Author: Loree Burns

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Honey Bees and CCD

© Ellen Harasimowicz

If you read this recent New York Times article on Colony Collapse Disorder and honey bees, please take a moment to also read this Fortune online article about important information missing from the Times report.

Very. Important. Information.

And if you are at all confused, I’d highly recommend the original PLOS One article, which details the work in question. (Warning: this is pretty technical stuff.)

The bottom line is that we simply don’t know yet what is causing Colony Collapse Disorder. But we do know a lot more than we did four years ago, when the CCD mystery began to unfold. We know for sure that “our world is a dangerous place for honey bees, and that it will take a Herculean effort on the part of all humans–people who keep bees, people who study bees, and even people who read about bees–to see them through.”

Long live the bees …

Edited to add: The NYT article is apparently only available online to subscribers.

Edited further to add: That quoted bit is from THE HIVE DETECTIVES. But you knew that, right?

 

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AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prizes for Excellence in Science Books

I was tickled to find out today that THE HIVE DETECTIVES has been named a finalist for the 2011 AAAS/Subaru Science Books & Films Prize for Excellence in Science Books. This mouthful of a prize was created six years ago in order to “encourage outstanding science writing and illustration for children.” Here’s the complete list of nominated titles in all four categories:

Children’s Science Picture Book

Bones. Steven Jenkins. (Illus.) Scholastic, 2010.

Lizards. Nic Bishop. (Illus.) Scholastic, 2010.

Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge. Joanna Cole. (Illus. by Bruce Degen; from the Magic School Bus Series.) Scholastic, 2010.

Why Do Elephants Need the Sun? Robert E. Well. (Illus.) Albert Whitman & Company, 2010.

Middle Grades Science Book

The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe. Loree Griffin Burns. (Photographs by Ellen Harasimowicz; from the Scientists in the Field Series.) Houghton Mifflin, 2010.

Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Largest Parrot. Sy Montgomery. (Photographs by Nic Bishop; from the Scientists in the Field Series.) Houghton Mifflin, 2010.

The Secret of the Yellow Death: A True Story of Medical Sleuthing. Susan Jermain. Houghton Mifflin, 2010.

The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter’s Wonder. Mark Cassino and Jon Nelson. (Illus. by Nora Aoyagi.) Chronicle, 2009.

Young Adult Science Book

The Case for Pluto: How a Little Planet Made a Big Difference. Alan Boyle. Wiley, 2009.

The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of Elements. Sam Kean. Little Brown, 2010.

Every Bone Tells a Story: Hominin Discovery, Deductions, and Debates. Jill Rubalcaba and Peter Robertshaw. Charlesbridge, 2010.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Rebecca Skloot. Random House, 2010.

Hands-On Science Book

The Book of Potentially Catastrophic Science. Sean Connolly. (Illus.) Workman, 2010.

Insect Detective. Steve Voake. (Illus. by Charlotte Voake.) Candlewick, 2010.

Nature Science Experiments. Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen. (Illus. by Edward Miller; from the MAD Science Series.) Sterling, 2010.

You Are the Earth: From Dinosaur Breath to Pizza from Dirt. David Suzuki and Kathy Vanderlinden. Greystone, 2010.

Happy dancing in the Burns house today!

 

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Six Things on Saturday: San Diego Edition

This past week I took my first-ever trip to southern California. We had lots of touristy adventures, but my favorite photos were of the nooks and crannies variety …

All photos © Loree Griffin Burns

Edited to add: No idea why the sixth photo won’t post. I’ll try again tomorrow; its a shot of Pacific Ocean spray!

 

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The Songs of Insects

THE SONGS OF INSECTS
By Lang Elliott and Wil Hershberger
Houghton Mifflin, 2006

Category: Nonfiction for Adults

Friends, this book is a treasure.

I know, I know. You think you don’t need a field guide to the most common crickets, katydids, grasshoppers and cicadas of eastern North America. But consider this delightfulness:

The Music of Nature

Now, tell me … if you could find a field guide that felt like visiting that website, wouldn’t you want to own it? A book chock full of images so stunning that you are both mesmerized and curious? A book that reminds you to slow down and consider sounds that are so common you’ve almost forgotten they are there?

Yes? I thought so. Well, both book and website are part of the creative vision and inspirational mission of Mr. Lang Elliott: to promote the understanding and appreciation of “nature near at hand.” And both are worth exploring thoroughly.

THE SONGS OF INSECTS is the perfect resource for naturalists-in-the-making, and although it is written for adults, it has mega kid-appeal. My nine-year-old daughter spent hours with it this past summer, consulting its sights and sounds as we puzzled out players in nighttime choruses from Massachusetts to Maine. A word of warning: your child will discover in the pages of this book that there are some singing insects whose songs become harder for humans to hear as we age. And if your kids are as fresh as mine, one night soon, as you are outside listening to the sounds of nature together, this may happen:

Fresh Daughter (stopping and cocking her head): Mom! Shhhh! Do you hear that?

Me (stopping and cocking alongside her): No.

Fresh Daughter: There it is again. Sort of high pitched. You don’t hear it?

Me (listening harder): No. I can’t hear anything.

Fresh Daughter (now giggling uncontrollably): Oh. Sorry. It must be one of those crickets that old people can’t hear.

She finds this endlessly amusing. And to be honest, so does her mother. What’s not to love about a moonlit adventure inspired by a book and decorated with the sounds of insects singing and your child giggling?

A treasure, I tell you. A treasure.

 

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Five Things on Friday: New York City Edition

1. I spent two days in New York City this week, meeting up with my agent, editors, and writer friends.

2. My grandmother used to say I was like a linen suit: I don’t travel well. But Nana would have been proud of me this week as I hailed cabs, navigated streets, and even mastered the subway system.

3. On the teeny balcony of my tiny hotel room fourteen floors above East 42nd Street, I met a massive New York City dragonfly. I can’t believe I didn’t have a camera.

4. My friend Deborah Heiligman gave me an 18-inch square copy of her book FROM CATERPILLAR TO BUTTERFLY for my daughter, and I dutifully carried it around NYC, protecting it from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan pedestrians. Deborah, if you see a spike in sales of that book this week, it is because I was a walking billboard for two days!

5. I am still thinking about the group of five men and women I saw meditating in Madison Square Park yesterday. In that small green space, surrounded by city oceans of people and pets and automobiles and electronics, they managed to sit down, turn off the noise, and breathe themselves to a quieter place. (I have trouble doing that in my empty living room!)

 

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This Sunday at Broad Meadow Brook

© Ellen Harasimowicz

Researching THE HIVE DETECTIVES was a project that relied heavily on the kindness of beekeepers in central Massachusetts, where I live. Members of the Worcester County Beekeepers Association welcomed me to years of meetings and events, exposing me to the endless passion of beekeepers and, of course, the endless allure of honey bees. Mary Duane, WCBA president, even let me suit up and explore her hives with my own gloved hands. (That’s us together in the photo above. I’m the one taking notes, she’s the one working the bees!)

If you’ve read the book, you know Mary became an important part of the story I told … which is why it will be super fun to reunite with her on Sunday to talk about bees at MassAudubon. We’ll be speaking at the Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center and Wildlife Sanctuary at 2pm, and there will be a book sale and signing following the presentation.

I hope you can join us …

Honeybees: Our Professional Pollinators

Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary
414 Massasoit Road
Worcester, MA
Sunday, September 19
2pm

Adult Fees: $6 Members, $8 Nonmembers
Children’s Fees: $3 Members, $4 Nonmembers

You can find more information at the MassAudubon website.

 

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Twelve


© Loree Griffin Burns

It hardly seems possible, but these little boys—my sweet, silly, curious, passionate boys—are turning twelve today. Happy, happy, Sam and Ben!

I must go and bake the birthday apple crisp …

 

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The Book Hook


© Loree Griffin Burns

The lovely and talented writer-women who produce The 4:00 Book Hook, a free e-mail newsletter for people who share books with kids, recommended my blog to their readers in the September newsletter.

Thank you Book Hookers!

(Wait a second. That doesn’t sound good.)

Thank you, lovely and talented writer-women who produce The 4:00 Book Hook!

(Not much better.)

Anyway, the recommendation reminded me that I have a blog, and that it has been sorely neglected this past month as I vacationed, gardened, and prepared for the upcoming school year. Clearly it’s time to get back on the blog wagon (the blagon?).

The first order of business, of course, is to encourage all of you to subscribe to The 4:00 Book Hook. Doing so is simple (see instructions here) and FREE. You can view back issues (totally worth doing) at the same website. Each month, The Book Hook reviews fiction and non-fiction for young people of any age, and provides teachers and parents with marvelous ideas for linking books with real-life experiences.

The second order of business? Crickets. Katydids. Cicadas. Have you stuck your head outside after dark these past few days? Where I live, doing so is a lesson in night life and biodiversity. If you concentrate just a little bit, you can easily pick out a dozen unique insect calls. My daughter and I have been making a study of these sounds, and of the singers themselves, ever since she found a dead Lyric Cicada in the front yard. (Yes, that’s our dead inspiration in the photo above.) Anyway, we’ve found some very cool resources, and I’d like to share them here.

So stay tuned.

(But be patient!)

 

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A Couple Titles

Loree(2)
© Ellen Harasimowicz

So. So so so.

Whatcha been up to?

I’ve been busy working on a new book idea. In fact, I put the finishing touches on the first draft of my proposal this morning. And I kinda really love it. Yes, I do. Here’s hoping that my writing peeps do, too. And my collaborator. And my agent. And, eventually, my editor. It’s a book about a certain beetle that has been wreaking havoc and breaking hearts in my neck of the woods. My working title is BEETLE BUSTER. (I’m out in the woods practicing my own beetle busting skills in the picture above.)

I’ve also been thinking about my next-into-the-bookstore book, which will be published by Henry Holt in spring 2012. I’m anticipating notes from my editor soon and hope to be finalizing the text and photo selections in the coming months. This makes me very happy. There is, however, a tiny glitch: the title. As in, I just can’t come up with one! I’ve tried a few thousand possibilities (here’s one), I’ve made lists, I’ve consulted friends, I’ve asked kids in schools and libraries across the state … and, still, nothing. But last night, just before bed, I had an idea. I jotted it down.

And this morning, I still liked it. This is a good sign.

So … some background:

The book is about citizen science, that is, science done by kids and families and school groups and adults who are interested in observing the world around them. Professional scientists need our help on so many projects, and this book explores four of them in (what I hope is) irresistible detail. It needs a great title, something friendly, enticing, memorable, and representative of the projects inside.

So … a possibility:

BIRDING, FROGGING, TAGGING, SPOTTING: A YEAR OF CITIZEN SCIENCE
By Loree Griffin Burns
Photographs by Ellen Harasimowicz
Henry Holt, 2012

Soooooo … what do you think? I’d really like to know.


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Melrose

Do you remember that scene in the Pixar movie The Incredibles when Dash, the superhero son, having just escaped evil villains and near death while trying to save his father, splays his arms wide, throws back his head and screams “That was TOTALLY WICKED!” before falling backwards onto the bed behind him? I have always loved that scene … and I totally lived it last night.

There were no evil villains, of course, or even near-death experiences. In fact, it was a ho-hum Loree sort of evening: I visited a public library to talk with patrons about TRACKING TRASH. (I don’t find this sort of thing ho-hum at all, mind you, but I think Dash and his Incredible family would.)

Anyhow, the library was in Melrose, Massachusetts. I didn’t grow up in Melrose, but my cousins did, and that means I spent lots and lots of time there. Visiting MPL felt a bit like coming home. Even more so when friendly faces from my past began to show up. My oldest and dearest friend in this world was there, along with her son … and they sat with my daughter and smiled at me all night. That was cool.

And then there was Marion, who knew me when I was my daughter’s age. I cannot for the life of me remember Marion, but she remembered me. She brought a Thank You card that I wrote to her thirty years ago (!), and a photograph that nearly brought me to tears. Check it out:

That’s me and my sister on our first day of school many, many years ago. Oh, those outfits! The macramé plant hangers! That little linen purse!

The rest of the crowd were strangers to me, but they were some of the most attentive, interesting, and curious folks I’ve ever met. They participated at every turn, shared observations, made comments, laughed when I attempted being funny and, best of all, hung out after the talk to buy books, chit-chat, and tell me a bit about Melrose today.

Anyway, you may not get the full effect from this little blog post, but my night at Melrose Public Library was spectacular. We got home very late and I tucked my overtired daughter into bed straightaway. But then I looked at that photograph some more (Oh, those lime green curtains!) and thought about the many Saturdays I spent thumbing through magazines at the Melrose Drug Store with my cousins. I thought about old friends and new friends and leaving home and returning home. Eventually I threw out my arms, tilted back my head and screamed “That was TOTALLY WICKED!”

Then I crashed into bed and fell asleep.

True story.