EYE SPY FUN! Do You?

 

EYE SPY fun! Here we go.

How Do Dogs See Colors?

Researchers now believe dogs do see color--blues and yellows but not reds. 

Try coloring a picture of something the way a  dog would probably see it.

What animal has the weirdest eyes? 

Take a look at these and PICK YOUR #1!

Next, search to find out more about that animal's eyes and vision. Then imagine yourself with that animal's eyes. 

What totally cool thing could you do with 

those animal eyes?!

Here are 2 possibilities:

Tarsier Eyes

Four-Eyed Fish Eyes

WHAT IF YOU HAD either of those kind of animal eyes!? 

What would you be able to do you can't with people eyes?

To spy more fun read...

I'm Reading HUSH UP ad HIBERNATE!

 

Click to WATCH me read HUSH UP AND HIBERNATE! plus some special extras.

Don't Miss IT!

IT'S SHARK WEEK--DIVE IN!

 

Scholastic, 2020

Sharks are so cool I've written 6 books about them. 
Dive in with me to share some sharky-FUN!

BIGGEST! LITTLEST! True Or False?

Boyds Mills Press, 2008

You decide. Then peek at the tiny print to see the correct answer.

A Cookie-Cutter Shark is one of the biggest kinds of sharks. True Or False?

F It's just 18 inches long. It's so small other bigger fish don't see it until too late. It bites and spins around. Its sharp teeth slice out a cookie-shaped bite from its prey. 

A Whale Shark is the biggest kind of shark which lets it catch and eat big whales. True Or False?

F This biggest kind of shark only eats tiny fish and plankton, tiny animals drifting near the ocean's surface. It has a 4 foot wide mouth and about 3,000 teeth but its throat is as small around as a softball. 

No matter its size, a shark's body is covvered with little tooth-like scales. True Or False?

T Called denticles, these grow out of the shark's skin. Like teeth, each has a hard enamel coat and soft center pulp. They are a protective covering and help the shark slip easily through the water. 

What Do You Think Happened!?

Lerner, 2020

Read this opening story from The Great Shark Rescue. Then write your own ending....

TRAPPED!!!!

With its huge mouth open, a whale shark swims slowly near the surface close to Mafia Island off the coast of Tanzania. The 16-foot long giant is feeding on lots of tiny, shrimplike krill and a few little fish. 

All at once, a big net blocks its way. The whale shark dives and turns, trying to swim under or around the net. But the giant fishing net is everywhere. 

The young whale shark is caught! TRAPPED! 

• Will your story have a happy ending with the whale shark escaping on its own?
• 
  
• Will your story have someone arrive to free the whale shark giving it a happy ending?
• 
  
• Or will something else happen?

START SNIFFING!

The Great White Shark is featured in WHAT IF YOU COULD SNIFF LIKE A SHARK? 

Here's an example of how it would help you to have a great smell-sniffer, like a Great White Shark.

But can you think of at least 3 examples of when you would happier not to have a good sense of smell!?

And here are my other 3 books about sharks. Have fun exploring these too!

 Lerner, 2004

Atheneum, 1996

 Walker, 2007

WHO KNOWS what cool book 

I'll think of to write next about sharks!?

Meanwhile, click to check out 6 amazing sharks you may not know exist.

SUMMER BIRD FUN!

 

Hooray!  It's summer reading time!

It's the perfect time for reading to launch investigating, exploring, and having FUN!!!!

Here's a beginning for enjoying all of that with animals that can be found wherever you live...

BIRDS

Go Bird Watching

Go for a walk. Or sit quietly outdoors, look and listen.  If you have binoculars, take those along too. A book showing pictures of local birds is great to have handy. So is a notebook and pencil for taking notes and sketching.

• What are your local birds doing?
• How are the birds you see different?  
• Do you see a lot of one kind?  Only a few of another? List the names of any you know or can identify.
• What activity do you see birds doing most often.
• Pick a favorite. Sketch it. 
• Pretend you can understand birds. Write what you think two birds are saying to each other.
• Think of someone you want to tell about your birdwatching adventure. Send them an email or a letter and share the fun.

Some birds, such as cardinals, are colored so males and females easily spy each other. 

Male red. Female brown. Why might the female being this color help her stay safe when on the nest, incubating eggs?

Listen To The Birds

Outdoors, listen to all the different bird voices. Try mimicking them and listen for them to call back to you.  Once you're back indoors, play the BIRD SONG game. It's a great way to discover the sounds some familiar North American birds make.

Turn a mask into "birdy" Fun.

Eating Like A Bird

Then visit this PBS website to have fun, "Eating Like A Bird." You'll explore what it's like to have different kinds of bird beaks when it's time to eat.

Next, take this fun challenge.

Now for some fun books for summer reading about birds. Enjoy!

Of course, I had to include one of mine. 😃 Did you see it? It's in such good company here!

IN HONOR OF ENDANGERED ANIMALS--GO BATTY!

 

It's time for ENDANGERED SPECIES DAY

 Sadly many species (kinds) of bats are endangered.

But they are really worthy of our appreciation 

SO.....

To get to know bats better check out the books I've written about bats...so far. I bet there will be more!

About the biggest and littlest bats...and bats with really big or little features that help them thrive.

The "true" story of how an orphaned baby bat is adopted by a new mother. Mexican free-tailed bats really do adopt orphaned babies. 

All about bats and how their bodies are amazingly built for flight.

Why these little bats are in trouble--plus how scientists are working to help bats survive.

Of course, I've also tucked bats into three more books. Look inside these to find the bats! 

NOW have some batty fun!

Visit My Cave

What's it like to live like a bat? 

FIND OUT!  

Cover a table on three sides with a blanket or paper to create a cave.  Have your family or a group of friends crawl inside your pretend cave with you. While you're there with this group, think about these questions.

WHAT DO YOU THINK!?

1. Why is a cave a good home for small bats, like Mexican Free-tailed Bats? 

2. Why do you think big bats, like Grey-Headed Flying Foxes, camp out in the open in trees instead of in caves?

3. What are some problems to sharing a cave with other bats?

What Good Are Bats?

Check out the hand-like structure of a bat's wings.

Try this to find out! 

Take a large bowl of popcorn kernels to the gym or outdoors to a paved area of the playground.  Scatter 50 popped kernels on the floor or ground.  Count to ten. Then have people dash around placing two more popcorn kernels next to each original kernel.  This is as if the insect pests have multiplied.  

Now pretend you are an insect-hunting bat. Have four others pretend they are too.  While someone counts to five, have each “bat” pick up all of the insects (popcorn) they can carry.  Then have other children place two popcorn kernels next to each remaining kernel.  

Repeat these steps two more times, having “bats” collect “insects”.   Then have the remaining “insects” multiply.  

WHAT DO YOU THINK!?

1. How much of an effect did the “bats” have on the “insect” population?

2. What limited how much of an effect the bats could have on the insects? 

3. What do you think would happen to populations of insect pests if there weren’t any bats?

KICK THE BLUES--YOU CAN DO MAY!

 

KICK THE BLUES! 

RUN, SKIP, DANCE THROUGH MAY! 

What If You Had Animal Feet!? will help!

LET’S STOMP

Have each child choose his or her favorite animal feet. 

Choose some foot stomping music and have the children spread out at least an arm’s length apart. Then turn on the music and have kids dance where they’re standing. 

Remind them to dance as if they had their favorite animal feet. 

Afterwards, ask the children to tell how it was different to dance with that animal’s feet. 

FOOT SWAP

What if one day a rhino woke up with another animal's feet!? In fact, with kangaroo feet! What could a rhino do if it could hop like a kangaroo? How might a rhino have a problem living with kangaroo feet?

Now, imagine other foot swaps.

What would each of these animals do it could do before? What problem might it have?

      *A Mountain Goat with Rhinoceros feet?
*A Cheetah with Kangaroo feet?
*A Barn Owl with Cheetah feet?
*A Giant African Millipede with Green Basilisk feet?

I hope this Foot Work makes you HOPPY!?

YOU CAN DO APRIL--REALLY!

Need ideas for fun this month? 

Here you go...

Don't miss that April 2^nd is National Children’s Picture Book Day and to top that off April 16^th is National Librarian Day and April 23^rd is World Book Day. 

So, READ! READ! READ!

April 3: Pony Express started and the first mail delivery started from St. Joseph, MO in 1860.

Would you want to be a Pony Express rider? Read. Then decide.

April 11: Jackie Robinson became the first African-American to play in major league baseball in 1947. Read two different biographies of this person. In your opinion, which is better? How do the books tell Jackie's story differently?

April 16: Aviation pioneer Wilbur Wright was born in Milville, IN, in 1867. Read about the man. Then start flying your own planes--that's straw airplanes.

Click to link to directions.

April 17: Celebrate Bat Day
Read my book The Case of the Vanishing Little Brown Bats (Millbrook/Lerner) to discover why bats are in trouble and why we need to help them.

Then follow the steps on this site to make an origami bat.

April 18: Paul Revere and William Dawes made their "Midnight Ride" in 1775.
Read a really fun telling of this moment in history as shared by Paul Revere's horse.

The San Francisco earthquake and fire happened from April 18-21, 1906.
What was it like to survive this quake and fire? Here is one fictional story about it.

April 22: Arbor Day often observed on this date. First observed in Nebraska in 1872, by planting trees. This is one of my favorite new picture books about trees. If ever an acorn was lovable, it's this one!

The first Seeing Eye Dog was presented as a guide dog on this day in 1928. I have a WONDERFUL Guide Dog story coming October, 2021 in my new book ANIMALS to the RESCUE: Amazing True Stories from Around the World (Lerner). 

I can't share the cover yet but it's GREAT!

Enjoy a month of reading...

You might even spot yourself in one of my books.