April Pulley Sayre Children's Book Author » Blog Blab

Travels and Rah, Rah, Radishes Extensions

admin — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 19:39:47 +0000

Erika Thulin Dawes, Ed.D of Lesley University wrote about some terrific extension ideas for Rah, Rah, Radishes: A Vegetable Chant over at The Classroom Bookshelf . Lots of helpful links, too. HUGELY useful information.

Jeff and I just returned from a 4,600 mile roadtrip to research at desert sites (White Sands, Painted Desert, Meteor Crater). I gave two programs at the spectacular Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden. I also spoke at a conference for early childhood teachers coordinated by Jennifer Haggart of the Early Childhood Consortium of the Omaha Area. Rockin’ awesome folks in Omaha and I learned a lot from Isabel Baker and Peg Callahan, who were presenting all sorts of new young books. Thanks to M. Susan McWilliams of the Omaha Literacy Partnership, University of Nebraska, who helped provide support and facilities.

Meanwhile, I have finished the photos for Go, Go, Grapes: a Fruit Chant. (Due out May 2012) and the layouts I’m seeing are scrumptious.

Greens & Other Goodies at South Bend Farmer’s Market

admin — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 14:55:13 +0000

I’ve been busy admiring greens, the structures of leeks, and other veggies at South Bend Farmer’s Market. Beets are one of the most productive crops because both the greens and roots can be used.

Shelton’s Farm Market Near Niles, MI

admin — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 14:32:23 +0000

When I got into a pickle with needing some fruit photos for the upcoming fruit chant book (Go, Go, Grapes: a Fruit Chant, 2012) , a gardening friend directed me to Shelton’s Farmer’s Market near Niles, MI, and they welcomed me heartily. I hadn’t visited in years. What surprised me is how much produce they had. They had all the traditional Midwestern fresh veggies and fruits, but also lots of specialty items for the Hispanic community and other communities, as well. Lots of Mexican fruits and vegetable specialties. Plus many other intriguing gourmet items. I’ve never seen black radish! I was able to buy a whole case of cactus fruit here for one of the shots in the new fruit book. Thanks, Shelton’s!

Sea Turtle Science News and Helpers

admin — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 22:06:22 +0000

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!

Vulture Festival March 5th in Wenonah, NJ

admin — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 14:49:58 +0000

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

Signing of Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010

admin — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 15:40:15 +0000

I’m watching the live streaming at whitehouse.gov of the signing of this important bill. Hurray for all those working to reform school lunches and make them healthier. I’m so glad that Michelle Obama has taken on childhood obesity as a major issue for her work as first lady. As many of you know, I’ve been concerned about this issue for years.Childhood obesity came to my attention because I travel all over the U.S. and see about 15,000 kids each year. Some, alas, are not feeling good. Many seem sluggish and when you don’t feel good, it’s just hard to learn. I can feel it in a school visit audience. I’m not just talking about the largest kids in class. I’m talking about entire communities of kids who seem ill, barely able to function or respond. That’s why I’m so glad that policy makers, chefs, parents, commuity leaders, farmers, gardeners, and others are banding together to help kids eat better and become more active physically.

My small contribution will be my book Rah, Rah, Radishes: a Vegetable Chant, released June 14, 2011. I’ve been working on this book for four years, trying to get it published. So, I’m excited about it and its sequel, the fruit chant. I’ll be telling the story of this later.

Hooray for Hoppers!

admin — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 15:24:32 +0000

While cleaning out my files, I found a magazine clipping about grasshoppers,, “Hooray for Hoppers,” by Diane Swanson, Ranger Rick magazine. I love Ranger Rick. It’s such an inspiring resource, a perfect monthly gift for the curious kid. The article says “An average grasshopper can jump a distance 20 times its length. Humans can jump only about five times their length…”

I can imagine educators coming up with some great activities related to these facts. Those activities might go along with my new book, released in February, IF YOU’RE HOPPY, illustrated by Jackie Urbanovic, published by Greenwillow.

Education Student University Presentation

admin — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 07:55:31 +0000

Education student Jamie Steigerwalt recently wrote to me about what she presented in class as part of an author/book study. With her permission, I’m reprinting it here.

I just wanted to send you a quick note to let you know how my presentation went last night. Everything went well and my class was very excited to hear about you. I must admit, it was so easy to talk about you and your books. I chose to do my activities on Hush Little Puppy, Stars Beneath Your Bed, and Splish, Splash, Animal Baths. I did a phonics activity with Hush Little Puppy and focused on rhyming. I made rhyming charts and students would have to match pictures on one side of the chart with its rhyme on the other side. I attached yarn to one side and had velcro on the other side for the yarn to be attached. I did a word study activity for Stars Beneath Your Bed and picked vocabulary from within the book. I then used fun foam and cut star shapes and on one star I wrote the vocabulary word and another star contained a picture. The students would then flip over all the stars and play a memory game to match the picture with the word. My last activity was a comprehension activity with Splish, Splash, Animal Baths. Students would fill out a KWL chart using this book. Before the students read the book they would write what the already Know about animal baths. Then they would write what they Want to know about animal baths. After reading the book, students would record what they learned about animal baths.

I really enjoyed reading your books to prepare for my presentation and it was wonderful researching your background and getting to know more about you. You definitely seem very passionate about what you write about and that is so exciting. I really enjoyed planning classroom activities using your books. Also, to motivate my class and engage them in the lesson I told them we were going to take a trip to Panama and I followed that with reading Army Ant Parade. This really grabbed everyone’s attention and gave them a sense of your writing style before I even started my presentation.

Children’s Book Author/Illustrator Links

admin — Sat, 08 May 2010 16:50:09 +0000

More author sites for you to investigate:

Amy Timberlake http://www.amytimberlake.com
April Halprin Wayland http://www.TeachingAuthors.com
Alison James http://www.JAlisonJames.com
April Pulley Sayre http://www.aprilsayre.com
Ashley Formento http://www.alisonashleyformento.com
Alvina Ling http://bloomabilities.blogspot.com
Anne Broyles http://www.annebroyles.com
Anne Ylvisaker http://www.anneylvisaker.com
Barbara Garrison www.barbaragarrison.com
Betsy James http://www.betsyjames.com
Bill Crider http://www.billcrider.com
Christine Taylor Butler http://www.ChristineTaylorButler.com
Carmen Bernier Grand www.carmenberniergrand.com
Diane Greenseid http://www.dianegreenseid.com
Debby Dahl Edwardson http://www.debbydahledwardson.com
Elizabeth Winthrop http://elizabethwinthrop.com
Elizabeth Raum www.elizabethraum.net
Elizabeth O. Dulemba http://dulemba.com
Erin Eitter Kono http://www.eekono.com
Hope Vestergaard http://www.hopevestergaard.com
Joy Allen http://joyallensblog.blogspot.com
Jennifer J. Stewart http://www.jenniferjstewart.com
Janie Bynum http://www.janiebynum.com
Jane Naliboff www.janenaliboff.com
Katie Davis http://www.katiedavisblog.com
Kim Norman http://www.kimnormanbooks.com
Karen Romano Young www.karenromanoyoung.com
Lee Wardlaw http://www.leewardlaw.com
Lisa Harkrader www.ldharkrader.com
Laya Steinberg http://www.layasteinberg.com
Louise Hawes http://www.louisehawes.com
Marsha Skrypuch http://www.calla.com
Mary dePalma http://www.marynewelldepalma.com
Nancy Bo Flood www.nancyboflood.com
Philomena O’Neill www.philomenaoneill.com
Peni Griffin http://penigriffin.blogspot.com
Phillis Gershator http://www.phillisgershator.com
Rebecca Thornburgh http://www.rebeccathornburgh.com
Ruth McNally Barshaw http://www.ruthexpress.com
Sarah Dillard http://www.sarahdillard.blogspot.com
Sarah Darer Littman http://sarahdarerlittman.com
Sharon Vargo http://sharonvargo.blogspot.com
Sheila Bailey http://home.teleport.com/~northpaw
Tanya Lee Stone http://www.tanyastone.com
Val Hobbs www.valeriehobbswritingforlife.blogspot.com
Wendy Lichtman http://www.wendylichtman.com

Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out!

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:41:01 +0000

Just out (Feb 2010) is my brand new book based on an old favorite. Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out! has new layers in the main text, new endmatter on multiple species, and new illustrations by Annie Patterson. I was able to incorporate turtle behaviors I witnessed recently. Hooray for Charlesbridge for making this book even better than the previous one. This book is featured in NSTA’s Picture Perfect Science Lessons by Ansberry and Morgan, two crackerjack presenters.

It was recently featured as a book of the week at the wonderful CCBC, Cooperature Children’s Book Center. Hurray!

Books for Autistic Students

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:28:50 +0000

ALA librarians called on collective wisdom to assemble a list of books great for use with autistic students, in this case, 7th graders. The list included Ant, Ant, Ant: An Insect Chant (illus by Park) ; Trout, Trout, Trout: a Fish Chant (illus by Park) , and Bird, Bird, Bird: a Chirping Chant (illus by Locke). The list is here: http://connect.ala.org/node/93738

United Through Reading

admin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:09:42 +0000

For 20 years United Through Reading has been bringing families together by having parents and grandparents read books on tape and DVD so their child can see/hear their parent sharing something good. This program helps incarcerated parents, military parents, and grandparents who live far away from their children. What a cool program! I found it because a google alert told me that Vulture View was on their recommended list. Hooray for all that United Through Reading does!

http://www.unitedthroughreading.org/about/greattransitionalbooks_justthefacts.php

Coleen Salley honored in the Princess and Frog movie

admin — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:09:30 +0000

Look through the credits for the Princess and the Frog movie (Disney) and you’ll see a big credit to our beloved Coleen Salley, New Orleans storyteller and great cheerleader for children’s books, including nonfiction read alouds. We miss Coleen! But check out Mama Odie, a character in the movie. You’ll see some of Coleen’s spirit and way of talking, for sure!

James Cameron’s Movie Avatar Plants, Animals, and Fungi

admin — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 00:28:34 +0000

Are your students buzzing about the movie Avatar? Here’s how you might tie-in an extra credit biology research project for motivated students. Ask them to research and report back on some of these real-life wonders which I noticed were echoed in the movie’s animation:

Christmas Tree Worms. One of the early scenes in the fantasy part of the movie shows the characters walking through the forest and touching some large feather duster type organisms that, when touched, disappear into the ground. These are very much like Christmas Tree Worms, which are much tinier organisms found on coral reefs. I’ve seen them while diving in the Caribbean. Like the ones in the movie, these organisms retreat quickly into their holes when touched. There are also plants that react when touched…sensitive plants, on land.

Bioluminescent fungi. One of the best scenes in the movie is when the characters walk through a glowing forest. Parts of the forest light up as they walk. Bioluminescent creatures abound in nature. Look up bioluminescent bays and bioluminescent fungi. On land and in the sea, creatures glow. It’s not just fireflies!

The Great Tree. The forest in the movie reminded me a lot of the rain forest landscapes we have seen in the tropics. The tall, widely spaced trees that shade the forest floor are reminiscent of primary, lowland rain forest. The largest trees reminded me of the emergent trees. The emergent layer of the rain forest features particularly large trees that jut out above the canopy layer, ie the rest of the trees. Brazil Nut trees in Peru do this. The vines, trees, and other structures in this movie are a good starting point for understanding rain forest structure in general.

The Floating Mountains. These reminded me of the tepuis of Venezuela. These mountainous structures don’t float in mid-air, of course. But they are so remote and mist-shrouded that they have been barely explored.

Update: It’s been a week since I made this post. Lo and behold, I see an article “Inventing the Plants of Avatar” in the Los Angeles Times! Link here

I received a real snail mail!

admin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:00:42 +0000

I received a real snail mail, carried by a snail today, November 19, 2009. Jeff sent me an email Jun 17, 2008 via a service called www.realsnailmail.net. This service is dedicated to slowness. The message took 17 months, 2 days and was carried by agent #6, named Agatha. You send them an email, then a real snail, with transmitters on its back, eventually transmits the message to another email service. You know we are snail fans, partly because of our book, One Is a Snail, Ten Is a Crab. So we had to try it! You can try it, too.

The Fun Part of Writing Children’s Books: An Interview

admin — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:16:28 +0000

Hear a bit about the fun part of my work life and my new books in an interview on the September 29, 2009 entry in Cynthia Leitich Smith’s blog.

New Trend? Students Choosing Books

admin — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:12:29 +0000

Great article in New York Times about teacher allowing students to choose books for study.

Writing Children’s Books Fundraiser for St. Joseph County Public Library Sept 10 SBend

admin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:40:01 +0000

Join me for a free-ranging discussion of writing and publishing children’s books. Ask the questions you’ve always wanted to ask; discover the nuts and bolts of succeeding in the world of children’s books; and learn about the resources that can help you push forward toward your goals in writing and publishing. I am providing this program as a benefit for the Leighton Fund which supports the St. Joseph County Public Library. Participants are asked to make a $20 tax-deductible donation at the door. Please make checks out to SJCPL with “Leighton Fund” on the memo line. Pre-registration required; call (574) 282-4659 to reserve your spot today!

So You Want to Write a Children’s Book?

Thursday, September 10, 2009 6:00-7:30 p.m.

Roger B. Francis Branch

52655 N. Ironwood Road South Bend, IN

“The Pasture” Meeting Room

Storytime tips for working with toddlers

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:24:38 +0000

There’s nothing like watching an experienced librarian working with young kids during storytime. It’s a dance! It’s an art. Experience helps. But what if you are just starting out?

Perhaps this resource will help. It is a checklist for evaluating the literacy value of storytimes. It is provided by ALA and is based on the literacy work of Elaine Czarnecki and Gilda Martinez and John Hopkins University, Center for Reading Excellence. It’s not written as tips, per se. But you can work backwards to see what techniques enrich the reading experience.

See you at ALA: Nonfiction Book Blast

admin — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:05:10 +0000

I’ll be at ALA in Chicago. 10:30 am. on Sunday morning is Nonfiction Book Blast: Booktalks for Reluctant Readers. Expand your nonfiction repertoire as 18 authors booktalk their latest work. You’ll leave with postcards with all the booktalks you can use in your library. I’ll be presenting a brief booktalk on bird storytimes, featuring Honk, Honk, Goose and Vulture View.

My signings: Sunday Henry Holt 2-3 pm

Sunday Charlesbridge 4-5 pm Stop by and say hello!

Can’t come? Check out the booktalks wiki for booktalk texts.