Fantastic Nature Stories (part 1)
Over the last couple of months, I've started sharing themed reading lists on a variety of topics.
This time, though, I wanted to share some of our favorites. Personally I love seeing what other parents are reading to their kids! (Usually, I have to go add those books to my library list. My list of holds has gotten ridiculously long recently...but that's hardly a problem, right?)
So, here are six of our favorite library finds from the past month or so. Feel free to share your own favorite in the comments below!
- Snow Leopard:
Ghost of the Mountain, by Justin
Anderson, illustrated by Patrick Benson – a simple, beautiful book about watching
for snow leopards high up in the mountains.
- My Happy Year,
by E. Bluebird, by Paul
Meisel – a funny tale of a bluebird’s year, told as a series of diary entries.
I also highly recommend Meisel’s My Awesome Summer, by P. Mantis.
- High Tide for Horseshoe Crabs, by Lisa Kahn Schnell, illustrated by Alan Marks – a fascinating introduction to an ancient and not-terribly-well-known invertebrate.
- Deep in
the Swamp, by Donna
M. Bateman, illustrated by Brian Lies – the alligator and snakes version of Over
in the Meadow! We got the version that comes with a CD, and the kids
enjoyed listening to it a ton.
- Sea Bear:
a Journey for Survival, by Lindsay
Moore – the life of a polar bear through the year. This doesn’t address the
issues polar bears face with a shrinking ice pack, but it does show how
dangerous it could be for a bear to be caught too far from shore when the ice
melts in the spring.
- A Beach Tail, by Karen Lynn Williams, illustrated by Floyd Cooper – the other books on this list are mostly informational fiction. This one more just a fun story about a kid playing on a beach after his father warns him not to leave his drawing of a lion behind.
Looking for a bit more to add to your reading time? Try an art challenge!
Art Challenge:
- Design or draw a home for one of the animals in the stories above! Build a nest for a bluebird or an alligator, turn a box into a cave for a snow leopard, or create a cardboard and paper mâché iceberg for a polar bear to rest on.
- Write an E. Bluebird-style diary for your day--make it a full cycle like the bluebird's story, from waking up one morning to waking up the next morning!
- Find a patch of dirt or sand and draw your own picture in it. If you can't go outside, you could use a tray a thin layer of flour, or even a piece of play dough rolled out flat.
- Make up a story about watching for an animal in your own neighborhood. Pick one that you see occasionally, watch for it, and then keep track of what it does. Draw a picture of it to go with your story.
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