Picture Book Review: Ada and the Galaxies by Alan Lightman and Olga Pastuchiv

Image: Candlewick Press

Ada and the Galaxies by Alan Lightman and Olga Pstuchiv. Illustrated by Susanna Chapman. unpaged. mitKids Press/ Candlewick Press, September, 2021. 9781536215618. (Review of finished copy courtesy of publisher.)

I am a terrible book reviewer! I read this gem back in September and, while I noted my love for it on Goodreads, never got around to reviewing it here. So sorry.

Ada lives in the city where light pollution impedes her view of the stars. But after the winter is over, she and her mom make the trek out of the city to Maine to visit her grandparents, Ama and Poobah. Ada cannot wait to see the stars, but first, it needs to get dark and there's plenty to see on the island until then. There's kayaking and beach-combing and an osprey nest to observe. Ada is still impatient for the stars to come out. Poobah points to a big rock, telling Ada that when it's covered with water, it will be dark enough to see the stars. Only the fog rolls in, foiling their plans. Poobah tries to distract Ada with pictures of galaxies in a book, which only help to feed Ada's vivid imagination. When Ada asks to visit the fairy house before turning in, she sees that the fog has lifted and the stars are out. 

An afterword tells readers that the photographs of the stars in the book were taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and that all the information that Poobah gives to Ada is scientifically accurate.

What a beautiful story of the value of being out in nature, of a grandparent's bond and of nurturing a young imagination and sense of wonder! The illustrations are absolutely luscious. I just got lost in each and every one. This is one for the reread pile-inspirational to young and old alike. I loved it.

Fact Friday: Hello, I'm Here by Helen Frost and Rick Lieder

Hello, I'm Here by Helen Frost and Rick Lieder. unpgd. Candlewick Press, March 20, 2019. 9780763698584. (Review of finished copy courtesy of publisher.) 

Our Fact Friday feature proves one is never too old for picture books! Hello, I'm Here is a poem written by Helen Frost from the POV of a sandhill crane chick who is about to peck its way out of its shell. 

It is gorgeously illustrated with full-color photos by Rick Lieder chronicling the activity in the nest of a pair of parents who diligently care for their eggs. The "aw" factor increases once the chick emerges in all its fluffy cuteness. A note at the end of the book provides more information about sandhill cranes. This is a beautiful contemplation of nature and family bond. It was love at first sight, and second (those end-pages!) and third...

Picture Book Review: Thank You, Earth: a love letter to our planet by April Pulley Sayre

Thank You, Earth: a love letter to our planet by April Pulley Sayre. unpgd. Greenwillow Books/ HarperCollins Publishers, February, 2018. 9780062697349. (Review from copy borrowed from public library.)

Ah, thank you notes! A lost art! I am a pretty faithful thank you note writer who tries not to notice when thank you notes don't arrive after I've done some gift giving. After all, the pleasure should be in the giving, no? However, I will admit to feeling a certain amount of pleasure when I do receive a thank you note. 

Gratitude is a practice. I practice yoga daily and most of my teachers devote part of our practice to identifying at least one thing to be grateful for. I like this ritual. It's stabilizing. Stopping to feel gratitude is humbling and helps with perspective. 

Thank You, Earth is a beautiful meditation. It is an exercise in perspective and humility, an invitation to appreciate our planet. The gorgeous shots of nature pair beautifully with the spare and lovely sentiment in the text. A note from the author invites readers to find ways of not only thanking our planet but actively working to save it by investigating, sharing, participating, helping and acting. There is also a list of resources budding conservationists can consult. The extensive list of picture credits identify animals and landforms for interested readers. 

Thank You, Earth is a vibrant example of #nevertoooldforpicturebooks and belongs in all kinds of libraries for readers young and not-so-young. Thank You, Earth needs to be shared widely. 

Non-Fiction Monday: Every Day Birds by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Every Day Birds by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater. Illustrated by Dylan Metrano. unpgd. Orchard Books/ Scholastic Inc., February, 2016. 9780545699808. (Review from finished copy courtesy of publisher.)

A good cure for nature deficit disorder is to just get outdoors. One sure way of luring young people outdoors is to share irresistible books that make them beg to go outside. Every Day Birds is one such book.* The other day, I read this blog post by Don Torino, naturalist and president of the Bergen County Audubon society. Great food for thought. My students are a pretty lucky bunch. Our science teachers are amazing and our town has a gorgeous nature center run by another amazing naturalist who visits three or four times a year to explore the nearby stream with students.

I love being out of doors. I love watching birds. I keep multiple bird feeders out in my front yard and while the squirrels who raid the feeders bother me to no end, I delight in watching which of my feathered friends might stop by. 

I am also a fan of Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's work. She's so passionate about nature (and poetry writing across the curriculum) and her poems always make me want to get outside. This lovely poem introduces twenty common North American birds. The illustrations are reminiscent of stained glass. Though they are not photorealistic, young readers will easily identify the bird in the wild based on the cut paper collage illustrations. Indeed, a teacher or librarian looking to make a unit out of this could pair photos (and even birdsong files) with the illustrations for a nice cross-curricular connection. 

There are several pages of thumbnail illustrations along with a line or two of extra tidbits about each bird. The poem is also written out in its entirety across two pages. 

What a lovely book to share with budding birders. Share this one widely. Visit the author's website for more information about her books, including book trailers, and school visits (highly recommended). 

*Other fun titles for curing nature deficit disorder are:
Forest has a song by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater.
Step Gently Out by Helen Frost
Sweep Up the Sun by Helen Frost
Citizen Scientists by Loree Griffen Byrnes
The Boy Who Drew Birds: a story of John James Audubon by Jacqueline Davies

Forest Has a Song

Poems by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater. Illustrated by Robbin Gourley. 32 p. Clarion Books/ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, March 26, 2013. 9780618843497. (Finished copy provided by publisher.)

Even though I live in northern Bergen County, in New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the Union, I am lucky in that I live in a town that abuts a reservoir and the watershed land is (a long) walking distance from my home. I don't get out there enough, but the option is always there. Happily, my sons regularly rode their bikes along the deer trails and also enjoy camping, hiking and being outdoors, in general. 

There's a creek that runs along the field at my school. Fifth graders go on several nature walks down by the creek with the naturalist from the town's rather large nature center as part of the science curriculum. Sixth graders study earth science and attend a three day environmental field trip. There is also a thriving garden club. So the students at my school have regular access to nature should they choose to get outside.

Luckily for them that do and them that don't, this book will be available in our school library as soon as I finish reviewing it. These 26 poems are the perfect antidote for NDD, Nature Deficit Disorder or even poetry avoidance. This gorgeous collection quietly invites young readers to get outside, to observe, to listen and smell.

A young girl hears a pinecone fall and views that and the spicy breeze emanating from the forest as an invitation to visit in the first poem. We follow this girl and her dog through the seasons as she notes the delights that wait to be discovered. Some of my favorites are:

Forest News
I stop to read 
the Forest News
in mud or fallen snow.
Articles are printed 
by critters on the go.

Foxes pass.
Dear run through.
Turkeys scratch
fort hidden food.
Young raccoons
drink sips of creek.
Mouse and hawk
play hide-and-seek.
Here a possum
whiskery-wild
climbs a tree trunk
with her child.
And in this place
while people sleep
a rabbit hops.
A housecat creeps.

Scribble hints
in footprints
tell about the day.
I stop to read
the Forest News
before it's worn away.

I'm not sure what the rules are for sharing entire poems, so I will just share the titles of the others that tickled me - Fossil; Proposal; Lichens; Woodpecker; and Colorful Actor. But really, each poem offers unique moments to contemplate. 

Teachers, looking for lovely examples to teach the concept of imagery?  Did I mention poetry avoidance? Do you have students who hate poetry? This collection is an evocative mix of bite-sized and longer poems. Each poem is accompanied by lovely,watery illustrations that complement and don't distract from the verse. 

Use of this book need not be limited to use by language arts teachers. Science teachers! Why not incorporate this book in your unit on biomes, or seasons? Why not incorporate poetry into the curriculum regularly? (Take a look at Joyce Sidman's work. I shared Ubiquitous with the seventh grade science teacher, who was delighted to incorporate it into one of her units. But why stop there?)

Bear with me.

Ms. Ludwig VanDerwater presents workshops and presented at a conference last summer that my superintendent happened to attend. She was so impressed by her ideas that she hired her to come to our district, one day at the elementary school and one day at the middle school. 

What a day she had at our school! She started during morning meeting time with a presentation on using poetry across the curriculum. She managed to cram more ideas into 25 minutes than I've gotten from workshops of any length from an hour to a half-day to full-day. One idea that stayed with me since was the suggestion that teachers consider asking the student to compose a poem as an assessment tool. She pointed out that students who can successfully incorporate the learning objective into a poem have mastered the idea. 

I found myself nodding.

She then visited class after class throughout the day and got students writing poetry! And they were excited by it! And their poems were good!

Was I predisposed to liking this debut because of my experience with the workshop and class observation? I won't deny that I was impressed. The poet is passionate and generous. (Visit her website.) Even I, with my tin ear, was able to appreciate the rhyme schemes she pointed out.

This collection is an impressive debut. One of my first thoughts after reading the book was that fifth graders could compose poems after one of their nature walks with Mr. Mark, or that the sixth graders could write poems when they return from their Greenkill trip (they're leaving early tomorrow morning). The teachers could bind them into an anthology or publish them on the school website. Asking students to write a poem is asking them to reflect; it's asking them to dig deep; and, it gives them the time to create and make meaningful connections.