NYPL Recommends: New Nonfiction for Kids

I was delighted to discover my new book, LIVING FOSSILS: Clues to the Past on the list of books recommended by the staff of the New York Public Library, in a blog post NYPL Recommends: New Nonfiction for Kids written by Lynn Lobash, Manager of Reader Services.  In each of six categories–science, biographies, sports, animals, art and other stuff–the library's Best Books for Kids committee has chosen several books.  In addition to my book in the science category, the other two titles are: Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor by Robert Burleigh [Gr. 2 - 4]A beautifully illustrated biography about the first person to successfully map the ocean floor.
and
Professor Astro Cat’s Atomic Adventure: A Journey Through Physics by Dr. Dominic Walliman & Ben Newman [Gr. 2 - 5]A cat explains physics and finally I get it!
These and all of the other books recommended by NYPL look equally fascinating.
I am proud that Living Fossils is included in this list!

Living Fossils at the Los Angeles Zoo

Zoo Scape, May-June Issue

My book Living Fossils: Clues to the Past focuses on animals of today that closely resemble their ancestors known from fossils. Did you know that there are many plants that are living fossils too?  Ferns, cycads, ginkgo trees, and the dawn redwood are just a few examples. You can see some of these fascinating  plants at the Los Angeles Zoo and you can read about them in the May-June issue of Zoo Scape, in an article called “Living Fossils”. Zoo Scape is the member newsletter of the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens. Here's an excerpt:
Ferns are so common (there are more than 11,000 species worldwide) that it's easy to overlook their remarkable history, which stretches back about 400 million years. Ferns predated flowering plants and were the dominant botanical life form during the Carboniferous era 360 to 286 millions years ago when flying insects and reptiles first appeared. 
Take a look around YOUR neighborhood. Chances are that you have some living fossils growing near where you live!

Ferns in my front garden

The Nautilus is a living fossil

Listen to A ZEBRA'S WORLD on YouTube

Update, March 2020: Unfortunately, this video is no longer available as the YouTube account is discontinued.

I was searching the internet recently and was pleased to discover Kristi Bailey, a kindergarten teacher in Texas, reading A Zebra’s World in the Caroline Arnold’s Animals series on YouTube. I loved the way she introduced the book using a globe to show where she lives and where zebras live.
Here is the description of the video on YouTube.
A kindergarten teacher, Elementary K, reads aloud "A Zebra's World" by author Caroline Arnold. This is a non-fiction text that leads readers through the first year of a plains zebra's life in Africa. The book is a great example of expository writing and has text features of captions and labels. This book is a read aloud in the Journeys Reading Series (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.)

Review of LIVING FOSSILS in Foreword Reviews, Summer 2016

I was pleased to receive the following nice review of my book LIVING FOSSILS, CLUES TO THE PAST (Charlesbridge) in the summer 2016 issue of Foreword Reviews.

Living Fossils is a fascinating book providing an examination of “living fossils”: plants and animals that retain characteristics of their earliest ancestors. The book discusses six different species, with beautiful, detailed illustrations of both the ancient creatures and their modern counterparts. Details on how each creature survived, and how they have or have not adapted over time, are included for each creature. A time line and a glossary of terms are included. The book is intended for ages seven to ten and will surely spark the imagination of anyone interested in prehistory.

GIANT SHARK Featured in the Fable Learning Summer Reading PopUp Library

I was delighted to discover that my book GIANT SHARK: Megalodon, Prehistoric Super Predator is featured on the FableLearning.com/PopUp library in July. This has been one of my all-time most popular books, out of print in paper, but still being read by thousands of children as an e-book. Here's the info about the free summer reading program from Fable Learning:

For the fourth summer running we are opening our PopUp Library, inviting every child to read as many books as he or she chooses for the entire month of July. No logins, no passwords, no subscription required. Simply point your students to FableLearning.com/PopUp from July 1 through July 31, and encourage them to read. We offer many resources to help you promote summer reading, including posters, table top cards for libraries, and printable flyers to send home in backpacks at the end of the school year. We’re honored to be your partners in combatting summer reading loss.

Liz Nealon Vice President, Fable Learning

A BAKER’S DOZEN

13 Summer Reads Kids Won’t Be Able to Resist

Pulled from our list of Most Read eBooks over the past 3.5 years, each one of these titles is a top performer in our list and has been read THOUSANDS of times. These books are guaranteed to captivate students (and their families), no matter where their interests lie! And because these are our most popular books, many of them are available and narrated in both English and Spanish. Plus, you can download a copy of this reading list to send home with your students for the summer.

Learn More

THESE BOOKS ROCK: Review of LIVING FOSSILS by Sue Smith-Heavenrich

The following review of my book LIVING FOSSILS, Clues to the Past by Sue Smith-Heavenrich appeared in her column, "Alexander’s Library", in the summer 2016 Ithaca Child. I can tell that the reviewer has had a lifelong fascination with fossils, just as I have!

Sue Smith-Heavenrich writes:
My favorite book when I was a kid was my dad’s geology text. I spent hours poring over photos of fossils, losing myself in the geological time scale, sounding out “Carboniferous” and “Silurian”. So I’m always happy when I find great books about rocks for kids.

Living Fossils: Clues to the Past
    When you think of fossils, you might think of dinosaur bones or trilobites...something preserved in rock. Something prehistoric. Extinct. But what if some of those ancient creatures still lived among us? Would we recognize them?
    Caroline Arnold shows us six amazing creatures that closely resemble their ancient relatives–“living fossils”. Comparing “then” to “now” she shows where these creatures live, how they survived, and what their future looks like. Take, for example, horseshoe crabs. One hundred fifty million years ago, horseshoe crabs had hard shells and long tails. They crawled up on sandy beaches to search for worms and shellfish to eat. Not much has changed. If you visit the east coast on a warm summer night when the moon shines full, you’re likely to see hundreds of horseshoe crabs pull themselves up onto the beach. They’re digging nests and laying eggs, just like they did millions of years ago.
    You don’t need to travel to the beach to find living fossils; just head to a wetland or hayfield on a warm day and look for dragonflies. Those keen mosquito-devouring hunters are the great-great-great-.....great-grandchildren of dragonflies that lived 280 million years ago. Over the years things changed, like size. Back then dragonflies were larger–the size of a crow. (Charlesbridge, 2016; ages 7-10)

The other books reviewed in the same article are:
Explore Fossils! With 25 Great Projects by Candace L. Brown and Grace Brown (Nomad, 2016; ages 7-10)
Ultimate Explorer Field Guide: Rocks and Minerals by Nancy Honovich (National Geographic Children’s Books, 2016; ages 7-12)
A Rock Can Be by Laurie Purdie Salas (Millbrook Press, 2015; ages 4-7)

This review also appears in Sue Smith-Heavenrich's June 24, 2016 blogpost at Archimedes Notebook, a terrific website that focuses on hands-on science exploration for children and their parents.

Art Project: TORN PAPER PENGUINS

I am always delighted to find art projects inspired by my books. On a recent visit to Jennifer Best’s kindergarten class at Haynes School in Los Angeles, she showed me the cut paper penguin art the children had made after reading my book A Penguin’s World. The children had looked carefully at my illustration of a pair of penguins at their nest and then recreated their own versions with colored construction paper, doing an excellent job of matching the colors. In contrast to my art, which is cut with scissors, making a hard edge around each piece, the children tore the paper shapes, giving a wonderful soft edge to the pieces. The only pieces that were cut were the orange beaks and toes. The final works of art were then laminated. The best thing about this project is the individuality of each child’s art–no two pieces were alike and the penguins look wonderfully animated. Thank you, Jennifer, for sharing this project with me!