PLATYPUS Coloring Page

The platypus is one of the world's strangest mammals.  It has fur like a beaver, a bill and webbed feet like a duck, and, unlike all other mammals except the echidna, it lays eggs.  Found only in Australia, this elusive animal only comes out of its burrow at night.  Then it dives into a lake or stream to search for food.
To download a coloring page of a mother platypus and her two youngsters, click HERE.
You can learn more about platypuses in my book A PLATYPUS' WORLD (Picture Window Books, 2008.) Look for it in your library.  It is also available as an interactive e-book at http://www.capstonepub.com/product/9781404897618 .

FOCAL Writing Contest for Kids: THE TREE LADY

 (reposted from UTLA United News "Grapevine" section, August 2014)

The Tree Lady

An Essay Contest for Grades 3-8

An exciting opportunity to develop writing skills in your students is available from now until November 1st.  Enter your students in the FOCAL Award essay contest! Teachers in grades 3-8 may contact us on a first come, first served basis, for the award winning book, The Tree Lady, by H. Joseph Hopkins, to read to your students.  Then, encourage your students to write about why they liked the book and what it means to them. Three winners will share their essay at the award luncheon where they will meet the author and receive an autographed copy of the book!

Can you imagine the lovely city of San Diego as a desert town in the 1800’s? That’s what Kate Sessions, who became known as the tree lady, discovered when she moved there after college. Kate’s love of trees and her persistence are the reason we all enjoy the variety of trees in Balboa Park today.

The award is given annually by FOCAL (Friends of Children and Literature) to an excellent book with strong California content.  For more information visit:  http://www.focalonline.org  Complimentary copies of the book are available to teachers (to use with students who are writing essays) at the Children’s Literature Department of Los Angeles Public Library’s Central Library while supplies last.  Call ahead to reserve your free copy at 213-228-7250.

GRUNT, QUACK, OINK: Focus on Animal Books for Kids in SLJ

Many thanks to Barbara Wysocki for the nice mention, along with authors Gail Gibbons and Seymour Simon, in her July 23, 2014 post in School Library Journal!  I am delighted that nonfiction books like ours, and the wonderful new titles that she lists are becoming a focus of Common Core.  Kids always love learning about animals!

GRUNT, QUACK, OINK: Focus on Animal Books

By Barbara Wysocki

While the nation’s schools align their curricula with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), school and public librarians serving children remain constant in their task of connecting young people with age-appropriate, meaningful materials. As Olga Nesi, a library services coordinator in the NYC Department of Education, notes, “While public and school librarians differ, our common patron base of children gives both groups fertile ground for growing ever stronger collaborative bonds.” Implementing CCSS for elementary students emphasizes content-rich text, and that means a wider range of carefully chosen nonfiction titles will end up in classrooms, backpacks, and, hopefully, even tucked into suitcases for family vacations. Linda Williams, children’s services consultant for the Connecticut State Library, highlights trade books found through reliable review sources. “Many books are advertised as suitable for Common Core use,” says Williams, “but librarians are looking for high-quality, complex texts.” She sees librarians as being well suited to help teachers find the materials they need, and is developing a webpage to assist in that effort.

As teachers team up with librarians to create go-to book lists and recommended websites, this is a starter set of animal-related nonfiction titles suitable for the elementary set. “Moo” and “Baa” are among a toddler’s first words, so it’s no surprise that young readers are fascinated by critters that swim, hop, and fly. (You’ll find some suggestions for classroom use tucked into the annotations.) While the focus is on outstanding books from the past three years, also recommended are standouts by authors such as Gail Gibbons, Caroline Arnold, and Seymour Simon, who’ve written excellent volumes for years. With a wealth of choices, this list covers a wide range of animals, but does not include insects. The books are divided into land, sea, and air, with a section devoted to more encyclopedic titles.

[Follow the link above for SLJ to see the list of books.]

FOLD THE FLOCK: Passenger Pigeon Origami Project

Origami Passenger Pigeon from Audubon

2014 marks the centennial anniversary of the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon. Once millions of these birds gathered in huge flocks across the eastern part of North America.  Now they are gone.To help remember the Passenger Pigeon, the Audubon Society is promoting the folding of origami pigeons as a symbolic way of recreating the great flocks of 100 years ago and raise awareness of the need to protect all our wildlife. A beautiful preprinted origami pigeon and directions for folding is included inside the May-June issue of Audubon Magazine.  You can also download a copy (for free) from the web at foldtheflock.org  or order sets of printed birds ready for folding.  Recently, my granddaughter helped me fold the pigeon that came in my magazine. When we finished, we logged onto the www.foldtheflock.org site and added ours to the flock.  As of August 3, 2014 the total number in the flock was 248,859.  By now it will be much more! You can fold yours and help the flock to grow.  Learn more about why Passenger Pigeons went extinct in the May-June 2014 issue of Audubon Magazine.

BIRDS: NATURE'S MAGNIFICENT FLYING MACHINES Now Translated into Chinese

Recently, the mailman delivered a package, and, to my surprise, it contained a copy of my book BIRDS: NATURE'S MAGNIFICENT FLYING MACHINES (Charlesbridge, 2003) translated into Chinese.  I am always thrilled to find out that my books have been translated into other languages and to think that children in other parts of the world are reading what I wrote. I also like to see what the text looks like in other languages.  In this case, I was particularly fascinated to see the Chinese characters that are used for the word "birds" in the title and for my name.  I was inspired to get out the chop (or "official" seal) of my name that I had made when I was in Shanghai in 2005 for an author visit.  Only my first name fit, but now that I have my book, I can see how my last name is written as well.