Category: Book Loves

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And the winner is …

OceanSunlight

Sue Heavenrich!

Sue has won a copy of Ocean Sunlight, signed by co-author Penny Chisholm. I didn’t mention this in my original raffle post, but Penny is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she and her lab study marine phytoplankton. (Of course!) She is a wonderful woman and an excellent scientist and I was lucky to meet her at the AAAS meeting in Boston a few weeks ago, where she signed this raffle book.

So … congratulations, Sue! I think you are really going to enjoy this read. Please send your mailing address to me at lgb (at) loreeburns (dot) com and I’ll get it in the mail first thing Monday.

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Nonfiction Monday Giveaway: Ocean Sunlight

OceanSunlight

OCEAN SUNLIGHT:

HOW TINY PLANTS FEED THE SEAS

by Molly Bang & Penny Chisholm

The Blue Sky Press, 2012

Category: Picture book

If you were reading this blog back in 2010, you might remember my love for LIVING SUNLIGHT, the brilliant picture book, also by Bang and Chisholm, that introduced young readers to the process of photosynthesis and the chemistry of life on our planet. I still recommend that book to kids, teachers, and strangers on the street; it is simply the most accessible look at the topic I’ve ever seen.

And now, a sequel to sing about!

OCEAN SUNLIGHT furthers the story, sharing with readers the tale of a “billion billion billion” tiny plants floating in the ocean’s surface layer, turning sunlight into energy that further fuels life on Earth. With only 781 words spread across forty-four beautifully illustrated pages, Bang and Chisholm have created another masterpiece. This is a book everyone can read and learn from. This is a book everyone should read and learn from.

So, would you like a copy? Signed by Penny Chisholm?

Great! Just leave a comment on this post by 5pm EST on Thursday, March 14, 2013.  If you spread the word about the contest on your social media outlets, leave me a second comment telling me so and I’ll add your name to the raffle drawing a second time. On Thursday night I’ll hold the raffle and on Friday morning I’ll post the winner.  A couple rules:

1. Winners must live in the continental United States. I’ll send the book to the winner by USPS Media Mail next Monday.

2. Please remember to check back on Friday to see if you’ve won; I’ll post instructions then for how to get me your mailing address.

3. If you already won a giveaway this month (I’m looking at you, Mary Laughton and Laura Purdie Salas) you can’t enter again.

4. Good luck, and happy reading!

A few last links before you go:

For a peek at the other SB&F Prize-winning titles raffled off here lately, check out this post about Sy Montgomery’s TEMPLE GRANDIN and this post about Terrie Williams’ THE ODYSSEY OF KP2.

And for a the weekly lode of great children’s nonfiction, check out this week’s round-up of Nonfiction Monday posts over at Sally’s Bookshelf.

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And the winner is …

TempleGrandin

It’s raffle time!

I printed the names of all the entrants in my TEMPLE GRANDIN giveaway on strips of paper, folded them up, mixed them into a vase (the favorite mug I used for last week’s giveaway was too small this week!) and had one of the Burns kids draw a winner.

Congratulations, Laura Salas!

Please send your mailing address to me at lgb (at) loreeburns (dot) com, Laura, and I’ll get your book in the mail first thing Monday.

I’ll be raffling one last signed SB&F Prize winning book (OCEAN SUNLIGHT, by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm) next Monday, so please come back and check it out.

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Nonfiction Monday Giveaway: Temple Grandin

TempleGrandin

TEMPLE GRANDIN:

HOW THE GIRL WHO LOVED COWS EMBRACED AUTISM AND CHANGED THE WORLD

By Sy Montgomery

Houghton Mifflin, 2012

Category: Middle Grade Biography (148 pages)

Welcome to week two of my very own science book lovefest …

After a smashing weekend celebrating science books at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) two weeks ago, I was inspired to share some amazing science books via raffles here at my blog. I bought extra copies of three SB&F Prize winning titles and asked the authors to sign them; last week I raffled a signed copy of The Odyssey of KP2, by Terrie Williams and next week I’ll raffle a signed copy of Ocean Sunlight, by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm. This week, though, is all about Sy Montgomery and her astonishing biography of Temple Grandin.

Temple Grandin is a scientist and a professor of animal science at Colorado State University. She has revolutionized the meat packing industry by designing and implementing humane meat processing facilities. And she is autistic.

Temple’s life story is inspiring, and Sy shares it beautifully. With a window into Temple’s growing up years, readers begin to understand the behaviors that so confused and scared Temple’s classmates. By watching Temple put her mind to work on problems that vexed her–the cruel way animals are sometimes treated in captivity–readers embrace Temple’s unusual and extraordinary way of thinking. By hearing Temple say, “If I could snap my fingers and be nonautistic, I wouldn’t … It’s part of who I am,” readers come to appreciate that this world of ours needs all kinds of minds. Theirs. Yours. Mine. Temple Grandin’s. All of them.

Of the books I’ve read this year, this is the one that changed me the most. I wish I could give every person I know a copy. But since I can’t, I’d like to give YOU a copy. Leave me a comment below before 5pm EST on Thursday (March 7, 2013) and I’ll add your name to my raffle. If you spread the word via your blog or your social media outlets and let me know that you have done so in a second comment, I’ll add your name to the raffle a second time.

Ground rules:

1. Winners must live in the continental United States. I will send the book to the winner by USPS Media Mail next Monday.

2. Please remember to check back on Friday to see if you’ve won; I’ll post instructions then for how to get me your mailing address.

3. If you won last week (I’m looking at you, Mary Laughton) you can’t enter this week.

4. Good luck, and happy reading!

And don’t forget to catch this week’s full Nonfiction Monday roundup at the Supratentorial blog!

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Nonfiction Monday Giveaway: The Odyssey of KP2

KP2

THE ODYSSEY OF KP2

AN ORPHAN SEAL, A MARINE BIOLOGIST, AND A FIGHT TO SAVE A SPECIES

By Terrie M. Williams

Penguin, 2012

Category: Adult/Young Adult Nonfiction (283 pages)

Happy Nonfiction Monday, friends! I am fresh back from an amazing weekend of celebrating children’s science books, including Citizen Scientists, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and I am super-excited to share some of the other SB&F Prize-winning titles with you. So … let’s have a giveaway!

(In fact, let’s have three. I’m going to raffle signed copies of the SB&F Prize winners in the picture book, middle grade, and young adult categories over the next three Nonfiction Mondays, so be sure to visit again.)

This week’s title is The Odyssey of KP2, by Terrie M. Williams.

Dr. Williams is a rock-star marine mammal researcher (check out her lab web page, and her TEDx talk for proof) and her book shares the story of an abandoned Hawaiian monk seal pup, KP2, who comes to live and work in her lab at UC Santa Cruz. It’s an irresistible tale, but for me, the power of this book lies in the way KP2’s life story is woven into the larger human drama of politics, spirituality, species loss, the nature of science, and the wonder of maternal connection. It’s obviously a great choice for any young person considering a career in science, especially women, but truly, friends, this is a story for all of us.

Okay … want a copy of your own? Signed by Dr. Williams? Just leave a comment on this post before 5pm on Thursday and I’ll enter your name in my drawing. If you spread the word about the giveaway and let me know that in a comment too, I’ll add your name a second time. On Friday, I’ll post the winner’s name here on my blog.

A few ground rules:

1. Winners must live in the continental United States. I will send the book to the winner by USPS Media Mail next Monday.

2. Please remember to check back on Friday to see if you’ve won; I’ll post instructions then for how to get me your mailing address.

3. Good luck, and happy reading!

One last thing: for a look at other nonfiction titles that books bloggers are reading and loving this week, visit this week’s Nonfiction Monday host, Shelf-employed blog. You’ll find a complete round-up there tomorrow.

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Cybils Love

CSheart2

One year ago today, on a holiday otherwise known as CITIZEN SCIENTISTS Release Day, my son Sam surprised me with the coolest valentine ever (above). I will never get tired of that graphic!

This year, Valentine’s Day morn was spent celebrating the Cybils Awards. More formally known as the Children’s and Young Adults Bloggers’ Literary Awards, these honors are bestowed one stroke after midnight each Valentine’s Day, and they are always a great bet for book lovers.

Need proof?

Click on over to the Cybils award announcement (link below) and scroll through the winning titles. Explore the genres. Read the reviews. Fall in love.

What to do next is up to you, of course, but I recommend you pick a book for yourself. Pick one (or three!) for your valentine, too. Then scroll back up to the top of the page and click on the embedded “Shop Now” link. Find your selections and pop them into your cart. When you check out, a small portion of Amazon’s proceeds will be given to the Cybils.

Your valentine gets some book love. A Cybils author gets some book sale love. The Cybils award gets some thank you love. Three birds, one click.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Where Science Meets Adventure

                                                   

Attention teachers and science lovers: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has launched a new website devoted entirely to the award-winning Scientists in the Field (SITF) series. These books for upper elementary and middle school students cover an impressive array of science topics, from honey bees and trash (my two entries in the series, pictured above) to sea horses, wild horses, manatees, tarantulas, anthropology, space exploration, and beyond. The new site includes an overview of the series, including every SITF title, and features sneak peeks from upcoming titles and updates from the authors.

What are you waiting for? Go check it out!

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Leepike Ridge

We can’t put this book down. And I can’t stop reminding my daughter, who is reading with me, that she should never sneak out of the house at night and climb on top of a styrofoam raft …

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The Man Who Planted Trees

THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES:

Lost Groves, Champion Trees and an Urgent Plan to Save the Planet

By Jim Robbins

Spiegel & Grau, 2012

Category: Nonfiction for Grownups

“We can wait around for someone else to solve the problem of climate change and the range of other environmental problems we face, from toxic waste to air pollution to dead zones in the oceans to the precipitous decline in biodiversity, or we can take matters into our own hands and plant trees.”

If you have even a smidgeon of doubt that this statement is true, read this book. I predict that when you’re done, you’ll plant a tree. Or twenty.

Postscript: For those of you who are truly into nonfiction, particularly children’s nonfiction, don’t forget about the weekly Nonfiction Monday celebration. Check it out here!

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Step Gently Out

STEP GENTLY OUT

Poem by Helen Frost

Photographs by Rick Lieder

Candlewick, 2012

Category: Nonfiction picture book (but truly for all ages)

It was the title that grabbed me first. Step Gently Out. There is an ethic in those words, and they have deep meaning for me. When the book was finally in my hands, though, it was the ant on the cover that pulled me in. He is not rendered in paints as I’d thought when I’d seen the book online, but photographed. Captured atop a slender leaf, antennae waving, stepping gently. Completely enchanting.

Would you believe that things got better from there?

Helen Frost’s text is charming, and I can tell you from personal experience that it holds up to repeated readings. Rick Lieder’s breathtaking images lend a hand, inspiring closer looks at blades of grass and silken threads both inside the book and, of course, out.

I find myself reading this one over and again. I’m in love.  I think that every child on the planet should have a copy. I plan to start with the half-dozen kids who know me as Auntie Loree …