Wild Outdoor Wednesday

Go on a shadow hike. Watch what happens to your shadow as you walk towards it and away from it. What shadows do you see that are made by natural things? Capture them in colors and words.

Remember to take your sketchbook or journal with unlined pages, something to draw and write with, and something to add color ~ watercolors, colored pencils, crayons, or markers.

Octopus Escapes Again!

Octopus Escapes Again!
by Laurie Ellen Angus
32 pages, ages 4-10
Dawn Publications, 2016

theme: animals, nonfiction

Octopus is very hungry. She peeks to the right. Peeks to the left. And dashes from her den into the deep, dark sea.
Will she eat today?
Or be eaten?

When a turtle spies Octopus, Octopus squeezes into a shell. Threatened by an eel, Octopus releases her "secret weapon" - a cloud of dark ink.

What I like about this book: It's a fun look at a predator on the hunt, but one who must also escape predation. Laurie Angus shows us many ways Octopus escapes.

I like the layered text: large text tells the story of Octopus's journey. Smaller, italicized text goes into detail about the particular adaptation Octopus uses, from ink to jet propulsion to camouflage.

I LOVE the back matter. There is a section called "Explore More for Kids", with more info about the Octopus, and tasty tidbits about her prey  - and predators. Plus a warning to never wrestle with an Octopus. There's even more stuff for teachers and parents: a story about Laurie's first encounter with an octopus and some activities.

Beyond the book:

Visit an octopus. If you live near an aquarium that has an octopus, go visit it. Take your sketchbook and colored pencils and draw the octopus. Observe how it moves and whether it changes color.

An Engineering Challenge (from the back of the book): choose one of the octopus's abilities and create and invention that will help solve a human problem.

Where's the Octopus? Check out this video from Science Friday.

Here are a couple of videos about octopuses escaping. This one shows how even a huge octopus can squeeze through very small spaces. This one shows an octopus escaping from a jar.

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 publisher.

Wild Outdoor Wednesday

Look for galls on goldenrod stems and other plants. Take a close look; cut them open to see what’s inside. Record what you see in color and word.

Remember to take your sketchbook or journal with unlined pages, something to draw and write with, and something to add color ~ watercolors, colored pencils, crayons, or markers.