Children's Books discussion
The Picture-Book Club
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September 2012: Discuss Our "Ecosystems" Club Reads HERE
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Gundula, of course I agree. I was just thinking of being inclusive of the littler ones, that's all. As I said in my review, I'd probably skip most of the animal sounds if I were reading Boreal aloud (unless my audience loved them).
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It would be tough ..."
Dolly, love your post with all the photos. Thank you for sharing!
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I agree :-)
I don't even really remember the animal sounds in Life in the Boreal Forest...so they obviously weren't distracting to my 9 year old and I. Hmm...
Gundula wrote: I found that Life in the Boreal Forest has a bit of a discrepancy between parts of the text and the desired audience. The amount of text, and the detail (which I really liked) is clearly meant for older children, while the "animal sounds" feel more suitable for younger children (I found them actually a bit distracting ... I agree completely. I liked the idea of this book, and it would probably work well with a parent/child who often read longer text together. My son might have liked it as a child. But I don't think I could easily read it to a group because I it would be too long and "rambly" for my younger kids and the older kids would definitely start drifting off if not laugh outright at me while reading it.... I still think it is a good library book.
I read a book this week that that made me think of the River book in its structure, but I liked it better. It is about Johnny Appleseed, so not specifically an ecosystem book, but in describing his life the book nicely advocated for trees and how they make us feel. It is Seed by Seed.
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With older children, it might work if you did not use the sound effects, but if you used them, you might well get some laughs (or just use the illustrations to start a discussion on boreal forest ecosystems).
Will definitely think about it. In the spring I usually read a bunch of books about trees, butterflies, etc. I'll consider it next spring.
I finally read Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea. I loved it! I don't really have much to add to the comments, but I thought it was so well done and so interesting. My 7 and 9 year old really liked it too. I love Steve Jenkins. I have yet to be disappointed by any of his books...although, I still have quite a few to read. I've only read about 6 of his titles. But I've enjoyed them all.
I read A Log's Life to a class of first graders today (6 year olds mostly). They were surprised by much of the factual information and really seemed to like it. I showed them photos of actual trees growing out of logs.
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Oh, very cool to show some actual photos. I love woodlands with stuff like that. So gorgeous. Though not oaks, by any means, were lucky enough to visit Muir Woods, the Sequoia Grove at Yosemite, and the Redwoods along the Northern California coast and those trees (and the fallen logs) are all absolutely amazing!
I've been to Muir Woods once--22 years ago--would love to see it again!
Sorry, to be posting again late, but I am just finally having time to catch my breath and sit down to say how much I enjoyed the books, that I was able to get.My favorite was Coral Reefs. Having dived on coral reefs around the Cayman Islands and being a librarian made this a near perfect book for me. I found it a wonderful combination of a story about the magic of reading, a library book that magically transports a girl underwater to a coral reef, and information - where she witnesses the inhabitants and relationships of these "aquatic cities:" food chains, schooling, adaptations, symbiosis, filter feeding... A page at the end discusses the "Threat to Coral Reefs" and how children can help. Another page discusses the remarkable relationship between coral and algae and gives some coral reef facts.
Next was Down Down Down. I thought it was a wonderful introduction to the ocean. I couldn't believe that humans have only visited the Marianas Trench once in 1960 for 20 minutes.
I liked the side chart, but wish the composite chart was at the beginning to give an idea of what was covered and then I could have referred back to it while reading. The elaborate notes at the end gave an idea of the size and further information of these unusual creatures. My favorite are the oarfish which may be responsible for sea monster legends, and the giant squid which hadn't been seen alive until 2004. (I could not find the size reference for the eelpout in the second to last information group.)
I found Life in the Boreal Foresta nice change from all the rain forest books, I get requests for. It intrigued me enough that I might check out my library's other children's book on it vs. the 98 about the rain forest.
Guiberson covers a year in the Boreal forest following a couple animals. She deals with predator prey relationship, the importance of the forest for migrating birds, importance of the forest in absorbing carbon dioxide, importance of the Sphagnum moss in preventing flooding and urges the reader to help protect this vital resource.
I probably enjoyed A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History more than most of you. I enjoyed this more than The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest. Maybe because it was non-fiction it didn't strike me quite as didactic. I also enjoyed the hopeful nature of the book that one person can create a movement and make a difference; that a dying river can be brought back.
My one criticism is that since it is a children's book, I wish Cherry had included something about the 500 youths who worked for 5 months clearing trash from the riverbed and banks in the story and not just on the inside covers.
I enjoyed them all and all of the comments.
I forgot to mention how helpful this months selections were and that I have had one homeschooler asking for books on oceans and another teacher, so I was able to highly recommend, Coral Reefs and Down Down Down.
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Oh, that is great, June! I'm so glad that you could recommend the books and that more kids will be able to learn from these wonderful titles.
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YAY! Here's to spreading the word :-)
Children's Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea (other topics)Coral Reefs: A Journey Through an Aquatic World Full of Wonder (other topics)
A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History (other topics)
The Great Kapok Tree (other topics)
Life in the Boreal Forest (other topics)
More...
It would be tough to pick our favorite from the other books - I've rated all of them 4 stars and had great things to say about each. I guess my personal biased favorite would have to be A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History because of my personal connection to the area (see my review here.) But truly, we really liked them all.