Review - You Are Stardust by Elin Kelsey

I love this time of year in the Pacific Northwest. The gloom of winter is starting to lift, the flowering cherry trees and rhododendrons are showing their colors, and the days are getting longer. This year we're hoping to get out and about more - since Sprout learned to ride his bike over spring break, he's itching to find new trails to ride on and new sights to see, which is just dandy with me and hubs. It's fun to see the interest he takes in nature and in exploring.

Tonight's pick fits in nicely with that interest, and Sprout's generally science-y inclination. Elin Kelsey's You Are Stardust came to my attention when I was perusing a list of new releases and one of them referred to this 2012 picture book as an essential part of library collections. My good-book-radar thus set on high alert, I checked it out and brought it home for Sprout, who was thoroughly engaged, as much by Kelsey's text as by the fanciful dioramas created by illustrator Soyeon Kim.

You Are Stardust aims to help kids understand the connections between themselves and the natural world - not a huge surprise as Kelsey is an environmental educator. The way she does this, though, is fantastic. This is far from your typical dry, dull science tome, but instead a rich book of possibility and thought-provoking scenarios, all accomplished with text that's spare but evocative. The imagery is stunning: "Be still. Listen. Like you, the Earth breathes." And it's fun: "You sneeze with the force of a tornado." (Sprout loved that one.)

Kim's dioramas are just as absorbing as the prose in You Are Stardust. I love the way she weaves a multiracial cast of kids into the scenes Kelsey describes, in such fantastic ways - riding on clouds, swinging from treetops. This would be a great title to use in a science-art crossover lesson plan, as it will appeal to both creatives and fact-obsessed students alike. Think how much students would enjoy reading this, then researching some more facts and creating a classroom diorama of one's own, filled with cut-paper crafts and small illustrations from all students. What fun!

Kelsey knows what facts intrigue kids, and uses them to prompt even greater curiosity about the natural world and our connection to it. We are all stardust, so Kelsey's thesis goes - and as such, we are all bound together in this life, and on this earth.

You Are Stardust by Elin Kelsey, published by Owl Kids
Ages 4-6
Source: Library
Recommended

Picture Book Review - Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold by Joyce Sidman

Hello friends! Back at the blog after a little break to catch my breath from 30 Days of Diverse Picture Books. I really, really enjoyed the series and hope you did too. It was a great opportunity for me to call out some of the many fantastic diverse books that we've read over the past year. And, based on the response, I'll be back doing the series again next year!

On to tonight's pick, which is one we actually read a few weeks ago but I held onto because of the 30 Days series consuming my attention. Sprout has always been super interested in science and nature, and as he grows that interest is only deepening. He loves loves loves science-y facts - actually that's something his kindergarten teacher said during our recent conference, that he always shares facts and that she checks them later and he's always right. (Boo-yah!) So based on that, and knowing how much he'd enjoyed Swirl by Swirl, I felt pretty certain that Joyce Sidman's Winter Bees and Other Poems of the Cold was going to be a hit.

And naturally, it was. The poetry in Winter Bees is just lovely, simple enough for the target audience, but complex enough for adult readers to enjoy. The illustrations by Rick Allen -- rarely do words fail me, but these images left me speechless, thanks to the depth of detail, the texture, the emotion that is evoked. Sprout and I together stared at a picture of a den of hibernating garter snakes for at least five minutes -- and I'm terrified of snakes, for crying out loud! -- so that should tell you a little something about the magnificence of Allen's craftsmanship. Pair these pictures with Sidman's deft wordsmithing, and then spice them up with a juicy sidebar on each page that is loaded with scientific facts and you have a recipe for an absolute jaw-dropper of a book.

I really see Winter Bees as a great way to bridge the gap between art-lovers and science kids. This title is equal parts of each, all beautifully done, and is bound to sway skeptics on either side to find something to appreciate. Sidman and Allen received a Caldecott honor for their previous collaboration Dark Emperor, and for my money Winter Bees could easily go all the way this year.

Make Winter Bees part of your collection at home, school or library - it's a purchase well-served, for you and the kiddos!

Winter Bees and Other Poems of the Cold by Joyce Sidman
Ages 5-9
Source: Library
Highly recommended

Nonfiction Review - How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum by Jessie Hartland

Dinosaur mania continues to reign supreme around Casa de Kinser. Even as I type this, the kiddo is building a "jurassic island" in the living room, using the new dinosaur figures he bought as his souvenir from Disneyland (yes, my kid is such a dino freak that he even chooses to buy dino-themed toys from the happiest place on Earth). We cannot make it home from the library without first perusing the nonfiction shelves to see what new titles may have appeared, and dinos continue to be the favorite topic of dinner-time conversation, from Sprout's perspective at least.

So you might imagine that Mama scored a big hit when I brought home Jessie Hartland's nonfiction title How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum. I thought this book was going to be a bit of a stretch for Sprout, as it's cataloged in the juvenile nonfiction rather than the picture book section. It's also pretty text-intensive, but no matter - Sprout hung in through the whole thing, and has requested it multiple times as bedtime reading. There are nice bits of new vocabulary used here, but Hartland gives them plenty of context so even younger readers can interpret what she's trying to get across. That's a very nice touch, for my money, as it gives kids practice at puzzling out contextual cues, a critical skill in developing reading comprehension.

The nice thing about How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum is it's not just a dry recital of facts. When I remember nonfiction from my own youth, it was all pretty serious stuff - those authors were in it for communicating information, not for spicing things up with story and character and that kind of frivolity. But Hartland has a different approach. She's telling kids the story of a Diplodocus that was unearthed at what is now Dinosaur National Monument in northeastern Utah. We start out in the beginning, when Diplodocus was living, and discover the changes that happen to the environment after her death. Then Hartland brings in the humans who discover the bones of the Diplodocus - first a dinosaur hunter, then a paleontologist to confirm the find, then a group of excavators to begin looking for the rest of the skeleton. Each step of the way, a new spread discusses the role of the next set of experts to work on the Diplodocus, even as Hartland reinforces the steps that went before.

This is a really thorough overview of all the people involved in the process of bringing a dinosaur to the museum. What I appreciated most, aside from the care taken to describe the job of each individual group of specialists, was the illustrations. They are approachable and have high kid-appeal, and it's great that Hartland incorporates some diversity within her cast of characters. Granted, there could be more, but I appreciate that there was an effort to keep the people somewhat diverse.The experts aren't all middle-aged white men - there are women and people of color there too. Sprout thought it was cool that there's a female welder on one of the pages ("girls can do that job too!"). There are also some small touches of humor throughout, such as the Diplodocus being tickled by the feather duster, and problems that arise which need to be solved creatively.

How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum is just one of Jessie Hartland's nonfiction titles; similar books include How the Meteorite Got to the Museum and How the Sphinx Got to the Museum. These are great choices for homeschooling families, for classrooms and libraries. If you want to spark questions and get your kids thinking before an upcoming trip to a museum, check out this or Hartland's other titles. You might just find yourself surprised by how the dinosaur got where she is!

How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum by Jessie Hartland, published by Blue Apple Books
Ages 6-10
Source: Library
Sample: "Here, rooting around the old river bed in 1923, is the Dinosaur Hunter. He has studied geology, pored over maps and books, and knows roughly where to look for dinosaur fossils. After searching and digging for months and months, he finds AN UNUSUALLY LARGE BONE in what today we call Utah."
Recommended

30 Days of Picture Books - Swirl by Swirl by Joyce Sidman

It's Day 16 in our 30 Days of Picture Books. I might have mentioned it before, but Sprout is really into science these days. We recently made a trip to a nearby science center to see their dinosaur exhibit, and Sprout was absolutely mesmerized by nearly everything there. He has a very inquisitive mind and wants to know how things work and what's going on beneath the surface. I love that my husband is willing to explain things like the water cycle in terms Sprout can grasp - yet another way for my boys to bond.

And so any science-related book I bring home is a sure-fire hit, and today's pick, Swirl by Swirl, was no exception. Joyce Sidman wrote a book we featured in last year's 30 Days of Picture Books, Red Sings from Treetops, which is so incredible that we've read several more titles by her in the past year. But the one that sticks out for me most is Swirl by Swirl, for the way Sidman's text and the images by Caldecott winner Beth Krommes intertwine to produce a fully realized work of art and science.

Sidman's focus here is the spiral shape -- who else would have thought to create an entire picture book around this topic? It's remarkable, when you start to look around nature, how much that very elemental curl occurs over and over. Snail shells, fern fronds, animals wound into a ball for protection or hibernation - spirals are everywhere. I adore the descriptions Sidman uses throughout. "A spiral is a clever shape," she writes. "It is graceful and strong." She chooses her words carefully but purposefully, and for me that increases the impact so much more.

You can't describe this book without mentioning the visuals. Sidman's examples are illustrated beautifully by Krommes, who uses her signature scratchboard technique to provide depth and movement to each image. Suddenly the spirals become little jewels, sparkling throughout the natural world, each alive with purpose and surrounded with a sense of wonder. Even the endpapers are dazzling, not a spare inch left unconsidered. Sprout likes to read this one straight through and then go back a second time so we can pick out the little descriptors of what we're seeing, all thoughtfully labeled. Further, there's a nice meaty afterword that will satisfy the curiosity of any budding scientist.

If there's one thing I hope I can demonstrate with the titles we're sharing this month, it's that picture books are so much more than sleepy bunnies and hat-wearing felines. Next time your kiddo is wondering how the world works - check out a picture book like Swirl by Swirl for a fresh perspective!

Swirl by Swirl by Joyce Sidman, published by Houghton Mifflin

30 Days of Picture Books - On Earth by G. Brian Karas

It's Day 5 of Picture Book Month, and it's Nonfiction Monday, so today what's on my mind is information. Facts, if you will. We don't always stop to think how much cold hard data comes at us in the form of the picture books we read as kids, but it's a lot, really. For little ones, a picture book might be their first introduction to dinosaurs, to air travel, to plants and trees. We've certainly read some stellar nonfiction on these topics and many others. In fact, Sprout learned most of the names of fruits and veggies from a terrific picture book on the subject, and to this day, every time we go in the produce section together, he chants, "Broccoli, cauliflower, shout it out!". (Okay, so we get a few looks.)

Lots of times bookstores and libraries keep picture books they deem "nonfiction" in a separate section from your Splat the Cats or your Fancy Nancys. So it requires a bit more looking around to find these kinds of titles, but it's worth it. Sprout pores over a large format book on (what else) trains I brought home, and he's learned so much from it that I swear he can instantly identify each different type he sees.

Today's choice is from the nonfiction shelves -- On Earth by G. Brian Karas. We checked this title out because we'd been having discussions about seasons and time change, and I needed a little backup to explain the whole notion in a simple way. I wanted something that would give an overview of the basic concepts, but not in a dry or boring fashion. The great thing about picture books is you can generally find multiple titles on a topic, selections suited to different age ranges so you can choose what's appropriate.

On Earth fills the bill nicely, as Karas explains the rotation of the Earth and movement around the sun, and how that impacts our seasons. With large format paintings brushed with just a hint of whimsy, he demonstrates how the weather is different according to what time of year it is, and also discusses the passage of time. Best of all, he carefully explains that there's a difference in seasons between the Southern and Northern hemispheres. The page illustrating this just blew Sprout's mind -- "snow up here but sun down there?" -- but it gave us a chance to talk about how his family in Ethiopia experiences different conditions because they are closer to the Equator. I'm always pleased when we can make connections between life here and life in his birth country, an opportunity that comes up frequently when we read together.

"On earth we go for a giant ride in space, spinning like a merry-go-round." This is the first sentence of Karas's excellent picture book, and one that I think represents factual titles quite well. Obviously you'll want more detail if reading to an older child. But the ability of a skilled author to translate complicated concepts into a succinct bit of imagery relatable to a young child is quite impressive.

Next time you're looking for information, don't just head for the computer -- give the picture book shelves a browse, and see how you can help your child learn and connect with books at the same time.

On Earth by G. Brian Karas, published by G.P. Putnam's Sons