HIDDEN CITY: POEMS OF URBAN WILDLIFE by Sarah Grace Tuttle

I live in the heart of Denver. Although I live at least 30 minutes from any area I would describe as "wooded or rural," I regularly glimpse raccoons, foxes, coyotes, and of course, squirrels, and all kinds of bugs and birds, when I am out working in the yard or walking my dog.

In HIDDEN CITY: POEMS OF URBAN WILDLIFE debut poet, Sarah Grace Tuttle celebrates the wildlife of the city. In her poems, readers find all kinds of animals- including mice, skunks, sparrows, and several kinds of insects, as well as plants like mushrooms, moss, and wildflowers.

Tuttle has a dual degree in English and environmental studies, and as someone who loves a few facts with her poetry, I love the information she embedded in each poem, as well as the followup endnotes, "Fun Facts About the Wildlife in These Poems."

Readers of HIDDEN CITY learn to watch carefully for the natural wonders in their own world. I could see reading the poems and then heading out with writers' notebooks to capture the wonders that we might find. Kids could definitely use the poems as mentors for their own wildlife/nature poems.

Artist Amy Schimler-Safford is an illustrator that is new to me, but her collage artwork is perfect for the poems in HIDDEN CITY.

"Community Garden"
An empty lot has
grown over with
wild tangles of grass and aster,
bright dandelions,
wood sorrel, clover.
Now
bees and butterflies feast on nectar
ants build
snails crawl
and garden snakes sun themselves
by the graffitied wall.


"Under Cover"
On the side of a house
ladybugs
tuck under shingles
in clumps and rows,
crawl into cracks
in clusters and droves
slow
slow
slow
their heartbeats,
and snuggle in tight
for their long winter sleep.


"The Hunting Lesson"
A mother raccoon
teaches her kits:
place paws firmly and
push
push again
push again
until
CRASH!
a feast spills out of the bin.
Bagels and fish heads and broccoli
all for the taking.

I'm looking forward to sharing this book with students in my urban setting.

MOTO AND ME

I first became familiar with Eszterhas' work when I was a CYBILS nonfiction judge a few years ago. ORANGUTAN was in my NF top 10 in 2013, it was also my CYBILS mighta-beens that year.  That year, I also loved SEA OTTERS.

MOTO AND ME made this year's CYBILS nonfiction nominees. Eszterhas has moved to the Masai Mara savanna (in Kenya) to photograph wildlife. According to Eszterhas,  huge wildfires are common during the hot dry summers. During one of these fires, Moto's mother was trying to carry her two-week-old serval kittens across a dirt road. She was startled by the noise of a vehicle and dropped him. Before she could return,  some tourists found him, and thinking they would help, picked him up, and took him to the ranger station. By the time they got there, it had been too long and his mom was gone. Park rangers knew Eszterhaus had extensive experience with cats, and asked her if she would be willing to raise him until he was old enough to be independent.

Eszterhas named the baby Moto (African for fire). At first, she bottle fed him a special mixture of cows' milk, eggs, fish oil, and vitamins; he loved this so much that he drank really fast, one time he choked, and she had to hang him upside down and pound on his back. Several times each day, she rubbed him down with a rough washcloth and brushed him with a toothbrush, because those actions were similar to those he might feel during life in the wild. He didn't like being away from her, so when he was young, she carried him around in a pouch as she took pictures and went about her daily life.

At the same time, Eszterhas was very clear that she was raising the young serval to return to the wild. She wanted him to be ready for that, so she worked hard to make sure he would have the skills he needed. Servals usually play with their littermates. Instead of a sibling, Moto played with a stuffed duck. As he got older, she blended chicken with his milk, then eventually introduced a mouse. Moto hissed at her and took her to his nest, which happened to be Esterzhas' bed.As Moto got older, she left the tent open, gradually he spent more time outside, would always come and cuddle with her before he went out at night. One night he didn't come to cuddle, and although she worried, she knew he was gone. A few days later, she saw him in the wild. He came to her jeep when she called, but also left very quickly.

This book is a little longer than other books I have read by Eszterhas, but it's just as engaging. It might take a couple of sittings, but I know younger kids would love it. I can't wait to share it with my seventh graders, because I think they will love it too!

I'VE GOT FEET: FANTASTIC FEET OF THE ANIMAL WORLD by Julie Murphy, illustrated by Hannah Tolson

Christmas is coming. I need to get sweet Esveidy's box in the mail this week. Of course, the first thing that I put in the box will be books. Is there anything else? Yesterday, I spent a good part of the day at the Denver Public Library reading CYBILS nominations. I'VE GOT FEET is a book I will be purchasing for Esveidy. It's a terrific nonfiction book for the primary set- engaging pictures, not too long, interesting information…

The book starts out:

Animal feet can walk, run, and kick.They can climb, jump, and dig. 

Some feet swim, some catch food.What a lot of things animal feet can do!

After that, each two page spread features a different animal, some more typical and some unusual-- a cheetah, zebra, duck, gecko, koala, penguin, red kangaroo, great horned own, spade foot toads, chimpanzees. The left side of each spread is the animal "talking." The right side is an interesting fact. Here are a few examples:

ZEBRA 

Left page: I've got KICKING feet
My back feet sure pack a punch. They help me to avoid becoming  a lion's next meal. 

Right page:  Zebra feet kick so hard they can break a lion's jaw.  

 BLUE FOOTED BOOBY 

Left page: I've got BLUE feet.
I show them off by stepping high. 

Right  page: Male blue footed boobies show off to attract females.
Those with the bluest feet are chosen first.

GREAT HORNED OWL 

Left page: I've got DEADLY feet!
My fierce feet have awesome claws that can catch all kinds of creatures for food. 

Right page: Great horned owl feet are so powerful they can even snatch up skunks, which are almost three times heavier than the owl.

I know Miss E's going to love this one! And so will a lot of other kids and teachers!

POETRY FRIDAY

I promised myself that I was going to participate in Poetry Friday every week in 2017. Unfortunately, I had to do a presentation this morning, and wasn't quite ready, so I spent last night and this morning pulling that together.

Even though I'm too late for  Poetry Friday, it's still Friday, so I'm having my own poetry party! Today I'm featuring one of the books that got away, a CYBILS nominee that provoked lots of discussion, but didn't quite make the cut.

NOW YOU SEE THEM, NOW YOU DON'T: Poems about Creatures that Hide is David L. Harrison's newest book. Poems are divided into five sections- sea life, reptiles and amphibians, mammals, insects and spiders,  and birds. End notes include an informational paragraph about each of the 19 featured animals. Giles La Roche's 3D collage illustrations are sure to fascinate young readers.

These poems and paragraphs would be terrific mentor texts for young scientists and poets!

From the section about sea life…

"Ghost Crab"

List of words
ghost crabs know
danger, freeze,
blend, slow,
look, run,
stop, go.

Sea, food,
wave, tide,
eat, fast,
scurry, hide,
dig, hole,
dive, inside.

Gull, danger,
sand, white,
disappear,
plain, sight,
sun, burn,
safe, night


From the mammal section…

"Polar Beer"

Seal, be wary
of the bear.
It's white on white
against the glare
when snow sparkles
the frosty air.

Seal, be watchful,
have a care.
Beside the hole,
it's waiting there.
Dive! Escape
the great white bear!

From the insect section

Crab Spider

Spider used
a bloom to hide it
until a fly
flew down beside it.
Then with spider's
aptitude
the buzzy fly
became fast food.

Fellow Denverite, Linda Baie, is hosting POETRY FRIDAY over at Teacher Dance. Head over there for a lot of great poetry.

AN AMBUSH OF TIGERS- Betsy Rosenthal

I love books that encourage kids to develop a fascination with words. AN AMBUSH OF TIGERS is definitely one of those books. In this rhyming picture book, author Betsy Rosenthal presents collective nouns in a way that kids are sure to enjoy. Did you know that a group of tigers is called an ambush? That giraffes come in towers? Rhinos in crashes? Leopards in leaps? Sharks in shivers? Porcupines in prickles? There are thirty-three different animal groups for kids to enjoy.

Does an ambush of tigers
quietly creep
past a bed of oysters
that snores in its sleep? 

Do leaps of lizards
jump into trees
while armies of herring
march in the seas?

And when all these animals
receive an invitation
to come together
for a huge celebration 

Would you call it a mob?
A sea? A crowd?
Whatever it is
it sure is LOUD!

Back matter includes a glossary.

ELIZABETH QUEEN OF THE SEAS- Lynne Cox, illustrations by Brian Floca

There was once a lovely elephant seal who lived in the city. Most elephant seals live in the ocean, in salt water. They sleep on rocky coasts and lie along sandy beaches. But this seal was different. She swam in the sweet, shallow waters of the Avon River where it lowed through the heart of Christchurch, New Zealand

So begins the true story of  Elizabeth, an elephant seal that somehow ended up living on the banks of the Avon River in Christchurch, New Zealand, in the 1970's and 80's. Elizabeth loved hauling herself up the bank of the river and laying on the warm road. The people of Christchurch were worried that she would be hit by a car and hauled her away from the city. Three times they took her out to sea,to live in other colonies of elephant seals, but Elizabeth just kept returning to the park she knew as home. Finally the citizens of Christchurch decided to let Elizabeth stay where she was happiest.  Brian Floca's watercolor illustrations are a perfect accompaniment to this engaging story.  End matter includes information about elephant seals.

Mr. Schu Reads interviewed author Lynne Cox, who also happens to be a world champion open water swimmer, here.

CHASING CHEETAHS

Another fantastic offering from the SCIENTISTS IN THE FIELD, this book follows author Sy Montgomery and photographer extraordinaitreNic Bishop as they visit Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of this organization's work, e.g. one chapter describes the cheetah's unique physical features, another explains how CCF trains cheetahs to reintroduce them into the wild, and still another about how Laurie works with the farmers, even giving them enormous Kangal dogs to protect their herds so they won't need to kill cheetahs. Yet another chapter describes how veterinarians provide physical examinations and health care to the cheetahs, and still another describes how scientists use DNA to trace cheetahs. Finally, there's a chapter about the organization works with school children, educating the next generation of cheetah conservationists. And as with most (all?) books in this series there are lots of related inset articles through the book- Fast Facts (did you know the cheetah can go 70 miles per hour, but can only sustain this speed for 400 to 600 yards), Cheetahs in Numbers (the species has dropped from more than 100,000 in 1900 to the current 10,000), how readers can help, etc. 

BEHOLD THE BEAUTIFUL DUNG BEETLE- Cheryl Bardoe

Every once in a while, I read a book where I think, "Where in the world did the author get the idea for this book?" That definitely happened when I read Cheryl Bardoe's latest, BEHOLD THE BEAUTIFUL DUNG BEETLE.

Somewhere in the world, an animal is lightening its load…

Animals take nutrients from the food they eat. Then, after their food is digested,  they push waste out in the form of dung, also called feces or poop. 

Nearby, antennae detect the scent of dung in the breeze. One animal's waste is the dung beetle's treasure…

It turns out,, that there are three different types of dung beetles. Dwellers "dig right in." Rollers "push perfect spheres of dung away from the throng." And tunnelers "hoard their treasures directly below the dung pat."  The book goes on to describe how the beetles eat, compete with each other, reproduce and grow.

End matter includes a section on finding Dung Beetles," fascinating facts, a diagram of the dung beetle's body, and a glossary. And this would be a great book for teaching the Compare/Contrast text structure. 

One of those books where you read with a combination of 'Ewwww!' and amazement.

SEA TURTLE SCIENTIST- Stephen R. Swinburne

I'm not surprised to discover that the SCIENTISTS IN THE FIELD series has several (at least four, I think) books on the CYBILS nonfiction list. Today's offering, SEA TURTLE SCIENTIST, follows Dr. Kimberly Stewart, the "turtle lady," in her efforts to save the sea turtles of Saint Kitts and Nevis. The reader follows Stewart in her midnight watches of enormous mama turtles crawling up onto the beach to lay eggs, and her digging of nests that have hatched. The book includes chapters on how the turtles hatch and begin their journey, how the community is working to save the turtles and interestingly, a chapter on a native from Saint Kitts, that used to hunt sea turtles, but now works with Stewart on her conservation effort. Swinburne presents the complexities of conservation- the local people depend on sea turtles for food and use the shells to make jewelery, which is a source of income.

The story of Stewart's work is interspersed with numerous (I counted at least ten) related articles, e.g. WIDECAST (a Caribbean organization that works to save sea turtles), sea turtle facts, a history of Saint Kitts, how sea turtles are killed, etc. Back matter includes a glossary, a selection on how to help sea turtles, another on how to adopt sea turtles, and a bibliography of books and websites for further reading. By the time I was finished reading, I had resolved to stop using plastic grocery bags and also to go on an eco-vacation to a turtle preserve.

ANIMAL STORIES: HEART WARMING TRUE TALES FROM THE ANIMAL KINGDOM

Owen and Mzee? Balto? Keiko, the whale who starred in FREE WILLY? Smokey the Bear? Sea Biscuit?

You probably know all of these animals, but what about Binta Jua, the gorilla mom who picked up a little boy who somehow fell into the cage at Brookfield Zoo and carried him to her door, so none of the other gorillas could hurt him?

Or how about Pale Male, a red-tailed hawk that makes his home on Fifth Avenue, in New York City, and has fathered a hundred or more other urban dwellers?

Or what about the Tamworth Two, two hogs that fled the slaughterhouse and escaped into the woods of England in 1998?

These are only a few of the animals that are included in ANIMAL STORIES: NINETEEN TRUE TALES FROM THE ANIMAL KINGDOM by Jane Yolen and her three children, Heidi, Jason, and Adam Stemple. Each of the 19 narrative nonfiction stories included in the book is about a different animals, and is accompanied by a short nonfiction piece about the animal or a related topic. End pages include a brief synopsis of each story, a world map, a timeline, an authors' note, and resources for further reading. Each story also contains several full color illustrations, making the book more accessible to younger readers.

A great gift for an animal lover!

NEIGHBORHOOD SHARKS- KATHERINE ROY

 "Every September, the great white sharks return to San Francisco. Their hunting grounds, the Farallon Islands, are just thirty miles from the city. 

While their 800,000 human neighbors dine on steak, salad, and sandwiches, the white sharks hunt for their favorite meal."

So begins NEIGHBORHOOD SHARKS, Katherine Roy's debut picture book, which is probably one of the most unique books I've read recently. The first few pages appear to be typical picture book format, with two or three lines of text on a page. About the fifth page, however, that format changes, to more an upper grade nonfiction type book. The first text-heavy spread describes the pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) that live on the Farfallon Islands, and the scientists that study them. The next five two-page spreads are devoted to five unique adaptations that enable sharks to effectively hunt seals. Did you know that sharks pectoral fins provide lift in the water, similar to the wings on a jet plane? Or that they have a complex web of arteries and veins that acts as a heat exchange system, which through swimming, increases their body temperature, and allows them to digest food and move more quickly? Or that their jaws aren't fused to their skulls, but instead can be projected forward, so that they have maximum bite force?

After describing these adaptations, Roy switches back to typical picture book format for a few more pages, before going back to a few more text-heavy spreads that describe the scientists' process for tracking sharks, the great whites' place in the food chain, and their migration process.

Katherine Roy studied under David Macauley at the Rhode Island School of Design, and the water color illustrations in this book are incredible- the way she captures the sharks' movement and attack feels as real as, well, as real as watching the shark attacks in JAWS. Kids are going to love the illustrations. The book also includes lots of beautiful labelled diagrams, which they are going to enjoy just as much.

A terrific book for classrooms and Christmas presents!

Katherine Roy wrote a post for the Nerdy Book Club about a month ago.

And was interviewed by Mr. Schu here. 

And here's a really interesting blog post about the process Katherine Roy used to create SHARKS.

And another link to her sketchbooks.

IVAN- THE REMARKABLE TRUE STORY OF THE SHOPPING MALL GORILLA

 

  

 In January, 2013, Katherine Applegate won the Newbery for THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN. Now Applegate's back with another Ivan story, only this one is a beautifully written, poetic, take your breath away, picture book. Listen…

In leafy calm,

in gentle arms,

a gorilla's life began…

 Somehow, within the space confines of only a few pages, Applegate manages to capture the injustice of Ivan's life- how he was taken from his family in the jungle, confined in a dark crate, dumped off in Washington, confined at the shopping mall for years, and then finally, released to the Atlanta Zoo, where…

In leafy calm,

in gentle arms,

a gorilla's life began

again. 

G. Brian Karas illustrations are pretty close to perfect. He describes his illustration process here.

Back matter includes two pages, "About Ivan," as well as some words from Jodi Carriage, Ivan's main keeper at Zoo Atlanta, who says, "Ivan loved to paint, which was evident by how quickly he came right over and made delighted sounds when I got the painting supplies out. I would hold out the colors and he would paint to the one he wanted to use-- his favorite color was red."

I'm tucking this one into my bag to take to school today. I can't wait to share it with kids!

EYE TO EYE- STEVE JENKINS

A new Steve Jenkins' book?? Yes sirree, when my all-time favorite nonfiction picture book author releases a new book, I am on it! OK, actually this book was released in April, but who's counting? In EYE TO EYE, Steve Jenkins takes on the topic of animal eyesight. The book begins with several pages of narration about how animals use their eyes to find food, to protect themselves, to attract mates, etc. Jenkins then goes into an explanation of the four different types of eyes- eyespot, pinholes, compound, and camera eyes. From there, each page features information about  a different animal's eyesight, with an enlarged head shot, and then a thumbnail of the entire body. Lots of interesting and bizarre facts, sure to delight even the most reluctant reader:

•  A young halibut has an eye on each side of its body. As it gets older, however, one eye migrates over the top of the fish's head. Eventually, both eyes end up on the same side. The halibut spends most of its adult life lying on its side on the bottom of the ocean, and the arrangement means that both eyes will be directed upward, away from the sea floor. 
• The bullfrog doesn't appear to see things that aren't moving. It eats insects, but face-to face with a motionless fly, it will starve to death.
• The Eurasian buzzard has the sharpest eyesight of any animal. Its vision is eight times more accurate than ours-- keen enough to home in on a rabbit two miles away.

End pages include the evolution of the eye, a page with a few more facts about each featured animal, a bibliography and a glossary.

TWO BOOKS FOR THE BIRD(ER)S

MAMA BUILT A LITTLE NEST captures the intricacies of "avian architecture." The book contains 15 two-page-spreads, each describing a different kind of bird next. The lefthand page is a four rhyming verse, e.g.

Daddy built a little next--
Now don't gross out-- with spit 
Who would have thought that spit would make
the perfect place to sit?

The right hand page includes one or two sentences about the bird:

The swiftlet makes an edible nest using tube-shaped saliva, which hardens in the air. Swiftlet nests are used in bird's nest soup, a Chinese delicacy

In the author's note, Jennifer Ward explains:

Birds are skilled, inventive, and adaptable builders. Nest design may be minimal (as with a scrape) or mind-boggling intricate (as with a woven). Sizes may be tiny (hummingbird) or huge (eagle). Birds design burrow, cavity, and mound  nests. They sew and craft woven, dome, and hanging nests. They produce nests that float, defy gravity, expand, are camouflaged, and that heat and cool.

Primary grade students are going to fall in love with this book. At the same time, I'm thinking it will be perfect for the animal adaptations unit our fifth graders are starting in early November. And an added bonus- collage illustrations are by one of my all-time favorite picture book artists, Steve Jenkins. 

Melissa Stewart's FEATHERS: NOT JUST FOR FLYING is another terrific new book about animal adaptations. In this picture book, Stewart describes the many different ways that birds use feathers. Two purposes are paired, then compared with common objects in a large font at the top of the page,  then a more detailed paragraph, in a smaller font, gives additional information.

"Feathers can shade out sun like an umbrella… As a hungry tri-colored heron wades through the water in search of food, it raises its wings high over its head. The feathers block out reflections from the sky and shade the water. This makes it easier to spot tasty fish and frogs. 

 Or protect like sunscreen"
On sunny summer afternoons red-tailed hawks spend hours soaring through the sky in search of prey Their thick feathers protect their delicate skin from the sun's harmful rays.

Sarah Brannen's watercolor illustrations are intricate and perfect, and yet feel simple enough that they could provide a great mentor text for any child interested in creating a nature journal.

Great for a lesson on birds, animal adaptations, metaphor, or capturing information on illustrations! Or just plain reading and enjoying!

TWO ANIMAL BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

A new book by two of my favorite Colorado authors? I'm definitely in!

MY FIRST DAY by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page is a collection of interesting facts about how more than 20 animals spend their first day. The Darwin Frog spends its first days inside a special pouch in the father's throat. The wood duck jumps out of its nest in a tree, falls a long way, then paddles after its mother. A baby sea otter dozes on its mama's belly while she floats in the waves. A california sea lion calls back and forth to its mama until she and the mama can recognize each other's voices and she won't get lost. A Mexican free tailed bat's mother recognizes its call and scent from millions other bats. The baby manatee's mama lifts it to the surface for its first breath, but within an hour it's swimming and breathing on its own.

Of course, the reader falls in love with Jenkins signature collage illustrations. Three pages of endnotes have tiny thumbnails and five or six more facts about each animal.

Thinking this would be a perfect sibling gift for a family with a new baby!

And then another favorite author/illustrator, has a gorgeous new book for the just-beginning-to-actually-read-the actual text set. WHAT AM I? WHERE AM I? is a riddle book. Each section of the book begins with a circular picture of part of an animal and the question, "What am I?" The reader makes a guess, then turns the page to see a two-page spread of the full animal, with the text, "I am a ________. Where am I?"  The reader turns the page again and sees, "I am in a ________."

A great nonfiction text for beginning readers. Classic detailed, watercolor Lewin illustrations. Great introduction to habitat vocabulary (grassland, tundra, forest). Another sure winner!

FROG SONG

FROG SONG is a magical, musical, melodic, tribute to frogs.

"Frogs have a song for trees, bogs, burrows, and logs. When frogs have enough moisture to keep gooey eggs, squirmy tadpoles, and hoppity adults from drying out they can sing almost anywhere. CROAK! RIBBIT! BZZT! PLONK! BRACK! THRUM-RUM!"

After that introduction, each two page spread focuses on a different and unusual frog from all over the world.

"In Chile, the Darwin's frog sings in the beech forest. Chirp-Chweet! The male guards 30 eggs in the damp leaves for three weeks. When the tadpoles wiggle, he scoops them into his mouth. SLURP! They slither into his vocal sacs, where he keeps them safe and moist for seven weeks. Then he gives a big yawn and little froglets pop out. "

I could see kids poring over this book with an atlas or globe right beside them.

I'm not even sure where to begin to talk  about Gennady Spirin's illustrations. They are so lifelike and detailed you almost feel like you are looking at photographs. I wonder if Spiring might do illustrations for scientific journals. And I'm not at all surprised to have seen this book on more than one Mock Caldecott list. Think it's definitely a contender.

A two page spread in the back gives a photo, range, size, and a quick fact about each frog. Another page describes "Frogs in Trouble."

FROG SONG could be used in a unit on animals, or adaptation, or protecting the earth. It could be used in a nonfiction study of  text structure. Or in writing for voice.

Or it could simply be read and reread and enjoyed, because it's wonderful!

THE DOGS OF WINTER- Bobbie Pyron

That crazy time of the school year, when everything moves at warp speed, and the paperwork seems to multiply every night. I am still trying to read, at least a little. This weekend, I finished Bobbie Pyron's 'THE DOGS OF WINTER. This story is set in Russia, in the late 1990's. The Soviet regime had fallen, typical support agencies had collapsed, and people were living in dire poverty, with little support from the government. Many children (perhaps even two million), lived alone and uncared for  on the streets of Russia.

THE DOGS OF WINTER is loosely based on the life of one of those children, Ivan Mishukov. Ivan is very young, only about four, when his beloved grandmother dies. His mother becomes involved with an unscrupulous man and then disappears. The man attempts to take Ivan to an orphanage, but the boy escapes, and turns to life on the streets, where he is taken in by a pack of wild dogs. DOGS OF WINTER chronicles Ivan's life with the dogs.

A survival story sure to be enjoyed by any dog lover.

IT'S MONDAY AND I LOVE LULU!

Have you ever found a series or an author that you are sure is brand new? And you can't wait to share your new find with other people? And then you google the author to see if you can find a little more about them? And you discover the author is not new at all, but that they are really, really famous, and have actually written a whole bunch of books? And the only reason you don't know anything about them is that they live and write in a different country?

That's exactly what happened to me this month. A publisher sent me two books in a series I thought was totally new. And then when I googled author Hilary McKay, I discovered she is very well known, and has written lots and lots of books, but they have all  been published in England. Recently two books in her Lulu series have been released in the United States. Another one will be released next fall. And I'm excited, because I love them!

Lulu is a series for beginning chapter book readers; I'm thinking of kids that like Junie B. Jones, or Clementine, or Marty McGuire. She's a spunky, animal-crazy girl with a best friend/cousin named Mellie. And, as a teacher in urban settings, with a population of 95% non Anglo students, I really love that Lulu appears to be African American. That's not part of the story,  but at the same time, it's really, really nice to be able to hand my students a book where the child on the cover looks like them.

In the first book,  Lulu and the Duck in the Park, Lulu's class goes on field trip. It's early spring, and there are lots of mama ducks sitting on nests full of eggs. While the class is at the park, two big dogs get loose and cause major chaos. Mama ducks are chased off their nests and eggs are broken.  When the chaos is over, Lulu finds an egg. She doesn't want the egg to get cold, so she shoves it into her sweater, and takes it back to school, even though her teacher has told the children repeatedly that she doesn't like pets, and is trying to get rid of the class hamster. And then the inevitable happens.

In the second book, Lulu and the Dog from the Sea, Lulu's family, along with Mellie and the family dog, Sam, have rented a cottage at the beach. Sam does not like the beach, "he isn't fond of the sand, he didn't like the chilly breezes and he hates getting wet in the salty water." I love McKay's portrayal of Sam, a kind of sweet little guy, who is just kind of set in his ways and really does not like a lot of change.

Both Sam and Mellie take a lot of luggage on the trip. Sam has a blanket, a brush, his dish, special shampoo, and a much loved beanbag. Mellie has received a "Build your Own Kite" kit for her birthday, and can't wait to build the kite and then fly it on the beach. She opens the kit in the car, then promptly loses some major pieces (As an mom who has tried to assemble many things- kites, models, etc. with my boys, this thread of the story had me laughing all the way through the book).

When the family arrives at the cottage, the owner is waiting for them. She needs to warn them about a stray dog that lives on the beach. The owner tells Lulu and her family, in no uncertain terms, that they should not feed the dog, nor should they allow it to access scraps from the garbage can. And of course, the first thing animal-loving Lulu wants to do is to befriend the stray dog.

I love this series. I'm excited, when I look at Hilary McKay's website, to see that there are at least four more books in the Lulu series (Lulu and the Hamster on the Roof, Lulu and the Cat in the Bag, Lulu and the Hedgehog in the Rain, Lulu and the Rabbit Next Door). I'm hoping those will be published in the United States very, very soon. And then there is another series, about a boy named Charlie, that looks like one our boy readers might love. And then there's McKay's Casson Family series, and the Paradise House series, and the Pudding Bag series, and the Dog Friday trilogy. And then some others for older readers.

Hilary McKay seems like an author American readers definitely need to know.

IN THE SEA- David Elliott, illustrated by Holly Meade

For those, like me, who like a little science with their poetry, and gorgeous language besides, here is a  perfect new poetry book for you. IN THE SEA, by David Elliott and Holly Meade, is a collection of  25 poems about sea creatures- seahorses, coral, blue whales, octopus, sharks, puffer fish, moray eel, mackerel, starfish, herring, sea turtles and more. The poems are short- most are between four and ten lines, but they are filled with terrific information.

"The Sea Turtle"
Swims the seven seas
for thirty years
then finds the beach
where she was born--
by magic it appears.

How can she know to come upon
that far and sandy place?
Rare instrument of nature,
fair compass in a carapace?

 And in case you didn't notice, Elliott also fills his poems with gorgeous, gorgeous words for kids to wrap their mouths and brains around. Take a look at this poem…

"The Moray Eel"
Ferocious. Cunning.
Belligerent. Brave.
A sword without its sheath
a dragon in its cave.

Other words you will find in these poems include apparition, briny, jester, cunning, and belligerent. 

And Holly Meade's woodcut print/watercolor (I think?) illustrations are absolutely gorgeous-- beautiful combinations of tans and aquas and blues and greens and golds, and sweeping lines that capture the movement of the sea perfectly.  I want to share this book with the art teacher at my school, because I think she would love using it with kids.

I could see lots of uses for this book. I might just put it in a poetry basket, or an ocean basket, for kids to enjoy. I might use the poems as mentor texts in a multi-genre unit- I could see studying Elliott's work, then writing our own poems embedding facts about animals we were studying (for people who are interested in doing that, Elliott has also written two companion volumes- ON THE FARM and IN THE WILD). I might have kids study Meade's illustrations, then try something similar. I might also use this book when I was talking with writers about word choice.

For teachers who like a little science with their poetry, this book is a perfect choice!

BLESS THIS MOUSE- Lois Lowry

Last night I went to Tattered Cover to see Lois Lowry, who is on a book tour for her newest novel, BLESS THIS MOUSE. I didn't intend to buy it, but of course, I ended up bringing the book home.

BLESS THIS MOUSE is the story of a community of 200 mice , who live in St. Bartholomew's church. Hildegarde, the Mouse Mistress, must shepherd her flock through periodic visits from the dreaded X (the exterminator) and also the Festival of Saint Francis, when the parishioners bring their pets, including cats, to be blessed. She is assisted by her bumbling wanna-be boyfriend, Roderick, and Ignatious, a wise old mouse who spent most of his life nibbling books in the university library, and therefore knows a little bit about a lot of things. And then there is Lucretia, the mouse who is constantly trying to usurp Hildegarde as Mouse Mistress…

I'm not usually big on animal fantasy, but this book is delightful. Hildegarde is a brave and resourceful leader. The complex "underground" life of mice, living in a church, where humans are kind of aware of them, but not really, reminded me of the Borrowers, which was one of my childhood favorites. The mice have their own religious life, complete with services on Sunday (led by Hildegarde) that I loved.

A terrific read aloud for primary grade students.