animals – Peaceful Reader

Summer Vacation

{miles and miles of gorgeous forest}

I flew to Colorado last week. I’ve not flown for years and it always freaks me out a little bit when we take-off, while we fly though, and when we land. The only part I love is how quickly I get there-that always amazes me! Last summer Groovy Girl and I drove to Denver and it takes us two days, flying, of course, took an hour and 1/2. Big difference of time yet you do miss all the cool stuff along the way.

We spent two days in Denver, hanging with my brother and his family. I especially loved just sitting on the patio soaking up the warm Colorado sun. We visited Odell’s Brewery and a fresh Mexican restaurant called Lola. And then after our down time in Denver we headed to Estes Park, one of the gateways to Rocky Mountain National Park. While in the park I saw a very large male moose with a huge rack, several elk, and a baby brown bear. We hiked to Alberta Falls which was a long walk up and luckily we found a shortcut back down. There is something about the fierce rushing water sounds that makes me feel small. I also love to dream about the first people to come upon something as beautiful as this falls for the very first time. The trails were packed with many other humans and while I’m glad the park is being used it would be so cool to be there by yourself.

We headed to Castle Pines after Estes to stay with Janice and Dean for a night. We ate at Duke’s and took a drive to see a whole herd of bison and their babies. The next day we spent the morning sitting out on the porch watching a hummingbird flit back and forth. They’ve had a mama bear and three cubs roaming nearby and actually captured footage on their animal cam. This morning Janice let me know that the mother and one of the babies had been shot and killed by a local resident. Why are you up at 1am shooting at a mama bear? I am just sickened by the thought of this on so many levels. Why would you not just call animal control? I can’t get the video to transfer to my laptop so you can see the bear video. I’ll keep trying and share another time.

It was a great trip! I love being in the mountains, I love the view. Blessings to all.

Prepping for an amazing (and mostly vegan) Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I’m ready for the Macy’s Parade and for relaxed cooking tomorrow. I did some pre-cooking tonight and I’m feeling peaceful about what needs to happen tomorrow. Everyone enjoy a happy holiday. It might be about enjoying family or enduring family but either way, find at least one blessing in your day.

Menu

Early appetizers: blue chips and our homemade salsa

Soup/Salad course: Wild Rice Soup and Big Green Salad
I found a local farmer who sells big bags of microgreens for a reasonable price and it was a 5-minute drive from my house. I’m pretty pumped about this revelation. Find them at Rainbow City Farm on insta.

Dinner:
Celebration Vegan Roast
Just Bare Roasted Chicken (I couldn’t find a local one)
Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Beans with pomegranate seeds
Healthy Corn “Casserole”
Mashed Potatoes with vegan mushroom gravy
cranberry – orange raw relish
Jicama/Avocado/Mango salad (from my Friendsgiving recipe book)
Homemade pretzels for our bread (Groovy Girl’s recipe)

Everything but that roasted chicken is vegan. My theme is comfort food with a Native American flare. I’m learning and working to experiment with a variety of recipes. Heather and Tristan are bringing the pies. And I found good almond milk whipped cream for the tops!

29 days of book love…

Kate DiCamillo

Simply Kate

Beautiful writing

Everything by Kate

This is how my students and I speak of DiCamillo and her books. I pretty much read them in order because that’s how they came out for me but my school kids read them in any which order and they recommend them to each other. Teachers read them aloud and when I say a title the kids collectively swoon, as in “OOOhhhh, Mrs. Tjaden read that to us last year…AAhhhh, it was soooo goooood!” I’ve heard she has a new one just out. I’m sure we’ll love that one as well.

1. Because of Winn-Dixie (2000): Girl and her lovable adopted dog.
2. Tiger Rising (2001): Rob and Sistine make memories with a tiger.
3. The Tale of Despereaux (2003): Mouse + Princess Pea =charming!
4. Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (2006): Stuffed rabbit journey.
5. The Magician’s Elephant (2009): Peter takes an unexpected chance.
6. Bink and Gollie (2010): Adorable quirky friends, easy reader style.
7. Flora and Ulysses (2013): Flora Belle and a squirrel, yes, for real.

Everyone should read Kate; you will be transported into whatever world she has created.

Elementary Non-fiction love

One of my goals for this school year is to up-date our nonfiction selections. This will be a challenge for me as I prefer fiction. I need to get over this though as I read great reviews and found lots of cool nonfiction on the shelves of the public library, where I go for all my hands-on research. Nonfiction has so much more pizazz than it used to; my general feeling of NF is droll pages of way too much information with not enough pictures. Not so with nonfiction of today; it is bright, lively, and perfect for a read aloud.

No monkeys, no chocolate by Melissa Stewart, Allen Young and Nicole Wong (2013); Told in a backwards format I learned how the rainforest eco-system helps cocoa beans thrive and grow. Students will love knowing that maggots, lizards, and aphids all help the cocoa bean tree grow. Luckily we have a special store downtown that sells truly good rainforest fair trade chocolate because this book made me hungry for good quality chocolate not that waxy stuff that will fill Halloween buckets next week. This wonderful nonfiction is a must order for my new library and if you have curious ones at home this would make a perfect purchase. Excellent Melissa Stewart website.

S is for Sea Glass; a beach alphabet by Richard Michelson and Doris Ettlinger (2014); This is an alphabet book filled with wonderful poetry and lovely illustrations. A wide variety of poetry styles are featured and this book will be loved by both students and teachers. My favorite poem:

Q is for Quiet

The sun as it’s rising

The drift of a cloud

Spiders spinning webs

Crabs scuttling

Across the ocean floor

The swimming of fishes

The wishing of wishes

The opening of a door

The thoughts in my head

These are things I can hear

When it’s quiet

As I lie here in bed.

My second favorite is from a dog’s point of view as he runs along the beach. What joy! This book pulls me back to our family beach vacations and makes me feel happy. We definitely need this one for our poetry collection; it holds a mini vacation between the cover.

Animal Teachers by Janet Halfmann and Katy Hudson (2014); This book is exactly why I take my research seriously. This is an amazingly fresh look on animal behavior. The illustrations are gorgeous! Who knew I could find such joy over a nonfiction title. Groovy Girl loved the cover and came near to read this one with me. Each animal has something unique it learns from its parent and then Ms. Halfmann asks the reader to put it in their terms. For example the chicken teaches the chick to peck for seeds specifically and then the question is posed “who taught you what’s good to eat?” “Did you ever try to bite your toes?” Other animals included are otters, dolphins, kangaroos, beavers, elephants, and cheetahs; just to name a few! A huge list in the back of the book provides even more unusual facts for us to marvel over. We were astounded that “beavers have a set of see-through eyelids that work like goggles underwater.” Yes, yes I will order this one as well and can’t wait to hand it off to a teacher when animal books are requested. After years of doing animal research with students this one motivated me!

Three note-worthy picture books for you to enjoy!

We checked these three out recently and I thought they were worth sharing.

The ABC’s of Yoga by Teresa Anne Power (2009); Each letter has more than one pose assigned to it so the “D” page has “dolphin” and “do nothing” pose together. Each direction rhymes and we found most of the poses on our favorite children’s yoga site, Namaste Kid. Sample:

Frog

Squatting

With my feet apart wide,

I am a frog

With a big underside.

Bringing my arms

Inside my knees,

I jump up and say

“R-r-r-r-i-b-b-i-t!”

On the count of three.

Millie and the Big Rescue by Alexander Steffensmeier (2012); Millie the cow plays hide-and-seek with her barnyard friends until one day she gets herself stuck up a tree. She’s found the best hiding spot of all and nobody can find her! With cute results all the animals (and the farmer) join Millie in her clever spot. I noticed there are two other Millie books; Millie waits for the mail and Millie and the snow that look equally as funny!

Catty Jane Loved to Dance by Valeri Gorbachev (2013); This was Groovy Girl’s favorite and I love Mr. Gorbachev’s work. Catty Jane loves to dance and has been dancing since she could walk. Eventually her mother signs her up for dance class at Mrs. Herron’s Dance Academy. Mrs. Herron informs her that it “takes a lot of practice” to become a ballerina. Her friends host a dance party but she thinks they are silly and don’t really know how to dance. She overhears their fun though and decides dancing together is far more fun.

All three of these books were checked out from my public library and are now overdue. Luckily next week is Library Week and I can take in cans of food to pay for my many fines! Love your library.

We Can't All Be Rattlesnakes

by Patrick Jennings

2009

121 pages

This is the cutest little book told from a gopher snake’s point-of-view. I never would have picked it up myself (big dislike for snakes) but Patrick Jennings is coming to town and I thought Groovy Girl and I should read a few of his titles. He obviously has a thing for animals as many of his other books are animal-related, like Guinea Dog.
We Can’t All Be Rattlesnakes begins:

I had shed a skin the day of my capture. As always, the sloughing left me famished, so I curled up under a shady patch of creosote and eagerly awaited the first rodent to cross my path. Gopher was at the top of my list, though I was so hungry that I’d gladly have settled for even a nasty, gristly shrew.
A rodent did not cross my path first that morning, however. A lower life form did: a human. (1)

     And so it goes that the human, Gunnar, captures the gopher snake, taking him out of his natural environment and thrusting him in a cage, right next to other prisoners/animals; a tarantula, a desert tortoise, and an alligator lizard. Gunnar is a despicable boy, who loves his video games more than the animals he captures. Oh sure, for awhile he dotes on Crusher, the name he bestows on his new pet snake, but he is not a loving caretaker. He reminded me of the mean boy, Sid, in Toy Story-remember him! Gunnar is more dim-witted but he is not the character we are meant to love.  I really wanted the mom to tell him “NO more animals” but she never does. Only for the point of funny fiction I let it go!
    This book does such a marvelous job of thinking like a snake, in complex detail and Groovy Girl and I enjoyed how Crusher deciphers the human world. The other fantastic detail of this story is the communication that occurs between Gunnar’s “zoo”- thoughts are transferred to each other so what Crusher thinks is transmitted to the others in cages near him…other animals that he might eat if he weren’t trapped in the glass box. It’s funny to hear the animals sarcastically “teach” Crusher how it’s gonna be in captivity and hear how Crusher tries to work his relationship with Gunnar. Relationships form between the animals, you could call it friendship, even with a mouse dropped into Crusher’s cage meant for dinner. The thrill of eating a mouse in captivity doesn’t seem fair and the mouse and Crusher share the cage much to the great disappointment of Gunnar.
     I plan to book talk this with my 3rd-5th grade students-my guess is it will be a hit with boys first. It’s a quick read-we finished within a week, reading a few of the 13 chapters a night. I think this would make a perfect read-aloud to show students what “voice” is; to put themselves in to another being would be a great writing assignment. I’m anxious to now meet the author who writes such quirky stories for kids-he must be funny. His website is funny. He must be funny.

Patrick Jennings website
Kidsreads talks about it.
Click on the title and find it at an Indie store near you-We Can’t All Be Rattlesnakes

What Should I Make?

by Nandini Nayer
illustations by Proiti Roy
(2009)

This book was originally published in India, in English and in Hindi. Neeraj’s mother is making dough, rolling it into chapatis and hands him some dough to play with. Neeraj is a cute boy with hair going everywhich way and he takes that dough, uses his imagination and makes all kinds of creatures.
“Neeraj rolled th edough back and forth, back and forth, into a long rope. At one end of the rope, he poked two tiny eyes. The other end became a pointed tail. ‘A snake! A snake!'”

Even though we never see all of Neeraj’s mother we can tell she is dressed in a flowing green sari and with bangles at her wrists. She has few lines in the book as well but they are playful as she encourages him to play with the dough. I’m happy the author choose to make the main character a boy, crossing the stereotype of girl’s helping mother’s in the kitchen.

I love the heck out of this book, especially the back section, which provides directions for making chapatis. The recipe is simple and I think we will make them some time soon.

She’s Too Fond of Books loved this book as well.

On the other end of the spectrum we read an awful picture book during storytime. The cover is attractive but it ends there. This book scared Groovy Girl right before sleeping. Should I have to preview books before bedtime? No. The illustrations are like clay puppets; think Coraline in the “other world”. The second disturbing thing was the text is scrawled in cursive. She was supposed to be reading it to me but she handed it to me and said “I can’t read that!” I said but you are learning cursive…She said “Not like that.” So I read and well, we finished it but are both unhappy for it.

The Look Book: Two siblings are bored on summer break and their mother sends them outside. Outside they see different things, in contrast.
One page:
“Ann saw a whole pie.”
Next page:
“Ian saw a pie hole.”

farther along:
“Ian saw a car get towed.”
“Ann saw a car get a toad” (picture of blood stained road after the car has passed)
“Ian saw a bird soar overhead”
“Ann saw a bird with a sore head.” ( an axe in a stump next to a chicken head, a chicken’s body running in front of Ann)
After many weird and scary homonyms they return home and tell their mother they saw nothing…there I’ve ruined the end for everyone. This is a perfect book for someone with a wry or slightly twisted sense of humor. Creative-Yes, Perfect storytime book-Nay!

The images and the text are disturbing and I’m not sure who made the decision to market this for children. Boo.
If It’s Hip, It’s Here has another take on the book.

A Place for Delta

by Melissa Walker, PhD

(2010)

272 pages, includes glossary and further reading

Every once in awhile I’m contacted by an editor, or publicist, to read a certain book because it matches my interests. You never really know if the book is going to be a good fit but this one was perfect. A Place for Delta, sent to me by Lisa Roe, from Online Publicist, is an environmentally-friendly, pay-attention-to-the-world-around-you, kind of book! It is a fast read with great details, the first book of a series, and I love when a series excites kids about reading!

Synopsis from Whale Press website:

The first book of the series, A Place for Delta, was published in June 2010, and has already been selected by International Book Awards as winner of the Best Children’s Fiction category. It is a 272-page, smythe-sewn, jacketed hardcover; a middle reader chapter book for 9-12 year-olds. A Place for Delta captivates, inspires, and empowers children. The novel incorporates current environmental concerns into the narrative of one family’s multi-generational adventures. Eleven-year-old Joseph travels to Barrow, Alaska, the most northern town in the United States, to help a group of wildlife biologists care for an orphaned polar bear. Stationed at a research center with his Aunt Kate, Joseph becomes a player in a complex web of mystery, scientific discovery and danger.

I appreciated how this book merged a great story with such deep scientific facts. As a non-sciencey-type person I enjoyed learning about the natural environment of both Georgia and Alaska. The above synopsis mentions the multi-generational structure of the book so you get a feel for how important the link is between our past and our future. Most of the story focuses on Joseph and his Aunt Kate taking care of Delta, first in the Alaska research center and later at a natural habitat on Joseph’s grandmother’s Georgian farm. Kate records data for Dr. Yu as he strives to learn more about the polar bear population and how global warming, and the local oil companies, may or may not affect their survival. He discovers a young polar bear on an ice floe one morning and later they find the mother bear dead. A mystery unravels as Joseph flies to Barrow, Alaska, to help his aunt care for the baby bear. Taking care of Delta turns out to be only part of his grand adventure.

Because my 15-year-old son has traveled to Alaska three times for fishing excursions I kept fact checking with him. “Would you actually see a moose close to downtown Anchorage?” and he would answer me (an exchange of conversation occurred-YEAH), filling me in with all sorts of his own details. Yes, it is possible to run into a moose in Anchorage and he knew of the spot Walker makes reference to in the tale. I was happy that each time I fact checked he was able to answer in the affirmative and it was a great way for me to hear more about his previous trips. I love a story that has the details correct-even fiction needs to make sense most of the time.

Melissa Walker has created a timeless tale using current issues, interesting cause and effect, problem-solving and makes it all very mysterious. It also is written in language easy-to-understand so students won’t feel overwhelmed.

Random Quote:

Inside the toy box, Joseph found a fuzzy wind-up mouse for Delta to chase, a blue ball the size of a canteloupe, and a bag of large foam blocks. Then he sat down on the floor next to the cub. For a few minutes, she was still as they looked into each other’s eyes. Joseph wondered what could be going on in her mind. All he could do was stare back, almost hypnotized by her gaze. Slowly Delta moved closer to Joseph. (97)

Kids will want their own “Delta” to feed and play with, perhaps opening their minds to the real issues facing all Arctic animals. Highly recommended for middle grade and everyone above, science read-alouds, animal lovers and earth-friendly classrooms. I look forward to the next book in Walker’s Delta series. Thank you Lisa for sending me a copy.

Shop Indie Bookstores