SHARE HUSH UP AND HIBERNATE WITH ME!

Lets have fun sharing my picture book HUSH UP AND HIBERNATE! (Persnickety Press)

Look at the pictures for this story...
Imagine what is happening. 
Then make up your own story to go with the pictures.
Have FUN!

And for a little more FUN! Check this out...

Coming REALLY SOON!

SHARE THIRSTY, THIRSTY ELEPHANTS WITH ME!

I want to share my picture book THIRSTY, THIRSTY ELEPHANTS (Charlesbridge)

with you!

It's a GREAT true story. But, instead of reading it to you, I'm going to tell you the story. Afterall, before a picture book has pictures it's only words.

And you are about to have a VERY special job. 

You are now the illustrator--that means it's up to you to draw the pictures the words make you see in your mind.

Here's the story...

But I couldn't leave without showing you this....

WHAT IF YOU HAD A SCIENCE MAGIC SURPRISE!

I know you've been having WHAT IF YOU HAD!? Fun Reading. Now WHAT IF YOU HAD A SCIENCE MAGIC SURPRISE!? 

You'll need:
1 package of dry yeast
1 tsp of sugar
1/4 cup of warm (not hot) topwater
1 empty plastic bottle
1 balloon with a neck you can stretch over the balloon

What you need to do:
Now, open the package of yeast and pour it into the bottle. Add the sugar and the warm water. Then top the bottle with the balloon. 

WAIT FOR IT! In less than a minute, the balloon will begin to blow up. Shake the bottle gently to speed up the action.

WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?
The yeast is a plant. Once it has water and a little food (sugar), it starts to grow. 
As the yeast grows it produces carbon dioxide gas (the same gas you give off when you breathe out). 

The bottle may have looked empty when you started but it was really full of air. That air was trapped when you sealed the top of the bottle with the balloon.

So as extra gas floods into the bottle from the growing yeast, it pushes the air up and into the balloon.

SURPRISE!! A plant blew up your balloon!

DID YOU KNOW AIR CAN BE SCIENCE MAGIC!?

Did you know air can be science magic!?

It can because AIR TAKES UP SPACE!

To try this at home, you will need:

an empty water bottle (any plastic bottle)

a balloon (with an opening big enough to fit over the top of the bottle)

1 teaspoonful of baking soda

1/4 cup vinegar

1 paper towel or napkin

scissors

STEPS TO SUCCESS!

1. Be sure the bottle is empty. Cut a strip of paper towell or napking about as big as a cellphone.

2. Put the teaspoonful of baking soda on the paper. Fold the paper over and over till the baking soda is tucked inside. Twist up the ends of the paper and trim them off leaving just a little.

3. Pour the vinegar into the bottle.

4. Drop in the paper packet of baking soda. QUICKLY spread the neck of the balloon over the top of the bottle sealing it.

5. Shake the bottle gently if you want to speed up the action.

WHAT IS HAPPENING!?

Air does take up space. And it's everywhere! So, the bottle was already full of air.

When the vinegar soaked through the paper and reached the baking soda, a chemical reaction happened. 

WHOA! 

Did it ever happen! It created carbon dioxide gas--the same waste gas you breath out with every breath. But the bottle was already full of air. So the new gas pushed the old gas--the air--out of its way and out of the bottle. 

The balloon caught and trapped that escaping air. AND you saw what happened next!

Hmmm...what if you had more baking soda and more vinegar? Would the balloon inflate even bigger? What if you used baking powder instead of baking soda?

Those are safe new things to test. NEVER test anything you don't know is safe to try. 

I'll be sharing more SCIENCE MAGIC FUN Soon! 

WHAT IF YOU HAD SCIENCE MAGIC FUN AT HOME!?

DID YOU KNOW WATER CAN LET YOU DO SCIENCE MAGIC!? 

Don't Miss DID YOU KNOW AIR CAN BE SCIENCE MAGIC!?

YOU CAN BE AN AUTHOR!

Are you home from school and looking for something fun to do!? Follow these steps to create your very own WHAT IF YOU HAD!? book. WHAT IF YOU HAD AN ANIMAL TONGUE!? is coming next. But what animals and facts would you put in your very own WHAT IF YOU HAD AN ANIMAL TONGUE!? book?

Follow the 4--RRRRs!

1-R is REVV UP! This is where everyone fires up their brain cells and comes up with ideas.

Okay, we already have the book's title and thus it's subject matter. The challenge now is to come up with animals with interesting tongues. Every WHAT IF YOU HAD?! book introduces 11 (count them) animals. But for your book how about just 6 animals.

If you need a little help thinking up possibilities, try these:

Alligator

Chameleon

Giraffe

Blue Whale

Flamingo

Tiger

Those may or may not be in the real book. You will have to wait to read it to see.

This REVV UP step is a great time for a little brainstorming. 

2-R is RESEARCH! 
Try Googling the animals on your list--or my list--to find out what is interesting about their tongues.

A girafee has a super cool tongue! Just looking at this picture of a giraffe is bound to give you a clue about why it's so cool.
Remember--even though you'll find a lot of interesting info about each animal you have to limit what you share to one thing. Only tell about the animal's tongue.

And pick out one extra bit to share in the FACT box.


Then roll on to the next R.

3-R is READY TO WRITE!

Start with "Get the clay out." Roughly write sentences about the key information to be shared. Next, "Work the clay." That means work on squeezing the information down to just two or three fact-packed sentences. 

Then write the FACT in one fun sentence.


And on to the next R.

4-R is REVIEW AND RE-IMAGINE.

This is the really FUN part! Imagine if you had that animal's tongue. Think about the color, shape and what the animals does with its tongue. Then think "What would it be fun to be able to do because you have that animal's tongue!"

Write what you imagine being able to do with that animal's tongue in a sentence. Finally, draw and color a picture of yourself having that kind of animal tongue.

At the very end of the book, tell why having an animal tongue could be fun for a while.

Then tell at least 3 reasons you're glad you have a human tongue. 

Now you have your very own 

WHAT IF YOU HAD AN ANIMAL TONGUE!? book

BUT you will have to wait to see the real animals and all of the fun packed into 

WHAT IF YOU HAD AN ANIMAL TONGUE!?

Coming SOON!