Icefall
About the Book: Trapped in a hidden fortress tucked between towering mountains and a frozen sea, Solveig, along with her brother the crown prince, their older sister, and an army of restless warriors, anxiously awaits news of her father’s victory at battle. But as winter stretches on, and the unending ice refuses to break, terrible acts […]
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Beezus and Ramona
About the Book: Ramona Quimby is the youngest of all the famous characters in Mrs. Cleary’s wonderful Henry Huggins stories. She is also far and away the most deadly. Readers of the earlier books will remember that Ramona has always been a menace to Beezus, her older sister, to Henry, and to his dog Ribsy. It […]
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Think Like an Animal
Temple Grandin was able to improve the lives of millions of animals. How did she do it? By thinking like an animal, caring about animals, and then working hard to make things better for them. You can do the same thing! Temple Grandin loved cows, so she learned all she could about them. Then she was […]
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Fizzy Lemonade!
Evan and Jessie make plenty of lemonade in The Lemonade War. Let’s make some of our own and see if we can learn some chemistry at the same time! Here’s what you’ll need: Lemon juice (either from a bottle or from a real lemon) Baking soda Water Sugar drinking glass spoon First, pour 1/4 cup lemon juice […]
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Exploration and Observation: Drinking Juice and Making a Plant Terrarium
This week’s science activity comes from my good friend (and a great author) Helen Boswell, author of the young adult novel Mythology. This is a great activity for young naturalists like Calpurnia Tate from this week’s book! Here’s we go: Plants are an important part of the ecosystem and equally interesting. (For instance, did you know that plants can actually tell […]
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Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World
This post was originally published on World Autism Awareness Day. In honor of those with autism and to raise awareness in some small way, this week’s book is about a truly remarkable person with autism. About the book: When Temple Grandin was born, her parents knew that she was different. Years later she was diagnosed with […]
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The Lemonade War
About the Book: Evan Treski is people-smart. He is good at talking with people, even grownups. His younger sister, Jessie, on the other hand, is math-smart—but not especially good at understanding people. She knows that feelings are her weakest subject. So when their lemonade war begins, there really is no telling who will win—and even more […]
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The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
About the Book: Calpurnia Virginia Tate is eleven years old in 1899 when she wonders why the yellow grasshoppers in her Texas backyard are so much bigger than the green ones.With a little help from her notoriously cantankerous grandfather, an avid naturalist, she figures out that the green grasshoppers are easier to see against the yellow […]
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Exploration and Observation: Graphing Water Pollution
In this week’s book, Flush by Carl Hiaasen, Noah fought to keep the water from being polluted. We can help with water pollution too! This week’s activity comes to us from my fabulous little sister Hope Braithwaite, who is the Programs Assistant at the Utah State University Water Quality Extension. So she’s an expert on teaching kids […]
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Exploration and Observation: A Rainbow of Ants
This week’s guest post is by author and ecologist (and all-around nice person) Heather Hawke. Thank you, Heather! Here we go: Halloween is soon upon us and few books are creepy and crawly as The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls by Claire Legrand. Mrs. Cavendish’s roaches are shiver-worthy with too many legs even for bugs! But here […]