Author: Loree Burns

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Book Bunch: Silly Things On a Head

Yesterday was the first session of my four week Book Bunch class at the local elementary school. (Since I taught Citizen Science to the older grades, which includes my two sons, fairplay dictated I come up with something for my daughter and the younger grades.)

Our Book Bunch concept is pretty simple: we get together once a week for a month and read books out loud. To make things interesting, my assistant (Hooray for Mrs. Wattu!) and I came up with a silly theme. To make things interesting AND fun, we didn’t tell the kids what the theme was; instead we gave them a chance to guess the theme after each book.

We started with BAGHEAD, written and illustrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka. The kids loved this story of Josh and his bad hair day, and they guessed our theme was probably hair.

The second book was A BOY AND HIS BUNNY, written by Sean Bryan and illustrated by Tom Murphy. The boy in the story has got a bunny on his head, and our students are pretty sharp … at least one of them guessed things on a person’s head. The majority, however, were still voting for hair. (I didn’t understand their insistence at first, but I now think my clever book bunch-ers recognized the word hare as a synonym for bunny and a homonym for the word hair. I am dealing with brilliant children here and will clearly need help with subsequent themes; more on this below.)

The final book, SHE’S WEARING A DEAD BIRD ON HER HEAD!, written by Kathryn Lasky and illustrated by David Catrow, sealed the deal. The kids were (mostly) patient for this story of how the Massachusetts Audubon Society was founded; the moment it was finished they screamed our theme: silly things on a head.

We didn’t have time for the other books I had brought, but I’ll include them here for the theme picture book readers out there: THERE IS A BIRD ON YOUR HEAD! Written and illustrated by Mo Willems and ROCKS IN HIS HEAD, written by Carol Otis Hurst and illustrated by James Stevenson.

Okay, dear readers … next week’s theme needs to be more cleverly disguised. Put on your (silly) thinking caps and send me your thoughts and ideas. Please?!

 

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March Into Reading!

Ack!

Another week has gotten away from me. Blogging and working have felt mutually exclusive lately. I have been drafting my new book (slow and painful at the moment), polishing two submissions for my agent (very excited about these), writing some historical science pieces (writing short and fast is HARD), and preparing for some exciting school visits. I’ve come up for air in order to tell you about this last bit …

On Saturday, I will be participating in the March Into Reading! Book Festival at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island. The theme for the day is ‘Literacy and Science’ and I will be joined by an amazing list of local authors and illustrators:

Laura Grates-Galvin

Todd Hampson

Bob Marstall

Ralph Masiello

Gordon Morrison

Jerry Palotta

The six of us will be visiting Newport-area schools all day on Friday and talking about our work (and signing books!) at Salve Regina on Saturday. Do stop by if you can.

 

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Eleven

ELEVEN
By Patricia Reilly Giff
Random House/Wendy Lamb, 2008

Category: Middle Grade Fiction

I am a Patricia Reilly Giff fan. I often read her books twice, once for the pure pleasure of the story, and then again to study the way she crafts her fiction. This week the kids and I finished ELEVEN, and it is another gem.

Despite his struggles with reading and the early loss of his parents, eleven-year-old Sam has a good life with his grandfather, Mack, and the ‘family’ they’ve cobbled together. But an unexpected discovery has Sam wondering who he really is and, worst of all, who Mack really is. Giff does a fine job of carrying the tension of Sam’s mystery through the book, and the kids and I agreed: in the story department, ELEVEN delivers.

As to craft, ELEVEN left me thinking about subplot. Giff weaves her subplots perfectly and with what seems to be no effort at all. Having attempted such weaving myself, however, I know the truth: effortlessness like this takes a whole lot of effort.

 

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On The Same Page in Athol

This week I celebrated another first in this year of amazing firsts. The town of Athol, Massachusetts chose TRACKING TRASH for their On The Same Page town-wide winter reading program, and on Tuesday I was invited to the Athol Public Library to speak to the community.

Before I tell you how incredible the night was, let me ask: how progressive is this town? Not only did they pick a children’s book to rally around, but they chose a non-fiction children’s book. Hooray for Athol!

I was greeted at the library by two adorable young ladies who asked for my autograph while helping me unpack in the program room. They weren’t able to stay for the presentation, but assured me they “loved” my book. And so, for me, the night was a complete success … and it hadn’t even officially begun. Thank you Lexie and Ashley!

I spent the next hour or so talking about me, my book, and the trash-tracking adventures I’ve enjoyed these past three years. My crowd–brave and hearty readers who did not let a little snow stop the festivities–asked thoughtful questions, shared their own insights, and hung out for the book signing and cookie-fest afterward. (The cookies were shaped like ducks!)

Special thanks to Anne, Karen, Jean and Debbie, the Athol librarians who made my visit a grand event. Extra special thanks to Jean, who learned I was writing about bees next and shared these with me:

Do you know how good it feels to have an entire town waiting for your next book? It feels VERY GOOD.

 

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Our Almost-Great Backyard Bird Count

It was going to be perfect. My students and parents were to arrive at 9am. Using this and these, I’d pit the kids against the adults in a raucous game of Name That Bird. Then we’d bundle up, sling on our ‘nocs, and head outside to count birds. My plan was for us to spend the first fifteen minute count period at our backyard feeder and a second hiking the woods behind our house. Then we’d head back indoors to tally our data and eat the fourteen thousand cookies my kids and I baked yesterday. Perfect, yes?

Almost.

It was pouring rain at 5am.

And at 6am.

By 8am, I began making calls to parents.

Sigh.

BUT, by 9:30am the rain had let up some and it was brightening outside. A few chickadees appeared at the feeder. Perhaps all was not lost? Although none of my students would be there to take part, my family and I decided to brave the slush and see what data we could collect for scientists at the Great Backyard Bird Count.

Count 1 (at the feeder):
4 Black-capped chickadees
3 Nuthatches
6 Goldfinches
1 Gull (he was flying so we couldn’t identify him further)
1 Blue jay

Count 2 (in the woods)
1 Dark-eyed junco
1 Nuthatch
1 Chickadee
1 Red-tailed hawk (spotted by my six year-old just as she was about to leave the count for warmer destinations … like the kitchen)
1 Hairy woodpecker

Not bad! Not bad at all!

We’ll submit our data to the National Audubon Society later today; first we’ve got some cookies to eat.

Did you count birds today? What did you see?

 

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Valentine’s Day

I had a LOVEly afternoon hanging out with the sixth graders at the John D. Runkle School in Brookline, Massachusetts. I showed some embarrassing pictures of myself (example below), talked about reading, writing, and SAVING stories and, of course, told them a bit about TRACKING TRASH.

The Runklerites (Runklers? Runkleonians?) were a great audience. They peppered me with insightful questions, didn’t laugh at my pictures, and gave me candy at the end of the day. Many thanks to Teresa Gallo-Toth (librarian extraordinaire) and Maxine Hunter (science teacher extraordinaire) for hosting my visit … and a hearty HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY to my new friends at the Runkle School.

Back home, I discovered–well after the rest of the world did–that the Children’s and YA Bloggers’ Literary Awards had been announced. Among the winners is my friend Linda Urban, who was given top honors in the Middle Grade Fiction category for her debut novel A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT. Congratulations to Linda and to all Cybils-celebrated authors and illustrators!


(That’s me, circa 1985, at the Everett High School science fair. It’s not a great shot, but I wanted you to see the GINORMOUS worm hanging from the ceiling. Nice touch for the earthworm table, don’t you think? Kelley Gillespie and I made him … out of pantyhose!)

 

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My Teacher is an Alien

MY TEACHER IS AN ALIEN
By Bruce Coville
Scholastic, 1989

Category: Middle grade fiction

I missed Nonfiction Monday.

I missed Charles Darwin’s 199th birthday Tuesday.

Thank goodness for MY TEACHER IS AN ALIEN Wednesday.

Okay, I made that last holiday up. But Bruce Coville did the impossible in the Burns house this week—he bridged the age and gender divide—and that is something to celebrate. All three of my kids enjoyed MY TEACHER IS AN ALIEN … and I was reminded that nothing seems impossible to the very young.

 

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Writers With Ducks

I was inspired by Cindy Lord’s recent post to share this photo:

These are a few of the ducks given to me since TRACKING TRASH was published. Why duckies? Well, because my book tells the story of an oceanographer who studies ocean currents by tracking debris that has fallen from cargo ships … including a shipment of 28,800 plastic tub toys. (A ducky plays a role in Cindy’s novel, RULES, too.)

Who knew that so many children’s book authors collected ducks?

And who knew there were so many “breeds” of plastic duck in the world?

Each of my ducks has a story and reminds me of a part of my TRACKING TRASH journey. For example, the duck in the foreground was a gift from Curt Ebbesmeyer himself; it is a duck from the tub toy spill. The black duck at top is called Dead Duck (his eyes are stars and if I had taken the photograph from a lower angle you would see a drop of blood on his bill) and he was given to me by my friend, the zany and talented Eric Luper, who critiqued many, many drafts of the book.

And you thought nonfiction writers were all stodgy and serious …