Day 231: Sophie Scott Goes South

We discovered this lovely gem at our library a few weeks ago, and with two fresh hardcovers side by side on the library shelf, I had a good feeling about it.  (I don't know if that's really a sign that a book is great, but I figure if a librarian orders more than one copy of a brand new book, it must be worth reading.)  We have long loved Alison Lester's Imagine and have enjoyed several of her other geography-minded books, as well, so were eager to get home and read about Sophie Scott's adventures in Antarctica.

Sophie Scott Goes South tells the story of a 9 year old girl's journey to Antarctica on the Aurora Australis, an ice breaker captained by her father.  Over the course of her month-long trip, Sophie keeps a diary and takes pictures of her adventures, from being stranded in a blizzard and enduring rough seas on the ship to seeing penguins, whales, icebergs, and even the southern lights after which their ship was named.  The story is based on Lester's own journey to Antarctica as an Antarctic Arts Fellow, so it's no wonder that her descriptions are so wonderfully vivid and informative.  The scientific, historical, and geographic facts scattered throughout the story are fascinating, and the combination of actual photos, diagrams, maps, and drawings are bound to appeal to curious readers.  My 6 year old son loves this book (and is now ready to head off to Antarctica!), though it is a bit lengthy to hold the full attention of my 3 year old daughter (though she does love all of the pictures of the animals and reads alongside of us for most of the time.)  I love this book, too, especially Lester's little details that paint a picture of what such a journey is really like.  I'll include a few at the end of this post so you can see what I mean.

If your child loves learning about new places or is the adventurous, explorer type, this is one book you won't want to miss.

"Last night, the ship was rocking and rolling like crazy.  Anything that's not tied down goes flying and I have to hold on al the time. Sometimes a wave bashes the ship so hard that it feels as though we've hit a rock. The dining room portholes go underwater every time the ship does a big roll. It's like we're eating inside a washing machine."

"She welcomed everybody and told us the station rules, then we helped put away supplies.  There were huge boxes of toothpaste, toilet paper, coal and shampoo, and massive amounts of food, like 5400 eggs and 165 tubs of ice cream!" 

"The ground was rough and rocky, with patches of snow. Thick ropes linked all the buildings and Sarah told me this is to stop you from getting lost in a blizzard."

"Before we got out, we hooked spiky chains under our boots because the ice was as slippery as glass."

"The ice has been so thick it's taken us three days to get this far. This morning at sunrise we saw some killer whales beside the ship. Their shiny black bodies stood out against the golden seas.  Some were putting their heads right out of the water as we went past. This is called spy-hopping."

Day 166: Hottest Coldest Highest Deepest

Children are naturally curious.  That is one of the things I love most about them, both as a parent and a teacher.  Along with kindness, compassion, and empathy, I think that curiosity about the world in which we live is one of the most valuable qualities we can instill in our children.  Our planet is as beautiful and diverse as the people who call it home, and teaching our kids to respect both is vital to their future and ours.  But of course, if children are to appreciate and respect the earth and its inhabitants, they first need to learn about them! I love finding a fabulous reference book for kids almost as much as I love watching my son soak up all of the knowledge inside.  If your children have ever asked about which river is the longest, which mountain is the highest, or what place is the hottest, this is the book for them!  (And if they haven't, this is sure to capture their interest.)  I was so excited to find this book the last time we were at the library.  I was drawn to it by its title and cover alone, and knew that its beautiful presentation of facts inside would be right up my son's alley.

In Hottest Coldest Highest Deepest, author and artist Steve Jenkins gives us a fantastic look at some of the most extreme places on earth: hottest and coldest, wettest and driest, windiest, snowiest, rainiest, and more.  The text itself is generally short and factual, but Jenkins includes other relevant and contextual information for each location, as well.  Each page contains a small insert map showing the location of the place in the world, as well as a comparative diagram that enables the reader to better visualize just how extreme the place really is.  (Can you sense my geography-teacher-self's excitement here?)  The longest river page, for example, shows the length of the world's four longest rivers compared to the width of the entire United States.  It's one thing to know that the Nile is 4,145 miles long, but that fact means something far greater when you realize it is the same as traveling all the way across the U.S. and then half way back again.  The page dedicated to Mount Rainer, the snowiest place on earth, shows the comparative heights of an average New York City snowfall (3 ft.), an adult man (6 ft.), and the record one year snowfall for Mr. Rainier (100 ft.)  There are other little gems of information that I love throughout the book, as well, such as Jenkins' distinction between the world's highest mountain (Everest, with the highest height above sea level) and the world's tallest mountain (Mauna Kea, in Hawaii, which is taller than Everest from base to summit, though is not as high above sea level.)

Now on to the the illustrations!  Jenkins' textured paper collages are gorgeous (I particularly love the one for the world's most active volcano in Sangay, Ecuador), and I can't help but want to do more collage art with my kids after reading it.  This would be a fabulous book to have in any elementary classroom library, or any child's library, for that matter.  I feel like I've been going on about this book for too long now, so I'll just wrap things up by saying this book is excellent!  Readers of all ages, parents included, are bound to learn something new, and hopefully be inspired to learn more about our amazing planet.  I wish you and your children a fun journey as you set out to learn more about the world together.

Day 134: The Story Tree

Books on cd are my newest obsession.  I keep a collection of some of our favorites in the console of my car, and listening to them makes any road trip infinitely more fun and enjoyable for all of us.  Books on cd have also proven to be a lifesaver for me at bedtime, as I now have a fun, easy way to help my son wind down and relax while I put my daughter to bed.  He'll lie on his bed with a favorite book and just snuggle up and listen to the story on cd while I put little E down in the next room.  Then, I'll come in and we'll read a few stories together before I shut off the light and let him listen to another story.  Up until recently, my husband or I would lie next to W while he fell asleep, telling him stories that we made up along the way. (We've come up with many new tales of Curious George and Thomas the Tank Engine over the years!)  Now, we have happily added books on cd to our nighttime routine.  I vividly remember listening to the Velveteen Rabbit as I fell asleep each night when I was a little girl.  There is something so soothing about falling asleep to a story, isn't there?  We were lucky to get a few of his favorite stories on cd this past Christmas, but his favorite at the moment (which he has listened to every night for two weeks now) is The Story Tree, a gorgeous anthology collection of traditional folk tales from around the world.  There are seven stories in all, some of which we were happy to discover we already knew from other stories we have read.  Monkey See, Monkey Do, a classic tale from India, is the storyline for the beloved Caps for Sale.  The Blue Coat, a Jewish story, must be the basis for Simms Taback's Caldecott winning Joseph Had a Little Overcoat.  Other stories with which you are probably already familiar include The Little Red Hen (English) and the Three Billy Goats Gruff (Norwegian).  The three remaining tales that make up the Story Tree are The Magic Porridge Pot (German), The Sweetest Song (African-American), and my son's favorite, Little Lord Feather-Frock, a Russian story about a cunning fox, a not-so cunning rooster, and an out-witting duo of a cat and blackbird.  I just love that this book calls attention to the culture or country of origin of each story along the way, and my son loves finding them all on a map. Fortunately, W loves snuggling up and having me read the stories to him just as much as he loves listening them on the cd, though I have to say, I quite enjoy listening to the fabulous narrator Hugh Lipton's lovely British accent.  Sophie Fatus' colorful illustrations are playful and fun, as well, making this story as much fun to see as it is to hear.  I have no doubt that The Story Tree will be read, listened to, and enjoyed many times over in our family in the months and years to come.