Nonfiction Monday: Around the World on Eighty Legs

We would like to thank the Orland Park Public Library for providing this book for review.
Around the World on Eighty Legs
by Amy Gibson
Illus. by Daniel Salmieri
32 page, ages 4 -8
Candlewick Press, 2010

From the Arctic to Antarctica, South America to Asia and from Africa to Australia, this poetry collection focuses on creatures of the wild. Sixty poems packed with wordplay, bits of wit, and “pun-ny” quips, offer animal factoids aplenty. “The migration of the Arctic tern is certain to astound / for it leaves the Arctic… to summer on Antarctic shores—Then tern must turn around.” Another poem explains that hyenas use their bone-crushing jaws to tear carcasses apart, providing their garbage clean-up services for free. To any would-be princess hoping to kiss a frog and find Prince Charming—beware! Don’t mess with the Poison Dart Frog, the poem warns. His poison will kill. You’ll also want to keep your distance from the electric eel. He’ll deliver five hundred volts to his prey. Shocking!

Whimsical illustrations (watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil) playfully portray animals in action. A blubbery walrus hoists itself onto the ice with its tusks, an acrobatic gibbon swings in the treetops, and a cluster of striped zebras underscore the concept of camouflage. A double-spread world map and “A Menagerie of Facts” featuring additional animal facts are included. Do you want to know about the odd-ball habits, attention-grabbing characteristics, and unusual features of animals around the world? This is the book for you. Run, do not walk, to the library or bookstore the nearest you!—Review by Heidi Bee Roemer

On her website, Amy Gibson states ‘As an author I get to read. And write. And inspire learning. And read to kids.’  This describes her life: as a child she taught herself to read and spent hours emerged in books. Her poem was published in first grade, and she learned all about animals from  Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. In high school she found pleasure in working with kids, and eventually became a 2nd grade teacher and a mother. The entire time, books have been a huge part of Amy’s life.  Check out her awesome website- www.amygibson.com —Review by Laura Crawford

This post is part of the Nonfiction Monday Round-Up hosted this week by Capstone Connect blog.

Nonfiction Monday: Interview with Author Sara Latta

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF:
I'm a scientist-turned-science writer, married, mother of three terrific kids, author of fourteen books, and science geek. I'm planning to stop by Philadelphia on my way to visit my daughter in Brooklyn this summer because I've always wanted to visit the Mütter Museum (http://www.collphyphil.org/site/mutter_museum.html), which is all about the history of medicine (Bones! Bleeding bowls! The Soap Lady!). We may also see the touring mummy exhibit there. My family has come to expect this kind of behavior from me.

WHERE DO YOUR IDEAS FOR NONFICTION COME FROM?
I read a lot, obviously. What author doesn't? I try to keep up with the research in the areas of science that interest me, and when I come across something that strikes me as cool and kid-friendly, I file it away in my tickler folder. Also, see travel, above.

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER THE HARDEST PART ABOUT WRITING?
I'm so easily distracted, it's pathetic. Even if I put Facebook, Twitter, and the many wonderful book blogs, yours included, etc., aside--and I don't--I often find myself falling into research-related rabbit holes, only to emerge an hour later, eyes blinking, with a greater understanding of the decomposition process after death (see the Soap Lady, above), but without the critical details I needed about soap making. The internet is both my blessing and my curse.

WHAT IS THE STRANGEST FACT YOU HAVE LEARNED?
Can I list two? Each of them led to a couple of my favorite books. The first is that ordinary matter, the stuff that we can observe with our eyes and all of our sophisticated telescopes, accounts for only 5% of the universe. Five percent--holy cow! What's the rest? Well, scientists aren't sure exactly, but they've dubbed about 25% of that "missing matter" dark matter. Isn't is just mind-boggling that we know so very little about the stuff that makes up our universe? That fact led to my book, Stella Brite and the Dark Matter Mystery (Charlesbridge, 2006). The other strange fact is that the bacterial cells that live in our bodies outnumber our human cells ten to one--and we are utterly dependent upon the great majority of those bacteria. That one led me to write a proposal for The Good, the Bad, the Slimy: The Secret Life of Microbes (Enslow, 2006). I wanted to show that microbes weren't simply icky, disease-causing bugs (although they are that, too), but essential to life on earth.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR LATEST WORK.
I'm very excited about a series of books on forensic science I have coming out this fall: Bones: Dead People DO Tell Tales; Cybercrime: Data Trails DO Tell Tales, and DNA and Blood: Dead People DO Tell Tales, (all from Enslow, due out Fall 2011). They all use true stories to illustrate the ways in which forensic scientists solve crimes. They're not for the younger reader or the faint of heart--many of the stories do involve dead people, after all.


IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO ADD?..
I guess I'd just tell aspiring nonfiction writers to pursue those stories that interest them, even if they're not the trending topics of the day, and to tell those stories in the most compelling way that they can. I got my first big break in children's science writing with an article for Highlights on the search for the top quark (one of the fundamental subatomic particles). Not your usual fare for children's science writing, but I thought it was cool and apparently so did a lot of other people. And finally, thanks so much for hosting this interview--you guys rock.
Interviewed by Laura Crawford.

You can learn even more about Sara at her website or her blog.

This post is part of the Nonfiction Monday Round-Up hosted this week by Ana's Nonfiction blog.

Nonfiction Monday: Hello, Baby Begula

We would like to thank the Orland Park Public Library for providing this book for review.

Hello, Baby Beluga
by Darrin Lunde
Illus. by Patricia J. Wynne
32 pages, ages 4-8
Charlesbridge, 2011

Baby Beluga is a playful little fellow and he wants to answer all your questions. Ask him, What do you look like? Where do you live? What do you eat? He’ll tell you: He’s five feet long and he lives in the Arctic Ocean. Some of his favorite foods are shrimp, small fish, and his mother’s milk. Got any more questions? He’ll tell you!

This charming baby whale of a tale is perfectly suited for emergent readers as the brief question-and-answer format makes for easy reading. Large size text appears on left side pages. Opposite pages feature scenes of the happy-go-lucky beluga baby in soft shades of blue, gray, and white. Still curious about the little guy? Additional fun facts are offered on the final two pages. You and your child can preview the entire book online at: http://www.astorybeforebed.com/books/322-hello-baby-beluga-by-darrin-lunde-illustrated-by-patricia-j-wynne —Reviewed by Heidi Bee Roemer

As a boy, Darrin Lunde wanted to be 'a museum man'. As an adult, he’s worked as a mammalogist at the American Museum of Natural History for over 15 years. As a child, he visited his grandparent's farm in upstate New York each summer. He explored the fields, forests, orchards, swamps and ponds. As an adult, he has studied animals in the remote forests of South America, Africa and Asia.  He chooses to write children's books about animals that are unusual, but not obscure. He wants to teach his readers about animals and exploring the world around them.  Visit this website for an in depth interview with Darrin.
-Bio by Laura Crawford

This post is part of the Nonfiction Monday Round-Up hosted this week by Amy O'Quinn blog.

Nonfiction Monday: Interview With Amy Hansen

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF:

I’m a writer. I’m married. I’m the mother of two boys and proud owner of a new dog and two cats. I’m also a constant presence in the schools as PTA president and general volunteer. I like exploring new places, hiking, singing, and reading.

WHERE DO YOUR IDEAS FOR NONFICTION COME FROM?

I like ideas that I can’t answer immediately. I’ve been a reporter for much of my career. I know how to research and how to interview. So I look for questions that take me some time to unravel. I’m a big fan of mysteries. When I find an idea that is a mystery, I am hooked.

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER THE HARDEST PART ABOUT WRITING?

The first draft is often the hardest. I have so much research but I’m often confused about the shape of the story I’m trying to tell. I feel like I’m pulling taffy. Once I start and it works, the whole thing comes, but usually it takes several tries to get the right shape.

WHAT IS THE STRANGEST FACT YOU HAVE LEARNED?

Oh, one of my favorites is the Arctic Woollybear Caterpillar. This bug freezes solid in the winter and thaws in the spring. Then it eats like nothing special has happened. Not only is the freezing phenomenal, but this caterpillar does the freeze/thaw routine for at least seven years before turning into a moth. That insect is older than many of my readers!

TELL US ABOUT YOUR LATEST WORK.

My favorite, if not quite latest, book is Bugs and Bugsicles: Insects in the Winter (Boyds Mills Press, 2010). I loved researching and writing this book because it was a mystery. Every fall the bugs disappear. Every spring they come back. How do they do it? This is the mystery that my book answers. The book is doing well. Among other awards, Bugsicles earned a spot on the John Burroughs list of outstanding nature books for young readers, a list made by the American Museum of Natural History and the John Burroughs Association.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO ADD?

Many of my books are for educational publishers. They came to me saying they want a book about hermit crabs, or about solar power. I work to get these assignments, not only because they pay the mortgage, but also because I get to explore other ideas and topics that I might not have thought of by myself. I also love writing fiction, but have not yet published much of it. When I do, though, you know I’ll be publishing mysteries.

To see more about my work visit my website
Interviewed by Laura Crawford.

This post is part of the Nonfiction Monday Round-Up hosted this week by Apple with Many Seeds blog.