New Learning - Science & History

   

              Thanks to Alyson Beecher's Non-Fiction Picture Book Challenge at Kidlit Frenzy, those who link up share wonderful non-fiction picture books. I am grateful for all that I've learned through reading non-fiction picture books. 

             

         Aston and Long’s gorgeous books are wonderful beginnings to studies of their subjects, celebrations of the things they have written about: nests, eggs, butterflies, seeds and rocks, and now, beetles. The illustrations that so beautifully incorporate basic bits of information about the topic are so enticing one is bound to look for more, to ask questions to further knowledge, to look and look again at the pictures. This one about beetles is the latest one, and it fascinates from the cover to the end. Who wouldn’t want to see a beetle that’s COLOSSAL, meeting it on the page, about a foot long, its mandibles “powerful enough to snap a pencil in half”. And amazing that on the opposite page is the smallest beetle, the North American Featherwing Beetle, one who is so small “it could pass through the eye of a needle.”  There are other descriptors like armored, shy, prehistoric, a delightful look at BEETLES!

        

         This story of George Washington Carver is so inspiring. Nicole Tadgell’s colorful illustrations show the incredibly tough work described by the author Suzanne Slade. This man born a slave, then freed, worked so hard in salt mines and coalmines until one day. On that day he overheard talk of a school for black people, but 500 miles away! He saved, and finally got there, graduated in three years, ended eventually in Tuskegee, Alabama and started a school for black students, in a shed! The back matter tells that it leaked, and sometimes students held an umbrella over him so he could continue teaching. He borrowed money, bought land outside town where he and the students worked hard to make bricks to make a school. Digging deep, they found clay. After breaking more than one kiln, at last one worked and they had bricks. And they began to build!

          I’ve summarized the story, but it holds a sense of the depth of Carver’s dedication to bringing his school to the students. And he did. Not only did the first building go up, but three others soon after. Now, of course the Tuskegee Institute is a huge institution known throughout the world.  The author, in an afterword, acknowledges that she has not included the sleepless nights spent figuring out how to pay the bills, find clothing for needy students, etc. That is for another story.

Tuesday - New Point of View?

       I'm slicing with the Two Writing Teachers community today. It's always a pleasure to read what everyone writes about their lives.

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” 
― Abraham Lincoln

           I've been reading, sharing and writing more than once lately about point of view. It seems important "all" the time, yet especially this election year. But no, this is not about the election, but about my companion this Labor Day weekend. My daughter's family just adopted a new dog from a cattle dog rescue site last week, and they had previously promised to keep a friend's dog, Lloyd, a sweet and older Cardigan Welsh Corgi. It wasn't a good time for them to have another dog while their new one was visiting. (There's a three week trial visit.) So, you know what's coming. I agreed to have Lloyd for the weekend. He is quiet and sweet and I thought it would be nice to see if I'd like another dog in my life. My husband and I had three dogs in our married life: a dalmatian named Sophie, an Old English Sheepdog named Bentley and a poodle/Jack Russell terrier mix named Timmy. All were wonderful dogs, and I'm not even mentioning the dogs my grown children had that we kept on occasion through the years. We also had a cat named Macavity (Max) and for a lot of years I had a horse stabled in the country-Mariah. I love animals, and miss them in my life.

It's Monday - Reading!

           Every Monday, it's a pleasure to link up with a group that reviews books they want to share with others. Come discover new books!

          Visit Jen at Teach MentorTexts and Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders to see what they've been reading, along with everyone else who link up.   

Tweet #IMWAYR

          Except for this first book and the last one, all the books have been published in 2016. How lucky we are that great books are still coming, and great books are in the past to discover too!

       I've had this anthology a long time, a marvelous gift from Margaret Simon in a poem swap. Nearly every day I read a poem or two from it, and it buoys me for the day, or rests me at the end of the day. I imagine that every woman of any age will love it, and that every man should read it if he wants to understand a bit more about women. Georgia Heard has entered one small quote at the beginning, something I think you'll all enjoy: "Words linked us in a ring of stars . . ."  by Dorothy Livery's poem "Epiphany", also included in the book. Georgia has divided the book's poems into sections, Love, Motherhood, Work, Family & Friends, and Balance. Within those sections are sometimes sub-sections. You can take a section a a time, open the book at will, browse and savor. 

Celebrating My Special Someone

  Celebrating with Ruth Ayres at Discover Play Build.  and linking with others who share their celebrations, too. I am grateful to Ruth for starting this meme that offers a place to celebrate together! I hope each of you has a wonderful holiday weekend. It sounds like Ruth and her family are going to!

         This is the right time to share this celebrations, although the real day is tomorrow, September 4th. On Sunday it will be three years since my husband, Arvie, died. It's so hard to try to collect words good enough to show what a wonderful man he was, and son, husband, father, brother and grandfather. We had over fifty years together, forty-eight of them married, and every part, even the hard ones, were blessed because we lived them together. Arvie was kind, respectful of everyone; stubborn, yet often right in his beliefs; smart, figured out just anything he needed to; loving, showed it often with family and friends. I loved him very much, and celebrate his life today while missing him still. A month or so after he died, I wrote a poem that is still the truth in many parts of my day. Now I share with others, and you, but when you read the poem, you'll know that I miss sharing with Arvie the most.

 And I Would Show You

And I would show you autumn is here.

Where once greenest leaves, now falling goodbyes.

Flowers’ last blooms fade by the evening;

Afternoon breezes undress trees with sighs.

And I would show you the sun has changed angles.

It’s no longer glaring, clouds relax in their glide.

Last minute bees taste last minute nectar;

Crickets are chirping, cicadas abide.

And I would show you the clocks appear slower;

it’s time for breath holding, and nothing still grows.

Nature’s preparing stark shadows of winter,

Beginning to paint on its canvas of snow.

 Linda Baie © All Rights Reserved

A favorite beach picture long ago, probably in Mazatlan.

Poetry Friday - Celebrating A Poem

Poetry Friday, beginning September! Thanks Penny Klostermann for hosting at A Penny and her Jots!

          I guess it's almost time to change my Poetry Friday "flowers".  Happy September!

          School has started nearly everywhere although I know some of you begin after this holiday weekend. All through the years for school and because I liked them, I've collected some poems about poetry. This time I'm sharing with you a long poem that I hope you will enjoy, and understand that it's not only about poetry, but about teaching. Best wishes to everyone who's beginning a year with children (young or old) or have children in school. 

         I Read a Tight-Fisted Poem Once by Nancy Woods

                from Room For Me and a Mountain Lion), compiled by Nancy Larrick

I touched the nothingness of air once and felt nothing.

I touched it again and felt a breeze.

I filled my lungs with air and smelled nothing.

I filled my body and soul with it and smelled the violets.

I read a tight-fisted poem once and realized nothing.

I read it again and was surprised to see it burst into blossom

and reveal its inner palm.

       You can read the rest of the poem here, in an older literature book, on Google. Please ignore the questions at the end! Olden times!