April Pulley Sayre Children's Book Author

CYPD! Conference

admin — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 21:24:33 +0000

August 30th I’ll be speaking at the yearly conference of the Children’s and Young People’s Division of the Indiana Library Federation. I am looking forward to meeting folks as well as catching up with many wonderful children’s librarians I’ve crossed paths with during my Indiana travels. Psst… I’ve got some great book news to share, too. Hint: many of you have had a “taste” of this work in progress.

For Parents and Teachers

admin — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 21:09:02 +0000

Recently I became familiar with author Mem Fox’s website and found some wonderful articles there—articles about reading aloud and about teaching kids to read. Here’s one of them:

http://www.memfox.com/like-mud-not-fireworks.html

August Insect

admin — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 15:08:44 +0000

This Tiger Swallowtail is feeding from a cupplant in our back yard. In addition to the yellow form, it also has a dark form, called a dark morph. In our area, the caterpillars feed on cherry trees. (They are different from the tent caterpillars, though.)

July Mammal

admin — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 15:08:14 +0000

Who’s this eating bird seed under the feeder? They visit every night. Give me an “R” for r——. They smell just slightly musky, but not as much as a skunk. So you can often tell when a raccoon has been visiting. They are often active at night, but I photographed this one in early morning. Perhaps it could not sleep and got up for a snack?

June Animal Eye

admin — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 15:03:07 +0000

Who’s this? Give me an “E” and think Africa. One of my favorite sites is Safari TV, which features three daily game drives led by knowledgeable naturalist guides in Sabi Sands. You can email and ask them questions and they often answer, live.

If You’re Hoppy

admin — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 14:37:09 +0000

Just back from speaking at the wonderful Picture Perfect Science workshop in Ohio.

Recently got a peek at my new book, Feb 2011 release: IF YOU’RE HOPPY, illustrated by Jackie Urbanovic, published by Greenwillow. It’s humorous fiction, a read aloud for the very youngest and fun for preschool/K story hour. Jackie and Greenwillow did an amazing job producing this book; it just feels yummy in some essential way. I’m thrilled.

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

Vulture View Activity

admin — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 01:39:23 +0000

See author/curriculum consultant/teacher Kate Narita’s blog April 5, 2010 for Vulture View activities.

Also, on April 18, 2010, I answered questions about the book, as well.

Conference Talks and Signings

admin — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 01:33:21 +0000

Meet me at the International Reading Association (IRA) National Conference in Chicago!

Monday April 26th, 2-3 p.m. Signing at Henry Holt booth

Tuesday April 27th, 9-10 a.m. Signing at Charlesbridge booth

Thank you to Isabel Baker at the Book Vine, who hosted me at DVAEYC, the Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children, where I spoke last week. (Philadelphia was awesome!) Isabel specializes in children’s books perfect for the youngest students and the educators who work with them. Her business is in Illinois but she ships far and wide.

Answer

admin — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 01:19:00 +0000

Robin!

Also called the American Robin.

May Animal Mystery

admin — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 01:16:56 +0000

It eats worms.

Its common name begins with the letter “R.”

It fills in this game phrase: round _____

There is a bird in Britain by the same “r” name. But it’s a different bird!

Howler Monkey Sounds

admin — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 01:07:44 +0000

Here are three recordings I made in Panama. Just click on the call and a sound player will come on screen. You can also hear toucans grinding their bills and parrots flying past in these recordings. Sharp ears might hear hummingbirds clicking and other tropical forest birds calling.

Howler call

Howler call2

Howler call3

Trout Are Made of Trees Grand Canyon Readers

admin — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:45:37 +0000

Trout Are Made of Trees has been nominated for the 2011 Grand Canyon Reader Award so lots of AZ schoolchildren will be reading it next school year. Hooray!

April Animal Is Not a Fox

admin — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:34:30 +0000

This is not a Fox Squirrel. It is another kind. Some people call it the piney squirrel. It is actually the Red Squirrel. We have seen photos of these squirrels elsewhere and those populations of Red Squirrels look much more red all over. This one is adding material to its nest in Spring. Usually we see them add material in Fall. Perhaps the baby squirrels are making a mess so this adult had to take out some material from the nest and replace it?

March Animal Rhymes With “Cackle”

admin — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:28:07 +0000

This beautiful bird puffs up and looks hilarious sometimes. It visits us each March in Indiana. People sometimes think of it as a black bird. But look more closely. It has gorgeous iridescent feathers. Starts with a “g.”

Got it? It’s a gr____.

Liberty Union-Thurston Elementary’s Creativity

admin — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:50:14 +0000

I am excited to share with you a few of the creative educational activities at Liberty Union-Thurston Elementary School in Baltimore, Ohio. These projects were done in relationship to my books in advance of my 2-day visit to their schools. They’ve had some great authors, including Ron Hirschi, who did stream walks with them some years ago. (In DECEMBER, they said. Cold toes but worth it.) It seems they have an ongoing nature and stream study in this school. Hooray! Kids will learn so much from seeing nature and science in action.

Ah, the halls were festooned with beautiful bumblebees and flowers. A shiny paper mirror said “Look here to see the author.” How wonderful for each student to see a young author in themselves. We had some of the first art celebration of He’s a Howler: a howler paper quilt. Beautiful!

Many of the students were studying geography. They had done drawings and short writing pieces about the features of continents to go with my continent books.

One classroom did a hilarious counting riff on One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab. They did counting by eyes.

One class analyzed and classified the information in Bumblebee Queen.

Another class created new versions of the fish chant but with ocean fish. They created fish cutouts, wrote reports about features and behavior. Then they drew a fanciful sea/town scene where the fish swam. It was nonfiction with a visual fiction twist, in the spirit of Trout, Trout, Trout. Hooray!

One of my favorites was the bird poetry written by the fourth graders. Using Vulture View as a model, the teacher had created a form with key words and phrases from Vulture View. Students each drew a bird species and filled in what that bird would or would not eat and how it would move. Brilliant.

A highlight of my visit was two small sessions with young authors and illustrators. I will never forget my discussions with them! I hope that Reading Rainbow Book entry goes well.

This is a fine school with energetic educators and students that are excited to learn. The students were well prepared for my visit and worked well together in the assembly setting. The faculty welcomed me. Students and staff have much to be proud of; together they have made an environment for learning. As an author, it was a pleasure to visit.

Thank you, librarian Ms. Brown, for bringing me in to share this joyful place with you.

Seven Hills-Doherty An Author’s Dream School

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:50:49 +0000

SEVEN HILLS-DOHERTY

I’d just been to Seven Hills-Lotspeich. How could another school day be just as fun? Well, if you’re at the other Seven Hills Campus—Doherty. It can! This Cincinnatti school just percolates with life. If I were going to be a teacher, I’d want to work in one of the Seven Hills Schools.

Why? Because excellent schools need faculty that care for one another, that lunch together, that chat and exchange ideas. This school has it on both campuses. Education can be joyous when staff share that passion for helping students. But left alone in classrooms, teachers can grow isolated, like stay-at-home moms who love their kids but need some grownup time now and then. Staff development makes it sound all technical. That is helpful. But the core of the best schools I have seen is a caring staff community: community that nurtures creative teachers and does not squash them. You could see it at work, hear it at work during my lunch with some of the Doherty teachers.

Seven Hills also has another community that uplifts the place. The parents. Wow. They pitch in for all kinds of things. At the whirling center of joy is librarian Linda Wolfe who I had the pleasure of spending the day with.

She is a dynamo who knows children’s literature inside out. She created wonderful activities to go with my books. Just look at what they did with Vulture View. She found some kind of scratch paper that is black with silver underneath. The students cut out vultures and scratched through to make the beautiful silvering of the feathers.

She describes how she introduces Trout Are Made of Trees to her students. To celebrate the book, she used a scale/math/art activity. She gave kids large photos of the aquatic insects. Then the children had to draw them, as accurately as possible, on the tiny pieces of paper. It’s a good thinking project. You can just imagine how many neurons fire when trying to duplicate but shrink an image.

In the halls were more art projects to celebrate If You Should Hear a Honey Guide; Dig, Wait, Listen; and other books. Penguins for Antarctica. Maps of South America. There was art of many kinds.

Among my favorites was an organizational project done by Mr. Schmidt’s class. They took my books and graphed them in various ways to show the content and relationships in the books. It’s a good way to prepare for writing books of their own.

I saw and experienced all of this in one short school day at Seven Hills Doherty. Just imagine what a student could learn in a school year of being with these hard working, creative educators.

Inspiration at Seven Hills-Lotspeich in Cincinnati, Ohio

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:05:01 +0000

I was greeted by a parking sign, marching ants, and the wonderful Marcia Snyder, librarian at Seven Hills—Lotspeich in Cincinnati, Ohio. The classrooms had done dioramas of undersea scenes for Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out! and even made a 3-D pasta machine and listed their own desired “suprpwrs” in celebration of Noodle Man: the Pasta Superhero.

This was the first time I’d seen activities for the new Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out. There were turtle shape poems which looked like ancient, beautiful style art. What about these wild pine cone birds for Bird, Bird, Bird? Extraordinary.

What a lovely school. The science teacher, Ms. Wildfong, showed me the science building. They have lots of animals. It really feels like a science-in-action place.

The music teacher, Ms. Wilson, shared the use of Bird, Bird, Bird: a Chirping Chant. She was teaching kids the half and quarter notes and how to use the staff by getting them to sound out and choose among a few notes to set this book to music.

The art teacher, Ms. Knoop was a wonder. Love her! She’s made a creative space, complete with old plastic toy color wheel, great supply drawers, and projects galore. She partners with another teacher to do a whole big unit on fibers. Ms. Knoop brings in wool from her sheep and they dye it with natural plant dyes and spin it. Wow. Hands on science and history and art all at the same time.

Thanks, Seven Hills, for an inspiring day. Your students and staff are great! Lunching with with these joyful, dedicated educators was a pleasure. Their ideas popped like popcorn. Really, it was like being in some of the great creative meetings I had at National Geographic. You walk away uplifted and refreshed.

One Is a Snail Big Book Goes to School

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:07:08 +0000

“The point of the journey is science and finding the snail!” –Dr. Doolittle, in the movie. Now, just imagine he said math. Hurray! See how the big book (HUGE book) version of One Is a Snail, Ten Is a Crab took its very first visit, to an elementary school in Ohio! The book is being released March 9th.

Howler Monkey Links

admin — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:51:26 +0000

Meet the Howlers was just released. To listen to my howler monkey sound recordings, check my book page, here. National Geographic also has photos and a bit of information:

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/howler-monkey.html

Some better sounds are on an NPR story about Greg Budney, the noted sound recordist. It takes a while for the NPR player to load, so be patient:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92926828

Also, check out Naturesongs, which has lots of recordings of different types of creatures in this and other habitats.

http://www.naturesongs.com/costa.html

Happy Howling!