The wonder of leaves

Maybe we take leaves too much for granted. In her new picturebook, A Leaf Can Be..., Laura Purdie Salas instructs us through the use of poetry about the  many things leaves can do.




 Here's a sample: "A leaf can be a... soft  cradle - water ladle." In the section "more about leaves" she gives more details. For example, some animals drink water out leaves because they can hold rainwater or dew.
Teachers,  this book has goodies for you:  a glossary, a list of books for further reading, as well as a  teaching guide . Here is an interview with Laura.

The beautiful illustrations by Violeta Dabija will add to everyone's enjoyment.

The Beauty of Polar Bears

Did you know that polar bears  are black, not white? This amazing fact comes from this week's curriculum tie-in, Polar Bears by Mark Newman. Here's the passage: "Under all that warm thick fur their skin is totally dark. The fur itself is made up of clear hollow hairs....that contain no color whatsoever." This is the first children's book by the photographer, Mark Newman. His work has appeared in National Geographic.

The photography in this picturebook is beautiful and I can recommend it for fast facts about polar bears.

The Arctic Wolf

 Before we say good-bye to winter, here's one last visit with an animal who lives in a very cold climate.
The Arctic Wolf: The High Arctic by Laura DeLallo introduces you to two biologists: Dean Cluff and Dave Mech who study arctic wolves on Ellesmere Island in Canada. This 32 page picturebook is good for grades 3-6. Here's a sample from the book: "...the arctic wolves that Dave and Dean study live so far north that they don't see people often enough to be afraid of them." This book gives information about how the wolves adapt to the cold and how they raise their families.

Other books in this series: Built for Cold: Arctic Animals include: Caribou And Reindeer, Too and Walrus: Tusk, Tusk. For more information visit Bearport Press.