Project: Curly-Cue Snakes

     Several years ago I did a school visit and went into a kindergarten class.  Suspended from the ceiling were all sorts of paper snakes, each with a different decoration.  I discovered that they were the result of a family homework assignment.  The pattern for the snake had been sent home with each child.  Then each member of the child’s family had been asked to contribute to the decoration of the snake.  I was amazed at the variety of ways that the snakes had been decorated.  The photo above is from a visit to another school where the children created their wonderful, multi-colored snakes in class.
      Here’s how you can make your own curly-cue snake.
You can download the pattern for the snake here.
     1.  Decorate the body of the snake.  You can make it realistic or imaginary.
     2.  Cut out the snake on the black lines.
     3.  Punch a hole at the dot in the middle.  Tie a thread or string at the hole.
     4.  Hang up your snake from the ceiling or a doorway and watch it twirl.
This project is good for children in the primary grades.
     You can learn about snakes in my books Snake, African Animals, Australian Animals, South American Animals and Watching Desert Wildlife.

The Puzzle of Books in Tiny Lights

I love to do crossword puzzles.  I love the way the words fit together to complete the pattern of the puzzle grid. I love figuring out the puns and wordplay that lead to the correct answers. I love learning new words and making connections that I hadn't thought of before. In many ways, writing a book is similar to the process of solving a crossword puzzle.  Several years ago I wrote a short article about this for the SCBWI-LA chapter for their newsletter, Kite Tales.  When I mentioned this to my friend Susan Bono, editor of Tiny Lights, a journal of personal narrative, she asked if she could share this in the section of the magazine called Guiding Lights.  It has been posted this week  If you like to do crossword puzzles, or even if you don't, you can find out about my book writing process by reading the article.
Tiny Lights is a wonderful resource for writers and readers.  And, you can stay connected to the Tiny Lights online community via a monthly email which includes information about the monthly Searchlights & Signal Flares column, quarterly Flash in the Pan postings, and the annual essay contest, classes, services, and more! News & Notes makes for good reading and great writing. It’s monthly, spam-free and free. Go to the subscribe section at the Tiny Lights website to sign up.

Wiggle and Waggle and Gummi Worm Day

Gummi Worm Pudding and "Bug Juice"

I just learned from new blogger Linda Andersen at "A Writer's Playground" www.lindamartinandersen.wordpress.com that July 15 is GUMMI WORM DAY!  Here are her suggestions of ways you can celebrate:

 Gummi Worm Day:  (Eat gummi worms while reading books about worms such as Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin at http://www.doreencronin.com/www.doreencronin.com/Home.html  and illustrated by Harry Bliss.  See http://www.harrybliss.com/main_content.html  Write a diary entry pretending you’re a gummi worm.  Look for Wiggle and Waggle (chapter book)by Caroline Arnold.  See www.carolinearnold.com  It is illustrated by Mary Peterson.  See http://www.marypeterson.com/  Check out the worm facts in the back of the book.

Hooray for worms! They help plants grow big and strong.

You can make your own Worm Party with Gummi worms and chocolate pudding. (You can download the directions for planning a worm party at www.carolinearnold.com.)   Enjoy!

ALA in Anaheim, Book Signing and More

Caroline and Donna Spurlock in the Charlesbridge Booth

A week ago I was at the ALA (American Library Association) convention in Anaheim where I saw friends, browsed new books in the hundreds of booths, listened to several sessions, and best of all, had a chance to meet and interact with librarians.  I also signed A Warmer World in the Charlesbridge booth.  People seemed to be very interested in climate change and when my new book from Charlesbridge, Too Hot? Too Cold?, comes out next year the two books will be perfect companions.

William Kamkwamba

My signing overlapped with the Nonfiction Book Blast so I didn't get to hear all of it, but I was able to hear a number of the ten minute "blasts" including Ginger Wadsworth telling about her new book, The First Girl Scout, about Girl Scout founder Juliet Low. (I was a Girl Scout and so was my daughter and granddaughter, and I remember learning about Juliet Low when I was growing up.) In the session Teens Making a Difference I heard the wonderfully inspirational talk by William Kamkwamba from Malawi who changed his village's life and the future of his family by building a windmill, the story which is told in the book The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Hearing him speak brought back memories of the three months I spent in East Africa in the 1970's.

Author and friend Lisa Yee, and "Peeps"

As I said to a friend, going to ALA for an author is like a child being let loose in a candy store--there are so many new books, new ideas, people to meet and talk to, old friends to catch up with, that it is hard to fit everything in. It was a great conference and will provide inspiration to last the whole year!

Jamie Hogan's Illustrations from A WARMER WORLD at the University of Southern Maine

Golden Toad, Illustration by Jamie Hogan for A WARMER WORLD

Illustrations from A Warmer World will be included in “Tell Me a Story: A World of Wonders,” an exhibit of children’s book illustrations by Maine artists at the Atrium Gallery, University of Southern Maine, Lewiston-Auburn College from June 22 - August 3, 2012. http://usm.maine.edu/atriumgallery

When Boston children's book publisher Charlesbridge Publishing called to ask Peaks Island, Maine, illustrator Jamie Hogan to illustrate another book for them, she didn't know how much it would focus her attention on global warming. Taking up her pastels to depict writer Caroline Arnold's text about the effect of warming on the world's animals made her reconsider her responsibilities as an artist and a citizen.

“It changed my radar,” she said.

Hogan's first task in illustrating A Warmer World: From Polar Bears to Butterflies, How Climate Change Affects Wildlife (Ages 8-13) was to draw the golden toad, a creature that used to inhabit the cloud forests of Costa Rica. When the weather became too warm in the region, the pools where its eggs hatched dried up and the species was lost.

"I have never drawn dinosaurs, but here I had to depict a similar animal lost to us forever," said Jamie Hogan. "I found photos of them in my clipping file. Just in recent decades, the last golden toad vanished. I was oblivious, as was most of the world. Things are disappearing in our lifetimes.”

The golden toad is just one of several species spotlighted in A Warmer World, a thought-provoking and informative account of how global climate change has affected wildlife over the past several decades. Species by species, acclaimed nonfiction children's author Caroline Arnold describes how warmer weather alters ecosystems, forcing animals to adapt or risk extinction.

Charlesbridge Publishing suggested the book could be laid out like a nature journal, with the text appearing on torn pieces of notebook paper.

"I hunted down various notebooks and tags. Each animal is labeled with an actual tag collaged over the drawing. Somehow the journal theme helped me see myself as more involved in the reporting of global warming, as if I were in the field taking down these notes or drawing beside the author Caroline Arnold in Costa Rica or on the polar icecap. I wanted kids to pick up a tactile sense of participation, too—that they, too, could study these effects, and their attention could lead to change."

Instead of a traditional marketing approach, Jamie considered how a young reader or classroom teacher would feel after reading the book. Would they want to do something to prevent further warming? All the websites she reviewed advocated reusing and recycling, crucially important tasks. She thought readers might also want to voice their concern for the featured animals and for global warming. Hogan created a website to support the book (www.awarmerworld.com), which allows young citizens to send electronic postcards that say they are "worried about a warmer world" and provides links to Congresspersons' email addresses.

"Some see global warming as no more than a fluctuation in our environment and suggest that kids need not care about the effects, but it’s their world. Improving our stewardship of the planet can only help.”

Jamie Hogan and her fellow Peaks Islanders live almost on a small planet of their own. Trash must be carted off island, and many things are reused, repaired, and even incorporated into artwork by the island's many creators. People walk, bike, and share rides every day to keep car use low on the island.

"Surrounded by a bay full of creatures we see (the brief bobbing head of a seal) and those that we do not makes us aware we are part of the environment, not distanced from it. When you take the ferry to town, you recognize we are simply all on the same boat."

A Warmer World: From Polar Bears to Butterflies, How Climate Change Affects Wildlife may help young readers become young citizens who see humans and animals as "all on the same boat."

Nesty Nook for Reading at the Atrium Gallery

Jamie Hogan's Website:
http://www.hoganbraun.com/J_home.html
Jamie Hogan's Blog:
http://jamiepeeps.blogspot.com/
 
With thanks to Kirsten Cappy for this terrific piece about Jamie and news of the exhibit in Maine.  I love the giant nest where children can read books at the Tell Me a Story: World of Wonders exhibit.

Podcast: Interview for ReadWriteThink with Emily Manning

In April, when I was at the IRA conference in Chicago, I was interviewed by Emily Manning of ReadWriteThink, Chatting About Books.  The interview focuses on my new book A Warmer World (Charlesbridge) but also discusses Global Warming and the Dinosaurs,  A Bald Eagle's World, Birds: Nature’s Magnificent Flying Machines, and Dinosaurs with Feathers.  A podcast of the interview was posted on May 16.  It is number 45, World of Animals.  The post also includes some terrific resources for kids, teachers and parents.
 
Questions that Emily asked me:
1.  An interesting fact that you give in your books is that “in the last century the average world temperature has risen more than one degree Fahrenheit.”  Even though this seems like a small amount, can you talk about the big impact it is having on wildlife?
2.  Another interesting point that you make is that while animals can move to new locations, plants don’t have that option.  How are plants adapting to the warming climate?
3.  What was something that you found out through your research of this book that you didn’t know before?
4.  What is one thing that a family can do this week that will help make a difference?
5.  You have written many books about animals.  What are some of your favorite animals that you have written about?

    It was a pleasure to chat with Emily.  You can listen to my answers to her questions and find links to her many other chats with authors at www.readwritethink.org/chattingaboutbooks .
 
Emily Manning has a master's degree in reading education from the University of North Texas. She taught in the primary grades for several years before taking a reading intervention position that focused on working with struggling readers in grades 3rd-5th. In 2006, Emily Manning began teaching reading education classes in an adjunct capacity at Texas Woman's University. And most recently, she has taken a position as an Instructional Specialist at Lee Elementary in Denton, Texas.Emily is a member of the ReadWriteThink.org Advisory Board. She also belongs to several professional organizations including the International Reading Association and National Council of Teachers of English.

ReadWriteThink is sponsored by the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English

Project: Finger-Painted Animals

Hand-printed and finger-printed animals

A week ago I did an author visit at Fullbright Avenue Elementary School in Los Angeles.  When I arrived, I found the auditorium filled with wonderful art inspired by my books, ranging from dioramas of African wildlife and zoo maps to camouflaged tigers and polar bears to a butterfly tree.  The curtains on the stage were decorated with a menagerie of animals–zebras, giraffes, an elephant, a chimpanzee swinging from a branch–all cut out and finger-painted by the pre-K students at the school.  The children had made the zebra’s stripes by dipping their fingers in black paint and drawing lines across the zebra’s body with their fingers.  The spots on the small giraffes were fingerprints of brown paint.  The large giraffe’s spots were created with hand prints.  All of the animals had manes made of glued on strips of yarn.  Glued-on googly eyes completed the creatures.  I was delighted to see the individuality in the animals and the creative use of materials–letting the children use their fingers as “brushes”.  While many of my books lend themselves to projects for older children, here is an excellent example of how my books can be used with younger children as well.
I thank Najma Hussain, the librarian at Fullbright, for introducing the students and teachers to my books, for preparing them for my visit, and  for organizing the day.  It was a successful and fun day for everyone!