SPONGE SPROUTER: Garden Activity for Young Children

One of my first illustration assignments was for a book about gardening activities with children.  At that time, most books for children were illustrated with black and white art so I made pencil drawings.  Here is one of the activities meant for younger children.  It would work well with pre-school or kindergarten children.

SPONGE SPROUTER

Squeeze most of the moisture out of a large wet sponge and attach a string to it as illustrated.  Have the children sprinkle alfalfa or cress seeds on the sponge and hang it in a sunny window. Lightly spray with water each day.

Materials needed: Large sponge, string, alfalfa or cress seeds.

From Children’s Gardens: A Field Guide for Teachers, Parents and Volunteers by Elizabeth Bremner and John Pusey, Illustrations by Caroline Arnold

PTEROSAURS: Rulers of the Skies in the Dinosaur Age now available at StarWalk Kids

One hundred million years ago, the skies were filled with enormous flying reptiles. With wing spans up to nearly forty feet, pterosaurs were one of the dominant life forms on earth.  My book, PTEROSAURS: Rulers of the Skies in the Dinosaur Age, originally published by Clarion, is now available as a digital book at StarWalk Kids and also soon at Amazon as a Kindle book.  I am thrilled to see this book available again.  Through the month of July you can read all of the books in the StarWalk Kids catalogue for free.  It is a great opportunity!

BOOKLIST Review of Pterosaurs

Gr. 2-4. After tackling megalodon, feathered dinos, and woolly mammoths in three previous books, Arnold and Caple add another extinct creature to their repertoire. This solid overview of "the only reptiles ever capable of powered flight" covers pterosaurs' ancestry, their peculiar physiology, theories about their behavior, and major fossil discoveries, frequently making abstract facts concrete through vivid comparisons: "If your arms were built like the wings of a pterosaur, your little finger would be more than 3 feet (1 meter) long!" Descriptions of about 20 of the more than 100 different pterosaur species known today round out the text. Caple's neatly labeled watercolors emphasize clarity over drama, but her subjects' exotic physical oddities (hairy, batlike bodies; toucan-bright beaks; bulbous, gaudily colored crests) will draw kids into the diorama-like tableaus.

CARROT PLANTER: Garden Activity for Young Children

One of my first illustration assignments was for a book about gardening activities with children.  At that time, most books for children were illustrated with black and white art so I made pencil drawings.  Here is one of the activities meant for younger children.  It would work well with pre-school or kindergarten children.

CARROT PLANTER

Cut off the top 2 inches of a large carrot and hollow out the center.  Poke 2 holes in the carrot top and attach string as illustrated.  Have the children fill the hollowed center with moist soil and plant alfalfa or cress seeds.

Materials needed: Carrot, string, soil, alfalfa or cress seeds.

From Children’s Gardens: A Field Guide for Teachers, Parents and Volunteers by Elizabeth Bremner and John Pusey, Illustrations by Caroline Arnold

SEED TOP-POPPER: Garden Activity for Young Children

One of my first illustration assignments was for a book about gardening activities with children.  At that time, most books for children were illustrated with black and white art so I made pencil drawings.  Here is one of the activities meant for younger children.  It would work well with pre-school or kindergarten children.

SEED TOP-POPPER

Have the children fill a plastic bottle or plastic film canister with pea or bean seeds.  Fill with water and put on the top.  The seeds will swell, and by the following day the pressure created will pop the top off the container.

Materials needed: Plastic bottle or film canister, pea or bean seeds.

From Children’s Gardens: A Field Guide for Teachers, Parents and Volunteers by Elizabeth Bremner and John Pusey, Illustrations by Caroline Arnold

THREE OF MY DINOSAUR BOOKS Now at StarWalk Kids

Three more of my books have been added to the growing catalogue of books at StarWalk Kids Media.  They are:

Dinosaur Mountain: The 1909 discovery of bones protruding from a sandstone mountain in Utah led to the unearthing of other remains and proved to be one of the greatest fossil discoveries of the century. The site is still being excavated and is a continuing source of new information about dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs All Around:
On a visit to the workshop of dinosaur artists Stephen and Sylvia Czerkas, where a life-size dinosaur model is being constructed, the reader learns what dinosaurs really looked like, how we know how big they were, how they moved, and what color skin they may have had.

Dinosaurs Down Under:  A look at the unique fossils of prehistoric Australian creatures ranging from huge lizards to now extinct giant marsupials. The story follows the journey of a museum exhibit, on loan from Australia, as it is  is shipped, assembled, and displayed in a Los Angeles museum.

As always, I am delighted that these books are once again available, now for a new generation of kids.

EGG HEAD: Garden Activity for Young Children

One of my first illustration assignments was for a book about gardening activities with children.  At that time, most books for children were illustrated with black and white art so I made pencil drawings.  Here is one of the activities meant for younger children.  It would work well with pre-school or kindergarten children.

EGG HEAD

Break away 1/4 of the pointed end of an egg shell, and empty the contents.  Have the children draw a face on the shell using felt pens, then fill the shell with moist soil and plant chives or wheat seed.  Make a stand from a cardboard egg carton. Place the egg head in the stand.  Water lightly each day.

Materials needed: Cardboard egg carton, eggs, felt pens, soil, chives or wheat seed.

From Children’s Gardens: A Field Guide for Teachers, Parents and Volunteers by Elizabeth Bremner and John Pusey, Illustrations by Caroline Arnold

ABFFE Children's Book Art Auction A Big Success! (repost from ABFFE)

NEW YORK, NY, June 18, 2014 -The two auctions of children's book art that were held in conjunction with this year's BookExpo America were a great success, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) reported today. The sale of 150 pieces by leading artists and illustrators raised $56,000 to defend the free speech rights of young readers. The BEA auction, co-sponsored by ABFFE and the ABC Children's Group at the American Booksellers Association, was held in the River Pavilion of the Javits Convention Center. An online auction was conducted the following week. The BEA auction, which was chaired by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, featured a variety show by the Slushpile Family Circus, a group of authors and artists who displayed some of their non-literary talents. Shannon Hale and Michael Buckley organized the show. "We had a lot of fun and the art was superb," ABFFE President Chris Finan said. "We are tremendously grateful to Jarrett, Shannon and Michael and to the artists and bidders who made the auction such a big success."

             

The BEA auction also featured a tribute to Dr. Seuss. Thirty artists created pieces honoring him. The Seuss Foundation donated three limited edition prints.

Auction proceeds support Banned Books Week, the annual celebration of the freedom to read, and the Kids' Right to Read Project, which is co-sponsored by ABFFE and the National Coalition Against Censorship.  

[I donated a print "Mother and Baby Panda" from my book A Panda's World to the auction. I was delighted to discover that it was purchased by my good friend Cathy Bonnell. ]