The love of a mother is a truly remarkable thing - in both humans an animals. It gives and forgives, directs and protects, and puts the heart in a home. In rhyming verse, this book captures the many special qualities of motherlove.
Storyteller Brian 'Fox' Ellis draws from his memories of fishing with his father to tell this true tale of a fish, a frog, a dragonfly, a mosquito, and himself. The experience helped mold Fox's life-long connection with nature, and is a wonderful example of entertainment that also educates.
Parents and elementary science teachers alike will appreciate the way the marine food chain comes to light in this lighthearted book. The heroes are -- plankton, floating free, zillions of creatures alive in the sea, making their food from the light of the sun that shines on the sea that feeds us.The plankton feeds the shrimp which feeds bass -- a fish with a hungry look what saw the shrimp, but not the hook. And on up the food chain to the girl with a sandy pail, each verse introduces a new link and then connects it to everything else. Among the verses are interspersed factual statements about the marine food web, enhancing the value of this book for science teachers as well as language arts teachers.
The five intrepid BLUES are caricatures of little bluebirds, yet the featured REAL birds are accurate and carefully researched. In this volume, the Bird X-Games are coming soon. Sammi, the sportster, is determined to enter. In her quest, Sammi and the other BLUES travel the globe to see the most extreme birds - the fastest-moving, longest migrating,deepest-diving, and many other record-holders. And in the process, they discover that they have become X-treme themselves. X-citing!
This is the second in a series designed to inspire youngsters to appreciate birds. In this episode, the BLUES follow in the footsteps of the great birder, Roger Tory Peterson, and discover birds along all North American coasts, from Newfoundland to Alaska. Kids love to follow the fun-filled personalities of the five cartoon birds even while they learn about remarkable REAL birds. Bird facts and birding tips are scattered throughout. Major birders and birding organizations have endorsed the BLUES series.
The BLUES are five little cartoon bluebirds, each full of personality, who love to travel, and everywhere they go they discover new birds--REAL birds, that is. Bird facts and birding tips are scattered throughout. Major birders and birding organizations have endorsed the BLUES series.
Listen to the "buggy" concert happening in your yard, or in the fields and woods nearby. What insects are making those sounds? Learn who is making what sound, and why. Sing along with them! This book is a wonderful introduction to the noisy, busy world of insects.
Good food doesn't begin on a store shelf with a box. It comes from a garden bursting with life, color, sounds, smells, sunshine, moisture, birds, and bees! Healthy food becomes much more interesting when children know where they come from. So what's in the garden? Kids will find a variety fruits and vegetables, and a tasty, kid-friendly recipe for each one to start a lifetime of good eating. A "food for thought" section presents interesting facts about each fruit and vegetable, and a "how does your garden grow?" section explains facts about gardening and the parts of plants.
Teachers and parents, this book is an outstanding teaching resource, much more than the title might suggest. Beginning with a lifetime for a mayfly is about one day, it presents 24 lifetimes such as that of an earthworm (about six years), a giant sequoia (about 2,000 years), a bacteria (well, that depends), a dinosaur (never again) and the universe (about 15 to 20 billion years). Each example comes with detailed illustrations and something to ponder, such as, for earthworms: Worms teach us that our work can be very important, even if it cannot be seen. Each plant or animal is practically a lesson plan in itself, with tell about it, think about it, and look it up challenges. Written by a retired teacher, this is a favorite book for children and teachers alike.
Written and illustrated by a 14 year-old in 1992, this best-selling book has introduced a whole generation to the wonders of a very important habitat. Following XYZ the Ant, young readers walk through the alphabet and engage in fun alliterations about the amazing anteater, majestic macaw, and quiet quetzal along with the other inhabitants they encounter in the rainforest. The colorful illustrations were done in magic marker. It reaches a large age range because the large text is for young readers, while smaller text is for you or more advanced children. Kristin Joy Pratt (A Swim through the Sea) once again successfully inspires a generation of children about one of the most precious and fragile realms on Earth.
A dandelion can teach much about seeds and seasons and cycles, and the big world that a wind-blown seed can travel, but it also can make us appreciate the challenges it must overcome. This gorgeous book is at once simple and profound. You may be surprised and pleased by the questions and observations of your children after reading this together.
Go on a field trip between two covers with Tony to a special, brilliant habitat, a tidepool. A whole community of creatures lives there! Humor, a fun rhyme, good science, and brilliant illustrations come together in a clear, easily understood package. Two pages of Field Notes and fun facts at the back of the book offer intriguing glimpses of these creatures, from snails to sponges.
Just imagine all of nature - mountains, prairies, oceans, and all - lying on your bed as a patchwork quilt! Take flora and fauna in their unique habitats, fold them up and you have a book, this book. Earth's major habitats are spread before you, ready to be examined. Here in this beautiful package are revealed the key concepts of natural science. This patchwork quilt of nature covers the whole Earth, your home - yours to learn about, to enjoy, to care for, and to love.
Named a prestigious CBC/NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book, this is a poetic yet accurate description of the life cycle of salmon. For kids, it is fun and eye-opening. For teachers, it is a valuable supplement to a unit on water, fish and ocean animals, and life cycles. Fast-paced prose and brilliant illustrations follow the salmon from their form as eggs in a stream to the wide ocean, eventually making a hazardous journey home to their stream of origin. As in her earlier best-selling book, The Tree in the Ancient Forest, author Carol Reed-Jones uses cumulative verse--a literary technique that is not only enjoyable but suggests how interconnected salmon are with their habitat. At the back is a section on salmon facts and what makes a good habitat for them, teaching the basics of ecology and why clean streams and waters are so important.
Here, in luminous illustrations, is the life cycle of an oak - and how it supports life even after it is gone. An acorn drops from a great oak and grows. Animals nibble at it, a fire threatens it, but overcoming many challenges it eventually towers high in the forest, observing the changing human scene below. Eventually its energy passes into many other life forms - even the cherry pie enjoyed by the boy in the house below.
Teachers! Here is another field trip between covers from Tony Fredericks, a funny but very astute professor. Here he visits wetlands inhabited by leaping frogs and zip-zipping dragonflies. Teachers will appreciate the accurate science and great illustrations. Kids will appreciate the humor and cadence of the text, while learning how the wetland creatures interact in their community. Two pages of Field Notes and fun facts at the back of the book offer intriguing information on these creatures.
Here is the ideal introduction for preschoolers and early elementary children to insects that are not only amazing but also critically important to humans. Inside-the-hive views of a wild colony of honey bees offer close-ups of the queen, the cells, even bee eggs. Simple verse will engage a young child, while sidebars with fascinating information satisfy the somewhat older child. Parents, teachers, and interested children will enjoy much more information about both wild and domestic hives in the back of the book. The detailed art shimmers with life, highlighting each hair or grain of pollen on the bees. A wild hive in a tree in her own backyard served as a model for the artist!
Elementary science teachers! Here is a low-cost field trip between covers from Tony Fredericks, a funny but very astute professor. Plus, the habitat lies under just about every rock. A whole community of insects and other creatures lives under rocks--worms and ants, spiders and slugs, crickets and beetles. Dr. Fredericks focuses on the whole community of neighbors where the ground beneath a big old rock is home to them all. Two pages of Field Notes and fun facts at the back of the book offer intriguing information on these creatures.
Teachers and parents, take note: this book is already a classic. Two geniuses--author and illustrator--came into perfect alignment to create this book. The author has kids thinking it is entertainment while adults think it is a great lesson about the ocean. The genius of the illustrator is obvious. With painstaking detail each illustration is created entirely of polymer clay, then photographed, creating a 3-D impression of tremendous vitality. Kids will sing, clap, and count their way among pufferfish that puff, gruntfish that grunt, and seahorses that flutter, and begin to appreciate life in the ocean. And the art will inspire many a project. Plus there are several pages of extension ideas for curriculum and art projects as well as resources on the web and elsewhere.
Both classroom teachers and vacationing parents will find this little book to be a charmer. Counting from one to twelve, Sue picks up shells--periwinkle, kittens paw, scallop--and carefully adds them to her bucket as a gift for Grandma. She and her friend identify the shells, and when they discover one that still has the mollusk living inside they put it back in the water--learning that shells are actually the abandoned homes of sea animals--but sometimes the animal is still home! The paperback edition contains a tear-out shell identification card to enhance the hands-on lesson in simple wonders from nature.
Old MacDonald had a...garden? Yes! Sing along with young Jo MacDonald as she grows healthy food for people and wild creatures. E-I-E-I-O! Find out how butterflies, bumblebees, and birds help a garden to thrive - and how you can help them too. And keep an eye on one mysterious plant. What will it become? Youngsters learn about garden ecosystems and stewardship through this playful adaptation of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm."
Old MacDonald had a...pond? Yes! Come along with Jo MacDonald and learn about the wild creatures at the farm pond. You'll find fish, frogs, ducks--and a few surprises. This delightful riff on "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" playfully introduces youngsters to the concept of ecosystems. Quattlebaum engages little ones with rhythm, repetition, wordplay, and onomatopoeia, while Bryant charms them with lively watercolors of a pond community. A resource section in the back features both outdoor and indoor activities and games sure to encourage young naturalists at home and school. Jo MacDonald's pond discoveries closely resemble those that Mary discovered, too, when she grew up in the country with fields, gardens and ponds.
Here is a favorite of elementary science teachers for the food chain. Each of the creatures passes the energy in its own unique way. In this upbeat rhyming story, the food chain connects herbivores, carnivores, insects and plants together in a fascinating circle of players. All beings on Earth--from the anchovy to the zooplankton--depend upon the green plant, which is the hero of the story. The special talent of the author shines again (see also A Drop Around the World) for being able to present the science curriculum so concisely, creatively, and cleverly. A 48-page Teacher Guide based on the book is also available.
This wonderful book is natural science - in this case, about desert animals - with a flair. A boy walks up to an impressive saguaro cactus and wonders who could be living on this arid ground? As night falls, he walks away. And then the place comes alive! A haven for creatures in a waterless land. The entertaining, repetitive rhyme is an attention-grabbing read-aloud that culminates in successful learning. Field Notes at the end of the book describe the animals in detail and include an unusual fact.
Someone is always awake in the forest--and someone else is always asleep! Some animals are alert in daytime and sleep at night. Others are alert at night, and are sleepyheads during the day. Plus be sure to count the animals. Teachers: this book is a very pleasant way to combine science and literature.
