Winter is Coming...

On a Flake-Flying Day: Watching Winter's Wonders
by Buffy Silverman
32 pages; ages 4-9
Millbrook Press, 2023

theme: winter, nature, animals

On a feather-fluffing, seed-stuffing, cloud-puffing day…

… leaves rustle and frost glistens. Winter is coming and the animals and plants are getting ready for it. Some change color, some snuggle together, and some take loooong naps.

What I like about this book: The language is spare and lyrical, sometimes rhyming and always evocative of the season. If the words aren’t enough to get you up off the couch and into your jacket and boots (don’t forget a hat!) then the photos will! They are so bold and enticing. And there is back matter with more information about each plant and animal featured in the pages. There’s a few books suggested for further reading, and a glossary so folks reading the book aloud can answer such questions as, “what does molt mean?”

I love Buffy’s books about seasons SO much that I just had to ask her One Question

Me: What do you like best about winter?

Buffy:  My favorite experience in winter is waking up to fresh snow and trekking down to our lake. On a cold, cold morning, the snow squeaks beneath my boots and the air tingles in my nose. At first glance, the snow is an unbroken blanket of white. But soon I start to notice tracks--the heart-shaped hoof prints of a deer, the tail-dragging trail of a deer mouse, a straight line of fox prints across the snow-covered ice, and occasionally the bounding track of a weasel. Although I love the winter stillness, I'm excited to see that some wildlife is out and about. And that's the connection to ON A FLAKE-FLYING DAY--winter is a great time to explore and see what's happening in the natural world!

Beyond the Books:

Before winter comes, what do you notice about the natural world right now? Go outside with a notebook and write down things you notice about trees and plants and birds and animals.

The first day of winter in the northern hemisphere is usually December 21st, though the wintry season often starts long before that. How will you know when winter gets to you?

Be a Winter Explorer. Go outside and give yourself time to notice what you see, hear, smell, feel. Does winter have a taste? 

Check out Buffy's other seasonal books here (fall) and here (spring)

Buffy 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. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Explore Outdoors ~ Parachute Seeds

This is the season when trees drop walnuts and hickory nuts onto our road, and purple berry juice speckles our driveway. Tall roadside weeds with dandelion-like flowers are going to seed, sending dainty parachutes out to ride the least breeze.

Sometimes the parachute fibers hang on, reluctant to leave the safety of the seedhead. After all, where will they end up? They don't file flight plans and no one has given them a map. 

Look for plants producing parachute seeds in your neighborhood. 

• What kinds of plants make these seeds?
• Collect some parachute seeds from different kinds of plants and draw them. What do you notice?
• How far do the seeds travel on a breath of air?
• What do the fibers feel like?
• What do the seeds and fibers look like under a magnifying lens?
  

Mole Day!

 

Mole and Tell (Celebrating Science)
by Catherine Payne and John Payne; illus. by Elisa Rocchi
40 pages; ages 7-10
Science, Naturally!, 2023

What’s that date written on the board?

When the students file into Mr. Cantello’s fourth-grade science class, they notice a date written on the board: 10/23. What does it mean? Is it a field trip? A test? Maybe it’s Earth Day? Not Earth Day, Mr. Cantello says, but it is a science holiday. It’s Mole Day, October 23.

Is this a day to celebrate spots on our skin? To celebrate tiny animals that tunnel underground? Nope. It’s a celebration of a number. Avogadro’s number, to be exact: 6.02 x 10²³. It’s a counting unit used by scientists all around the world. Sort of like a dozen, but instead of 12, a mole is 602 billion trillion. That’s 602 followed by 21 zeroes! Scientists write it as 6.02 x 10 to the 23rd because seriously, writing 602,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 every time you need to use it takes up too much space!

What I like about this book: I think the authors do a good job introducing the concept of a mole. And having a group of kids explore what a mole of something is might encourage readers to wonder. There’s some discussion of elements, and an illustration that shows the periodical table along with molar mass (the number of grams in a mole of an element), plus a discussion about the kinds of scientists who use moles to measure things in their jobs. I do wish there had been a sidebar explaining more about who Avogadro was and how he (and others) developed this measurement.

 

I wanted to know more about how Cathy and John decided to write this book, so I asked Cathy One Question:

 

Me: What inspired you to write about such a big number?

Cathy: I've been fascinated by the mole since learning about it in my high school chemistry class. In addition, I love homonyms! This book was the perfect way to combine my love of language with my interest in science. For this book, we focused on breaking down scientific concepts, explaining the mole and the periodic table as best we could. We wanted children to have a solid understanding of the mole so that they would have a good foundation for units of measurement.

There isn’t any back matter beyond a glossary, but Science Naturally provides an activity-filled teacher’s guide at their website. I’ve added a few more activities below at…

… Beyond the Books:

How much would a mole of avocados weigh? Cathy admits she likes to play with language, so why not? Since 6.02 x 10²³  is Avogadro’s number, why not play around with avocados? You can even weigh one (or more) right there in the produce aisle.

Mole Day is next Monday. What kind of food will you make to celebrate? Here’s a couple of ideas to get you started: guaca-mole, pie a’la mole, ani-mole crackers.

Go play a game of whack-a-mole. If you can’t find one (because it IS an ancient and venerable arcade game) try making your own out of cardboard. Here’s how.

Make up your own Science Holiday. What science thing do you want to celebrate? 

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 copy provided by the authors.