Canada in Colours

Canada in Colours
by
Per-Henrik Gurth
board book, children's prose, ages 0-3

Happy cartoon animals and pretty landscapes show the colors of our neighbor to the north. Of course, these are Canadian animals - moose, bear, beaver, etc. It shows places like the prairies and the St. Lawrence and Prince Edward Islands.
For the places I had visited it was a nice reminder and for those I have not yet visited, it served as an inspiration to plan a trip. Hail, Canada! May your beauty last forever!
It seems that this book could be re-issued as a coloring book as well since the images are simple.

Fancy Nancy Explorer Extraordinaire

Fancy Nancy Explorer Extraordinaire
by
Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser
children's fiction, ages 3-8 (mostly for girls)

I have read a number of Fancy Nancy books so far, and this was my least favorite. Nancy is headed outdoors with her friend to study nature. Nancy is known for doing everything the elaborate, dressy way. The author attempts to show that girls can be girly (sugar and spice) and gardeners. Somehow this book doesn't work for me, however. The author threw in too much trivia and was too pedantic. I think that Nancy having girly adventures shouldn't be bog down with "here is how to identify leaves" and "spiders aren't icky", etc.
I guess she wrote this book because the author likes gardening and nature study, but I just don't buy that Nancy would do some of the things described in this book.

What Joe Saw

What Joe Saw
by
Anna Grossnickle Hines
children's fiction
ages 3-8

Joe keeps lagging behind on his class field trip to the park. The others tease him for being a slow poke, but because Joe is observant and quiet he sees more plants and animals than the others. I can identify with Joe because as a child I used to be the same way. To quote a line from Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood - "I like to take my time".

Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood
http://www.fci.org/mrn.asp

I Like To Take My Time

© 1971 Fred Rogers

I like to take my time
I mean that when I want to do a thing
I like to take my time to do it right!

I mean I might just make mistakes
If I should have to hurry up and
So I like to take my time
To tie my shoes, to eat, to get dressed,
To go to sleep at night to sing a song for you
And every thing I do.

I like to take my time
I mean that when I want to do a thing
I like to take my time to do it right.

I mean I might just make mistakes if
I should have to hurry up and
So I like to take my time.

Secret Place

Secret Place
by Eve Bunting and Ted Rand
children's fiction
ages 3-6

This book was recommended by the local Metroparks people.
A boy and his urban neighbors know that if you look around, even in the most smoggy, dirty city there is wildlife. They find ducks, possum, and more. They keep the wildlife a secret, however, so that people do not disturb the animals. I could not help but think of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Children, flowers, and animals can all grow and even thrive in great adversity.

Whistling

Whistling
by
Elizabeth Partridge and Anna Grossnickle Hines
children's fiction, ages 3-8

A boy and his father are camping. As they wait for the sun to come up, the anticipation grows. What kind of a sunrise will it be? We find out that there must be a tradition in this family to watch the sun go up and whistle.
This book focuses on that one event and is illustrated in a series of quilt squares. In the back of the book the illustrator shows how she did these squares.
Learning to whistle is a rite of passage like learning to skip or snap fingers. If someone you know has recently learned how to whistle, then this book is for you.
This was on a list of books recommended by the local park system. I would recommend taking this book camping with you, but last time I tried this with a book the book got very wet from the dew on the tent and I had to pay the library for the book. (Next time I will leave my book in the car where it will stay drier). Instead I recommend reading this book before camping and trying to do what these gentlemen did - whistle up the sun.

Up, Up, Down

Up, Up, Down
by
Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko
Children's fiction, ages 3-6.
Anna climbs up on furniture. Anna climbs up on everything. Anna climbs a tree and her parents try to get her down. Anna is disobedient and doesn't get punished for it, but this is a funny book and parents may forgive Anna because she makes them laugh. Read this book for the humorous band-aid application at the end.
http://www.band-aid.com/

For more about Band-aids, see "Doctor Dan the Bandage Man" by Helen Gaspard and Corrine Malvern, published by Little Golden Books about 40 or 50 years ago.

All Around Me I See

All Around Me I See
by
Laya Steinberg and Cris Arbo
Children's fiction, ages 3-6.

This is a book of colorful sentences and pictures about nature. Really, the pictures drive the story more than the words which are just kind of there stating nature metaphors. This is a pleasant picture book, but forgettable. I liked the font that uses the "circle with a line" type of letter "a".

Hello, Tree!

Hello, Tree!
by Joanne Ryder and Michael Hays
children's fiction, or maybe poetry/prose, ages 3-5

The joy of a tree! This book celebrates all the ways we can enjoy trees - leaves, bark, climbing, fruit, shade, and more. It shows children enjoying trees.
I thought this was a fine book, but if I were the editor I would have had a tree identification guide in the back showing the leaves and fruit of the trees that were mentioned. Maple, oak, willow, pine, gingko, and sassafras were mentioned and there is a buckeye on the back cover but it is not labelled.
Teachers can add these to the book and use this in class. It would be a good choice for supplementary reading for science class.
This was on a reading list from our local park system.

Hey, Little Ant

Hey, Little Ant

by

Phillip and Hannah Hoose & Debbie Tilley

(Hannah was age 9 when she cowrote this book).

Fiction, ages 3-7.

What a quandary! Should the boy squish the ant or not? The ant begs for his life. There is a song in the back that presents the whole book as a duet song.

This book is simple and profound. What will the child decide?

This could be a conversation starter for a college philosophy class or simply read as a slightly humorous story.

In my case, this was on a list of books for nature appreciation (or is that nature destruction)?

Take a City Nature Walk

Take a City Nature Walk

by

Jane Kirkland

Nonfiction, ages 8 and up

or

parent/child, student/teacher, pupil/park ranger, etc. with a child as young as 3 or so.

Part of the Take a Walk Series

This was on a list that the library and park system distributed on enjoying nature and enjoying reading about nature. We take our city animals and plants for granted. Think about the raccoons, crickets, crows, robins, dandelions, redbuds, & trees-of-heaven. If you lived in Hawaii or Iceland or Russia you would have completely different plants and animals to observe.

Even in a dingy, crowded, urban scene or in a pretty city park we can hear birds and see insects flying around. Even if you live in a condo or apartment there are hawks or seagulls or pigeons to observe. Even if it is winter you may have a ladybug, housefly or houseplant to see.

This is the kind of book we should read at least twice a year to remind us of what we take for granted.

I see that these are others in the series:

Take a Backyard Bird Walk

Take a Tree Walk

Take a Walk with Butterflies and Dragonflies

Take a Beach Walk

Since there are a number of ideas for projects, I can see that scouts, homeschoolers, and more would benefit from this book and series.

This book one an award from USA Book News, and is recommended by the National Gardening Association and the National Science Teachers Association.