You can see their full list of 2009 winners here: http://societyofschoollibrarians.webs.com/2009bookawards.htm.

I’m lucky; I’ve grown up watching ospreys (and bald eagles) diving for fish on our lake up north. But my favorite osprey moments have to be at our town’s local ballpark. For the last few years, a pair of ospreys have built a nest in the lights–and the roar of the crowds, the brat smoke, the lights, even that goofy announcer and his keyboard don’t seem to bother them one bit. Can you see them in this picture Mr. E took last summer?

SimplyScience blogged about our temperate forest book, saying, “Interactive and entertaining, A Temperate Food Chain provides a fun-filled trek though the forest habitat as it shows specific examples of energy flow.”

A Patchwork of Books read our savanna book and says, “The really cool thing about these books is how the reader gets to control the story, much like those “Choose Your Own Adventure” books we all love so much. You can choose what a particular animal eats next, leading to a new page filled with cool facts and brilliant photographs.”

Practically Paradise writes, “With 64 pages and ample end material, these are useful to my middle schoolers but are written at a fourth grade level intended for grades 3-5. These unusual titles demand reader interaction as you pick which tertiary consumer you will follow through the pages. (Think Choose Your Own Adventure for the food chain).”

And most recently, SimplyScience profiled our coral reef book, “This particular book is especially good because it includes so many invertebrates and other varied species that are not well-known to children within the complex ecosystem of a coral reef. Animals such as fan worms, corals, sawfish, parrotfish, moray eels, nudibranchs, and sea urchins are among the consumers, with the producers and well-explained phytoplankton included in the chain information.” She also includes two fun activities to do with our books:

“Activity 1

Create your own food chain by following one of your choosing from the book. Make a diagram to show the energy flow.

Activity 2

Look through the book and find the invertebrates. Choose one invertebrate and look it up. Find out in which group it is classified according to the phylum, class, or order. Then find other animals in each group.”

And finally, the nudibranchs. I’ll admit it, seeing the mention of the nudibranchs made me smile. We’ve had many an immature, silly joke around our house about nudibranchs since writing that book. (For the record, it’s pronounced “noo-di-braank” and they’re also known as “sea slugs”…which is kinda funny in its own right.) Just don’t get us started on African wild asses…

That’s right, last week a black bear wandered into the Marketplace in Hayward–a place we’ve shopped many a time while at the cabin. He lingered in the liquor section. Here’s the clip.

Of course, the joke around here is that this was the Hamm’s beer bear. Does anyone remember this guy? Or was this just a local commercial?

And now I’ve got that song stuck in my head…

Nonfiction Book Blast!

Sunday, July 12, 2009
Convention Center Room W181
10:30 am to 12:00 pm
ALA Annual Conference, Chicago

wiki at http://nfbookblast.pbworks.com/

Track: Children & Young Adults; Literature & Collection Development

Despite the emphasis on fiction for leisure reading in schools, many reluctant readers are often more drawn to reading nonfiction. Expand your nonfiction repertoire as 17 authors booktalk their latest work.

Panelists include award-winning and acclaimed authors April Pulley Sayre (Vulture View), Kelly Halls (Albino Animals), and Carla McClafferty (Something Out of Nothing: Marie Curie and Radium), as well as many additional prolific or brand new authors. Their booktalks, plus new ones crafted by audience members, will be yours to take back home to excite your students about reading nonfiction.

The Nonfiction Book Blast speakers (click on name for author website and title for book description) who will join moderator Sharon Mitchell, include:

Lisa Rondinelli Albert, Stephenie Meyer: Author of the Twilight Saga (Enslow Publishers, May 2009), So You Want to Be a Film or TV Actor (Enslow Publishers, 2008)

Mary Bowman-Kruhm, The Leakeys: A Biography (Prometheus Books, 2009)

Laura Crawford, In Arctic Waters (Sylvan Dell Publishing), The Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving From A to Z (Pelican Publishing), Postcards From Chicago (Raven Tree Press)

Jeri Chase Ferris, With Open Hands: The Story of Biddy Mason (Lerner), Arctic Explorer: Matthew Henson (Lerner)

Kelly Milner Halls, Dinosaur Parade (Lark/Sterling Publishers, 2008), Saving the Baghdad Zoo (HarperCollins/Greenwillow, 2009), Tales of the Cryptids (Darby Creek Publishing, 2006)

Amy S. Hansen, Bugs and Bugsicles: Insects in the Winter (Boyds Mills Press, 2010), Touch the Earth (NASA and NFB, 2009)

Gwendolyn Hooks, Makers and Takers (Rourke Publishing, 2008)

Katherine L. House, Lighthouses for Kids: History, Science, and Lore with 21 Activities (Chicago Review Press, 2008)

Patricia K. Kummer, The Great Barrier Reef (Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2009), The Great Lakes (Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2009), North Korea and South Korea (two books) (Scholastic/Children’s Press, 2008)

Suzanne Lieurance, The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and Sweatshop Reform in American History (Enslow Publishers, Inc.)

JoAnn Early Macken, Flip, Float, Fly: Seeds on the Move (Holiday House, 2008)

Carla Killough McClafferty, In Defiance of Hitler: The Secret Mission of Varian Fry (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008)

Wendie Old, The Halloween Book of Facts and Fun (Albert Whitman), The Groundhog Day Book of Facts and Fun (Albert Whitman)

April Pulley Sayre, Honk, Honk, Goose: Canada Geese Start a Family (Henry Holt, 2009)

Anastasia Suen, Wired (Charlesbridge, 2007), The U.S. Supreme Court (Picture Window Books)

Christine Taylor-Butler, SACRED MOUNTAIN: Everest (Lee and Low Books, 2009)

Rebecca Hogue Wojahn and Donald Wojahn, Follow That Food Chain (Lerner, 2009)