Loreen Leedy Books

Seeing Symmetry is here!

2012-02-04T15:53:00.000-05:00

While I knew my latest book was for spring 2012, it was a nice surprise a few days ago to find out it's in the warehouse and is shipping right now. Eeeek! Guess my procrastination about making a trailer had to end sometime:
I've been working on the idea of a picture book about symmetry for a long time, and finally it's here so yay! In the years of wrestling with how to present this topic, I kept worrying that some other author would scoop me. Because for some odd reason, very few trade books about symmetry have ever been published (for children, that is.)

Perhaps it's an age thing…a few decades ago when I was in elementary school, if symmetry was ever brought up at all it would have been in an art class. However, my nieces and nephews knew all about line and rotational symmetry because it was added to the math curriculum quite some time ago. (There are additional types of symmetry, but those are the ones covered in this book.)

Because symmetry is such a fabulous combination of art and math, it was a natural topic for me. I've created some free activities for it, including some heart templates which could come in handy in the next week or so to make a few valentines. Here is a better look at the front:

And here's what the back looks like:

Yep, it really is backwards! If you don't have a book like this in your library, by all means ask your librarian to please order it. : )

Thanks!

Loreen

C'mon, get hoppy! My Frogs 'n' Flowers Clip Art collection

2012-01-13T19:16:00.000-05:00

It has been fun making clip art, something I hadn't considered doing during my first couple of decades as a children's book illustrator. But in this digital age it suddenly seemed like an interesting idea. After thinking about it for awhile, I decided to have a very liberal usage policy while retaining the copyright. So, if teachers want to make classroom materials from these images and sell them, for example, that's fine with me. Frogs 'n' Flowers is posted on my store at Teachers Pay Teachers, a site for lesson plans and other teaching resources. A free sample of a border design is included in the Preview file, see close up below:

I've made several other free activities, printables, and coloring pages that are also on my store. So if you're interested if hearing about future offerings, please click on the "follow me" link when you get there.

In reading the TPT forums, it appears that some teachers like to have black and white options to save on printer ink. It often looks better to do a custom conversion, rather than just print a color image in black. So, here are the line art images in the Frogs 'n' Flowers set:

I'll be interested to see what people make with these images.

Make a Symme-TREE: a free Winter or Christmas holiday tree printable activity

2011-12-09T14:38:00.001-05:00

I’ve been busy in the last few days making activity pages for my spring 2012 book, Seeing Symmetry. There is a very cool site called Teachers Pay Teachers that has about a zillion free and paid lesson plans, slide shows, and other classroom materials. Students can make a symmetrical Christmas holiday or winter tree out of squares and rectangles with this printable activity. They measure and mark a line of symmetry on construction paper then cut out, sort, and arrange the shapes. The snowflakes will help them center each shape along the line of symmetry. It’s great for math centers and instructions are included. To download this FREE 3-page PDF, please click to visit my “store.”

Cover shows coloring example

Also available is this FREE line symmetry cowboy boot printable coloring page.

The idea is for students to color in each boot so they are mirror images of each other. Complete directions are included.

Enjoy!

Cowboy boot line symmetry coloring page

2011-12-04T15:21:00.001-05:00

Saddle up for a fun way to explore line symmetry…if you click on the low-res image above, it'll go to my web page where you can download the high-res PDF. The idea is that students color the boots identically as mirror images. So, if the heel is brown on one boot, the heel is brown on the other boot. Simple counting questions reinforce the symmetry concept that if one boot has 3 big stars, the other boot must have 3 big stars also.

This activity page is adapted from my upcoming spring 2012 picture book, Seeing Symmetry. Enjoy!

How to draw a Thanksgiving turkey

2011-11-18T14:17:00.001-05:00

And a symmetrical one, at that:

Based on my Spring 2012 book, SEEING SYMMETRY (Holiday House). To visit the book’s page on my web site, click here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My turtle book talk made with the Explain Everything app

2011-10-24T11:04:00.002-04:00

Did you know there is a way to do a screen capture on your iPad? The Explain Everything app records what you do inside it such as drawing on an image, using a virtual laser pointer, and rotating/enlarging/shrinking an image as well as your narration. Here is an example:

Here is how I made the video:

1) The box turtle photo was on my desktop computer, so I emailed it to myself, saved the image to the iPad camera roll, and cropped it using the free Adobe Photoshop Express app.

2) I opened my picture book Tracks in the Sand in the iBooks app, and took a screenshot of the spread I wanted. You can take an iPad screenshot by briefly pressing the round Home button and the Lock button at the same time. The resulting image ends up on the Camera roll in the Photos app. I cropped it a little bit to get rid of the iPad info bar on top because it was unnecessary as well as confusing.

3) The third image is a jpeg of the iBooks cover of Tracks. It’s a reasonably big image so it won’t get blurry when it’s enlarged.

4) In the Explain Everything app, I imported the three images and arranged them in starting position: the box turtle was on top, the sea turtle was underneath, and the book cover was shrunk down in the lower right corner.

5) Making sure the laser pointer button was selected, I pressed Record. When I was finished with the box turtle photo, I deselected the laser pointer button, used a “pinch” to shrink the photo, then moved it to the lower left corner, revealing the sea turtle illustration.

6) After selecting the laser pointer again, I proceeded with the rest of the talk.

7) Exporting the movie to YouTube took about 30 minutes total because the file was first compressed then uploaded automatically.

I heard about the Explain Everything app (and other iPad screen capture options) on Langwitches Blog, which is dedicated to 21st century skills and technologies. The hardest thing about making this video (besides figuring out what to say and not flubbing it) was creating a quiet place to make the recording. The refrigerator was rumbling, the cat was meowing, the birds were chirping…I even had to chase away a pair of squirrels who were scolding the cat through the patio screen. And then there were the lawn mowers(!) The best place turned out to be in our closet where the clothing helped to muffle outside sounds.

I hope this info has been useful…have a productive week!

Sea turtle resource roundup

2011-10-18T14:09:00.001-04:00

From Tour de Turtles site

To help celebrate the new digital edition of Tracks in the Sand, I dug around online for some resources to help primary kids learn about our flippered friends. :

Tour de Turtles shows actual migration tracks of individual turtles, downloadable Flash presentations, and much more.

SEE Turtles classroom resources include species fact sheets, food webs, and threats that turtles face.
The Ocean Conservancy Sea Turtle coloring book has 34 pages with many nice images plus a text in both English and Spanish. Click here to start download of the PDF.
Save the Turtles has interactive online games, plus many other resources.

Seaturtles.org has a fun activity on this page about making a loggerhead from a paper plate.
Deep Space Sparkle has a foil collage art project featuring turtles, including a step-by-step drawing.

A sea turtle painting can be found on Art Projects for Kids.

This coloring page is adapted from the artwork in Tracks:

Click image to download PDF

Click for the preview page and a free sample of Tracks in the Sand (the sample has to be downloaded via the iBooks app.)

The original edition of Tracks is out of print but is still widely available in libraries.

Hope this list is helpful. If you know of other good resources, please leave a link or other info in the comments.

Tracks in the Sand now on the #iBookstore!

2011-10-13T14:21:00.000-04:00

After being stuck in my flat files for too long, my sea turtle picture book is back in the swim of things again.

Here is the iBooks preview page …if you’re using an iPad to read this blog post you can download a free sample right away.

Or, later on you can open your iBooks app, click on the Store button and search on Tracks in the Sand. Eventually I’d like to make this book available on other tablets/formats, but this is a start.

Also, this page on my web site has a coloring page to download.

So now the question is, what will my next digital project be…?

Toodleloo for now!

Loreen

Ebook in the works

2011-09-25T18:15:00.002-04:00

This is the more or less final cover for the digital edition of Tracks in the Sand, my picture book about sea turtles. To see the jacket of the print edition plus a close up of one of the baby turtles, click here.
The book had to be redesigned to fit on the iPad, so it needed a new cover as well. I’m excited about making this book available again, hopefully it will be soon. Currently I’m working on getting it into an iBooks format that allows full-bleed images (i.e. fixed-layout EPUB).

Easing for animations demo

2011-08-14T14:34:00.001-04:00

While learning how to use DIY app software, I’m running across quite a few things I know very little about, such as animation. A simple type that moves an image in a straight line is called a linear animation. The Photoshop plug-in Kwik has quite a few ways to create variation with easing. Easing changes the speed and other aspects of how the image moves from point A to point B.

The easing options have interesting names such as InExpo and inOutElastic. For the inexperienced, their descriptions can be a little tough to visualize and differentiate, such as:
inOutExpo: starts motion from a zero velocity, accelerates, then decelerates to a zero velocity using an exponential easing equation.

As opposed to:
OutExpo: starts motion fast and then decelerates motion to a zero velocity as it executes.

Being a visual person, I’ve been making a demo app to see the various features in action. This video shows all the easing methods (plus 2 widgets because there was some extra room):

Aside from the easing method selected, all other aspects of the animation are the same for each one. The video is a little jerky but it gives the idea. For a interactive demo of easing options on the web, check out this page.

I hope this is helpful to someone...it certainly is for me, at least.

Cartoon bunny drawing tutorial

2011-08-11T13:56:00.000-04:00

Kids love to watch me (or any artist) draw and usually get busy afterwards creating their own artwork. Here is a step-by-step drawing of a comical rabbit character:

Enjoy!

DIY app software Kwik tutorial: making a butterfly fly

2011-07-31T14:29:00.002-04:00

The short clip below was made with the Photoshop plug-in Kwik and previewed using Corona. Basically, the art is in layers in PS, the animation and interactivity is added using Kwik, then the app can be previewed in the Corona simulator. Once the app is complete, it can be uploaded to the various app stores. More details on all that can be found on www.kwiksher.com.

I drew and painted the art in Illustrator and Photoshop. Here are the steps to make the animation:

I made 6 images of the butterfly with the wings squinching in then out again, saved in PNG format. The images must be named like this: Name_1.png; Name_2.png, and so on. These will create the “movie clip” that will run in a loop to create the flapping motion. [Note: these 6 images could have been on a sprite sheet as an alternative method.]

The artwork elements were sized for a 1024 X 768 pixel document @132 pixels per inch to fit an iPad screen. The first butterfly image was placed as a layer in the Photoshop file, along with the hibiscus, bushes, and background. A new Kwik iPad book project was made using the layered Photoshop document.

I selected the butterfly image layer, then moved it off screen in the lower left corner. This was the starting position so the butterfly can fly into the screen.

In the Kwik panel, I clicked the Add Animation icon (circled in red):

A dialog box comes up with quite a few options, so here we go (numbers refer to image below):

1 I changed the animation name to get rid of the random numbers Kwik generates.

2 Type: From the drop down menu, Movie Clip was selected.

3 First File: The movie clip will replace the butterfly layer. I used the Browse button to navigate to the first of the 6 images. Kwik will automatically bring in the rest.

4 Image Width/Height: The numbers were obtained from the first butterfly image.

5 Number of Images: In this case there are 6 images in the butterfly wing flap loop..

6 Loop: It’s hard to know how many times the wings will need to flap, so I just entered any number than adjusted it later to arrive at the number of 42. Most of the remaining numbers are a result of tweaking after watching the preview.

7 End Position: Once you start moving the x and y sliders, the butterfly can be seen in the PS document (remember, it had been offscreen.) X controls the horizontal axis, Y is vertical.

8 Duration: This controls how long it takes the butterfly to go from off screen to its final position.

9 Starts: This animation starts as the page loads (as opposed to being triggered by a button.) The delay is 1 second so it’s not too abrupt.

10 Easing: There are several methods that change how the butterfly goes from start to end position. Some go past the end point, some bounce, some speed up or slow down, etc.

11 Loop: This refers only to the path the butterfly takes from start to end position, not how its wings are looping as in step 6. It loops once meaning the animation runs once. If “forever” is checked, the butterfly will disappear and fly in from the corner over and over.

12 Rotate: It is set to 20% so the butterfly starts with a vertical orientation then makes a slight turn to the right by the end of its path. However, the path itself is a straight line.

So, this seems like a lot of stuff, but it starts to make sense after you do it a few times.

Additional notes:
Sometimes it’s a little tricky to reopen the animation dialog box to tweak these numbers. You have to double click it, but sometimes it doesn’t work right away.

The End Position sliders sometimes don’t update the image on the screen, but by clicking back and forth from the x and y boxes, it usually will.

I used Screenflow to record the animation in the Corona simulator. Love it!

Testing App-creation software: a Kwik test

2011-07-25T16:52:00.002-04:00

Here is a short video “screen test” I made to try out DIY software for creating picture book apps. The software is a Photoshop plug-in called Kwik, here is the link to their site. It’s nice to be able to create the art and add the interactivity all in Photoshop.

The idea is that this clip shows just the start of what will happen on this page. After the Hen and Rooster shrink down, the rest of the background elements move in. Or at least that’s the plan right now! This sequence is probably too fast, but it’s easy to make adjustments.

Thanks for watching. : )

Picture Book Apps: New Options for Content Creators

2011-06-25T03:00:00.484-04:00

As part of the Digital Media track of the June 25th Mid-Year Workshop for the Florida SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators), I’ll be speaking about picture book apps. The other speakers will be editor, publisher, and author Emma Dryden of DrydenBooks, publishing veteran and agent Rubin Pfeffer (East West Literary Agency), animator Curtis Sponsler of AniMill (The Animation Mill), and moderator and author Joyce Sweeney. Below are the notes and links from my presentation.

Illustration was adapted from Look at My Book: How Kids can Write and Illustrate Terrific Books

A quick overview of terminology and the major ereader devices, ebookstores, and formats to discuss which are most suitable for novels vs. illustrated ebooks vs. picture book (PB) apps. Note: for a text-oriented book, convert it into the Kindle format (Amazon) and make sure the ebook has a professional-quality cover. Links to Kindle and other epublishing resources on the digital author blog E is for Book can be found here.

What is a picture book app? A list of the PB apps mentioned:

Wild about Books by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Marc Brown (Random House)
Miss Spider’s Tea Party by David Kirk (Callaway)
Papa Gatto and Cinderella by Ruth Sanderson (PicPocket Books)
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce (Moonbot)
A Present for Milo by Mike Austin (Ruckus)
Roxie’s A-MAZE-ing Vacation Adventure by Roxie Munro (OCG Studios)
iDinobook: Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs by Alberto Polo Roldan, illustrations by Carlos Leon
Bunnyfur Imagines by Jenny B Harris is an in-app purchase from within the free Interactive Touch Book app.

A comparison between a traditional print picture book versus a picture book app: for example, a PB app doesn’t usually have double-page spreads. The size of the iPad “page” is about 5 3/4" X 7 3/4" so it’s a smaller area to work with than the average print picture book.

Typical app actions include Show and Hide... how they might be used in the context of a story? For example, if the story called for flowers to bloom, the Appear action could be used to make that happen. Other actions include Rotate; Bounce; Assemble; Take apart; and Change Color...to name only a few.

Who and what can be interactive? In addition to characters, the flowers, furniture, rugs, buildings, hills, clouds, and even the words themselves can be part of the action. The above PB apps show a great deal of diversity in the amount and the nature of the interactivity.

Some great reasons to make a PB app are:

as a companion to a print book (related activities such as games)
to explore a niche market that traditional publishers aren’t interested in
to reissue an OP title
to test an idea for a book or series that may later have a print edition
to create something that would be impossible in any other form

More ideas are in my article on E is for Book.

The process of writing and illustrating a PB app is analogous to writing any picture book. The addition of Reader interactions, animations, audio, and other media add complexity and creative opportunities. The interactivity also needs to be designed. A discussion of the process of writing and illustrating a PB app.

What about the tech? Various partnerships with publishers, agents, and/or developers may be possible or the DIY app-maker can code their own or utilize book app-making tools. The following companies have early versions of non-coding DIY tools available or are in the process of creating them:

Each company has its own pricing structure, workflow, hardware requirements, and so on. Some are still in private beta so are not yet available. It is early days for DIY book app tools, so there are many issues still being worked out. The following may be helpful in evaluating a DIY book app tool:

What are the interactive features that can be incorporated into the app (such as Draggable objects the Reader can move; Narration; Animations; and so on)?
Check out the quality of the resulting app...try out an app made with the system to see how well it operates.
Hardware and software requirements.
Workflow- the system may be on your desktop, on your iPad, a plugin to Photoshop, or a web site. How does it require you to put together the images, audio files, animations, interactivity and so on.
Does it generate an accurate simulation so you can see how your app will operate?
Ease of use...like most software, there will be a larger or smaller learning curve.
Look through any documentation (in my experience, not a strong point for most software developers). A given feature may be there, but can you figure out how to implement it?
How is your app sold... in your own App store account; under the company’s name; via in-app sales; on their web site; etc.

On Thursday, June 30th at 1 pm ET, there will be a free 1-hour webcast about digital book-making tools. It will be presented by author Pete Meyers; his last webcast was excellent so I’m looking forward to this one.

Another interesting type of digital book can be found on web sites such as A Story Before Bed. Adults and/or kids choose a title from the online store and using their own web cam, record themselves reading it. The video plays along with the book; check out the site to see how it works. Click here for an interview with the site’s founder.

E is for Book is a group blog of published children’s book authors writing about their adventures with digital books. There are 70+ articles currently posted, many consisting of first-person accounts of “going digital” with out-of-print as well as original titles.

If you Tweet, there’s a chat about PB apps every Sunday night at 9 PM ET under the tag #storyappchat. The transcript may also be read later in the week on the #storyappchat blog. There often are giveaways of new app titles. My Twitter name is @LoreenLeedy so feel free to send me a tweet.

Digital books offer authors and illustrators amazing new options to explore... I can hardly wait to see how things will evolve.

Updates:
August 3, 2011
In the list of DIY app tool-makers above, I had originally included Push Pop Press, the developer of Al Gore’s ebook Our Choice. They had announced plans to make their interactive publishing system widely available. As of August 2nd, they have been acquired by Facebook.

August 4, 2011
Added TouchyBooks to DIY list

August 26, 2011
Added uTales to DIY list

Loreen Leedy
my web site

IRA 2011 panel discussion: Digital art & more

2011-05-09T11:00:00.001-04:00

On Monday, May 9th I’m one of the speakers from 3:00 to 5:45 for the International Reading Association Teachers’ Choices program along with authors Jon Scieszka, and Elizabeth Partridge. The overall topic is Integrating Technology and Reading, so I’ll discuss how I use digital tools to design and illustrate my picture books. These notes and links are for the attendees as well as anyone else who is interested.

Drawing as Fast as Lightning

...as fresh as a daisy

The examples used are from Crazy Like a Fox: A Simile Story and The Shocking Truth about Energy.

Why I use digital tools.

The premise of Crazy Like a Fox is to illustrate the comparison used in the simile. When Rufus the fox is sleeping like a log, he turns into a log.

The art in The Shocking Truth about Energy serves to bring dry facts such as “Energy can change into different forms” to life. For example, LIGHT from the Sun is changed by a tree into wood, which is a FUEL that can be burned, thus changing the energy into HEAT (as shown in an illustration on page 4–5 of the book.)

Analogy: a typewriter is to a word processor as traditional art media is to digital illustration.

My 4 Stages of Technology Adoption:
I hate it.
That’s interesting.
Let me try that.
I can’t live without it!

Would Aaron Copland have used GarageBand?

Early digital art to vector and painting software.

My set-up, hardware and software. Mac Tower; NEC LCD monitor; Wacom tablet; Epson scanner; Sony camera; Epson printer; Photoshop; Illustrator; InDesign.

The basics of brushes, color, and layers in Photoshop. Incorporating traditional media.

From sketch to final art.

Design and layout of pages in InDesign.

The good news and bad news of creating artwork digitally.

Finding image reference:
Historical images from the Library of Congress American Memory collection.
Clipart ETC: Over 60,000 free antique engravings for students and teachers.
Tag Galaxy: A gorgeous animated search of Flickr images.
My blog post about Tag Galaxy.

Sneak peek of my next book, which is ALMOST finished. : )

Here’s a tip about how to get circular images into an iPad Keynote presentation:

Save round or otherwise irregular image with a transparent background in the PNG format.
Email it to yourself.

Open email on iPad, select and Save Image.

Image will appear in Photo app on Camera Roll.
Select image, then Copy.
Paste it into the iPad Keynote app and transparency will be maintained (yay!)

A graphs fan

2011-04-23T07:07:00.002-04:00

This letter certainly made my day:

Dear Loreen Leedy,

I love the Book of the Great Graph Contest. I like the Graphs and the “Whose foot is the longest”! I Love the cookies and the Pictures by you too. Here are some Graphs I Liked: Where My Friends Live, and Do You Like Mud?

Love,

Shayna

Isn’t that fun...and so nice that it’s a math book that inspired Shayna’s enthusiasm. I have to say that the bar graph made of cookies is one of my favorites, too. Here is a link to The Great Graph Contest.

Can books play games?

2011-03-30T08:38:00.002-04:00

I’ve been enjoying reading a book about video, computer, and alternate reality gaming called Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal. I saw her by chance on a segment of a show that plays with the notion of what is news, The Colbert Report (you have to watch a silly ad first, sorry):

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Jane McGonigal

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog

Video Archive

There are many concepts she discusses that could be incorporated directly into a book or story app or be a part of the extended world around one (e.g. via an author’s web site). My monthly post on I.N.K. (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids) goes into more detail about it: Playing games with information.

A few of the interactive, gamelike ideas that would be fun to add to my books include:
Layered images so readers could see under the surface of something
Changing images to show sequence over time (e.g. metamorphosis)
Non-linear paths through a book
Interactive timeline with pop-up elements
Pop-up word definitions
Audio feedback to let readers know they’ve found right answer, etc.

I would love to hear how authors or educators are tapping into the techniques of game design to engage readers, please let me know of any cool ideas.

A Measuring Penny story

2011-03-15T15:04:00.000-04:00

Dear Loreen,

Two days ago my husband and I were walking our Boston terrier, Stellaluna, in the Dallas City Park. Dallas is a small town in northern Oregon near Salem.

During this walk a small boy and his mother approached us. The young boy came right to me and said...“are you the lady who wrote Measuring Penny?”

I replied “No.” His mother then explained that you had written the book and he was very impressed with it. He thought I might be that lady.

After hearing about the book, I told the young man that I would like to read it. I went to the library the next day and got a copy. I found your book delightful and educational. A “Delightful Book”, indeed!

I explained to the little boy that our dog was named Stellaluna and asked if they were familiar with the story Stellaluna. They were.

It was a wonderful experience for us. I thought you might like to know how your book continues to please young people.

Warmest Personal Regards,

Beverly H. Kentch, Kindergarten Teacher (retired)

Post Scriptum:

Notice that Stellaluna's Ears are greater than 1 cotton swab long!!

Isn’t that a charming story and letter? I asked Beverly’s permission to post it here, many thanks to her. She’s right, Stellaluna’s ears are quite magnificent. (In the book, Penny’s ears are measured against a cotton swab). I also must mention that seeing Post Scriptum written out is a rare sight, love it!

How Andy Went to Mars

2011-03-06T12:36:00.000-05:00

Today’s post is in celebration of Share a Story ~ Shape a Future week. For more links to similar posts, please visit Elizabeth O. Dulemba’s blog.

Once upon a time,
there was a little boy in the 4th grade who had loads of fun at school every day. He loved to sit in the last row of the classroom making his friends giggle and folding paper airplanes. Andy was reading well below grade level, but he thought:

One day his mom gave him four quarters for book club day. On the way to school, he saw a pretzel vendor and bought one. Mmmm…Andy loved pretzels!

After polishing off the salty snack, Andy sat at his desk studying the order form. With 50¢ left, he searched for a book that was cheap enough. A book called Mission to Mars looked okay and cost 49¢, so he ordered it. Then he folded a paper airplane and aimed it at a kid in the front of the room. The boys in the back row giggled as usual.

A week or two later, the brand new book arrived. The story was about a family that moved to a Mars colony (wow!) The two children played hooky from school, snuck outside and got lost, wandered into a cave, and then met some (previously unknown) native Martians!

Andy was amazed at how much fun a book could be and that it could bring a story to life in his mind. When that adventure was over, he had to have more. Books, books, books, he wanted to read more books. After a few months, Andy was reading at 6th grade level. He went on to attend collage, then graduate school, and earned his Ph.D.

Nowadays, Andy is a research scientist whose lab is at the Kennedy Space Center. He investigates a variety of topics in astrobiology, which is: the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. (Quote is from NASA.) He even has a Mars chamber in his lab that simulates the conditions on the Red Planet.

After Andy and I met and eventually married, one topic that often came up was “Why don’t we do a book together?” and “...about what?” One day the obvious solution occurred to us…Andy began downloading incredibly detailed NASA photographs taken on Mars and I started drawing characters to populate the barren landscape. The end result was our picture book Messages from Mars:

The story takes place one hundred years in the future and stars a group of students that get to visit Mars. They explore the historic sites of the Viking, Pathfinder, and Spirit and Opportunity missions, and fly over many of the planet’s spectacular features such as the largest volcano in the solar system and a canyon as long as the United States is wide.

So, because Andy read a book in the 4th grade that captured his imagination, not only did he get to go to Mars, so did I! You never know which book a child will fall in love with so it only makes sense to keep offering kids as many diverse options as there are stars in the sky.

Happy Reading!

A “highly recommended” review (yay!)

2011-03-05T09:19:00.000-05:00

My Teacher Is a Dinosaur and Other Prehistoric Poems, Jokes, Riddles and Amazing Facts. Loreen Leedy (Author and Illustrator), Marshall Cavendish, 48pp, $17.99, 2010, ISBN 97807614557084.

Gr 3-5–Fascinating facts and entertaining illustrations combine to make this trip through prehistory a fun adventure for all. The author not only includes fun facts about the earth’s formation and its first inhabitants, but also incorporates some of this information in the format of a poem and/or riddle within each spread, making it all the more eye-catching and memorable for young readers. The layouts are artistically appealing, and the placement of the animals and their related facts within each period gives the reader a better understanding of how life forms have evolved. Science teachers and school librarians will want to have this in their collection, not only because of the educational value of the information, but also because of its unique presentation of facts and the graphic illustrations and simple depictions of various life forms through the ages. Teachers can use this to show how poetry can be used across the curriculum. One of the most important features of this book is the inclusion of the fun-factor, but they will also seek it out as a resource for various areas of study. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Library Media Connection
Jan/Feb 2011

Click for the book’s page on my web site.

Click for a sliding puzzle of an archaeopteryx.

A flip-book preview of My Teacher is a Dinosaur

2011-02-22T09:06:00.001-05:00

Originally I created this to go on my web site, on this page. A little flip-book is a really great way to let people browse inside your book, and you can choose which pages to include. Click on the right corner below to see it in action. [Update: if you’re reading this in Google Reader or similar RSS reader and don’t see a little book with flippable pages, please click on the post title and visit the blog to see how the flip-book works.)

So, how did I do this, you’re wondering? The book is laid out in InDesign CS4 and here are the steps:

To add the page curl to all pages, in the menu bar choose Window> Interactive> Page Transitions, and a little palette will open up.

From the drop down menu, choose Page Turn.

Click on the little symbol on the lower right to apply the effect to all pages.

In CS4 you can’t preview it (might be different in CS5.)

Now it’s time to export it. Choose File> Export, type in a name for the flip-book, select the SWF format and a destination for the Flash file and hit Save. Next the Export dialog box comes up:

I chose a 50% scale to reduce the size of the book, but other sizes will work so experiment. I wanted only a few pages, not the whole book, so Range is checked with the page numbers filled in. These were also checked: Spreads; Rasterize Pages; Generate HTML File; View SWF after Exporting (I’m not sure whether these all need be checked, really.) Be sure to check Include Page Transistions and Interactive Page Curl, obviously! The JPEG quality seems okay at Medium. If View SWF is checked, at least on my system it automatically opened in my web browser, Firefox. There you can play with the page turns and make sure the flip-book is working right.

One little wrinkle is that this book has some white pages, and on top of a white web page, it’s impossible to tell where the page corner is (to activate the page flip.) So, before exporting it from InDesign, I added a light gray rectangular border to the pages 12-19 (visible in screenshot) so the corner would be visible against white. You may wonder why I didn’t export starting with page 12? If you do that, it exports the entire previous 2 pages, also.

If you don’t typeset your own books (not many illustrators, do) it should be easy for the publisher to provide a SWF file, assuming they use InDesign.

Then, how to get it on a web page? Naturally, that varies with the software used. In Dreamweaver, the SWF file is copied into the root file of the site. Then on the web page, draw an AP DIV box, and under file menu choose Insert> Media> SWF. Then, because the page flip extends outside of the dimensions of the book, I added about 60 pixels to the height of the bounding box. The flip-book will still work if you don’t do that, the animated pages will just be a little cut off.

How did I get it onto this blog? Blogger won’t accept Flash directly, so the file has to be somewhere else (in my case, it’s on my web site.) In Blogger, I pasted this HTML code into the Edit HTML tab:
<embed height="420" pluginspage=" http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" src="http://www.loreenleedy.com/Dino.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="576"></embed>

You would have to replace my web URL and SWF file name with your own. Your Height and Width values probably will be different, too. This flip-book might be a little too big for my Blogger layout, but it’s perfect for my web site, so I left it as is. Hope the page turns work here on the blog, I’ll find out after this post is published!

My first ebook (sort of)

2011-02-11T14:30:00.000-05:00

In the last couple of years the discussion about digital books and story apps in the publishing world has been steadily increasing. It has seemed to escalate in the last few months...there are conferences, workshops, seminars, articles, you name it.

A group of authors including me had been talking about it privately on a listserv for a few months, then couldn’t resist it any longer and started a group blog called E is for Book. In less than a month we’ve had over 1,500 visitors which indicates there are many people who want to figure out how ebooks will affect the world of children’s books. The first post on the blog gives a good sense of the variety of topics we have been and will be talking about, including ereading devices, software for creating ebooks and apps, glimpses behind the scenes of making a particular title, and much more.

One of the simplest types of digital book is a straightforward conversion of the print book into a digital format without adding additional interactivity or sound. This has been available for a long time, in the form of PDFs. The question is how to get them out into the marketplace. In talking with my publishers, one of the venues they’re working with is Follett Library Resources, which has an ebook section. I don’t have the technical specs yet, but apparently they are using the PDF format. So, since I do the InDesign layouts for my books anyway, it was very easy to add the jacket front and back as single pages, add “endpapers” to page 1 and page 32, and output a PDF. This is just a sample for the publisher and I to discuss, not anything final. But, it is exciting to be moving in this direction, because it will make books more accessible for schools that prefer digital technology for whatever reason.

I’ve been podcasted(!) by Brain Burps about Books

2011-02-03T10:59:00.001-05:00

It was such fun to be interviewed by the delightful author-illustrator and podcaster Katie Davis on her weekly show about children’s book publishing, Brain Burps about Books. She has an engaging conversational style that is easy to listen to. The title of my episode is Eeeek! Ebooks which reflects the feelings of many authors, publishers, and readers about the topic of digital books. It can be a little confusing at times, but we did our best to give an overview of the current state of affairs for our kidlit peeps. The podcast is available in several ways (listed below.)

The interview arose out of a project Katie and I and quite a few other authors have been collaborating on, a group blog about digital books called E is for Book. (There is also a link on the left sidebar of this blog.) Although digital books have been available for years, it hasn’t been a big issue for the children’s book biz until recently, in part due to the iPad’s release in April of 2010. The book apps especially have made picture book people sit up and take notice because the format allows for full-bleed art (i.e. artwork that fills the screen.) Recently, the iBooks format has been updated to allow for full-bleed art as well. This is one example of why the group of us decided to band together via E is for Book to figure out what the options are so we can stay informed. What is an ebook, the cost of making story apps, interactivity, ebook formats, and many other issues are what Katie and I talk about, and that we’ll be writing about on the group blog. By the way, there are several chapter book and YA bloggers, too.

Without further ado, here are a few ways to get a copy of the podcast:

The Brain Burps page on iTunes
Episode Permalink

Direct Download

Katie’s Blog Post with Show Notes
She has posted some excellent videos that show interactive story apps in action, so be sure to check them out.

The podcast refers to this article I wrote for I.N.K. (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids):
Authors & ebooks: 11 points to ponder.

So enjoy listening and happy e-reading!

Free trilobite coloring page!

2011-01-20T09:44:00.000-05:00

This is adapted from the illustrations in My Teacher is a Dinosaur and Other Prehistoric Poems, Jokes, Riddles, & Amazing Facts. I’d love to see one colored in, so please send me a photo!

On the Hunt for Prehistoric Words

2011-01-11T15:13:00.001-05:00

It took awhile to make my first word search, but it’s finished and ready to download. (Update: had to correct a spelling error in the first one...oops!) You can grab it right from this blog if you like. However, if you’d rather have a 2-page PDF with an answer key, please go to this page of my web site.

Because this is my first one, there are a couple of things I have questions about:
1) It’s fairly low-res to make it download more quickly...is that okay?
2) The text is black...would it be better in another color such as blue? I wasn’t sure if it’s better to make reproducibles strictly in black and white or if it doesn’t matter.

If anybody has any thoughts, please let me know!

My Teacher is a Dinosaur reviews

2010-12-17T08:58:00.000-05:00

School Library Journal has this to say about My Teacher is a Dinosaur and Other Prehistoric Poems, Jokes, Riddles, & Amazing Facts:

Gr 2-5–Organized chronologically, this collection zips through prehistoric times, starting about 4.5 billion years ago when “a new planet was formed.” Each page hits the highlights of a period, focusing primarily on living things. “Let’s go to the Cretaceous/ inside a time machine,/ the creatures are voracious, /excitable and mean.” The digitally drawn and painted illustrations are all captioned and include pronunciations. Varied fonts help to keep the busy pages organized so that the poetry is distinguishable from riddles, etc. An excellent time line helps put everything into perspective. An introductory note reminds readers that the dates are estimates and facts are subject to change with new discoveries. Overall the tantalizing facts and pictures in this book will stimulate readers’ curiosity.–Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA

And here is the review from Booklist:

Gr 3-5–This colorfully illustrated book takes readers on a tour through prehistoric times. Combining poems, jokes, and riddles with tidbits of information, it opens with the formation of the earth 4.5 billion years ago; traces the arrival of various plants and animals; and concludes 150,000 years ago, when the fossil record shows that modern humans as well as woolly mammoths, mastodons, and giant ground sloths walked the earth. The verse forms vary from one double-page spread to the next, with plenty of limericks and rhymed couplets. The riddles include such child-pleasers as “Q. Why didn’t the mammoth work in the school cafeteria? A. The hairnets weren’t big enough!” Readers initially drawn to the pictures of strange creatures or the jokes may find themselves reading the captions and poems as well. Teeming with digital drawings and paintings of creatures great and small, the pages are a bit busy, but lively. Useful for its inclusion of prehistoric life before the dinosaurs, this makes a good addition to many collections.

Booklist

November 1, 2010

And from Kirkus:

Gr 3-5—What do you get when you combine punny jokes and riddles with diamond poems and rhyming verse? When it’s from Leedy, you get a whole lot of learning (just don’t tell the kids). Her latest introduces readers to the history of the Earth and its plants and animals. Children will have no problem following the succession of life through the pages, from the beginnings of the Earth, with bacteria making oxygen and life in the sea, to the early insects, first forests and dinosaurs that covered the land. Each spread presents one topic with a poem conveying the primary information; surrounding that poem are goofy riddles, factlets and question-limericks that expand on it. The pages are unapologetically jam-packed with information, but they never overwhelm. Lots of smaller pictures make up each spread, creating a visual flow for the facts (there is a disclaimer about habitats and exact time periods). Backmatter shows a timeline from Earth’s formation to the present day. Prehistoric time was never this much fun.

Kirkus

August 15, 2010

Receiving such positive reviews from these three important publications is not easy, so yay! Previous posts about this title can be found here.

Handy list #2: my science books

2010-12-02T15:27:00.000-05:00

These are my books in print that have a science theme. The titles are linked to each book’s page on my web site:

Blast Off to Earth: A Look at Geography

When a group of robots travel though our solar system, they stop at an intriguing spot: Earth! After wondering why the planet isn’t called Ocean, they locate the poles and equator, then visit on each continent to see what is located thereabouts.

The Edible Pyramid: Good Eating Every Day

A feline waiter shows hungry diners what their options are by exploring all the sections of the updated USDA Food Pyramid. Vivid illustrations show the grains, veggies, fruits, nuts, and proteins that make up a varied, healthy diet. A spread about exercise in this revised edition encourages kids to get moving in their favorite ways.

The Great Trash Bash

What can the residents of Beaston do about having too much trash? After visiting the landfill, they reduce their trash in various ways such as buying less stuff, fixing things, and recycling.

Messages from Mars (coauthored by Andrew Schuerger)

A hundred years in the future, a group of lucky students travel to Mars to see the largest volcano in the solar system, visit historic landing sites, fly through vast canyons, walk around huge craters, and much more.

My Teacher is a Dinosaur and Other Prehistoric Poems, Jokes, Riddles, & Amazing Facts

Starting 4.5 billion years ago, readers are taken on a whirlwind tour to see early cyanobacteria, invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, dinosaurs, mammals, and birds. The highlights of life on Earth are described with verses, cinquains, limericks, jokes, and fascinating facts.

Postcards from Pluto: A Tour of the Solar System

A robot named Dr. Quasar takes students from Mercury to the Moon to Pluto (now designated a “dwarf planet”). Each student sends home postcards in his or her own unique writing style to tell family and friends about the amazing adventure.

The Shocking Truth about Energy

Erg is a bolt of lightning that explains the good and bad news about various forms of energy from fossil fuels to wind, solar, and geothermal.

That’s all for now folks, so happy reading!

The Storymaker's Art exhibit in Fort Lauderdale

2010-11-12T13:54:00.000-05:00

The Storymaker’s Art is an exhibit of artwork from eight Florida children’s book illustrators. If you’ll be anywhere near the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale on Friday, December 3, 2010, you’re welcome to attend the panel discussion, reception, and book signing at the Mark K. Wheeler Gallery on campus. Click to enlarge the flyer below:

Seven of the eight illustrators will be answering questions at the panel discussion from 2–4, then we’ll be on hand for the reception and book signing from 5–8. I’ll have six illustrations in the exhibit, including one from my fall book, My Teacher is a Dinosaur.

For more details, please visit The Storymaker’s Art web site. Hope to see you there! If you can’t attend the opening, the exhibit will be up until January 5th.

Poetry Friday: Prehistoric Poems

2010-11-12T04:00:00.019-05:00

My fall book begins with a brand-new, molten Earth 4.5 billion years ago then takes readers on a whirlwind tour of the history of life...much of it conveyed in the form of poems, cinquains, and limericks. Exclusively for today’s Poetry Friday, here a few samples from My Teacher Is a Dinosaur and Other Prehistoric Poems, Jokes, Riddles, & Amazing Facts:

I had fun writing riddles in the form of limericks such as this one on page 11:

The answer to the riddle is...Insects! They were the first creatures on earth that could fly.

Most spreads have a longer verse, such as this one on page 16:

Perhaps as a side effect of writing and illustrating quite a few math picture books, I felt compelled to compile some poetic statistics for this book:
Cinquains: 6
Limerick riddles: 14
Verses: 20
Some titles of the longer poems include:
The Bad Old Days
Plant Pioneers
The Fish That Wanted Legs
How to Stay Alive
Did Hadrosaurs Quack?
A Warning from the Mammals

Oh, I almost forgot to mention how many jokes are in the book...zillions! For example:
Q. Why did T. Rex eat the teacher?
A. He was hungry for knowledge!

And there are many more layers of prehistory to explore; this is a world I hope to dig into again sometime soon. To see a full spread from the book plus reviews, please click here.

Blogs about science books for children

2010-10-26T17:30:00.000-04:00

It was a pleasant surprise to find this review of The Shocking Truth about Energy on the blog Simply Science: Using books for easy science lessons. I certainly can’t argue with this quote:

“The publisher says the book is for younger audiences, but I loved it and can see it read by older kids, too. It is succinct and complete, and a wonderful resource. I’d love to see it in every library in this energy-conscious age.”

It is funny how publishers put an age range on books that isn’t necessarily that accurate. It may have something to do with how they organize their catalog or some other arcane reason. Guess I should ask one of these days.

Here is an activity page for this book. Enjoy!

A handy list of my math picture books

2010-10-12T19:01:00.001-04:00

Since starting to “tweet” I can see how useful it is to create blog posts about a very specific topic. The “math phobia” #mathchat last week also was an inspiration. Without further ado, here are my math picture books with a summary and a link to each book’s page on my web site:

Follow the Money!

George the quarter starts at the mint, becomes change in a cash register, is used to buy a balloon, falls out of a pocket, is saved in a piggy bank, and has many other adventures as he travels through the economy.

Fraction Action

Miss Prime and her students learn about fractions in five short stories, starting with simple geometric shapes and objects such as half a glass of milk. Scenarios such as how to divide food evenly for a lunch or how far to discount lemonade for sale in wintertime show how fractions are used in real life.

The Great Graph Contest

Who is the best at making graphs, Gonk the toad or Beezy the lizard? With Chester the snail as judge, they set about collecting data and making bar graphs, pie charts, Venn diagrams, and quantity graphs. Rocks, bathing suit patterns, cookies, and flowers are some of the items that wind up being grouped and displayed in colorful visual form.

It’s Probably Penny

Lisa’s dog Penny is the focus of her homework assignment about probability. Lisa predicts the likelihood of events such as whether Penny will see a shark, dig up a buried treasure, or turn into a cat, then records the actual results.

Mapping Penny’s World
This time Lisa needs to make maps, so she starts with a floor plan of her room, complete with symbols, a key, a compass rose, and a scale. Other maps include Penny’s treasures, her favorite places, and a trip around the world Penny might take some day.

Measuring Penny

Lisa needs to measure something for her homework, so she chooses her dog Penny and a few of her doggie friends at the park. Lisa uses both standard and nonstandard units to measure tails, paws, noses, as well as how high the dogs can jump and many other characteristics.

Missing Math: A Number Mystery

When a town’s numbers vanish one day, everyone discovers how difficult a world without math would be. If nobody can count, add, subtract, make phone calls, use a computer, or buy anything then life becomes impossible, so hopefully a local detective can crack the case.

Mission Addition

Miss Prime explains the basics of addition, then her students venture out into the world to add up scores, tally up their pets, sell things at a garage sale, and write word problems.

The Monster Money Book

When a young monster and a girl want to join The Monster Club, they must earn money to pay dues, help add up the group funds, and figure out what to spend it on.

Subtraction Action
In seven short stories, Miss Prime’s students watch a magic show, put on a play, run an obstacle course, and try to win a prize by making things disappear.

2 X 2 = BOO! A Set of Spooky Multiplication Stories

In six short stories, silly Halloween characters such as ghosts, black cats, bats, and skeletons demonstrate the multiplication facts from 0 X 0 = 0 all the way to 5 X 5 = 25.

Whew, have I really done 11 of these? And I have another math picture book in the works right now...can’t wait to “see” how people like it!

Twitter hashtags about children’s books, writing, publishing, and education

2010-10-06T17:15:00.000-04:00

We can officially add Twitter to the list of Things-I-Said-I’d-Never-Do-But-Now-I-Am. Since I’ve only been tweeting for a couple of weeks, it may be premature to compile this list, but what the heck.

Hashtags are the way people index their tweets, which allows anyone searching on a hashtag to find info about, say #ebooks or #elemed (elementary education) or #math. Here’s an example from fellow I.N.K. blogger, Vicki Cobb:

"Before you cobble together free reading material for your kids, read this: http://bit.ly/b02i0o #education #edweeklive #literacy."

I’m not sure what #edweeklive is, will have to check it out, might be a conference. The shortened URLs are obtained at bit.ly or some other service for free. If there are tweet buttons on the blog, the post's URL is automatically shortened for the tweet.

By the way, I’m tweeting under @LoreenLeedy, so hope to see you there. The tags in bold are the ones I use the most…without any further ado, here are the tags:

#amediting    from people who are editing
#amwriting    from people who are writing
#arted               art education
#artsed             arts education
#arteacher
#askagent         agent questions and answers
#author
#authors
#bio
#bookapps        book-like apps for iPad, Android, etc.
#childrensbooks
#classroom
#dads
#ece           early childhood education
#editing
#ebooks
#edapp           educational app
#edchat
#edtech          education technology
#education
#edubk          books about teaching
#elemchat
#elemed        elementary education
#elementary
#ellchat           english language learners
#ePrdctn         electronic production (e.g. book designers)
#esl                 english as a second language
#fictionfriday
#hsc            homeschool

#homeschool
#iamwriting
#illustration
#innochat innovation

#journchat
#kedu kindergarten education
#kidlit children’s literature

#kidlitchat
#kidlitPRchat marketing children's books
#kids
#kidsapps
#kidsbooks
#lessonplans
#library
#librarians

#litchat
#literacy
#math
#maths
#mathchat
#mathteachers
#mglitchat middle grade literature chat
#mlearning mobile device learning, e.g. phones, tablets, etc.

#moms
#nanowrimo       national novel writing month
#NFforKids    nonfiction for kids
#nonfiction
#novels
#novelists
#ntchat               new teacher chat
#pblit          picture book literature

#pblitchat picture book literature chat
#picturebooks
#poem
#poet
#poets
#poetry
#preschool

#printdesign
#pubtip publication tips
#publishing
#SCBWI re the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrator
#science
#scifi

#scifichat

#scribechat
#selfpublishing
#storyappchat chat for book app authors, illustrators, developers, and users

#storycraft
#teacher
#teachpreschool
#titletalk librarians talking about specific book titles

#tlchat teacher-librarians

#webfic            web fiction
#weblit           web literature
#wip                 work in progress

#writechat
#writegoal
#writequote     quotations about writing
#writer
#writers
#writetip            writing tip
#writing
#writingtips      writing advice
#wrotetoday
#yalitchat          young adult literature chat
#ya

Tags that end with -chat are discussions held at a scheduled time such as once a week, but some people seem to put them on tweets at any time.

My source for some of these is here: Daily Writing Tips and here: Cybraryman. The rest I cribbed from reading various tweets, of course.

[Update Feb. 20, 2012: Added and deleted some tags. Suggestions are welcome!]

This post is such a joke

2010-09-28T05:57:00.000-04:00

[This article is adapted from one originally posted on I.N.K. (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids) on October 15, 2008. At the time, I was doing research for what became this year’s Fall book, My Teacher is a Dinosaur. Only one of these jokes ended up in the book as it turned out. Maybe there needs to be a sequel...!]

For some odd reason I recently began writing riddles and jokes about invertebrates, among other creatures:

Q. Why are anemones so popular?
A. The anemone of my anemone is my friend.

Q. Why are tubeworms so shy?
A. They‘re introvertebrates.

Time travel came up... temporally, at least:
Q. What’s the most common way to time travel?
A. Throwing the alarm clock at the wall!

Q. Why is time travel so confusing?
A. I already told you that next week!

Astronomy tried to take on a starring role:

Q. What do you call a mean meteor?
A. A nasteroid!

Q. How does the Earth say good-bye to the Moon?
A. Later, crater!

If there‘s an award for awful jokes, I hope to win it. It’s been about twenty years since I last grappled with similar material, and then to do just the illustrations for David Adler’s The Dinosaur Princess. So, how do you write a riddle or joke, anyway? Here's one method:

1. Choose a subject, let‘s say mammoths. List words that describe how they looked, their behavior, their habitat, and so on.
hairy trunk trumpet tusk snow ice huge big bones big teeth, etc.

2. Think of rhymes, similar-sounding words, and/or words that contain the word:
HAIRY scary contrary fairy canary very necessary Larry
SNOW go know no slow slowpoke snowflake
TRUNK junk chunk clunk skunk truncated

3. Use these ideas to write a rhyming, nonsensical, or goofy possible answer:a scary hairy fairy
a snowpoke

4. Make up a question that gives a hint of the answer:

Q. Why were baby mammoths afraid of losing a tusk?
A. Because of their hairy scary tooth fairy!

Q. How fast did mammoths walk in winter?
A. They were snowpokes!

5. Try variations on classic joke formulas:

Q. How many mammoths did it take to change a light bulb?
A. None because there were no lamps in the Ice Age!

Wording the question and answer carefully will maximize the effect. For a real challenge, once you get good at writing regular riddles, try incorporating one into a poem or limerick. (I’d show a sample, but have to save them for the book.)

One book for kids about how they can write their own jokes is Funny You Should Ask: How to Make Up Jokes and Riddles with Wordplay by Marvin Terban. He has written over thirty books for kids about various types of wordplay.
I ran across This Book is a Joke by Holly Kowitt in a used book store, and find it especially funny for some reason. It covers a ton of topics from pets to school lunches to the eight types of classmates. Mostly text, it does contain a few delightfully goofy cartoons. Note the award seal on the cover which proudly proclaims: This Book Won Nothing.

The world of nonfiction has a lot of potential gold for the enterprising humor prospector... because you have know some facts about a topic in order to be able to make fun of it. And that’s no joke!

Disclaimer: It’s possible somebody has already thought of some of these jokes/riddles... I came up with them on my own, but people have been kidding around for a long time!

Nonfiction picture books: praise and pet peeves

2010-09-18T19:18:00.000-04:00

I just came across this post on The Miss Rumphius Effect from last May, don’t know how it managed to elude me until now. The author of this popular blog, Tricia Stohr-Hunt, has a Ph.D. in Science Education and teaches at The University of Richmond. Nonfiction Picture Books, What I Love and What Makes Me Crazy has very kind words to say about my books and several other terrific authors.

One of the crazy-making issues she mentions is when nonfiction books are lacking...can you guess what?

I’ll give you a hint...or maybe you’ll just have to go read the article. The comments are excellent, also.

My Teacher is a Dinosaur on I.N.K.

2010-09-15T17:06:00.000-04:00

The I.N.K. blog (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids) is back after an August hiatus with plenty of interesting articles about nonfiction books. Please visit this link to read my post, Time for prehistory.

I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of “infographics”... it’s pretty much what it sounds like, just simple graphics that visually convey information. Anyway, I used a few simple ones to help make my point, that while there are a zillion books about dinosaurs, what about the rest of prehistory?

Happy reading!

PW on The Shocking Truth about Energy

2010-09-12T14:25:00.000-04:00

I forgot to post this previously, but this book is sure to be a classic, so no worries, right? By the way, take a peek at my fab new favicon. You have to actually be on the blog page to see it up to the left of the URL...it’s a little pile of books and a heart with my initials on top. That’s a lot to fit into a 16 X 16 pixel square(!) In case you’re viewing this in a reader, here it is at 32 X 32 pixels so you can see it:

Anyway, Publishers Weekly included my spring book under the headline Hot Topics!, which highlighted history and science books for young readers.
[excerpt]:
“This lively picture book stars Erg, a lightning bolt of ‘pure energy.’ Erg shares how energy gets transferred into different forms...describes the effects of global warming, and weighs the pros and cons of solar, wind, geothermal....Personified automobiles and appliances communicate via speech balloons, as easy-to-follow flowcharts make a potentially abstract concept tangible.”
Publishers Weekly

Below is a simple diagram from the book showing how water flowing through a dam makes power. (An earlier illustration goes into more detail about how a power plant generates electricity.)

I always learn a lot when writing and illustrating a book... this one was no exception! An activity/coloring sheet for this book can be found here. To see a spread from this book, please visit this page on my web site.

Sneak peek #1

2010-09-07T15:44:00.000-04:00

I’m working on a dummy for a book that will be available next fall (assuming I get it finished, that is.) Here is a little glimpse of what may be in it (this actual image may change):

You’re welcome to guess what the topic of the book is, but I can’t tell you yet. : )

The Shocking Truth about Energy activity sheet

2010-09-05T09:16:00.001-04:00

The Shocking Truth about Energy “...takes readers on a fast-paced journey, explaining what energy is, its various forms, how they are generated, and the ‘good news’ and ‘bad news’ about each one...a welcome addition on an important subject.” School Library Journal

For more info, reviews, and a math project idea, see this page on my web site.

Here is an activity/coloring sheet I whipped up this morning, utilizing some artwork from the book:

Just click on the image, then print out the enlarged view for use in the classroom. The idea is that each item will be marked with a letter according to what type of energy it needs to function. Here is the answer key:
Fossil Fuel: jet and truck
Muscle Power: bicycle and skateboard
Solar: calculator and plant
Wind: kite and wind turbine

If you have any comments or questions, please let me know.

The greenest book: paper or electronic?

2010-08-30T21:35:00.000-04:00

[This post first appeared on INK (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids) about a year ago. While the technology has progressed quite quickly, the issues discussed below have not.]

I’ve been pondering this topic quite a bit and found several online articles (listed at end) plus insightful reader comments that helped me to make this list. Without getting into heavy number-crunching to calculate carbon footprints, here are some pros and cons of traditional paper books vs. electronic books. Some of the items aren’t necessarily energy-related, but impact the reader’s experience and thus the desirability of one form over the other.

Paper book pros:

Trees are a renewable resource.

Paper books require little energy to read (aside from a lamp and some cookies, perhaps.)

Browsing is easy.

Paper books...

can last for decades or centuries

are often lent to many readers (via libraries as well as informal passing around.)

are generally not thrown away but are donated or sold.

are a carbon sink.

are pleasant to read in bed, in the bath, on the beach, or atop Mt. Everest.

Cons:

Paper books...
are heavy to ship.
become dated very quickly and can’t be directly updated.
are an all or nothing proposition. You either buy the whole book or none of it.
can be made from recycled materials and printed with non-toxic ink but often (usually?) are not.

Paper manufacturing requires a great deal of water and energy.

Pulp trees are often grown in an unsustainable way.

Many (most?) books are printed overseas and shipped long distances.

Because book returns are allowed, many books are shipped twice... to a bookstore, then back to the warehouse.

Excess books that are returned may ultimately never be sold and instead get recycled or destroyed.

Bookstores, libraries, and warehouses must be heated, cooled, and otherwise use energy.

Now for electronic books... first, a definition. For my purposes, a book in digital form can be a PDF that is downloaded from the Internet, a book published on a web site, read via a Kindle or other portable device format, on a CD, or hidden inside stuffed animals, etcetera.

E-book pros:

E-books...

take almost zero physical storage space... say “bye-bye” to bookshelves loaded with books nobody reads!

can be very inexpensive or free (depending on the economic model.)

can be easily subdivided so readers could buy only the portion they really want.

can easily be revised and updated.

Text and images that have been turned into electrons require little energy to “ship.”

Hundreds of books can be stored in one easy-to-carry package.

Various enhancements such as dictionary access, easy searching for terms, sound, animation, and who knows what else already are (or soon will be) possible.

Creative possibilities such as multiple endings, non-linear reading, internal and external linking, reader collaboration, and other multimedia mash-ups are possible.

Narrow interest publications are more economically feasible.

E-book cons:

They can’t be read without electricity.

Reader devices (e.g. computer, Kindle) take energy to manufacture and ship, and often contain toxic or nonrenewable materials.

Device life spans are relatively short.

Current devices are expensive.

Some technologies allow the seller to delete the book from a purchaser’s device (yikes!)

Readers can’t share a book under copyright (legally, anyway) except by lending their device.

Many titles are not currently available in electronic form.

Many people just don’t like reading on a screen.

Browsing e-books is a clunky experience compared to swiftly flipping through books in a bookstore.

I haven’t reached many firm conclusions, but one thing is for sure; it’s highly desirable that both paper and e-books be as green as possible, period. The trend is for “we the people” to be more demanding about how the products we consume rate in terms of their sustainability. As authors and readers, these issues are a top priority for us to think about now and in the years to come.

Sources:

Innovation and the Future of E-books by John W. Warren (downloadable PDF)

The New York Times: Are E-Readers Greener Than Books? by Joe Hutsko

Cleantech Group Report: E-readers a win for carbon emissions(summary)

Eco-Libris Blog: New report finds Kindle greener than physical books- is that really so?

The New York Times (April 2010) How Green is My iPad?

“Reading is an Investment” teaches kids about money

2010-08-28T18:58:00.001-04:00

While digging through the blogosphere, I stumbled over a new program in Vermont designed to teach young children basic financial concepts. Debuting this fall statewide, I’m delighted to say that one of the three books utilized will be Follow the Money.

The story begins as George, a quarter, is minted. Taken to the bank, he soon becomes change in a cash register drawer, then goes on to be spent, lost, saved, donated, and even washed in a washing machine as he travels hand to hand through the economy. Among other things, I wanted to show how people make such varied choices about how to use their money.

The second book is One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference by Katie Smith Milway, and illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes. It’s based on true story about a boy in Africa who started with one chicken and ended up with a large poultry farm. The story shows how microlending impacted not just the main character but also his family, village, and region.

The third book is Money Madness, written by David Adler and illustrated by Edward Miller. It explores early systems of exchange such as bartering, and early forms of money including rocks, feathers, and lumps of metal. It describes the advantages of money with concrete examples to show how difficult it could be to trade bread for a house, for example.

Many of us didn’t get very much practical information about personal finance and almost certainly could have used more guidance at an early age. It’s wonderful that the State Treasurer’s Office in Vermont decided to pursue this important aspect of their students’ education.

As John Bramley, one of the Reading is an Investment program supporters stated, “Financial literacy is more important today than ever, as shown by recent events.” I suspect we can all agree on that point.

[Update August 29, 2010] The Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy has a K-12 standards PDF available with an outline of the knowledge and skills students should possess. Topics include taking responsibility for personal financial decisions; finding/evaluating financial info from various sources; developing a plan for spending and saving; and many more. Mastering these topics is a good investment for all ages, no doubt!

Water-themed picture books

2010-08-27T16:31:00.000-04:00

The not-yet-released book Splish Splash! by Amy Schimler looks like a cute book. I haven’t met Amy personally, but a mutual artist friend Joyce Shelton told me about her. It’s a board book with an interactive feature... to see two interior spreads and find out more about it, check out this post on her blog.

Sketches and finishes from an upcoming book about the effect of climate change on the ocean can be seen on Stephen Aitken’s blog.

You can see some gorgeous watery artwork on Janeen Mason’s website from Ocean Commotion: Sea Turtles. I worked a tropical fish puzzle of hers once and it was amazing to see the detail she puts in her artwork.

You have to go visit this site for Ocean Soup: Tide-Pool Poems written by Steve Swinburne and illustrated by Mary Peterson, it couldn’t be more charming. Bubbles rise, crabs jump out, and more. I blogged about her approach to the book on I.N.K. (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids) in the post Illustrating Nature.

I have a partial ms. with an ocean theme... hmmm, maybe I need to get busy on that one. These are just a few that caught my eye...if anybody has other favorite watery picture books, feel free mention them in the Comments.

Digging Up Prehistoric Reference

2010-08-26T10:09:00.000-04:00

[This article is adapted from a post I originally wrote for I.N.K. (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids.]

While working on a My Teacher is a Dinosaur, I went on the hunt for good reference material. Though there are zillions of books on the multitudes of fabulous dinosaurs, it was more difficult to find information about the myriad of other intriguing prehistoric critters from cyanobacteria to giant sea scorpions to Diictodon (“the gopher of the Permian,” a reptile that lived in burrows) to Ambulocetus (“the walking whale”) and many more. In addition to having a more inclusive view of life throughout Earth’s prehistory, there had to be plenty of pictures, naturally. These are a few books I found that include dinosaurs AND equally interesting non-dinos:

Super Little Giant Book of Prehistoric Creatures
by David Lambert and The Diagram Group
2006, 288 pages, 4" X 5".

This small book has clear illustrations, timelines, overviews of the major geologicalperiods, and spotlights a good variety of animals with a description plus a summary of pronunciation of those tongue-twisting names, scientific classification, size, diet, location, and era.

The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life
Tim Haines and Paul Chambers, the makers of the TV trilogy Walking With Dinosaurs/Beasts/Monsters
2005, 216 pages, 8.5" X 11.

This book has stunning digital illustrations with photo-realistic detail that bring the ancient world to frightening life. Presented in chronological order, there’s a written description of each animal and its lifestyle. From Thrinaxodon (a reptile with whiskers), to Giganotosaurus (the largest meat-eating dinosaur), to Entelodon (a rhino-sized pig) these are fascinating creatures to get acquainted with.

National Geographic Prehistoric Mammals
by Alan Turner, paintings by Mauricio Anton
2004, 192 pages, 8.5" X 11.25"

A splendid compendium starting with mammal-like reptiles then covering the major mammal groups such as marsupials, elephant relatives such as Deinotherium (with nice chin tusks), primitive whales, tank-like Glyptodonts, bear-dogs, giant sloths, the largest land mammal (Paraceratherium) and many more, including human ancestors. Many of the painterly illustrations also include a panorama of the habitat that existed at the time, as opposed to showing the animals on a plain white background.

The World Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures
by Dougal Dixon
2007, 512 pages, 7" X 9"

One of the most comprehensive guides available, with about 1,000 animals described and nicely illustrated. After summaries of the geological timescale, habitats, and the process of fossilization, the animals march in. Starting with early tetrapods (4-limbed descendants of fish), there are giant amphibians, early reptiles and mammals, ocean-dwelling reptiles such as plesiosaurs, flying pterosaurs, armored/grazing/meat-eating dinosaurs, almost-birds, early cats, dogs, camels, rhinos, primates... they’re all there and more in a mind-boggling parade of the incredible creatures that existed ages ago.

By the way, I haven't forgotten about prehistoric plants. There aren’t many books devoted to them exclusively, but many references include at least a token section about ancient flora. And not to neglect the wonders of the Internet... you can find recently unearthed discoveries too new to be in books by putting in search terms like “giant prehistoric rodent”...some very cool critters just may pop up, such as this 1 ton wonder that did end up in my book.

When Fish Got Feet, Sharks Got Teeth, and Bugs Began to Swarm: A Cartoon Prehistory of Life Long Before Dinosaurs
by Hannah Bonner
2007, 48 pages, 8.5" X 10.5 inches

also When Bugs Were Big, Plants Were Strange, and Tetrapods Stalked the Earth: A Cartoon Prehistory of Life before Dinosaurs

These two books are a funny, informative survey of life before the dinosaurs.

Prehistoric Life: The Definitive Visual History of Life on Earth
DK Publishing
2009, 512 pages, 11.8 X 10.3 inches

My husband Andy spotted this thick tome at the bookstore, and it was a huge help. In addition to many pictures, the timelines made it much easier to put things in order.

For an incredibly comprehensive list of K-12 books about fossils, dinosaurs, and other prehistoric topics, check out this page compiled by retired science librarian Jack Mount.

Lists of recommended picture books

2010-08-25T16:14:00.000-04:00

It’s always nice to find my books on a list... that’s how the word-of-mouth spreads about children’s books, from what the publishers say. Here are a few that I came across recently:

A list of the 10 Best Elementary Math Trade Books, featuring my Fraction Action.

Five books plus ideas and resources for teaching fractions to 2nd graders on Open Wide, Look Inside.

A nice list of math books plus lesson plan ideas, including my Missing Math.

Favorite Books for Third-Graders is quite an extensive list from the GreatSchools Book Nook Experts. They include my Mapping Penny’s World in the section called Books About School.

A short post called Learning Coin Values with Money Bingo that mentions my Follow the Money.

Top 20 Earth Day Activities and Books is comprised of two nice lists, including The Great Trash Bash on the Educationtipster blog.

Books About the USA shows the jackets and describes the content of each book, including Celebrate the 50 States.

If anyone spots a book of mine on a list, please let me know, TIA!

My Teacher Is a Dinosaur free coloring page

2010-08-25T14:37:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I received copies of my fall picture book and they look great. The full title is My Teacher Is a Dinosaur and Other Prehistoric Poems, Jokes, Riddles, & Amazing Facts. It takes readers on a whirlwind tour of the history of life on Earth starting 4 1/2 billion years ago... not bad for only 48 pages, right? For more info including reviews, please check out this page.

These previous blog posts tell a little about the behind-the-scenes activity. I also wrote about doing the research for this book on I.N.K. (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids) here and here. Last but not least, here is my I.N.K. post about how to write jokes and riddles.

I haven’t forgotten about the coloring page... here it is!

Click on the image to enlarge it then print it out with a horizontal orientation and get out your crayons. (Did you know there is a Crayola set with 96 colors!?!) Or drag it off the web page to your desktop. Feel free to send it to any kids you know that love dinosaurs. If anyone sends me a photo of a colored-in page, I’ll post it here. Or, post it on my author page on Facebook!

Thanks, y’all!

[Note: This post also appeared on my studio blog... I’m in the middle of transitioning all my book-related posts to this blog. I’ll be reprinting some I.N.K. posts also in case readers didn’t see them the first time around.]