Author Visit to the WPC Preschool, Los Angeles, CA

Last week I made my annual visit to the WPC Preschool in West Los Angeles, California. I first visited the group of three-year-olds where I read Noisytime for Zoo Animals (they helped me make the animal sounds), Who Has More? Who Has Fewer? (we counted the number of eggs backwards and foreward) and Wiggle and Waggle (they helped me sing the Wiggle and Waggle song.) In the four-year-old room we talked about birds and feathers and I measured their wingspans. Most of the children were as big as Cooper's hawks and it took four to be as big as a California condor! I then read Hatching Chicks and Room 6 and the first two stories of Wiggle and Waggle. I always enjoy my visits to the school and am impressed with the enthusiasm of the children, teachers and parents. Thanks to Director Sophie Robertson for a great day!

Zoo Animal Series Now Digital

These six books in my Zoo Animals series were published by Carolrhoda (Lerner) in 1999 but have been out of print for some time.  I am always sad when my books go out of print so I am thrilled to have this series available again, now in a digital format.  The new versions, published by StarWalk KidsMedia, can be downloaded from Amazon for your Kindle.  They are also in the StarWalk KidsMedia catalogue available for school and library and home subscription.  They are perfect as read-alouds for young children and to be read alone by children in the primary grades.

The books in this series are illustrated with wonderful photographs by Richard Hewett.  We spent many hours together at zoos watching animals and waiting for just the right moment to take a picture. It is important to have LOTS of patience when photographing animals. You can't ask an elephant to "just turn a little more this way, please!" Even though the photos look as if we were close to the animals, we were always safely on the other side of a fence or inside a vehicle. Richard used a telephoto lens to make the animals seem close-up. While he took pictures, I watched and listened to the animals and took notes that later helped me to write the books.

Click on the links below for the Amazon pages for these books.

•  Playtime for Zoo Animals  
• Mealtime for Zoo Animals
• Splashtime for Zoo Animals
• Noisytime for Zoo Animals
• Sleepytime for Zoo Animals
• Mother and Baby Zoo Animals

You can go also directly to Amazon from the book pages at StarWalk KidsMedia or you can find the links to the books on my website www.carolinearnold.com .

Can You Roar Like a Lion? Noisytime for Zoo Animals Activity

What kind of noises do animals make?  A lion roars.  A cheetah snarls.  An elephant rumbles.  A sea lion barks.  Each animal “talks” in its very own way.

Learn about animal sounds in Noisytime for Zoo Animals.  I love to read this book when I visit preschool and kindergarten classes.  I ask the children to help me make the animal sounds.  Their favorite is imitating the way a monkey chatters.

Noisytime for Zoo Animals is one of six books in a series about how zoo animals eat, sleep, play, bathe, have babies, and make noise. This easy-to-read book is written for children in preschool to first grade with just one sentence and a photo on each page spread.  Other books in this series are: Mother and Baby Zoo Animals, Mealtime for Zoo Animals, Playtime for Zoo Animals, Sleepytime for Zoo Animals and Splashtime for Zoo Animals. They are all out of print, but you can look for them in your library, online as a used book, or as an ebook on Amazon.

All books in the Zoo Animal series are now available at StarWalk KidsMedia your digital library solution..

Photographing Animals: Patience is a Virtue

            Noisytime for Zoo Animals is one of six books in a series about how zoo animals eat, sleep, play, bathe, have babies, and make noise.  The photographer, Richard Hewett, and I spent many hours at zoos watching animals and waiting for just the right moment to take a picture.  It is important to have LOTS of patience when photographing animals.  You can’t ask an elephant to “just turn a little more this way, please”!  Even though the photos look as if we were close to the animals, we were always safely on the other side of a fence or inside a vehicle.  Richard used a telephoto lens to make the animals seem close-up.  While he took pictures, I watched and listened to the animals and took notes that later helped me to write the book.
      Other books in this series are Playtime for Zoo Animals, Mealtime for Zoo Animals, Sleepytime for Zoo Animals, Splashtime for Zoo Animals and Mother and Baby Zoo Animals. They were published by Lerner in 1999. Although these books are all out of print, you may be able to find them in your library, online, or as e-books.