Promote LITERACY! Promote READING to CHILDREN! Promote GIVING CHILDREN EVERY ADVANTAGE in LIFE from the GET-GO! If these statements have you shouting YES! YES! YES!, then you will want to take p…
Source: National Get Caught Reading Month
Coming in MAY! Wonderful idea. Thanks for sharing, Ann.
 |
|
Blossoms in the spring |
By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell
Happy Earth Day, Earth!
What a wonderful world we live in – beautiful, fascinating, safe, peaceful, dangerous, harsh, mysterious, vast, surprising, and awe-inspiring.
I’m glad I live here.
In honor of Earth Day, I think it appropriate to give a gift.
So I will do something good for the Earth today. Maybe several somethings.
My gifts shall be:
– picking up any trash I see
– making sure I water only what needs water, not the sidewalk, gutter, or driveway
– turning off electrical devices I am not actually using
– planting something pretty (or tasty)
– giving thanks to God for such an amazing place to live
 |
|
Tulips opened to catch the sun |
Earth Day Haiku
Earth home, designed gift
fashioned by God’s mighty hand
habitat for us
 |
|
Fruit trees in bloom |
What will your gift be?
Do people visit your blog? Are they not visiting because you didn’t link your username??? Step 1 – Everyone click your actual username in a comment section on WordPress. Did you appear…
Source: Every Blogger READ THIS POST!
 |
|
A garden that is curious? |
By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell
The Curious Garden
By Peter Brown
(Little, Brown and Company; 2009)
The Curious Garden is a picture book that was inspired by the Manhattan Highline Railway.
I’ve read articles about the Highline that tell how the lonely stretch of railway has been transformed into beautiful public gardens. But this is the first picture book I’ve found on the topic.
The Curious Garden tells the tale of Liam, a young boy who explores the empty spaces to find railways breaking down and nature taking over. Liam decides to help. Together, Liam and the garden grow and explore the empty spaces.
“The garden was especially curious about old, forgotten things.”
I love that sentence. The garden is not just a thing in this book, but one of the main characters!
The Curious Garden (doesn’t the title take on a new personna after you’ve read the above sentence?) will delight explorers and nature lovers.
KID KANDY:
Nature Walk
I walk almost every day through my neighborhood. When I walk tomorrow, I am going to look for places that nature is acting curious and spreading in unexpected places.
How about you?
Ask a parent or sibling to walk with you.
Look for:
– weeds growing in sidewalk cracks
– flowers springing up in odd spots
– old rusted things covered in grasses or vines
– moss creeping along damp, shady areas
– nature that is being mysterious and curious as it expands to new areas
What did you see?
 |
|
A purrfect gift. @AngieQuantrell |
By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell
We were recently given a handmade gift that perfectly suited our family.
As we served an appreciation luncheon for co-workers, a certain woman, well-known for her hospitality and kindness, walked up to me and delivered a gift.
Since this luncheon was for them, I was not expecting a gift. We were doing the giving. But in her thoughtfulness, she remembered us with a hostess treasure.
When time allowed, I dug into the package and discovered a large, white hand-embroidered dish towel. Beautiful!
The homemade varieties are the best sort, are they not?
I quickly went to her table to thank her for the thoughtful gift. That was when I discovered four reasons the unexpected gift perfectly suited our family.
1. We are facing a shortage of decent dish towels. I prefer to use them until they are rags. We are breathing down the neck of the rag stage.
2. The embroidery neatley featured a cat. We love cats and have two terrorist cats of our own.
3. The embroidered cat was gray. Aha! Both of our monsters are affectionately called the Gray Girls.
4. The towel design included a cat clock of the old fashioned sort. We have a cat clock, of the new fashioned type.
 |
|
I decided to use the dish towel as a mini-tablecloth. For now. @AngieQuantrell |
A simple dish towel delivered true joy and pleasure for the one who was trying to give appreciation.
Have you ever received a perfect, unexpected gift?
 |
|
Nonfiction picture book that delights and informs! |
By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell
Woodpecker Wham!
By April Pulley Sayre
Illustrated by Steve Jenkins
(Henry Holt and Company, 2015)
Woodpecker Wham! is a delightful book told in rhyme. Readers will enjoy wonderful, bright illustrations about the life cycle and habits of woodpeckers that fill the pages of this picture book. Text written with descriptive words and words of sounds made by woodpeckers imparts information in a simple and clean way.
I loved reading the end notes that gave interesting facts and explanations about woodpecker habits. Why do woodpeckers ‘ant’? Where do woodpeckers nest? How do they secure their homes? Fascinating.
Learning about birds? Woodpecker Wham! is the perfect book to read with children.
KID KANDY:
Bird Hunt
1. Look at the illustrations of Woodpecker Wham! Remember the colors, shapes, and habits so you can use them to help you locate woodpeckers.
2. Find a pair of binoculars and put on sturdy shoes.
3. Ask a parent or older sibling to go with you.
4. Walk around your yard, neighborhood, or in a wooded area and scout for woodpeckers. You may need to listen for their calls or ‘pecking,’ check tree trunks for nesting cavities, or watch for their particular flight patterns. Once you see them, you will figure out how to easily spot them in the future.
5. Take photos with your mind! When you get home, check out the book again and see if you saw one of the featured woodpeckers. Or look in a bird identification book to find the bird you saw.
6. Draw a picture of the bird you saw and where you spotted it. If you didn’t find any, don’t give up. Draw a picture of the birds you want to find.
7. Keep looking.
Birds are amazing! I can always tell when woodpeckers (we have flickers in our neighborhood) are racing around. Both woodpeckers and jays are loud!
Happy bird hunting.
 |
|
Monet in the garden |
by Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell
National Haiku Poetry Day was on Sunday. I love wrangling words to create a 17 syllable story poem.
Cat in the garden
Ladybug is mine, Mine. MINE.
I can’t have it? Fine. I’m gone.
 |
|
Fine. You won’t let me have it, I’m outta here. |
Cat, photos, and Haiku are mine. Happy Haiku Holiday.
 |
|
The fridge, our friend |
By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell
I remember the day I first saw you. I mean really saw you.
It was on Halloween, October 31, 2009.
That was the day we moved out of the spare bedroom of my in-laws’ home and into our own space. Such a beautiful day.
I opened you, ready to put cold items in for storage. Oh, look! They forgot a lovely crystal glass bowl.
So I carefully washed the bowl and put it away.
The next day, you surprised us with a shelf and trays full of water.
THAT was why the bowl was left behind. For the leak. From the ice maker. Which leaked pretty much non-stop.
The picture became even clearer the more we got to know each other. We discovered that you really loved to have a dish towel beneath the bowl, just in case you spilled over the edges. And those spaces under the veggie bins? That was your favorite spot for letting water pool and become a lovely icky tan.
 |
|
The bowl and dish towel |
This went on, the emtpying of the bowl of ice and water, replacing the dish towel, and starting the cycle again and again, for years. Until finally, we couldn’t keep up.
So we had to turn off the ice maker. It must have made you sad, but we couldn’t keep up with the water.
Ah. Now we wouldn’t need the bowl. We could use the entire inside of the fridge for our food.
Not true. From somewhere, deep within your beige walls, you had the capacity and urge to leak. Still. Even without a water connection.
Back went the towel and the bowl. It became a game of sorts. Some days there were no drips at all. We thought we might be able to dispose of both bowl and towel. But others days, a deluge of water filled the bowl and the bottom of the veggie drawers. Even with no water connection.
The end came, at last, when even the second shelf was often filled with standing water. One dish towel became two, then three. It was too much.
Good-bye, my leaky beige-y drippy friend. It has been good. Interesting. Confusing. Frustrating.
But you have been faithful. Our food stayed cold, even frozen.
Thank you for your service. I will always have fond memories of our time together, the good times and the bad.
 |
|
The new fridge – without bowl and dish towel |
Hello, beautiful. I remember the day I first saw you. It was April 15, 2016. Tax day.
Here’s to a long, drip-free relationship. Without the bowl and the dish towel.
Thanks for stopping by.
I would love to hear your tales of appliances gone bad.
 |
|
Water Is Water |
By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell
Water Is Water, A Book About the Water Cycle
By Miranda Paul
Illustrations by Jason Chin
(Roaring Book Press, 2015)
Water Is Water, A Book About the Water Cycle, is a beautifully illustrated picture book featuring poetic text that invites readers to live the life of water.
I discovered this book during March Madness for picture books, ReFoReMo (Read For Research Month) and fell in love. Water is the main topic, but the storyline is about children playing throughout the seasons in the different forms water takes.
Fog, rain, snow, hail, water, steam, clouds, puddles, ice. Don’t fear, this book does not read as educational but is engaging and full of rich language. Fun water facts and more about water features at the end of the book add drops of trivia about water for interested readers.
Water Is Water is the perfect book for easy reading and fun learning at home or in a classroom.
KID KANDY:
Take a Bath
Really. Take a bubble bath. Play for a bit with plastic scoops, cups, and funnels.
~ Observe the water. How does it move? What does it smell like? How does it feel? Taste a little bit from the faucet.
~ Look for different forms of water. Do you have drips falling from your hair (like rain), fog on your mirrors (steam), and puddles on the floor? You probably won’t find ice or snow, but that’s ok.
~ Hang your towel after you dry off. How does it feel? Come back the next day. How does it feel now? Where did the water go?
~ List the different forms of water you see around your house.
Water is pretty amazing, isn’t it?
What is your favorite form of water? Why?
I’d love to hear your answers.
I’m back after an amazing adventure! Attending Picture Book Boot Camp this past week was a high point in my decades-long interest in creating books for children. Picture Book Boot Camp translates t…
Source: Picture Book Boot Camp
Now here is a bucket list item for writers of picture books! Honey?
Love, Laughter, and Life 