HAND-PRINT POLAR BEARS: Fun Art Project for Kids

On my recent author visit to Ecole Bilingue in Berkeley, California, I saw a display of art projects made by the students, including these polar bears created from hand-prints. This would be a perfect project to go with reading my book A POLAR BEAR'S WORLD. 

How to make a hand-print polar bear:

1. Dip the flat of your hand into white paint that has been poured on a plate. (Alternatively, you can use brown paint to make a brown or grizzly bear.)

2. Press your hand onto a sheet of colored paper to make a print. Let the paint dry. (Be sure to wash you hand!)

3. Cut out the shape of your hand. The four fingers are the polar bear's legs. The thumb is the head and face.

4. With a black marking pen draw claws on the feet and draw eyes, ears, and nose on the face.

This project is suitable for preschool and primary school age children.

LA’s BEST Young Author’s Program at San Pascual School, Los Angeles

Two weeks ago I spent a delightful hour with a group of very enthusiastic young authors in kindergarten and first grade at San Pascual Elementary School in Los Angeles who are participating in the LA’s BEST after school young author program. They had just completed their “I Am...” books and were beginning to work on books about a person they admired. I read my book A Zebra’s World and we went on a “Lion Hunt.” I also read Wiggle and Waggle and then the students colored their own Wiggle and Waggle pictures using a creative mix of colors. At the end of the hour I read A Polar Bear’s World while  three students acted out the story wearing my polar bear masks. Finally, we had a question period and talked about our favorite animals. It was a fun afternoon!

LA’s BEST Visit with Young Authors at Latona School, Los Angeles, CA

Last week on Tuesday I enjoyed an hour with a group of aspiring young authors in the LA’s BEST after school program at Latona Elementary School in Los Angeles, California. The students, kindergarten and first graders, responded enthusiastically to my presentation. I read to them from my books A Zebra’s World and Wiggle and Waggle and then they all had a chance to color their own versions of Wiggle and Waggle. I loved the variety of colors they used–from naturalistic to rainbow hues. At the end of the hour I read A Polar Bear’s World and the children acted out the story wearing polar bear masks. Soon they will be making their own books.

Radical Changes in the Editing Process: Santa Barbara Breakfast With the Authors

Greg Trine, Joan Graham, Heidi Gill, Susan Casey, Valerie Hobbs, Alexis O'Neill, Sherry Shahan, Mel Gilden, Sara Kras, Marianne Richmond, Caroline Arnold, Robin Mellom, Amy Koss

Last Saturday I participated, along with thirteen other authors, in the 62nd annual Breakfast with the Authors sponsored by the Santa Barbara County Office of Education.  After time to mingle and chat and eat a delicious breakfast we each had the opportunity to address the question:  What is the most radical change you have made to your manuscript in the editing and rewriting processes?

For me, the answer was easy.  It was the conversion of my 24 page nonfiction picture book A Panda’s World (PictureWindow Books, 2006) to a 20 page board book.  First of all, the page sizes were shrunk from 11 by 11 inches, to 8 by 8 inches. (The illustrations remain the same, except smaller.) Then all the front matter (information about panda size, weight, etc.) was eliminated along with three pages of back matter (map, fun facts, glossary, etc.).  Then, the text on each page spread had to be shortened from two paragraphs to about two sentences! That's a radical change! And, the sidebars with fun facts were also eliminated. What was left were the essentials of the story.  Net result: a new book perfectly suited for a parent to read to a young child or for a beginning reader to read alone.  The board book edition of A Panda’s World will be published in February 2015, along with three other titles from the same series–A Penguin’s World, A Zebra’s World and A Polar Bear’s World.  I am delighted to have the new board book versions of these books, which make the stories available to a whole new audience.

The morning’s program also included a panel of teen readers who responded to anonymous first pages.  It was fascinating to hear their opinions and find out how they identified with the characters in the stories.
Thanks so much to Rose, Matt, Fred and Doris for all the hard work to organize the breakfast.  It is always a pleasure to participate!

Projects: Polar Bears, Penguins and More

Two weeks ago I did an author visit at Ecole Bilingue, a bilingual French/English school in Berkeley, California.  (I do not speak French, so my program was during the English part of the day!)  I spoke to the first and second graders and was impressed by their enthusiasm and the preparation they had done for my visit.  As I approached the library, a huge bulletin board display was dedicated to my book A Platypus’ World, which the students had translated into French and the librarian had reproduced.  After my first program, the students presented me with my own copy of the book–my first to be translated into French! (I learned the French word for platypus: ornithorynque.)

The students had also read A Polar Bear's World, A Panda's World and A Penguin's World. Inside the library was a wonderful display of the children’s art projects–roly-poly clay polar bears; cardboard tube penguins, 3-D penguin pictures; salt paintings of polar bears, paper plate pandas, and more.  I really appreciate all the hard work done by the teachers and librarians to help the children be familiar with my books.  By involving the students BEFORE my visit, they not only learned about the animals in my books but were primed for my program and got that much more out of it.  The value of author day is not just in the one day I visit, but in the learning that goes on before and after.  I know the students will be checking my books out of the library for a long time to come and remembering the day that they met me when I came to their school.  I will certainly be remembering them and all their creative art projects!

CLC Award: The Best Written and Illustrated Suite of Nonfiction for Children

Caroline and Marjorie Arnett at the CLC Gala

    Attending the annual author luncheon of the CLC (Council on Literature for Children in Southern California), is a fall ritual for me.  I think I have been to most of them over the years and I always look forward to it.  This year was the gala celebration of the organization’s 50th anniversary, held at the historic Romanesque Room in Pasadena.  I was so pleased to have my books A Polar Bear’s World, A Walrus’ World, A Moose’s World and A Bald Eagle’s World honored as The Best Written and Illustrated Suite of Nonfiction for Children and happy that so many of my friends were there to help celebrate at this special event.  Here are my remarks upon receiving the award: 

  I am truly honored.  It is especially nice to be here at the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the organization that I still think of as SCCLCYP.  Remembering what all the letters stood for, ...Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People... was a little like learning to spell Mississippi when I was in first grade–once you start, you just go as fast as you can until you get to the end.  I was not there at the beginning of SCCLCYP, but I do remember my first Author Luncheon 31 years ago in 1980.  It was held at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles and I remember being awed both by the elegant surroundings (there was a string quartet playing in the lobby) and the fact that this was my first professional event as a new author. 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.  I never imagined that one day I would be standing in front receiving an award.
   
The books that are being honored today are the last four in a series of twelve books published by Picture Window Books.  The first four in the series were about black and white animals, the next four about Australian animals, and these focus on animals that live in Alaska or the Arctic. 

Many of you know me as a writer specializing in books about animals and the environment.  For many years, I worked with photographers, including my husband, Art, who is here today.  With all of those books, I needed stories that lent themselves to photography.  That meant, no nocturnal animals, no underwater animals, no remote locations.  So many times I said to myself, “It would be so much easier if I could just do the art myself!”  Then I wouldn’t have to worry about backgrounds, I could set my stories in any location, and I could make the animals behave as I wanted. With the Picture Window Books animal series I finally had the chance. 

The books in this series are intended for children in the primary grades.  (They are also perfect in preschool)  The main story of each book is short and told from the point of view of a baby animal growing up in the wild.  Factual information not essential to the flow of the story is put in sidebars and in front and back matter.
    
For the illustrations in these books, I chose a cut-paper collage technique.  I wanted a poster-like look with bold colors that would make the images easy to see, even by a child in the back of the room when a teacher or librarian is reading the book aloud.  The essential parts of each illustration are the outlines.  Basically, as I do the art, I am drawing with scissors. I do, in fact, draw each image in pencil first, but the final result comes from cutting it out with my best sewing scissors. I typically cut out the animals first and then position them on a background.  I use flat colors, overlapping the paper in layers.  When the art is scanned for the book, a slight shadow around the edges of the paper creates a subtle 3-D effect.

I rely on photographs and personal observations of the animals as references for my drawings.  When possible, I like to observe animals in their natural habitats. I have been to Alaska and have seen both moose and bald eagles in the wild.  To learn about polar bears and walruses, I went to Sea World and the San Diego Zoo.  The wonderful thing about zoos is that you can see huge animals like these just inches away on the other side of the glass.   Basically, I discovered, walruses are huge lumps.  They are a bit like your living room sofa with tusks.  And yet, they are surprisingly agile in the water.  I also find nature films and video helpful in my research.  While I was working on the eagle book, I kept my second computer screen open to a live webcam at an eagle nest on Catalina island.  It was amazing.  In real time, I could watch the young chicks toddling around the nest waiting for their parents to bring them food, and then suddenly the adult eagle would arrive, swooping in with a fish in its talons. 

I never get tired of watching animals and learning about them.  I know from my school and library visits that kids love to learn about animals too.  I want to thank all the teachers and librarians and parents who put books like mine into the hands of children.  And I want to express my gratitude to the CLC for choosing my books for this very special honor today.  Thank you, Marjorie Arnett, for your great introduction.  And thanks to Barbara Metzenbaum and all the people on the award committee for choosing me to receive this award.

CLC Fall Gala and Book Award

I was pleased to learn that my books, A Bald Eagle’s World, A Moose’s World, A Polar Bear’s World, and A Walrus’ World (from the Caroline Arnold’s Animals series published by PictureWindow Books) have been awarded The Best Written and Illustrated Suite of Nonfiction for Children by the Children’s Literature Council of Southern California.  I will receive the award at the CLC Gala, Saturday, November 5^th.  The featured speaker at the luncheon was supposed to be Australian author, Mem Fox, author of Possum Magic and many other best-selling books but she has had to cancel.  Instead, the keynote speaker will be two-time Newbery winner, Lois Lowry.  I have heard her speak before and she is always outstanding.  The CLC (formerly known as SCCLCYP—Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People) is a non-profit organization that promotes greater interest in literature for children and young people and encourages excellence in the production and selection of books in that field. It will be celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year! The annual fall Gala honors southern California children’s book authors and illustrators.  Hope to see you there! 

The Gala will be from 12:30 to 4:00 pm, on Saturday, November 5^th at the Romanesque Room, 50 East Green Street, Pasadena, CA 91105.  Go to the CLC website for information and to make reservations.

I Love Maps

Sharing A Koala's World with a First Grade Class

I love maps.  As a child, on long car trips, I followed the road maps we got at gas stations, noting the distance between towns and calculating how long it would take us to get to the next one.  And I loved the maps in my geography books at school, locating far away places that I hoped to travel to someday.  In the books that I write, if there is the possibility of including a map, I always like to do so.  In the Caroline Arnold’s Animals series, published by Picture Window Books, a map showing where each animal lives is part of the back matter of each book.  A map of Australia in A Koala’s World can be seen above.  The challenge in A Polar Bear’s World and A Walrus’s World was that the maps had to be a polar view, which is unfamiliar to many children.
My book, The Geography Book: Activities for Exploring, Mapping, and Enjoying Your World, is filled with projects for children  including twelve activities that help them learn about maps.  You can have fun making a balloon globe, a contour potato and other projects.

ALA San Diego, January 2011

A week ago I spent a day at the winter American Library Association meetings in San Diego signing my books A Polar Bear’s World and A Bald Eagle’s World in the Capstone booth. I always love the opportunity to meet the librarians and teachers who are using my books with children and to see them happily taking my books home with them to add to their libraries and classrooms. When I wasn’t signing, I was cruising the aisles to see friends, read new books in other publishers’ booths, and collect catalogues, free posters and other goodies. In all, it was a great day!

Eureka! Award for A Polar Bear's World

Nonfiction books have always been popular with young readers and are often preferred when children choose their own library books. But, for a long time, nonfiction has been neglected in favor of fiction by people handing out awards. So, I was immensely pleased to learn that the California Reading Association has established a new award for nonfiction and that my book, A Polar Bear's World, is a recipient in the gold category. The California Reading Association's Eureka award celebrates and honors nonfiction children’s books and will assist teachers, librarians, and parents in identifying outstanding nonfiction books for their students and children. For more information about the award go to www.californiareads.org .
You can preview A Polar Bear's World in this book trailer on YouTube.

Polar Bear Coloring Page

I am starting to add downloadable coloring pages to my website, www.carolinearnold.com. Look on the page of my new book, A Polar Bear's World, for the link to a picture of a polar bear. The challenge will be to decide on colors to use for a white bear in a white landscape! Of course, there are many shades of white, with polar bears being a yellowish white and the surrounding snow being various shades of blueish white.
For more coloring pages and other projects go to A Panda's World and A Penguin's World.
You can preview A Polar Bear's World in this book trailer on YouTube.
Update, 2012:  You can also learn about polar bears and how they have been affected by global warming in my new book A Warmer World.