Sloths on a Blog Tour!

The Upside-Down Book of Sloths

by Elizabeth Shreeve; illus. by Isabella Grott 

40 pages; ages 7-10

‎Norton Young Readers, 2023

Theme: animals, prehistoric animals, nonfiction

Slow. Sleepy. Weirdly adorable.

You might think you know a lot about sloths. But hold tight to that branch, says Elizabeth Shreeve. “Because everything you thought about sloths is about to turn …

… upside down!"

 For example, sloths are small. But long ago (like 40 million years ago) they were huge! Nearly as big as an elephant at the zoo! And you know that sloths hang out in trees and eat leaves. But back in the prehistoric times, some sloths took to the ocean to hunt for tasty sea grasses.

What I like about this book: One thing you notice about this book is that some pages feature large text with conversational language, and some have smaller text with sidebars that provide more details and facts. That makes this book useable on two levels: one as a picture book to read to the younger kids (6-7), and a middle grade level for the 8-10 year old crowd. Even with sidebars and fact-features, there’s additional back matter: a timeline of sloth history, an author’s note, and a list of books and web links where curious kids (and teachers) can learn more.

I also loved the way Elizabeth teases readers with facts and then notes that sloths weren’t always like that. “Long ago… they …” – and you have just got to turn the page to find out what they did! So I had to ask Elizabeth One Question: 

Me: I liked the way you compared present day sloths to prehistoric sloths - and the phrase, "But long ago..." Can you share how you came to that structure for this book?

 Elizabeth: Structure is so important for nonfiction! Otherwise we’re just relaying facts. I was initially attracted to the topic—flabbergasted, in fact!—by the differences between modern tree sloths and prehistoric giant ground sloths. My research files quickly grew full. All I needed was a way to organize and highlight what I’d found. 

After drawings lots of charts, I settled on a structure that pairs and compares the six living species of tree sloths with their prehistoric relatives. The first pairing was easy: size! The smallest tree sloth (the pygmy sloth of Panama) weighs about 7 pounds while the largest ground sloth, Megatherium, reached 8,000 pounds. From there I identified other attributes such as lifestyle, range, diet, behavior…all sorts of intriguing features.  

This compare-and-contrast approach, turns out, ties in well with language arts curriculum (check out the Teacher Guide on my website) and offered a way to structure all the research I’d done, with the refrain “but long ago…” as a repeated nudge to carry the reader through the book.

Beyond the Books:

Can you move as slow as a sloth? And why do they move so slowly, anyway? You can find out in this article from the Smithsonian Institution.

Make a sloth corner-page book mark. Here’s directions – and a video on how to do the origami folds!

Just how big were our prehistoric ancestors? Here's a video comparing modern with ancestor sizes (about 7 minutes long) and here's an article.

The Upside-Down Book of Sloths is on a Book Blog Tour! Here's a list of the stops so you can catch up with 'em: 

Sept 5: at Erin Dealey's blog  

Today - right here! 

Sept 12: answering Six Questions with Mary Boone 

Sept 15: chatting with Beth Anderson about how educators can use Sloths in their classroom 

Sept 20: at Maria Marshall's blog with the STEAM Team group.  

Elizabeth is a member of #STEAMTeam2023. 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.

The Pie That Molly Grew ~ Blog Tour next week!

 Join me and a few of my friends between August 15 - 28 as we talk about pumpkins, pie, and pollinators.

 

Aug 15 - at Vivian Kirkfield's blog for a Book Birthday & giveaway

 

 Aug. 16 - we'll join the STEAMTeam at Maria Marshall’s blog, The Picture Book Buzz

Aug. 18 - at Carol Baldwin’s blog & a giveaway!

Aug. 23 - with Kathy Halsey on the GROG blog

Aug. 25 - over at Beth Anderson's blog

Aug 28 - with Lauri Fortino at Frog on a Blog

BLOG Tour ~ The Leaf Detective

Today we're joining the Blog Tour for Heather Lang's newest book. Even though there are no leaves on the trees in my neck of the woods - except the dried and brittle beech leaves that rattle in the wind - there will be leaves soon. And what better way to spend a brrr-y winter day than on a rainforest adventure?

The Leaf Detective: How Margaret Lowman Uncovered Secrets in the Rainforest 
by Heather Lang; illus. by Jana Christy 
48 pages; ages 7-10
Calkins Creek, 2021

theme: biography, STEM, trees

Meg loved how leaves burst into the world and unfurled. She admired their different shapes, colors, and textures.

Meg had been a leaf detective since she was a young girl. Even though most people thought there was no room for a woman in science, she went to university and conducted research in the rainforest. But trying to study leaves – especially those high in a rainforest canopy – is hard to do from the ground. Meg needed top find a way to get into the treetops. 

What I like about this book: I like how Heather Lang highlights Meg’s problem-solving skills – those that led to getting up into the canopy and those that helped her understand canopy ecology. And I really like how Heather brings Meg’s voice into the story through quotes from her articles and writings. One of my favorites: “We had already been to the moon and back and nobody had been to the top of the tree.”

Last week I posted a bit from Nonfiction Writers Dig Deep. Heather is one of the authors who contributed to that book, so this week I asked her One Question raised in the book.

Me: How did you dig through your passions and experiences and personality to come up with the way you chose to tell the story of Leaf Detective?

Heather: I began my work on The Leaf Detective with a deep passion for our natural world. I’m in awe of its sounds, smells, sights, mysteries, and wonders. Every time I encounter stories about how we are destroying nature, I feel a sense of dread and desperation. We’ve already lost more than half of our forests. I knew from the outset I wanted to write a book that was both a biography and a science book about the rainforest.

Heather & Meg, on the canopy walk in the Amazon

As I researched Meg Lowman, I was struck by the depth of her connection to trees—a connection that grew from profound respect, appreciation, love. And when I met Meg in person for the first time, I could literally feel this connection. It floated across the table and filled me up. Afterwards, I thought a lot about my own connections to nature, friends, family, animals, and other passions. I examined and questioned those special feelings of being inextricably intertwined. I marveled over how we are all interconnected on this planet—from ants to trees to humans.

When I sat down to start writing Meg’s story, the words came tumbling out as a love poem to trees. And that tribute to trees became the foundation for a lyrical biography about a quiet girl, whose true love for nature and plants shaped her and led her to become a pioneer in tree canopy science and ultimately a tree protector.

Beyond the Books: Be a leaf detective!

In the winter, what leaves do you find still attached to trees? Draw what they look like, or take photos. Do they stay attached all winter?

In the spring, find a limb you can easily observe and collect information on how fast the leaves grow. You might want a camera, or a ruler. 

In the summer, compare leaves of different trees. What do you notice about the leaves? Are the edges nibbled? If so, what’s eating the leaves?

In the fall, compare how different kinds of leaves turn colors, and the way they move when they let go of their twig.

Heather Lang is a member of #STEAMTeam2021. You can find out more about her at her website.  When the valentine story contest is over, we’ll rejoin Picture Book Friday, an event where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copy provided by the publisher.

 

 

Spooked! Blog Tour and Author Interview

Spooked! How a Radio Broadcast and the War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America
by Gail Jarrow
144 pages; ages 10 - 12
Calkins Creek, 2018

Mischief night is October 30, the night before Halloween. It's the night when older kids and teens head out to soap windows, TP trees, and other mischief. But on October 30, 1938, a radio theater company unwittingly perpetrated mischief on a national audience. They performed an updated production of H.G. Wells's science fiction novel, The War of the Worlds.

The novel portrays a martian attack on Earth - unrealistic, right? And yet, people tuning in late heard breathless announcers read alerts of an invasion. Because they hadn't heard the disclaimer at the beginning of the show, that this was an act of fiction, some people panicked. They piled in their cars and fled their homes. Others jammed phone lines, calling relatives for one last conversation. And some drove to the invasion site, hoping to get a look at the alien invaders.

 How could people be so taken in by a radio show? It was the depths of the depression, Gail Jarrow writes. Hitler is rising to power, and his invasions of European countries have Americans anxious. So if a person turned on the radio after the introduction, they might believe that the "program interruptions" they heard were legitimate alerts about invasions on American soil. Like the best propaganda and fake news, the radio drama contained just enough truth to make it believable.

This is a story of historical events, so why am I reviewing it on my blog? Because there are STEM connections. Fortunately, Gail had time to answer Three Questions.

Archimedes: How does the history connect with science, technology, engineering, and math?

Gail: I'm hoping that kids will think about the history of technology in communication. Right now, we live in a world where the technology - social media - is way ahead of human behavior and culture. Just look at the Internet. Back in 1938, that's what was going on with radio. People got their entertainment and news from the radio. As I studied this event in history, I kept seeing parallels in the way people responded to a radio broadcast and the way people respond to social media now. The biggest issue is confirmation bias (that we tend to believe "news" that conforms to our ideology or politics).

Not only is this a hazard when reading news presented on our social media, but it can also sway scientists, says Gail.

Archimedes: Most scientists try to avoid bias. So how would it affect their research?

Gail: Some researchers might be too quick to dismiss an outlier - data or observations that are different from what they expect - and label it as a mistake or sample contamination. Instead, they need to look carefully to see what is going on. People could have easily checked whether there was an invasion by turning their radio dial to see whether other stations were reporting the same breaking news. Some people did that, and even called local police or CBS. But too many people assumed that what they heard was the truth.

Even more interesting, the researchers from Princeton who studied the "panic" fell victim to confirmation bias, and their study has serious flaws. They relied on interviews from people who lived near where the invasion was purported to happen instead of interviewing people across the country. Their sample size was too small to extrapolate meaningful results for six million people, and they relied on poor statistics. To compound the problem, editors of textbooks didn't read the published study carefully, and included it in textbooks.

Archimedes: I can see how kids might be exposed to "fake news" and confirmation bias in history and social studies. But science?

Gail: Sure. Think about kids doing a lab - especially when it's a lab that has been done year after year, and they know the range of results they're expected to get. So if they get data that doesn't conform to what most people get, they think they've done something wrong. It's tempting to toss the data that doesn't fit the hypothesis - but that's not the right way to do science. Instead, they should include it - and so should scientists doing research. Students should read about our mistakes.

We ended our conversation with a discussion about how important it is to read news from a variety of sources - to boldly turn the dial (or click the channel-changer on the remote) to a different station in order to verify what we hear. And, if we can't verify a report, then refrain from posting it or sharing it.

"I hope young people will really think about the things they hear, ask good questions, and use their critical thinking skills," Gail says.She is currently at work on her next book, Poison Eaters about fighting danger and fraud in our food and drugs.

Want to listen to The War of the Worlds radio show? Here's the CBS original broadcast of Mercury Theater on the Air's production of War of the Worlds. Play length about 57 minutes.

Help teach your children (and maybe a few adults) how to sniff out "fake news". This School Library Journal article offers tools, resources, and context for what's happening in today's media.

Gail Jarrow has more great resources at her website.

Visit other stops on the Blog Tour! 

Monday, 9/10 The Nonfiction Detectives

Tuesday, 9/11 The Booklist Reader/Bookends

Wednesday, 9/12 KidLit Frenzy

Thursday, 9/13 Deborah Kalb Books

Monday, 9/17 Ms. Yingling Reads

Tuesday, 9/18 Middle Grade Minded

Wednesday, 9/19 Mrs. Knott’s Book Nook

Thursday, 9/20 Middle Grade Book Village (with guest post by Gail Jarrow)

Friday, 9/21 Always in the Middle        

Today we're joining the STEM Friday roundup.  Review copy from publishers.

The SLOWEST Book EVER ~ Blog Tour

 Welcome to a Very Slow Blog Tour to celebrate the birthday of a book born last week:

The SLOWEST Book EVER
by April Pulley Sayre; illus. by Kelly Murphy
176 pages; ages 8-12
Boyds Mills Press, 2016

"Warning!" says the front page, "This is a S-L-O-W book. Do not read it while surfing, water-skiing,  or running to escape giant weasels." It's a book so slow that the table of contents lists: two pages "on which to rest your face"... and notes the "excruciatingly slow acknowledgments" at the end. And just to make it longer - and slower - there's a not-exactly-the-end-notes section with even more stuff to think slowly about.

So what kind of stuff goes into a SLOW book? The sorts of things you'd expect: details about metamorphosis (a slow process), turtles, slow food (yes, that's a thing), and true "snail mail" - in which messages were transmitted by actual snails.

There are slow activities: watching paint dry, creating slow-motion stories, growing bonsai trees, tai chi.

The structure of the book contributes to the philosophy of SLOW - it's just the sort of book you don't read straight through. Instead, you dip into a page or two and read. Then you sit back and drink tea and think a bit. Later, when you get around to it, you read some more.

This is just a plain fun approach to interesting facts about the world around us. Read slowly, you're bound to learn a few, like how long it takes for a saguaro cactus to grow an inch*. Or the length of time it takes to turn a grape into a raisin**. Fortunately, there's an index for the less patient of us.

Today's review is part of the STEM Friday roundup. Drop by STEM Friday blog for more science books and resources. Review copy provided by publisher.

* fifteen years
** three weeks

The Sky Painter ~ blog tour & author interview

The Sky Painter: Louis Fuertes, Bird Artist
by Margarita Engle; illus. by Aliona Bereghici
40 pages; ages 6-8
Two Lions, 2015

 theme: birds, art, conservation

opening: I love the bright wings of birds 
as they fly, wild and free, 
high above me.

Louis loves to watch birds. His father wants him to study to become an engineer, but Louis dreams of being an artist. A bird artist. But instead of killing birds and painting from skins, he wants to paint living, flying birds in their habitat.

Why I like this book: Ever since I moved to my home not-too-far from Ithaca, I have heard of the famous Louis Agassiz Fuertes. So I was doubly interested in reading Margarita Engle's new book. I wanted to learn more about this local art & bird hero.

I like the way the story is written - in verse - and that each page or two is headed by a title: "Bird Art"; "Learning"; "Letting Birds Live". Fuertes went on field expeditions to paint birds, so there is Alaska, the Caribbean, South America. And there are the gorgeous illustrations of parrots and waterfowl and more! This book makes me want to head outside with a sketchbook and crayons and look more closely at the birds in my habitat.

Beyond the book: Appreciate the birds in your neighborhood. No matter where you live, whether in the city or country, there are birds all around you. There are hawks and owls in cities, doves and chickadees in the country. What birds live around you? Learn more about them.

Check out the art of Louis Fuertes. Fuertes painted with oils and watercolors, and sketched in pen and charcoal. You can see some of his artwork archived at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology here.

Draw and paint birds you see. If you want some practice drawing birds before you head out "into the field" to capture live birds with your pencils or brush, here's some "how to draw a bird" advice. Mostly, though, you just have to do it. Practice observing and drawing will make you better.

I liked this book so much that I begged Margarita to answer a few questions. Which she did, most graciously.

Three Questions
 Archimedes: What inspired you to write about Fuertes?

Margarita: Independent thinking! Creativity! Originality! Instead of accepting the way things had always been done, Fuertes dared to try something new. He greatly admired earlier bird artists, but unlike Audubon, Fuertes lived in a time when people realized the need for wildlife conservation. Instead of killing birds and posing them, he decided to learn how to paint faster. As a result, Fuertes's paintings not only have a spark of life in the eye of each bird, they also include actions, behaviors, and habitats that were missing from the work of earlier artists. 

Archimedes: What sort of research did you do for this book?

Margarita: Some of my research happened while working on an earlier book, Silver People. I came upon mentions of Fuertes, which led me to look for books about his paintings. I should mention that I absolutely love travel and reading.... and I hope that teachers who use The Sky Painter will include field trips. Even a ten-minute walk around the most urban school campus will reveal small creatures that fascinate children. Once they've seen the iridescence of a hummingbird or the seed-cracking shape of a house finch's beak, they'll want to lean more.

Archimedes: Talk about his contribution to conservation. 

Margarita: Fuertes was one of the early members of the Audubon Society. He spoke to women's clubs about finding alternatives to feathers for decorating their hats. He led nature walks, and encouraged kids who visited his studio to do their own bird sketches. When he was a young child, he kept a bird hospital under the porch stairs and once tied an owl to the kitchen table so he could paint its portrait. As an adult he kept a loon in the bathtub so he could watch (and paint) duck feet in action. He aimed a telescope at the moon to watch night-flying flocks of migratory birds, and hid inside an "invisibility cloak" of leaves while painting flamingos.

Today's review is part of the STEM Friday roundup. Drop by STEM Friday blog for more science books and resources. We're also joining PPBF (perfect picture book Friday), an event in which bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books.  Review copy from Blue Slip Media

If you missed any of the Blog Tour stops - or want to revisit them - here's the list:

Mon, Apr 20	Library Fanatic	http://www.thelibraryfanatic.com/
Tues, Apr 21	Kid Lit Frenzy	http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com/
Wed, Apr 22	Unleashing Readers	http://www.unleashingreaders.com/
Thurs, Apr 23	5 Minutes for Books	http://books.5minutesformom.com/
Fri, Apr 24	Teach Mentor Texts	http://www.teachmentortexts.com/#axzz3DP0vkvgi
Sat, Apr 25	Booking Mama	http://www.bookingmama.net/
Mon, Apr 27	Sharpread	http://mrcolbysharp.com/
Tues, Apr 28	The Children's Book Review	http://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/
Wed, Apr 29	Cracking the Cover	http://www.crackingthecover.com/
Thurs, Apr 30	A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust	http://www.foodiebibliophile.com/

Exploring Forest Habitats

About Habitats: Forests
By Cathryn Sill; illus by John Sill
48 pages; ages 3-7
Peachtree publishers, 2014

The latest addition to the About Habitat series highlights the diversity of the forest biome. As with previous books, each spread introduces one concept in simple language and eloquent illustrations. Each illustration focuses on a particular type of forest -  deciduous, rainforest, dry forest, boreal forest, or cloud forest - and highlights animals, birds, plants or fungi that live in those forests.

For example, Sill introduces the idea of plants and trees growing in layers. The illustrations of a tropical rainforest shows the forest floor, the understory, and the canopy. Sills shows the seasons of a forest, how animals use the trees and plants for food, and how people use forest products that include everything from paper to medicine and chocolate.

One of the things I love about these books is the yummy back matter: six pages of detailed notes about each illustration, a glossary, websites and books. There's a handy map at the front, too, showing the major forest areas of the world.

This is the last stop for the Forests Blog Tour . Take a minute to drop by Peachtree to find the list of other blog stops, and read what others have to say about this book. Then amble on over to STEM Friday to see what other bloggers are writing about.
 
 On Monday we're over at the Nonfiction Monday blog. You'll find lots of nonfiction resources there. Review copy provided by publisher.

A Place for Turtles ~ Blog Tour

A Place for Turtles

By Melissa Stewart; illus. by Higgins Bond

32 pages, ages 6-10

Peachtree, 2013

A Place for Turtles is the sixth book in a series that Melissa Stewart started a dozen years ago. Like other in the “A Place for…” series, this one provides a fascinating look at a diversity of turtles – and lists many ways that people can help protect turtles and their habitats. Stewart explains how turtles are related to other animals (they’re herps), where they live, what they eat, and why they are important for the environment. She explains why plastic bags are dangerous – they look like jellyfish and sea turtles eat them by mistake – and includes “turtle tidbits” – did you know a turtle shell is made of 60 different bones?

The illustrations are every bit as precise and informative as the writing. Higgins Bond has illustrated each book in the series, and I love the bright, crisp images and the field-guide feel she gives to the book. It begins with the endpapers – the range maps that show where each turtle species can be found – and continues with spreads that draw us into the habitats where each lives.

Higgins studied art and has produced illustrations for the Nature Conservancy, the Smithsonian Institute, the US Post Office and scads of children’s books. She calls her style “photo-realistic”. To get that realism, she works from photos. She takes her own when she can, and relies on extensive reference files and books. While she uses the information from those sources, she respects the work of photographers; she doesn’t copy their work. In fact, she draws on 10 – 15 sources for a single illustration.

Archimedes: What medium do you use to illustrate the "Place for" series?

Higgins: I have always done my color illustrations with acrylic paint on illustration board. When I do larger work I work on canvas. I like acrylics because it is fast and can be easily corrected if necessary. But I use watercolor brushes because I can get better detail with them.

Archimedes: Talk about the process of illustrating “A Place for…” books and your collaboration with Melissa.

Higgins: Once I get Melissa’s manuscript I do a lot of research. Then I start to work on sketches. I usually get some suggestion from the Art Director and Melissa as to what they think might work on each page. But it is ultimately up to me to interpret what the author has written. Once the sketches are done the editors, art directors and Melissa all have to approve and make any changes. Then I start to paint. Melissa and I send occasional emails, and I’ve met her at book signings and book fairs. I love working on her books – but I think the fact that we are not too close allows us to remain objective about our jobs.

Archimedes: What is illustrating stamps like?

Higgins: That was my greatest honor to have illustrated three stamps for the US Postal Service. There is much more pressure to get it right when you illustrate a stamp. It has to stand the test of time. The paintings are about 7 inches x 9 inches.  I remember having to work very fast because I was not given much time to complete it.

Archimedes: Why is "Higgins Bond" an illustrator and not a spy for her majesty's secret service?

Higgins: I became an illustrator because of my son. After graduating from college I worked as a sketch artist for a Park Avenue ad agency in New York City. But when I found I was going to have a baby I really wanted to stay at home with my child for at least a little while. Like most people, I couldn’t afford to not work, so I became a freelance illustrator. That allowed me to stay at home and still work. My son turns 39 this year, and I have illustrated 39 books - one for every year of his life.

If you missed one of the days on the blog tour, head over to the Peachtree Blog for links. And remember to check out other cool science resources at STEM Friday. Review copy from publisher.