From: BudNotBuddy_at_aol.com
Date: Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:23:08 -0500 (EST)

I'd like to share a few favorites that nurture these interests:

ALL THE WATER IN THE WORLD by George Ella Lyon and Katherine Tillotson, Atheneum, March 2011, 40p., ISBN: 978-1-4169-7130-6,

"Everything waits for an open gate in a wall of clouds to rain sweet and loud to fill the well and start the stream." There are a lot of things that we can run out of and still go on living. Fresh water is not one of them. Here in northern California's Bay Area, we typically get our aquifers adequately replenished each winter by the seasonal rains. But for most of California, water supply, conservation, and shortage is a significant and ongoing issue. And with California supplying a healthy chunk of the nation's food, this means that water supply is a national issue. ALL THE WATER IN THE WORLD is a great introduction to the water cycle. Related titles that are long-time favorites of mine include RAIN RAIN RIVERS by Uri Shulevitz and COME ON, RAIN! by Karen Hesse and Jon J. Muth. POND CIRCLE by Betsy Franco and Stefano Vitale, ill., McElderry Books, June 2009, 32p., ISBN: 978-1-4169-4021-0 AFTER THE KILL by Darrin Lunde and Catherine Stock, ill., Charlesbridge, July 2011, 32p., ISBN: 978-1-57091-743-1 THE WOL VES ARE BACK by Jean Craighead George and Wendell Minor, ill., Dutton, April 2008, 32p., ISBN: 0-525-47947-3 Each of these picture books lead to understanding food chains and ecosystems. POND CIRCLE is a book that shows young readers how a neighborhood ecosystem begins with the algae in the pond and works its way up to the howling, prowling coyote. AFTER THE KILL portrays the tension between co-existing species -- predators, scavengers, and prey -- as the zebra killed by the lioness becomes, in turn, a meal for white-backed vultures, spotted hyenas, golden jackals, male lions, small lion cubs, lappet-faced vultures, and meat-eating beetles. THE WOLVES ARE BACK details how ten adult wolves imported from Canada into Yellowstone National Park in 1995 have quickly multiplied into a series of wolf packs and have led in turn to the reestablishment of plant and animal species not seen in Yellowstone in many decades. Another related old, old favorite that hints at food chains is JUMP FROG, JUMP. MEADOWLANDS: A WETLA NDS SURVIVAL STORY by Thomas F. Yezerski, Farrar Straus Giroux, March 2011, 40p.. ISBN: 978-0-375-34913-4 This one is related to the previous three. It is a real favorite of mine:

Thomas F. Yezerski incorporates concepts of geology, geography, biology, history, land use, ecology, and activism. In the latter parts of the book, in which we learn about the rebirth of the Meadowlands, Yezerski's stunning ink and watercolor paintings repeatedly depict the overlap of nature and man in this metropolitan area estuary: the bugs amidst the river grasses, with a bridge in the foreground occupying half of the two-page spread; a school of killifish being chased through the water (past an empty chips bag) by a larger fish, with high tension power lines and industrial buildings in the background; a band of fiddler crabs framed around an empty, dented soda can, with high rise apartment buildings in the background; a family of ducks in a secluded bit of water with a NJ Transit train going by behind them. Yezerski's story, of environmentalism taking root in an urban ecosystem, concludes with a look at a class on a field trip, learning what they can do to help heal the Meadowlands and take care of the E arth in general. In the final, memorable two-page spread, an osprey in the foreground soars above the teacher and students. Across the background, from the vantage point of the osprey, we can scan the skyline of Manhattan rising beyond the skyline of Jersey City. MEAN SOUP by Betsy Everitt, Harcourt, 1992, 32p., ISBN: 978-0-15-200227-5 PRETEND SOUP AND OTHER REAL RECIPES: A COOKBOOK FOR PRESCHOOLERS AND UP by Molly Katzen, Ten Speed, 1994, 96p., ISBN: 978-1-8836-7206-5 Cooking is a science we deal with every day. Taking some grain and turning it into a loaf of bread involves a chemical change that cannot be undone. This contrasts with physical changes such as dissolving sugar in water which, through evaporation, we can get back the sugar with which we began. All these years later, I still find MEAN SOUP to be such a total crack-up of a story: A boy who has had a bad day is brought to a better space by his mom who gets him to expel all of his grumpies into the soup they make. And Molly Katzen's series of cook books -- which I used decades ago with both my children and my preschool students -- is just so kid-friendly. and then it's spring by Julie Fogliano and Erin E. Stead, ill., Neal Porter/Roaring Brook, February 2012, 32p., ISBN: 978-1-59643-624-4 and then it's spring (which just won yet another award a few days ago) is the story of this kid in wire-rims and his animal friends -- a bird, a turtle, a rabbit, a dog -- who are waiting day after day and week after week for the kid's newly-planted seeds to come to life. It is a tale in (woodblock printing and pencil) pictures and (spare, poetic) text about waiting for spring to turn the browns to greens. So you have both seasons and botany here. EARTHDANCE by Joanne Ryder and Norman Gorbaty, ill, Holt, 1996, 32p., ISBN: 978-0-8050-6231-1 After 17 years, my love for this beautiful book has only grown. In it, the reader/listener is encouraged to imagine standing tall in an empty space. "Stretch your arms out wide and slowly turn around" and become the Earth. Gorbaty uses stencils on illustration board with printing ink to create a great variety of images representing everything from the pristine wilds to the crowded urbanity of our great cities. COMMON GROUND: THE WATER, EARTH, AND AIR WE SHARE by Molly Bang, Blue Sky Press, 1997, 32p., ISBN: 978-0-590-10056-4 Molly Bang has created a whole bunch of books that fit into this topic. NOBODY PARTICULAR: ONE WOMAN'S FIGHT TO SAVE THE BAYS is one I'd certainly hope to hear mentioned during this discussion. But, for me, COMMON GROUND asks young readers the big questions about sustainability that motivate those of us who have big hopes that our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will still have a habitable planet after we are gone. I just now paused long enough to buy another used copy on Amazon to give to my 10 year-old house mate for her classroom. I've given away a load of these over the years. ME...JANE by Patrick McDonnell, Little Brown, April 2011, 40p., ISBN: 978-0-316-04546-9 Having read and reread the books about Ta rzan of the Apes, "Jane dreamed of a life in Africa, too... "a life living with, and helping, all animals. "At night Jane would tuck Jubilee into bed, say her prayers. and fall asleep... "to awake one day... "to her dreams come true." Fortunately for the world, Jane Goodall had a supportive mother who encouraged her daughter's curiosity and enthusiasm for learning about nature, thereby helping make Goodall's dreams come true. In showing how this is actually the story of a real childhood, Patrick McDonnell has included several pages of Goodall's own childhood sketches amidst his illustrations. It models a girl studying science, and will inspire love for learning about and cherishing our world's precious natural heritage. underGROUND by Denise Fleming, Beach Lane, September 2012, 40p., ISBN: 978-1-4424-5882-6 And I will conclude with a shout-out for the work of Denise Fleming. Denise did an appearance for me many years ago, back in my bookstore days, demonstrating her craft of turning dyed cotton fiber into aw ard-winning book illustrations. Last year's UNDER GROUND joins IN THE SMALL, SMALL POND and IN THE TALL, TALL GRASS as an introduction to small, small children about the wonders of the outdoors. In underGROUND, Fleming interweaves art and poetry with science to give us a look at what is under our feet. She shows us nearly two dozen critters having to do with digging in and/or living in the ground. We see them in action as we traverse the pages of her poetic text and, then, learn more about them in a Creature Identification spread at the conclusion of the story.

Richie Partington, MLIS Richie's Picks _http://richiespicks.com_ (http://richiespicks.com/) BudNotBuddy_at_aol.com Moderator _http://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_school_lit/_ (http://groups.yahoo.com/middle_school_lit/) _

In a message dated 3/5/2013 9:15:01 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, horning_at_education.wisc.edu writes:

For the first two weeks of March, we are discussing the books we use with young children in libraries and schools (and at home!) that nurture their natural interests in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). What books are you using with children? Are you engaged in any creative programming in a public library or day care center that uses nonfiction in what we used to call "the hard sciences"? What trade books are you finding to use with your K-4 classes? Are there specific authors you can recommend?
Received on Tue 05 Mar 2013 02:23:08 PM CST