The Moon

The 50th anniversary of the first moon landing has come and gone, but these books need a belated spotlight.

Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11
by Brian Floca
Review copy compliments of Richard Jackson Books, 2019

The Kirkus review for this revised 2019 edition:

“A fresh, expanded edition of Floca’s top-drawer tribute to the first moon landing, which won a Sibert honor in 2010. New here is an early nod to the “thousands of people” who worked behind the scenes to make the mission a success... and a much-enlarged account of Apollo 11’s return flight to Earth. Both include new art: For the first, a set of vignettes clearly depicts women and people of color playing prominent roles (including a recognizable Katherine Johnson), and for the second, the 2009 original’s two pages grow to eight, climaxed by a close-up of the command module Columbia’s furious, fiery re-entry. The narrative... remains as stately and dramatic as ever.... Minor changes in other illustrations and added or clarified details in the text add further life and luster to a soaring commemoration of our space program’s most spectacular achievement. This is the rare revised edition that adds enough new material to demand purchase. Still essential reading, more so than ever for being broader in scope and more balanced of presentation than the original.”

I can't wait to share the story of how Brian Floca revised this book to be more inclusive!

Countdown: 2979 Days to the Moon
by Suzanne Slade
illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez
Peachtree Publishing Company, 2018

This gorgeously illustrated nonfiction long-form picture-book-in-verse begins with the dream of space travel and the loss of President John F. Kennedy. Then comes Apollo 1 and the loss of the first three Apollo astronauts. Apollo 2 is grounded and plans for Apollo 3 cancelled. Apollos 4-6 are unmanned and have mixed successes. Apollo 7 takes men into space successfully. Apollo 8 flies around to the far side of the moon and back. Apollo 9 astronauts are the first to walk in space. Apollo 10 scouts a landing spot on the moon. Finally, Apollo 11 achieves the dream of men on the moon.

At the end of each chapter is more information about each of the astronauts and photographs from the mission.

This would make a fabulous read aloud (text in verse AND nonfiction) and pairs nicely with Moonshot.

Making Time and Place for Nonfiction: Bat Citizens by Rob Laidlaw

I love discovering great new nonfiction books, especially when a great new book leads me to an author who is new-to-me. Last week I picked up Bat Citizens: Defending the Ninjas of the Night.

First of all, when I think about topics that might engage kids who don't typically read nonfiction, bats seems like a great topic.  And not only is this book about bats but the focus is on the importance of bats in our ecosystems. It is packed with information but it is also packed with information that is connected to a bigger topic which I think is important.

The layout of the pages are inviting. Lots of text on each page along with great photos and supporting facts.  Although there is a lot of text on the page, the font makes it accessible.  There are many supports for readers--a Table of Contents, Headings and Subheadings, captions, a glossary, an index and more. The book is about 48 pages long which seems a perfect length for readers who are moving to longer nonfiction.

My favorite feature of the book is the "Bat Citizen" feature.  Author Rob Laidlaw highlights 10+ bat activists--young people who are doing something to protect and help bats in some way. This is a great feature as it not only highlights kids who are making a difference, it will also help us expand our definition of the word "citizen".

Many of the Bat Citizens are part of the "Bat Squad" and the many resources for kids/by kids on the Bat Conservation International website. Lots of great resources that I'll need to explore more and so much of this connects to our life science unit of study.

As I mentioned early in the post, I immediately checked out the author--Rob Laidlaw-- after I fell in love with this book and he has so many other books that I think my students would enjoy.  He is passionate about protecting animals and shares his knowledge in a way that is perfect for middle grade students. Each book focuses on a topic such as Animal Captivity or Animal Parades. I am considering reading one of these as a read aloud and I am definitely going to check all of his other books out soon. I imagine many will be added to our classroom library and these may be the books that hook some of my students on nonfiction reading.

My Favorite Subject is Science

The miracle is not to fly in the air or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth.  

~ Chinese Proverb

My Favorite Subject is Science

Photosynthesis is the

miracle

inside plants. Our planet changing from season to season is

not

any less miraculous. And to

learn that planes fly

not because of the engine but in

response to the

lift of the air

under the wings -- amazing! Food chain or

food web – both work elegantly to

balance life in the wild. Walk,

run, stand, sleep: your heart beats on.

The

water

cycle, symbiosis, sound waves – more miracles asking nothing but

that we pay attention to

this walk

we have been given on

the

earth.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2018

Some process notes about this (crazy) project...

In about mid-March, each of the thirty 5th graders in my class chose a quote from the classroom quote books or the stack of GapingVoid (gapingvoid.com) cartoon-quotes I printed and laminated a few years ago.

Before the end of March, I typed each quote (vertically and right-justified) in its own document.

On the drive from Ohio to Colorado and back during spring break the last week of March, I fiddled around with most of the quotes and wound up with about 10 poems that felt mostly ready. I panicked a bit because I realized that I wouldn't be able to write a poem about each child using the quotes they'd chosen. So I made a sheet with all the names and a brainstorm list of all the topics we've studied so far this year. Whew! There are at least as many topics as students! Some of the poems will wind up being more about the child who chose the quote than others, but all of them taken together will be a record of our year together this year.

In answer to Diane's question from yesterday's comments about how I actually go about drafting the Golden Shovels: As I mentioned, I have the quote written vertically and right-justified. I write into those end words, going for as much enjambment as possible. I am trying to write a poem that's not necessarily on the topic of the quote so that the quote and poem together are a little bit surprising. I think I'll be doing a better job with this in upcoming poems where I won't try to write about the child who gave me the quote. I'll be choosing a quote and writing a poem on a topic from our classroom. Stay tuned. We'll see how that goes! Beyond that, there's lots of staring into space, starting and stopping, retyping the quote again below the first draft and trying another draft (and another), and a nice dose of mystery and magic and surprise!

Keep Your Promises -- this quote came from the child who gave me the 30 days 30 students 30 poems challenge. Seemed only right for him to go first!

Astronomical Passions -- the child who chose this quote aspires to be an astronomer.

Legos -- this original quote was written by a Lego-maniac.

Walt Didn't Say This, But He Would Approve -- my Everything Disney girl wrote this original quote. It was fun to work the Disney-ness in!

100% Authentically ME! -- if you knew this girl, you would understand how perfectly this poem captures her spirit. She beamed when I showed it to her!

My Favorite Subject is Science -- I'm not sure if the guy who chose this quote would agree that science is his favorite subject, but it's definitely a favorite for most students in my class. It's such a perfect age for beginning to learn about the way things work on this beautiful planet (and in this amazing solar system) of ours.

Amy has this week's Poetry Friday Roundup at The Poem Farm.

Astronomical Passions

Invite others to wonder with you.  ~Austin Kleon

Astronomical Passions

Black holes! Galaxies! Space! The Universe will invite

you to be awed and amazed. Find others

with the same astronomical passions to

marvel at, to wonder

about, and to investigate with

you.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2018

Poetry Friday: Earth Verse

Earth Verse: Haiku from the Ground Up
by Sally M. Walker
illustrated by William Grill
Candlewick Press, 2018

In the author's blurb on the back jacket flap, we learn that Sally M. Walker majored in geology in college. How fun is it to show students that academic knowledge can be translated into poetry! This will be a go-to mentor text in my classroom for students who are having fun with nonfiction by writing in different formats.

The book features poems about Earth, minerals, rocks, fossils, earthquakes, volcanoes, atmospheric and surface water, glaciers, and groundwater. I didn't notice them at first, but there is a tiny icon at the bottom of the pages with poems that signals the topic and helps the reader see the connections between several pages of poems.

Here are a few favorites:

hotheaded mountain
loses its cool, spews ash cloud --
igneous tantrum

(volcano section)

a flat stone, skipping,
casts circles across the lake,
lassoing the fish

(atmospheric and surface water section)

hold fast, stalactite,
everlasting icicle,
stone bed for a bat

(groundwater section)



In keeping with the SALLY theme, this week's Poetry Friday roundup is hosted by Sally Murphy!

Two New Seymour Simon Books

Horses (Updated Edition)
by Seymour Simon
HarperCollins, 2017

Water
by Seymour Simon
HarperCollins, 2017


"Simon may have done more than any other living author to help us understand and appreciate the beauty of our planet and our universe." -- Kirkus Reviews

Not only that, but he can teach our students to write with clarity and organization. Look no further than one of Seymour Simon's books and you'll find great introductions and conclusions, and paragraphs that contain ideas all on one topic.

Science Comics: Get to Know Your Universe!

How will your students know that graphic novels are a format and not a genre, unless you have titles that are history, memoir, and now...science?

Bats: Learning to Fly
written and illustrated by Falynn Koch
Science Comics Series
First Second, 2017
review copy from the public library

Thank goodness for Goodreads and for the public library. This title came up on my Goodreads feed and I clicked straight over to the Columbus Metropolitan Library and reserved the entire series.

I was not disappointed. The Science Comics (Get to Know Your Universe) series includes books about Dinosaurs, Volcanoes, Coral Reefs, Flying Machines, and coming up is Plagues. Although it's a series, because every book is not written/illustrated by the same teams, each book is unique. No cookie-cutter here!

I'll be ordering this entire series for my classroom!

Poetry Friday -- Eclipse

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by John 'K'

As If to Demonstrate an Eclipse

by Billy Collins

I pick an orange from a wicker basket
and place it on the table
to represent the sun.
Then down at the other end
a blue and white marble
becomes the earth
and nearby I lay the little moon of an aspirin.

(read the rest of the poem here)

Mark your calendar and set your alarm -- there's going to be a total lunar eclipse this Sunday night peaking about 10:00 PM. It's an eclipse of a Supermoon! Way cool. The eastern half of North America will be able to see the entire eclipse. Read more about it here and here.

This week, Janet Wong is hosting the Poetry Friday roundup at Sylvia's blog Poetry For Children.

Failure

11 Experiments That Failed
by Jenny Offill & Nancy Carpenter

I can't wait to start celebrating failure with a new group of fifth graders.

I can't wait to ask them these questions as they work:

Did you have to change your plans?
Did you fail?
Did you struggle?
Did you get a new idea?
Did you cooperate?
Did you listen?
Did you share?
Did you think?
Did you solve a problem?
Did someone help your thinking along?

I can't wait to share this book with them, and talk about a character who designs and conducts completely original experiments that mostly seem sure to fail right from the outset.

Connecting to the character in this book, I can't wait to share about the 15 year-old Iowa boy who is running for president, and who is the most successful independent candidate since Ross Perot. Last time I checked, there's no way a 15 year-old can be elected president.

So, why bother performing experiments that are sure to fail?

Learn.
Make a point.
Get one step closer to an experiment that won't fail.
Have fun.
Discover something new.
Tell a story.

Happy Failure!

Friends with Fins: Informational Videos

I'm always looking for good videos for my students.  As we expand our understanding of what it means to be a reader in this digital age, I know videos are an important part of learning.  I want my students to have lots of experience with quality video.  I've heard over and over again from my students that they enjoy watching video for entertainment, but they don't really know how to watch video to learn. So I know part of my work is helping them to read video.  I think lots of kids pick up bits of info when they are watching for entertainment, but finding good informational videos for kids is sometimes a challenge.  Short videos that are crafted well so that kids can learn information as well as study the video for the craft are things I am always on the lookout for.

Recently I noticed that Jaclyn Friedlander, a Marine Life and Ocean Conservation Expert has been adding weekly video episodes to her blog. (I interviewed Jaclyn on our blog about her picture books a while back.)

The Friends with Fins videos are PERFECT for my students. They are short, engaging and packed with lots of fascinating information.  Many connect to our science standards and I'll watch them a bit more closely to see which align with our science standards.  So much of our life science is about habitats and animal adaptations and so much information connected to that is embedded in these videos.

I also plan to use the videos in Reading Workshop as we think about learning from video clips. And I will use them in writing workshop as they will be great mentor texts for informational writing. They are crafted well and there is lots to study as a writer/moviemaker.  The way that Jaclyn shares information is accessible to young learners.  There are so many possibilities for these videos.  I like them individually, but the collection of the videos on the site provides so even more to learn from.  Not only are these a great link to science standards, but Jaclyn is passionate about ocean conservation and uses her blog and social media to spread that message.

Jaclyn plans to add a video most weeks to the site will continue to grow.  (All of the videos are also available on her Youtube Channel as well. And her books are now available as Kindle or iPad versions.

Science in Poetry

Winter Bees: & Other Poems of the Cold
by Joyce Sidman
illustrated by Rick Allen
HMH Books for Young Readers, 2014

As I noted yesterday, J. Patrick Lewis' anthology title says it all: "Everything is a Poem." Today we'll look at science in poetry. Upcoming posts include nature, history, biography and imagination in poetry.

Joyce Sidman's Winter Bees is the perfect book to usher in this year's first Polar Vortex. Every day, compliments of the TV weather reporters, we are getting a science lesson in meteorology. Sidman's book will answer questions about how animals survive in the cold.

Each of the dozen poems, most about animals ranging in size from moose to springtail, but also including trees and snowflakes, is accompanied by a short sidebar of scientific information that expands the scope of this book to topics such as migration, hibernation, and the shape of water molecules, and introduces such delicious vocabulary as brumate, ectothermic, furcula, and subnivean.

The illustrations are simply gorgeous. You will want to spend as much time with them as you do savoring Joyce's poems. Watch out for that fox -- s/he wanders throughout the book!

As you and your students explore this book and Joyce's others, don't forget to check out Joyce's website. It is a treasure-trove for readers, writers, and dog lovers.


Keri has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at Keri Recommends.

Science, Literacy and Technology at the Columbus Zoo!

Last May, we took our 3rd graders to the Columbus Zoo on a field trip. We have a great zoo in Columbus so it s always a great trip. But last year, the educators at the zoo created a new program. Our kids would have the opportunity to observe animals and collect data using iPads.  We were excited about the program and knew that it tied in with our science curriculum.  When we got back to school last spring, we realized that this would be a great fall trip. That the program would be a great kick off for learning around scientific observation, using technology to collect data, life science and more.  So we booked this year's trip in September and our classes went to the zoo on Friday. Not only was it a great day but we learned a lot that I know will carry into our learning thoughout the year.

The trip was great. The educators at the zoo kicked off our day with a half-hour session for the whole group. We learned about animal observation. We learned about the 4 elephants at the Columbus Zoo. We learned their names, how to tell them apart, a bit about their personalities, etc. Then we learned the codes for each thing an elephant might be doing--moving, socializing, eating, etc.  We learned a bit about why it is important to tell where the elephant is for each observation-which area of the habitat.

Then, each class had the opportunity to use iPads to track one elephant's behavior for 30 minutes.  The app is set up specifically for these observations and kids got a chance to see what this type of animal observation at the zoo was like.  (The iPads were not working for our class's session so we asked questions and learned lots about the animals, as Kelly answered our questions about the elephants.

September was a great time for this trip.  It impacted the ways that our students think about science and observation. They understand that scientific observation happens all the time at the zoo right in our city. They know that the observations we take tell a story of the animal.  And they learned that technology is one way to keep track of observations.

I read 2 books this week that set the stage for our day at the Zoo. One was Elephant by Suzi Eszterhas.  This book tells the story of a baby elephant and how he grows.  Her Eye on the Wild series is a great series for middle grades and this made for a good read aloud.  The other book that we read was Tiger Math:  Learning Graphing From a Baby Tiger and they begged me to read this one each day. This is the story of a baby tiger who refuses to eat.  The book chronicles the first months of the tiger's life and the work the zookeepers did to keep him alive, help him grow and monitor his progress. There are graphs throughout the book that the scientists share to help tell the story of Tiger. I love that the authors of this book talk about the story that graphs tell. Kids loved this and they learned math and scientific observation.  There are several books in this series so I am going to try to get them all for the classroom as kids were fascinated by the ways math and science worked together for animal observations.  I think they'll enjoy them even more now that we've been to the zoo.

We are lucky to have the Columbus Zoo right here in our city!

The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science!!

218 poems by 78 poets!

The same wonderful format as the K-5 and 6-8 editions, with a poem a day for each grade level AND a "Take Five" instructional focus with connections to the new Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

PLUS...NEW FOR THIS EDITION...

Illustrated student editions by grade level, without the Take 5 teacher notes, and WITH bonus poems!

Order yours now at Pomelo Books or on Amazon.

Yes, you can find my poems in this edition...SIX of them this time! 3 in first grade and 3 in third grade!

Jump Into Science Series

The day after our two snow days, one of my students brought in lots of books about a new interest--rocks and minerals. He had gone to the public library on our days off to find a few new ones. The one that the kids seemed most interested in was one from the Jump Into Science series from National Geographic Kids. It was Jump into Science: Rocks and Minerals   I looked at it and decided we needed it for the classroom. Then I noticed it was part of a series.

I am all about series books that readers who are pretty new to nonfiction can read cover-to-cover. I have seen so much skimming and scanning and so many misconceptions created when students don't build that nonfiction stamina and just see nonfiction as something to skim, scan and picture walk.

This series is perfect for young readers.  There seem to be 8-10 titles and they seem to be mostly connected to Earth Science, although there are a few others.  The pages include basic, yet accessible text and the books contain each share a great deal of information in a readable way.  Nonfiction text features such as headings, maps and diagrams are used.  These are books that can be read by young children and they seem perfect for 3rd graders.  I purchased 3 and will keep an eye out for how popular they become for independent reading.  I am realizing the power in nonfiction picture books so I am happy to have found another good series!

New Poetry Books for a New Year, part 2

The Pet Project: Cute and Cuddly Vicious Verses
by Lisa Wheeler
illustrated by Zachariah OHora
Atheneum Books for Young Readers (April 2, 2013)

review copy purchased for my classroom library

The character in this book wants a pet, but her parents, "...very scientific folk..." insist that she does research according to a scientific plan -- formulating a query, collecting data and observations, and presenting her results.

Our character has a research notebook, seen at the bottom of the page when she takes her study "...in the field." Her first destination is the farm. Her poems about the cow, chicken, pony, dove, and sheep reveal the reasons none of those will be her pet-of-choice.

"The farm was interesting, and yet,
I still have failed to find a pet.
Sure of what I have to do,
I'll take my research to the
farm
zoo."

After her zoological expedition, she goes to the woodland, does a "home study," a "controlled environments" study, notes some "inconclusive investigations" and finally comes to a conclusion about the kind of pets that are perfect for an owner like her, someone who is definitely not into the maintenance a pet requires, and rather quite forgetful, as well. Her choice?


"...They need no care.
They need no fuss.
They're not aware
that they're in us.

These beasties who are hard to find
are everywhere...and they're all
mine!

I go to Mom and Dad with hope:

"May I have a..."

  Can you guess?*

Such a fun book. You will want it for your poetry collection, for your science class, and for your persuasive writing unit!




*microscope

New Poetry Books For a New Year, part 1

Seeds, Bees, Butterflies, and More!: Poems for Two Voices
by Carole Gerber
illustrated by Eugene Yelchin
Henry Holt and Co. (February 5, 2013)

review copy provided by the publisher

This book is destined to become a favorite on Poetry Fridays in my classroom! My students have nearly worn out Mary Ann Hoberman's "You Read to Me, I'll Read to You" books of poetry for two voices. Now we've got another from which to choose!

Carole Gerber, a local Central Ohio poet and a fellow The Poetry Friday Anthology (Common Core K-5 edition): Poems for the School Year with Connections to the Common Core poet has written a collection of 18 poems about the natural world. The color-coding and the left/right alignment of the two parts will be familiar cues to readers of Hoberman's poems, but because Gerber's poems are not as formulaic as Hoberman's, this book will also make a great mentor text for students who want to try to write poetry for two voices.

These poems will be perfect for life science units on plants, animals, and food chains/webs. For example, in the poem "Seedlings," you will find the science vocabulary "coat," "germinate," "roots," and "sprouting." Told as a mask poem, from the points of view of two seedlings, this is a poem about that first moment when baby plants lift their heads above the dirt. Turn the page and the same scene is replayed with an excited seedling in conversation with a rabbit. That one doesn't end so well for the seedling!

The combination of fun poems and bright, happy illustrations by Eugene Yelchin make this one a sure deal!

Summer Solstice

Today is the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year (in the Northern Hemisphere). Today, the reason for the season has nothing to do with any kind of human construct. It's all about our planet, it's 23.5 degree tilt, and its yearly trip around our amazing star, the sun.

Solstice seems like the perfect day to spotlight three books by Molly Bang about the sun.

In 2004, Molly Bang wrote My Light, a celebration of the sun and a description of how we can transform sunlight into electricity.

In 2009 (with Penny Chisholm), Bang gave us Living Sunlight, one of the clearest explanations of photosynthesis (down to the molecular level) that you'll ever read. Again, a celebration of our sun.

This year (again with Penny Chisholm), in Ocean Sunlight, Bang celebrates the sun's role in sustaining life on our planet, specifically, in the habitat of the ocean.

She begins by reminding us what we know about photosynthesis on land, and how every food chain begins with plants harnessing energy from the sun. Then she asks us to think about food chains in the ocean:

"All ocean life is part

of food chains, too.

And every ocean food

chain starts when plants

catch my light.

But where

are the ocean's plants?"

Where? In the billion billion billion phytoplankton drifting in the oceans! A microscopic pasture that feeds larger and larger organisms, all the way up to the whales.

That's interesting and mind-boggling, but then she takes it to a whole new level...to the dark dark bottom of the ocean. How do the animals there get to participate in a sunlight-driven food chain when they have no light? They recycle all the "junk" that floats down from the surface. And how do the nutrients created by the life forms on the bottom of the ocean get up to the phytoplankton on the surface? The sun. The sun causes the currents that stir the oceans.

The sun. It always comes back to the sun. Life on earth, the water cycle, food chains, photosynthesis, oxygen and carbon dioxide, consumption and production.

Happy Solstice. 

Take a minute today to appreciate our sun.

Go, Go, Grapes!

Go, Go, Grapes! A Fruit Chant

by April Pulley Sayre

Beach Lane Books, 2012

I said it last year when I reviewed Rah, Rah, Radishes!, and I'll say it again this year: April Pulley Sayre is the queen of chants!

She's chanting to the choir with both of these books, but a quick peek at my counter and refrigerator will show that I don't need ANY convincing on the subject of fruit! (How on earth am I going to eat a pint of blueberries, 2 mangoes, a pineapple and a bag of bing cherries before I leave on Friday?!?!)

As with Rah, Rah, Radishes!, Go, Go, Grapes! features vivid photos from farmer's markets and groceries around Ohio and Indiana, along with some guest appearances from a Vietnamese farmer's market in New Orleans for some of the most exotic fruits.

Word study? Check out these JUICY words!

Science? Use this book with your plant unit!

Writing workshop? Go gather up a collection of words on a topic and try writing your own chant!

Exploring Science

The Big Idea Science Book
DK Publishing, 2010
review copy provided by the publisher

I think this encyclopedia of science has a lot of potential for discussion and browsing in the upper elementary and middle school classroom. The basic premise is that there are 24 key concepts or "Big Ideas" in science ("Based on a revolutionary new approach to learning by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe..." -- of Understanding By Design fame.) There are 8 Big Ideas each for Life, Earth, and Physical Science. Each two-page spread (very DK-ish with eye-catching photography, short article in the top left corner, lots of graphics and smaller pictures with captions) tells which of the Big Ideas relate to that topic.  Cell Division relates to three Big Ideas; Coral Reefs relate to eight Big Ideas. The book has a website with related content -- movies, interactive illustrations, some worksheet-ish kinds of things -- that seems to still be under construction. There are some movies that have "part one" but no "part two."  I really wish these resources were complete because I'd use them in my classroom. I do think I'll post the 24 Big Ideas for our reference as we go through our year of science.

I'm a Scientist: Kitchen
DK Publishing, 2010
review copy provided by the publisher

Here's one that would be great at a science center. The materials for each experiment are common items, and the instructions are easy enough for older elementary kids to read themselves, and illustrated with clear enough pictures for younger kids to figure out.  There is a cool fold-out flap on each right-hand page that gives the scientific reasons behind the experiment, as well as some follow-up activities. Some of the experiments need a grown-up, but lots don't. There are experiments for density, static electricity, physics/structures, chemical reactions, magnets, states of matter, and light.

Nature Explorer
DK Publishing, 2010
review copy provided by the publisher

This activity-filled book is divided into the categories Birdwatcher, Bug Hunter, Star Gazer, Rock & Fossil Hunter, Nature Ranger, and Weather Watcher. Each category gives background information, tells what equipment you might need, and gives lots of activities that demonstrate many concepts in each category. This is a book for upper elementary and middle school classrooms. It's a good book for browsing, and for activities teachers might want to add to their weather or plant units. (um...that'd be me!)

Ask Dr. K. Fisher about Creepy-Crawlies

Ask Dr. K. Fisher about Creepy-Crawlies

by Claire Llewellyn

illustrated by Kate Sheppard

first published in Great Britain

published in the United States, coincidentally, by Kingfisher, an imprint of Henry Holt, 2008

review copy provided by the publisher

Yesterday we met a caterpillar with all kinds of personality; today we meet Dr. K. Fisher, a bird who answers all kinds of questions put to him by all kinds of creepy-crawlies. There's a scorpion who is counseled by Dr. K. Fisher not to go around wasting his venom on gratuitous stinging, an earthworm with body image problems, a bashful glowworm, and more. Interspersed between the question and answer letters are guides to creepy crawly bodies, insect wings, insect disguises, and insect colonies.  Included are a glossary and an index.

Wouldn't this make a great mentor text for a fun way to write a nonfiction piece -- as letters to and from an expert on the subject you've researched?

Also in the Ask Dr. K. Fisher series -- dinosaurs, animals, reptiles, and coming in 2009 -- weather!