Know, Understand And Be Amazed

For the second time in the past five years, I've nearly been nose to nose with a white-tailed deer.  The first time Xena and I were walking through the woods of a nearby conservancy, climbing a hill.  As we came around a bend at the top, there stood a buck with a large set of antlers enjoying a meal of apples beneath a tree.   We all stood frozen for several heartbeats.

More recently as the final moments of daylight were leaving, I was hurrying to sweep the last autumn leaves off my deck.  A doe was walking into my back yard having left the safety of a nearby vacant lot.  We caught each other completely unaware.

These close encounters with the animal kingdom make us pause, wonder again at the space we share and marvel at the characteristics, the adaptability, of each specie.  It stands to reason, given all his previous books on specific aspects of animals, the newest title written and illustrated by Steve Jenkins, The Animal Book: A Collection of the Fastest, Fiercest, Toughest, Cleverest, Shyest---and Most Surprising---Animals on Earth (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children), would cover the depth and breadth of all creatures.  With every page turn, the word masterpiece will continue to enter your thoughts.

In the introduction, Jenkins states:

When I was six years old, I was given a copy of Life magazine.  On the cover was a remarkable illustration of a bird and a tortoise.  ...
...This book brings together more than 300 of these animals---the exotic and the everyday---and describes some of the amazing things they can do.

A table of contents follows listing the eight categories found in this title: Animals, Family, Animal Senses, Predators, Defenses, Animal Extremes, The Story of Life and More Information.  Each section is further broken into finer points numbering between six and eleven concluding with Facts pages at the end of each.  Decades of research, unbelievable information, is found on each and every page.

In the first section we are given a five part, easy to understand, definition of an animal.  Species, their numbers, their importance in individual biomes, and their physical characteristics which place them in groups are discussed.  The proportion of insects with respect to other animals is mind-boggling.  Raise your hand if you knew there are 3,000 species of mosquito.

All manner of perpetuating a given animal are presented.  Some animals need a mate, others do not.  Attracting, fighting for and dancing with a mate are revealed.  While the comparing of egg sizes is interesting, the how and where of egg laying is fascinating and a little cringe worthy.  Birth, care of young and brothers and sisters will have readers glad of their own circumstances.  No wonder there are so many flies, it only takes one day for an egg to hatch.  It might be nice if they could trade places with elephants for awhile.

Seeing with eyes that can move in separate directions at the same time, hearing with ears on their feet, feeling vibrations in the water with tiny hairs on their skin, being able to taste with their entire body or sensing heat, electricity or the earth's magnetic field are some of the means of survival for animals.  Size and placement of their sensory organs are crucial and a direct reflection of their environment.  We can't see them with our eyes but the giant clam has more pinhole-size eyes covering its body than can be counted.

The cheetah may be the fastest sprinter on the planet but I'm glad the tiger beetle is not any larger.  Yikes!  Wily animals wait and leap, seek cover by camouflage or attract with a tricky bait to get their next meal.  Poison and specially designed body parts can be deadly for prey.  Yuck...storing food on your skin, shedding it and eating it, may be good for the crucifix toad but not for this person.

Flight, hide, mimic, poison, armor, body fluids, surprise, fight and teamwork provide defense in the face of an enemy.  Frogs that fly, a beetle pretending to be bird poo, a primate with toxic elbows, a gull chick with sticky vomit or a bird with a life-threatening kick are among many to be avoided.  Depending on an animal's placement on the food pyramid they may have many or no predators except for humans.

When the largest animals ever to have lived are compared to the size of a human, it makes you really stop to think...and wish you could see a blue whale just once in the wild.  The biggest then and now, comparing cat to cat, turtle to turtle, snake to snake, the actual size of some animals, the smallest, the loudest, the longest living, those residing in extreme climates and those most dangerous to humans are all described. You can't help but contemplate the danger to people of one of the smallest animals.

The chapter, The Story of Life, is a brief but informative look at the beginning following it to the present day.  A time line, the theory of evolution, survival of the fittest, mutation and physical characteristics are reviewed.  As hard as this concept is to fathom, Jenkins makes it clear.

Fourteen pages of animal thumbnail pictures are supplied with the page number of their appearance in the book, their size, habitat, diet and a single fact.  Pertinent words are defined in a glossary.  I am especially pleased with the inclusion of twelve pages Making Books. Steve Jenkins provides readers with his process.  The final pages are of a bibliography of sources and a page of those books Jenkins and others have previously made, parts of which are found in this title.


It's as if Steve Jenkins has taken his considerable years of work, read through each and every volume, poured over all his research and picked the best to share with his readers.  Each chapter opens with a conversational paragraph on the topic as does each subsequent portion.  The pictures selected to enhance a subject are explained in informative but not overwhelming detail.  There is not a single sentence that does not serve to engage readers.

Jenkins' torn-paper and cut-paper collage illustrations are incredible.  Texture and color so closely imitate real life readers will be enticed to look at them again and again.  The array of animal life on the matching jacket and cover is repeated in a small patterned gray on gray silhouette display on the opening and closing endpapers,

Like a naturalist's journal everywhere you look are animals of all shapes, sizes and habitats from Earth, each carefully labeled.  To accentuate his creations Jenkins makes liberal use of white space.  Each chapter beginning (starting with Family) prominently depicts the included sections in small circles at the top or bottom. The colorful, graphs and charts found throughout are a fact-finders delight.  Readers will be wowed by the two page spreads carefully placed in each section.


I can't recommend highly enough The Animal Book: A Collection of the Fastest, Fiercest, Toughest, Cleverest, Shyest---and Most Surprising---Animals on Earth written and illustrated by Steve Jenkins.  This is one of those titles that can be enjoyed by the most avid naturalist or the casual observer; there is something within these pages for everyone.  I've been completely engrossed in the reading of it for more than two days.  I can imagine conversations around the dinner table or on trips with individuals randomly calling out information gleaned from this title.  This book is a treasure.

Please follow the link embedded in Steve Jenkins' name to access his official website.  Here is a recent interview with Steve Jenkins by Roger Sutton at The Horn Book. Enjoy the book trailer below.  Here are links to my other reviews of books illustrated or written and illustrated by Steve Jenkins, The Beetle Book, My First Day and Eat Like a Bear.

Animal Oddities

Shelves containing books about animals, wild or domestic are among the most heavily used in the library.  Interest has never lessened over the years; students continue to crave information about the other occupants of our planet.  With many their conservation status has gone from endangered to extinct more quickly than anticipated.  It is a constant hope the enthusiasm for these resources will heighten awareness and participation in preservation.

Switch Zoo (not a new site, except to me) provides the perfect platform for guys and gals to learn and play about animals.  Free to use with any age group this application has received the best possible rating, "E" for everyone.  It is offered online or as an app.  An explanation is offered on the home page for users wishing to purchase additional features and images.

If you click on the Guided Tour button on the home page, you are taken to a new window.  This offers the opportunity to create new animals and give them names.  At this next window specific instructions are offered on the left-hand side of the screen.  Each time an action is completed, click on the next button.

You begin by choosing one of the nine animals shown on the colored wheel surrounding the map.  I selected Dog.  A new screen appears with a variety of options.

Directly underneath the animal in their habitat, scene, at the top of the fence are the original nine animals.  Beneath those are choices for giving your animal a new tail, legs and head.  To add a new body part, look on the left scrolling through the possibilities or select one of the nine.

When a new head appears, the facts about the animal are added to the information already there for the original animal.  Continue by clicking on the icon for legs and tail until you have three new parts.  You can assign a name to your creation by clicking on the Add Title box to the left of the blue fact squares.

  

To begin again select either the Map wheel or Animal List on the right of the fence.  The image below is of the initial screen for the Animal List.

You can also write a story about this newest member of "your" animal kingdom by choosing the blue Add Story button to the left of the animal facts. If you wish to print, click on the camera icon to open up a new window.  The last image shows the application without the guided tour hints on the left.

At any time during use of Switch Zoo you can click on the tiny Zoo Puzzle icon under the scroll bar options on the left to begin that game.  You can go back to the home page, click on the blue button, Animal Games Online or go to the top of the Switch Zoo window and select Make and Play to access Zoo Puzzle and seven other choices including going back to Switch Zoo.  The other games are: Where Do I Live?, Build an Online Habitat, Feeding Time at Switch Zoo, Catch the Moment, Sound Match and Switch Zoo Quest.  You can journey to the jungles of Costa Rica as a wildlife photographer, hunt for unlikely scavengers or place animals in their correct location on the globe. 

The Switch Zoo Quest takes about 30 minutes to finish, testing the reader on their knowledge of the games and activities.  When completed they can print off a certificate and badge.  If not completed at one sitting, users can go back to finish using a secret word.

When the Watch and Listen button at the top is clicked, users can access:

• Music Field Trip
• Mysterious Short Film
• Interactive Sound Map
• Everydog Has His Day
• Ansel Adams Photos
• Animals Sing Beethoven
• Critter Chorus Performs and 
• Animal Videos.

Animal voices are used to make music; listeners are asked to pick them out in a given piece.  You might choose to watch a video of Ansel Adams photographs with a unique soundtrack.  One of the most unique videos illustrates the changes in an octopus to hide themselves from enemies.

On the Teach and Learn page are four categories, Educational Games, Lesson Plans, Resources, and Visitors' Pages.  They link to four of the eight games, Field Trips, Interdisciplinary Lesson Plans, Medieval Art-Mixed Breed Animals, More Lesson Plans, Stories and Poems, The Hall of Names and Visitors' Comments.  By clicking on the Site Map link on the home page, even more resources are available for educators.  One hundred, forty-two animals are listed with brief facts about each.  A interactive map highlights the habitats in the United States.  When a state is selected the endangered animals are listed.  Lessons for art, language arts and science are available.

When users of this site select either Make and Play, Watch and Listen or Teach and Learn, beneath the options are explanations of what each includes.  These thorough explanations and simple navigation around the site make this a great tool for educators; students will be engaged in learning and having fun at the same time.  I recommend using Switch Zoo to introduce or enhance a unit on animals, to conduct research for producing brochures on animals to promote conservation or to teach skills in accessing and using information.  I think I hear the call of my Jagimraffe.   

(It should be noted that a minimal amount of advertising is shown on the right side of the screen.  I did not find it distracting.)  

Numbering The Years

Do you remember playing hide and seek with the neighborhood kids as it started to get dark?  Whether you were "it" or running toward the ultimate hiding spot, the sounds of counting rang out.  Using a well-known, tuneful chant, our group reached one hundred by fives.  When the top number was reached you could hear those familiar words, "Here I come, ready or not."  It was like a rite of passage when you were old enough to play by counting correctly.

The act of counting is such a part of our lives, once accomplished, we are unaware of the actual amount of times it is used during our day.  In an enlightening and uncommon take on numbers, author, Lola M. Schaefer with illustrator, Christopher Silas Neal, has created Lifetime: The Amazing Numbers in Animal Lives (Chronicle Books).  Let's explore their world with a mathematical eye.

In one lifetime,
this spider will spin
1 papery egg sac.

Fragile. Don't touch.

From cover to cover we read about eleven animals, five mammals, one arachnid, one insect, two reptiles, one fish and one bird, eleven fascinating facts, and eleven ways to count those intriguing details. Within these pages we think, look and tally.  We pause and ponder about what we might notice if we stopped to look more carefully.

Each animal's life is not measured in days so much as it is measured in physical changes, cycles and instinctive habits.  An individual caribou gets not one, not two, not even three but ten sets of antlers during their life.  I know that Xena sheds her coat twice a year but an alpaca does so much less.

Whenever I hear a woodpecker I'll be thinking to myself, is that the second, fourth, sixth or thirtieth house they are carving out of a tree?  The louder a rattlesnake's rattle might mean it has more beads.  How can forty beads fit on the tip of its tail?

Can you guess which Australian marsupial has fifty babies in a lifetime?  I'll bet you'll be surprised not only at the sea mammal who never gets a new tooth but how many teeth they actually have.  Roaming the African savannas is an animal whose adult height and number of spots are a match.

Alligator eggs, butterfly visits to flowers and seahorse births leap from 550 to 1,000.  As the numbers climb our eyes wander from leaf tips to tree trunks, forests to barns and under the sea.  We travel the world number by number, animal by animal.


Lola M. Schaefer begins her book with an introductory explanation of her numerical estimations. She includes factors which might affect these numbers and the experts whose advice she sought.  For each animal she begins with In one lifetime...  Using this phrase repeatedly ties each animal to the one before and after it.  For most she provides a conversational aside.  It's like she is speaking with her readers instead of at them.

At the conclusion of the title, The Animals, the common and scientific name of each are given along with several informative paragraphs.  A computation including the average adult life span further instructs on how Schaefer got her numbers.  In What is an average?  she defines average with an example and how she used averages in this book.  Finally, in a special section, Lola M. Schaefer reveals I love math.  She provides readers with an opportunity to quiz themselves with story problems.

Gazing among the rows of trees on the matching jacket and cover, woodpeckers busy making homes, each hollow numbered, readers realize they're about to take a walk into the world of counting among nature.  Opening and closing endpapers in black feature an alligator with numbers like air coming from its mouth.  Matte-finished paper increases the tactile experience.

Rendered in mixed media, the two page illustrations for each animal by Christoper Silas Neal showcase the individual behavior.  It won't take readers long to discover (second animal for me) that for every number listed Silas pictures the exact amount.  Yes, I did count the 100 spots on the giraffe but not all the teeny-weeny, squiggly-wiggly baby seahorses.

How he chose to illuminate each animal, using a solid background, black, white, green, blue or a combination of two, draws the reader's eye immediately to the intended feature.  His technique of including delicate, intricate details with simple bold elements is appealing in design and layout.  I would not hesitate to hang my favorite illustration, the swallowtail butterfly on black among flowers colored white, blue and yellow, on the walls in my home.

I have been turning the pages again and again of Lifetime: The Amazing Numbers in Animal Lives written by Lola M. Schaefer with illustrations by Christopher Silas Neal for several days.  The pairing of Schaefer's information with Neal's illustrations is completely captivating.  This title could serve as a means of presenting mathematical averages to students or for the beginning of a research project.

Wouldn't it be fun for students to make pages like these? ...to make their own book?  To learn more about the author and illustrator follow the links to their websites embedded in their names above.  If you click on Christopher Silas Neal's link to his blog, you can see more pictures found in this book.   I would pair this with Bugs by the Numbers: facts and figures for multiple types of bugbeasties by Sharon Werner and Sarah Forss. Recently Jen reviewed at Teach Mentor Texts: Using Mentor Texts to Promote Literacy, Million, Billions & Trillions: Understanding Big Numbers by David A. Adler, which would also be a good match.

Fantastic, Fierce, Fun, Furry Facts

More than thirty years ago I sat in church on a summer Sunday morning listening to a sermon where a single sentence stated has stayed with me all these years, When you're through learning, you're through.  This was by no means a new proverbial thought, but to me, on that day, it was.  When you really stop to think about it, now more than ever with the advances in technology, not a day goes by without some new piece of information finding its way into the storehouses of our minds.

As much as I would like to think I know as much as possible about dogs, at least Labrador retrievers, I learned something new yesterday.  In fact I discovered more than twenty fascinating facts about individual members of the animal kingdom.  In 2011 Paul Thurlby debuted as a picture book author/illustraor (actually creating for all ages) with Paul Thurlby's Alphabet (reviewed here).  It garnered the Opera Prima Bologna Ragazzi Award at the Bologna Children's Book Fair 2013.  His 2013 title Paul Thurlby's Wildlife (Templar Books, an imprint of Candlewick Press) is, simply put, facts delivered with fun.

Hearing is a tiger's sharpest sense---five times stronger than a human's.

With that information laid before readers, we know there's absolutely no chance of tip-toeing up to one of these beautiful creatures.  We also realize the symphony of sound tigers must be hearing at any given moment.  If we can hear a mosquito buzzing somewhere near us, imagine all they can hear.

For the next twenty-eight pages a series of observations particular to a pictured animal are cleverly revealed to readers.  Green polar bears, masterful digging-machine moles, ever-watchful dolphins and fastidious rats roam these pages.  Flamingos can drink upside down? Male monkeys go bald?  Pigeons receive accolades from the army?


Each entry includes at least a single sentence with the animal's name in bold print beneath the illustration.  In varying font styles a well-known phrase relative to the fact is incorporated into the illustration.  All Ears is paired with the first sentence about the tiger's hearing.  Let your true colors shine through is matched with how goldfish get their orange shades.  Wet behind the ears introduces readers to the bathing habits of giraffes.


As he did in his first book the jacket unfolds to become a poster, featuring one of the illustrations in the book.  Zooming in on the fur of the tiger showcased on the cover, opening and closing endpapers are definitely on the wild side.  A faded golden-green version of the pattern provides the background for the identical jacket and cover.

Using his signature illustrative style Paul Thurlby provides a single page for each animal with the exception of the iguana, kangaroo, monkey, and worm, giving them a full two pages.  Bright, bold, textured and evoking a feeling of the past, each picture contains animation and varying degrees of humor.  As an example:

Bears sleep through the winter (without pooping!) for up to six months.  

This is illustrated with a bear sitting on a white toilet against a tree in the forest, reading a book titled TAKE A BREAK, three rolls of Bear Butts brand toilet paper sitting on the lid.  Next to him is a smiling hedgehog holding a section of toilet paper.

Each reading is a visual discovery; more details become apparent.  The brand name of the lotion used by the goldfish, the kangaroo wearing karate attire, the spinning light and tiled floor for the bee and the shape of the lion's eyes.  The symmetry of the design begins with a boy holding binoculars to his eyes before the first tiger fact.  The book closes with another tiger fact (the tiger holding binoculars up to his eyes) and the final page is a boy seen through the lens of binoculars.


Clever, comic illustrations create the ideal invitation to readers to learn new information about creatures on our planet.  Paul Thurlby's Wildlife is one of those titles everyone will want to own.  It's a good thing, a very good thing, he sells prints of many of his illustrations.  They are most worthy of framing.  Get ready to share this repeatedly.

For peeks at some more of his illustrations head on over to his website courtesy of a link embedded in his name.  More of the artwork from this title is highlighted at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  Julie Danielson interviews him about this book at Kirkus.

For The Very First Time...

People, no matter their age, feel an attraction to, sometimes even the need to protect, baby animals. (Maybe not mosquitoes but you know what I mean.)  It's a frequent sight in my community surrounded by lakes for traffic to stop for a line of new "quackers" trailing behind mama, reminiscent of Robert McCloskey's Make Way for Ducklings. In the morning or early evening it's not uncommon, looking out the back windows of the library at the elementary school, to see deer including fawns in the spring.  If this happens during classes, twenty plus faces, noses pressed against the glass, will be oohing and aahing.

I was moved to tears when present at the birth of puppies; a marvelous miracle to watch.  For those without access to these events Steve Jenkins and his wife, Robin Page have collaborated in a new book, My First Day (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children).  Within thirty-two pages readers are introduced to twenty-two newborns.


What did you do on your first day---the day you were born?

As the introduction reveals, animals may be completely helpless, in need of some assistance or on their own as soon as they are born.  We start in New Zealand with the the kiwi, who after breaking forth from an egg, is ready for the world.  Traveling to the Russian Far East, we discover Siberian tigers are born with their eyes closed, dependent on their mothers.  With a habitat ranging over North America wood ducks climb out of the nest, jump from unbelievable heights to walk and swim right away.

From Africa to Antarctica to the North Pacific to oceans throughout the world, on to South America, then to Australia, and stopping over in the Arctic regions, we visit to find the first day facts of the known and not-so-well known animals on our planet. Readers are probably familiar with giraffes, emperor penguins, sea otters, zebras and polar bears.  How many have heard of a blue wildebeest, a sifaka, a Mexican free-tailed bat, a megapode or Darwin's frog?

You can't help but be intrigued by knowing a mother zebra memorizes the stripes on her baby to find them in a herd of thousands or by the baby megapode born in a huge pile of leaves who can walk, run and fly once they find their way out.  It's interesting to note other stand-out features of the animals selected for this title; the kiwi lays one, and only one, huge egg, the Siberian tiger is the largest living big cat in the world, sea otters are the smallest marine mammal in the world, and the leatherback sea turtle is the biggest on our planet.  These facts are not all mentioned in this title but when nonfiction is well presented, as this is, it invites further investigation.


Jenkins and Page devote one or two sentences to each animal beginning nearly all of them with

On my first day, ...

The intended audience will feel a kinship with each creature as they speak in their own voice.  The array of first day experiences are as different or similar as the animals themselves.


Winning a Caldecott Honor Award in 2004 for What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? brought further attention to the notable torn and cut-paper collage used by Jenkins for his illustrations.  On the jacket and cover, mirror images of one another, readers see a baby muntjac nestled among leaves hoping to remain undetected.  The back asks the question, What did you do on your first day?, words above and beneath an adult and baby Darwin's frog (green on rusty red). Plain sky blue endpapers open and close the body of the book.

Each animal is given a different colored background, setting, highlighting their physical characteristics.  The details, eyelashes, reflections in the eyes, feathers, fur, shading on the bodies or surroundings, is astounding in its intricacy and accuracy.  As in other titles the text placement within the pictures is like concrete poetry imitating the actions depicted by the words.


As an introduction to animals in our world, My First Day written and illustrated by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page is highly informative and engaging in the best possible way, stunning visuals and the kind of facts children (of all ages) will want to know.  As a one-on-one or as a class read aloud I can think of no better new title in this subject area.  More facts, small paragraphs with thumbnail illustrations, about each of the animals are included at the end.

For further study of the animal kingdom head over to ARKive reviewed here on the blog or the kids section of the National Geographic web site.

For additional information on the work of Steve Jenkins there are several videos and slideshows at Teaching Books.net.  Here is an earlier interview of Jenkins at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  This is a link to Steve Jenkins Science Is Fun! A cross-curricular guide to books by Steve Jenkins developed by the publisher.

Caution-Do Not Read Before Eating

Students continually gravitate toward nonfiction.  Once they get hooked on a topic, soaking up information like sponges, they can't get enough.  The way they crave trivia would lead one to believe we are growing a generation (and have been for quite awhile) of future participants on Jeopardy.

Wandering through the public library children's section a couple of days ago, a title caught my eye, mainly because of the slobbering dog on the cover.  When I read the title and saw the author's name, I knew I had found another book to help me fill my book gap challenge.  To say I was riveted to each and every page of  Animal Grossapedia (Scholastic, October 2012) by Melissa Stewart would be an understatement. Once I started, there were no pauses.

SNOT. POOP. PEE. We humans think these gross, gooey, stinky substances are totally disgusting!
But here's a surprise: Some animals have a very different view of this yucky stuff.

With those first two sentences in the introductory paragraph I was about ready to jump in with both feet, figuratively of course.  But when I read the last two sentences, I was good to go until all 112 pages were consumed...er....read.

Want to know more?  Well, UR-INE luck.

Dedicating a single page, usually two, to fifty-eight different creatures, those living on and under the earth, swimming in the water, fresh and salt, flying, creeping, crawling, walking or climbing, hunters and the hunted, from all corners of the world, we read, learn and, yes, it's usually gross.  The first twenty plus pages discuss the ins and outs of  poop.  There are those who design balls weighing fifty times more than they do so their young can feed, many who eat it for digestion and protection.  Want more food?  Line your homes with feces to lure in bugs.  Drop bombs on your enemies, spray it everywhere because you can, and use it to fertilize your own food crops.

Shifting the focus, Stewart reveals how the animal kingdom utilizes urine to perfection.  It's a shield against foes, a cologne for courting, and a communication tool; I'm bigger than you are or this is my space, keep out.  It's a trail for finding your way home, drop by drop.

Mucus and slime are beneficial tools in the animal trade.  Secreting it as a coat of armor, using it to secure one's position, or as a numbing agent against hungry predators, it works wonders.  Without the slim on it's body an earthworm would be unable to breath in oxygen; five hearts but no lungs.

Spit and spitting builds strong bodies, houses and is deadly when dealing with certain critters.  Or in the case of pigs, it's the best perfume on the market to attract a mate.  It's an air conditioner on those hot summer days and the best kind of soap for cleaning.

Big ears, blood suckers and squirters are given their due.  Breath-holders and regurgitators are included too.  What a frog does after a bad-tasting meal is disgusting but amazing at the same time; as are all the facts contained in the pages of this volume.


Melissa Stewart has devoted her life to writing nonfiction science books for children.  With more than 150 titles to her credit, her delivery is informative and highly engaging through her humor and easy conversational style of presentation.  It's easy to imagine her reading the segments in this book aloud to an audience.  Here are a couple of examples.

When a boy is trying to get a girl's attention, he might give her flowers or candy.  But that's not what a male goat does.  Not by a long shot.

The instant that super sticky mucus nabs an unsuspecting insect, the tongue's suction power hurls the prey into the chameleon's mouth.  The victim doesn't stand a chance!


Large chunky letters announce each animal in different colors.  That same color provides the background for the text.  Bright, colorful photographs document the narrative.  For most of the two page spreads, a large one dominates with several smaller visuals on the other page.  Sometimes a cutout of the animal will be placed within the text.

Any word which is included in the Words To Know section in the back is given a larger and different font within the discussion.  Each explanation is started with a specialized font in the shape of an animal.  "W" is the body of a weasel, "J" is the body of a jaguar, or "R" has a raccoon peeking through the hole with its tale curled around.  You can see "N" is for newt on the cover.

In addition to the Words To Know pages, readers can view the Contents in the beginning and Find Out More resources and an Index in the back.


Make no mistake about it, Animal Grossapedia by Melissa Stewart will cause you to at least think if not say "ewww" but readers will be glued to the writing style and the details it contains.  For individual readers or even as a read aloud, this is nonfiction meant to be shared.  Animal Grossapedia is the recipient of the National Science Teachers Association--Children's Book Council Outstanding Science Trade Book recognition for 2013.  By following the link embedded in the book title you are taken to its page within Melissa Stewart's website.  The link embedded in her name takes you to a page where she speaks about why she writes her books.  You can read the NSTA review by following the link attached to their name.

Flannel Friday: A Rumble in the Jungle

Hey, it's a jungle in here!

Source

Happy Flannel Friday!

This week, I was inspired during a super quick visit to our Dollar Store. It was a fast in-and-out visit yesterday morning but I happened to notice some adorable jungle stickers. 

They were only a $1.00!

Since my Family Night storytime this week was an adventure to the jungle, I just had to have them! 

But ~ what to do with them?!??!???

When we adventure to the jungle at storytime, I usually do several songs with lots of different jungle animals so I decided to make some magnetic/flannel sets using these cute animals as my inspiration. 

I took a sheet of the stickers and scanned it into Photoshop. Then I used the cropping tool to isolate each animal ~ leaving a border of the green around each one because I thought it was a nice contrast. Finally,  I enlarged each animal to the appropriate size and printed them out on cardstock.

This is what you need to make the flannel set.

Once they were printed out, I cut out each one leaving the nice green border. 

Sorry about the colors 

~ he should be brown and tan with a light green border ~ 

I'm not sure why my pictures show strange colors sometimes. :o(

Here is where I did different techniques ~ one for the magnetic board and one for the flannel board:

To prepare the animals for flannel use, I glued the cardstock to some stiff black felt using Tacky glue. 

The final step ~ I trimmed the black felt to leave a black border around the edge of the green. That really makes the colors stand out! 

Now he is ready to monkey around at storytime!

For the magnetic board set, I simply copied the animals onto the cardstock, cut out each one ~ leaving the green border ~ and laminated them. Once laminated, I trimmed them up again and put a magnet on the back of each one. Here is the whole gang that I made for last night's storytime:

If you are observant, you will have noticed that I did not include all of the animals from the sticker sheet. I was in a crunch for time since I found them at around 1 pm and needed to use them at 7 pm. I made the ones that I knew would go along with my featured book and a few songs that I had planned to sing. I will be adding the rest soon.

If you are super observant ~ which I am NOT! ~ you may have noticed an extra jungle friend. Here's a clue ~ It is one of these two animals:

It is the flamingo! Isn't she gorgeous? 

And she fits right in with a little help from the green border. I found the flamingo by doing a Google search in images. Once I found one that was similar to the other animals, a friend used a cool tool in Photoshop to add the green border. It is the rubber stamp tool. He says it is simple so I will be learning how to do it myself.  (I love learning new things, don't you?)

There you have it! 

Two ways to very quickly take an inspiration (stickers!) and transform it into usable, brightly colored storytime props.

A few ways that they can be used:

First, I used some of them with a fun song ~ The Jungle Walk (resource information coming soon ~ I have used this song for 20 plus years. It is from a record set that a friend gave me when I first started teaching preschool. The set is my absolute favorite music resource for teaching and for storytimes. I am researching on-line for information on it and will share it as soon as I find it In the meantime, you could just read the words. Contact me if you are interested in having them sent to you.) :

"It's a perfect day to walk in the jungle

Come and spend some time.

Look for the animals deep in the jungle.

Look through the trees and vines."

Each new verse introduces a different animal and asks the children to move like that animal. This song is wonderful for movement and for encouraging good listening skills.

The jungle animal sets can also be used for another active song:

 If I Were

(Sung to: "The Mulberry Bush")

Oh, if I were a monkey, 

a monkey, a monkey,

Oh, if I were a monkey

I'd swing around the jungle.

Swing, swing

Oh, if I were a tiny snake,

tiny snake, tiny snake,

Oh, if I were a tiny snake 

I'd slither around the jungle.

Slither, slither

More verses:

Flamingo ~ fly

Zebra ~ trot

Tiger ~ crawl

Giraffe ~ stretch

Hippo ~ waddle

Lion ~ stalk 

Elephant ~ stomp

For a different take on this song, you could make sounds instead of movements such as roaring for the lion, hissing for the snake, etc. If you don't know what an animal sounds like, you could always ask your child/ren. They often have great suggestions! 

Okay, one more:

At the last minute, I decided to use the animals for a little storytelling. I did a jungle version of Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  Any version of this popular book is always fun and well-received by the children and the parents!

It started out like this:

I went for a walk in the jungle

And what do you think I saw?

I saw a monkey looking at me!

And this is what I said,

Monkey, Monkey, what do you see?

I see a snake slithering by me.

If you would like a copy of the whole story, please send my an email at storytimeabcs@gmail.com

Our adventure to the jungle was a BLAST! Thanks to the colorful jungle animals that were soooo simple to make! I hope you enjoyed learning how they were adapted for both the flannel board and the magnetic board. Come back soon for another visit because I will be sharing more ideas on how to use these stickers for other learning activities. AND I will be sharing our craft from last night! He produced lots of ROAR-ingly good fun!

It's a roaring lion!

I chose this particular picture to include because 

of the little one in the background. 

They are really having fun with the magnetic set!

The little guy's expression is priceless!

I hope you have a fun, adventurous weekend!

And, as always,

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!

This week's Flannel Friday Round-Up is being hosted by Mollie at her blog, What Happens In Storytime. Thanks for hosting this week, Mollie!

Curious about Flannel Friday? 

In the awesome words of Library Quine:

Find out about Flannel Friday on the dedicated website. Features include past roundups, host schedule and how to participate.

Scan the Flannel Friday posts on Pinterest. 

Search for flannels and storytime ideas at Mel's Desk.

Discuss storytime and flannel boards on the Flannel Friday Facebook Page. 

And in my own words, 

ENJOY!

Flannel Friday: Valentine Race

Wow! Is it Friday again already?

This week has been CrAzY! But I have a feeling next week will be even crazier ~ especially since Tuesday is Valentine's Day and we have 3 storytimes scheduled for that morning! Whew!

Well, let's get down to business. Since it is Friday ~ that means it is time for Flannel Friday!

My contribution this week is a simple version of a very OLD but extremely FUN fingerplay:

VALENTINE RACE

Five little Valentines were having a race.

The first Valentine was frilly with lace.



The second Valentine had a silly face.

The third Valentine said, "I love you!"

The fourth Valentine said, "I do, too!"

The fifth Valentine was as sly as a Fox.

'Cause he ran the fastest to your Valentine box!

Yay!

The Valentines were easily made from felt. In fact, it was such an easy project that I decided to make a second set out of fun foam for the magnetic board...



I am not sure which I like better. I had fun making both sets. Which set do you like best?

Here is a list of supplies and quick directions to make the felt set.

Supplies Needed:

White felt

Purple felt

Red felt

Pink felt

Yellow felt

Orange felt

Black felt

Pink ribbon

Sticker eyes or wiggly eyes

Black Sharpie

Fuschia Sharpie

Tacky Glue

Sharp scissors

Directions:

1. Cut the lacy heart out of white felt and a regular heart-shape out of purple felt. Glue the purple onto the center of the lacy heart. Make a small bow out of the pink ribbon and glue onto the lacy heart.

2. Cut a regular heart-shape out of pink felt. Add sticker eyes or wiggly eyes using the glue. Draw on the eyebrows, nose and silly mouth with the black Sharpie.

3. Cut a regular heart-shape out of red felt. Cut a small heart-shape out of pink felt. Glue the small heart in the middle of the large heart. Add the letters and punctuation with the black Sharpie.

4. Cut a regular heart-shape out of yellow felt. Add the letters and punctuation using a fushcia Sharpie. I love this heart because it looks like a candy heart to me. :-)

5. Cut a regular heart-shape out of orange felt. Cut the upper part of the heart shape out of black felt and glue to the top of the orange heart. Cut "cheek" shapes from white felt and glue on. Cut eyes and nose out of black felt and glue on.

Now you have five little Valentines ready for a race!

Have fun!

***I just want to mention my inspiration for the fox heart. This week our storytimes have featured Michael Hall's book, My Heart is Like a Zoo. In his book, there is a "crafty" fox. I thought he was adorable and silly ~ just perfect for our race! What do you think? 



The top fox is made from felt and the fox to the right is made from fun foam.



I really love when I can tie our featured book in with our songs, learning activities like fingerplays and creative movement, and our crafts ~ when possible. These tie-ins help young children stay focused a little longer and help make more connections in their brains so that the children will be able to recall more about the storytime later in the day or week. I believe anything I can do that helps to make those connections possible is well worth the effort. :-)

This week, I was delightfully reminded of how these types of tie-ins were important to one particular storytime friend. One of our regular storytime Moms took this picture of her daughter creating her Lion Puppet at home. They proudly shared the picture with family and friends ~ and ME! ~ on Facebook. It was a sweet surprise because I am usually the one sharing storytime pictures with the families. ;-)



I am hoping to see an increase in the circulation of My Heart is Like a Zoo due to this family's enthusiastic sharing.  I am also hoping to see new families attend the library storytime next week. You just never know... I have already been contacted by a Mom asking for craft directions and the words to the song we sang with the puppet. What an awesome result for such a simple take-home craft!

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!

By the way, here’s Flannel Friday information for this week:

Library Quine has the round up at her blog, Loons and Quines @ Librarytime.

Round up archives and host schedule is at So Tomorrow.

Visually scan all the Flannel Friday posts at Pinterest.

Talk about storytime and flannelboards at the Flannel Friday Facebook Page. Be sure to checkout my Flannel Friday Comment Challenge on the facebook page. This is the third week and I am offering an incentitive!

Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the #flannelfriday hashtag. (You don’t have to be on Twitter to check this out.)

And, last but not least, if you’re a contributor, there is an awesome blog button from Melissa and you can grab it from the right hand menu at Mel’s Desk!