Synergy: Celia Thaxter

CELIA THAXTER (1835-1894) is an American author, artist, and naturalist known for her love of gardens and the islands off the coast of New England.

Read the recently published nonfiction picture book for children, then extend the experience with the websites:

CELIA PLANTED A GARDEN written by Phyllis Root and Gary D. Schmidt and illustrated by Melissa Sweet shares the life of American author, artist, and naturalist Celia Thaxter who wrote and painted about her passion for island life off the coast of New England. The book’s illustrator skillfully weaves in quotes from Thaxter’s writings and features her passion for flowers and nature, while the authors explore the key events of Celia’s life and conclusion with a useful note, timeline, and bibliography. 

ARC courtesy of Candlewick.

ABOUT CELIA THAXTER is a series of web pages from Shoals Marine Laboratory that explore the life, writing, and gardens of Celia Thaxter on Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire.

To visit the pages, go to https://www.shoalsmarinelaboratory.org/about-celia-thaxter.

CELIA THAXTER’S GARDEN INSTALLATION AT SHOALS MARINE LAB is a short YouTube video that shares the process of re-creating the naturalist’s gardens on Thaxter’s beloved island.

To watch the video, go to https://youtu.be/y_3L6DmThps.

Many of Celia Thaxter’s works are available at Internet Archive including An Island Garden.

To read An Island Garden, go to https://archive.org/details/islandgarden00thax.

Timely Take-aways for Life-Long Learning: Birds and Birders

Several new and upcoming books explore the world of birds and birders. From naturalists and scientists to backyard birders, these books explore the wide range of ways people connect with birds.

Best Little Book of Birds: The Oregon Coast

Sarah Swanson, 2022, Timber Press, an imprint of Hachette Book Group

Themes: Nature, Birds

Organized into 25 short chapters, readers learn about bird families found on the Oregon Coast. The first book in a new series of pocket-sized birding guides, this book provides quality photographs, useful icons, and short text blocks with key bird information.

Take-aways: Introduce students to birding through this appealing new field guide series. 

Audubon at Sea

Edited by Christoph Irmscher & Richard J. King, 2022, University of Chicago Press

Themes: Nature, Birds

Weaving together Audubon’s writings and artwork, the editors explore this famous artist and naturalist’s connect with the sea and waterbirds.

Take-aways: Explore this book for examples of the challenges educators and students face in addressing the legacy of naturalists such as Audubon who killed for his art.

Woman, Watching: Louise de Kiriline Lawrence and the Songbirds of Pimisi Bay

Merilyn Simonds, 2022, ECW Press, an imprint of Baker & Taylor Publisher Services

Themes: Biography, Naturalist, Birds

While living in an isolated cabin in Ontario, Canada, Louise de Kiriline Lawrence worked as a nurse then devoted her life to studying birds. The author connects the life story of this pioneer of ornithology with her own passion for songbirds.

Take-aways: Use Lawrence and Simonds as examples of how naturalists yesterday and today contribute to our understanding of birds through their observations and citizen science.

Flight Paths: How a Passionate and Quirky Group of Pioneering Scientists Solved the Mystery of Bird Migration

Rebecca Heisman, 2023, Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins

Themes: Nature, Birds

From bird banding to DNA markers, explore the little-known story of the scientists who pieced together the puzzle of bird migration. Crossing generations and disciplines, this fascinating discovery was made possible through the synergy of collaboration to address a complex problem.

Take-aways: Use this story as an example of the power of collaboration to tackle scientific challenges. Also, use it to share how scientific discoveries build on one another.

Whether helping educators keep up-to-date in their subject-areas, promoting student reading in the content-areas, or simply encouraging nonfiction leisure reading, teacher librarians need to be aware of the best new titles across the curriculum and how to activate life-long learning. - Annette Lamb

Book Review: Henry David Thoreau for Kids

HENRY DAVID THOREAU FOR KIDS: HIS LIFE AND IDEAS by Corinne Hosfeld Smith features the life and legacy of this beloved author, philosopher, and naturalist.

Aimed at the middle grades, this well-written biography tells the story of Henry David Thoreau. Focusing on his significant contributions and stressing his wilderness experience, the book is well-organized and focuses on topics of interest to youth.

Twenty-one engaging, hands-on activities including journal writing and gardening are woven throughout the book immersing readers in Thoreau’s world. The many visuals add interest to the story. The book also includes a timeline and list of resources.

Librarians will find this book to be an excellent addition to the library’s biography collection. The hands-on activities add to the appeal for reluctant readers.

To learn more about the author, go to http://www.corinnehsmith.com/.

Published by Chicago Press on February 1, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

Book Review: We Dig Worms!

WE DIG WORMS! by Kevin McCloskey is an adorable informational book for beginning readers. From sea worms to earthworms, the simple narrative follows a child’s exploration of the world of worms.

Designed for children 3 and older, this highly illustrated book is designed for kindergarten and first grade readers. While some of the all-caps sentences may be difficult for beginning readers, the mixture of traditional picture book and comic presentation formats will appeal to young children.

The appealing illustrations created on recycled paper bags and printed on brown paper pages make the look and feel of the book distinct. The compelling visuals encourage youth get down on the ground an observe nature closeup. Important science facts are seamlessly woven into the short narrative. The different perspectives of birds, children, and earthworms all add to the appeal of the informational text. Scientifically correct diagrams add information of interest to older readers as well as younger children.

The back endpages explain how to read comics with children and the book website provides Common Core connections and a student activity sheet.

Go to the publisher’s book website at http://www.toon-books.com/we-dig-worms.html

To find other Level One books, go to http://www.toon-books.com/.

Published by Toon Books, Spring 2015.