Luna & Me

Luna & Me: the true story of a girl who lived in a tree to save a forest
by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw
40 pages; ages 5-9
Henry Holt & Co, 2015

Have you ever climbed a tree?
And stayed there ALL night?

This is the story of a girl who climbed a tree and lived high in its branches for two years. It is the story of a tree born nearly a thousand years ago, and a girl born thirteen thousand full moons later.

The tree's name is Luna. The girl's name is Julie, but everyone called her Butterfly.

One day Butterfly wandered into an ancient grove of redwoods. She noticed a tree with broken branches and a large blue X painted on its side. That blue X meant that Luna was slated to be harvested and turned into lumber. Butterfly knew that people needed lumber to build their homes. But trees are important, too. They make oxygen (important for breathing) and provide homes for animals. And their roots hold the soil and keep it from washing away.

So she decides that if she is in the tree, no one will cut it down. Thus begins her lengthy camp-out in the arms of her tree. Many friends supported her, sending food and other supplies up by rope. Butterfly began exploring the tree, discovering a magical cave and secrets of canopy animals. She documented what she learned and shared it with the world.

Finally, after nearly two years, the lumber company agreed to protect Luna and the surrounding grove. You can visit Sanctuary Forest near the town of Whitethorn, CA.

Today we're joining the roundup over at the Nonfiction Monday blog where you'll find even more book reviews. Advanced review copy provided by the publisher.

Earth Day ~ Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai: The woman who planted millions of trees
by Franck Prevot; illus by Aurelia Fronty
48 pages; ages 6-9
Charlesbridge, 2015

Earth Day is Wednesday, and what better way to celebrate than to read about a real Earth hero. Wangari Maathai is known as the woman who encouraged other women to plant trees. She was born in a tiny village in Kenya, and learned to dig and plant her gardens in the shade of the big mugumo - a fig tree. Her mother taught her that a tree is worth more than its wood- wisdom Wangari remembered for the rest of her life.

Wangari is a fortunate daughter; she is sent to school. She attends college in the US, and when she returns to Kenya she sees that forests have been cut and wildlife is rare. Small farms have given way to large plantations, families can no longer grow food to feed their children, and rivers run muddy. Wangari sees her country eroding before her eyes. What can she do?

She begins planting trees. Traveling from village to village, she speaks on behalf of the trees, and the animals, and the children. She asks people to think of the future, and creates tree nurseries to provide women with saplings. She starts the Green Belt movement. Tree by tree the women plant forests. But that is not enough.



Wangari tells the president that he must stop cutting trees to put up buildings. She is threatened and jailed but still she believes that trees are important. She dreams that one day Kenya's children will be able to play in forests. She is the "mother of forests" and in 2004 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work.  Review copy from local library.

Jo MacDonald Hiked in the Woods

Jo MacDonald Hiked in the Woods
by Mary Quattlebaum; illus. by Laura J. Bryant
32 pages, ages 3-8
Dawn Publishing, 2013

We know about the farm, and the animals, and the E-I-E-I-O. But what about a walk in the woods? There are plenty of things to hear and so much to see. And that's what Mary Quattlebaum's new book is all about: exploring forest sounds and the creatures that make them.

"Jo MacDonald hiked in the woods, E-I-E-I-O." Yes, your kids will want to sing along. "And in those woods she heard a woodpecker... with a rat-tat here and a rat-tat there...." It's not spring, so you might be wondering: do woodpeckers make all that racket in the woods when they're not drumming love songs? They are in our neck of the woods!

Jo and her grandpa hear a great many sounds in the woods: squirrels, turkeys, and something padding in the dried leaves. At the end of the book there are four info-packed pages with notes about the plants and animals that make up a forest community and the secret lives of trees. There are suggestions for indoor activities that connect kids with the book and with nature, and a section on "How to Be a Naturalist". Step one: make observations - draw or write or photograph the things you see and hear. There are also links to citizen-science opportunities for children and families and downloadable activities for teachers and parents.

This post is part of STEM Friday round-up.  Review copy provided by publisher.

Forest Has a Song

Forest Has a Song

By Amy Ludwig VanDerwater; illus by Robbin Gourley

32 pages, ages 6 & up

Clarion Books, 2013

It’s April, which is poetry month. And it’s Friday – which means STEM Friday and “perfect picture books”. And I’ve got an interview with poet Amy Ludwig VanDerwater – which means what would have (on any other day) been a “two-fer” is actually a “two-fer-squared”. You do the math….

So, about two weeks ago I got this awesome book in my mailbox: Forest Has a Song. The minute I saw the cover, I fell in love with it… what’s not to love about red boots? Endpapers filled with leaves of all sorts? A girl and her dog off on wild adventures?

The book opens with an invitation from the forest: “I’m here. Come visit.”

Themes: nature, discovery, seasons

What I like love: These poems are accessible even to those of us who shy away from poetry. Both words and illustrations invites us – no, pull us – into the forest. Words on the page turn into chickadee calls; tracks in snow or mud become the Forest News… “articles printed  by animals on the go.”  As a journalist I appreciate news, no matter the format. But here, let Amy’s poetry speak for itself:

Young raccoons / drink sips of creek.

Mouse and hawk /  play hide and seek.

There are ferns and fossils, bones and birds… and somewhere in it all, Forest has a song. When I reach the end I’m not sure whether I want to flip back to the beginning and read it again – or grab my colored pencils and notebook and run outside – quick! – before the last notes of song drift away.

So I asked Amy: What inspired a book featuring poetry about foresty things?

Amy: We moved to the country nine years ago.  Our old farmhouse sits on a large parcel of mostly wooded land, and so we are surrounded by the plants and creatures and mysteries that show up in these poems.  Too, I loved playing in the woods when I was a little girl, and my childhood family and grownup family are both camping souls.  I breathe differently outside, and writing these poems gave me time to breathe and write and live in that rich space.

SB: How did "forest" become a character?

Amy: I think it just evolved.  During the revision process, that forest voice spoke up.  Now I see that it weaves through many of the poems; the book feels like one long conversation between child and forest.  The book started with a handful of poems.  When I realized that forest imagery was appearing again and again in my writing, I made a long list of poem possibilities and just started writing, tossing, revising, and playing with the ideas.

SB: I love that the poems arc through the seasons.

Amy: I didn’t plan it that way, but since I’ve spent time in forests throughout the year, my different memories called up different pictures.  Editor Marcia Leonard wisely ordered the poems in this narrative through-the-seasons way – she saw them as verses in a larger song, a ballad that would tell the story of a year in the life of a young girl and of the woods that she loved.  So I drew on the details of the poems to arrange them in an order that followed the seasons.  It was very satisfying!  I could almost hear the poems click into place.  And this, in essence, is what an editor does: help a manuscript become the book it wants to be.”

SB: How did "Forest News" grow from seed to "adult"?

 
Amy: This poem went through many, many revisions.  Like a few other poems in the book, (“Song”, “Dusk”, “Home”) it is simply a list with a few words at the beginning and end.  Much of my revision was focused on the internal sounds: whiskery-wild, sips of creek, scribbled hints/in footprints…

Amy’s poetry is not only lyrical, but grounded in science. Her husband, Mark, is a passionate biology teacher and, says Amy, “science advisor”. For example, she says, “when I’m writing along and wonder something, I simply call from the next room: ‘Do tree frogs really live around here?’ Usually he knows, but if not…we find it out!”

Beyond the Book

Try your hand at writing poetry about the world around you. Everything has a song – so if you don’t live near a forest, listen for the music in a vacant lot, or neighborhood park.

Listen to the songs of the birds – or insects or frogs – that live nearby. If you can, write them down… maybe their notes will inspire a song, the rhythm of their call a poem.

Go outside and draw one small thing in nature – a flower, grass… and color it in with pencil or paint or crayon. Then write words around it: what you see, action words, how it smells, its texture.

More Stuff:  Amy's book trailer is here.  Amy grows poems and writes stuff about poetry at her Poem Farm, and shares really cool writing notebooks here. 

 This post is part of STEM Friday round-up. It's also part of PPBF (perfect picture book Friday), an event in which bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books. Review copy provided by Blue Slip Media.