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Outdoor School

December 10, 2022 By Annette1 2 Comments

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Outdoor School) through Raincoast Books. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated.

Did you know that in just a few short months spring will be upon us? A time for plants, and all outdoor growing things? AND we literally just finished fall… a season of exploring for mushrooms, and in the winter… berries to see on bushes! What do you need to help you in your explorations? Outdoor School by Mary Kay Carson. This lovely book is your definitive guide to tree, wildflower, and mushroom spotting.

The Basic Details

Title: Outdoor School: Tree, Wildflower, and Mushroom Spotting. The Definitive Interactive Nature Guide.
Author: Mary Kay Carson
Illustrator: John D. Dawson
Pages: 416
Publisher: Odd Dot
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books
Formats: Paperback
Intended Audience: 10-14 years
Type: non-fiction, interactive guide
Series: Outdoor School
Special Note: the corners of this interactive guide are reinforced with what feels like metal. Keeps the corners from curling when using this interactive guide.

Please note: I tried to make the colours in my photos match the book, but the photos turned out more muted than the original product. The colours are much more brilliant in real life.

About the Author

Mary Kay Carson specializes in writing non-fiction science books for children. She has some 50ish books to her credit. Living in Ohio with her hubby (a photographer), dog, cat and fish, writing books is her job.

About Outdoor School

This interactive field guide to plant and mushroom spotting includes:
– Immersive activities to get you exploring
– Write-in sections to journal about experiences
– Next-level adventures to challenge even seasoned nature lovers.

No experience is required – only curiosity and courage. Inside you’ll find easy-to-follow instructions on how to:
– Grow mushrooms with cardboard
– Compare bark types
– Count tree rings
– Survey leaf patterns
– Create fern spore prints
– Press and preserve wildflowers

Looking deeper into Outdoor School

You know how using a highlighter helps you find keywords in a text? And if you use differently coloured highlighters how it helps tie key ideas together? Well, when you colour code pages in a nature guide it helps you find the pages you need more quickly. Looking for how to identify flowerss, turn to the purple pages, or for mushrooms, the orange. How easy could it be eh?

So you’ll discover five parts in this interactive guide divided into

What is plant spotting
Trees and shrubs
Wildflowers
Mushrooms and other fungi
Ferns and mosses

Writing assignments, I found it notes, mini-tests, scavenger hunts, and more fill the pages.

You will find so much information trapped with these pages, a nice sturdy paper that will hold up to fieldwork. You can take this guide with you as you meander through the great outdoors.

Each page is loaded with images with the text presented in different ways. Mostly presented like in a textbook, and other times wrapped within images or highlighted within the Try It pages.

North American Based

You’ll find several plants to discover in each colour-coded section. All these plants are found in North America. One of my quibbles is you are asked to denote the state you found it in, I would have rather a generic location which is more inclusive to ALL of North America be used. Illustrator John D Dawson did a great job of demonstrating what each plant looks like. It’s a nice additional tool for nature study.

You’ll find room for note-taking, though the spacing might be a little tight for younger readers. I love how you learn about bark types, leaf shapes and margins, differences between mosses and ferns, and the importance of paying attention to the mushroom cap. All these little details will help create better observers of the nature around us. Good that eh?

My Thoughts

I don’t know if you’ll remember that I reviewed another book by Mary Kay Carson called Mission to Pluto. Having thought that book well done, I expected this one to be as well and I was not mistaken.

I like this book, it’s an excellent size to stow into a “meandering through the fields” backpack or bag. Has spots for note-taking, encourages the reader to understand what they are learning, and has plenty of helps. Outdoor School: Trees, Wildflowers, and Mushrooms is an excellent addition to your nature study in the spring, summer, fall or winter adventures.

Just so you know, there are other outdoor school books to check out.

If you were a City

December 7, 2022 By Annette1 2 Comments

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (If You Were a City) through Raincoast. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated. 🙂

If You Were a City is a book of imagination and fun. A picture book that takes us, through the imagination of a child. It begs the child reader to answer the question… what type of city would you be? And honestly… don’t you want to know? Wouldn’t it be interesting to see where a book might take YOUR child’s imagination?

The Basic Details of If You Were a City

Title: If You Were a City
Author: Kyo Maclear
Illustrator: Francesca Sanna
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Pages: 40
Intended Audience: 3-5 years
Formats Available: Kindle and Hardcover
Received: Jacketed Hardcover
Type: Picture Book
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books

About Kyo Maclear
Born in England, Kyo Maclear lives in Canada. She is an essayist, novelist, and children’s author. She has been nominated for a few different awards.

About If You Were a City
Just like people, there are so many ways a city can be. And this lively picture book explores all of them. From quiet and dreamy to bright and buzzing, the magnificent diversity of our world is celebrated by connecting the uniqueness of its places with the people who live in them. Wild, gritty, bookish, or sheltering-if you were a city, how would YOU be?

Digging Deeper

Francesca Sanna filled If You Were a City with brightly coloured images! So much colour fills the pages of this lovely little picture book.

You’ll get to see so many different ways to express how one might be a city. Through colour, action, mindset, weather, fashion, and more.

Occasionally vague references would be given to actual cities around the world (like the leaning tower of Pisa), but generally, just a very imaginative read. Done up in rhyming couplets.

“Northern, blue, glacial, cold?
Weathered, warm, playful, old?”

So many different ideas presented. Would you be a ghost city? A Fable city? Maybe even a broken city? A city for biking, healing, dancing, or eating?

The text is clear and very easy to read. Changing colour depending on the background.

So you pick it up?

So, I love the colours, and I love the idea of children having the freedom to make a city that kinda like them. Children being able to exercise their imaginations is a fantastic thing. And if in their creativity they learn to express something about themselves, perhaps all the better!

What might be important to your child to have in a city or in their lives? Dancing, parks, star gazing, sports or gardening? What might your child want if you asked the question “if you were a city?”

Seen and Unseen

December 3, 2022 By Annette1 2 Comments

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Seen and Unseen) through Raincoast Books. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated.

World War 2 was a hard time in history, it brought out the ugly in too many people for a variety of reasons. Hitler brought out the ugly in his determination to create a master race and encourage his people to fight for him. The attack by Japan (at Pearl Harbor) brought out the ugly in the American populace toward Japanese and Japanese/Americans. This is not to say that some beauty didn’t occur during the war either, but sometimes, the biggest thing seen is the ugly.

The Basics of Seen and Unseen

Title: Seen and Unseen: What Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adam’s Photographs reveal about the Japanese American Incarceration.
Author: Elizabeth Partridge
Illustrator: Lauren Tamaki
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Formats Available: Kindle, Audiobook, Hardcover
Received: Advanced Readers Copy
Pages: 132
Intended Audience: 10-14 years, 5-9 grade
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books

Author Information: Author of 18 books, this American born former acupuncturist is now a full-time writer. On her website she notes that she is “drawn to pivotal moments in our American history that have been erased from our narrative.” This story fits within that interest. Most of her books are geared for children and middle school readers.

About Seen and Unseen: Three photographers. Three perspectives. And through the lenses of their cameras, three different views of one bitter chapter of American history. What can photographers teach us about the Japanese American Incarceration? Dorothea Lange: hired by the government as a photographic documentor. Toyo Miyatake smuggled photographic equipment into camps to show the true conditions. Ansel Adams was hired to take photos, he was determined to show the resilience of the incarcerated.

Digging Deeper

Three Photographers, three different perspectives, one section for each journalistic effort. Photographs and line drawings fill the pages. Since I received an advanced reader’s copy, most of the pages I saw were in black and white. A few were in colour.

You’d think happily smiling faces would mean things were good in the camp, but as time went on in the camps, the incarcerated residents found ways to escape camp for a bit. And sometimes, smiles are put into places to hide fear within (which you’ll learn with the photos by Adams. Imagine… not knowing what you did wrong, and suddenly you lose everything and are stuck in a camp in the middle of nowhere. Treated poorly, feed basic camp rations, surrounded by barb wire, etc. Having your loyalty questioned continually and not knowing what you can say or do to prove yourselves. The fear and anger that would be part of your lives there. Imagine what that would do to you and your families. You will see this lived out in the pages of this photographic journal.

I very much appreciated that this journal was not just a series of photos, but actually told the story of what happened with whole families. American families, with American-born children. Trapped away from their lives, with no choices.

Aren’t the pages filled in with colour nice? The shades of orange highlighted over the yellow and black backgrounds. It feels very oriental, and yet, not. Respectful of the people involved, and yet showing the hardship they went through. I wish the whole book had been done in colour!

Helpful Additions

At the close of the book you’ll find a very helpful section that gives a bit more information into the history. The section includes

After the War
Why Words Matter
Citizenship violated
Civil liberties and the Constitution
Biographies of the photographers
Notes from the author
Notes from the illustrator
The damage of the model minority myth
Photo Credits and Notes

Throughout this section, youth are helped to think through these issues. To consider the government’s actions, even despite the anxieties of the time.

The photos each of these journalists took has a different perspective to it. They each saw different things in this incarceration. Some the unfairness of it all, others the stark reality of life, and yet others a shaded perspective of resilience.

So, add it to your history lessons?

It is evident throughout that the author is unhappy with the US government for how they treated the Japanese Americans. That she wants her readers to stop and think about how the government acts. She uses language, drawings, and photos to help her readers think and to question what happened.

And books like these are helpful in presenting a broader picture than what you might find in a textbook. Combining this read with other middle school books such as Displacement and This Light Between Us will present a broader, richer experience for students. This fuller experience allows students to form a deeper understanding of the issues and become better critical thinkers.

Elizabeth Partridge did an excellent job of not only showing us history but also telling the story of how the authors got involved and how they were impacted. Seen and Unseen is worth using in your American and WW2 history studies.

In an Instant

December 2, 2022 By Annette1 18 Comments

Oh, it’s five minute Friday time! I was saddened to hear of a three-week imposed break over Christmas. But ah well, I might just come up with my own thing! After all, it’s my blog and I can do that if I want to can’t I? 🙂 Anyways, we have a word prompt “instant”. Let’s see where this word takes us today. And so we are given “in an instant”. Life can instantly become something other than what we have planned. Are we grateful for the impact it can have on us?

In an Instant

In an instant
my day changed.
From doing dishes
and waiting to pick up my car
to listening
to a friend.
Grief-torn, and
needing to walk.
I’m grateful God
prompted me to call, and
giving me the freedom to
just stop and go.
A walk needful.

In an instant
my day changed.
A boy texts
I’m home from school sick!
I’m grateful for technology
that allows me to work
and yet, take a moment
to check in with a lad,
and that my work allows me
that time to take note
of my lad and his needs.
It allowed me to take home
some lipton soup that he
can eat and stay down.

In an instant
my day changed.
A friend messaged
saying thanks.
Because I write my
devotion verse on facebook.
a determination on my part
to try to focus on one part
of God’s word throughout the day
and a friends’ like encourages
to revisit that verse
in an easy to access manner.
She said they encourage her to
“stop and read carefully,
thoughtfully and slowly”.
And suddenly, what was starting to
feel like a selfish thing to do
became a God thing,
and my heart was lifted.

God speaks to us

Proverbs 16:9

The heart of man plans his way,
but the Lord establishes his steps.

Proverbs 27:1-2

Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.
²Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
a stranger, and not your own lips.

What Does Your Daddy Do?

November 30, 2022 By Annette1 2 Comments

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (What Does Your Daddy Do?) through News 21 AM. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated.

Consider the importance in encouraging children to see the good in a wide variety of occupations. Joshua Page helps us consider the trade of being an electrician and hints at learning about being a plumber. What other occupations can your youth consider? A carpenter maybe? Consider the value of working in the trades and help your children consider them as well.

Basic Details

Title: What Does Your Daddy Do?
Author: Joshua Page
Formats available: Kindle, Paperback
Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
Pages: 44
Intended Audience: 4-9 years old
Genre: Family Life, School issues, careers
Reviewed For: News 21 AM

About the Author:

Joshua Page is a husband, father, and entrepreneur. He is passionate about getting kids involved with the trades. He has been featured on many podcasts, a TEDx speaker, and a motivational public speaker. When not busy running his electrical companies and inspiring others, he loves to spend time with his family.

Synopsis:

In his new children’s book, What Does Your Daddy Do?, Page introduces young readers to Ashton, whose fifth-grade class is having career week. Ashton isn’t sure exactly what his dad does, so he goes home and asks him. Ashton then gets to learn about all the cool work his dad does as an electrician and all the interesting tools he gets to use. As career week continues, all the students get to share stories about what their parents do.

Looking Deeper into What does your daddy do?

What does your daddy do? alternates full-colour images with plain pages of text. The story takes us into the curious mind of an elementary boy asking his dad what he does. Thusly we are taken into the life of an electrician working small and large jobs.

I expected to have the story written at a bit higher level as these are upper elementary children having this discussion, but I found the writing geared to younger children. None-the-less the story told the basic work of an electrician. I would have loved to have some discussion about the exact type of work that an electrician does. For instance, how running pipes and wires can help a water slide work, or fixing a light switch can prevent fires, or just help someone read a book. Just so more of the practical hands-on of the trade of an electrician.

The brightness of the illustrated pages is attractive don’t you think? The consistency in the colour palette and the clarity in the illustrations help bring the story to life.

Add to your shelves?

I have to admit, I’m not sure what I think. He talks about this being with a fifth-grade class, but I don’t find that it’s written with fifth-graders in mind. It’s written more for younger children. So that incongruity threw me off.

But he does a good overview of describing some of what an electrician does, helping people with their wiring and other electrical issues. I could easily see this becoming a series as Sofia needed to learn what a plumber does. The sheer number of trades you could cover would be fantastic.

I really liked how Ashton’s dad explained what an electrician did to Ashton, and then Ashton had to take the knowledge back to his classroom. That continuation of learning in What Does your Daddy Do? is part of what intrigues me about this title.

Personally, I think it’s fantastic to bring the trades to life for our children. Helping them to see the possibilities of what they might wish to do as they mature. I do hope that Mr. Page continues this series, considering a whole range of occupations from Hair stylists, carpenters, daycare workers, as well as tool and die makers. It’s fantastic to expose children to a wide range of occupations to help keep their options open.

The Life Beyond Just Living

November 26, 2022 By Annette1 6 Comments

I think it’s so odd when you have a plan in mind to write, and then you start writing and it takes a twist unexpected. But, just as my hubby used to say when God would change his sermon, he had other words for me today. The life beyond just living is the result of my five-minute sojourn of exploration. AND GAH!!! I read the word like as life! Ah Well, my five minutes is up and I’m choosing not to change it. 🙂

The Life Beyond Just Living

The word prompt is life
something each of us lives.
Proceeding from the Father
a gift indeed it is.

So what determines life?
To be alive an object needs to
be able to respond to environment,
be able to reproduce
Have growth and development
be able to regulate and order itself
be able to process energy
and maintain conditions necessary for survival.

And so creationists and evolutionists
get caught up in the how all of it
some defining life simply by it’s
scientific particularities.
Others considering a
broader picture, seeing life
but seeing a life beyond just living.

But evolutionists damage
creationists and faith-believing
causing doubt and questions in those
less firm in their faith, who only
seek the reality of life lived
so closely by other organisms.

It’s hard you know, to
see the life beyond just living,
when you primarily, and more easily see,
just the “proof” for life becoming
more as the result of gradual,
accidental change.

So how do we see life?
Do you see just the here and now?
How do you explain that
life is more than what you see?
Those intangibles of heart, and soul,
that show the difference twixt us
and the other lives around us?

God Speaks

Psalm 139: 13-14

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

Matthew 18:6

but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Ride On

November 24, 2022 By Annette1 2 Comments

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Ride One) through Raincoast Books. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated.

Girls, horses, rivalry, friendship, hurt, and love all tied together into a colourful graphic novel to read. If you have youth (most likely girls) who love horses and stories speaking to life as you live it, this story will intrigue. Misunderstandings happen and growth occurs. It’s always good to see teens not being stuck into a mindset that is not helpful to them.

Ride On, the details

Title: Ride On
Author: Faith Erin Hicks
Publisher: First Second Books
Type: Graphic Novel
Colourist: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Formats Available: Kindle, Hardcover, Softcover (reviewed softcover)
Genre: Animal comics, Horse Book, Friendship Books
Pages: 224 pages
Intended Audience: 10-14 years, 4-6 years
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books.

About the Author: Faith Erin Hicks is a fellow Canadian, having written several graphic novels. I thought her name was familiar and I have reviewed another one of her books, One Year at Ellsmere. She includes lots of colour in her books.

The Story: Victoria has always loved horses. But the competition, not so much. After some struggle, she decided a new place to ride was needed. A place where she doesn’t have to worry about anything other than riding. No competition, no drama, no friends. She only wants the horses. Edgewood Stables seems ideal. But how shall it go?

Digging Deeper

Horses and friendship fill the pages. Not always the friends you expect or perhaps think you want. But shared loves, and a willingness to talk, and before you know it… better friendships result!

Friendship oozes from the pages, with some exceptions, with young teens just enjoying the world that is horses. Life isn’t always easy when you are growing up and you’ll see those real-to-life tensions within the pages of this full-colour graphic novel.

These girls (Victoria, Norrie and Hazel) as well as their male friend Sam are drawn in vibrant colours suiting their personalities. The pony shows his mischievousness, the horses their personality (and at times) spunkiness. I was so pleased to see the attention to detail. It adds a great feel to the whole story, bringing in a deeper feel.

My Thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I loved watching the youth grow in their relationships with each other and learn new skills. They became better, deeper people before the tale ended. I was able to see glimpses of the adults they were becoming and boy… was that good!

Taking the viewpoint of the younger reader though… this is a story of friendship and horses. It’s not a hard or complicated story, but sometimes growing up and learning new things isn’t easy. The reader is invited in to see that struggle, and perhaps learn from it. Along the way they get to enjoy the antics of misbehaving ponies, see horses gain confidence, and friendship increase. Ride On is well-worth reading for the friendship-loving horse girls in your midst.

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