Olive & Beatrix: The Not-So-Itty-Bitty Spiders

Just because you happen to be a good reader doesn't mean you always want to read challenging books.  At our house, there is a variety of reading materials on hand for all of us.  I am just as likely to catch Frances and Gloria poring over a Lego catalog as I am to find them reading Secrets of Walt Disney World.  In fact, both of these events happened in the past week at our house.  Frances and Gloria read the catalog, picking out the sets they each would like.  And each night after they went to bed, I would hear Gloria reading Secrets to Frances at her request.  That's the thing about readers.  Once they get the bug, they read.

What I've also noticed about Frances and Gloria is that they like to read both a large variety of materials, but that what they read is also on a variety of reading levels.  Just because they can read harder books doesn't mean that is the best thing for them every day.  That's why we love the Branches series by Scholastic - there is something satisfying about completing a book in one sitting.  I find that Frances and Gloria still are building their reading stamina, and can get discouraged when they tackle longer books.  They can build fluency in reading, no matter what they read.

I was so lucky to get this new title in the Branches series during the Cybils review process.  I instantly fell in love with Olive and Beatrix, and so did the girls.  I bet you will too!!

Olive and Beatrix are twins.  The story is told from Olive's point of view.  She sounds fairly matter of fact as she notes "Beatrix make look like an ordinary girl, but she's not.  She is a witch." (p. 2).  Olive breezes right on to point out that "I may also look like an ordinary girl.  That's because I am.  I'm not a witch at all." (p. 3)  These twins are not identical, but Olive is okay with that.  Each page of this particular spread has a picture of one of the girls with some important things pointed out.  While Beatrix has a talking pet pig and a "head full of tricks", Olive has pet bugs and a "head full of smarts".  Even from the introduction, you can tell that Olive doesn't feel that Beatrix's talents outpace her own.

By the way, the whole becoming a witch thing?  Olive explains that Beatrix is a witch because she was born precisely at midnight on a full moon.  Needless to say, Olive was not.  But instead of magic spells and tricks, Olive loves science.  She and her best friend Eddie are always working on a project.  While they are experimenting, though, Beatrix is always playing tricks on them and causing their ideas to go haywire.

Olive and Eddie get tired of Beatrix's mischief and decide to play a trick of their own.  They know that Beatrix is afraid of spiders, so they plan to dump a whole pile of them on Beatrix.  And their plan works perfectly!  The problem comes when that gaggle of spiders runs through a growth potion Beatrix had conjured up.  It takes all of them to help contain the not-so-itty-bitty spiders!

As I mentioned before, these twins are very different.  Olive is confident in her science and her brain.  Olive has Eddie, and their friendship seems collaborative and supportive.  Olive operates very differently than Beatrix.  I wouldn't exactly say that Beatrix is the bad guy here, but it's pretty clear that she doesn't have close friends like Eddie.  She has her talking pig, Houston, who comments on the action wryly - when Beatrix is screaming, covered in spiders, Houston calmly steps over to Beatrix's dropped phone and announces to the caller "Miss Beatrix will have to call you back." (p. 14) - but that's all she has.  Beatrix seems bossier, not as friendly.  It takes some effort for her to work with Eddie and Olive to deal with her overgrown spiders.  Even then she peppers her dialogue with insults ("Step aside, dull skulls!" (p. 37))  I will be interested to see how these girls' relationship progresses through the series - will they learn to meet in the middle?  Become friends, even?  We'll have to wait and see.

One of the things I love most about the Branches group of titles is the diversity of text and illustration within each book.  In The Not-So-Itty-Bitty Spiders , there is such a great mix of text and illustration, keeping readers on their toes.  Even though there is only a line or two of actual text on each page, Stadelmann incorporates text throughout the illustrations too.  There is a map to examine, with captions to help the reader get situated.  There is dialogue in many of the pictures too, giving this a graphic novel feel.  Readers are absorbing the plot and characterization without spending a lot of time on the text.  It makes the book feel breezy, not onerous.

And this brings me back to my original thoughts about reading.  Frances and I are reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets out loud.  As we all know about the Harry Potter books, each chapter can take a long time to read.  We read for twenty minutes, and maybe get through five pages.  So it's fun to be able to read something like this, too.  The Branches series also can successfully tempt the reluctant reader with a book that is a chapter book, yet there is a manageable amount of text for them.  The reading level assigned by Scholastic is Grade 2, but I can see the plot appealing to a much wider range of readers.  

I love the illustrations in this book too.  The palette is a little dark and moody - greens, grays, and purples - which keeps it from feeling too girly.  It is attractive to girls, with the twin sister angle, but would also appeal to boys with the magic and science emphasis (and I haven't yet mentioned the cool inventions Olive and Eddie come up with!).  The illustrations have a good deal of humor in them as the three join forces.  Magic and science don't always work well together, and that is evident in their adventures!  Both Beatrix and Olive wear comfortable clothes for what they need to do - tunics, leggings, and no-muss hair styles.  These are can-do girls and they'll take charge!

This is a series that we will definitely be watching.  I can't wait to see what else happens to these twins.  I am so glad it was nominated for a Cybil award so we could read it.

Olive & Beatrix: The Not-So-Itty-Bitty Spiders.  Amy Marie Stadelmann.  Scholastic: Branches, 2015.

sent by the publisher for review as part of the Cybils process.

GIrl Genius: Agatha Heterodyne and the Beetleburg Clank - 48 Hour Book Challenge

There's nothing better than a graphic novel to clear your palate after a longer book. This one only took me a half-hour to read, and I thought it would help get me going so that I could finish writing a blog post next.  Then it will be off to the library for a quick stop to return overdue books and pick up some holds before I'm back to reading.

I wish I could remember where I heard about Girl Genius, but I suspect it was a blog posting somewhere, and I think it was about girls reading graphic novels.  Regardless, I didn't remember hearing about this series before, although it has definitely been around for awhile (almost 15 years).  It sounded interesting enough that I bought a copy of my own, since our library didn't have it. 


This first title in the series (which is collected from the previously published comic books) doesn't have much exposition before you dive right in to the action.  And there is a lot of action, forcing me to just sort of keep up with what was going on.  Agatha Clay works in a shop at Transylvania Polygnostic University.  She is on her way there to work when there is an odd electrical anomaly and then she is mugged by a couple of soldiers.  A locket is stolen from her - one that her uncle told her she always needed to keep on.  When she arrives at work, things go from bad to worse when her boss is killed.  This all happens very, very quickly, so you don't get much of a sense of Agatha at all - except that she has spells when she gets upset, and that she loves working for the boss who was killed. 

When she gets home, she falls asleep after not feeling quite herself.  When she wakes up, there is an enormous clank coming in the door, along with one of the robbers who is returning her locket - it killed the other robber after they stole it.

Again, a lot of action going on all at the same time, but I do like steampunk, and I think this is going to be an intriguing series.  I know it's a little late to be catching up with this one, but I also bet in a couple of years Frances and Gloria will read and enjoy it too.  I'll keep reading in this series.

Current Reading Time: 3 1/2 hours
Books Finished: 2

Girl Genius (Book One): Agatha Heterodyne and the Beetleburg Clank. Phil and Kaja Foglio.  Airship Entertainment, 2006.

from my personal collection

Park Scientists

You know I am a huge fan of the Scientists in the Field series.  I write about them often, including my most recent post, here. One of the things I love most about this series is how accessible they make science for kids.  I believe that the word 'scientist' most often conjures up an image of a person in a white coat with goggles on, in a sterile lab, standing behind smoking test tubes.  But this series brings readers to interesting places, where research takes place out in the world.  Many of the places this research takes place are exotic - Australia, Africa and New Zealand.  Those are amazing places, and I am fascinated with  Park Scientists because it takes place here, "in America's own backyard."

First, Carson gives a little of the history of the National Parks and some of their locations.  In the United States, we tend to think of the national parks as fun places to visit on a trip, camp in, or explore.  But the author points out that scientists benefit the parks, and parks benefit the scientists.  One of the biggest benefits to doing research in a national park is that "Because national parks are protected places, researchers are able to do long-term studies of ecosystems, geysers, and climate.  Scientists can collect data for years or decades without worrying about a highway going in or a meadow being plowed under.  Parks are like natural laboratories." (p. 1)  I think that is an important idea for readers to grasp - that science is going on all around them.  And the idea of the national park being a stable environment makes so much sense - of course these are the places where external factors can be controlled  We all want our national parks to be preserved, and this is another reason to add to the list.

Carson takes in-depth looks at researchers in three national parks in very different climates and parts of the United States.  Of course, I was very excited to see that the first national park was my state's Yellowstone National Park.    Each national park's section begins with a page of facts about the park, including size, age, websites and reasons to go visit that park.  Did you know that Yellowstone National Park, established in 1872, was the very first national park?  The reason Yellowstone was created was due to its geysers, which is the first item researchers are studying in this book.  Readers go out on the trail with two NPS geologists towards Norris Geyser Basin.  There have been reports of possible new hydrothermal activities there, and the geologists need to survey the site, to monitor what's happening.  They take temperatures and measurements before moving on to other activities.  Of course, when researching boiling hot geysers, the geologists have to wear special protective gear, including heat-resistant boots and wool socks.  Their scientific gear includes "temperature guns, an infrared camera, notebooks, regular cameras, temperature probes, a psychrometer, and gas detectors." (p. 9)  That's a lot of stuff!

At Yellowstone, geysers aren't the only thing being researched.  Another group being studied are the grizzly bears.  Wildlife scientists at Yellowstone research many factors in bear behavior, including hibernation and the way mother grizzlies give birth during the winter (stay tuned for another book review on grizzlies soon!).  There is an Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team at Yellowstone that studies these bears.  They use many pieces of equipment to track bears throughout the 19,000 square miles around Yellowstone that is grizzly territory.  There are telemetry collars, that send signals to researchers of a bear's location.  There are also GPS collars, that collect data and store it.  When the electronic clock located within the collar signals that time is up, the collar unlocks and drops off.  Cool, huh?  Scientists then use telemetry to find the collar and download and analyze its data.  "Study Team scientists collect information on what bears eat, as well as bear signs - tracks and trails, scat and fur, claw and rubbing marks, and whatever else the bears leave behind." (p. 24)  For example, grizzlies eat the seeds of the whitebark pine prior to hibernation.  The seeds are oily and help grizzlies store calories for the winter.  But these trees are dying, so researchers must find other alternatives to introduce.

The next national park is Saguaro National Park in southern Arizona.  The first type of scientist featured who works in Saguaro National Park is a herpetologist.  You might think that the natural reptile being studied in a desert environment would be a rattlesnake, but you'd be wrong.  This herpetologist studies Gila monsters.  I'd lived in central Arizona for a few years, and this chapter taught me so much - I really knew nothing about Gila monsters.  I had no idea that Gila monsters have a venomous bite!  I guess it was lucky for me that I never saw one in the wild, then.  They are primarily nocturnal and live in underground burrows, so scientists track them using telemetry also.  Gila monsters haven't been studied much, so there is much to learn.  "Scientists  don't even know the time of year the lizards are born.  Gila monster moms lay eggs in underground burrows in the late summer, and baby Gila hatchlings leave burrows the following spring.  When exactly they hatch during those eight to ten months is their well-kept secret." (p. 31-2)

One of the coolest things happening in Saguaro National Park during the time Carson documents is something called "citizen science".  This is focused around a program called BioBlitz, "a twenty-four hour scientific inventory of every species in Saguaro National Park" (p. 34).  The BioBlitz in Saguaro National Park took place in 2011, and included five thousand volunteers who counted "more than 1,200 kinds of plants, insects, animals and fungi." (p. 48).  What an awesome experience!  Carson tells readers that one BioBlitz a year is taking place until 2016 - if you are interested in learning more, you can go here. - this site has lots of resources to create your own BioBlitz, which I think is great!  But the 2015 BioBlitz is at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park this May - sign me up!

So this section of the book takes place during the 2011 BioBlitz, and another thing I love is that teenagers get involved with surveying saguaro cactus (what else?).  The scientist who is helping them complete their survey thinks this is crucial: "Saguaro National Park's future depends on young people becoming real, true stewards of this park." (p. 48).  These teens are in Section 17 of the park, measuring saguaros, counting arms and nest holes, adding to a database that covers seventy years of cactus data.  Section 17 has been the site of an ongoing study since 1941, trying to find the cause of saguaro deaths.  The teens and the information they collect are part of an enormous longitudinal task.

Finally, there is a section about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which stretches across Tennessee and North Carolina.  The first species being studied here exists nowhere else in the world except sections of the national park.  It is the red-cheeked salamander.  This salamander is unusual because it is terrestrial.  But these salamanders must live where there is high humidity and cool temperatures.  "The longer a salamander must be out looking for food in the open air, exposed to wind and warmth, the more water it loses." (p. 53).  There are very few places these salamanders can live successfully.  "Only 575 square miles of the park has a cool and humid enough climate at a high enough elevation - a suitable microclimate - for them" (p. 54).  One of the pieces of this chapter that will pique readers' interest is the background of the evolutionary ecologist.  She tells how her interest in animals got her started in her career, and how those qualities help her today.

The last section is about an expert on fireflies, and a phenomenon that also happens only in the Great Smoky Mountains.  Each summer, synchronous fireflies light up the sky around Elkmont, Tennessee.  Synchronous male fireflies blink in unison to attract females.  Even more amazing than the phenomenon is the fact that while Elkmont natives had known about these fireflies for generations, science believed that these fireflies did not exist until 1993.  Again, the habitat of the Great Smoky Mountains is a factor in the large number of fireflies within the park - there are lots of moist forest trees and leaves there.

This book obviously had lots of great information and facts that I had never known before.  Carson organizes most of this information in sidebars on each page, and this can include additional facts, maps, and statistics on the national parks.  There are also graphs and charts to assist readers.  This large amount of information within the text, though, means that there is less back matter.  There is a glossary, index, and lots of detailed source notes, alongside bibliographic citations.  One of the things Carson takes pains to point out is how much impact the researchers had on the book.  They all reviewed their own sections of the book.  I think this is important for young readers to understand - how important it is to get others' words right.

This book (and this whole series) are great additions to school libraries.  There is a large emphasis on science in our schools and as a career choice, particularly for girls.  This series can really bring that occupation to life.  And there is such diversity in this book from the topics studied to the people involved.  It was as fun to read as it was educational.

Park Scientists: Gila Monsters, Geysers, and Grizzly Bears in America's Own Backyard .  Mary Kay Carson; with photographs by Tom Uhlman.  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.

Borrowed from the Lewis & Clark Library.

We Gather Together

Most years here in Montana, autumn is short.  Usually by now, we've had snow multiple times.  The fall leaves have all blown away in storms where the wind whips through the streets.  This year, though, we've had a surprising season - yes, we've already had snow, but only twice. Our fall leaves are still in piles on the ground, and I was wearing flip flops until last week!  Now the Montana weather is very changeable, and all our Halloween costumes still have warm clothes underneath.  But we're enjoying the actual fall right now!

 

And that's why we've been loving  We Gather Together: Celebrating the Harvest Season this year too.  I requested the new paperback version of this 2006 title through my new relationship with Penguin Books for Young Readers, and it came at the perfect time.  The fall equinox was on September 23rd this year, and, a month later, we are waiting impatiently for daylight savings time to fall back.  It's dark until after 7am each morning, and only light in the evenings until about 7pm.  Frances and Gloria have a hard time getting up in the mornings (although it is easier to get them to go to sleep!).

 

So it's helpful to have a book like this to help us really investigate fall.  It's often blink-and-you-miss-it here, and the nearest corn maze is more than 90 minutes away.  We move from being sad about summer ending, with our farm and garden crops being put to bed, to being immersed in winter.  In this title, Pfeffer does an amazing job of helping kindergarten through 3rd graders learn all about the harvest season.

 

She begins by describing how animals use fall to prepare for the winter, including foxes burying rodent leftovers to eat later (gross!) and beavers storing twigs and sticks underwater for when their ponds are iced over.  Pfeffer explains  how humans don't need to store so much food anymore, because our grocery stores transport perishable items from the other side of the world when they are out of season here.  The text then discusses the fall equinox and defines it for readers (that the nights equal the days and then become longer than the days as we become closer to winter).  This also signals the time to harvest all over the world.

 

As the days begin to cool off, and the summer sun no longer shines, crops can't make the food they need.  Those crops must also be harvested before the first true freeze of the winter.  The text then considers peoples throughout history - cavemen, Ancient Egyptians, the Wampanoags - and how they harvested.  Pfeffer tells readers "Over the centuries, people celebrated plentiful harvests and passed down traditions, at different times in different places, and in different ways. All over the world, harvest celebrations from the past are still being carried on today."  The text goes on to talk about harvesting and harvest celebrations around the world, including in India, Japan, Jewish culture and others.

 

One of the things that I like the most about We Gather Together is how well Pfeffer handles the diversity of information that's contained within this book.  There's science, social studies and environmentalism all contained within its pages.  These could be overwhelming, particularly to a young reader.  But the text is general and fairly brief.  It gives interesting information and helps children imagine themselves in the many cultures and time periods.  While each page has five to seven lines of text, the vocabulary is fairly simple for children to digest and comprehend.

 

Another thing that makes the book easy to use is the large scale illustrations.  The colors are vibrant, yet autumnal in tone throughout most of the book.  They are mostly double page spreads, and the text blocks vary throughout the book.  It really allows readers to balance the longer text with looking at the detailed illustrations.  It gives them a sense of a variety of cultural styles and details.  Bleck's illustrations help give life to the traditions and harvests of many cultures.

 

Finally, I love the back matter in this title.  There is a huge amount of back matter for a picture book nonfiction title.  There are facts about the equinox, science experiments, a recipe, a list of harvest festivals, a bibliography and websites.  It is all well-done, and the science experiments include additional questions for reflection.  I think this makes this title incredibly useful in classrooms and at home.  It has already spurred some great conversations here.  It's helping us enjoy this season before it too quickly disappears.

 

We Gather Together: Celebrating the Harvest Season.  Wendy Pfeffer; illustrated by Linda Bleck.  Puffin Books, 2006.

 

sent by the publisher.

 

The Dolphins of Shark Bay

"I am summer, come to lure you away from your computer,

come dance on my fresh grass

dig your toes into my beaches." 

- Oriana Green

Sorry for the lack of blog posts in the past month.  It's a combination of things around here.  Summer in Montana is very, very short.  Already this last weekend the temperature was below 50 degrees!  You need to take advantage of every sunny moment.  At the end of the spring, I read this blog post.  It resonated with my worn out feeling at the end of the spring, when we were finishing up with lots of activities, celebrations, and events.  I decided to take the summer off.  We wouldn't schedule anything, but just be free for whatever came up.  I also made the decision to turn off the cable, so they couldn't just sit down and veg in front of the TV after work and daycare.

So, we've basically spent the summer outside, as much as possible.  We have a plot in our community garden, and a playground behind our house to keep us busy. The girls have also taken out all of their toys and played with them over and over again. This leads to other problems this summer, particularly that our house is always extremely...lived-in.  And between spending lots of quality time together, and cleaning up after said quality time together, there hasn't been very much time to create new blog posts.  I had a vision at the start of the summer that I would use all my "free" time to write posts and catch up on my blog pile.  Instead, thanks to some generous publishers I have been reviewing for, my pile teeters even higher.  But I'm not complaining, honest!  I'm just redoubling my effort to get some posts written.

This book is one of those long overdue posts.  But that doesn't mean I am any less excited to talk about it, just that I haven't had time to write up my thoughts.  I couldn't believe my luck last summer when Pamela S. Turner sent me an email, asking if I'd like a copy of the latest in the Scientist in the Field series, The Dolphins of Shark Bay.  If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you'll know I've reviewed many other books in the series, including here and here.  I was so excited to get this title, another quality, fascinating addition to the Scientist in the Field series,  Plus she sent me the best dolphin notecard, too!

This book takes place in Shark Bay, in the western part of Australia.  Janet Mann is a scientist who has made it her life's passion to study one particular trait pf the dolphins that live there - their tool use.  Now don't get any ideas of dolphins using saws underwater to build new homes.  Even more interesting (and more refined!), they are placing sea sponges on their noses (or rostrums) to help them scrape along the ocean's bottom.  The sponge protects their rostrums as they search for fish hiding in the channel's sand, rock and coral.  Once they unearth a fish, they quickly drop the sponge and gulp the fish.

Dolphins as a species are known for their echolocation skills.  This helps them in many ways - bouncing their sonar off an object helps the dolphin form a three-dimensional image of something in the deeps of the ocean.  They use this information to eat, navigate, find mates and survive.  But the dolphins who are "spongers" aren't using echolocation to find food at all.  Turner describes the dolphins who frequent this part of Shark Bay as searching "half blind" (p. 25) for food.  The channel bottom is covered with rocks and other debris that make it difficult for the dolphins to catch fish.  Conversely, the fish have a better survival rate in the channel's rocks because they aren't discovered as frequently.

So Mann, having seen this behavior performed beginning twenty-five years ago, decided to study this interesting phenomenon more closely.One of the more unusual things she and her research team have found is that this sponging is passed down through dolphin mothers in the pods that frequent Shark Bay.  If you are a dolphin, and your mother didn't sponge, you won't learn that tool use anywhere else.  Mann explains this quirk in this way: "Females are the specialists and the innovators because they're under a lot of pressure to support their calves....If you're a female dolphin who can develop a new way of making a living instead of competing with other dolphins, that's a big advantage.'" (p. 27)

As her team observed more than 600 dolphins, they also documented other unusual feeding techniques - a dolphin who hunts at night, beach hunters (they beach their prey and quickly get back into the water after eating it), and many more specialized behaviors.  These behaviors, too, are often shown in mothers and daughters.  Possibly because mothers have to be smart to get enough fish to feed themselves and their children.  It could also be because daughters stay with their mothers longer than sons do, and see the benefits of these hunting behaviors.

I learned so many interesting facts about dolphins through The Dolphins at Shark Bay.  One chapter looks at alliances of male dolphins and how they bully females into mating with them.  They herd a female away from her group, separating her and badgering her.  Young males practice this strategy on each other to learn teamwork.  They also begin to recognize which other dolphins they might want to form an alliance with.  Along with mating, it really is survival of the fittest in Shark Bay.  All of the adaptations that these pods exhibit help them survive in the wild.

And let me re-emphasize that these dolphins, although observed frequently for research, are wild.  One of the changes that have been made at Shark Bay as a result of Janet's research was to something called dolphin tourism.  When Mann first arrived in the bay, hundreds of people might be in the shallows, throwing fish to the dolphins.  The mothers especially began to learn that the beach was the easiest way to get their babies the food they needed.  SO they stayed near the beach, begging for fish.  As a result, dolphin mothers were overfed, and the only feeding technique babies learned was to head for the beach.  As a result of their knowledge, the government regulates this practice much more strictly.  Only a few volunteers feed selected dolphins a few fish - now the mothers aren't overfed, and the young learn the right way to forage, including sponging.

Finally, Turner does a terrific job of detailing the scientists at work.  She shows one of the team "pole sponging" - imitating the dolphins around him to learn how this works, and why dolphins might engage in it.  She writes about different sampling methods used to monitor the dolphins, and even talks about how they select dolphins to be in the study.  I also really appreciated how when a hypothesis was proven wrong by Mann's team, they worked to come up with alternative hypotheses to solve research questions.  It's all fascinating, and Turner conveys her own enthusiasm for this project throughout the book - she even participates in the research!

Another thing I love about this well-designed series is its inclusion of back matter.  There is an index, additional facts about dolphins, websites, recommended reading, and more citations.  I have always loved how this series develops children's understanding of not only science and research, but the world we live in.  There is tons of material for the interested student to continue learning.  

For one brief moment in my young life, I wanted to be a dolphin trainer.  I had grown up in San Diego and loved dolphins for their intelligence and creativity.  I wish this book had been around when I was young.  I might now be out in Australia with Janet Mann, learning more about these amazing creatures.

The Dolphins of Shark Bay.  By Pamela S. Turner, with photographs by Scott Tuason.  Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2013.

sent by the author

Eggs 1,2,3: Who Will the Babies Be?

Summer sped by for me - how about for you?  Some things in our lives stay the same all summer.  Gloria is in a year-round preschool/daycare, and obviously our general schedule each week stays the same.  But in Montana, summer is so short, and we took advantage of it this summer by packing in swim lessons, tending our vegetable garden, and outdoor time.  One thing we have enjoyed doing each summer is taking part in our local library's summer reading program.  It's called "Four to Score", and we record the titles and what we liked best about four books to earn a prize.  The sheet asks for three fiction books and one nonfiction title.  The librarians tell us that young children don't actually have to read nonfiction.  But you know me - I am such a nonfiction lover, and I want to read nonfiction with the girls.

It isn't always easy to find nonfiction that appeals to Gloria, though.  At 4 1/2, she is doing some reading on her own (Dinosaur vs. the Library was one she read to her preschool class recently), and she has pretty limited interest in the subjects Frances wants to read about.  Also, much of the nonfiction that Frances checks out is too long and detailed for Gloria.  So when Eggs 1,2,3 came up in my blog pile last week, I was really excited to share it with both Frances and Gloria.

When I first got Eggs 1,2,3: Who Will the Babies Be? as a nomination for the Cybils last year, I couldn't wait to read it.  I had reviewed Janet Halfmann's previous Cybils nomination, Star of the Sea  and all of us loved it.  So I had a feeling that we would all like this one too.  And the rest of the Nonfiction Picture Book panel agreed, making this a finalist for the Nonfiction Picture Book award.  Sadly, it didn't win, but I'd like to focus on why this is a perfect preschool-level book.

Eggs 1,2,3: Who Will the Babies Be? combines several ways of looking at information in a format that's very accessible for young children.  First of all, the book is a counting book.  Each double-page spread has an enormous number on the left-hand side of the page, corresponding to the number of eggs on that spread.  On the first page, Halfmann sets the tone.  There is a sentence describing the egg and its habitat.  Then she asks the reader to guess "Who will the baby be?"  Young readers can look at the illustration on the opposite page for clues.  Again, Thompson has carefully considered the readers and given fairly obvious indications of the answer.  Then they can open a sturdy flap to reveal the answer.  The number is repeated inside the flap: "5 wiggly glowworms, their tiny tails shining, growing up to be fireflies."  The eggs increase in number from 1 to 10.  And the number of eggs is appropriate for each animal, bird or reptile, which is no easy feat.  At the end of the book, there is one last chance to count all the eggs, and inside the flap, all the babies.

The book seems deceptively simple.  But Halfmann and Thompson are working some real magic here.  First of all, the sentence that gives clue to the egg's inhabitant including important information for the reader.  Those sentences might divulge details about the creature's habitat "a land of ice and snow", what the egg looks like "tiny and round", and whether the parents are involved.  The illustrations are crucial to helping readers identify the baby, and those might include details of the parents or habitat as well.  The eggs, too, are always prominent.  Once the flap is opened then readers see the babies once they hatch, as well as learning their identity and the specific name of the baby, if applicable: "6 babies called fry, eating, eating, eating, and soon they are fish".

There are many things I like about this book, and one of those things is its suitability for many audiences.  It's a natural learning tool whether used in small groups or read with a parent. But it comes alive when used in a storytime.  Listeners can participate by giving the numbers, counting the number of eggs and babies and guessing who might be inside the egg.  It is also a nonfiction book that reads more like a story.  The information has been incorporated into this format so seamlessly, which makes me appreciate the effort that must have gone in to writing this text.  

Finally, one of the best things about the book is the design.  The flaps are extremely sturdy and will hold up to repeated (and rough) readings.  The flaps also open in different directions to keep the experience interesting and fresh.  

One other thing I'd like to mention about this book is that there is no back matter in this title.  While I usually look very carefully at the back matter, this is one title where it is appropriate not to have back matter.  Halfmann has included enough detail for preschoolers in the actual text.  Young children don't need to use a bibliography as a jumping-off point for additional research.  They've been given everything they need already, and I admire the simplicity here.

The illustrations are collaged, with textured papers and layered cut-paper assemblies.  The art walks a fine line between realism and collage very successfully.  The collaged elements add depth to the pictures, but Thompson is careful to use natural colors and replicate the creatures exactly.  The eggs look very real as well, and you can almost feel their exteriors as you look at the pages.  The turtle eggs look tough and leathery; the tadpole eggs really seem encased in shimmering jelly.

This is such a terrific book.  The eggs are fascinating, and so are the animals that lay them.  Halfmann and Thompson have done a masterful job bringing the topic to life for the youngest readers.  I highly recommend it!

Eggs 1,2,3: Who Will the Babies Be? Janet Halfmann; art by Betsy Thompson.  Blue Apple Books, 2012.

Note: I am on the Cybils Nonfiction Picture Book panel, but this blog post does not represent the committee's thoughts about the book.  It only represents my personal ideas and thoughts.

sent by the publisher in consideration for the Cybils

North: The Amazing Story of Arctic Migration

Last week I traveled for work.  It was a short, four-day trip to DC for a conference.  But I still had a lot to do to get ready for that trip.  I had to pack up Frances and Gloria to stay with their dad for the week, including leotards, swimsuits and soccer uniforms.  I packed my suitcase, arranged for a pet-sitter for our cat, and traveled for about twelve hours each way.  It was a lot of work to leave home for four days, but nothing like what the animals of the world go through to get to the Arctic.

I suspect that most people picture the Arctic as I did before I read North - a cold, frigid, forbidding place where perhaps only polar bears and Santa Claus feel at home.  In reality, there are four seasons in the Arctic, including a glorious summer.  And, incredibly, animals and wildlife travel for thousands of miles to arrive in the Arctic during the summer.

Dowson sets the stage for this migration by describing the deepest winter.  During that time of year, "even the seas freeze deep" (p. 4).  But eventually the winter ebbs, and the polar bears and arctic foxes are no longer the only Arctic inhabitants.  It begins with warmer seas as spring evolves.  Algae bloom under the ice, and plants grow as the ice melts and recedes.  As the spring continues animals begin their treck toward the Arctic in what Dowson terms "THE GREATEST JOURNEY ON EARTH!" (p. 11).

There are tons of animals, birds and other wildlife on this incredible journey.  Gray whales travel for eight weeks up through the Pacific Ocean without eating.  Terns fly to the Arctic all the way from the bottom of the world in Antarctica.  Snow geese fly from Mexico, caribou travel from Canada, walrus swim up the coast of Alaska.  "By late May, travelers crowd together near the very top of the world." (p. 36)  And summer has finally arrived, just in time.  "Tundra flowers grow rainbow-bright, the calm air hums with summer bees...New life is everywhere." (p. 40).  Animals have risked their lives, traveled unceasingly, gone without food to reach the Arctic at precisely this moment.  And their seasonal cycle will continue until September, when winter begins to descend again.  Next spring, most of these animals will begin this journey again.

This book was on the Cybils nominations list for Non-fiction Picture Books, and one of the panelists really loved this book.  When I first looked at it, I liked the illustrations, and was struck by their crystalline beauty.  Benson uses mostly blues and whites in these illustrations, all in a limited palette.  There is also cream added, particularly as the summer begins, and some accents of black and gray.  The blue, almost a greenish teal, reflects off the frigid waters and the ice.  White isn't used just for the ice and glaciers, but striates the walrus' thick skin and delineates the feathers of the terns' wings.  The illustrations are highly realistic, but also majestic.  One of my favorite illustrations takes place along the gray whale's journey.  A young gray whale swims up the Pacific.  The top half of the double page spread shows the whale passing Los Angeles; in the bottom half she surfaces near the Golden Gate Bridge.  The light is golden in Los Angeles as skyscrapers and hotels stand witness to her journey.  In San Francisco, a mother, her child and their dog monitor the whale's progress.  I love the way this page is divided.  It spreads across both pages, making the reader sense the enormity of the journey.  Many of the pages are divided in a variety of ways, keeping the action of migration fresh and compelling.  There are close-up illustrations that show the stress of the trip on some of the wildlife, some illustrations that show the expanse of the Arctic.

These illustrations match so well with the text.  Dowson's writing is poetic, yet conveys the information clearly and concisely.  I was surprised at how much I learned from this book, which seems relatively simple on the surface.  This takes a very unique look at migration and its impact on the Arctic.  As he describes herrings on their journey, Dowson writes "With bright scales like mirrors, they swerve together, fin by fin." (p. 33).  It is gorgeous, emphasizing the awesome journey these animals undertake.

As for back matter, there is a note giving more information about the Arctic.  The note also asks readers to consider global warming and its impact on this migration.  There are also some websites on the Arctic, a glossary, and an index.  While this story makes my trip to DC seem minute in comparison, it does an amazing job explaining the migration of this group of animals, fish and birds for a summer in the Arctic, just where they all want to be.  This book does a terrific job of detailing the greatest journey on Earth.

North: The Amazing Story of Arctic Migration.  Nick Dowson; illustrated by Patrick Benson.  Candlewick Press, 2011.

sent by the publisher for consideration for Cybils

Note: I was on the Cybils nonfiction picture book panel, but this blog post only reflects my personal ideas and  thoughts on this book.

Scientists in the Field, part two

In 2011, I wrote a post on two books in the Scientists in the Field series.  I am a huge advocate for this series - I have raved about it to multiple people and at conferences ever since I first discovered it.  But I haven't written about other books in the series, even though I have continued to explore the series ever since.  I haven't written about them because I haven't found ones that were different from the series formula I had already discussed.  That doesn't mean this is a bad formula.  On the contrary, this is an well-constructed, well-thought-out formula.  All I can wish is that every middle school science classroom had the complete set on their shelves to inspire young scientists.  They show fascinating careers and scientists of all ages and cultures who are passionate about what they do.  Most importantly, they talk about the world around us in interesting ways without trivializing the science involved. The scientists profiled and the authors who create the books take the science seriously and take the time and effort to create something readable but also informative. However, I've read two contributions to the series lately that I believe should be recommended, and I want to talk about those here.

The Elephant Scientist won a Nonfiction Honor from the Horn Book magazine this year, and it is well deserved.  One of the interesting things about this book is that the scientist herself is one of the authors of the book.  Caitlin O'Connell has also taken many of the photographs of her research and field station that are featured in this book.  O'Connell has been studying elephant communication in Namibia, in Southern Africa.  She has been observing elephant behavior with a research team in hopes of deciphering the elephants' calls as well as how they are able to detect noises through vibrations in the ground.  Some of what she is researching has a very practical aspect - farmers in Namibia are frustrated because there is no way to keep elephants out of their farms, where they destroy crops both by eating them and trampling them.  O'Connell believes that elephants' calls may hold the key to protecting the farmers' crops in a non-threatening, inexpensive way.  She has been studying elephants and their behavior for quite some time, and she and Donna M. Jackson (the co-author for this title) find ways to include this incredible knowledge about elephants along with her research and methodology.  Her group creates an incredible field station, and Jackson and O'Connell describe how this field station must function in order to produce credible research, but at the same time, it must not attract negative attention from the animals they are researching.  O'Connell and Jackson also discuss elephant behaviors in this book.  One of the sections discusses male elephants (bulls) and their social structure.  While we tend to think of bulls as aggressive, they also have affiliative (bonding) behaviors and comfort behavior.  The older bull elephants help raise and guide the younger elephants, just as in the female herds.  O'Connell's love and fascination for these animals shines through on every page.  It gives this volume an almost unparalleled intimacy.

In the other volume of this series that I have been thinking about lately, Sneed B. Collard III goes to a reconstructed prairie in Iowa.  I just met Collard at the Montana State Reading Conference a couple of weeks ago.  At that time, I had this book to re-read and review on the blog, and it was hard not to mention it to him.  The grassland that was created in Iowa was the dream of Congressman Neal Smith, who believed that children should be able to see a prairie in their own state, something Iowa had very little of at that time (in the 1980's).  They created the prairie meticulously.  It was a true community effort - there are photographs here of local people helping to sow native grasses and dancing those seeds into the ground.  One of the most unique things about this book is its community - Collard doesn't just profile one scientist in this volume - instead, he emphasizes how many people maintain responsibility for this delicate ecosystem.  There is Pauline Drobney, the National Wildlife Refuge's biologist who carefully monitors the plants and native grasses of the prairie.  There is Dr. Diane Debinski, who searches for one specific butterfly (the Regal Fritillary) on the prairie.  There are the managers who keep the prairie's bison herds healthy, the volunteers who collect and provide seed... this is an ecosystem, and Collard looks at all its working parts in a very compelling way.  This story is one man's dream, but it is the community responsibility, and it brings science to life in a different way than some of the other books in the series.

One of the things that I love most about this series (and if you know me, this is no surprise) is its backmatter.  I believe strongly that students must be able to read a nonfiction title and springboard to additional resources on that subject or related subjects.  I love the bibliographies in these books.  They respect the reader - giving the reader plenty of opportunities to move past this particular volume.  And both books offer readers a diversity of materials - adult books, books written for young readers, web sites and Internet resources, and in The Elephant Scientist, DVD's too.  There are glossaries, indexes and maps to help readers visualize the subject they are learning about.

One of the other things I like most about this series is its design.  The creators of the series are very cognizant of making these books interesting to look at.  The authors and editors present information in multiple ways to readers.  There are sidebars, text boxes and extensive photo captions to pique readers' interest along with the ongoing narrative.  All books in the series are true, contemporary research projects, and as such, are illustrated primarily with rich, vivid photographs.  This choice also brings readers directly into the scientific environment.  These are high-quality books about terrific subjects.  I cannot recommend these books highly enough.

The Elephant Scientist.  Caitlin O'Connell and Donna M. Jackson; photographs by Caitlin O'Connell and Timothy Rodwell.  Houghton Mifflin, 2011.
The Prairie Builders: Reconstructing America's Lost Grasslands.  Written and photographed by Sneed B. Collard III, Houghton Mifflin, 2005.

The Elephant Scientist was loaned to me by a friend; The Prairie Builders was borrowed from the Lewis & Clark Library

Puffling Patrol

If you know this blog at all, you know how much I love children's nonfiction.  And I'll say something here that I've said before: I am a fairly recent convert to children's nonfiction.  I thought of it as something I should read to round out my blog, not because I had any strong feeling for it.  And over the last two years (including a stint as a Cybils judge on a picture book nonfiction panel), I find myself really struggling not to focus my blog almost exclusively on children's nonfiction.  There are so many great books out there.  So just know for every book I've written about, I've read two or three other great ones.  This book, however, is one you can't live without.

I first saw this book at our local library and was drawn to the sweet puffling on the cover.  Then I saw that it was written and illustrated by Ted and Betsy Lewin.  This husband and wife are both Caldecott Honor winners, which is an amazing thing.  Their illustrative styles are so different, and I was interested enough to take a closer look at their collaboration.  I am always fascinated by collaborations - picture books, nonfiction, chapter books.  I love to look at how different authors (or illustrators) "fit" together - one of my favorite collaborations being Will Grayson, Will Grayson (John Green and David Levithan).  You can hear each author's voice yet also see the overarching plot and themes.  Each author's contribution meshes seamlessly.

This book was strong from the very first page.  The Lewins created maps to orient readers immediately.  The larger map is a close-up of the island of Heimaey (off the coast of Iceland), where the story takes place, giving landmarks to help readers picture where specific events take place.  A smaller map shows the entire world, with Heimaey and Iceland shown in perspective to help readers see how small this island really is.  There is a note on the facing page describing the Lewins' interest in this island and its importance for the puffin population.

Then the text begins.  One of the most notable things is how well the Lewins are able to incorporate facts into their travel narrative.  The Lewins have come to Iceland in August, when young puffins (called pufflings) are ready to venture out on their own for the first time.  The adult puffins have already abandoned their pufflings to return to their lives on the ocean.  The pufflings have to begin to fly, but their wings aren't always strong, and they become disoriented by the lights of the small town on Heimaey.  They fly down onto the streets, and are unable to take off again.  The pufflings can become victims of predators like dogs, or be hit by cars since they are so helpless.  This is where the children of Heimaey come in to help.  They are enlisted into the Puffling Patrol, and go out at night to rescue pufflings before they are injured.

The Lewins introduce readers to Dáni and Erna, eight year old twins who are in the Puffling Patrol.  It is compelling to see the rescue efforts through these children's eyes.  The twins are all business, capable and confident in their task.  They stay up late during their stint as patrol, and their father tells the Lewins that Dáni "rescued twenty-seven pufflings in one night", so you can visualize the importance of their task.

While the children are the eyes of the story, the entire island is focused on rescuing and caring for many kinds of seabirds.  The Lewins go out on a boat with researchers who are monitoring puffin burrows.  They visit the Natural History Museum to see the pufflings measured and weighed before being released out into the ocean.  At the time of year when pufflings are taking the first flights, the island is dedicated to puffin rescue.  It is rewarding and dramatic when Dáni and Erna release the pufflings into the ocean.

Ted Lewin creates full-page watercolor paintings, and the most dramatic illustrations (the cover picture of a puffling caught in a spotlight, the pufflings being thrown up and out into the sea) are his.  The colors are rich and saturated.  There are black volcanic beaches created by sparkling lava, warm red light shining on wet pavement, an azure blue ocean.  But for all the drama of his paintings, Betsy Lewin gives the puffins personality.  She has created smaller spot illustrations that add details to the text.  One of my favorite illustrations accompanies text about the researchers who must scale a cliff to see puffin burrows.  When they return to the boat where the Lewins are watching, they must leap in while the small Zodiac bobs on waves, since there is no dock.  Betsy Lewin shows a researcher leaping wildly (and almost missing the boat) while they watch.  It is funny and terrifying at the same time.  She also provides small closeups of a puffling gulping a fish and other endearing puffling activities.  Their different styles add interest and diversity to this fascinating text.

And you know one of my requirements for strong nonfiction is high-quality back matter, and this book is exemplary.  I've already mentioned the maps and explanatory note at the beginning of the book.  There are also two pages of Atlantic puffin facts (along with more of Betsy Lewin's expressive illustrations).  The Lewins have included a page on a five month long volcano eruption on the island of Heimaey which caused total evacuation of the island.  It is a fascinating addition to the story of the pufflings.  There is also information about the declining puffin population, a bibliography, and a glossary and pronunciation guide...whew!  I also loved the note with the authors' sources, with a citation for Bruce McMillan's Nights of the Pufflings, which first introduced this island to readers.

This book is beautifully constructed from start to finish.  I loved the topic (who doesn't love puffins?), and I loved how integral the children of Heimaey are to the survival of the puffins.  It is a story that children will relate to, with plenty of facts to encourage further research.  I hope this one will be considered come awards season.

Puffling Patrol.  Ted and Betsy Lewin.  Lee & Low Books, 2012.

borrowed from Lewis & Clark Library

Celebritrees

Do you consider yourself a tree-hugger?  A tree lover?  I wouldn't have called myself a tree lover previously, but I would have said that I could certainly recognize their importance in our environment.  After all, trees can be their very own ecosystem.  And having grown up in California, I also would have guessed that one of the largest trees in the world would be located in Redwood National Park.  But reading this book made me realize that I just didn't know that much about trees in general.  And like any good nonfiction book, it made me want to learn more.

Celebritrees was a nominee for the Cybils award for nonfiction picture books.  Preus is an award-winning author, having won a Newbery Honor award last year for her 2010 novel, Heart of a Samurai.  So before I even opened this book, I had the expectation that this was going to be a well-done, interesting book.  And it definitely did not disappoint.  Preus looks at fourteen famous trees.  Can you believe that there are fourteen trees that are famous for their height, age or some other trait?  It is truly incredible and the stories Preus tells here are just as fascinating as the trees themselves.

She begins by looking at trees in general in the introduction.  The introduction sets the tone for the rest of the book, and this one is very reader-friendly.  She uses tidbits of information to draw readers into the main text of the book.  Did you know that treetops have held orchestras or party houses?  Did you know that the seeds of the American Revolution were sown under a tree?  Unfortunately, this is all you get to know about these little tidbits, as they aren't included in the main text, but this is a great jumping-off point for interested readers.  Trees can also be culturally important, and Preus shows just how important some of them are to countries around the world.

Each of these trees is showcased on its own double-page spread.  She uses a combination of facts and a more narrative style of informational text to get readers engaged.  The facts include the type of tree along with its general location (more on that later).  Then Preus tells more of the tree's story in a few short paragraphs.  For instance, the Major Oak is located in Sherwood Forest.  There is an enormous hollow in the tree that is the stuff of legend.  Robin Hood and his Merry Men were believed to have hidden within that hollow.  However, Preus continues on to mention that visitors compacted the soil and starved the roots, almost killing the tree.  She also describes the tree today as "a miniature nature preserve" which provides food and shelter for animals, birds and insects. 

There are so many interesting trees described here.  I was really surprised by some of the facts that Preus includes in this text.  I mentioned that many trees are only given general locations within the text.  Preus explains to readers that many of the most majestic trees' exact locations are kept secret to protect the trees.  Some of them need to be protected to maintain their root structures, like the Major Oak.  Others need to protected from vandals, or to keep their fragile trunks intact.  I had never known this before, and thought this was an example of the kind of information that keeps readers interested in this book.

This leads to my biggest concern about the illustrations.  Gibbon does a great job illustrating these trees.  But I can't help but wonder if these trees would have been better illustrated by photographs.  With photographs, readers might have been able to see these trees in their own environment.  They might also be able to see the finer details of the leaves if close-ups were used.  That being said, I do understand why their obscured locations probably made it impossible to obtain photos of these trees.  And Gibbon's illustrations have some definite advantages too.  Hyperion, a 379 foot tall redwood, is shown next to both a skyscraper and the Statue of Liberty.  This gives readers a visual measurement to go along with the written description.  It's very effective to see that redwood, strong and tall, towering over one of our country's greatest symbols.  The General Sherman, which Preus describes as "so wide that twelve people standing with their arms outstretched can't reach all the way around its trunk."  And Gibbon is able to show those same twelve people, dwarfed by the enormous tree, stretching their arms in vain. 

There is strong back matter to accompany this great text.  Preus includes four pages of additional information about all of the trees.  This is really valuable, as it expands on some of the things she mentions in the main text.  She includes comparisons to other types of trees as well.  She compares the enormous Hyperion to the arctic birch, which can only grow to ten inches tall because of the extreme weather.  There is also a list of suggestions for readers on how to help grow celebritrees.  These are primarily environmental suggestions, but they are worth reminding readers about.  Did you know you shouldn't take firewood with you when you are camping?  It may have tree devouring beetles in it which might destroy the trees around your campfire.  I had no idea!  There is also a bibliography and a list of websites too.

This is a really unusual book.  It made me look at trees in a whole new light, and it may even have made me into a tree lover.  Plus it inspired me to try and plan some trips to visit the celebritrees here in the United States.  Preus and Gibbon did a terrific job bringing this subject to life. 

Note: I am on the Cybils Nonfiction Picture Book panel, but this blog post does not represent the committee's thoughts about the book.  It only represents my personal ideas and thoughts.
Celebritrees: Historic & Famous Trees of the World.  Margi Preus; illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon.  Henry Holt & Co, 2011.

borrowed from Lewis & Clark Library

Energy Island

One of the things I like best about being on the Nonfiction Picture Books panel is the sheer diversity of books we've read.  I've read about subjects like safety for children, howler monkeys and prehistoric life.  Many of these are books I wouldn't have picked up on my own, but I have learned about so many things through these books.  This definitely includes Energy Island.

Energy Island is a small island off the coast of Denmark, which is more properly named Samsø Island.  The islanders had always gotten their energy sources from the mainland - electricity through underwater cables, oil by tanker across the ocean.  I've lived on an island, and although Drummond doesn't mention it here, I know that relying on energy sources being brought to the island can be inconsistent and expensive.  So it should have been a great thing when Samsø Island was chosen as the first Danish community to become energy independent.  The plan was to harness the ever-present wind and use it to create renewable energy.
  Drummond uses a young girl as the narrator of the story.  It is a strong narrative choice because she is relatable to other children.  She also helps bring a younger focus to a story which is populated with the adults of the community.  He uses two types of text to bring Samsø to life.  There is the overarching narrative, which the young girl carries.  This choice brings the information to life, and helps kids get why this is such a unique project.  The narrative also helps a project which is very far away seem more universal.  After all, we all waste energy in various ways and many people don't realize or care about renewable energy sources.  Then there are sidebars with more technical information on various environmental topics that tie in with the narrative.  These sidebars are clearly not part of the story - they are colored green, contrasting with the colors of the illustration, and have a different voice to them.

This book isn't just about energy and the island of Samsø, though.  One of the things that I think this book does best is show the way the community works to build consensus.  At the beginning of the project, all of the adults have reasons why they can't move towards energy independence or don't want to change their ways.  As one or two families agree to try it, then the winds begin to pick up speed, so to speak.  Drummond recounts a storm when everyone on the island loses power, except for the couple of islanders who have wind turbines.  Slowly, people begin to open their minds and experiment with alternative forms of energy.  I think this is a great idea for children to observe - that adults can be stubborn about change, and that their ideas aren't always right.  And it's valuable to see that the leader of the project, a teacher named Søren Hermansen, doesn't give up when the community doesn't want to change.  He keeps working at it and momentum begins to build slowly but surely.

One of the other interesting things about this book is Drummond's illustrative choices.  There is a huge diversity of illustration sizes in this book, and this adds energy (!) to the book.  Many pages have horizontal panel illustrations interspersed with lines of text.  There are also full-page illustrations, spot illustrations and vertical panels.  It keeps your eye moving across the page.  The variety of sizes also allows Drummond to show a lot of information without it becoming overwhelming.

There are a few problematic items in this book for me.  They are minor, but worth discussing.  I am really looking at back matter for the nonfiction titles I read this fall, and this book only has a single website as reference.  When I went to look at the website, I found that the link no longer works.  This is a real problem in a book that was just published this year.  And the concept of an island that is totally energy-independent is so interesting that I can't understand why there aren't more connections for interested young readers.

Drummond does include an author's note with a New Yorker article cited.  But an article in the New Yorker isn't appropriate for most children, so it is only helpful as his own starting point.  Drummond also notes in his author's note that he has compressed events to fit it all in the timeline he had set up.  I appreciate that he has brought this to light so that we are aware that his narrative isn't totally true to life.  One last criticism is that the book gives no specific dates.  Everything takes place "a few years ago"  or things take "several years".  While I understand that exact dates might not have fit into his narrative style, it gives you an unmoored feeling - does it take place in the 90's? the 70's?  Readers have no idea.  This book may have benefited from an extra informational page on Samsø or perhaps a sidebar with additional information.

All in all, though, this book gave me a look at a place I had no idea existed.  Energy Island is fascinating, and it's a great story to inspire readers to change their ways.

Note: I am on the Cybils Nonfiction Picture Book panel, but this blog post does not represent the committee's thoughts about the book.  It only represents my personal ideas and thoughts.
Energy Island: How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed Their World.  Allan Drummond.  Frances Foster Books: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2011.

borrowed from Lewis & Clark library