Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Robin Makes a Laughing Sound - Sallie Wolf

Charlesbridge, 2010
$11.95
For: Kids
44 pages
Rating: 4.5
Endpapers: Gray & cream checkerboard with simple bird sketches

Observation journal - an excellent model
Poetry book
Sketching
Watercolors

This journal takes us through a year of observations - of birds, or the changing seasons, and models an observation journal beautifully. It is also a poetry book that includes rhyming poeims, haiku, list poems....

Wolf ends her jounral with a page of thoughts behind journal keeping and a page of bird-watching resources.

Winter Wren
Are you a winter wren?
I see you only once or twice a year ---
a tiny, dark shadow scooting under bushes.
If your tail weren't so perky,
if you weren't so tiny,
I'd think you were on of those
ubiquitous sparrows.

Frustrations
I often hear what I can't see ---
birds and squirrels scolding me.
I scan the branches far and near,
but I don't see what I can hear.

(A haiku)
Early crocuses
burst through dead leaves. Brown creepers
circle up tree trunks.

I love all the pen and ink and watercolor sketches.

Next year I'm going to begin our science studies with observations of the flora and fauna of southern Arizona. Perhspas I'll teach the kids how to sew together an easy journal of blank pages and we can start making observations using this super book as a model.

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