BEES and the Dog who Saved Them!

 

SLEEPING BEAR PRESS, 2025

Meet Mack, a rescue dog who is a true BEE hero (now retired). THE DOG WHO SAVED BEES is written by Stephanie Gibeault and illustrated by David Hohn. I've centered the cover, larger than usual, because that's exactly the attitude the cover invites. This nonfiction picture book celebrates MACK, and the illustrations capture MACK's personality wonderfully. You may also note the JUNIOR LITERARY GUILD designation as well as the stacks of beehives. 

There's a human component to Mack's story that should to be overlooked, even though she is subtly backgrounded on the cover. That's Cybil, the "Chief Apiary Inspector" for the Maryland Department of Agriculture. Why is she a part of the story? She was the account's "instigating factor" when she realizes that some of the bees who are transported back and forth across our nation had been infect with "foul brood" a highly contagious and untreatable bee disease. Unless infected hives could be identified and destroyed, they would contaminate others, threatening our national pollination and harvests of almonds, apples, strawberries, and many more food crops. 

Humans can identify infected hives by visual inspection of each hive, but it wasn't possible to do in time to release them for cross continental transport. But those infected hives release a specific stink, one that a dog might recognize and signal, similar to the way dogs can be trained to identify drugs and other contraband. 

That explanation is simplified and visualized in the opening pages, after which Cybil decides she might seek out a dog to train to detect the scent, something never tried before. Special "seek" dogs need to be very high energy and motivated enough to ignore all else when put to work. But those same traits can make dogs poor candidates as pets. Cybil tried (against advice) to work with Mack, a confined dog who was living a miserably boring life and was seen to be rowdy and disruptive. Cybil gave Mack a chance.

Training is described and shown in highly relatable text and images. When Cybils tried some innovative approaches to get her distractible trainee to focus, their work as a team took off. Once Mack could succeed at the seek/signal work with "foulbrood" scent, the real tests would follow. If anyone has ever been stung by a bee, you'll understand the challenge. Mack's work required sniffing closely at hive after hive, and that alone was worrying. When Mack was eventually stung, he resisted returning to work. 

The unfolding story has the appeal of an irresistible dog, the inspiration of an innovative and clever scientist, the stakes of the very food on our tables, and heartwarming visual storytelling. Back matter includes more about Mack, including photos and resources to verify the facts behind this magical tale. 

Many young audiences are ambivalent about bees, recognizing their value in ecosystems, appreciating their fuzzy buzzing and flight, but fearing their sting. The illustrator note even says he recalls a bee sting from childhood but values the variety of plant-based foods on his plate. The story evokes empathy for Mack, highly motivated to his task but reluctant to be hurt again. it will model the steps to overcome fear and gain confidence, and it should inspire many questions and further readings about bees "on the road", about their role in the full cycle of pollination-to-plate.

Summer is certainly prime time for reading about bees, but as impressive as those insects are, they rely on humans (and scent-seeking dogs) to sustain the health of the hive. Mack's story is central but adds enough elements to make agri-business information very kid-friendly, serving as a portal to further nonfiction reading. Mack, the dog, is memorable and so is this nonfiction picture book. Highly recommended.

WHEN BEAVERS FLEW... (You read that right!)

RANDOM HOUSE STUDIO, 2024

The lively title of this new picture book provides a first taste of its effective approach to sharing a highly successful environmental rescue operation. WHEN BEAVERS FLEW: An incredible True Story of Rescue and Relocation is written by Kristen Tracy and illustrated by Luisa Uribe. As the author note in back indicates, this was a project ahead of its time "to use coexistence techniques to peacefully solve problems". This was referencing directly the mixed blessing of beaver presence, but can and should be carried through to most conflicts we have with nature and humans.

What are those mixed effects of beaver habitation? On the plus side, beavers reshape the environmental design of their habitat: expanding wetlands, gnawing down trees, inviting a vast array of other wildlife to the area's offerings, turning rivers and creeks into ponds and lakes. 

On the negative side, see all of the above. 

When McCall, Idaho, began to grow from a rustic, lightly populated area, the increasing beaver population was seen as detrimental- an intrusion on buildable land, destruction of newly planted greenery and trees, and concern about rapidly multiplying beaver populations. This is as much an account of Fish and Game Warden Elmo Heter as it is a recognition that  the PRO side of beavers' engagements with nature can be managed successfully.

He realized that an excess of beavers would inevitably lead to a call to trap and kill them. His clever conception was to remove most of the beavers to an area in which they would benefit the environment, thrive in population, and allow local development with a manageable number of beavers to enhance that region naturally. His science and environmental background suggested non-invasive transport approaches (including pack mules!). The intended region for relocation was seriously inaccessible. Thinking "out of the box", he paired random information about excess parachutes available cheaply after the end of the war with brainstorming about ways to safely launch and land beavers into this wild paradise. 

STEM and science processes take center stage as the minimal text and easily understood illustrations reveal multiple examples of the many "NO"s that preceded eventual success. (No beavers were harmed in the process.) Finally, enough variables and test runs and resulting escapes to freedom were considered before a single beaver, nicknamed GERONIMO, was flown, dropped, landed, and successfully "sprung". Repeated tests encouraged a full program.

The various field science elements that went into making this such a success are briefly but clearly mentioned- weighing, aging, pairing, and identifying drop areas all led to the wide population of beavers that now inhabit an extremely isolated conservation area. Their protection (and survival) are well-documented, shared now after years in which this project and its originator were generally untold.  Geronimo and seventy-five fellow furry explorers transformed large swaths of what is now the largest protected roadless forest in continental United States. That's success on any scale.

Forgive me for including so much detail, but each element in this project was fascinating and begged to be shared. Elmo's efforts and success call for celebration through text that invites page turns, surprised and a very satisfying ending. The illustrator is from Bogota, Columbia and a back note explains the intricate indigenous stones wall art tucked behind a pack mule on one spread. Throughout, the territory is depicted with a blend of welcome and grittiness, with the actors (human and otherwise) offering appeal and admiration. Resources are included in the back matter, and  School Library Journal gave it a starred review. I hope you will, too!

Beware the Diminishing Power of Casual Remarks: "It's Just A..."

Before I say a word about this colorful, artful picture book, I confess. I was NEVER a fan of worms as a child. I experienced them as slime trails, squished remains under bike tires, slippery challenges for fishing hooks, and the cause of that post-rain funky smell in the air. That was all to cover up the fact that worms scared me. 

I still have no idea just what I was scared of, but I vividly recall avoiding contact at all costs, and that siblings and their friends knew they could chase me away by holding up a sample.

My adult self "holds" worms in high regard. I dig in garden soil comfortably and try to avoid slicing into those valuable, productive, essential worms below the surface.I can even handle them myself as circumstances require, although that still is NOT something I go out of my way to do. 

Greenwillow Books, March 14, 2023

This new picture book, JUST A WORM, written and created by Marie Boyd, intrigued me on many levels. The extra large image above allows you to appreciate that this was imagined and assembled using an eye-appealing paper-quill-scroll technique combined with photographic capture of three-dimensional layouts. More about that quilling technique below, but first, let's meet WORM. 

As Worm "la-la-la"s its way across the ground, voices related to two sets of kid's legs share an "Ew" and the remark that it is "Just A worm". Those words echo what my childhood self would likely have said. That incident launches lighthearted, wiggly, squiggly Worm on a journey of discovery to prove he can DO things. Things that matter. 

From that point on I was rooting for Worm. My own understanding of what worms DO led the central  process for me hold them in high regard, and to my eagerness to share their ecological value with kids. This is an excellent picture book to make that an appealing experience.

In a beautiful garden that expands in color and variety from page to page, Worm inquires of garden creatures about what THEY can do. In each case, (caterpillar, butterfly, dragonfly, bee, spider, and snail, as suggested on the cover), Worm lacks their skills. In each interaction, though, Worm recognizes what it CAN do, but mentally attaches that "just" qualifier to those seemingly unimportant skills, dismissing their value. It is only when Worm realizes that by cleaning, casting, (okay, pooping), feeding, and digging through the soil, it contributed to this gorgeous, healthy garden. This realization makes the sting of that "just" remark fall away.

The illustrations invite close examination and tempt audiences to wonder how they were made and even try it themselves. Boyd achieves an ideal balance between intricacy and seeming simplicity in each element and in the full scene assemblies. Boyd uses a combination of elaborate quilling in flowers alongside carefully cut and shaped papers with curled edges, some twisted, arched, and otherwise raised from the background page to provide shadows and depth. Overhead clouds tell a story of their own, with sizes, color, quantity, and depth indicating changes of mood and rising tension. I was especially intrigued by the tiny fan-folds in Worm and the subtle shading of its shape and color on the cover image. Worm is rendered in pen and ink throughout the book, except for the final spread, which is the only spread in the story where Boyd made Worm from quilled paper. A two-page spread in back matter demonstrates some examples of the scroll/quill techniques used. Scroll down to the bottom of Boyd's homepage to find examples you can observe in the making: HERE.

Take time to check this one out carefully, exploring connections to environmental education, self-esteem, food cycles, and peer pressure/name-calling.The final page turn provides some additional thoughts from Boyd (attributed to Worm in speech bubbles) that readers and families/classes may explore on these themes and topics, as well as a few added facts about earthworms and a brief glossary. This is an excellent example of a book I wish I'd had while teaching about "decomposers", the remarkably efficient and productive trash disposers/composters of our planet. They are seriously unappreciated and under-protected! Recommended for all ages as nonfiction text and mentor work for art and illustration.

Release date: March 14, 2023       Preorder discount link HERE.

GOOD EATING: The (Short) Life of Krill-- Cybils Awards Nonfiction Finalist- Elementary Category!

CYBILS AWARDS Finalist Feature:

The announcements have been made, and I'm thrilled with our  selections. I reviewed one of those finalists in middle grade category (which also happens to be a picture book) in a recent post, HERE. Now it's time to celebrate and congratulate one of the elementary finalists.

 Krill. It's likely everyone understands that word as an important food source in sea life. Even young learners of food chains know the word. I certainly did, but until this book I never gave KRILL a second thought, other than longing to keep ocean climates habitable for them and all their dependent species.

But this book... blew me away. The author has managed to make the life cycles and patterns of krill absolutely fascinating. And this is only one species of krill, essential and ubiquitous in the Southern Ocean.

Tilbury House Publishers, 2022

GOOD EATING: The (SHORT) Life of Krill is written by Matt Lilley and illustrated by Dan Travis. (Take a look at that amazing cover with every hungry eye in the Southern Ocean aimed at a quick meal!)

Ask most kids (and older) about krill, and they’ll say krill are a food source for whales. That produces a quick topic switch to whales, because whales are WAY more fun to talk about, right? I’d have agreed, until this book came along. From a surprisingly dramatic “egg” opening through all stages (scientifically labeled near each kid-friendly image), to multiple phases and adulthood, the shifts of location, perspective, and danger add interest and tension. Occasional clever puns are finessed into the brief and informative text. 

Readers (krill) are schooled (See? Pun!) in their importance as a keystone species, one that is constantly eatin’ while avoiding being eaten!  If you also know that krill swim in massive schools, you’ll appreciate how both the author and illustrator managed to convey those huge populations while allowing a single specific krill to somehow be distinguished from the others. That one's the intended “you” in the narrative. Visually, that’s accomplished through placement on the page (during early life cycle stages) and using riveting eyes and a distinctive green belly, a krill consequence of eating so much chlorophyll-rich phytoplankton. 

The author addresses the reader as if they are this krill, the good-eater, green-bellied, eye-focused one. Each page holds remarkable, memorable facts about krill in brief, light text. A did-you-know quality abounds, such as adult krill: have 26 legs, molt (shed their shells) throughout life, look like bugs or shrimp but are neither, and (get this) can live up to TEN YEARS, if not eaten first! Backmatter adds even more fun facts, with readability to match the main text, including resources. 

This is accessible to young learners and also suited (invaluable!) to those further along in learning about biology, ecology, species variety, and the roles of anchor species to sustain entire food chains. Back matter is remarkably complex while still light-hearted and lively.

Congratulations to this and the other fantastic book in this category!! I personally recommend ALL of them!

GIRL POWER: In Fact and Fiction

 

Roaring Brook Press, 2022

Two wonderful recent picture books deserve the spotlight today. The first is a well-told, nonfiction account of a young girl-hero of mine, Mary Anning. While teaching I learned SOOOO much about various events and people who have only now, decades later, been appearing in widely distributed trade books. 

My students and I learned about Mary Anning in the ON MY OWN BIOGRAPHY SERIES from Scholastic. (Mary Anning, Fossil Hunter, by Sally M. Walker, 2000). Since then I've read multiple titles about this incredible (and BRAVE) girl/woman/scientist. Even with that background, I feet this latest picture book is a winner: DRAGON BONES:The Fantastic Fossil Discoveries of Mary Anning, is written by Sarah Glenn Marsh and illustrated by Maris Wicks.

In this case the author stays focused on Mary as a young girl, then (briefly) as a young adult. Her life preceding and following these pages is also intriguing and complex, as well as being a story of gender discrimination, the evolution of the theory of evolution, and also the power of the progress of science. But this youthful focus also reveals Mary as an energetic, self-directed , analytical, and entrepreneurial wonder! 

Although Mary and her father and brother were driven by financial need, that reality was less an anchor that locked a poor girl into a life of drudgery than it was a bridge and portal to a world of science. Others who examined her fossils saw them through the ideas of the familiar past, while she viewed them as fantastical treasures, ones connected to the both reality and storytelling, not unlike the constellations overhead. She connected the dots of her discoveries in ways that fostered original thinking and motivated her to search more, dig more, think more. She trusted  her mind and her trusty tools. Spare but effective text pairs with colorfully simple black-lined illustrations to make this version of Mary Anning's life story accessible and entertaining even for young ages. It would be a great addition to a collection of the many biographic titles about Mary Anning now available for comparison reading and to allow readers of any level of confidence to read and engage in discussions.

SCHOLASTIC, 2021

In contrast, LALA'S WORDS: A story of Planting Kindness, is written and illustrated by award-winning Gracey Zhang. It portrays a fictional young girl within a gritty urban setting, but one that adds a touch of magical realism at the end. 

The tagline, planting kindness, is absolutely suited. It could also have been tagged A Story of Urban Ecology, or A Modern Day Environmental Parable, or other references to the transformational power of kindness, yes, but also of accepting differences, of appreciating life in every form, and of fostering "green" resources to combat global warming, especially in urban islands. 

Lala doesn't think or voice any of those understandings, rather she instinctively recognizes LIFE in the stray, asphalt-defying, weedy  growths within a wire-fenced lot, not far from home. The black/white/gray illustrations give a rough-edged, unrefined impression of the mercilessly hot sidewalks, apartments, and the entire neighborhood in which Lala lives her lively days. Her splash of yellow on various pages is the only bright spot on most pages of bill-checking, mess-making, and dirtying up her dress. 

Lala does not water and speak to the plants with a goal in mind, but because they are alive and she recognizes their needs, physical and emotional. To be kept home and prevented from tending to them dims Lala's glow until readers might fear it could go out. It is only when those nurtured greens miss her and seek her out that the canopy they create provides protective shade above her neighborhood, allowing the temperature to drop as Lala's yellow glow spreads from person to person and home to home.

This is a joyful, heartfelt story told in brilliantly simple text and images. Countless kids will identify with Lala, teachers will welcome it for carpet-talks about respect and kindness, while older readers could use this story to launch study of transforming urban settings through green planting to combat social disparities in global warming.

Both books portray enthusiastic and compelling girls whose interests and energy made major changes in a wider world. Give these to girls you know who have that potential-- in other words, ALL girls!

 

A Pair of Powerful Picture Books by Kurt Cyrus

 With only a few comments here, I confidently recommend that you read and share these companion counting picture books, both written and illustrated by Kurt Cyrus.

A Christy Ottaviano Book: 2016

The first of this pair, released "all the way back in 2016" is BILLIONS OF BOOKS: A Counting Book About Bricks.

Both books are oversized, with expansive, colorful illustrations that impress with their sweeping scenes and intriguing specificity and detail. Both incorporate lighthearted and lively rhymed text, patterns of progression, topic-related terminology, and splashes of humor and wry twists.

Here are a few excerpts from Indiebound.org:

A Kirkus Best Picture Book of the Year
A JLG Selection
An Oregon Spirit Award Honor Book

"An amazing feat of architecture and artistry that kids will pore over long after the last brick has been laid."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Rollicking rhymes and elegant artwork should delight playroom block stackers and someday builders and architects alike."-Publishers Weekly, starred review.

A Christy Ottaviano Book: 2016

Now, in 2021, Cyrus is back with TRILLIONS OF TREES: A Counting and Planting Book. This time around the story involves a slip of the tongue, in which an order for trillium is misinterpreted to be "trillions of trees". The outrageous story unfolds with Cyrus's lively text, cleverly incorporated science information, and spreads that impress with relative scale, character inclusion, and concept development.

A leafy surprise awaits on the final turn, as various facts are shared by characters who peek out from among one of those trillion trees.

Again, this satisfying effort paid off with well-deserved praise:

Praise For Trillions Of Trees: A Counting And Planting Book…

A Junior Library Guild Selection

"This rhyming story playfully melds an often ignored counting concept—a trillion—with the importance of tree planting and preservation, while also introducing a great number of tree species to a young audience. Like Billions of Bricks, the story’s catchy, upbeat vibe reflects hard but necessary work, while the quick pace and energetic rhyme scheme both fascinates and instructs its young listeners about caring for trees. Illustrated with vibrant natural vistas to amplify quick, upbeat rhymes, Cyrus beckons early elementary readers to a newfound sense of the immensity and importance of trees in the world." —School Library Journal, Starred Review

For building-block fans, tree-lovers, or anyone who appreciates the fun of a book that captivates while layering in learning, this is the pair for you.  

Here's LOOKING At You, Margaret Lowman!

 When a picture book hits the sweet spot of my admiration radar, I'm on board before even opening the cover. In this case the author (Heather Lang), genre (biography), subject fields (rainforests and environmental issues), meeting someone new (Margaret Lowman), and inspiring young readers to activism are combined in a book that has me cheering.

Calkins Creek
Imprint of Boyds Mills & Kane 2021

I hope this picture book will do the same for you, and that you'll join me in singing its praises and sharing it widely. THE LEAF DETECTIVE: How Margaret Lowman Uncovered Secrets in the Rainforest is written by Heather Lang and illustrated by Jana Christy. It's hard for me to imagine anyone who is not a fan of the rainforest, and anyone who doesn't have a strong impulse toward both curiosity and concern when that subject is mentioned.

 

Before the main text begins, a quotation by Margaret "Canopy Meg: Lowman is showcased on its own page:

"We are PART of our ecosystem, not outside it."

With that quotation and nickname as my introduction to this pioneering rainforest scientist, the author follows with a full spread that anchors a pattern of three things I especially enjoyed and admired: revealing Meg's emotional inner life, including a significant quotation that summarizes specific elements of her biography, and brief science information displayed on a lower corner "leaf" inset on most pages. In the case of this first spread, Meg has spent two decades focused on leaves: thinking, reading studying, researching, hypothesizing about rainforest canopy leaves and ecosystems, but frustrated that no one had ever reached that biome directly.

It's a tricky challenge for a biographer to engage young readers with the adult lifestory of noteworthy folks, with many authors following a cradle-to-grave sequence, launching the "hook" of the childhood years on the first page. In this case, Lang's  opening spread plants adult Meg at the base of a towering rainforest canopy tree with a sense of her pent up frustration about finding a way "UP". What child can't identify with that feeling?

The page turn then draws readers into Meg as a child, a painfully shy, studious girl who "wrapped herself in nature like a soft blanket". That quote is Lang's lovely text, which lands on this spread among colorful and sketchy images of Meg observing, collecting, preserving, and viewing her own backyard leaves from an eye-level tree house, all of which foreshadow the life she would eventually lead. 

The propulsive text and  active images as Meg enters adulthood sustain a sense of her determination and persistence that she developed in her youthful sense of purpose, her physicality and adventuresome approach to direct investigation and science. Despite the voices and forces of convention: "You can't do this. You're a woman. Women don't climb trees", Meg did. Just as in her childhood, she respected her inner voice. She steadily developed the science behind her insight that trees rely on defenses, like toxins and nettles and thorns and poisons, to preserve their lives, and that those very adaptations might be of value to humans, too. She was also increasingly aware of the local and corporate destructive forces that threatened rainforest ecosystems that had been centuries in the making and were disappearing by the minute.

Meg's childhood fascination with leaves, and the ways in which leaves fed and served other life forms, continued as the central driving force for her observations and investigations. Her early attempts at tree climbing and direct observation eventually led to collaborations that improved study for herself and others, that allowed eco-tourists to visit rainforest canopies on elevated walkways.She helped develop ways to establish "emergent layer rafts" as a base to gain, literally, a bird's eye view of life at the top of a rainforest. 

The concluding pages include a photo of Meg, grinning directly at the reader while hanging from a rope sling on the side of a canopy tree. This is followed by a glorious double spread labeled RAINFOREST MAGIC, which requires reorienting the book to a vertical display. That reveals the labeled ayers of the sub-biomes (forest floor, understory, canopy, and emergent) with brief text, size markers, scaled and labeled lifeforms, and color/shade tones indicating the relative penetration of the sun. The final page turn is a wealth of nonfiction resources, including bibliography, video, Meg Lowman's website (check it out!), and source notes for each and every quotation included. 

I'm well aware that picture books are the result of an amalgamation of extraordinary talent, including the author, illustrator, editor, art director, and many more. In this case the physical book is a victory of design and content, from the vertical trim size with stacked text that suggested the rising components of the rainforest, to the lush and dense illustrations that somehow reflect the nearly blurred impact of packed foliage while managing to reveal specific details, curious characters, and dramatic shifts in perspective and size. 

In my first paragraph I mentioned that author Heather Lang was among one of the attractive factors in my pursuit of this book. I had the privilege of sharing an interview with her in a post that is nearly ten years old now, but her responses remain timeless and made me a fan. Her thorough research and writing style make her books irresistible to young readers (and older ones, like me!). 

Meg's pioneering attitude about the significance and value of the rainforest follows a direct course from her childhood personality and interests, The result of her self-acceptance and self-direction have been a lifetime pursuit that has sparked global studies, preservation movements, and improved lives for rainforest residents. This is a book for anyone at any age, but especially for kids who may not see themselves as "fitting in" but will be inspired by Meg's example.

Raise 'Em Up Loving (and Protecting) Their Planet: Nat Geo, GROW, and BLUE FLOATS AWAY

 Here are three quick takes at today's world as we approach EARTH DAY, 2021. The theme for this year is RESTORE OUR EARTH.  That important theme and the actions it should inspire rely on the promise of our own efforts, and that of coming generations.

Generations of picture book readers.

Take ONE, from a National Geographic UPDATE:

THE LAST GLIMPSE

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRENT STIRTON Reinforcements: Six months ago, nearly 600 savanna elephants crossed from Uganda to the grassland of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s once-troubled Virunga National Park, stunning park staff. Six months later, they’re still here, suggesting they feel secure in their new home. Park director Emmanuel de Merode tells Nat Geo he’s never seen anything like this in his three decades of service. “There has been no greater expression of Virunga coming back to life,” he says. Note: the extraordinary image of the elephants at Virunga—I count at least 70 of them in this frame—was taken by photographer and Nat Geo Explorer Brent Stirton. Credit to National Geographic for above excerpt. MARCH OF THE ELEPHANTS Boyds Mills and Kane, 2021 Damages done to our planet and the lives who rely on it have not happened overnight, nor will it be improved in a single generation. Even so, or especially so, let's make sure that the upcoming generation is steeped in the deepest appreciations and connections with nature and our planet. Here are two suggestions. Take TWO: GROW, written by JoAnn Early Macken and illustrated by Stephanie Fizer Coleman is a new picture book that firmly anchors readers into their place as wonders of nature.  Lively, lyrical, and lovely, this seemingly simple series of "What if..." questions provides rich responses for diverse  children and their adults. The science is solid, incorporating accurate terminology within poems presented in prose layout. The promos suggest this as perfect for babies and very young, but it also provides poetic figurative language for use as mentor text in writing activities. It concludes with a call to the analogy and challenge that growth continues, that individuals are distinct and valuable, and that life should be embraced and celebrated- making it an ideal graduation-life-change moment gift as well. Take THREE: Abrams Books for Young Readers March, 2021 BLUE FLOATS AWAY is written by Travis Jonker and illustrated by Grant Snider. When a small portion of a glacier "family" calves and floats away, "Blue" leaves home behind and begins a journey through the ocean, at first confident, then cautious, then curious, ultimately concerned.. With minimal text, the journey explores changes of climate and location, meets other residents of the seas, until Blue loses his physical form in the warming oceans. The series of new beginnings, explorations, and discoveries, and transformations resumes with evaporation, condensation, wind currents, and the circles and cycles continue.  Simple back matter includes a few technical words not included in the main text, allowing it to be accessible from the earliest ages, but making it useful for school age kids.  Environmental awareness of our warming planet and the impact on its seas and skies make this an ideal book related to water cycle and more. Here's my genuine hope that you'll share this good news from current events with young people, reassuring them that humans can make CONSTRUCTIVE changes in the ecology of Planet Earth through local activism. Then share these and other books with kids you care about, connecting and engaging them with the miracle that is our planet.

Earth Day? A Single Day? Even a Weekend? No Way!

 I'll repeat something I've included in many prior posts: I am seriously ambivalent about the value of THEME MONTHS or "Designated Days". April 20-22, 2021, are the official EARTH DAY/weekend and signal global action to raise awareness and sponsor actual efforts to improve/protect our Earth. As i write these words, a stack of picture books related to this theme is at my side, and I will celebrate them in coming days, along with poetry books, since this is also POETRY MONTH, (the 25th anniversary of that designation), among other overlapping themes. 

Today, though, I feature a single picture book that combines tragic warnings with a celebration of our potential to redirect the outcome of our planet. That change begins with awareness.

If our eyes have not yet opened to the reality that planet EARTH is on a course to disaster, there is an enormous need for more attention to actual, verifiable news. For example, if you are generally aware that whales are threatened, but not clear about the dangers to and status of particular species, check out these updates on Atlantic Right Whales, HERE, HERE, and HERE. 

Blue Dot Press, April, 2021

The release this month of WELCOME HOME, WHALES, written and illustrated by Christina Booth, is timed to provide a deeply emotional and gorgeous embrace of the present and the past lives of Atlantic Right Whales. It is also a warmhearted story about a sensitive boy (although the art is wonderfully open to interpretation of that gender) whose inner radar senses the presence, and past, of a welcome visitor. Using dreamy and fluid tones and lines the author/illustrator combines ethereal images of whaling history and practices that brought Atlantic Right Whales to the brink of extinction. Within those swirling pages are  dramatic images of the intelligent life of an ocean creature who carries a genetic memory of the damage done to her species. 

The child imagines the whale's message in actual dialogue. Whale's minimal communication and questions present a challenge to the listener/reader. There is awareness that the child is not personally responsible and yet together we experience a sense of human accountability for the harm done in the past. In the course of this very gentle but powerful encounter, the surrounding community gradually recognizes the reality of and importance of the return of this whale and her calf. 

To understand a broader significance to the situation portrayed, take a few minutes to listen to this piece on NPR about environmental observers have spotted Right Whales in their traditional south Atlantic coastal breeding grounds with calves after their extended absence. An even more recent piece about these developments can be heard HERE. 

Within the swirling, dreamy illustrations are accurate depictions of the boy's perceived whale, including characteristic crusty white patches on the skin, called callosities. The whale's images  include the "V"-shaped spray of its spray (tail), its relative size, behaviors, and calving patterns. A double spread in back matter incorporates scientific details about the three species of Right Whales, their feeding patterns, a habitat map, and more.The final page includes resources and suggestions for more information as well as ideas for things that even young people can to do help support the recovery of this species.

There are many reasons I love this book, including the bottom line: It is gorgeous in text and illustration with a theme that is not timely and timeless. In addition, it offers reliable and current information about this seriously endangered species with emotional power while not fantasizing or trivializing the reality of our global environmental dangers. It has enormous potential for use with learners, in science, social studies, and also as mentor text for writing.

Here's hoping it makes its way into your lives and the lives of young people you know, and not just during a theme month or weekend. Children should not be saddled with undoing the harm of past generations, but the fact is that they are our greatest hope of restoring ecological balance on this amazing planet. Books like this one can provide life-changing experiences.