Tag: Calkins Creek

Bird Girl: Inspiring Young Minds through Nature and Art

Why should students care about the life story about a woman who lived more than a century ago and studied birds? Gene Stratton-Porter is well-known in ornithology, but outside of that arena you probably haven’t heard of her. This is one of the things about well-made illustrated books that make the genre so much more than it appears to be. Bird Girl: Gene Stratton-Porter Shares Her Love of Nature with the World doesn’t break any new ground in regards to the story, even though it’s one young audiences don’t know. At it’s core, the book is about finding your way and exploring what you love. Instead, this is a great book because of the unknown variable (Gene Stratton-Porter) and the illustrations by Rebecca Gibbon that are used to tell her life story.

Bird Girl is an illustrated book about a woman that kids won’t know, but whose topic they’ll love and is in a package they’ll enjoy.
Birds, passion, nature and photography

Skybound!, a non-fiction, entrepreneurial illustrated book is easy to love

Why do we read? There’s a poster in a class that I’m teaching now that lists Great Reasons to Read. Yeah, that list might seem passé or obligatory, but for a group of high school students who would sooner watch paint dry, so long as it’s on their cell phone, they need to be reminded as to what reading can do for their ever-growing brains. Skybound! Starring Mary Myers as Carlotta, Daredevil Aeronaut and Scientist check off every one of the things listed on that list, if such a list exists for elementary school ages. Spoiler alert: that list exists and it’s the same one that’s in the high school class; it’s just that young audiences like elementary school readers need to have it presented with a little more panache, enthusiasm, and show.

Skybound! is the sort of illustrated book that is easy to love. The story is loaded with action, unbelievable exploits, descriptive text and non-fiction thrills.
Solid Gold was much more than a comeback
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