WIGGLY WORMS AND NEWLY HATCHED CHICKS: A Visit with Mrs. Best’s Kindergarten Class

Over the last ten years I have written three books about Jennifer Best and her kindergarten students at Haynes School in Los Angeles, beginning with HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6 which follows the process of incubating eggs and raising chicks after they hatch.

After the chicks grow up, the chickens live in an enclosure at the school.

Every year I visit Mrs. Best's class (now in Room 4) to share my books and learn what the students are doing. My visit this year was timed to be on hatching day for the chicks. When I arrived, I saw three of the chicks hopping around in the incubator. Two eggs had yet to hatch. The children were watching the chicks directly in the incubator, or could see them enlarged on the screen in the front of the room which was projecting the image via YouTube. Technology is amazing!

I began my presentation by asking the children how they knew that chickens are bird. The answer: they have feathers and lay eggs. Then I showed them my ostrich egg and measured their wingspans.

My next books with Mrs. Best were BUTTERFLIES IN ROOM6 and PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6. The students had just finished raising painted lady butterflies and released them in the school garden. 

We talked about how worms are good for the garden and then I read WIGGLE AND WAGGLE while Mrs. Best acted out the story with my Wiggle and Waggle sock puppets. Then the students each had a chance to see worms up close, hold them, and inspect them with a magnifying glass. Afterward they drew pictures and wrote about what they saw.

Red worms are good for recycling nutrients in the soil..

In the year that I wrote PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6 the students had a very successful vegetable garden. This year they also planted vegetables in a planter box outside. Unfortunately, hungry bunnies have invaded the school yard and ate all the vegetables except for a very large tomato plant and a pumpkin vine.

Jennifer Best and the giant tomato plant and pumpkin vine.

I had a fun afternoon in Mrs. Best’s classroom and enjoyed seeing all the projects displayed on the classroom walls. Before I left I gave each student a copy of my folding book WHO HAS MORE? WHO HAS FEWER? 

On one side of each page they can count the eggs of seven different kinds of birds. On the other they can count the baby birds just hatched from their eggs—just like the chicks they saw hatch in the incubator in Mrs. Best’s class. The students are lucky to have such a wonderful teacher as Mrs. Best who provides them with so many hands-on science opportunities.

Chick and eggshell inside incubator.

READING WIGGLE AND WAGGLE: “BOOKS AND BAGELS” at Apricot Lane Farms, Moorpark, CA

Signing books at Apricot Lane Farms "Books and Bagels" event.

I spent last Saturday morning at Apricot Lane Farms in Moorpark, California, sharing my books at an event for children and parents called “Books and Bagels”. While seated on blankets on a grassy lawn and munching on breakfast, they listened to me talk about being an author and about my books. 

We were in the midst of a thriving organic farm, so it was fitting for me to share my Room 6 books, HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6, BUTTERFLIES IN ROOM 6 and PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6 and also WIGGLE AND WAGGLE. At the end of the program I signed copies of WIGGLE AND WAGGLE and PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6, which were for sale in the Garden Shop.

Note: Directions for making stick puppets, singing the Wiggle and Waggle song, and other wormy activities are downloadable HERE.

I thank Liz Davis, Tours and Events Manager, for inviting me to share my books at Books and Bagels and who coordinated all the details of my visit. It was a pleasure to read my books and I was pleased that so many people bought them afterward. I also thank Kristen Nordstrom, who put on my Wiggle and Waggle sock puppets and acted out the story as I read aloud. She also was a great help handing out materials at the end of the program. (Everyone took home supplies to make their own Wiggle and Waggle stick puppets.) Kristen is a teacher at the school on the Apricot Lane Farms campus. She is also a children’s book author and shared her book Mimic Makers at a previous Books and Bagels program.

Kristen Nordstrom with my Wiggle and Waggle puppets.

The Books and Bagels program is a great way to celebrate books and reading and for families to discover the amazing plants and animals of Apricot Lane Farms. You can go to their website to find out more about it and how to visit.

Entrance to the Garden Area of Apricot Lane Farms

AUTHOR VISIT AT WPC PRESCHOOL

Wiggle and Waggle sock puppets.

Last Friday I made my annual author visit at the WPC Preschool in Los Angeles, sharing my books with four classrooms of children. As always, I read the first two stories of Wiggle and Waggle to each group, inviting the children to join me in singing the Wiggle and Waggle song while one of the teachers performed the actions with my Wiggle and Waggle sock puppets. It is always a popular part of my visit.

Because the children were getting ready for their spring break and many would be dying Easter eggs at home, I also shared Hatching Chicks in Room 6. This gave me the opportunity to talk about how all birds lay eggs and to show them my ostrich egg. They were suitably amazed at how big it was and were thrilled to have the chance to touch the smooth shell is I carried it around the room.

My final book with the oldest group of children (5 year olds) was The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers. Reading that book to them has become a tradition ever since my first visit more than twenty years ago when I ran out of time and the kids insisted I keep reading even though it was their recess time. They wanted to find out what happened at the end!

I thank Director Brianne Naiman and all the teachers at WPC for welcoming me to the school. It is always a pleasure to visit.

AUTHOR VISIT AT ANDERSON SCHOOL, GARDEN GROVE, CA

Anderson Elementary School, Garden Grove, CA, wall mural.

Last week I had an enjoyable author visit at Anderson Elementary School in Garden Grove, California (Westminster School District). I had a full day, speaking to two groups of kindergarten children in their classrooms and to grades one through six in the multipurpose room. With the younger children I did an interactive presentation in which they participated in a Lion Hunt (similar to a Bear Hunt) and helped sing the Wiggle and Waggle song. With the older children I used PowerPoint slides to talk about my books and being an author. I am grateful to the teachers who helped me navigate the technology of the screen for my slide show--every school seems to have a different system!

With my PowerPoint Presentation in the MPR

I thank teacher Denise Greene who organized the day and wrote the grant that supported my visit and funds for the purchase of my books for the school library. And I also thank Principal Kimberly Breckenridge for guiding me around the campus and for introducing me. I also thank Denise for providing my lunch--a delicious sandwich from Jersey Mikes. 

WIGGLE AND WAGGLE ACTIVITIES: Teachers' Tuesdays Educator Guide by Christine Van Zandt

Thanks so much to Christine Van Zandt for promoting my book Wiggle and Waggle and its wonderful activity guide on her Teacher Tuesday posts for this week. She has posted it on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. You can click on THIS LINK for the guide. 

To purchase a paperback copy of the book click HERE. 

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW? A Visit with Mrs. Best’s Kindergarten Class, Haynes School, Los Angeles, CA

School Garden 2025, Haynes Charter Elementary, Los Angeles, CA.

In the spring of 2022, my book PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6, the story of Mrs. Best’s kindergarteners and their school garden, was published by Charlesbridge. 

Last week I visited Mrs. Best’s to see how this year's garden was growing and to share some of my books with the students. The garden looked terrific with the peas, beans, carrots, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and a patch of white alyssum, all growing like gangbusters. Earlier in the week the children had harvested the radishes—always the first to be ripe for picking.

In the classroom, the students are hatching eggs, which were in their ninth day of incubation on the day of my visit. They are scheduled to hatch on May 13. I read my book HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6, which documented the children of Mrs. Best’s class of 2015 as they hatched eggs. After reading the book we talked about feathers and eggs. I measured the children's wingspans--most were peregrine falcons--and showed them my ostrich egg.

The students will also be growing butterflies, the topic of my book BUTTERFLIES IN ROOM 6. Their caterpillars had just arrived in the mail and the students will watch them grow, form chrysalises, and emerge as painted lady butterflies.

Soon the children will be adding earthworms to their garden. I finished my visit by reading WIGGLE AND WAGGLE and having the children sing the Wiggle and Waggle gardening song with me. It was a fun morning.

It is always a pleasure to visit Mrs. Best’s classroom at Haynes School. I love the way she does so many hands-on science projects with her students and to see their enthusiasm for them. I can’t thank her enough for her cooperation and collaboration with my Room 6 books. 

Caroline and Jennifer Best

VIRTUAL SCHOOL VISIT at Ladera Stars Academy, Thousand Oaks, CA

Last Friday I had an enjoyable visit online with Julie Nerland’s kindergarten class at Ladera Stars Academy in Thousand Oaks, California. The kids were very enthusiastic and very responsive. Julie and I struggled a bit with the technology (she never figured out how to get her camera to work so I never got to see the children) but the important part was that the kids could see me and I could hear them. I learned that they recently hatched chicken eggs in their classroom and would soon be adding the chicks to the school flock. Every day children at the school feed the chickens and collect eggs. Because of the kindergarteners’ interest in chickens I focused my presentation mainly on my book HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6 and other books about birds. (We discussed that chickens are birds, and like all birds, chickens lay eggs and have feathers.) I also shared my book A ZEBRA’S WORLD and showed them how they can make their own cut paper art using the downloadableinstructions at my website. We finished by singing the Wiggle and Waggle song, which I acted out with my sock puppets.

I thank Kristen Bott Nordstrom for making my visit possible and for arranging the details. She purchased the author visit for her school at a fund raiser for victims of the recent terrible fires in Los Angeles and Altadena. I was happy to contribute the author visit to the cause.

Note: I am accustomed to using Zoom for virtual author visits to schools. However, this school no longer has Zoom available on their school computers, so we were using GoogleMeets, a platform that neither the teachers nor I had much familiarity with. We made it work but it would have been better if the classroom camera had been connected. Next time!

AUTHOR VISIT TO WPC PRESCHOOL: Hooray for Wiggle and Waggle!

Wiggle and Waggle Sock Puppets

A week ago I made my annual visit to the Westwood Presbyterian Church Preschool, Los Angeles, California. This year, rather than meeting with the children in their classrooms as I usually do, I met with the two- and three-year-olds and their parents as part of their pancake breakfast, and I met with the four- and five-year-olds, outside on the rug in the play yard. The children are always eager to hear about my books. With both groups I read the first two stories in Wiggle and Waggle, inviting the children to sing the Wiggle and Waggle song with me and do the hand motions while I performed the song with my sock puppets. (A link to the pattern for making stick puppets and other Wiggle and Waggle activities is at my website.)

Wiggle and Waggle (Charlesbridge, 2007) and stick puppets.

And, as a tradition that began many years ago, I finished by reading The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers, a tall tale about the Hodag, a creature with the head of an ox, feet of a bear, back of a dinosaur and tail of an alligator. With many thanks to Brianne Naiman, the WPC Preschool Director, and to the preschool teachers, for inviting me and coordinating my visit. It is always a pleasure to visit the school and spend time with the children and their teachers.

The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers (Boyds Mills Press, 2006)

AUTHOR VISIT AT LA CRESCENTA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, Glendale, CA

Authors and Illustrators Day at La Crescenta School, Glendale, CA.

On Monday, February 24th, I had a good visit at La Crescenta Elementary School in Glendale, California for Authors and Illustrators Day. The day was sponsored by the Glendale Assistance League, who not only brought in the authors for the day and gave each teacher a copy of one of our books, but also gave a generous check to the school for the purchase of books for the library. I was one of four authors visiting classrooms--Tao Nyeu, Joe Cepeda and Tracy Holczer were the others. I gave presentations to first and second grade students.

Entrance to La Crescenta School.

I was pleased by the good response to my presentation by the students and teachers. We started with my book A Zebra’s World, followed by a discussion of my cut-paper art illustration process. We measured wingspans in connection with Hatching Chicks in Room 6, and sang along with Wiggle and Waggle.

After sharing my book Planting a Garden in Room 6 I was pleased to learn that there was an extensive school garden--one just for butterflies! The children especially liked my new book My Friend From Outer Space, enthusiastically helping to count down from 10 before shouting, BLAST OFF!

Special thanks go to Linelle Vicenti and Kathy Blyth for coordinating everything and making sure the day ran smoothly! I also thank all the Glendale Assistance League volunteers who helped--introducing me in the classrooms, helping out with the book signing, and bringing the delicious snacks and lunch. Many thanks to the Glendale Assistance League for another successful Authors and Illustrators Day! 

Butterfly garden, with plants for attracting butterflies.

Vegetable and herb garden.

 

AUTHOR VISIT AT GOLDEN VIEW SCHOOL, Huntington Beach, CA

On May 24 I had an enjoyable visit at Golden View School in Huntington Beach, California and gave presentations to the Pre-K, K, and 1st and 2nd grade students. I was pleased with the good response to my program and the students' enthusiastic participation in the "Lion Hunt" and singing the Wiggle and Waggle song. They also helped count down the launch of the rocket as I read My Friend from Outer Space. 

The visit was sponsored by the Huntington Beach Friends of the Children's Library (FOTCL), a group that has been supporting author visits to the schools for many years. This year FOTCL donated $100 to the school to purchase copies of my books for their library. Now the students at Golden View can continue to enjoy my books in years to come. I thank Larry Hersh and Sandy de la Fuente, volunteers with FOTCL, who helped make the arrangements for this visit. And I thank librarian Alina Jiminez-Newton and principal Lori Florgan at Golden View for organizing the day, coordinating the book orders, and helping with the technology. And I especially thank the lower grade teachers for welcoming me and  providing delicious snacks in the teachers' lounge.

AUTHOR VISIT AT WPC PRESCHOOL, Los Angeles, CA

Wiggle and Waggle sock puppets.

This morning I had an enjoyable visit with the children at the Westwood Presbyterian Church Preschool, Los Angeles, California, an annual event. Many of my books are in the school library. Earlier this spring all of the classes had raised painted lady butterflies, which provided an opportunity for me to discuss my book BUTTERFLIES IN ROOM 6. With the two-year-old and three-year-old classes, I also read WIGGLE AND WAGGLE accompanied by my Wiggle and Waggle sock puppets. With the four and five year old classes I shared A ZEBRA’S WORLD followed by a group Lion Hunt, and then read MY FRIEND FROM OUTER SPACE and THE TERRIBLE HODAG AND THE ANIMAL CATCHERS. I was impressed by how good listeners the children were as I read the stories. I thank Director Bri Naiman for coordinating my visit and for being an enthusiastic Wiggle and Waggle puppeteer. 

It has become a tradition that I read this Hodag book at my visits to the WPC Preschool.

BEDTIME STORY JAM at Westwood Charter Elemenrary, Los Angeles, CA

At Bedtime Story Jam, Westwood School, Los Angeles, CA

With many thanks to parent Parisi Sooferi for inviting me to the annual Bedtime Story Jam last Friday at Westwood Charter School in Los Angeles. I was one of eleven authors at this popular event celebrating books and reading. Children came in their pajamas and had cookies and milk between sessions. It was great to be back and have the opportunity to share my books with the children and parents.

My room was packed and I got an enthusiastic response to my program. PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6 was my featured book (not to be confused with my room for the night, #3!) 

I also shared stories from WIGGLE AND WAGGLE and concluded with reading MY FRIEND FROM OUTER SPACE. Everyone clapped at the end! Thanks so much to all the volunteers for a great evening. And special thanks to volunteer Karen Boyarsky, who introduced me and helped everything run smoothly. Thanks also to Children's Book World for making my books available for purchase and to my friend Sherrill Kushner for helping me with book sales in my room at the school on Friday night.

ZOOM AUTHOR VISIT AT LINCOLN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, GLENDALE, CA

Zoom presentation to the Lincoln Lions, Glendale, CA

On Monday, March 27, 2023, I had an excellent Zoom author visit at Lincoln Elementary School in Glendale, California. The school mascot is the lion. The visit was part of the Authors and Illustrators in the Schools program sponsored and organized by the Glendale Assistance League. I especially thank Linelle Vincenti and Kathy Blyth for all their support and making sure that everything ran smoothly. I was one of four authors visiting classrooms at Lincoln School. I met with four groups of first and second graders, each class for about thirty minutes, sharing my books and my life as an author and answering questions from the students. I enjoyed it immensely. And I could tell that the teachers and kids enjoyed it too.

We talked about birds and I shared my collection of eggs—from tiny zebra finch eggs to my giant ostrich egg and related them to the story in my book HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6. We also discussed feathers and bird flight, measuring wingspans from a hummingbird to a bald eagle.

Ostrich egg.

Another theme of my presentation was gardens–featuring my recent book PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6: From Seeds to Salad, as well as my fiction book WIGGLE AND WAGGLE (reading the first story and singing the gardening song with my Wiggle and Waggle sock puppets), and sharing my miniature model garden inspired by Mr. McGregor’s garden in PETER RABBIT by Beatrix Potter. I was pleased to discover that each class had been given a copy of PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6 by the Glendale Assistance League.

I also talked about how authors get ideas for books, sharing that the inspiration for KEEPER OF THE LIGHT came out of a visit to Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. And I showed how I create the cut-paper illustrations for my books, using A ZEBRA’S WORLD as an example. We packed a lot into the thirty-plus minutes of each presentation. Altogether it was a fun and successful day. 

AUTHOR VISIT AT THE WPC PRESCHOOL, Los Angeles, CA

Earlier this week I had a wonderful visit with the children and teachers of the WPC Preschool in Los Angeles, my first since the pandemic. (Before that I had been making a visit every year--an annual event suspended during Covid.) It was great to be back and to have the opportunity to share both my new books and favorites from the past. 

I met first with the younger children, sharing Planting a Garden in Room 6, Wiggle and Waggle, Noisy Time for Zoo Animals and my folding book, Who Has More? Who Has Fewer?. They enjoyed my Wiggle and Waggle puppets, helping to make the sounds of the zoo animals, and counting the eggs and chicks in the folding book.

I then met with the older children sharing Wiggle and Waggle again, A Zebra's World, several of my bird books, Keeper of the Light, and finally reading The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers, a tall tale. We sang the Wiggle and Waggle song, went on a lion hunt, rang my small bell as I showed them the illustrations of the giant fog bell at the lighthouse. We also measured wingspans and learned about the Hodag, a giant creature with the "head of an ox, feet of a bear, back of a dinosaur, and tail of an alligator."

Many of my books are in the preschool library and I was glad to see them being used in the classrooms. It was a fun morning. Many thanks to the teachers, to the preschool director Bri, and to Heidi in the office for making it another successful visit.

CURLICUE SNAKES, CUT PAPER AND MORE, Art Projects Inspired by My Books

On my recent trip to the Humboldt County Children's Author Festival, I was delighted to discover how my books had inspired art in the classroom. At Ambrosini School in Fortuna, California, I saw that each class had chosen a different book. Their artwork was displayed in the multipurpose room where I gave my presentation. One child even made a portrait of me!  Here are some of the projects:

WIGGLE AND WAGGLE

One class made colorful Wiggle and Waggle worms.

A DAY AND NIGHT IN THE FOREST

Several classes used cut paper to create day and night scenes.

A DAY AND NIGHT ON THE PRAIRIE

A row of paper curlicue snakes, inspired by the garter snake in the book, hung from a ledge. Click for directions to make curlicue snakes. 

A ZEBRA'S WORLD

Watercolor paintings depicted zebras on the African plain. 

KEEPER OF THE LIGHT: Juliet Fish Nichols Fights the San Francisco Fog

A first grade class drew pictures and assembled them to make a mural of Juliet Nichols ringing the giant lighthouse bell in the fog.

For more ideas for projects to do in connection with my books go to the Fifty Nifty Projects and Activities page at my website.