How a Walk Grew into a Book

 Nearly a decade ago, I shoved a notebook and handful of pens into my duffel and headed off to a Highlights Foundation workshop that focused on Writing Nonfiction for kids. The only thing I had to guide me was a well-worn map with the route highlighted in yellow and some notes jotted down from an email.  What I remember most from my time there was heading out for a walk with another writer – that would be you, Alisha.

photo by Alisha Gabriel

Alisha: That was my first time attending a Highlights workshop and it made a huge impact on my writing! I remember that walk, and stopping to photograph a mushroom along the side of the trail. As we talked, we realized we both had book ideas that involved fungi.

Sue: For different reasons, we ended up putting our fungi projects on hold. But that was okay because something else grew out of that fortuitous forest amble: a partnership.

Alisha: Yes. After the workshop, I was fortunate to join a newly formed critique group with you and a couple other nonfiction writers. We’ve been critiquing and encouraging one another for almost ten years!

Sue: Fast-forward to the pandemic lockdown of 2020, when Alisha emailed me. Remember that cool mushroom from Highlights? she asked. Let's work on a fungus book together.

Alisha: It took me awhile to reach out and ask. I wasn’t sure if you’d be interested in co-authoring a book about fungi, but due to our shared interest in the topic, I figured it was worth a shot. Plus, it was the middle of a pandemic and, other than work, I wasn’t getting out much.

Sue: Plus two heads are better than one. If I found some interesting fungus facts, I could share them with Alisha. What I really loved was when Alisha emailed me photos of fungi she found in her garden. It inspired me to look more closely at what was growing in my lawn and garden. We also got to play around with – I mean, test drive – a bunch of activities.

Alisha: And share really bad jokes. Hey Sue, why didn’t the Fungus come to the Pizza Party?

Sue: I don’t know. (shudders at the thought of fungal fruiting bodies on a pizza)

Alisha: Because there wasn’t Mushroom!

Check back next month for another post about our book-writing journey.  Funky Fungi, 30 Activities for Exploring Molds, Mushrooms, Lichens, and More is part of the Young Naturalists series. You can find out more about our book at the publisher’s website. It will hit bookstore shelves this June, but you can pre-order it at your favorite local bookstore, or online at B&N or Amazon.

Sing a Song of Walrus ...

Walrus Song 

by Janet Lawler; illus. by Timothy Basil Ering 

32 pages; ages 5-8

Candlewick Press, 2021

theme: ocean animals, arctic, nonfiction

 Where is Walrus? 

He’s on an ice flow, or diving into icy waters to hunt for food. This book shows the walrus life up close and personal. Readers learn about tusks and flippers, and the wonderful variety of sounds walruses make.

What I love about this book: I love the language. The fun, rhyming text is filled with action. There are verbs galore: flapping, flopping, walking, plopping. Walrus may lumber on the ice, but in the water below he twirls and whirls. I love the spreads filled with walrus songs and calls, hoots and squees, snorts, and more. And I really like the back matter: walrus facts that are perfect bite-sized bits for older readers to digest and share with their younger sibs – or the grandkids.

Beyond the Books:

Learn more about walruses in this National Geographic Kids video.

Have fun with walrus crafts over at Danielle’s Place. There’s a couple of walrus videos at the bottom of her page.

You, too, can speak like a walrus. Check out this recording of walrus sounds. 

What’s it like to be a walrus? Make up a story or a poem or song, or draw a picture about what you think a day in the life of a walrus would be like. Here’s one of my favorite songs telling all about The Walrus Life.

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

Explore Outdoors ~ winter shadows

 

The dried stems, twisted leaves, and prickly seed heads of winter weeds are interesting in themselves. But somehow they become dainty works of art when the sun casts their shadows on the snow.

This week, look for shadows of grasses, flowering plants, dried stalks. If the snow melts, don't worry - you can find shadows on sidewalks and packed dirt. What do the shadows look like? The one above looks almost like socks hanging from a clothesline. The shadows below make me think of fireworks shooting into the sky and bursting open.

What will you discover?