardeners, lived with us for a while during the lockdown, so we benefitted from their expertise.) But then life got hectic again, and gardening fell by the wayside. When I have my next spurt of gardening energy, I plan to get seeds from a seed library. There are several seed libraries in Maryland, and I am excited to give them a try. Eating heirloom tomatoes is one of my favorite summer activities…now I want to attempt growing some! 

Me: Do you think you'll try to save some seeds after having written about it?

Laura: Definitely! I want to try saving seeds when I get back to gardening, and I would love to host a neighborhood seed swap in the future.  

Beyond the Books:

What seeds would you save if you could? Beans? Apples? Tomatoes? Some of these seeds aren’t very hard to save. Tomatoes, for example – just squeeze (or scoop) seeds from a ripe tomato into a sieve and rinse them, and let them dry. Other seeds that aren’t too hard to save are pumpkin, melon, beans, and some flowers such as sunflowers, calendula, poppies, and lupine.

You can learn more about what a seed bank is here and about the Millennium Seed Bank at Kew Gardens here. Be sure to check out this video of how Native Seeds/SEARCH stores their seeds in their seed bank.

Laura is a member of #STEAMTeam2024. You can find out more about her at her website, https://lauragehl.com/

We’ll join Perfect Picture Book Friday once they resume. It’s a wonderful gathering where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copy provided by Blue Slip Media.

Wildfire!

 

Fire Escape: How Animals and Plants Survive Wildfires (Books for a Better Earth) 

by Jessica Stremer; illus. by Michael Garland  

128 pages; ages 8-12

Holiday House, 2024

Wildfires have been in the news lately – mostly because they are becoming more frequent and bigger and cause disaster when they burn through towns and cities. But what happens to the plants and animals in a wildfire’s path? That’s what Jessica Stremer discusses in her newest book, Fire Escape.

Chapter by chapter she addresses such issues as how farmers evacuate livestock,  how zoos shelter their residents, and how rescued wild animals are cared for. While most animals try to flee fire, some see fire as an opportunity. Raptors hunt ahead of the flames, preying on animals fleeing the flames.

Let’s not forget the plants; they’re “wildlife” too. Some pine trees have adapted to wildfires, and require flames to melt the resin sealing their cones shut. Only then can the seeds be released to sprout into new seedlings. And when a fire reduces a forest to ash, that’s when succession takes over. Certain flowers, grasses, and fungi are adapted to colonize the burnt landscape. As they grow and die, new plants move in, eventually growing back into a forest. 

Jessica discusses megafires and the role global warming plays in wildfire season (indeed, in some places there is no “wildfire season” anymore. Fires burn year-round.) She takes a look at how people have used fire as a tool to maintain habitat, and how goats are used to fight fires. And she includes a great chapter about the advantages of having beavers move into a landscape. At the end of the book she mentions the scientists who help fight fire and the many kinds of fire-fighting jobs there are.

I wanted to know more about what inspired Jessica to write this book, and she graciouslyanswered my questions.

Me: In your author’s note, you mention seeing ash flakes fall from a fire in 2017. Can you tell us more?

Jessica: I was fist altered to the Lilac Fire, as it would later be named, when I walked out of a store to discover ash falling from the sky. I actually wasn’t sure what it was at first, but as I drove home, and towards the direction of the fire, I realized what was going on.

This wasn’t the first time we’d had a fire burning nearby. We lived just south of the Marine Corps base Camp Pendleton, and fires would sometimes start as a result of artillery drops during training sessions. We could see smoke from the fires, but they were always too far away to be of any concern. In fact, of the twelve years that we lived in California, the Lilac Fire was the only one that ever caused us to worry.

That afternoon, the fire was still a few miles away and most of my neighbors were confident that we didn’t need to worry. I didn’t want to overreact by evacuating that night (although a few of our friends did), but I also didn’t want to ignore what could become a very deadly situation. So when the kids got home from school, we packed suitcases for ourselves and supplies for our dogs just in case we needed to evacuate.

My daughters took horseback riding lessons at a stable a few miles east of us. After checking the news to learn exactly where the fire was burning and which direction it was headed, I texted their riding instructor to see if she or anyone there needed help. She said they were monitoring the fire and had plans in place to evacuate. In my research for this book, I spoke to a few people who run volunteer evacuation groups for horses and other livestock for situations just like this. It’s amazing to see people come together in times of need.

My husband and I then took turns waking up in the middle of the night to check the status of the fire. The next morning, we learned that between the firefighters working hard to contain the flames, and the wind changing direction – sending the flames back towards the direction they had come from where there was nothing left to burn – the fire was fortunately no longer a threat for us or our home.

We did have friends that had to evacuate. They lived near the riding stables, and while she and her daughters fled, her husband stayed to help their neighbor with their horses. >From his neighbor’s yard he saw a crew of hotshots rappel out of a helicopter into his back yard. Their fence burned down, but luckily their home was ok. Unfortunately, a nearby horse training facility, San Luis Rey Downs, wasn’t so lucky. Dozens of horses perished, unable to escape the deadly blaze. There was an immense feeling of sadness among the entire community.

Me: You mentioned that you went to the area years later. What did you notice about the landscape?

 Jessica: There are various areas in southern California that have experienced wildfires and are now thriving. Driving to our friend’s house, the ones who had to evacuate, is where I regularly witnessed an ongoing change in the post-fire landscape. At first the entire area was blackened and charred. But it didn’t take long for life to return to the area. Initially there were a lot of smaller plants which had sprouted up through the ashes. Then taller trees and shrubs began to fill in the gaps. One day a few years later, I remember driving past that area and thinking how lush and green everything looked. Almost like you wouldn’t know a fire had happened if you weren’t around to experience it.

The same thing happened while driving through Camp Pendleton. I didn’t take that road often, but I can distinctly remember one drive shortly after a fire where the entire landscape was charred, and then another drive years later where again plants had regrown. From the car, you would never know a fire had ever occurred in that area.

We sometimes went hiking on Palomar Mountain about an hour away from our home. It was during one of those hikes that I noticed many of the trees were scarred from a fire that had burned long ago, yet the forest was alive and thriving. I knew fires were good for the landscape, and following that hike the seeds of curiosity were planted. I wanted to know more about what happened during wildfires. What did animals do to survive? And how does a forest regrow? I never want to downplay the loss people experience during wildfires, but I do want to help people understand the ways in which fire can be beneficial.

photo by John McColgan, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Fire Service

Me: The biggest threat now seems to be mega fires. What one thing can we do to prevent them? To help mitigate climate change or reverse it?

 Jessica: Oye, that’s a loaded question! So much of it depends on where you live. When it comes to wildfires, it’s important to maintaining boundaries around your home. Firefighters call this a “defensible area” which can be obtained by not planting trees and shrubs too close to structures.

If you live in a wooded area, talk to your local forestry management organization about the best way to manage the landscape. Can you help eradicate invasive species and plant those that are native to your area? Is it possible to have firefighters perform a controlled burn? Teaching our kids how to respect and care for the land is also really important.

Most wildfires are caused by people, so if you do have a fire, make sure the conditions are right. For example, never start a fire when it’s extremely dry and windy. Also, never start a fire in an uncontained area, such as outside a firepit, and never leave a fire unattended.

In regards to mitigating climate change, a lot of the problems stem from big corporations, the way they operate and the waste they produce. However, there are lot of little things we can do to try and help. Reduce the consumption of unnecessary goods and think of innovative ways to reuse products you already have. Buy local whenever possible. Participate in trash clean-ups. Plant native vegetation. I could go on and on!

Thank you so much, Jessica! Jessica is a member of #STEAMTeam2024. You can find out more about her at her website.

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.

How to Build a Beak

 

Building a Beak: How a Toucan's Rescue Inspired the World  

by Becca McMurdie; illus. by Diana Hernández 

32 pages; ages 4-8

Page Street Kids, 2024  

theme: engineering, birds, kindness

High in the Costa Rican treetops, a toucan named Grecia soared from branch to branch…

She did the regular things toucans do: pick berries, preen her feathers, sing, and tuck her beak next to her wing at night to sleep. Until humans hurt her, breaking her beak. Fortunately some kind-hearted people found her and took her to a place where she could be protected. But a toucan can’t survive without a beak. Enter an engineer with a 3-D printer and people around the world who wanted to help save Grecia.

What I like about this book: I can’t resist a story of kindness overcoming adversity, especially when scientists use the technology they have to try a novel solution. In this case, printing an artificial beak. I love how author Becca McMurdie shows the community of engineers and scientists, bird experts, the rescue center staff, and children came together to help an injured toucan. And I like how illustrator Diana Hernandez included an engineering diagram of the new beak. In back matter, Becca discusses why stories like this are important. Reading and discussing these kinds of stories helps build awareness about the importance of protecting habitats (in this case the rainforest) and the animals that live there, she says.

Becca mentioned that she had gone to Costa Rica for a couple months and learned about Grecia while she was there. So of course I had Questions!

Me: Hi Becca. Can you tell us a bit about what you were doing while in Costa Rica?

Becca: I was working for a charter school network in New York City that allowed all staff members to take a two-month sabbatical after every 10 years of service to the organization. I decided to spend my two months living in a small cabin in the Monteverde Cloud Forest, volunteering at a local school there, going on nature walks daily, and doing lots of writing. Why not!? 

Me: Why not indeed! So how did you learn about Grecia?

Becca: While I was in Monteverde, I went on several bird watching tours. On my first tour, I saw a toucan for the first time. It was perched on top of a branch singing proudly. So beautiful! The guide then told me that a few years prior, there was a toucan in Costa Rica who was injured and lost its beak, but a prosthetic beak was made for it. I was intrigued! He couldn’t remember all of the details, but said that everyone in Costa Rica had heard about it at the time, and had been in the news. I went back to my cabin that night and did an internet search to learn about this toucan with the prosthetic beak. I learned her name was Grecia, that a 3D printer had been used to create the beak, and, even more impressively, that the event sparked a wildlife protection movement that successfully led to legal protection of the rainforest! Many of the articles I read were in Spanish, from local Costa Rican news sources. I found out that the name of the rescue center that saved Grecia was Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center. It was about three hours from where I was staying. Bravely, and humbly, I emailed them to tell them how I had learned of Grecia, and that I wrote children’s books (albeit no published books and no agent, at the time) and that I would love to speak with someone on the rescue team, either via email, Zoom or in-person, if they’d be interested and open to that. To my delight, they replied with enthusiasm and invited me to visit! 

Me: I have to know more about your visit to the rescue center to meet Grecia and their caretakers and scientists.

Becca: During my visit I was escorted by one of the veterinary technicians on Grecia’s team, and met several other caretakers and scientists as well. I got a behind-the-scenes tour of their emergency animal rescue department. I could look into the enclosures through one-way viewing glass. It’s important to minimize the animals’ contact with humans, so they maintain their natural instincts and be returned to the wild after they are rehabilitated. I saw lots of baby monkeys, a few grown-up monkeys, sloths, many beautiful birds and even an ocelot. Some of the animals had been hit by cars or injured on power lines. As one of the largest rescue centers in the country, Rescate receives several new injured or orphaned animals every single day, arriving from all around Costa Rica. Many of them require weeks, if not months, of care before they can be released. Animals that cannot be released, either because their injuries will require long-term treatment or because they no longer have natural instincts needed to survive in the wild, remain in the center’s lifetime animal sanctuary, which is open to the public. That’s where Grecia lived after she received her new beak. Unfortunately, I did not get to meet Grecia. She passed away of natural causes just a month before my visit. (She did live a full life-span, comparable to those of most wild toucans.) Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center is truly an amazing place. You can learn more about them at www.rescatewildlife.org. I donate a portion of the proceeds of Building a Beak, to the organization. 

Beyond the Books:

By Bernard Dupont - Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0

Read about Grecia here at NPR

Make a paper plate toucan. Here's how.

Becca is a member of #STEAMTeam2024. You can find out more about her at her website,

https://www.beccamcmurdie.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 the author.

Science, Bias, and Measuring our World

Thomas Jefferson’s Battle for Science: Bias, Truth, and a Mighty Moose! 

by Beth Anderson; illus. by Jeremy Holmes 

48 pages; ages 7-10

‎Calkins Creek, 2024

theme: science, history, biography

Young Thomas Jefferson measured his world … animals and plants, mountains and streams, weather and crops. He recorded sizes and shapes, temperatures and times, distances and speeds (even his own). 

Science was certain, peaceful, measurable. Or so Jefferson believed. But when a French scientist wrote about the animals of America – saying the land was swampy and cold, the bears were smaller, the wolves downright puny – Jefferson got furious. He would show that buffoon! 

Jefferson is certain that America has ferocious and grand animals, such as Moose. So after the revolution, Jefferson declared a war of his own. A war against faulty facts. He would use science to fight this war. He would prove that American animals were large and magnificent - even if he had to mail a Moose to France to do so!

What I like love about this book: I love the endpapers – they are filled with life-sized tracks of North American birds and mammals. I love how Jeremy Holmes captured the feeling of science at the turn of the 19th century in his illustrations: identification tags and labels laid out on graph paper; documents tacked to wooden walls… even the color palette feels old-fashioned.

Then there is the language – it is downright fun. I love how Beth Anderson shows Jefferson’s reaction to the French critic: Hogwash! Absurd! Outrageous! I love how she shows Jefferson’s skepticism: where did Buffon get his information if he’d never been to America? (This, dear readers, is the sort of skepticism we need to nurture today! Just sayin’) And I love the back matter. In the author’s note, Beth dives deeper into Thomas Jefferson’s love of science and dissects the problems with mistruths. She reminds us that “scientific truth is always changing and growing” and asks readers to continue to fight against biases and untruth in scientific thinking, as Thomas Jefferson fought against Buffon’s  mistruths.

And that was when I knew I just had to ask Beth A Few Questions:

Me:  Why did you want to write this book? I feel there is an underlying lesson in it 

Beth: The more I dug into Thomas Jefferson’s obsession with science and this event, the more connections I found to today and for kids. So many important ideas and issues to ponder! It’s more important than ever that we raise critical thinkers. Truth matters. It’s vital for us all to examine our sources for bias and misinformation. Jefferson and Count Buffon both eventually admitted they were wrong when presented with evidence. While the story deals with a theory about animals and simple concepts like bigger isn’t necessarily better and different doesn’t mean inferior, I’m hoping that kids will be able to take the understanding gained from this to more crucial applications as mentioned in the back matter that result in really dangerous and damaging patterns of thinking. I also loved that Jefferson’s efforts to disprove Buffon’s theory fit the scientific inquiry process that kids use today. The past connects to today in so many ways! 

Me: What faulty facts are we fighting today?

Beth: We have all kinds out there—all that was being passed around during Covid is just one area where faulty facts piled up. Unfortunately many areas have become politicized and polarizing which makes it hard for us to examine issues intelligently, admit if we’re wrong, and recognize reality. Faulty facts have invaded medicine, history, democracy, environmental science, and more. We are in an age when it is becoming ever more difficult to sort truth from non-truth. We are deluged with information from legitimate as well as dubious sources, and now the emergence of AI makes this all even harder. As I said, it’s so important that we raise kids to think and question in constructive ways. Though the illustrations of Jefferson and Buffon’s dinner debate show Jefferson’s inner turmoil, historical sources describe him as respectful and polite despite Buffon’s condescending attitude. Buffon was one of Jefferson’s scientific heroes. Imagine how disappointing that was and how hard it was for Jefferson to dispute Buffon’s information. It’s clear that they both had to let go of their emotional attachment to what they WANTED to be true. 

Me: What can we do to help our children become scientifically literate?

Beth: We are really fortunate to have such a fantastic array of children’s books about science these days. I think wide exposure to gain knowledge and nurture a sense of wonder and curiosity about the natural world is where scientific literacy starts. Then we provide opportunities to practice experimentation and investigation, collect and analyze data, and model critical thinking. An important piece of this is that scientific truth evolves as our understanding grows. Science is really quite irresistible! With the love of it, comes the literacy.

Beyond the Books:

Measure your world. What do you measure, and what tools do you use to do the measuring? Record your measurements and share them with others.

What are the largest (and possibly most majestic) animals that live near you? Use the process of scientific inquiry to support your thinking.  

What kinds of animal tracks can you find in the wild places near your home? (perhaps a park or local wooded area). You can find a handy field guide to animal tracks from Maine Fish and Wildlife at 

https://www.maine.gov/ifw/docs/animaltracksposter.pdf

Beth is a member of #STEAMTeam2024. You can find out more about her at her website.

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. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.

An Ocean Adventure with Michelle Cusolito

 

A Window into the Ocean Twilight Zone: Twenty-Four Days of Science at Sea 

by Michelle Cusolito 

144 pages; ages 10 & up

‎Charlesbridge, 2024

This is an adventure story! Author, Michelle Cusolito takes readers on a twenty-four day research expedition with scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). Destination: the North Atlantic. 

The scientists aboard Research Vessel (R/V) Sarmiento de Gamboa want to learn more about the ocean twilight zone. It lies about half a mile below the surface and scientists know “more about the surface of the moon than they know about the twilight zone,” says Michelle. The scientists are trying to learn more about the biodiversity and food webs in this zone, and how carbon moves from Earth’s atmosphere to the surface of the ocean, down through the twilight zone and eventually to the sea’s floor. To do that, they’ll use sophisticated equipment to help them collect and analyze samples from the ocean.

Chapter by chapter, Michelle introduces the reader to the vessel and the crew. As they head out to sea, she introduces the scientific equipment and the kind of data the researchers hope to collect. Of course, they don’t depend totally on new tech – there’s plenty of old-school ways to collect information about the ocean as they travel.

In one chapter, Michelle focuses on the MOCHNESS – not a monster, but a sophisticated collecting and sensing system. The nets collect creatures from different depths: lanternfish, octopuses, and a diversity of bioluminescent creatures. The sensors collect information about water temperature, salinity, oxygen and light levels. Other chapter focuses on cutting edge technology employed via water sled and underwater robots.

And then there’s the adventures: storms at sea, glitches in hardware that require creative solutions to recover equipment. I like how Michelle ends the book with a discussion  of the future of ocean science. She also presents early findings from the research trip and provides tips for kids who want to study the ocean. And the end pages are maps- so you won’t get lost as you travel along with the crew.

This was such a wild adventure story that I had to ask Michelle a Few Questions ...

Me: Tell us one surprising thing you learned from your adventure at sea. 

image provided by author

Michelle: I learned that Life Savers candies are used in a surprising way in ocean research! Here’s what I wrote in the book (page 79): Weights are attached to one of the candy rings, which is attached to the MINION [an underwater robot]. When the MINION is lowered overboard and into the ocean, the water dissolves the candy. Once the candy ring breaks, the weights fall off and the MINION reaches neutral buoyancy in the twilight zone, which means it hovers at a desired depth rather than sinking deeper or rising back to the surface. Not all Life Savers are up to this task, however. The ones that dissolve at the correct rate are individually wrapped fruit or butter rum ones, which are larger than those in a roll.

 

Me: How did you come to be part of the expedition? And what was your role/job? 

Michelle: It’s rare for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to bring a children’s book author out on an expedition where berths are in high demand. I’ve built a strong working relationship with WHOI since I first connected with them while researching for my first book—Flying Deep: Climb Inside Deep-Sea Submersible Alvin—nine years ago. I strongly believe in WHOI’s mission and do what I can to support it. Writing books that feature their research is one way to do that.

I had three jobs while at sea:

1. Researching for my book. This included conducting interviews, taking notes, and shooting lots of photos and videos;
2. Working with another science communicator on board—Marley Parker—to write daily blog posts about the expedition for WHOI; and
3. Assisting the scientists as needed.

Photo © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Marley Parker

I generally worked 12-14+ hour days, just like everyone else. (It’s a 24/7 operation). I was on deck and in the lab with the scientists every day and during some overnight shifts. There were times when I’d go to bed at midnight and my alarm would go off at 3:00 am to go document the recovery of a piece of equipment. I’d be on deck working ten minutes later. (Except for the one time I was so exhausted that Marley couldn’t wake me!) 

I loved being in the action and assisting when needed. One of my favorite memories is from a day I helped process the animals brought up in the nets. I got to see creatures that most people will never see. The photo above is of me holding an Atolla Jelly from that day.

Me: A lot of your research was interviews and photos. How did you store your valuable information while at sea? 

Michelle: This expedition took place in May of 2021, so we had to quarantine in a hotel in Spain for two weeks before boarding the ship. While in quarantine, Marley and I conducted Zoom interviews with many of the scientists and engineers. This helped us get a head start on building our understanding of what we’d be observing. I took notes during the interviews, and we recorded them. I later transcribed those interviews. All of the work done in quarantine was backed up to the cloud because we had relatively good internet in the hotel. Once we got on the ship, it was a whole different ball game. 

We had a very poor internet connection on the ship. Marley and I struggled to email simple word documents and relatively small photos back to WHOI for our daily posts. We’d often have to send them late at night when most people were sleeping (and therefore, not using the internet).

On the ship, I took notes in regular old spiral notebooks - I used a total of four for this book! I had brought several pocket-sized notebooks (including a waterproof one) thinking I’d use them on deck, but I never did. There was no time for notetaking on deck. I’d do that as soon as I got back inside. 

I also kept a journal where I collaged and glued in memorabilia while in quarantine. I also recorded my personal feelings and thoughts, not necessarily intending to use them in the book, but a few bits did get in. (The sidebar on page 66-67 was pulled from my journal)

I also took thousands of photos and dozens of videos. I backed those up to an external drive.

Me: Thank you for taking us along on your ocean adventure, Michelle! 

Michelle is a member of #STEAMTeam2024. You can find out more about her at her website. 

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge’s blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.