[nonfiction monday] The Long, Long Journey (by Sandra Markle)

The Long, Long Journey: The Godwit’s Amazing Migration
by Sandra Markle, ill by Mia Posada
Millbrook Press, 2013

Oh, how I love Sandra Markle’s nonfiction picture books, and this one is no exception. She follows a female godwit from birth through its long migration from Alaska to New Zealand. As usual, Markle combines great facts with scene-setting details to put us right there in the thick of amazing nature:

“Crackle! Crackle! Crunch! The little female bar-tailed godwit at last breaks free of her egg. She steps into the world on long, wobble legs. It’s nearly midneight, but it’s June in Alaska and still light. A cool wind blows the chick’s downy coat. She shivers, lifts her beak, and squeaks, ‘Peep! Peep! “

We see the young godwit struggle with dangers and exhaustion, and we are rooting her on. Markle makes kids care about nature and wildlife, and that’s an awesome thing.

Great backmatter and delicate cut/torn paper and watercolor illustrations by Mia Posada round out a wonderful book.

Extension ideas for The Long, Long Journey:

• Make some art. Have kids paint a watercolor picture and then cut construction paper shapes to add a few details to accent.
• Measure it. A young godwit flies more than 7,000 miles nonstop on its migration. Pick a point 10-50 miles from your school that most of your students know. Then divide it out and ask kids to image running back and forth from school to that point X number of times without taking a single break!
• Get seasonal. Talk about the seasons being opposite in the Southern Hemisphere. How would it be different to have Christmas or Hannukah during summer? To have winter in July?

(Review copy of The Long, Long Journey: The Godwit’s Amazing Migration?provided by my local library.)

The Nonfiction Monday Roundup is at Perogies & Gyoza today–check it out!

And I have giveaway results! Joanna Marple won–congratulations! And Cathy Ballou Mealey, please contact me regarding a copy for your son’s school, too.

Randomizer says #5, Joanna Marple, wins my giveaway copy of TEMPLE GRANDIN!