I Can Draw Animals - Non-Fiction Picture Book

I Can Draw Animals - Usborne Playtime
By Ray Gibson
Illustrated By Amanda Barlow
Photography By Howard Allman
(Scholastic Inc., 1997)

I Can Draw Animals is a great little non-fiction book that gives simple examples and directions to children about drawing animals. Sixteen animals reside on pages filled with color and step-by-step instructions. Crayons and felt pens are the recommended art tools that are used on white paper. Budding artists can start with crayons and felt pens and branch out after they have figured out how to draw the different animals.

Artist in the family? I Can Draw Animals is the perfect title.

KID KANDY:

Supplies ~ crayons, felt pens, markers, white paper

~ Read the table of contents and choose an animal to draw. Follow the directions to create animal kingdom works of art.

~ Matte favorite drawings and display them in picture frames. Or stick artwork right on a bulletin board or the refrigerator.

~ No wall space? Staple one side of pages together to make a book of drawings. Or put in a binder in individual transparent protective sleeves.

Be sure to have the artist sign the pictures and add the date!


Angie Quantrell is not an artist. But she still loves drawing and experimenting with different types of art media. Directions help her to draw recognizable pictures!

Redwoods - Nature Picture Books

Redwoods
Written and Illustrated By Jason Chin
(Flashpoint, Roaring Brook Press, 2009)

I discovered Redwoods while perusing the library in the children's area. And what a delightful find it was!

Redwoods, written and illustrated by Jason Chin, is a beautifully illustrated and very informative book about the giant redwoods. Not just educational, but entertaining.

A young boy sitting on a bench discovers a book about redwoods. This book in fact. He begins reading the book Redwoods (while he is in the book Redwoods). He is soon joined by a tiny squirrel (look for the squirrel in every page) as he learns all he can about the giant redwoods.

I love how Chin shows the importance and excitement of learning through books. I also love how the cycle begins anew when the boy leaves the book on a bench. A girl soon picks it up and begins reading about redwoods.

This is the perfect book to read if you are planning a trip to see the redwoods. Or even if you are not.

KID KANDY:

Visit a Forest

Take your child for a walk in the forest. Truly experience the forest.

~ Smell the trees, soil, plants, and all there is that tickles your nose.

~ Touch the tree bark, ferns, moss, and other forest inhabitants. (Avoid mushrooms and wild animals!)

~ Close your eyes and listen. What can you hear? Wind? Animals? Airplanes? Cars? Your breathing?

~ How far can you see through the trees? Look at forest plants up close. Count how many nature items you can see.

~ Take pictures or draw pictures of what you find in the forest.

~ Go to the library or bookstore and find more books about the forest and redwoods.


Angie Quantrell has visited the amazing redwoods many times. They never cease to amaze and thrill her.

Pancakes, Pancakes! - Picture Books & Circles

Pancakes, Pancakes!
Ready to Read Version
Written and Illustrated by Eric Carle
(Scholastic, Inc., 1990)



Circles
Welcome Books, City Shapes
By Jan Kottke
(Scholastic Inc., 2000)

Stuck on circles!

Pancakes, Pancakes! by Eric Carle is a pancake classic. While this version is simplified remake of the original book for early readers, it still gives children the excitement of reading about pancakes.

Pancakes, Pancakes! is the story of a boy who wants pancakes for breakfast. This is not as easy as one would think. Pancakes, Pancakes! takes place on an old-fashioned farm where meals are prepared the old way. So the boy, Jack, has to collect and gather all of the items necessary for pancakes - from milking the cow, making butter, and grinding wheat, to heading downstairs to the cellar to retrieve jam.

I love the way Eric Carle lets readers learn about the origins of a favorite meal. His signature style of illustrating shines through with beautiful colors.

And while we are talking about pancakes, how about those circles?

Circles is a simple non-fiction book that helps boys and girls identify circles in their surroundings. Circles includes important non-fiction characteristics, like a table of contents, bolded new words, a glossary, and an index.

You can't go wrong with pancakes and circles!

KID KANDY:

Circle Hunt

After reading the books, go on a circle hunt. You can hunt in two ways:

1. Ask your child to go around the house and find items that are round or circle-shaped. Make a pile of circle shapes. (A solid circle shape like a ball is called a sphere.) Compare the circle-shaped items.

2. Go for a circle walk. Point out all of the circle shapes you find in nature and man-made constructions.

IF you are really energetic, take photographs of some of the circle shapes. Make your own book of circles by printing out photos and adding them to a memory book (the little photo album books with sleeves for photos) or taping on cardstock. Read!

Learning about shapes (and eating them in the form of pancakes) is a necessary skill for young children. You can keep your (pan)cake and eat it, too!


Angie Quantrell loves challenging children to find shapes in their environment. She especially enjoys cooking with kids and making a mess while having fun and learning at the same time.

Old MacDonald Had a Farm - Books You Can Sing

Old MacDonald Had a Farm with Pictures By Holly Berry (Scholastic, 1994).

I may have had this book since it was published in 1994! The edges certainly look well loved.

I love singing books, which leads to children memorizing the words and singing books, which leads to children connecting memorized words to text on pages, which leads to reading and the love of books! What a fun and amazing ride!

Old MacDonald Had a Farm makes its appearance each fall when the FARM theme comes to life. Most students and children are familiar with this song utilizing farm animal sounds. We have a grand time singing, making animal noises, and acting out animal movements.

Berry enlivens this popular children's song by adding the element of animal participation - by allowing them to become band members who play and sing with the Old MacDonald. And a fun time was had by all . . .

You know it. You are humming the song. E-I-E-I-O.

The Dragon and the Turtle

The Dragon and the Turtle and The Dragon and the Turtle Go On Safari by Donita K. Paul and Evangeline Denmark (sorry, I would give publisher and date, but the books are at school!).



I love books! I recently received (autographed!!!) both The Dragon and the Turtle and The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari.

After chatting with Mrs. Paul (yes, she has a Monday night chat group that chats about writing and plots and characters and food and stuff), she helped me get copies of the books for my classroom of wild and rowdy boys. Who love adventure. And dragons. And safari's (sleep overs). Thank you, Mrs. Paul and Evangeline!

The books were a hit. Being a group of all boys, they especially liked the crunchy bug bits and the sleeping out in the tent. They were very attentive to the illustrations and problem solving in both books. The friendship theme is especially helpful when working with young children (even older children) who are just learning what it means to be a friend.

So jump on board the wonderful fantasy world(s) of Donita K. Paul and her daughter, Evangeline Denmark. Roger (turtle) and Padraig (dragon) will entertain you and the young ones in your life.

www.donitakpaul.com


(I told them to hide their faces but look at the books!)



(Yet another weird blog thing. This photo IS correct on the computer and camera, but sideways in this blog...they are excitedly discussing the illustrations and story I have just read.)

Now I'm Reading...

Wow, life really happened since I decided to add a new blog! I'm still reading, but the in between times are crammed with excitement and happenings...almost a baby, ready to be un-pregnant daughter, wild talkin' grandson, new daughter-in-law and happily married son, friends and family and festivities...not to mention that school begins in less time than I need to prepare my room! Help!

But right now, I'm reading a great book (well several, but only one I'll mention now). Childhood and Nature, Design Principles for Educators by David Sobel (2008) is the primary book for a class I'm taking and hoped to finish before school starts (not going to happen).

I love this book! It takes me right back to my childhood experiences with free play and long summers and oodles of time spent outdoors exploring, creating, and enjoying nature. Although this is written for people who work with children, it really reminds me as a grandparent how much I need to make sure to have it happen for my grand babies. And I realize that I encouraged embracing the outdoors for my own children, allowing them to delve into the messy of outdoors.

IT is fun times in the great outdoors. Time and space and freedom to interact and learn and make connections with nature in an unstructured way.

So much so, as I reflect on my own childhood and how much we loved dirt (grass, trees, bugs, frogs, sticks, mud, ponds, flowers, horses, dogs, you get the picture) and constantly eroded Dad's sand pile (hauled in for a specific purpose), so much that he never was able to use it for the intended project. I thought about my carefully landscaped yard, where each section has a purpose.

And where is the free exploration place for my babies? I think I need to add another planter box and fill it with dirt. Nothing fancy. Just dirt. Rocks maybe. Add some spoons and containers. He (and soon she) will love it!

Back to the book. I've always loved nature. I feel so relaxed and the stress just drops off when I'm out in the forest and take deep breaths of the evergreen air. Or strolling on the beach and smelling the briny salty water and running my toes through the icy cold water and sand of the Pacific Northwest. That nature connection is very good for my health.

Rating: Great read. Relevant for NOW. Green. Back to the basics and what is really important for our younger generations. No electricity OR internet access required.

Go unplugged. Take this book outside and sprawl on the grass under a huge shady tree. Pretty soon the book will be laying by itself. You'll be daydreaming about days gone past or excursions soon to come.