Kitchen Science ~ Spin Art!

 Our library's Summer Reading theme was "color your world" and one of the activities that kids could do was create spin art. It's fun and all you need are a few things: some cardstock, washable tempera paint, and a salad spinner (NOT the one you use to spin your lettuce!)

 

 Put your cardstock in the basket inside the spinner and squirt some tempera paint on it. You might have to experiment to get it thin enough to move when the spinner spins. 

 

 

Then start the spinner. I discovered that I had to keep pumping the thing to get the paint to push out to the sides (the effect of centrifugal force)

 

You may want to add more drips and drabs of paint to fill in a few blank spaces...

 

 

 

... and then finish off with a white or silver gel pen! Have fun! Oh, and if your salad spinner has holes on the bottom of the outer plastic bowl, make sure to cover your table with a piece of plastic so you don't get paint all over it. Or just do it outside on an old stump.

 

Stories Start with a Seed

 As a gardener, I’m always looking for new picture books about seeds, gardens, and the gardeners who plant them. 

themes: seeds, science, perseverance

     

Beansprout 

Art and words by Sarah Lynne Reul 

48 pages; ages 4-7

Charlesbridge, 2025 

This book opens with students gathered on a rug as their teacher says, “In this paper bag.. I have one hundred secrets. One hundred tiny surprises. Because this bag contains one hundred … Mystery Seeds!”

Each student chooses a seed to plant. They draw what they think will grow, and water their seed, and watch and wait for something to poke up out of the soil. Everyone’s seed sprouts except for Ben’s. The sprouts grow into seedlings, but not the nothing in Ben’s pot.  And then Ben discovers the bag filled with seeds that weren’t chosen and comes up with a new idea.

What I like about this book: As one who has planted seeds that haven’t germinated, I identify with Ben! I, too, have wondered when something – anything – will sprout. I like how Sarah Lynne Reul shows Ben’s excitement at planting time, his dismay – and then second-guessing his seed’s (and his) worth – and his teacher explaining that “sometimes things don’t grow and we don’t know the reason why.” I love that even as Ben considers never planting another thing, he discovers the bag of leftover seeds teetering on the edge of the teacher’s desk, way too close to the garbage can! I love the back matter: what is a seed? How does a seed know when to grow? What can you do if a seed doesn’t grow? 

And I really, really LOVE the art! Sarah’s illustrations are done in mixed media, with watercolor paints, tissue paper prints, and collage. The edges are cleanly cut, not torn, and give the feel of more than 2-D.  Make sure you spend time with the front AND back end papers!

Not only is March the perfect time to be thinking of seeds to plant, it’s Women’s History Month. And I have the perfect book, which was published last year - today I’m celebrating its One Year Anniversary.

Gifts from Georgia's Garden: How Georgia O'Keeffe Nourished Her Art 

by Lisa Robinson; illus. by Hadley Hooper 

‎40 pages; ages 4-8

Neal Porter Books, 2024  

Georgia painted flowers so lush and large they filled the canvas – petunias, poppies, lilies, and more…

But she was also a gardener who tended her crops using organic methods, planting marigolds to protect her plants from pests. And while she waited for her seeds to sprout, she painted. She raised her food, sewed her clothes, ground grain for bread – and all the while painted the skulls and bones and things she found in nature.

What I like about this book: Lisa Robinson shows that the act of tending her garden and feeding friends inspired Georgia O’Keefe’s art. I like that back matter shares more about Georgia O’Keefe and some of the basic concepts of sustainable gardening: conserving water, companion planting, attracting beneficial insects, and composting. There’s also a recipe to try.

Beyond the Books:

Plant some seeds. Think about things you like: beans, flowers, carrots … maybe a pumpkin? Before you plant your seed, take a good look at it and write down some of the things you notice. 

Watch your plants grow! Draw pictures of what you see as your plant grows. What do the leaves look like? How tall does it grow? When does it begin to flower? Do any insects hang out on your plant, eat the leaves, or gather pollen from the flower? NOTE: if you don’t plant any seeds, or if your seeds don’t grow, you can “adopt” a plant you find already growing – maybe in a neighborhood garden or park.

my attempt at a poppy!

Paint a flower ~ or make a collage of a flower in the style of  Georgia O’Keefe. She painted her flowers large, so viewers could really see the details. Look into the center of the flower and think: how can I show this using paint or paper? Or both? Then make art!

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.

Illustrated by Kate Cosgrove...

I’ve been wanting to review these two books for a while ... so I put them on my desk right next to my keyboard so I wouldn't miss them (unless I piled other stuff on top, which I did...). Anyway, there they are, and I'm looking at them thinking, hmmm... they feel like they belong together in a review. Sure, trees and flowers are both plants. But there’s something else nibbling on my attention. Something about how the illustrations feel free and flowing. And I realize: Kate Cosgrove illustrated both of them! I hadn’t noticed it before because - let’s be honest - when we talk about books we usually talk about who wrote them. 

Themes: flowers, trees, art

Just Flowers 

by Erin Dealey; illus by Kate Cosgrove 

40 pages; ages 5-8

Sleeping Bear Press, 2024

There’s something to be said about a book featuring flowers that opens with a cold and snowy day. “One blustery brr day, in a dreary, dull town, a new neighbor moved in.” Izzy watches the new neighbor stomping about in his yard, grumbling, “where are the roses?”

She sees what he doesn’t – small white flowers called snowdrops. “Galanthus,” Izzy tells him. “Gesundheit,” he replies. Spread by spread Izzy discovers wonderful flowers in her neighbor’s yard: tulips, buttercups, impatiens, delphinium. But all he wants is roses.

What I like love about this book: I love the collection of flower names in the book: dahlias, asters, cup and saucer vine. I love that sometimes Izzy provides the genus name for the flowers. And I love how “just flowers” make the people around Izzy bloom. The last spread highlights all the flowers and plants in the book, with common and scientific names. It’ll make you want to head outside and identify plants you find in your neighborhood.

And, of course, there's the art!

A Tree Is a Community (Books for a Better Earth) 

by David L. Harrison; illustrated by Kate Cosgrove 

40 pages; ages 4-8

Holiday House, 2024

From bugs to birds and beyond, the short free-verse poems on each page in this book celebrate the animals that make up the community in and on the hackberry tree in author, David Harrison’s back yard. But first, we need a spring rain to moisten the soil and give the trees roots a good drink!

In spring,

the rain 

ROARS!

GUSHES!

POURS 

Down through that 

rich, 

dark 

soil.

What I like love about this book: You mean besides the ants and bees and moths and beetles? I love the vibrant verbs. Bugs crawl and climb and scurry. Birds flip and flap, fly and tote. This is a great book to find action words. At the same time, we see the diversity of wildlife using the tree as a home, and watch the passing of the seasons. And if that’s not enough, there’s some extra stuff on the back end pages: David’s note about why trees are important, a list of books for further reading, and an index to the tree dwellers – possums, page 23.

Beyond the Books:

Make some flowers to pop in a recycled bottle or can – or maybe some flower-stamp cards for your friends. All you need is some corks, acrylic paint, cardstock (or index cards) – and buttons and green pipecleaners for the flowers. Here’s how.

What sort of communities do your local trees support? Choose one or two to follow over the spring, summer, and fall. Who uses your tree over the seasons? How does your tree change from spring to fall? Choose a way to share your observations with your friends – maybe you want to paint pictures, like Kate Cosgrove, or write poems, like David Harrison. Or maybe photography is more your thing, or pressing leaves. 

Kate Cosgrove talks about her illustration process for her very first picture book, And The Bullfrogs Sing, by David Harrison (Holiday House, 2019) and her art for A Tree Is a Community on Kathy Temean’s blog here and here. And you can watch an interview with her local TV station here.

We’ll join Perfect Picture Book Friday once they’re finished with the Valentiny story contest. 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 ~ Patterns in Nature

Today is a great day for patterns! Over at the GROG blog, Christy Mihaly is chatting with Lisa Perron about her new book, Patterns Everywhere. Meanwhile over here, we're going on a Pattern Walk!

One of the patterns people find frequently in nature is a spiral. Ammonites (extinct marine mollusks) had a coiled external shell. Perhaps you know some other mollusks with coiled shells? You can find spirals hidden in many plants: in the uncurling fern leaves, head of a sunflower, and curling dried leaves of grass.

This week, head out on a Pattern Walk. In addition to spirals, you might find lines and stripes...

 

 

or spots and dots. 

 

Info-Graph Your Thanksgiving Meal!

If you want to keep track of how the seasons change, your favorite lunches, or keep track of all the food you eat at Thanksgiving (and even the time it takes to make it), all you need is a pencil and a scrap of paper. 

But if you want to impress your neighbor with the numbers, you might need a bit more – a way to share your information so people can understand it in a glance. And that way is through infographics ~ a combination of math, art, and communication. To explain your Thanksgiving meal you might want to use a time line to show how long it took to prepare the food. And you’ll definitely need a pie graph to compare the kinds of pies you ate!

Here are two books that show and tell how to make infographics. They might even inspire kids to keep track of the interesting (and even mundane) things in their lives.

Life Log: Track Your Life with Infographic Activities Diary 

by Lea Redmond; illus. by Andrea Tsurumi

96 pages; ages 8-12

Chronicle Books, 2022 

Life Log is a guided workbook for infographic exploration. It opens with an introduction to the basics: what infographics is, how a key works, and the lowdown on facts and data. There are pie charts, rainbow charts, timelines, and lots of great questions. All the book asks is for curious kids to bring a bunch of colored pencils and a willingness to visualize information in a new way. 

My favorites: tracking a tree, how long a pencil lasts, and a month of insect encounters. This book is a great way to jump into creating graphs and charts.

Or you could keep track of how regularly you "ate the rainbow" of vegetables and fruits suggested in daily servings.

Show and Tell! Great Graphs and Smart Charts: An Introduction to Infographics 

by Stuart J. Murphy; illus. by Teresa Bellón    

48 pages; ages 7-10

‎Charlesbridge, 2022  

Bar graphs, line graphs, pictographs, and pie charts can show a lot of information in a single glance. But which do you use, and when? Let’s say you want to find out more about lunchroom food. If you want to know what meals kids like the most, you could conduct a survey and display the results in a bar graph. If you wanted to compare the number of entrees served during a lunch period, you might draw a pie graph. (yes, you can create pie alamode graphs if you really want to) This book serves well as an introduction to charts and graphs, and ends with a list of things kids can use infographic techniques to explore.

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 copies provided by the publishers.

Doing Our Illustrator Homework ~ by Jacob Souva

I’ve learned a lot over the past five years while focusing solely on illustrating picture books. I still feel like a “newbie” when I open a manuscript, tasked with adding my art to someone’s hard earned text: Where do I start? How do I get ideas? What does that thing or character look like? Am I really getting paid to illustrate poop?

Every book is different, but there are some common threads. No matter the style in which an illustrator works or freedom afforded by the art director, the story is set someplace with rules that apply to that world. The closer the world sits to reality, the more research an illustrator must do into that world. We owe that to our young audience. It’s important that we do our illustrator homework.

In the past two years I’ve had the opportunity to illustrate two books in a series that straddle the fiction/non-fiction line. The books are about real things in nature (the stuff of non-fiction) presented by a talking bug narrator (the stuff of fiction). In the books Butterflies Are Pretty… Gross! and it’s sibling Flowers Are Pretty… Weird! (written by Rosemary Mosco, published by Tundra Books), I knew that the easy part would be the narrator. I’m good at characters and have exercised the creative fiction side of my career my whole life. A spunky bumble bee waxing on about flowers tumbled out of my imagination rather easily.

What I didn’t know was what an Alcon Blue Butterfly caterpillar looked like or why a particular orchid was named “Monkey Orchid.”

It might seem obvious (and it is!) but a folder full of research and visual material is an absolute must for getting these details right. I’ve collected reference material several different ways, but always begin by using search engines to find images. I store them either in a hidden Pinterest collection or a folder on my hard drive, labeled carefully (important for recall). There are times when I’ll need to reach back out to the art director or editor about a specific detail. I also find myself reading papers or articles when the photo reference doesn’t give me enough to work with.

Details matter! I’ve been asked about the colorings of certain butterflies by feisty second graders. Parents reading these books to their kids might be experts in the field and will be great ambassadors for a book that gets the details right.   

I’ve just wrapped up the art for a book called Max And Ed Bike To Nome (by Matthew Lasley, releasing April 4, 2023 by West Margin Press). It’s based on the real-life bike ride of Ed Jesson during the Klondike Gold Rush in Alaska. I was super thankful to find photographic reference material from the 1890s! The State of Alaska has an amazing collection of old photos to dig through. The final art is built upon the visual information I was able to comb.

Lastly, reference is the greatest starting point for creativity. I’ve found that this is where the fun and magic of illustrating resides. A good base level of visual information is a great foundation to jump off and get creative with. As famous jazz improviser Charles Mingus said “You can’t improvise on nothing, man; you’ve gotta improvise on something.”  

 Jacob Souva is an illustrator/author of picture books. You can find out more about him and his books at his website, www.twofishillustration.com. I met him a few years ago, and reviewed his fun book about panning for gold, Pedro's Pan.

Bringing Back the Words

Words are important. At least, being a writer, I like to think so. Words connect us to ideas. Words connect us to our culture, history, family and community. And words connect us to nature. 

I was a kid who kept lists of nature words: names of the rocks we hunted for; names for the squirrels and birds I learned to identify; names for wild places hidden in vacant lots and parks around the city. Pooh had the Hundred Acre Wood; my friends and I had the Secret Forest – though it wasn’t very secret and only had a handful of trees. Something inside me felt that if I could name an animal, flower, rock, I might know it a little better.

So I was surprised, taken aback, even appalled to learn that a children’s dictionary was removing words about nature to make more room for words about technology. This started in 2007 when the Oxford Junior Dictionary deleted a slew of nature words: dandelion, acorn, magpie, otter – seriously? Who removes those cute, fluffy critters from a children’s dictionary? But the facts are that the children’s dictionary has a limited number of pages upon which to print words, and the words children are using (or being forced to use in school) are changing. In place of the nature words, they put in voice mail, broadband, BlackBerry – a now obsolete phone, not the tasty Rubus spp we continue to pick from prickly vines to this day.

This losing of nature words rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Teachers and scientists sent emails to the Oxford dictionary folks. And author Robert Macfarlane teamed up with painter, Jackie Morris to create a lovely book, Lost Words. I discovered this book in 2019 and fell in love with it. It’s presented as a “spellbook for conjuring back those lost words” – those words snatched from the language of children before they even had a chance to learn about conkers and newts, bluebells and brambles. The pages held not just poems, but spells that might – through the magic of being spoken aloud – bring back those lost words into a child’s language. Ours, too.

How we perceive and talk about the natural world affects how we relate to it, and that affects how we care for it. Or how we don’t. I sometimes catch myself talking about going out to the garden to chat with plants or listen to the bees. When I hear a bird song I don’t recognize, I often ask, “who’s that?” 

I think that having words to share our observations about nature and the ecology around us is vitally important. Not only does it give us a language to converse in, but it strengthens our connections to the natural world. These connections are critical, especially now. In the past 50 years, human activities have contributed to a loss of nearly 70% of the world’s wildlife.

Can we reverse our environmental losses by changing the language we use? I think so. What if, instead of “profit” we talked about “environmental sustainability?” Instead of “weeds” we used words like “dandelion” and “pussy toes” and “plantain?” What if, like wildlife rehabilitators, we released wild words, like "kingfisher" back into our lexicon?

The Lost Words folks have created a wonderful Explorers Guide for teachers and parents and curious naturalists. You can find it at the John Muir Trust website (www.johnmuirtrust.org/john-muir-award/ideas-and-resources/literacy-and-nature/the-lost-words). It is packed with activities across the curriculum ~ poetry, science, things you can do outside and things you can do inside. You’ll also find articles and other resources there.

And if you’re interested in becoming a keeper of nature words, here’s another book you might want to check out: The Keeper of Wild Words, by Brooke Smith. Check out my review here.

For the Love of Snails ~ by Marla Coppolino

I've had more slugs in my garden this year than ever. So when I found a slug hanging out atop a dandelion after a rain, I asked Marla (a snail expert) whether it was nibbling the flowers or trying to keep its foot dry. One question led to another and finally I asked if she'd maybe just write a little bit about snails for this blog. I'm so happy she did.

 

Peer down into a patch of weeds, under a decaying log, or sift through some topsoil, and you might have the chance to meet the often-misunderstood underdogs of the animal kingdom: the land snails.

Why snails, and what exactly are these squishy, slimy creatures, you ask? As a malacologist specializing in land snails and an artist who likes to draw them, I’m happy to tell you. 

I first discovered snails as a young child. I remember turning over the stones in my backyard, where I discovered the universe of tiny snails that lived beneath them. I was intrigued that they led a seemingly mysterious life and had a beautifully coiled shell. I had to learn more, and so began my lifelong quest.

Slugs are snails too, except that they evolved to not need a shell, or some have a drastically reduced bit of shell under the skin behind the head. So when I refer to snails, I really mean snails and slugs.

by Marla Coppolino

In their hidden lives, native snails do lots of unseen good for the ecosystem. First, they act as clean-up crews, making meals out of leftovers like old, rotted mushrooms, dead plants, and even dead animals. You’re more likely to find them if you do a careful search in their natural habitats, like meadows, undisturbed woodlands, and limestone outcrops, where they glean vital nutrients from these materials, like calcium and magnesium. 

In turn, snails and slugs become food for many other animals of the food web. Firefly larvae feast upon them, salamanders snack on them, even some mammals – like chipmunks and squirrels – munch them. For many birds, snails are an essential source of nutrients important for laying viable eggs.

Some snails and slugs can be real garden pests, but you’re unlikely to find the native snails in your vegetable garden. Snails that have been introduced from other lands are the ones with large appetites, doing much damage to your Swiss chard, cucumbers, strawberries, and other veggies and fruits under the dark cover of night. As much as I like to help others learn about the benefits of native snails in the ecosystem, so many questions come my way about how to get rid of garden pest snails. I’m not the expert here, but I can share one trick: I pick the little buggers off my veggies by hand every morning and drop them off at least 100 feet from the garden. Labor intensive, yes, but there’s minimal damage to my garden.

Why do I like to look for, talk about, write about and draw snails so much? Maybe it’s because they need someone to be their megaphone. Spending time with snails reminds me to slow down in life, in a good way, to stop, ask questions, and stay curious. I hope these amazing animals can do the same for both my children and adult audiences. 

Marla develops online courses at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, mostly to help people learn about birds, how to be stewards of nature, as well as fun things like drawing and painting birds. She enjoys researching and pulling together scientific information in a way that's broadly understandable and fun to learn. Marla also drew the illustrations for The Sound of the Sea, by Cynthia Barnett (W.W. Norton & Co. 2021). You can find out more about her art at her website, www.marlacoppolino.com

 

Fizz! Pop! Boom! Fourth of July Science

With the Fourth of July just around the corner, I thought I'd do something different today. Instead of a book review, I've collected some creative alternatives to fireworks. Hands-on activities that will provide plenty of fizz, pop, and boom without the big noise and smell of gunpowder. 

 

You probably have many of the ingredients in your cupboards, but check the materials lists in case you need to stock up before Monday. Then, after the parade and potato salad, invite friends and family to create their own Fourth of July celebratory works of art – and science.

My kids loved to play with baking soda and vinegar. I’d find a bottle that fit a cork, then let them play around with those two ingredients to see how far up they could make their cork rocket fly. You can dress up a cork with some red and blue ribbons, but keep it light so it will fly.

Here are some other creative ways to celebrate the day:

Exploding sidewalk paint ~ use glow-in-the-dark paint for night fun

Flying chalk rockets ~ a different approach to sidewalk art  

Fizzy sidewalk paint ~ perfect for toddlers

Fizzy pop chalk ~ for fingers or brushes

Erupting Rainbow ~ another fun one for the youngest kids

And how can we not include the Diet coke and mentos geyser ~ definitely outside fun!

 Have a fizzy, fun weekend and I'll return on Wednesday for a nature break and more outside exploration.

Messing around in my Nature Journal

 Have you ever smooshed a marigold or buttercup across a page in your journal or sketchbook? Maybe it left a yellowish smudge… And while you may have done it by accident, a couple weeks ago I smooshed plant parts onto the page on purpose.

It was part experiment, part “artist date” a’la Julia Cameron, and a whole lot curiosity. I wanted to know would blue pigments in my bachelor button blossoms smear blue pigment on the page? Would the centers of oxeye daisies make as nice a yellow as buttercups?

Materials

I began by collecting a variety of plants that I thought might provide some color:

bachelor button flower

bleeding heart flowers and leaves

oxeye daisy flower

buttercup flowers and leaves

yellow hawkweed flowers

creeping charlie leaves

wild strawberries

Method

 I knew I could extract pigments by boiling the flowers and adding a mordant (a mordant is a chemical that helps keep the pigment from fading, such as vinegar or alum). But I wanted something more immediate. So I pressed and smeared, smooshed, and squashed petals and plant parts directly onto the paper.

Results: Yellow hawkweed and buttercup petals left bright yellow smudges; the yellow center of the daisy left only a faint mark. Bachelor button petals left a bright blue. Strawberries left pink smears, not the red I expected. Bleeding heart flowers left no pigment on the page. As for the leaves, creeping charlie and bleeding heart leaves left different shades of green.

Exploring Shiny Things

For the past two weeks, I've been buzzed by hummingbirds as I worked in my garden. Perhaps it's my pink hat? Aside from the bunch of bleeding hearts blooming near the gate, there sure isn't a lot to interest hummers. But there they were, twin fighter jets zooming right overhead. Fortunately, they reminded me to dig out this book from my to-be-reviewed basket.

Time to Shine: Celebrating the World’s Iridescent Animals

by Karen Jameson; illus. by Dave Murray 

32 pages; ages 3-6

‎Groundwood Books, 2022  

theme: animals, nature

Each iridescent creature knows / just how to rock its sparkly “clothes.”

There are so many animals that shine – and chances are you’ve seen some of them. Perhaps a metallic green beetle scooting across the sidewalk, or a hummingbird with a shiny read throat visiting flowers. Told in rhyme, this book showcases diverse creatures that sport sparkly feathers, scales, shells, and skin.

What I like about this book: I like the layered text. Large text presents the fun, rhythmic language perfect for a read-aloud. Smaller text provides more information, such as an explanation of what iridescence is and more about each of the creatures. Back matter is a great resource for those who want to know more about the science of iridescence and how scientists are studying it for potential uses in technology.

Karen talked a bit about iridescence in insects over at the Second Annual GROG Arthropod Roundtable. But I wanted to know more. She graciously answered One More Question:

Me: I often find shiny green tiger beetles and purple ground beetles – and of course, hummingbirds – in my garden. Can you talk about some of the iridescent animals you have come across in your back yard or neighborhood?

Karen: What a great question! Ever since doing my research for Time To Shine, I'm always on the lookout for iridescent creatures. Hummingbirds and beetles are very common in our backyard, as well as the occasional dragonfly. If we stroll down the pathways near our home, there's a little lake that attracts mallard ducks with iridescent green head feathers. There are iridescent fish in that lake, too, as well as a number of insects with shimmering wings. Strolling in the opposite direction, we'd come across some hilly neighborhoods with a family of wild turkeys. The male's feathers shine with iridescent shades of green, copper, and red. Keep your eyes open when you walk outside. You're likely to discover iridescent creatures in the most surprising places!

Beyond the Books:

Go on a Shiny Scavenger Hunt. Find – and observe/ take photos/ draw these creatures:

• a dragonfly or damselfly
• a beetle
• a hummingbird
• a snail shell or other kind of shiny shell
• something with iridescent scales
• a butterfly 
• a chicory or other plant that seems to shine

Create iridescent art! It involves clear nail polish, so make sure you do this in a well-ventilated area. Here’s how.

Blow some iridescent bubbles. Here’s a recipe from the Exploratorium.

Karen is a member of #STEAMTeam2022. You can find out more about her at her website.

Today we're joining Perfect Picture Book Friday, an event where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review e-galley provided by the author.

Busy Bugs are All Around You

Hustle Bustle Bugs 

by Catherine Bailey; illus. by Lauren Eldridge 

40 pages; ages 4-8

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2022

theme: insects, nature, 

Secret cities buzz and bustle /with itty-bitty hard-work hustle.

In rhyming couplets, Catherine Bailey shows bugs busy at work. Ants build a colony. Ladybugs on pest patrol. Dung beetles rolling … yeah, dung. Butterflies and bees, fireflies and caterpillars… every bug has a job to do, even if it’s a cricket crooning a tune to the moon.

What I like about this book: There is back matter! Kids – and parents – will want to know more about the insects introduced in the pages. So Catherine provides Buggy Facts, and highlights the best bits that make great sharing at the lunch table: did you know grasshoppers have ears on their bellies?

I also like the illustrations. They look like a mix of toys, like plastic insects, and landscapes.

Lauren: Yeah, but I didn’t use any toys. I made everything by hand.

Turns out that Lauren tells all about how she did the illustrations in her “Note from the Artist” at the back of the book. Because the book is about exploring the environment, she decided to incorporate as many things from the natural environment as she could: dried flowers, sticks, dirt, grass. 

me: But what about the ants and beetles and butterflies?

Lauren explains that, too. She used wire, epoxy putty, tinfoil, polymer clay, mini foam footballs, and vellum to construct the bugs. Except for the butterfly wings, she says. For those, she used yupo paper and alcohol inks. 

I’ve played around with yupo paper and alcohol inks, and it is a lot of fun! You can get some nice stained-glass effects.

To pull it all together, Lauren began by photographing the settings. Then she photographed the bugs and the human characters, and pieced several photos together to create each scene.

Usually at this point I would ask the author a question. But Catherine will be over at the GROG blog on the 20th to talk about bugs and how she came to write this book. Catch her there...

Beyond the Books:

Where do the bugs hang out in your neighborhood? Look for spider webs, ant mounds, caterpillar tents and other evidence of bug homes in your backyard or at a local park. Be careful if you find a wasp nest – wasps have sharp stingers and some of them are not averse to using them.

Spend time watching a bug. If there are ants in a line, where are they going? What are they doing? I once watched a crew of ants drag a large, dead butterfly home. Supper maybe?

Make your own Busy Bug illustration. Use clay and things from the recycling bin ( tinfoil, plastic containers) to construct a bug. Pipe cleaners come in handy – so do toothpicks and beads, grapes, raisins, tissue paper, and heavy paper. Once you’ve built a bug or two, create a scene with grass and pebbles or soil, and take a photo.

Catherine Bailey is a member of #STEAMTeam2022. You can find out more about her at her website.

Today we're joining Perfect Picture Book Friday, an event where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Reviewed from a pdf provided by the author.

Celebrating Flies, party-style

 One of those warm, sunny days sandwiched between snowy storms, I noticed flies swarming above the lilac tree. Tiny flies, to be sure, but just enough to remind me that Fly Season is on its way. And by this, I don’t mean the season where you grab your waders and pole and head to the trout creek. Oh, no. I mean the time of year when cluster flies and black flies and – oh so many kinds of flies – emerge or hatch or whatever they do so they can buzz around and … bug us.

Although, to be fair, they do play an important role in the world. They help decompose dead things, pollinate flowers, and provide fast food for critters of land, sea, and air. I bring up their nutritional contributions because I’m celebrating the one-year anniversary of my picture book, 13 Ways to Eat a Fly. 

 Over at Melissa Stewart’s Info-liscious blog, I share thoughts about writing it. (Thanks for inviting me, Melissa!) 

Meanwhile, I thought that over here we'd celebrate with party favors. And since you're wherever you are and I am probably a great distance away, they are going to be Make Your Own party favors.  

So grab some paper (origami paper or recycled gift wrap – even a sheet of graph paper will do) and some scissors, markers, and glue because it's time for arts & crafts!

If you don’t have origami paper, cut a 6” x 6” square of paper. Then fold one corner of the square paper to the opposite corner to make a triangle.

Turn the triangle so the longest (folded) side is nearest you. Now fold the left and right corners to meet the central point of the triangle.

Unfold, so you have your large triangle again. Then, slide your finger between the layers of the top point. Fold the top layer down so that the point meets the center of the long, bottom side.

Remember that right corner you folded up and unfolded? Well, you’re going to bring it up to meet the peak of the triangle again. But this time you tuck it into the pocket, right behind the middle triangle. 

Now do the same thing with that left corner: bring it up and tuck it in. At this point it looks like a diamond. But we’ll fix that…

Bring the tip of the diamond down to the bottom corner of the triangle, and crease it. Then tuck the flap of paper inside the pocket. 

Add wings and compound eyes to turn your bookmark into a fly. Or add eyes, wings, beak, legs, and other features to turn your bookmark into a fly-eating creature. Slide your bookmark over the corner of the page and – ta-da! – you’ve got a bookmark to slide over the top corner of whatever page you want to mark.