Small Reads for Brighters Days
We humans, just like other animals, get ready for winter in lots of ways. Here are a few things you can do in your classroom: Ask your students to brainstorm some ways they’re getting ready for winter. Read Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle to learn about the three categories of winter survival techniques. Call a naturalist at […]
For Classroom Connections Wednesday, I’ve got a sticky note poem inspired by one of my books, Water Can Be… (boatloads of activities on my book page). I used the same phrase construction, called a kenning, that I use a lot in the book. Thanks for reading, and happy National Poetry Month! And if […]
Y’all might know that I love thunderstorms and rain. Today for National Poetry Month, I’m sharing one more rain sticky note poem (I shared two earlier this week here and here) AND a cover reveal! I have a picture book coming out in spring of 2023, and Elly MacKay is creating the absolutely stunning art […]
The days are getting brisker, here in Minnesota anyway, and the creatures are all preparing for the cold. If you’re studying topics like hibernation, migration, and adaptation, make sure to add Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle: How Animals Get Ready for Winter (Millbrook, illus by Claudine Gevry) to your list of resources. So far this fall, I’ve […]
One of the science topics I am constantly fascinated by is animal adaptations: how animals’ bodies and behaviors adapt to their environments. My favorite facts from Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle: How Animals Get Ready for Winter (Millbrook, illus by Claudine Gevry) concern Northern wood frogs that freeze solid and earthworms that migrate vertically, just a few […]
When I sign my book Meet My Family for readers, I write the above phrase. And when I read it out loud to groups, I invite kids to look for an animal family in the book that has something in common with their own human family. It’s fun to see kids’ eyes open wide when […]
Looking for examples of great dads to share with young readers for Father’s Day? My new picture book Secrets of the Loon illustrates how both loon parents share all the responsibilities, from guarding the nest to giving hatchlings piggyback rides to feeding the chicks. You can expand the reading fun by partnering my title […]
I am so excited to say that my fourth and final picture book of 2019 comes out today! You might be thinking (if you live up north), “Seriously, Laura, you want us to think about winter on the very first day of school?!” Well…yes. I do. SNACK, SNOOZE, SKEDADDLE: HOW ANIMALS GET READY FOR WINTER […]
I’ve never participated in this before, so I have no idea if I’m doing it right! And I’m a day early, because Thursday is 15 Words or Less Day here at my blog. But here are 10 rhyming nonfiction picture books I have loved. Some I wish I had written. Others, I’m just glad the […]
Happy spring! Yesterday was the first day of spring, and birds were cheeping outside my window in the early morning, despite the frost on the ground. I celebrated by reading Amy Ludwig VanDerwater’s new rhyming picture book, Every Day Birds (Orchard, 2016). Have you seen it? A single fact, poetically shared, and lovely cut paper […]
