CUT PAPER ANIMALS at Crocker Highlands School

Last Friday I had a terrific author visit at Crocker Highlands Elementary School in Oakland, California.  When I arrived I found the library bulletin boards decorated with a host of cut-out animals inspired by my books–moose, eagles, walruses, zebras, pandas (which were displayed with branches of bamboo) wombats, koalas and a whole fleet of swimming platypuses.

In the morning I spoke to three groups of enthusiastic students.  In the afternoon I visited a third grade class and we did the animal pyramid poem project.  I thank librarian Lisa Hobbs for doing a great job organizing the day and making sure that everything ran smoothly.  It was a special treat for me to visit Crocker Highlands because it is the neighborhood school where I live part-time in Oakland and several of the students in the audience were children that I know.

School Visit Projects in Long Beach

Yesterday I had a terrific author visit at St. Joseph's School in Long Beach, CA. Ten years ago I visited the same school so it was especially nice to be able to return. The children and teachers were a very enthusiastic audience and asked great questions. 

Librarian Christy Lund did an amazing job of preparing the students for my visit--introducing my books, visiting my web page, organizing the book order, and doing numerous projects with the kids.  Some of the first graders put stripes on the zebra using the template from my web page.
 

I am always amazed at the variety of stripe arrangements that children come up with for this project!  Other first graders made charming paper plate pandas which had been hung up to decorate the library walls.  Kindergarten children colored penguins and pandas using a rainbow of colors.  I thank Christy and all the students, teachers, and principal at St. Joseph's for making this a very special day.

PANDA Now at StarWalk Kids as an E-Book

This December the StarWalk Kids Media eBook collection is adding even more eBooks by their authors and illustrators. Here is a list of some of the new entries for the month of December 2013, including my book PANDA, illustrated with photographs by Richard Hewett. Included are some suggestions for using these books to meet Common Core State Standards. If you are already a subscriber to StarWalk Kids, these books are automatically added to your collection at no additional cost. If you are not a subscriber, click here to subscribe or to sign up for a free trial.

PANDA (by Caroline Arnold, photographs by Richard Hewett)
Panda offers children a fascinating and detailed portrait of this gentle forest dweller, illustrated with powerful photographs by Richard Hewett. The clear text introduces young readers to this native of the bamboo forests in central China's mountainous highlands and describes the giant panda's unique physical characteristics. It discusses how Pandas are raised in zoos as part of the worldwide effort to save the species from extinction.
Ages 7-10.  
 
My book Panda is paired with another book with the same title Panda by Carol Bonner.  Here are some terrific suggestions for how these two books can be used in the classroom.

For grades 4-6, compare two informative but very different books about the giant panda.
You might read Susan Bonners' book aloud, showing the beautiful illustrations. Ask students to work with a thinking partner to revisit the text and come up with the most important life events in the life of a panda. Be sure to have them specify evidence from the text to support their thinking.

Then have students identify one life event they would like to know more about. Use the photo illustrated eBook Panda by Caroline Arnold to search for more detail about that event. Students can choose two words from Arnold's book to reflect their thinking about this subject. Support their thinking with examples from the text. (eg: Adulthood: "solitary," and "bamboo." Pandas are usually very solitary animals that eat bamboo and other wild grasses. It is a good thing they prefer to be alone; otherwise there could be a shortage of food.)

Compare the styles of the two authors. Would students choose one Panda book over another? For what purposes? Why do they think each author chose her style of presentation? What reaction were the authors trying to get from their readers? 

Project: Paper Plate Animals

Paper plates may have been invented for eating, but they make great beginnings for art projects of all kinds.  In my school visits I have seen many creative use of paper plates to make animals.  Here are a few examples:

• You can use just one plate to make a head or body.  
• You can use a combination of large and small plates to make a whole animal.  
• You can add features by either drawing or painting on the plates, or by decorating them with cut-out pieces of paper or other materials such as yarn or cotton balls.  

          Let your imagination be your guide!

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!

Animal Cards for the Holidays on Etsy

Animal Cards at www.Etsy.com/shop/CarolineArnoldArt

It’s time to think of Holiday cards, and what could be more perfect than scenes of animals in winter!  If you go to my Etsy shop, CarolineArnoldArt, you can find cards with polar bears, penguins, pandas, and other animals that love the snow. Send them to your friends for the holidays! Cards are blank on the inside so you can write your own message.  Sets of cards also make perfect gifts for the animal lovers in your life.  Making the art is the first step in creating my cards. Each piece of art is a cut paper collage which I then scan to make my cards.  Each card is then printed and packaged by hand in my studio.  I use a thick 100% cotton rag paper to make gallery quality prints. If you can’t bear to send the cards, they are beautiful framed.  Happy Holidays!

Etsy Anniversary

February marked the one year anniversary of the launching of my Etsy gallery, CarolineArnoldArt, offering cards and prints of my book illustrations. I now have 74 items listed, 48 cards and 26 prints, and plan to add more in the future. I am sometimes asked which of my images are the most popular. Platypuses, koalas and wombats are surprisingly popular. Perhaps it’s their exotic nature. After that, pandas and penguins seem to be well liked. Their black and white markings certainly lend them to decorative designs. That said, all of the animals get plenty of views. Etsy has been an ideal way for me to market my artwork to a wider audience. I’d love to hear what you think of my Etsy site!