booktalk Archives - Page 1318 of 1347

7.5tonsofsteel
Seven and a Half Tons of Steel
by Janet Nolan (Author) and Thomas Gonzalez (Illustrator)

Booktalk: There is a ship, a navy ship. It is called the USS New York. It is big like other navy ships, and it sails like other navy ships, but there is something special about the USS New York. Following the events of September 11, 2001, the governor of New York gave the Navy a steel beam that was once inside one of the World Trade Towers. The beam was driven from New York to a foundry in Louisiana. Metal workers heated the beam to a high, high temperature. Chippers and grinders, painters and polishers worked on the beam for months. And then, seven and a half tons of steel, which had once been a beam in the World Trade Center, became a navy ship’s bow.

Snippet:
Out in the ocean, a storm started to swirl.
Wind twisted. Water churned.

Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans.
Levees broke, homes flooded, and
businesses were swept away.

Many shipbuilders lost their homes.

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

onceuponelephant
Once Upon an Elephant
by Linda Stanek (Author) and Shennen Bersani (Illustrator)

Booktalk: From slowing wildfires to planting seeds, one animal is the true superhero that keeps the African savanna in balance. Elephants dig to find salt that other animal lick, their deep footprints collect water for small creatures to drink, and they eat young trees to keep the forest from overtaking the grasslands. In every season, the elephants are there to protect the savanna and its residents but what would happen if the elephants were only once upon a time ? Discover the important role this keystone species plays in the savanna and explore what would happen if the elephants vanished.

Snippet: Once upon an elephant, the sun beat down on the hot, cracked earth. Rivers ran dry. The animals of the savannah risked dying from thirst.

But the elephants were there.

They dug in the riverbanks with their tusks. They cracked the hard soil, shoveled through mud, and reached water. And the animals gathered ’round and drank.

Linda is one of my former students!

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