A Warm Winter Tail - Blog Tour

Welcome to day 3 of the “Warm Winter Tail” blog tour. Today: an interview with author Carrie Pearson.

It’s been rainy and gray here in upstate NY and on days like this I really wish I had a warm fuzzy tail I could wrap around me. This is a great book for grabbing a cup of hot cocoa, snuggling up in quilt and reading aloud to your kids. Even the illustrations will warm you.

A Warm Winter’s Tail

By Carrie A Pearson

Illus. by Christina Wald

32 pages; ages 3-8

2012 Sylvan Dell

Carrie: Yes, Christina Wald is an amazing artist. Although she lives in Ohio, the illustrations look like they were drawn in my backyard in upper Michigan!

Archimedes: I read somewhere that this book was inspired by a deer you saw while out walking in your woods.

Carrie: Yes, I was walking through the woods in the middle of winter when I locked eyes with that deer. I’ve seen hundreds of deer in the woods over my lifetime, but on this day I saw curiosity, not fear, in his eyes. He stared at me for the longest time, and when I reflected on what I was wearing (hat, mittens, fleece scarf – it was freezing cold!), I decided he must think me a most strange animal. When he leaped away, I started breathing again and my imagination began to work. I could envision a baby deer asking its mama how people stay warm. As soon as I returned home and peeled off my layers, I sat down and began to type on my keyboard.

nature walk inspires book!

Archimedes: The book is written from an animal’s point of view.

Carrie: Yes, my background is in early childhood, and I’ve parented three amazing girls … so it seemed natural to believe that a baby animal would view the world from its perspective, just as a human child does. I didn’t spend too much time thinking about dialog from the animal’s point of view; I was more concerned about getting the science right.  And making sure the meter and lyrical structure fit the story. Over time the story evolved from a cozy bedtime read to a nature story.

Archimedes: Talk about the sort of research you did for the story.

Carrie:  I started with what I knew from observing animals in nature and information gleaned over years of reading. Then I listed several animals I wanted to learn more about and began reading articles and books. Eventually I chose one animal to represent each adaptation strategy: foxes have a tail that they use like a blanket.

Archimedes: Writing a book is only the beginning… can you talk about the process of getting your book from idea to print?

Carrie: I fiddled with the first draft from February 2008 to October 2008….and then submitted it for a “first pages” review at a writing conference. Even with good reviews I knew I had more work to do; I revised many times and started sending it the following year (fall 2009). Sylvan Dell picked it up in May of 2011.

Archimedes: As a homeschooling parent I always loved it when books included “back matter” - additional information, resources, things to do.

Carrie: Because of my background in education and teaching experience, I contributed quite a bit of material for the back pages. I thought about what I would like to have at my fingertips as a teacher, and a parent, who wants to extend the book into other directions. Editor Donna German created a lot as well; it was definitely a team approach. In fact, one of things that drew me to Sylvan Dell is their emphasis on educational fiction. They were ahead of their time in this respect.

Remember to post your comments at each stop on the blog tour – and get entered for an autographed copy of the book and a plush animal (one featured in the book). Tomorrow Tiffany hosts stop #4 over at Tif Talks Books.And you can find the entire blog tour schedule at Carrie's site.

Celebrate Earth Day

This week I’ve been focusing on Melissa Stewart’s book, A Place for Fish. Now it’s time to take some action – and just in time, too, because it’s Earth Day.

There are plenty of things you can do to make the world better for fish, even if you don’t live close to the ocean or a lake. One of the easiest things to do is stop using plastic bags and plastic water bottles. The problem is that plastic doesn’t decompose – it stays around in the environment for hundreds of years. Some of the plastic garbage has made its way into the floating garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean. You can help fish and other sea life by using fewer plastic bags, bottles and other disposable items.

The pollution we put into the air affects our oceans and lakes. Sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and even carbon dioxide can change the chemistry of water bodies, harming fish and marine creatures. We can reduce the amounts of pollution we put into the air by being more thoughtful about the energy we use. For example: walking or riding a bike instead of driving, turning off lights and TVs when you leave a room, even unplugging your laptop when you’re not using it.

You’ve probably heard that everything runs downhill. The same thing is true for water – rain falling on your street will flow into a stream that will flow into a river that will eventually end up in a lake or ocean. That means that chemicals you spray on your lawn eventually end up in water where fish live. So does oil from leaky cars. Another way you can help fish is to reduce the amount of chemicals you use on your lawn and to make sure that when you see oil leaks on the driveway you let someone know.

This Earth Day what will you do to help make the world a better place for fish?
 

Book Giveaway Reminder:

You could win your very own copy of A Place for Fish. This particular contest is limited to folks who live in the United States. Entering is simple- just send an email to: sueheaven{at}gmail{dot}com. Contest ends Sunday night April 24.

Interview with Melissa Stewart

Welcome to Day 10 of Peachtree’s Fins, Wings & Things Blog Tour. Today – an interview with Melissa Stewart, author of A Place for Fish – and a chance to sign up for the book giveaway if you haven’t already (rules at bottom)

You write that "Fish make our world a better place." Was there something in particular that inspired this book?

Melissa: This book is part of a series. It started with APlace for Butterflies . Then came A Place for Birds and APlace for Frogs. Fish seemed like the perfect complement to these other titles. Water covers more than 70 percent of our planet, and it is home to all kinds of fascinating creatures. I thought some of them deserved attention. It’s easy to overlook the dangers of over-fishing or polluting our oceans and waterways. I hope my book will help kids see the importance of caring for the water as well as the land.

 How long did it take you to do all the research that went into this book? And did you get to travel to any cool, new places?

Melissa: I researched this book off and on for about three years. Much of the information came from interviews with scientists studying the featured fish. I also drew experiences from past trips to Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands. I’ll never forget the thrill (or maybe it was terror) of swimming with hammerheads in the Galapagos. I visited the New England Aquarium in Boston while researching this book and  saw their great display of seahorses and lots of other fish—both freshwater and salt water species.

Each spread has two kinds of text—a simple main text across the top and more detailed explanations running along the side of one page. Why did you set the book up in this way?

Melissa: When I was writing the first book in this series, A Place for Butterflies, I was substitute teaching at a school in Hudson, MA. When I was covering a first grade classroom, a fourth grade teacher brought her students in so the kids could meet with their Reading Buddies (also called Book Buddies in some schools).  The students were using books written at first grade level.

I thought the program was a great idea. Not only were the younger students improving their reading skills, the older students took pride in their role as mentors. But I thought the program might be even more successful if the students used books with sections written at each child’s level. That’s when I decided to create two layers of text in my book. The simpler main text is perfect for younger students. And the more detailed sidebars make it easy to share the book with slightly older students. Then the students can look at the art together and discuss the content. Teachers liked this style of presentation so much that I have even written multi-age level activities for some of the books. 

What specific things can we do to help coral reefs?

Melissa: Coral reefs are probably the most critically endangered ocean ecosystems. And that’s bad news because an estimated 90 percent of all ocean life depends on them directly or indirectly. Besides not keeping coral-reef fishes in home aquariums, we should all avoid buying shells and corals collected at coral reefs. If you snorkel or scuba dive at a reef, it’s important not to touch or stand on the living corals. And if you live near coral reefs, don’t pour household cleaners or other chemicals down the drain. Some of these chemicals make corals weak, so they can’t fight diseases. Others make seaweeds and sea grasses grow so quickly that they smother corals.

What did you learn in writing this book?

Melissa: Wow, I learned so much. What I hope kids will take away from the book is that fish—and every other kind of creature on Earth—has an important role to play in their habitats. When species disappear, entire ecosystems suffer in ways that are often hard to predict in advance. That’s why it’s so important to live in a way that shows our respect for the amazing array of living things that share our world.

  

Book Giveaway

You could win your very own copy of A Place for Fish. This particular contest is limited to folks who live in the United States. All you have to do to enter is send an email to: sueheaven{at}gmail{dot}com.

If you can, leave a comment on this blog about what things you are doing or will do to protect watery places and the fish living in them, and consider becoming a “follower”.

The contest for this book ends Sunday April 25.

Remember to come back tomorrow – Earth Day – and don’t forget to visit Peachtree  for the rest of the Blog Tour schedule.

A Place for Fish & book giveaway

Welcome to week 2 of Peachtree Publisher’s Fins, Wings & Things Blog Tour. During this week's countdown to Earth Day I'm celebrating things with fins. Come back Thursday for an interview with author Melissa Stewart , and Friday for ideas on how you can protect rivers, lakes and oceans. And make sure you enter this week’s Book Giveaway (below).

A Place for Fish

By Melissa Stewart, illustrated by Higgins Bond

32 pages, for ages 6 -10

Peachtree Publishers 2011

There’s a lot to love in this book, starting with the range maps filling the endpapers. So I was engaged before I even reached the title page – but what do you expect when you team up an award-winning writer with a scientific illustrator?

Fish, writes Melissa, make our world a better place. But sometimes people do things that make it hard for them to live and grow. Throughout this book she shows the different roles fish play in their ecological communities, and how children can help make sure there will always be a place for these finny creatures.

Some fish are harmed by the chemicals power plants produce when they burn coal. What can we do? Find other ways to make electricity – or even reduce the amount we use….

And then there are the sidebars and fish profiles. As Stewart highlights the diversity amongst fish found across North America, she focusing on the specific environmental challenges each species faces. The lined seahorse of the Chesapeake Bay was affected by fertilizers washing into the bay. Salmon populations declined when sediment from logging roads eroded into their streams. But in each case, people took action to help make a place so fish could live and grow.

Why do we need fish? They’re part of a food chain that includes bears, birds and even otters. Melissa lists things children can do to help fish, tosses in a few fishy facts (lipstick contains ground-up fish scales) and provides lots of resources.

Book Giveaway

You could win your very own copy of A Place for Fish. This particular contest is limited to folks who live in the United States. Entering is simple- just send an email to: sueheaven{at}gmail{dot}com.

 I invite you to leave a comment about what things you are doing, or will do to protect watery places and the fish living in them, and consider becoming a “follower”.

The contest for this book ends Sunday April 25.

Remember to come back Thursday for an interview with Melissa Stewart.

Check out the complete tour schedule at Peachtree.

Plant a Garden for the Earth

bumblebee on thistle

Next Friday is Earth Day. Here's one simple thing you can do to make the earth a better place: plant a garden for pollinators. Many kinds of bees and butterflies – even bats – carry pollen from the anthers (male part) in one flower to the stigma (female part) of another, allowing for fertilization and fruit production.

One out of every three bites of food we eat is made possible by a pollinator - without them we wouldn’t have strawberry jam, pizza, or applesauce. Not only that, 80 percent of all flowering plants rely on pollinators for survival.

But some native bees and butterflies are having a hard time surviving. Overuse of pesticides can kill of beneficial insects, including those that pollinate our food crops. Fragmenting the landscape, due to development, makes it hard for butterflies and bees to find important food sources so they can raise their young.

You can give pollinators a helping hand – and keep them doing their job – by planting the kinds of flowers they need. You don’t a lot of space to grow flowers that provide nectar for pollinators. But it is important to plant native species. Here’s a list of some plants that are rich in pollen or nectar – you might even find some of them growing in an abandoned lot or along a roadway in your area:

Aster (Aster)

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)

Currant (Ribes)

Elder (Sambucus)

Goldenrod (Solidago)

Huckleberry (Vaccinium)

Joe-pye weed (Eupatorium)

Lupine (Lupinus)

Penstemon (Penstemon)

Purple coneflower (Echinacea)

Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus)

Rhododendron (Rhododendron)

Sage (Salvia)

Stonecrop (Sedum)

Sunflower (Helianthus)

Wild buckwheat (Eriogonum)
Willow (Salix)

Book Giveaway

Enter to win a copy of  Planting the Wild Garden. This particular contest is limited to folks who live in the United States. All you have to do to enter is:

1. Become a follower on Archimedes Notebook if you’re not already (it’s easy – just click on the “follow” button at the right);

2. Leave a comment on this blog about why wild gardens and weedy places are important; and

3. email me at sueheaven{at}gmail{dot}com to let me know you’ve entered so I can email you if you win. I promise I won’t keep any email addresses.

The contest for this book ends Sunday April 17.

Blog Tour: Interview with Kathryn Galbraith

Welcome to Day 3 of Peachtree Publisher’s “Fins, Wings & Things Blog Tour”. Today – an interview with Kathryn O. Galbraith, author of Planting the Wild Garden and a chance to sign up for the book giveaway if you haven’t already (rules at bottom).

What inspired this book? Do you have a garden or did you get burdocks on your socks?

Kathryn: I have a garden, but the idea for Planting the Wild Garden came along more the "burdocks-on-your-socks" sort of way.  I was at a ten-day writing conference held in a huge state park one summer. The area was crisscrossed with paths through meadows and scrubby fields. During my morning walks I watched small brown rabbits nibbling grasses, and flocks of goldfinches perched atop prickly purple thistles. I knew that if I strayed into the fields, I'd risk carrying the fields home with me. Burs caught on socks, jeans and the tails of my shirts. Those images stayed in my mind for a long time before I discovered a way to knit them all together.

I love the female as farmer! What inspired that?

Kathryn: I consider myself very lucky because I have four wonderful brothers.  Being the only girl, I always wanted to do what they did – and more.  In short, I was born a happy feminist.  In my writing, I try to always be aware of how easy it is to fall into old stereotypes.  In the first draft, the story began with a grandmother and her grandson, but in later drafts, I changed it to "A farmer and her boy" because of the sound and simplicity of the words.

How did you do the research for this book?

Kathryn: I did lots of research - some by foot and some by books.  Both were important to me.  When I was finished, I had a fat file of drawings, photographs and notes.  I didn't use all of what I learned, but having more than enough information allowed me to select out the most interesting facts and images.

 

Did you watch scotch broom pods shatter and spit out their seeds? 

Kathryn: It seems as if Scotch broom is everywhere in Washington state - in fields, along the highways, even on the hillside behind my house. On hot summer days in August you can hear the pods pop open from quite a ways away. To actually see the seed fly, though, you need to be standing quite close.

Can you talk about how people aid seed dispersal? 

Kathryn: Early in our country’s history, seeds hitchhiked across the ocean in bushels and barrels of feed for the cows and goats, and were caught up in clothing and equipment. Families brought favorite seeds to bring “a bit of home” with them and also brought seeds of healing plants. In today’s world, invasive species have traveled unnoticed in the cargo holds of planes and ships, on imported animals and plants, and even on patches of mud from the wheels of cars.

Book Giveaway

Enter to win a copy of  Planting the Wild Garden. This particular contest is limited to folks who live in the United States. All you have to do to enter is:

1. Become a follower on Archimedes Notebook if you’re not already (it’s easy – just click on the “follow” button at the bottom of the right column);

2. Leave a comment on this blog about why wild gardens and weedy places are important; and

3. email me at sueheaven{at}gmail{dot}com to let me know you’ve entered so I can email you if you win. I promise I won’t keep any email addresses.

The contest for this book ends Sunday April 17.

Remember to come back Friday for an Earth Day activity.

There are more stops (and book giveaways) on today's tour - check out the complete schedule at Peachtree