Thursday, April 8, 2021

It's a Blog Tour - With Eight Legs & Poetry Friday!

           It's a blog tour and Poetry Friday hosted by Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference.            

        It's a perfect time for this new book to be born, alongside spring's awakening, and seeing more spiders, too, at least here in Colorado and other places moving out of a winter climate. 


          Non-fiction poetry books hold exceptional learning experiences, including literacy, natural history, art, and science all at the same time. Adults, including teachers, plus children, can take one wonderful book and begin a study on that topic, later also using the book as a mentor text for further studies of other topics. Leslie Bulion's words - prose and poetry plus Robert Meganck's illustrations offer so very much in every one of these areas. Additionally, if you're like one of my young granddaughters, you can read, learn, and enjoy a small bit at a time about your favorite subject, spiders!

          Catching interest is also key as Leslie opens with an overall poem titled with the scientific name, "Araneae All Around", a four stanza piece that amazingly covers everything, from where ("From leafy covers to forest floor,/Where foam-kissed ocean meets shimmery shore," and on) to hatching and bodies and what these eight-legged predators do! Each poem oozes with appreciation for spiders while including apt information. With creativity, Leslie offers a variety of poems, free-verse and patterned forms, adding a page of explanation for the poems in the back. One spider I have known of but wonder how many others will be surprised about is the "Diving Bell Spider" haiku described: "scuba spider/wears a silver bubble/dines in". 

          Each page includes text, a poem or more, and an illustration or more when spiders need to be grouped together. Here are a few samples:




         Helpful pages that highlight content are: a Table of Contents, a Glossary, Poetic Forms, Spi-ku spider identification for the pages, a 'how-to' for a "Spider Hunt", resources for further study, acknowledgments, a double-page spread of the book's spiders and their relative size compared to a pencil, and a page about the cover spiders. Information flows well, is entertaining in both text and poetry as it gives lots and lots (and lots) of information!

Other stops on this blog tour:

                Monday (4/5): Picture Books 4 Learning

                Tuesday (4/6): Storymamas

                Wednesday (4/7): The Miss Rumphius Effect

                Thursday (4/8): Reading to the Core

                Friday (4/9): TeacherDance



                Teacher’s guide: https://peachtree-online.com/pdfs/TeachersGuides/SpikuTG.pdf


If you'd like to follow. . .

Leslie Bulion social handles:

Facebook: @leslie.bulion

Twitter: @LeslieBulion

Instagram: @lesliebulion

 

Robert Meganck social handles:

Facebook: @rmeganck

Twitter: @r2meganck

Instagram: @r2meganck

 

Peachtree social handles:

Facebook: @PeachtreePub

Twitter: @PeachtreePub

Instagram: @peachtreepublishing


Extra Fun: Leslie reads one poem from her book at Michelle Schaub's Poetry Boost

          


 

          Thanks to Leslie Bulion, Robert Meganck, and Peachtree Publishing for a wonderful book and the opportunity to share it!

22 comments:

  1. Linda, I am super excited about Leslie's new book. While I could not join the Blog Tour, I do intend to write a blog later in the month. This book, Spi-Ku, is a "find" for any science-interested reader. I hope to read some of the poems to my little Sierra and share the pictures because Sierra is very interested in every part of a book. Thanks for sharing the wealth of information inside the covers.

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    1. Thank you, Carol! I hope Sierra has fun with our spiders!!

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    2. Hoping you can get the book & share with Sierra, soon, Carol. Thanks!

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  2. Thanks for introducing us to this new 'creepy' collection, Linda! I am a bit of an arachnophobe, but maybe a book like this will alleviate some of my fears. :)

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    1. I hope it will! And of course, Robert's engaging spider portraits - those googly eyes - what's not to love?

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    2. Please take a look at Leslie's book, Bridget. It really shows the awesomeness of spiders! Thanks!

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  3. Leslie is so great at bringing poetry to animals and animals to poetry! Ever since BE NICE TO SPIDERS (a wee-me fave) and of course CHARLOTTE'S WEB, I have a soft spot for spider. Thank you for sharing! xo

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    1. My spiders are waking up here & I've been carrying them outside when they appear. Leslie's book is really wonderful. I enjoyed every bit & learned a lot! I agree about that soft spot, Irene, & Leslie's ability to bring beauty to science! Thanks!

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  4. How lovely, Irene! Of course, I'm a HUGE admirer of YOUR poetry!!!

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    1. Poetry all around from Irene makes wonderful reading, I agree! You hold a special spot, too, Leslie!

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  5. Yay! I'm so excited to read Leslie's newest. Clapping with 8-legged glee. :)

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    1. Ha! So happy to hear that clapping! Hope you love it, Michelle. Thanks!

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  6. This book looks amazing! Thank you for the introduction!

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    1. You're welcome, Ruth. It is amazing. I imagine you might have some spider stories to share!

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  7. I would have had this book in my classroom if it had been available. The kids would have loved it. My spider-hating sister (all reason evaporates if she sees one) would not! Thank goodness she's not a teacher! I will look forward to seeing this book and probably adding it to my collection.

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  8. I am not an 8-legged creature fan, but I am sure kids will love this! I believe she wrote one aobut body parts that I have, and the kids love reading that one!

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  9. I think I have a nephew who would love this book. Thanks for this thoughtful review.

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  10. Thank you for this peek inside the book, Linda. I have added it to my wishlist!

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  11. I'm a fan of Leslie's poetry--can't wait to get my hands on this one!

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  12. Thanks for your excellent review, Linda. Enjoyed hearing about Leslie's new book. Just happened to see a GIANT spider the other night while going upstairs to bed. I think it was a wolf spider. They sometimes crawl up the bathtub drain in the guest bathroom and then roam around at night. I usually kill them so they don't end up crawling on me while I'm sleeping, but this one got away . . .

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  13. Thanks for coming by to help celebrate Leslie's book everyone. I guess each of us has experiences & views about these eight-legged creatures. That's why the book will be helpful, to learn more! Enjoy when you can!

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  14. Sounds like a terrific new book and your descriptions are oozing with enthusiasm for our fine eight legged friends, thanks for sharing it Linda!

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