Month: March 2016

March 3 -World Wildlife Day

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Actual Size by Steve Jenkins Picture Book Review

About the Holiday  

Sponsored by the United Nations, World Wildlife Day celebrates the many varieties of wild animals and plants that make up our earth. It is also a day to raise awareness of the ways in which conservation of natural resources and sustainable development benefits people and all the world’s species. The theme this year is “The future of wildlife is in our hands.” African and Asian elephants are the main focus of the 2016 global campaigns.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says: “On this World Wildlife Day, I call on all citizens, businesses and governments to play their part in protecting the world’s wild animals and plants.  The actions taken by each of us will determine the fate of the world’s wildlife.  The future of wildlife is in our hands!”

For more information on World Wildlife Day 2016 and to see what events are taking place in cities around the world visit wildlifeday.org

Actual Size

By Steve Jenkins

 

We know wildlife is all around us, but apart from our pets and the occasional mosquito we swat or bumble bee we avoid, we tend to see it from a distance. We watch birds flutter at feeders through a window, we see exotic animals at the zoo, aquarium, or wildlife parks, and point out cows and horses while driving. If asked how big the chickadee or elephant is, we’d say small and huge! But how small? How huge?

What makes Steve Jenkins’ book Actual Size so fascinating is that he shows readers on the page exactly how big or how tiny with scale drawings of each creature. The Atlas Moth on page 1 is so large part of one wing dips into page 2, where you hardly notice the dwarf goby—at a minuscule 1/3 inch long—in the bottom corner. As you turn the page you almost catch your breath to find the enormous 12-inch-wide eye of a giant squid staring back at you.

An ostrich with its egg and the whip-like tongue of the giant anteater are also here. And if you’re at all squeamish about spiders, you might want to avoid pages 12 and 13! The snout of the saltwater crocodile and the Goliath frog are both so long that they require a fold-out page! Kids will love putting their tiny hand against the gorilla’s and their foot on the African elephant’s.

Actual Size features 18 of the world’s well-known and unusual creatures, each described in more detail, including weight, habitat, diet, behavior, defenses, and more, at the end of the book.

Steve Jenkins’ striking collages, created from cut and torn paper, beckon readers to look closer at these awesome creatures.

Ages 4 – 9

Houghton Mifflin Books, 2004 | ISBN 978-0547512914

World Wildlife Day Activity

CPB - Wildlife Day Elephant Print (2)

Hands Down Best Elephant Print

 

A way to make the cutest elephant print ever is right in your hands! With a little paint and paper, you can create a wildlife print that’s as unique as you are. This is a fun activity to do with a child and parent or two siblings. Working with different size hands can make your print more interesting.

Supplies

  • Paper, any color
  • Paint, any color you would like your elephants to be
  • Paint brush
  • Black marker

Directions

In this print your palm creates the body of the elephant, your four fingers create the legs, and your thumb becomes the trunk.

1. Make the right-facing elephant:

  • Paint your left hand. Make sure to fill in all the creases on your palm and fingers.
  • Press your hand onto the left side of the piece of paper

 2. Make the left-facing elephant:

  • Paint your right hand. Make sure to fill in all the creases on your palm and fingers.
  • Place your hand on the right side of the paper so that your thumb touches the end of the thumb on the left hand print. Press your hand onto the right side of the piece of paper

3. You can fill in any thin or open spaces with the paintbrush if you like

4. Let the handprints dry

5. Turn the page so that the four fingers that create the legs of the elephant are facing down.

6. Draw a dot for an eye at the base of the thumb, an ear in the palm, and a tail at the back of the hand.

7.  To make the sun, dip your thumb in yellow paint and press it into the corner of the paper. Make little rays with the edge of the paintbrush.

8. Hang your print with or without a frame.

March 2 – Dr. Seuss’s Birthday | Read Across America Day

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The Sneetches and Other Stories Picture Book Review

About the Holiday

Read Across America was designed by the National Education Association as a day to raise awareness of the importance of reading and to motivate people to read more. What better day could they have chosen to celebrate the joys books can bring than March 2—Theodor Seuss Geisel’s birthday! With 46 children’s books to his name, Dr. Seuss is one of the world’s most beloved authors, and one whose imagination has entertained generations of readers.

For more information on the Read Across America program visit www.nea.org/grants/read-across-background.html

The Sneetches and Other Stories

By Dr. Seuss

 

If you love reading chances are Dr. Seuss has something to do with it! He wrote so many stories that there are fantastic and fantastical creations to fit everyone’s fancy! Today I’m reviewing my favorite collection of Dr. Seuss tales—I hope you’ll like it too!

The four stories in this collection touch on such topics as individualism, prejudice, stubbornness, fear, and just the ridiculous. Perhaps the best-known tale is The Sneetches, in which a community of Sneetches, some of whom sport stars on their bellies and some who do not, fall prey to a slick salesman and his star-on and star-off machines. The Sneetches run themselves ragged trying to be popular and keep up with the fad of the moment. In the end, Sylvester McMonkey McBean has made monkeys of them all and drives away with a smile and all their cash. He thinks they’ll never learn, but he’s wrong—the Sneetches are actually richer for McBean’s visit and become a closer-knit community.

In The Zax, a North-going Zax and a South-going Zax are strolling along on their individual tracks when they meet face to face in the middle of nowhere. Neither one will move the slightest inch to the left or the right to let the other pass. They stand “toe-to-toe” in unbreakable stalemate, even if it means the whole world must halt along with them. “Of course the world didn’t stand still,” Dr. Seuss tells us. The middle of nowhere became somewhere. Buildings went up, people moved in, and a highway was built right over the Zax, who are probably standing there still.

Ah, the poor mother in Too Many Daves! If only she’d had a little more imagination and forethought in the name department she may have saved herself a lot of trouble. One after one, however, she named her sons Dave—all 23 of them! Too late she thinks of all the other names she could have used, and here is presented a list of names that far outshines any baby naming book on the market. Be ready for giggles when you get to “Stinky.”

My very favorite story is What Was I Scared Of?. It has just the right combination of spookiness and humor to satisfy any budding mystery buff. One night while picking berries the hero of the story spies a “pair of pale green pants with nobody inside them.” The pants begin to show up in the oddest of places, no matter how hard the storyteller tries to escape them. The pants are rowing on the river, riding a bicycle, and walking the same path. When the pants and the narrator peek around the same bush, however, they’re both in for a surprise. “Why, the pants were just as scared as I,” the narrator reveals. Instead of gloating or running away, our intrepid hero learns that feelings are often shared and he becomes a friend to the pants that once so frightened him.

Of course these stories are all told with Dr. Seuss’s inimitable word choice, rhymes, names, and rhythm accompanied by his whimsical characters and landscapes.

Ages 4 – 9

Random House, New York, 1961 | ISBN 978-0394800899

Dr. Seuss’s Birthday/Read Across America Day Activity

CPB - Reading Bug Book Plate (2)

I Have the Reading Bug Bookplate

 

There’s no better feeling than leafing through the pages of your own book! Now, to keep precious books from getting lost, you can dress them up with this printable I Have the Reading Bug Bookplate!

Supplies

Directions

  1. Print the I Have the Reading Bug Bookplate
  2. Cut out the bookplate
  3. Write your name on the line at the top
  4. Using glue dots or removable mounting squares attach the bookplate to the inside front or back cover

March 1 – National Pig Day

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The Three Ninja Pigs Picture Book Review

About the Holiday

Pigs inspire us! Whether we see them on a farm, have them as pets, or enjoy them as part of our entertainment—who can forget Wilbur or Babe or even the little piggie who went wee, wee, wee, all the way home, after all?—pigs are part of our lives almost from the time we are born. How did they reach this lofty state? By being smart! Pigs are one of the most intellectual animals, capable of high-level learning. In 1972 sisters Ellen Stanley and Mary Lynne Rave decided pigs needed more acclaim, and so National Pig Day was established. On this day pigs are celebrated with special events, parades, and parties at zoos, farms, and schools.

The Three Ninja Pigs

Written by Corey Rosen Schwartz | Illustrated by Dan Santat

 

The Big Bad Wolf has never encountered Three Little Pigs like these! When the sibling trio (two brothers and a sister) in this fractured fairy tale have had enough of the wolf’s bullying they take matters into their own trotters. Enrolling at the new Ninja school, Pig One begins to learn aikido, but with a “straw-house” attitude, he drops out before he acquires any useful skills. Pig Two has little more “stick”-to-itiveness with his Jujitsu training and quickly says “Sayonara” to his teacher. Thankfully, Pig Three has the steadfastness of a brick. She earns her black belt in Karate and is ready to rumble.

When the wolf comes huffing and puffing to the doors of Pig One and Pig Two, things go…well…you know…. The wolf chases the two brothers to their sister’s house, where this “certified weapon” stands prepared. She demonstrates her kicks and flips, which don’t scare the wolf. When he witnesses her mighty ability to split bricks with one chop, however, the wolf scrams.

How do these intrepid pigs top that? The brothers learn their lesson and—finally—their ninja moves. After graduation this fearless family makes sure that wolf will never return by opening a dojo of their own!

Corey Rosen Schwartz has created a rowdy, rambunctious triple-pig threat in this uproarious rendering of the three little pigs tale. With perfect rhythmic limericks that are a joy to read aloud, Schwartz cleverly uses puns, funny dialogue, and one feisty piglet to chop the wolf down to size. Dan Santat’s illustrations are full of angst, action, and attitude. Legs kick, hands chop, boards and bamboo fly as the three pigs and their nemesis wolf nearly leap from the page in their battle.

Ages 4 – 8

G. P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 2012 | ISBN978-0399255144

National Pig Day Activity

CPB - Pig Day pigs

Roly-Poly Pig and Piglets

 

Who doesn’t love hamming it up with a piglet? But let’s face it, having your own real pig just isn’t practical for everyone. Here’s a little piggie that you can make to keep you company on your desk or near your bed or anywhere it’s fun to play!

Supplies

  • Printable Pigs Ears Pattern
  • 2 ½-inch wooden spoon, available from craft stores
  • 1-inch wooden spool, available from craft stores
  • Pink yarn, I used a wide-strand yarn
  • Pink fleece or felt
  • Pink craft paint
  • Pink 5/8-inch or 1-inch flat button with two holes
  • Pink 3/8-inch flat button with two holes
  • Paint brush
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Black marker

CPB - Pig Day with spools (2)

Directions

  1. Print the Pigs Ears pattern
  2. Trace the ears onto the fleece or felt and cut them out.
  3. Paint the spool with the pink paint
  4. Let spool dry
  5. When the spool is dry, glue the ears to the spool, letting the ears stick up over the rim of the spool.
  6. Wrap yarn in straight layers around spool until the body of the pig is a little bigger than the end of the spool, which will be the face
  7. Cut yarn off skein and glue the end to the body
  8. To make the nose, glue the button over the hole in the middle of the spool
  9. Mark the eyes and mouth with a marker
  10. To make the tail for the large pig, cut a 4-inch long piece of yarn. Tie a triple knot in the yarn (or a knot big enough to fill the hole in the spool). Then tie a single knot below the first knot. Insert the large knot into the spool’s hole at the back of the pig. Trim the yarn in front of the second knot as needed.
  11. To make the tail for the piglets, tie a single knot in the yarn and another single know below the first. Insert one of the single knots into the hole. Trim yarn as needed.