February 2017 - Page 4 of 10

Ultimate Oceanpedia: The Most Complete Ocean Reference Ever
by Christina Wilsdon (Author)

Booktalk: From tsunamis and sea turtles to riptides and reefs, learn all about the creatures, science, and ecology of our oceans, which cover more of the planet than all the continents and are just as important! Travel through all parts of the ocean to learn how it affects of our world, including storms and climate. Amazing facts, photos, illustrations, and diagrams are found throughout this book, along with conservation tips, weird-but-true facts, and a mini ocean atlas. Challenges to the health of our ocean and its creatures are also presented along with what people are doing to keep it pristine for generations to come.

Snippet:
THE PACIFIC OCEAN
The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean. It’s so big that it could hold all of the Earth’s continents, with room to spare. It contains nearly half of Earth’s ocean water.

But the Pacific isn’t just the biggest ocean. It’s also the deepest. The average depth of the Pacific is about 14,040 feet (4,280 m)–more than 10 times the height of New York City’s Empire State Building. It’s also home to the deepest place on Earth: Challenger Deep, which sits in the Mariana Trench, a canyon on the ocean floor. Challenger Deep plunges 35,827 feet (11 km).

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

Squirrel in the House
by Vivian Vande Velde (Author) and Steve Bjorkman (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Squirrel is ready to party as he enters Cuddles the dog’s house through a special entrance for squirrels on the roof, aka the chimney. Holiday festivities are soon in shambles, and Cuddles, the presumed culprit, is banished to the basement. Meanwhile, the littlest human runs away into a snowstorm unnoticed by everyone except Squirrel. Long-suffering Cuddles must team up with the willfully obtuse Squirrel to rescue the child in this comical story told from a squirrel-centric point of view.

Snippet: The dog who lives next door to the yard where I live tells me that people call dogs “man’s best friend.”

Well, actually, the dog doesn’t so much tell me this as he yells it. Usually while he’s chasing me. Often the dog gets so angry when he sees me that he tries to catch me. I don’t know why he gets angry. I guess some dogs are just highly excitable that way. But when he runs after me, he can only go so far. Then his leash stops him.

I try to point things out to the dog, purely for educational purposes. I live in the school yard, so I am a very well-educated squirrel. I say, “Man’s best friend, huh? You’re tied to a tree. You did notice that, didn’t you? My friends don’t tie me to trees.”

Time and again the dog gets so angry about the life lesson I’ve tried to give that he forgets about his leash. He lunges, he runs out of leash, he bounces back.

Very calmly, not to tease him but only to explain the way things are, I say to the dog, “I think it’s squirrels who are man’s best friend. That’s why the man who lives here ties you up–so you can’t bother me.”