Loree Burns – Page 50

October 27, 2008April 25, 2015

Brookwood School

Last Wednesday Harvard University held it’s first Sustainability Celebration. Three days later, the Brookwood School in Manchester, Massachusetts held a similar event. And while Boston-area media outlets have waxed on about green being the new crimson in Harvard Yard, I’m here to tell you that the Brookwood community has been wearing green for decades … and they did these colors proud on Saturday at their second annual Sustainability Fair.

In all, I spent three days in the Brookwood community. On Thursday and Friday, I visited with eighth graders during their science classes, where we talked about TRACKING TRASH, science projects, science teachers, and protecting our oceans. I also addressed the entire student body during their weekly School Meeting, visited with a PreK class, answered questions for curious second graders, lunched with students and faculty, and sat in on a class of soon-to-be science teachers working with their Brookwood mentor. It was an incredible two days during which I gathered as much as I shared!

On Saturday I took part in the school’s Sustainability Fair. Students, faculty, and parents came together to share with their community tools and ideas for sustaining our world. From a coat drive to a Croc drive, from safe household cleaners to sustainable tea, from composting to coastwatching, the Brookwood community taught me a whole lot about going green. Check out these highlights:

Did you know that if your VCR is plugged into the wall socket, it draws a large amount of energy even when powered off? A super-smart Brookwood student told me all about it, and proved his point with this plugged-in-but-turned-off VCR connected to an energy register. According to Laurenzo, Americans could cut home energy consumption by 75% simply by unplugging unused electronic appliances; talk about a no-brainer.

A group of eighth-graders organized a “No Idling” campaign at Brookwood. Their mission is to educate parents about the evils of idling their engines and to convince drivers in the community to turn off their cars while waiting in the pick-up line. “A single vehicle dropping off and picking up kids at one school puts three pounds of pollution into the air per month.” Ouch.

I tried some of this Sustainabili-Tea and it was de-lish. The students who sold it shared their tea-brewing secrets with me: sun-power!

Got Crocs? It seems to me that most people do … these plastic shoes are everywhere. But what I didn’t know was that Crocs can be recycled. Soles Unlimited is an organization committed to taking old Crocs and turning them into new shoes for people who need them. If your looking for a green project of your own, consider a Croc Drive; the Greenwood folks had boxes and boxes by the end of the afternoon.

Folks from Salem Sound Coastwatch used this tabletop visual to show fair-goers how pollution moves through a watershed. There is nothing like a dribbling of cocoa powder (factory pollutants) and green jello (lawn chemicals) to make it clear why we need to be vigilant near our waterways.

For educating yourself and your family about sustainability issues, fair participants introduced me to the Eco-Bunnies and to Annie Leonard and her Story of Stuff. (If you only follow one link in this post, please make it this last one. It is truly a must-see.)

Many thanks to librarian Sheila Geraty, science teacher Rich Lehrer, Sustainability Fair organizers Ben Wildrick and Amy Henderson, and all the students at Brookwood School. It was truly a pleasure getting to know you … and learning from your bright green school community!

October 22, 2008April 25, 2015

My Village

This was going to be a very good week. There was to be a relaxed review of my bee manuscript. And a relaxed preparation for my three-day visit with students and faculty at the Brookwood School in Manchester, Massachusetts. And some relaxed time for blogging about books I adore.

Alas, my computer.

My poor, overworked, much-appreciated, not-nearly-old-enough-to-die computer had some issues. The prognosis is not good. I spent days slapping bandages over gaping wounds, hanging out with the Geek Squad at Best Buy, cyber-chatting with Hewlett-Packard representatives, taking deep and calming breaths. (“It is only a computer. It is only a computer.”) I’ve been polling friends, consulting their spouses, borrowing electronic equipment from whoever had some to spare.

It has not been relaxing.

But I am a lucky girl. My village stepped up, held my hand, saw me through. Again. Whatever would I do without these people? A thousand thank yous to my village–you know who you are–and a thousand wishes to all of you: may your computers stay healthy and your villages stay strong!

October 17, 2008April 25, 2015

Clan Apis

CLAN APIS
By Jay Hosler, Ph.D.
Active Synapse, 2000

Category: Graphic Novel

I’m still working, working, working on THE HIVE DETECTIVES manuscript. At this stage—the end of the ‘first complete draft’ stage—I am mostly polishing and refining with snippets of fresh writing thrown in as needed.

I’m also still reviewing the cool bee stuff (books, videos, websites, etc) I’ve noted during the last eighteen months … with an eye toward useful materials to include in the book’s back matter. Some of what I have collected is interesting to me, like this website of honey recipes, but won’t be particularly interesting to my middle grade readers.

Other things on my list, however, are so freakin’ cool that I plan to include them in the backmatter AND to shout about them at every opportunity. Jay Hosler’s CLAN APIS falls into this latter category.

CLAN APIS is a graphic novel about honey bees. I know. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect myself. But let me tell you … this is a a totally fun and scientifically accurate graphic novel introduction to the world of the honey bee. I kid you not. It is a honey bee must read.

Hosler is a neurobiologist at Juniata College, where he studies—you guessed it—honey bees. In his spare time he cartoons, mostly about sciencey stuff. Can’t remember the last sciencey cartoon you came across? Then check out Killer Bee, Hosler’s cartoon look at the life-or-death struggle of one honey bee scientist. It’s a gem.

Hosler has also explored Darwin’s theory of natural selection in comic book form. Do I even need to tell you that THE SANDWALK ADVENTURES is now at the tippy-top of my wish list?

Science rocks! As do scientists who share their work with the world in unexpected and completely effective ways.

October 14, 2008April 25, 2015

Happy Earth Science Week!

What’s that? You didn’t know it WAS Earth Science Week? No worries. You have until October 18 to celebrate and this Earth Science Week website is chock full of ideas on how to get started.

We Burnses celebrated at Purgatory Chasm, a quarter-mile long gash in the surface of the planet that happens to be located near where we live. The chasm is believed to have formed when melted glacial waters burst from its foundations 14,000 years ago. Now it is the main attraction of the Purgatory Chasm State Reservation and a heckuva lot of fun to hike through. If you are very brave (which I am not), you can even poke around in the caves formed when giant slabs and boulders of disrupted granite re-settled themselves in the chasm. Sadly, I didn’t bring my camera to the Chasm.

But I did bring my camera to the top of Lenox Mountain, which turned out to be another fine place to contemplate the Earth:

And now that you know where I’ve been for the past few days, I’ll show you where I am going:

Only three weeks left to make the bee book perfect!

October 9, 2008April 25, 2015

Cold Light

COLD LIGHT
By Anita Sitarski
Boyds Mills Press, 2007

Category: Middle Grade Nonfiction

Earlier this week the 2008 Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to three scientists for their work on green fluorescent protein (GFP):

Osamu Shimamura purfied GFP from this jellyfish;

Martin Chalfie used it as a glow-in-the-dark tag to visualize other proteins in other organisms;

Roger Tsien engineered versions that glow in crazy cool colors.

Hot stuff.

Even hotter? The nitty gritty has been clearly and enthusiastically explained in Anita Sitarski’s COLD LIGHT, a book written for middle graders but perfect for anyone now needing to brush up on the history and science of bioluminescence.

Kids books rock!

October 8, 2008April 25, 2015

Cybils 2008

Nominations for the 2008 Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards (affectionately known as the Cybils) are open until October 15. So, if you haven’t already, get on over to the Cybils website and nominate a book. Nominated books must be published in the 2008 calendar year, and can represent any one of the following categories (clicking on the link will bring you directly to the relevant nomination page at the Cybils website):

Fantasy & Science Fiction

Fiction Picture Books

Graphic Novels

Middle Grade Fiction

Nonfiction: Middle Grade & Young Adult

Nonfiction: Picture Books

Poetry

Young Adult Fiction

Easy Readers

I was a proud Cybils panelist back in 2006; our Nonfiction: Middle Grade & YA top five list totally rocked.

Last year I was even prouder to see TRACKING TRASH nominated in that same category; sharing a list with names like Kathleen Krull, Peter Sis, Adrian Dingle, Ibtisam Barakat, Eve Drobot and Russell Freedman was quite a thrill.

What titles will take home top Cybils honors this year? I have my eyes on a few favorites; if you have thoughts on the matter, you only have until October 15 to make them known. Get on over there and nominate a book!

October 7, 2008April 25, 2015

A Natural Public Service Announcement

::rubbing my hands together in glee::

The boy with the head cold has gotten the blogging bug! He spent time this afternoon creating still more content for my blog. We are both fans of THE RACE TO SAVE THE LORD GOD BIRD (see this previous post), so we came up with a little public service announcement to share.

If you live in the right part of the country for it, you can go outside and look for this bird, a close relative of the Ivory-bill. They are an incredible sight … look a little like this:

October 7, 2008April 25, 2015

Champlain and the Silent One

CHAMPLAIN AND THE SILENT ONE
By Kate Messner
North Country Books, 2008

Category: Middle Grade Historical Fiction

What happens when a head cold keeps you home from school and your mother has a deadline to meet? You get put to work, that’s what…

It’s not all bad. First the dear boy with the head cold was given a chance to thumb through my To Read pile. At the top was my crispy new copy of Kate Messner’s CHAMPLAIN AND THE SILENT ONE; he got to be the first Burns to read it. But then he couldn’t stop talking about it. Seriously, he was at my elbow talking about Iroquois and Innu tribes and alliances and battles and, well, I wasn’t getting much done. So I heard him out one last time, and then I set him to work. Here’s the fan letter he wrote to Kate:

Dear Mrs. Messner,
Your book Champlain and the Silent One is awesome! My mom got it in the mail yesterday and let me read it. (I finished it this morning.) I liked how it always had more action or drama on the next page! You do a good job of keeping the story lively and fun instead of droning on and on.

Hope you keep writing,

You heard it here first. Kate Messner never drones on and on … and her new book is awesome!

October 6, 2008April 25, 2015

Especially for Nonfiction Writers

I think of this blog as a place for me to interact with readers–middle-graders who have read my book(s), or their parents and teachers. Most of my posts have that audience in mind.But, in fact, many regular readers of this blog are writing friends. And today I have a post expressly for them. The links below will be particularly interesting, I think, to writers of nonfiction for children.

Firstly, Marc Aronson at Nonfiction Matters is, once again, encouraging those of us who write for young people to consider digital media as a tool in our work. Check out this post and jump on into the conversation.

Secondly, Jennifer Armstrong at Interesting Nonfiction for Kids (I.N.K.) has started a conversation about books that encourage readers to get outside and explore. You can read the post here.

I’m interested in how these two posts work together. How can we writers–especially those of us who write about science and nature–embrace digital media and encourage kids to leave that media behind at the same time? It is a conundrum of epic proportions. At least to me.

What do you think?

October 6, 2008April 25, 2015

The Race to Save the Lord God Bird

THE RACE TO SAVE THE LORD GOD BIRD
By Phillip Hoose
Melanie Kroupa Books, 2004

Category: Knowledge for middle-grade readers

“There is probably more passion, sadness, villainy, heroism and sheer suspense in this account of the decline of the ivory-billed woodpecker than in any other book, of any genre, destined for young readers’ shelves this year…a magnificent book, and not just for kids.”
—Washington Post Book World

I heartily concur with these thoughts, though I would take out the phrase ‘this year’ … THE RACE TO SAVE THE LORD GOD BIRD is one of the greatest nonfiction books I’ve read ever. Hoose pulls reader into the life, times, and probable extinction of one of the most revered birds of all time, the Ivory-billed woodpecker. He does it in fine style and while at the same time planting the delicate seeds of a conservation ethic. I don’t think you can read this book and not blush at the audacity of mankind, or bristle at the idea that this bird’s greatest enemy was … is … us.

As you probably know, an Ivory-bill was sighted again in 2004 and a small population appears to exist in the United States. When you have finished reading THE RACE TO SAVE THE LORD GOD BIRD, you can rejoice at The Nature Conservancy’s Ivory-billed Woodpecker site.