April Pulley Sayre's Blog, page 15

Rah, Rah, Radishes: A Vegetable Chant

Oh boy, bok choy! In June, 2011, Rah, Rah, Radishes: a Vegetable Chant will be released! The book so many of you have loved and encouraged me to keep on believing in. I hope this book encourages kids to taste delicious vegetable words and the vegetables, too. The great team at Beach Lane Books made it sing even more beautifully.  The farmers at the South Bend Farmer's Market graciously put up with all my picture taking. Isabel Baker, early childhood literacy speaker and bookseller extraordinaire shepherded the book to its publisher. Dr. Candace Corson cheered on the entire process. So many folks to thank.

March Animal

Birds hop, too. Here are some Sandhill Cranes doing their hopping dance during their migration rest stop. This happens here in Indiana at Jasper-Pulaski.

February Animal

We photographed this poison dart frog in Peru. It's tiny, not much larger than a dime. For more hoppy animals, see my article on the Under the Greenwillow blog.

January Animal

To celebrate If You're Hoppy, the next few months are hoppy animals., like this insect! These insects drink juices from plants. See all the brown spots on the leaf, probably from the insect feeding. I don't know this insect's identity. Do you?

Sea Turtle Science News and Helpers

Scientists may have unlocked how sea turtles navigate! Check out this BBC news piece. 8th graders were  featured on CNN for selling sea turtle art to help these endangered animals. Yes, I'm still following sea turtle news because they're one of my favorite animals. A newly revised, newly illustrated edition of Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out! came out last year!

If You're Hoppy!

If You're Hoppy launches today! Hope it hops into some libraries, book stores, Easter baskets, arms. SLJ said "Sure to be a storytime staple, with many repeat performances." For storytime fun, check out my article and photos of hopping animals, plus links to hopping animal video and a craft on the Under the Green Willow blog.

Vulture Festival March 5th in Wenonah, NJ

www.eastcoastvulturefestival.org

Vulture View Fans, this just in, from Scott Barnes at the Wenonah Environmental Commission:

"…the 6th edition of the East Coast Vulture Festival will be held as usual on the first Saturday in March. Even though the Evening Roost event is on hiatus this year, there are still plenty of fun and educational activities in store for our afternoon Children's Fair, held from 2pm to 5 pm.

The central gathering point this year will be the Wenonah Community Center, the wonderfully renovated train station right in the middle of town on Mantua Avenue. While there, you can explore games, crafts, and educational displays. Our ever-popular Vulture Store will feature plush toys and other nature-themed merchandise. And from 2 to 4 PM, you can watch live animal demonstrations such as hawks, owls, turtles, and snakes, presented by our friends from the Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge."

Vulture View

In Praise of Parsnips

In Praise of Parsnips

How I got along for decades without knowing parsnips…well, it just boggles the mind.  I asked my mom, and she hardly knew parsnips, either, though she's from New England and we grew plenty of veggies when I was growing up in South Carolina. Yet here I am, a grown woman, and I've kind of fallen for this humble-looking veggie. I seek them out.

Give me a tray of roasted veggies—sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, parnsips. I'll choose the parsnips. Even try to hog an extra few by the machinations of my spoon. Parsnips are sweet, nutty, never with that old carrot flavor. They put carrots to shame if roasted.

So, I'm starting the campaign here and now. If other folks don't start eating them, the parsnip will just languish. Our local grocers and farmers won't keep farming and supplying them. Already, it's kind of specialty, side-item, for which they get fewer sales. Jack at Hovenkamp's Produce puzzles over the underrated parsnip, too.

Yup, once you meet a good parsnip, it kinda grows on you. I've noticed that Top Chef and other gourmet shows spring mashed parsnip on a lot of diners, with good results. But mashing…I have not tried it. I advocate roasted.

It's simple. Cut parsnips in small pieces, say 1/2 inch cubes or so. Toss in a bit of oil and salt. Put in a 425 oven for 40 minutes or so. Check after 25 minutes because sometimes they go a bit faster. They should be just fork-tender, and with a little bit of browning. Scrumptious.

Mix diced onions, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, apples, and the like with the parsnips, if you like. Just remember that If I'm visiting your parsnip to other veggie ratio will mysteriously shift as I fish them out of the pan.

Oh, and yes ,they are healthy. Low in calories. contain all kinds of B vitamins, calcium, fiber, folic acid, iron, vitamin C, and so on.

You can also eat them raw, on salads. I haven't tried them yet. Give me time. I will!

Here are some parsnip resources for curious folks:

http://www.vegparadise.com/highestperch21.html

Parsnip pancakes. Gotta try these!

http://noteatingoutinny.com/2009/11/28/parsnip-pancakes/

Growing parsnips

http://www.gardeningpatch.com/vegetable/growing-parsnip.aspx

There also seems to be a band called the "Parsnip Revolt."

Can't vouch for them.

I did manage a page for parsnips in my upcoming children's book, Rah, Rah, Radishes: A Vegetable Chant. (June, 2011, BLB/Simon&Schuster). But really, I was tempted to give them the whole book. Party with Parsnips! Pro-Parsnip! Even saying their name is fun. You know how I love lively words!

If You're Hoppy

Are you feeling hoppy?  Hop hop hop. Like a rabbit? Or a kangaroo? Or a frog? If the answer is YES, this book will make you HAPPY. IF the answer is NO, this book will make you HOPPY and Happy!  Feb 22, 2011 release. Publisher website: Greenwillow

Article in Indiana Libraries

On page 21 of Indiana Libraries, Vol 29, Number 2, 2010, librarian Catherine Trinkle did a great job of covering my interests, books, and career in her article, "What a Wonderful World: Indiana Author April Pulley Sayre Leads Children to Explore the World in their Backyards and . . . Beyond!" Thank you, Catherine Trinkle for writing such a thorough and insightful piece. Indiana Libraries is the professional journal of the Indiana Library Federation.