Booktalks – Page 2 – Booktalking #kidlit

Ferret Fun in the Sun

Ferret Fun in the Sun
by Karen Rostoker-Gruber (Author) and Paul Rátz de Tagyos (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Fudge and Einstein are a ferret duo. They’re going on a vacation adventure out west, to Arizona. Fudge doesn’t want to go. He likes to relax. Einstein likes action and can’t wait for their trip. But when they get to the ranch, Fudge experiences the biggest adventure of his life. Maybe trying new things isn’t so bad after all…

Snippet:
The back cover gives you a taste of this fun picture book comic:

STEM + the Arts = STEAM

STEAM DIY Activity

Make a fun pets comic online with Pixton.

How Do You Burp in Space?

How Do You Burp in Space?: And Other Tips Every Space Tourist Needs to Know
by Susan E. Goodman (Author) and Michael Slack (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Want to blast into orbit? Walk on the moon? Snag a personal photo of a shooting star? Well your time is coming! And when it does, you’re going to need a guide filled with information. Grounded in the history of space travel and the planned future of space tourism, this guide book will tell you what to pack (hint: no bubble bath or juggling balls!); what to expect from your accomodations (a sleeping bag attached to the wall), and what to do for fun (leapfrog on the moon!). Get ready to rock your rocketship!

Snippet: Eventually, you’ll be able to orbit Earth or vacation on Mars. It’s too early to make reservations, but it’s never too soon to start thinking about it. This guidebook will help you enjoy your space adventure long before you board the ship. After all, how can you daydream about it without knowing what you’ll eat and where you’ll sleep? Or what it’s like doing all of this while floating upside down?

STEM + the Arts = STEAM

STEAM DIY Activity

Remember this day in history and explore the story of the first moonwalk on July 20, 1969.
Watch the Footage from the Apollo 11 moonwalk.

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Bark Scorpion

Bark Scorpion (Desert Animals Searchin’ for Shade)
by Meish Goldish (Author)

Booktalk: The sun shines on the hot desert sand. Meanwhile, a small animal with lobster-like pincers and a long tail hides under some tree bark. After the sun sets and the air cools, the creature—an Arizona bark scorpion—leaves its hideout and starts to hunt for prey.

Snippet:
It is a hot, dry afternoon in the desert.

A bark scorpion rests in a tree.

It hides under the tree bark to keep out of the burning sun.

During the day, the temperature can climb to 120°F (49°C).

Yet the scorpion stays cool in the shade of the bark.

See this page inside the book.

STEM + the Arts = STEAM

STEAM DIY Activity

Watch the ‘Bark scorpions’ invade Indio news video and test your front door. What will you do if you are bitten? Make an action plan and post it on the refrigerator.

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

It’s a Seashell Day

It’s a Seashell Day
by Dianne Ochiltree (Author) and Elliot Kreloff (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Sunny-as-a-summer-sky rhymes chronicle a mother and son sharing a day of sand digging, seashell collecting, and seashore exploring. (See the seashell facts in the back of the book.)

Snippet:
I rush down the path, over the dune.
Salty breeze blows. We’ll be there soon!

STEM + the Arts = STEAM

STEAM DIY Activity

Try this Sand Art project.

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by iWrite in Maine.

Lazy Bear, Crazy Bear: Loony Long Vowels

by Kevin Bolger (Author) and Ben Hodson (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Finally, a phonics primer that’s not un-bear-able! Lazy Bear, Crazy Bear is a collection of zany cartoons carefully designed to teach all five long vowel sounds. Perfect for beginners just learning to decode words and for older or reluctant readers who just need a refresher in foundational phonics rules.

Snippet:

STEM + the Arts = STEAM

STEAM DIY Activity

Make your own phonics comic with the online Comic Creator.

Teresa of the New World

Teresa of the New World
by Sharman Apt Russell (Author)

Booktalk: In 1528, the real-life conquistador Cabeza de Vaca shipwrecked in the New World where he lived for eight years as a slave, trader, and shaman. In this lyrical weaving of history and myth, the adventurer takes his young daughter Teresa from her home in Texas to walk westward into the setting sun, their travels accompanied by miracles–visions and prophecies. But when Teresa reaches the outposts of New Spain, life is not what her father had promised. When a new epidemic of measles devastates the area, the sixteen-year-old sets off on her own journey. Now Teresa moves through a land stalked by Plague: smallpox as well as measles, typhus, and scarlet fever.

Snippet:
She could still hear the wise woman’s voice. She hadn’t understood then, when she was a child. She hadn’t realized that the wise woman had been talking to her, and not to her father. What you have lost will be restored to you. Now Teresa had to return back to that village, back to that hill and crumbling adobe house. Now she had someplace to go.

STEM + the Arts = STEAM

STEAM DIY Activity

https://youtu.be/Q-8H7vyk2UQ

Watch the Spanish Explorers: Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca video.
Then make your own animated video at PowToon.

Party In A Book: Spots, Dots, and Stripes

Party In A Book: Spots, Dots, and Stripes
by Rebecca Emberley (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: Everything you need to throw a party! DIY: Hundreds of perforated paper pieces, easy to assemble in dozens of ways to create your perfect party. Simply punch out the shapes desired, add some glue and string and you can make garlands, cupcake toppers, tray covers, chains, gift wrap, invitations, labels, tags, boxes, and much more.

Snippet:

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Random Body Parts: Gross Anatomy Riddles in Verse

Random Body Parts: Gross Anatomy Riddles in Verse
by Leslie Bulion (Author) and Mike Lowery (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Witty and nimble verse about body parts pairs with whimsical drawings in this informative, fun collection. Sidebars further educate readers about the anatomical subject in question, while appended notes offer a crash course on poetic form and a few facts about the Shakespearean works that inspired the verses. A glossary for science terms is included in the back matter.

Snippet:
RIDDLE ME THIS
Of course you have a body,
But do you have a clue,
Where all the body parts you’ve got are found
And what they do?

STEM + the Arts = STEAM

STEAM DIY Activity

Use this printable to Write Your Own Riddle.

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by The Logonauts.

Air Show

Air Show
by Anastasia Suen (Author) and Cecco Mariniello (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Cougars, Panthers, Camels, and Mosquitos. What do these animals have in common? Their names identify the historic airplanes that take flight at this spectacular air show event. In simple, poetic words and skillfully rendered illustrations, Anastasia Suen and Cecco Mariniello introduce the world of flight to children.

Snippet:

Author’s Note:
Thanks to StarWalk KidsMedia, my picture book Air Show is now an e-book and it has come out just in time for the July PopUp Library! Hooray! (During the the month of July all children can read as many books as they want for free!) Later in the year, narration will be added to the e-book.

Air Show was my first book and although it has been out of print for many years, it is a book that is close to my heart. My father’s parents built P-51 Mustangs during World War II. Yes, my grandmother was a Rosie the Riveter lady! (When you read the book, look for my grandparent’s plane on page 11. Mustangs leap . . .)

See P-51 Mustangs in the air.

STEM + the Arts = STEAM

STEAM DIY Activity

Design and test your own plane with the online Paper Airplane Creator.

Counting down the hours to the opening of the FREE #PopUpLibrary. Every child can read for the entire month of July! pic.twitter.com/DvNiGa1DtP

— StarWalk Kids Media (@StarWalkKids) June 30, 2015

Avis Dolphin

Avis Dolphin
by Frieda Wishinsky (Author) and Willow Dawson (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Avis Dolphin doesn’t want to sail to England on the Lusitania. War is raging in Europe, and the Germans threaten to sink the ship. Avis is lonely and afraid until she meets a kindly professor whose stories of a magical island help her face an uncertain future. (The stories the professor tells Avis are illustrated in a graphic-novel form, creating a story-within-a-story.)

Snippet:
I know about U-boats. They’re submarines hiding under the sea, waiting for ships, like foxes hiding in the bushes, waiting to pounce on rabbits or deer. When U-boats spy a warship, they launch a torpedo! And if a ship is hit, that’s it. The ship sinks. But until today I thought U-boats were only after warships.

I tap Hilda on the shoulder, “Maybe the warning is real. Maybe . . .”

STEM + the Arts = STEAM

STEAM DIY Activity

See a primary document, the 27-page SUPPLEMENTARY cargo manifest for the Lusitania’s last voyage.