The Seeds of Fall

Welcome Fall!

While many people think of the trees and leaves as dying right now, is death the right word to use to describe what is happening?  It's actually not. (Check out what I learned about this in Full of Fall on my last blog post.) Sure the leaves themselves die, but the tree doesn't.  And there's more than just the lose of leaves that's going on this time of year.  Think of all the seeds we see this time of year and what is happening to them. I love when I pick up a children's book and learn something new and I have two books that focus on seeds to share with you today.

Because of an Acorn

Written by Lola M Schaefer and Adam Schaefer

Illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon

Along with leaves falling everywhere this time of year, there are acorns everywhere. I love listening to them fall down through the trees, and watching the chipmunks and squirrels scurry about gathering them.  I think that's one fall activity that is often overlooked so I love how this book brings this activity to mind.

Because of an Acorn is a fantastic, simple book about the circle of life.  I love that you can see and get a sense of the circle of life without it being too emotionally overwhelming for children.  I think the authors did a beautiful job of showing how each part of a forest ecosystem is connected.  That acorn grows into a tree, the tree houses all sorts of wildlife, and because of each one something else comes to live and grow.  Fran Preston-Gannon has done a wonderful job detailing each part that is  highlighted in the text and foreshadowing what will happen next.  The illustrations are full of color and dominate the pages.  I love how Fran has made sure to include so many other animals and parts of the forest that aren't in the text, you see a bear and cub they they aren't mentioned, but this shows so much more of the ecosystem and brings up more for conversation.

 The sequence of event is flawless! The lessons you can make off of this one simply written book are countless.  The dedication says, "For all the naturalists, young and old -L.M.S and A.S." and they are right, it's a book that as an adult I find beautiful but it's written on a level for children to understand.  Looking at this book as a teacher I can see lessons for preschoolers all the way up through biology class being tied into this book.

Lesson ideas from this book:

Study Acorns: Dissect one.

Who lives in a tree?  Who lives in the forest?

Circle of life.

What is an ecosystem?  Take it farther with notes from the afterword in Because of an Acorn and examine how that would effect the environment if one part of the system was changed (died off).

Do some Acorn Crafts for adults or kids (Thank you Pinterest!)

Some additional learning games for children:
Collect acorns or use some fake or wooden ones for counting, sorting, or markers for fall bingo

I know I have shared the Sneaky Snacky Squirrel game before, but our preschoolers really love this game and it goes so well with this book I have to share it again.  And check out the Acorn Soup game I found for children age 2:



A Seed Is Sleepy


Written by Dianna Hutts Aston
Illustrated by Sylvia Long

The very first thing to take me in with this book is the astounding detail in the illustrations!  Sylvia Long has done a fantastic job showing each seed, plant, the flowers, fruit, and leaves.  The colors are bold and brilliant and draw the reader in.

This book came highly recommended to me from a librarian who knows how much I love being outside and nature.  This is a book I get wrapped up in just studying it.  Each flower, and seed are labeled and the amount of information packed into this kids book really is amazing and makes it a book that any adult can pick up read and learn something new from.  We had lessons in science about the stages of seed growth in school, but I didn't learn the different parts of a seed.

Dianna has made a very diverse, non fictional book about seeds that's completely captivating.  I say diverse because there are (in my opinion) three different ways you can read it.  There is the main sentence "A seed is sleepy...A seed is..."  so if you have a group or a child with a shorter attention span you can just read it that way the build up to reading more in depth.  For my five year old daughter I read her the main sentence and the bold part that starts to explain what they mean by sleepy or thirsty.  Then there are longer paragraphs that go much farther in depth to talk about a certain seed which is really neat.

This is one book that isn't focused on fall.  It's a book you can read in the fall because many plants go to seed in the fall like the acorns falling or another way to look at it is that the seeds have grown and their fruit is ready or the seeds are ready to harvest.  This book would also be great to break out in the Spring  and read about seeds then and do your own grow kit.

No matter the season, I hope you take the time to look over both of these wonderful books and notice the small details in life.

Fireflies

There are so many wonderful things about summer and things to do this time of year that summer just flies by.  With all the running and get as much of summer activities in as you possible can type of crazy fast paced life that we are all experiencing it's nice to take the time to sit out and just enjoy a warm summer night.  One of my favorite things about summer nights has always been to watch fireflies.  I still enjoy spotting the flashing light of these neat insects.  So in the spirit of late summer nights under the stars I thought I'd share with you two lovely firefly books to enjoy with your little ones, and hopefully one dry night soon you can enjoy the silent natural light show of these bugs (which are actually beetles).

The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle


I found our copy of this book in a thrift store, and it was in rough shape.  It's an Eric Carle book! So I'm going with the family before loved the book a lot, the binding was well worn, the lights didn't work and there back cover had some of it missing, but I bought the book anyway because it was and Eric Carle book.  The same brilliant author/illustrator who wrote the classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
Since we have owned this book, it has only received more love, and by love I mean it is literally falling apart from having been read so much.  One day far, far, in the future I will have to buy a new one to share with grand-kids.
Now about this book, the illustrations are classic Eric Carle in the colors, the brush strokes, and the geometric shapes.  The bold colors grab young children's attention and give them so much to look at and follow the story as you read to them.
The story itself is of a little firefly who is all alone, like the title suggest.  As he's searching for other lighting bugs he finds different light sources but then realizes that they aren't what he's looking for.  We follow this guy on his journey as he runs into a light bulb, flashlight, cars, eye, and then finally when all is quiet and dark again he finally finds other fireflies.  In the illustrations there's a sub-plot that is a family hearing a noise and going to see what's going on.
This is a book that we have found entertaining and makes you look forward to a summer night. 


Ten Flashing Fireflies


Written by Philemon Sturges
Illustrated by Anna Vojtech

This book brings me back to my own childhood and running around like crazy trying to catch lighting bugs.  Oh how fun that was on summer nights.
As the title implies this is a counting book.  I like that in this counting book you are counting both up and down at the same time so it's teaching children math.  There are 10 fireflies, as they catch each they add them up in the jar and subtract them from the field.  While the math isn't shown in numbers 10-1=9, that is the lesson that is taught.  Or I should say one of the lessons.  I love the different adjectives and verbs that Sturges uses to describe the fireflies light: burning, twinkling, flickering, blinking, and so on.  The use of different verbs, adjectives, adverbs are rich in picture books which helps develop a child's vocabulary.  The very last lesson in the book is probably the most important and relevant to the times right now, and that's to let what you capture free.  Collecting bugs and frogs, and the like is great for kids to have hands on experience and study and learn from nature, but each specimen that's caught needs to be let free.  The poor fireflies in the story are all in the jar and they stop being active or blinking, so the children let them free out into the night again.
The illustrations by Anna Vojtech are dark, they don't have bright saturated colors, but rather give you the feel of being out in the dark field at night.  The soft texture and muted colors capture the magic of summer nights.  I found it fun to look closely at the images and see that as the children are off trying to catch another lighting bug the jar is getting other animals visitors.  See if you children notice them while reading and you can talk about what it is.


Sadly my children don't have the same experience with fireflies as I did as a child and as is described in Ten Flashing Fireflies, in part it's because we don't live out in the country any more, but in larger part it's because their numbers are dwindling.  We still go out and enjoy camping and we still see fireflies but it's becoming more rare and they aren't nearly as plentiful as when I was growing up.

While I was putting this blog together I found fascinating information on the firefly!  If you would like to learn more about them please check out these sites:
Why Do Fireflies Glow? and how to attract them
National Geographic
Why Are Fireflies Disappearing?
NBC News: Dwindling Fireflies

Also some other books about them I have come across if you think you have a future entomologist in your mist check out these:

The Camping Trip That Changed America by Barb Rosenstock

My family and I love the outdoors! We go camping, hiking, horse back riding, and are open to anything else that gets us into nature.  If I have an hour or so that I have free and alone I love to go sit in the woods and read or write.  I think connecting with fresh air, and taking in the sounds and sights of nature without houses, roads, or tons of people recharges us.

I was recently talking to a friend about news I heard of protections being lifted off of many national park lands, and so how worried I am about how these beautiful wild lands will change.  I know when I finally get to go see the Grand Canyon I don't want to see massive mining next to it, or the water to be full of runoff and toxins due to mining.  I want to go see the beauty of this land untouched by man.

As my friend and I were talking she told me that I should read about one of her favorite presidents, who started protecting lands, and in reading and doing research I have to agree with her, Theodore Roosevelt is one of my favorite presidents as well.  Now let me share this wonderful book with you

The Camping Trip That Changed America:
Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, and our National Parks


Written by Barb Rosenstock
Illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein

Barb Rosenstock has done a great job at telling us a bit about both Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir, and how they came to meet each other.  They both loved nature.  John Muir fought to get people to care about the wilderness and wanted to protect land from over development.  Roosevelt as president loved to read, and he read a book by John Muir that inspired him to reach out to the author.  He set up a camping trip to go on after one of his trips out west.  This camping trip that Barb tells the story of is what set up our national parks.

The book goes one to tell of the men's time in the woods.  In the Author's Note at the end of the book Barb tells how there is little record of what the men talked about so she did the best she could.  I think she did a great job and in reading it, it flows so well.  As a naturalist who spent so much time out in the woods I'm sure Muir did have encounters with bear, and knew many great details to tell Roosevelt.

Black Bear at Grandfather Mt, NC

As I read to my children we were completely taken in with Gerstein's unique illustrations that combines sketches and watercolor.  We (my children and myself) learned a great deal about this part of history and nature.  My girls favorite page was the giant sequoias, that I had to turn the book.  I loved the part where John tells of running into a bear: "...the bear had the better manners!"

Science teachers will love the part in the book telling of how the land has changed over time.  Muir tells how the land was underwater once, and how volcanoes and glaciers formed the landscapes.  This is a great bit to discuss.

The very last page of the book has even more information and quotes and more resources.  I love this page and made sure to read it to my kids along with the picture book part.  There were so many more facts on that page that just didn't fit into the narrative Barb told.  It made me want to learn more, and made my whole family want to go and see so much more of our national parks.

I want to share with you these facts on Teddy Roosevelt and how he changed America to what we have today:
*He declared the first 18 National Monuments
*He founded the first 55 bird sanctuaries and game preserves
*He added 148 million acres to National Forest
*He doubled the number of National Parks

This wonderful book, is a work on non-fiction, meaning it's true, we get a chance with this book to look back on history and discover something new, and I hope that in reading this that we can look to the present and the future and see how we can help preserve the wild, and be more environmentally mindful. 

  Today we have
* 417 National Park Sites
*There are 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. These lands total 193 million acres.

I really hope everyone takes the time to read The Camping Trip That Changed America.  If it inspires you to check out even more I will have other books for adults and children at the bottom of this post for you.

Have a great rest of your week and go out into the wood and explore nature!  See why we are so passionate about it!


More information:
Scientific American: Worse and Worse the Trump Administrations continuing war on national parks
National Park Conservation Association: 2017 in Review, 10 worst actions for parks
The Hill: American's Parks and Public Lands Suffer
wilderness.org Mining next to the Grand Canyon

Books to Introduce Environmental Mindfulness to Children (and some ways we can change what we do now)

Each year my family tries to improve one thing that we do to be more environmentally friendly.  We recycle more, try to cut out on plastic bag use, and switch to LED light bulbs.  We are far from perfect, but the more we learn the more we try to improve.  This is all we can ask for.

As we are raising our children we are teaching them about nature, pollution, and to be environmentally friendly.  Not only do we need to teach our children about caring for our planet, we need to start taking care of it now for them, this is the world we are leaving behind for them, their great inheritance, and they are the ones who are going to grow to care for it

This year we started our environment lesson when we read Hoot. 

If you haven't heard of this book Hoot, then where have you been?  It's been out since 2002, turned into a movie, and has won quite a few awards.

The Details:
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen Ages: 10 and up

Honors and Awards:
A Newbery Honor Book
The SEBA Book Award for Best Children's Book
An ABC Children's Booksellers Choice
An ALA Notable Book
A YALSA Best Book for Young Adults
A Child Magazine 50 Best Children's Books Selection
A New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing Selection
A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
A Book Sense Book of the Year Finalist
A Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year
A New York Times Bestseller
A Book Sense Bestseller


Hoot has been sitting for quite a few years waiting until my oldest would sit and listen to it.  I couldn't wait to read it to her.  She finally asked for Hoot at bedtime a month or so ago and I started reading it on chapter a night until Saturday come around and I got the Audiobook so we could listen to it together while we painted rocks.  She got mad at me anytime I paused the book to leave the room or talk to her.

We were both caught up in this story about a boy who was new to Florida, a mystery boy who handled wild animals, and a new construction site who is threatening the homes and lives of ground owls.  The book was fast paced, adventurous, and witty.
The lessons in the book, about standing up for something you believe in, and how to do it (the right way) and get the results you want were well put and great for all kids to understand.  My daughter went right to the library and checked out bird guides and looked up Ground Owls and where you see them and thought they were so cute.

After we finished the book we watched the movie and I smiled every time she picked out when something was different.
This started our conversation on pollution and habitats.  We have since then been looking into ways we can help our wildlife.  Carl Hiaasen has written other books about the endangered wildlife in Florida and you can tell how passionate he is about caring for his state and the native animals who live there.  If your teen loves animals I'd suggest his book Scat (which we started but my 9 year old soon lost interest in it, I think in a few more years she will like it more as it takes place in high school)
While Hoot was a great book to read with my 9 year old, it didn't hold the attention of my 5 year old daughter.  There aren't any pictures, and it's a long chapter book not written for preschoolers, so I sought out some books for her that would help explain why we need to recycle, and what we can do to take care of our world.

I came across Charles Ghigna.  He has written a few books to help young children learn and do their part to be environmentally responsible.

Pick up the Park, We Need Water and Recycling is Fun are all a part of Charles Ghigna's environment books.  They are super easy to read which makes them not only great for very young children but also for those who are just starting to read on their own.  He another book in his "My Little Planet" books is Little Seeds.  This is the only one I haven't read but if it's like the others I'm sure it's great as well.

Pick up the Park:
What child doesn't enjoy the park? Mine ask me all the time to go to our local parks and we spend a great deal of time on the playground and walking around.  This book is one to read before you set off to the park, as it mentions all the things children like to do while there, and also ways they can help keep their park clean.

We Need Water:
Well duh! That's just a common sense statement, but this book goes tells about where we see water, how we use it, and how every living thing needs water.  It's a stepping stone book to start you into talking about water.  It doesn't go into depth on anything but is a great intro book for any water topic so from here you can talk about the river, the lake, the water cycle, water conservation, and so much more.

Recycling is Fun:
 Not only does this easy reader talk about recycling paper, plastic, and tin but Ghigna goes into reusing as well.  Donate old thing, and take torn clothes and make something new out of them.  This book more than the other two goes into more depth about recycling.

we reused an old T-shirt and cardboard box to make a cat home. Idea credit to Pintrerst 

After reading this book and pointing out the recycling symbol it was fun to look at each thing we use and find the triangle on it this is one very simple way to get your children involved in recycling.

All of these books were illustrated by Ag. Jatkowska and are full page full of colorful and engaging images.  Also I believe these books were made with recycled paper which is a great way to put forth action into what is being taught in all of these books.

As I mentioned Charles Ghigna has written these books as great introduction books about being environmentally conscious, but it's up to us as parents to really open the conversation and action to our children more.

Trees, please don't forget we need trees! Which just so happens to be another book I found that talks about trees.  We all know how important trees are to our suvival.  If you haven't seen the image below of the the last human/post human trying to breath from the last tree on Earth, then take a minute to look at it, read it and let it send that chill to your bones.  It's common sense that trees, water, and nature are vital to our well being.

We Need Trees! Caring for our Planet

written by Vita Jimenez
Illustrations by George Ermos
Music by Erik Koskinen

This picture song book talks about all the reasons we need trees.  It includes a CD that has the song on it, which is a folk tune.  This book just covers all the ways trees are important: shelter, air, food, and mentions briefly how we should care for our trees.  As it was written as a song there is a lot of repetition, and rhyming.

While this book talks about how important trees are, I found the book to be lacking in emotion.  This is my own personal feeling.  But to sing it as a song and pair it with a more heartwarming, emotionally connected book it would go very nicely.

I love that the book has the song on CD so you can listen to the song and follow the words and look at the colorful illustrations that show more of the story.  They have a class hiking through the woods and looking at trees.
It's a great book to add to a lesson or Arbor Day celebration.


So we have a couple introduction books to get our kids interested in caring for our planet.  These books just barely scratch the surface of talking and teach our children how to do Earth Day every day.  I think that these are books and lessons that we need to use year round, not only for one week in April.  As I'm searching out more books on each of these topics I hope to put together a lesson plan on each of the different topics (recycling, water, trees, pollution, and wildlife) once I have them ready with books that dive deep into each area I will be sharing them with you all so please keep your eyes open.  Until that time let me share with you some links, along with some things my family has changed or will soon be changing as we have just learned more....

Green News is hoping that 2018 will call for an end to single use plastic
Sign a petition calling for a ban on single use plastic (I did)

OK I get it we live in a fast paced world and convenience is everything!  But what if we could have convenience and be more environmentally friendly?  A couple easy ways we have done this in my house is reusable water bottles, and coffee mugs.  Do you know how much plastic waste we can save just by switching to a reusable water bottle?  Here are two different sites for you:
mightynest.com tells how the average american uses over 160 plastic bottles each year
Power Up shares how you can save around (or more) than $2,900 a year by switching to a reusable bottle, and even more if you switch to a reusable coffee tumbler and make your own coffee at home.
The bonus to having your own tumbler?  Many coffee shops offer a discount if you bring in your own coffee container!

While we are talking about coffee, my husband and I recently switched back to the large coffee pot.  It took us years to jump on the K-cup bandwagon.  Once we finally did we thought this was so much better because we wouldn't be "wasting" a whole pot of coffee if we only drank 3 cups.  Umm yeah there's this image that pretty much sums that idea up:

More than just the waste that the k-cups made our first "new" coffee maker broke within a year.  We switched back to the "old fashioned" coffee pot and our waste has been reduced so much, oh and we are no longer needed a new box of coffee each week.  We skipped the paper filters and went for a reusable filter that cleans easily, and did you know that your coffee grounds can help in your garden?

Plastic bags.  This bothered me when I was driving down the road and saw a bunch of plastic bags caught up in our trees and all I could think about was how awful it looked and the birds and other animals that are in danger due to these.  Each year I try to cut down on our plastic bag usage, but had been falling short.  This year I'm happy to say that we are doing much better.  How?  We have all seen these large tote bags:
Let me tell you I love them.  I use one for books from the library, I keep some in the house, and in my car.  If I happen to forget them and find that I'm at a store I usually can find them for $1.  If you haven't used these you will be pleasantly surprised at how many bags you will save.  I figure each one  (1) I use saves between 2-5 plastic bags because they are larger and stronger.

Now say you're like my husband who doesn't like how much space they take up and that they are bulky and he often forgets them.  They have other more compact reusable bags.  This one fits 10 bags and easily can clip onto your key-chain so you won't ever forget them!

I started this blog mentioning how we need to get our children active in making changes.  These young children I hope will inspire you and your children that you can make a difference!
8 year old girl against single use plastic
7 year old boy runs his own recycling business
I'm going to share with you a video I've recently watched that has given me a whole new wish list of things that I want and even more ways we can make ONE change and make a better impact on our world.  This video will share with you more eye opening stats about our waste.
5 things we should use to save the planet

Here are some of the products mentioned in the above video.  I had a ton of fun searching for them all and found that there is a lot of varity for prices, colors, and all options so I went a little overboard in sharing what I have found with you but I hope that in all these options you will find one that you would like.

_ Please remember that NONE of us are perfect, we are all just trying the best we can, but the more we learn and the more we can put forth some small change and effort the better our world will be.

I hope that these books and links I've shared with you helps you to start some great conversations and making at least one change in your own home.  Please stay tuned for follow up post where I will come up with a lesson plan that can be done around helping our planet thrive better!

Together we can make Earth Day Every Day!