April Pulley Sayre's Blog, page 5

Sea Turtles and StoryWalk at Essex

It’s been such a busy year that I’m only now getting around to reporting on some of the terrific places I’ve visited. In February I was greeted by giant sea turtles at Essex Elementary in VT, where I met a kindred spirit, librarian Carol Scrimgeour. We could have talked together for days and days!  I also got to meet Anne Ferguson, originator of the trademarked StoryWalk concept. Somebody give this woman a grant! She’s already doing so much on a thrifty New England budget of birthday money and small donations but seriously, she’s getting families outdoors all over the state. They are walking, reading together, and enjoying the outdoors. She lends the trails to communities. Here she’s made one out of Rah, Rah, Radishes. She’s even written to Michelle Obama to put one such trail in the White House Vegetable Garden. Wouldn’t that be the coolest thing ever?

I loved how Carol helped the young kids understand how I was getting to their school!

Full sized three dimensional turtles, made of paper, stuffed for roundness, and signed by all the kids, led me to the library. I only wish I could have fit a turtle in my bag to take home!

Carol had a special connection with sea turtles and helped kids think about them through her display and a special fossilized turtle bone!

Here I am (on left) with Anne Ferguson of StoryWalk and extraordinary librarian Carol Scrimgeour. We are holding a story trail made from Rah, Rah, Radishes.

This school, with it wonderful staff and joyful, inquisitive kids, thrilled me, dare I say, to my bones! No, this is not my bone. It’s a turtle bone, folks!

New Books Featured

My new book Touch a Butterfly: Wildlife Gardening With Kids is featured on the National Wildlife Federation website. They are some of the best educators in the field of wildlife gardening and have been spreading the message for years. So it’s an honor to be on their blog.

Let’s Go Nuts! Seeds We Eat, which is being released in August by Beach Lane is reviewed in the renowned journal Kirkus. At the risk of overusing exclamation points, I say: Hooray!

Touch a Butterfly: Wildlife Gardening With Kids

It’s here! April 23rd release. If you like what you hear in my talks or read in my children’s books, this is the next step. Touch a Butterfly: Wildlife Gardening With Kids is perhaps my most personal book with a traditional publisher. Yes, it’s geared to parents and families, but I think some of my student fans, 5th grade and up, would like sections of it because in it I share not just wildlife gardening and family stories, but also how to approach/study wildlife at close range. It’s a heartfelt sharing of so much of what Jeff and I have learned in wildlife gardening/wildlife observation over the years. Reviewers seem to be getting the joy and spirit of the book so…whew! I’m so glad. And many families and educators shared photos of their kids enjoying nature and totally uplifted the project, making it a community effort. Roost Books has a free pdf of a chapter for free download here.

On the Road!

In my namesake month, I’m mostly on the road doing school visits in spots like the one pictured here. The educators and children are so energizing! Thanks for celebrating my birthday with me, too.

Common Core Masters: Librarians

If Common Core is about encouraging inquiry, the people we should be consulting are trained librarians: the masters of guided, deep inquiry. Susan Raben at Lyon is a master librarian and clear communicator: she should be teaching thousands of educators nationwide about inquiry. Rachel Davidson, at Henking, is a new tech guru who taught me tons about QR codes and how to get kids creating content and truly interacting with the web, not just imbibing it mindlessly. Hey, administrators nationwide…need help with common core? Go look for the experienced, trained librarians you’ve been undervaluing and laying off. (Thankfully, not these two, whose administrators know they rock.) Librarians are the ones who know how to get kids thinking more deeply about text and content! And these were just two librarians/inquiry masters i met last week while doing school visits in Glenview, IL. This week I’m in schools again; who knows who I might meet.

The Secret Behind Eat Like a Bear

When I saw Steve Jenkins’ art for our new book, Eat Like a Bear (Sept 10, 2013, Holt), I was amazed. The  bears’ bodies were so furry-looking. I emailed Steve about it. He told me their bodies were made of amate, Mexican bark paper. Bark paper? You know me and my love o’ plants. I had to find out more.  Turns out that this paper is made from fig and mulberry trees by craftspeople in a few small villages in the mountains of Mexico. It has a really deep history. The Mayan and Aztec people held it sacred. The craft almost died out but survived in one Otomi village in Mexico. Oh, there’s so much more to the story, I almost wish I could write a book about it. Hmm…!  Take a look at this article on the web and you’ll see why I fell under the spell of this complex bark paper story: Amate Art of Mexico

Touch a Butterfly: Wildlife Gardening With Kids

Turn your garden into a hummingbird hotspot, a haven for butterflies, and a thriving ecosystem. This family-friendly guide is my most personal book yet, sharing the wildlife gardening knowledge that Jeff and I have gained over the years. By reading it we hope you will begin to see your yard from an animal’s perspective; discover plants that attract colorful birds and bugs; embrace sensory experiences that native plants and creatures bring; and understand how your yard fits into the surrounding landscape.

 

AAAS K-2 Lesson and Whale Review

AAAS Science NetLinks has put up an excellent K-2 lesson on food chains that uses Vulture View and Trout Are Made of Trees. It links with Project 2061 Benchmark 5 The Living Environment; and National Science Standard C, Life Science.

The National Science Teachers Association website has a section called  NSTA RECOMMENDS which points out good resources for science teaching. Here Come the Humpbacks was just added with a full review.  “There are many reasons this book stands above the rest, but for me it was because of its ease of incorporation into science units,” says reviewer/educator Stella Robbins, who used it in her 4th grade animal studies unit.

Publishers Weekly has a review of Touch a Butterfly: Wildlife Gardening With Kids here.

Wildlife Gardening With Kids

Just received a first copy of  my new book, Touch a Butterfly: Wildlife Gardening With Kids. It’s published by Roost Books; they have a free downloadable chapter pdf.  The book ships on April 23rd.  Preorder from your local bookseller. Here’s an early review in Foreword Magazine. Thanks to the CCBC there’s a fab list of children’s books to pair with your outdoor nature studies: CCBC Let’s Go Outside! List. I just returned from a terrific Young Author’s visit in Wolcott, IN and a now off to VA to visit four schools. See some of you there!

NAEYC, Mem Fox, Pete the Cat!

If you want to know who I am and what I do, NAEYC’s Young Children magazine November 2012 issues has what’s probably my best interview yet: www.naeyc.org/yc/files/yc/file/201211/MeetTheAuthor.pdf

Last Fall I spoke at the national conference of NAEYC, in the Meet the Authors session, which featured Mem Fox and James Dean, creator/illustrator of Pete the Cat.  Yes, I know, MEM FOX! Wow, her voice is enthralling.

James Dean creator of Pete the Cat, Mem Fox (center) telling something funny to April Pulley Sayre

She actually read Dean’s book, Pete the Cat, out loud. The moment was somewhere between historical and hysterical. You could just feel the audience (and we other speakers) were thinking wow wow wow…so glad we were here to hear this! Afterwards I signed at The Book Vine for Children, THE place to find great books for 0-6.  Isabel Baker reads pretty much every book out there for this age and is super knowledgeable and picky about selecting the books so you can count on them. Thank you Renee Nicolo for loaning the camera so someone could jump on stage and take a photo.