LITLINKS GUEST POST: Watching the Weather and Keeping a Log

What would it be like to be a lighthouse keeper--as a woman, alone, on an island in San Francisco Bay? 

This week at LitLinks you can find my article about how you can use my new book KEEPER OF THE LIGHT: Juliet Fish Nichols Fights the San Francisco Fog in connection with reading and STEAM activities. I am happy to contribute to Author/Speaker Patricia Newman's wonderful blog featuring ways to connect STEM and STEAM books with literature in the classroom. My article features hands-on activities and reading strategies for using my book with students, helping them understand the concepts in the book. It posted on August 31, 2022 , joining dozens of previous posts by other children's book science writers and illustrators.

Many thanks, Patricia, for the opportunity to contribute to your terrific site!

BUTTERFLY HAIKU CRAFT PROJECT

Step 1. Haiku

Let a butterfly inspire you to write a short poem called a haiku. There are only three lines in a haiku, totaling 17 syllables. The first line is 5 syllables. The second line is 7 syllables. The third line is 5 syllables like the first.

Here is an example written by my daughter when she was in fourth grade:

Butterfly, graceful,

Fluttering around at day,

Eating pollen grains.

Step 2. Butterfly Cut-Out

You will need a large sheet of black paper, a smaller piece of brown paper, tissue paper, pencil, scissors, glue.

Draw the outline of a butterfly on the black paper. Cut it out.

Draw “windows” in the wings and cut them out. Cut out pieces of tissue paper and glue them to the back of the butterfly. If you like, you can add small pieces of colored paper for decoration.

Draw an oval shape on the brown paper for the butterfly’s body and cut it out. Write your haiku on the body. Glue the body to the center of the butterfly.

Final step. Tape your butterfly haiku cut-out to a window and let the light shine through!

You can learn more about butterflies in my book Butterflies in Room 6.

 

 

MEET AUGGIE, CALIFORNIA'S STATE DINOSAUR

Did you know that California had a state dinosaur? Meet Auggie. In September 2017, Augustynolophus morrisi (Auggie's scientific name), was declared the official state dinosaur of California, the only place its fossil bones have been found. It was a large hadrosaur, reaching 26 feet in length and weighed a hefty 3.3 tons. Like all species of hadrosaur, Auggie was a plant eater. Hadrosaurs were one of the few known species of dinosaur that chewed their food.

I first learned about Auggie on a recent visit to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, where numerous Auggie souvenirs are featured in the gift shop. The museum also has an impressive display of dinosaur fossils.

I have always been fascinated with dinosaurs and prehistoric animals and written a number of books about them. Here are a few. You can find these books in your library or as ebooks on Amazon.

ACTIVITY: WRITE A POEM ABOUT YOUR SCHOOL GARDEN

School garden in Planting a Garden in Room 6: From Seeds to Salad (Charlesbridge, 2022)

The children in Room 6 planted a school garden. You can plant a garden too.. 

Let the plants in your school garden inspire a poem. You could write a haiku, a rhyming poem, free verse---or whatever you like.

Here is a new book that will give you some ideas:

BEHOLD OUR MAGICAL GARDEN: POEMS FRESH FROM A SCHOOL GARDEN by Allan Wolf, illus by Daniel Duncan (Candlewick, 2022)

NATIONAL LIGHTHOUSE DAY: Celebrate by Reading KEEPER OF THE LIGHT

Today is National Lighthouse Day! Celebrate by reading my book KEEPER OFTHE LIGHT: Juliet Fish Nichols Fights the San Francisco Fog.

On National Lighthouse Day, August 7, we celebrate how these scenic, historic structures comforted travelers throughout the centuries. In 1789, the U.S. Congress passed an act securing the protection of all lighthouses under federal support.

If you ever visit a lighthouse, you’ll understand the serenity and stability they represent to viewers on land. While lighthouse technology has evolved over time, lighthouses were once widely used to mark dangerous reefs, shorelines or harbors. Today, we imagine how a lighthouse’s beacon of light offered hope to those seeking land in the midst of stormy seas and dark nights. (Lighthouse Museum, Staten Island, NY)

LEO POLITI MURAL, OLVERA STREET, LOS ANGELES, CA: The Blessing of the Animals

Blessing of the Animals, mural by Leo Politi, Olvera Street, Los Angeles, CA

On a recent trip to Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles I was reacquainted with the wonderful mural painted by children’s book author/illustrator Leo Politi commemorating a favorite festival, the Blessing of the Animals. 

Leo Politi, 1908-1996, painted the Blessing of the Animals in 1978.

THE BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS is celebrated each year on Saturday, the day before Easter. People gather with their pets at the historic center of the city on Olvera Street for this festival. Their pets can be as large as a horse or as small as a mouse, and each one is decorated with ribbons, hats, or flowers. Every type of pet is welcome. Many participants dress in colorful Mexican costumes. Everyone waits patiently in line as the robed priest sprinkles each pet with holy water and blesses it, thus ensuring a happy, healthy year ahead. (Read more about this tradition and see photos in guest post by Ann Stalcup.)

The mural "Blessing of the Animals" is under the archways of the Biscailuz Building at El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument.

Now the Mexican Cultural Institute, the building was the Mexican Consulate for 30 years.

Leo Politi was the ultimate California writer and California illustrator.  His books, with their colorful depictions of children, animals, processions, and everyday life, capture the heart of Los Angeles. I actually once met Leo Politi, at a luncheon sponsored by what was then known as SCCLCYP, and is now CLC (Children's Literature Council of Southern California).  The luncheon that day was held in a ballroom at the Biltmore Hotel.  I had just published my very first book, an easy read story about birds, and I was feeling totally intimidated by the roomful of other much more established authors.  We were seated two at each table, along with librarians and other guests, and it was my luck to be paired with Leo Politi, winner of the Caldecott Award and the author and illustrator of dozens of books, including Pedro, the Angel of Olvera Street.  Because of his fame, I expected him to be larger than life, but discovered that he was completely unassuming.  During the program I noticed that he was much more interested in drawing pictures than listening to speeches. One by one, he took the programs off the table, drew our portraits on the back of them, and then gave us the drawings.  When I realized what he was doing, I sat very still to make it easier for him to draw his picture of me.  I wish I could say that I still have the drawing, but I don’t.  It disappeared at some point when I cleaned out my files.  I do have the memory, though, and the lesson that all the time, all around us, there is always something interesting to see, to write about, to draw.

Leo Politi also created the mosaic floor below the mural, depicting fish and other aquatic animals. The mosaic was restored in 1999.

Beginning in 2005, the Leo Politi Golden Author Award was presented by California Readers (a support group connecting children's book authors and illustrators with school libraries in Los Angeles) to the California author who had the most books in the California Collections over time. In 2008 it was given to me, at the annual "We love California authors and artists" luncheon.  (Sadly, California Readers is now defunct.) I am proud to have this connection with this talented and beloved man. And I was delighted to be reminded of him and his love for the life and traditions of Los Angeles on my visit to Olvera Street.

This book, published by California Readers in 2005, includes a biography of Leo Politi, his books, remembrances of Leo, and a list of the recipients of the Leo Politi Golden Author Award