April Pulley Sayre Children's Book Author

Sea Turtles and StoryWalk at Essex

admin — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:34:01 +0000

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

admin — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:38:10 +0000

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

admin — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 21:37:30 +0000

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. Michelle Cusolito has a related blog post/author interview on her site Polliwog On Safari.

On the Road!

admin — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:46:55 +0000

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

admin — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:41:18 +0000

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

admin — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 17:03:39 +0000

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

admin — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 22:21:34 +0000

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

admin — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 23:17:34 +0000

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

admin — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 12:43:42 +0000

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!

admin — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 20:19:30 +0000

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.

Humpback Whales, Books, and Visits!

admin — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:48:27 +0000

I just returned from a great weekend speaking at the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library where they are celebrating 100 years and the young authors in their community. The educators and authors were so inspiring! Back home I found that Here Come the Humpbacks is in the major review arenas such as Kirkus. A few blogs are popping up, such as one on Nonfiction Detectives. Touch a Butterfly: Wildlife Gardening For Kids, which will be released April 23rd, has a very thorough review in ForeWord Reviews. I’ll be traveling widely for school talks and young author conferences the rest of March and all of April 2013. I look forward to seeing many of you on my travels.

Eat Like a Bear

admin — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:49:52 +0000

Choosing snack to munch while going over proofs for Fall 2013 book illustrated by Steve Jenkins. Yup, blueberries!

Books Coming in 2013

admin — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 19:04:42 +0000

Here Come the Humpbacks! illustrated by Jamie Hogan should be swimming its way into stores on Feb 1st. Then, April 23rd, Touch A Butterfly: Wildlife Gardening With Kids arrives in stores. It’s an adult book and will be in the parenting section.

My long awaited next book with Steve Jenkins, Eat Like a Bear, will be released by Holt sometime next Fall. Finally, the sequel to Rah, Rah, Radishes and Go, Go, Grapes will also show up sometime late next year. It’s Let’s Go Nuts: Seeds We Eat.

Here Come the Humpbacks!

admin — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 12:25:41 +0000

Here Come the Humpbacks! My new nonfiction picture book, illustrated by Jamie Hogan of Maine, traces the migration of a humpback whale from the Caribbean to Stellwagen Banks near New England. The main narrative text is supplemented by expository sidebars. It’s a tad older, longer read than some of my youngest picture books. It’s a good pairing with Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out! because it traces some of the environmental challenges along the migrating animal’s journey. NSTA Recommends has commentary on how to use it in science units and NC Teacher Stuff‘s STEM Friday post mentions using it in teaching different kinds of nonfiction writing.

Vulture TED Talk

admin — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 19:56:51 +0000

There was a TED talk recently about vultures. I think educators might be interested in seeing it for their own background research. It’s only a little over six minutes long. You’ll want to look it over first before deciding whether it is appropriate for your elementary school students. The humor at the beginning would probably raise more sidetracking questions than it would actual vulture inquiry. So take a look and perhaps start two minutes twenty seconds in (2:20). Because the rest of it is good stuff for older elementary, middle school, and high school. There are quite a few carcasses involved and it is frank in environmental threats to vultures worldwide.

Pollinator Partnership!

admin — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 00:27:24 +0000

Want to know what to plant to help native pollinators in your area? Check out the free guides on the website of the Pollinator Partnership. Wish I’d seen this before my book Touch A Butterfly: Wildlife Gardening For Kids went to press because I would have loved to list it and these folks are doing such important work. Touch a Butterfly: Wildlife Gardening With Kids will be available in bookstores April 23, 2013 and can also be ordered from www.roostbooks.com. They’re the publishers of the I LOVE DIRT book from a few years ago. It’s geared for families, educators, and interested kids in upper elementary grades, as well. It’s my 25 years of knowledge about seeing the landscape through the eyes of animals and gardening with their needs in mind. Probably my most personal work.

Bear Resources

admin — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 18:26:12 +0000

Eat Like a Bear, my book illustrated by Steve Jenkins comes out in late 2012. But I’m already gathering like a bear for winter. The bears in that book are brown bears (grizzlies) but perhaps your classrooms want to study black bears. Here’s a great place to start. My cousin suggested that I might learn from this fellow and it seems he might do presentations in New England so perhaps some schools/organizations might want to work with him.

Ben Kilham presentations

He’s written books and has been featured in television programs. See here.

Rah Rah Radishes…going beyond the plate

admin — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 18:01:58 +0000

My eyes are peeled for resources that connect to children’s nutrition. Here’s what’s come across my platter recently.

First, Annette Triplett from the University of Missouri extension office shared with me a coloring book and book From The Farm to You about a tomato’s journey. Interesting! I had not recently thought about extension offices and their role in agricultural education and nutrition education. Of course! They’ve been doing it for years. Great place to start for support in sharing nutrition/agriculture…your local extension office.

While at NAEYC in Atlanta I came across a booth for www.PortionSizeMatters.com. The have portion size plates for children. Great idea, begun by a nutritionist.

On the other end of the spectrum, articles that are important and of concern related to children’s nutrition:

Interesting article regarding “The Clean Plate Club”

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090306103649.htm

First Course of Veggies May Appeal to Hungry Preschoolers

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100505152451.htm

Writing Poetry

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 19:53:53 +0000

For you aspiring poets, and teachers of poetry, I recommend the new book Write a Poem Step By Step by JoAnn Macken. It’s incredibly useful. So clearcut and inspiring.

I love writing poetry. A few folks have even convinced me to admit I’m a poet. (Okay, so I was late to accepting that particular moniker. Afraid…perhaps!)

I blogged about this quandry on Katie Davis’ site. I also discussed some of the math behind my chant/poetry work on INK.

http://jamarattigan.com/2012/04/02/going-natural-with-april-pulley-sayre/

On Jama Rattigan’s site I celebrated poetry month. See? I’m getting used to the idea…perhaps!

Science Books and Films Nov Issue

admin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 20:46:26 +0000

Science Books and Films’ November 2012 issue has an article by Terrence E. Young, Jr that celebrates science picture books: “November is Science Picture Book Month.” Vulture View and Stars Beneath Your Bed are mentioned and there’s a page at the end with a paragraph quote about my view of science picture books. Also, a new article on my writing process is in Bruce Black’s wordswimmer blog.