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Original stories with a nature and science connection for young readers

Posted on February 18, 2018February 20, 2018 by melissacreate

Introducing two wonderful stories which will appeal to children who like to explore the natural world around them and/or are interested in animals. They are aimed at 6 to 9 year olds, but many older children and adults would love them too.

In the summer of 2014, my daughter who had just turned 7 was transitioning to chapter books, and was finding it difficult to find something she wanted to read. She liked animals and was interested in being a vet. However, we found many of the classical animal stories didn’t have enough human interest and other more readily available animal series my daughter quickly lost interest in as she said: ‘they had little plot, nothing really happened in them”. Both these book are distinctively different from many other books with an animal theme for 6 to 9 year olds. They deserve a place in any primary school library, as for some they may be a ‘game changer’, as the book/series that gets them reading.

Zoe and Sassafras: Dragons and Marshmallows
Author: Asia Citro Illustrator: Marion Lindsay.  p96

This was a great find I stumbled across whilst looking for something else. It  got my attention initially because I have been keeping an eye out for stories for 6 to 9 year olds, with black protagonists that are the kind of story that might appeal to any child. I had no idea when I ordered a copy of this book what a gem of a story and series it was, published by an innovative fairly new publisher called Innovation Press.

It is about a girl called Zoey and her cat called Sassafras who loves exploring the natural environment near her home. One day she makes an amazing discovery that her mum has the ability to see and speak to magical creatures, and that she has inherited this gift too. If an animal needs help a magical doorbell rings in the Barn next to their house. Whilst Zoe’s mum is away at a science conference Zoey and her cat have to help a baby dragon.

A beautiful blend of real and magical with an introduction to scientific questioning and hypotheses, this engaging story has plenty to appeal to a variety of readers. Add to this some great role models, from a dark skinned girl with frizzy hair as the main character, a mum who is a scientist and a stay at home dad, and you have a very original story.

This is the first book in a series of 4, soon to be 5 books. It is probably a good idea to read book 1 first (or at least read aloud enough p1 to p28), but they can then be read in any order.

 

A Kitten Called Holly
Author: Helen Peter Illustrator: Ellie Snowdon.  p132

In case you haven’t guessed from one of my previous posts, my son (who is now 7 years old) is cat crazy, so a story with a cat in is a great start. But, like his sister he is very particular about the books he reads and does prefer stories with a strong narrative and a bit of depth to them, which this story certainly has.

One day Jasmine and her friend Tom find an old shed in the garden to play in, and they accidentally come across a wild cat and her kittens. Jasmine’s mum is a vet, from whom she has learns a lot about how to look after animals. So Jasmine and Tom know not to touch the kittens and wait for their mum to return. When the mother cat returned she took the kittens somewhere else. But, later one of the kitten’s gets left behind and Jasmine and her friend help to feed and look after it. But, will Jasmine have to give the Kitten away at the end? You will have to read it to find out!

My son loved this story being read aloud to him. The strong narrative along with detailed and accurate information about how to look after a kitten really kept his interest. He kept asking for one more chapter.

With great descriptive detail you feel like you are really there, a story which is heartfelt and sometimes funny. This book is sure to appeal to a variety of children, including those that usually prefer non-fiction.

It is part of the Jasmine Green series published by Nosy Crow. This is not the first book in the series, but the characters are introduced well so I think you could read them in any order. I suggest starting with which ever animal your child is most interested in.

Zoe and Sassafras Series:

Jasmine Green Series:

 

 

 

Having Fun with Autumn Leaves

Posted on November 18, 2016March 18, 2017 by melissacreate

What I love most about Autumn are the leaves, all their wonderful colours: yellow, orange, red, and even golden. There is something that can’t quite beat walking in a pile of leaves,  the sound of them crunching under one’s feet, and the playfulness and delight of throwing them up in the air. Me and my children love going out to collect them. A few years ago we discovered you could preserve the colour and shape of a leaf by laminating it.  This year I decided it might help in those cold dark winter days to have a collection of lot’s of different leaves, to bring a bit of colour into mid-winter. Here are some we’ve collected so far:

leaves

It’s become a family project. My kids love spending time outdoors, but sometimes they are reluctant to walk very far! So this year we started a leaf collection walk, my kids love having something to search for when out and about. We’ve had great fun looking for leaves of different colours and shapes, and choosing the ones we like best. Inspired by a new picture book called  “Leafy the Pet Leaf” written by Phillip Ardagh and illustrated by Elissa Elwick, we have even turned some of them into very our own pet leaves.

leaf        petleaf

Fir for Luck Blog Tour: A conversation with Barbara Henderson on nature and outdoors in the Scottish Highlands

Posted on September 20, 2016January 16, 2017 by melissacreate

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What role does nature play in the story?

Nature is such a big player in my children’s novel Fir for Luck that I even argued it should be on the cover of the book! The land is part of Janet’s identity. It was a challenge, when writing Fir for Luck, to get across how tightly wound up Janet’s and her village’s identities are with the land.

But maybe the land didn’t need to be on the cover after all. Maybe the connection could be shown more subtly than that.*(1) I thought about all the ways that Janet’s environment featured in her everyday life. In the jobs she had to do: checking on the fields, grinding grain to flour, taking cows up the hill to better pasture, mucking out the byre. In her home: hearing mice rustle in the thatch above as she sleeps on a straw mattress beside the hearth. Being made to drink nettle brew when ill (one of my more fun research facts). And finally, the title sprig of fir as a symbol for luck, wound into a new hearth chain. The area around Durness where all this took place is barren and almost tree-less. A sprig of fir was not easy to come by. Again, it felt that nature itself played a part in Janet’s fate: the sprig is a motif which features throughout the book.

Spending family time in the Scottish Highlands…

I am a would-be-outdoorsy person. My husband and I are not one of nature’s innate sporty couples, but we do take our children*(2) on holidays to Skye, to Harris, to the wildernesses of Western Ross and Sutherland. There, our young people can enjoy searching for crabs under rocks, exploring empty beaches, building driftwood beach dens – and being dragged up a few too many hills! The stuff our children’s childhood memories are going to be made of: bonfire kindling, a blackened frying pan and the thinnest sausages you can buy (so that they cook before they char) – that is an essential part of kit for a fab day out. Of course it was on one of those ‘back to nature’ holidays that I came across the ruins of Ceannabeinne, a little known clearance village.

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Is Ceannabeinne a real place?

Ceannabeinne really existed as a thriving township. All that is left now is rubble and ruins of course, but the burn still trickles through. It’s just east of Durness, the nearest village to Cape Wrath, the most northwesterly point of the UK mainland. Durness is a village now, but at the time it was made up of townships such as Durine, Sangomore, Balnakeil and of course Ceannabeinne. No place in the whole story is invented, and the key events all really took place there.

And a final word…   I know; not every reader of Fir for Luck will visit the amazing place where my character made her home, although they should if they can.So instead, let any outdoor bonfire take you to the ceilidh in chapter three. Listen to the sound and scent of the sea and hear and sense Ceannabeinne. Let every dark night take you there. That way, you can peek into Janet’s world.

Find out more on the authors website                      You can buy Fire for Luck here. 

*(1) There are hints of nature on the cover of the book with the fire in Janet’s eyes and the pine cones on the back. Publishers Cranachan decided against landscape in the end, and Barbara agrees as: “Young readers are most likely to care about the central character, and about the worst thing that can happen”.

•(2) Barbara has 3 children, who are now 11, 14, and 16 and they are in some of the pictures.

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Taking time to notice nature: Rain Drops

Posted on June 22, 2016March 18, 2017 by melissacreate

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Taking part in #30DaysWild this June has been great. For me one of the best things is those little moments when you take time out of your busy day to notice the nature around you. When you stop to look you can notice things you didn’t before. It can also give valuable ‘space’ or ‘time out’ from the business of every day life.  In that moment you don’t have to think about anything else you can just be. It’s also great to know it those days when nothing seems to go as expected (which happens to me often!) that there is always something to observe: see, feel or hear in nature. And if you do it often enough you have that lovely opportunity to observe something which is familiar (and therefore comforting) but at the same time is slightly different every time you experience it.

Today those nature moments for me were:

putting my feet in the wet grass

hearing the squelch of the soggy ground

observing the rain drops on blades of grass

seeing the rain drops on the leaves in my garden

noticing a spiders web on the washing line

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First Sandcastle of the year, on Norfolk beach!

Posted on June 2, 2016March 18, 2017 by melissacreate

Sancastle1

There is nothing that quite beats that first trip of the year to the sea. This is taken on West Runton beach in Norfolk, our first visit to this delightful beach.  Both my children, aged 5 and 7 couldn’t wait to get their shoes and socks off. Then they discovered they had to cross some pebbles to get to the sea! Then we were all straight into digging in the sand with our hands, and then a spade when we remembered we had one! We only just made our first sandcastle in time before the tide came in.  This photo was actually taken on a Sunny Day at the beginning of May, but we are heading back to the same beach tomorrow so thought I’d post it now.

sancatle2

It made me think of one of our new favourite books: At the Beach by Katja Spitzer. A beautiful illustrated first words book published by Flying Eye books. Great choice of words and beautiful pictures that you really want to touch. Available to buy from Readers that Care: http://www.facebook.com/readersthatcare

Sandcastle

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