BORN TO BE GIANTS: HOW BABY DINOSAURS GREW TO RULE THE WORLD- Lita Judge

I'm having a prehistoric kind of weekend. Last night I read MAMMOTHS AND MASTODONS, and tonight's CYBILS nominee offering is BORN TO BE GIANTS, by Lita Judge (who started working on dinosaur digs for the Museum of Paleontology in Alberta, Canada, when she was only 15!). Oh, and in case you were wondering- dinosaurs and mammoths/mastodons were not alive at the same time- dinosaurs actually lived about thirty million years before dinosaurs. I learned that last night.

BORN TO BE GIANTS is a kind of continuum of dinosaur parenting styles. Which is something I never really thought about. I knew dinosaurs hatched from eggs, and just kind of assumed that parenting styles were similar to those of modern day reptiles. This is actually not the case at all. Or it is the case sometimes, but not all of the time.

Lita Judge begins with the Saltasaurus, a dinosaur who did, in fact, lay thousands of eggs on a sandy riverbank and then leave them. Judge points out that some dinosaurs, such as Saltasaurus or Argentinosaurus were so large that they really couldn't protect their babies-- they would probably step on them and crush them. Other dinosaurs, like tyrannosaurus rex, however, did stay at their nests. They couldn't sit on their eggs (again, too heavy!) but they did watch over them and guard them from predators. Judge then explains that smaller dinosaurs, such as oviraptors, did sit on their nests, and may also have cared for their young.

Dinosaurs such as the Maiasaura were next along "care continuum." Maiasaura are alricial, meaning the babies have to stay in the nest and taken care of until they grow stronger. Other dinosaurs (and birds like geese) are precocial. They can care for themselves and hunt for food at birth, but stay with the parents for protection. And then there were other dinosaurs like troodon, that grew up with the pack, so that they could learn hunting skills.

Judge's fact-filled text is accompanied by her own water-color (I think) illustrations. Appendices in the back include a timeline and brief paragraph about each featured dinosaur, a glossary, a bibliography, and an author's note about her experiences with dinosaurs.

I loved thinking about dinosaurs through this new and different lens. I also think this would be a great mentor text for helping kids think about how authors organize nonfiction information.

MAMMOTHS AND MASTODONS: TITANS OF THE ICE AGE by Cheryl Bardoe

In 2007, ten-year-old Kostia Khudi and his brother, Edik, are gathering firewood in their home in Northern Siberia when they notice a strange lump by the river. At first, they assume it's a dead reindeer, but on further investigation, they find it has a trunk like an elephant. They hurry home to tell their father, a member of the Nemet tribe, who believe that anything that comes from the underworld will bring terrible luck. Yuri first hikes to a sacred place on the tundra to make an offering to the spirits, then hikes 73 miles to report the sighting of the creature, which turns out to be a frozen baby woolly mammoth.

So begins MAMMOTHS AND MASTODONS: TITANS OF THE ICE AGE, written by Cheryl Bardok, in conjunction with an exhibit at The Field Museum in Chicago. This book is everything I could hope for in a nonfiction book for children. First, it's engaging, from beginning to end. There are stories, like the one above. There are imaginary game show scenarios, where the reader is invited to guess whether silhouettes of three different creatures are actually mammoths or mastodons. There are vignettes about what life might have been like during this time on earth--I especially loved "Teen Bull in Trouble," (page 22) where the author describes the last hours of a young Columbian mammoth, who consumes a tasty snack, then finds himself trapped in a slippery-banked South Dakota hot springs.

But what I love most about this book is that it traces the work of actual scientists. Cheryl Bardoe followed Dr. Daniel Fisher (world renowned mammoth expert and professor at the University of Michigan), Dr. Lawrence Agenbroad at the Mammoth Site of Hot Springs in South Dakota, and Jacqueline Codron, a South African biologist and elephant expert, into their work sites in the field and into their laboratories. She interviewed them extensively and took pictures of them at work. Each chapter in the book is based on a different aspect of their work as scientists. There's an entire chapter, for example, on how Dr. Fisher pieces together information about mammoths and mastodons using information from the rings in cross-sections of the tusks. Another chapter explains how Dr. Codron used information from elephant dung and tail hairs to demonstrate that an elephant population was not responsible for destruction of trees needed to feed other herbivores at Kruger National Park in South Africa.

Bardoe continually demonstrates how the work of these scientists impacts our world today. Over and over again, she links mammoths and mastodons with their modern day elephant cousins. She explores theories of why mammoths and mastodons became extinct and wonders whether that could happen to their modern day cousins. She talks about over hunting and global warming. She makes readers care about saving this species.

The book is full, full, full of incredible photographs and watercolor illustrations and maps and diagrams, sure to catch the eye of even the most reluctant of readers. Great sidebar articles such as, "Did Dinosaurs and Mammoths live at the same time?"provide readers with helpful background information. And there are, of course, the typical nonfiction tools such as headings a glossary, and references, and an index. The book would be a great resource for reviewing tools nonfiction authors use with intermediate grade readers.

A rich, rich read for intermediate grade classrooms.

P.S. There was a big discovery in Colorado this week. Read about the find of a woolly mammoth skeleton in Snowmass Village here.

The FANTASTIC SECRET OF OWEN JESTER- Barbara O'Connor

If you asked me to name one of my all time favorite read alouds to use with intermediate grade students, I would not think for very long, maybe a millisecond, before I said, HOW TO STEAL A DOG by Barbara O'Connor. It is, by far, one of my favorite, favorite, favorite read alouds (and I'm not one of those teachers who reads the same books over and over and over again, in fact, I rarely read a book two years in a row).

I couldn't wait, then, to get my hands on Barbara O'Connor's newest book, THE FANTASTIC SECRET OF OWEN JESTER. I've been on the wait list at my library for almost a month, but they only have three copies, and it seemed like it was going to be a while. Tonight, while I was waiting for my son to have his hair rebraided, I broke down and bought it. And am so glad I did. It's terrific!!!!!

Owen Jester's father has lost his job at the hardware store, and the Jester family is living with Owen's grandfather, and his grumpy nurse, Earlene. The house is in a fairly rural area, and Owen has spent two weeks capturing an enormous bullfrog, who he names Tooley Graham-- Tooley for a cousin and Graham for Graham Pond, where the bullfrog was captured. Owen is thrilled to have a pet, but Tooley seems not nearly as happy as Owen.

One night, as the train passes through, Owen hears a mysterious thump. After much searching, he discovers the source of the noise-- a mini-submarine has fallen off of the train. Owen and his friends Travis and Stumpy, along with Viola, the neighborhood know-it-all and pest (not to mention the only one who really knows anything about submarines) hatch a plan to launch the submarine…

I know my intermediate grade readers are going to love this book!

POETRY FRIDAY- AMAZING FACES- Lee Bennett Hopkins

Review copy provided by publisher

We interrupt this month (or two) of CYBILS nonfiction picture book nominee reviews to bring you a Friday of Poetry. The ever prolific, ever poetic Lee Bennett Hopkins has collected sixteen poems about people from different cultures. He's gathered poem stories and images from some of today's best known children's poets and authors- people like Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Carole Boston Weatherford, Nikki Grimes, Jane Yolen, Pat Mora, Janet Wong, and Prince Redcloud- to produce a beautiful collection. And just when you think it can't get any better, well, you aren't going to believe this, but it does, because these poems are illustrated by one of my all time favorite children's book artists- Chris Soentpiet. His paintings are lovely, lovely, lovely- sooooo rich in detail and color.

The lead poem in the collection is one of my favorites, Rebecca Kai Dotlich. Today I'm dedicating it to one of my favorite amazing faces, Son #1,

pictured below at homecoming last week.

(If you missed Son #2, you can check him out on last week's Poetry Friday).

"Amazing Face"

Rebecca Kai Dotlich

Amazing, your face.

Amazing…

You will climb stalks,

greet giants,

crawl before you walk.

And you will fly.

And you will fall.

And you will fly again.

Amazing, your face.

Amazing.

Toby Speed and her friend Kashi are hosting POETRY FRIDAY here.

Two more Life-Size books- Teruyuki

REVIEW COPIES PROVIDED BY PUBLISHER

This is my third year as a judge for the CYBILS. After I read the books myself, I always take them to school to try them out with kids. Last year, one of the most-loved, most-borrowed (and most fought-over) Cybils nominees was Teruyuki Komiya's LIFE-SIZE ZOO. I'm not surprised, then, to see two more "Life-Size" books on the list of CYBILS nominees. These books are kid (OK, and adult!) reading magnets.

If you are not familiar with the series, you absolutely need to check it out. Each of these large (12"x 18") books begins with a table of contents cleverly designed as a map similar to what you would pick up when you entered a zoo or aquarium. From there on, though, it's gorgeous photograph after gorgeous photograph after gorgeous photograph of animals. And they are all life-sized! MORE LIFE-SIZE ZOO features a four-fold (ok, this one is a little hard to fold) lion, another four-page spread of a hippopotamus, a baby kangaroo eating a stalk of grass, a two-page polar bear head, a cheetah, a bison, a leopard, a racoon, and several other more unusual animals, such as an okapi and a gibbon. LIFE-SIZE AQUARIUM includes a little of everything you might see in an aquarium- fish, penguins, whales, dolphins, lizards, sea turtles, jellyfish, etc. My favorites were the four-page walrus (close enough to count the hairs on his face and marvel over his long tusks), the four-page orca, and the fin on the sea turtle.

The LIFE-SIZE books are relatively simple in format, but also contain some great textual tools. A bar down the right side of each page highlights the part of the body that's been photographed, a TIME FOR A CLOSE UP section points out four or five key features and sometimes identifies their purpose, then a FACTS section gives four or five important facts. These books, aside from being so dang much fun, would be great mentor texts for young children learning to write research reports.

Can't wait to see Teruyuki Komiya's next LIFE-SIZE book. This series is terrific!

Bugs and Bugsicles: Insects in the Winter by Amy S. Hansen

There's a cold wind blowing in Colorado tonight. And even though the trees are still sporting scarves of red and gold, and even though it's supposed to be 71 degrees on Saturday for the boys' last regular season football game, I can't help but think that winter is right around the corner.

It's a perfect night, then, for BUGS AND BUGSICLES. The book begins in late September, when a monarch butterfly, a honey bee, pavement ants, a praying mantis, a field cricket, and an arctic woolly bear caterpillar are just beginning their preparations for winter. Author Amy S. Hansen then follows eight different insects' journey through the winter.

The praying mantis lays three hundred eggs in a sticky, foamy egg sack, then dies. The ladybug engages in a special kind of hibernation (diapause), awakens in spring to mate, then most likely dies before summer. The Monarch Butterfly migrates to Mexico. And most interesting, the Arctic Woolly Bear Caterpillar freezes into a "bugsicle" then thaws out the next spring (and does this seven years in a row!)

The graceful, almost poetic writing in this book is enhanced by wildlife illustrator Robert Kray's beautiful, super-detailed illustrations of insects in a variety of habitats. Appendices include two experiments for young scientists to try. There is a also a list of books and websites for further reading, as well as a glossary and index. And for those of us who are trying to help kids understand text structures, this is a great example of an enumerative text with parallel topics.

MEET THE HOWLERS- April Pulley Sayre

MEET THE HOWLERS is an unusual combination of fiction/poetry and nonfiction. Almost every page contains both a short stanza of poetry, e.g.

Meet the howlers!
Living life on the go
Meet the howlers!
Woo-hoo-hoo!
AH-UH-OH!
and also a chunk of factual information about the howler monkey, e.g.
"Howler monkeys are named for their incredibly loud calls, which can be heard a mile away. Only adult male mantled howler monkeys can actually howl. Infants make quiet "play calls" and young males yip or squeak."

Kids will enjoy chiming in on the repeating refrain, "Woo-hoo-hoo! AH-UH-OH!" I also think they will love learning the factual information. Did you know, for instance that howler monkeys urinate or drop things on the heads of other creatures that get too close? It would be fun, I think, to use this book to talk about the differences between fiction and nonfiction. It would also be interesting to talk about the research the author had to do to enable her to write this book. Appendices include "More About the Howler Monkeys" and also a map of where howlers live.