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A Little Space

By on August 16, 2021   /   Articles, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers  

It’s August. Summer is rapidly slipping away. How did the time fly by so fast? What about all those things I was going to do this summer? (Looks at 2021 Summer Calendar To-Do List and sees very few things crossed out.) School is either here or just around the corner. Teachers, librarians, readers, and creators of all stripes are answering the call to duty. 

It’s go time!

There’s is excitement in the air with the prospect and potential of a new academic year. But the pangs of summer fading into the sunset settle deep into my gut. (Looks again at the 2021 Summer Calendar To-Do List.) The innocent and once optimistic list of uncompleted writing and drawing tasks screams at me, “HAYS, DID YOU FORGET US?”

The tight-knit ball of creative anxiety in the pit of my stomach rapidly spins with enough orbital angular momentum to force the panic to rise. My heart races. My eyes flitter around the room. My sketchbooks, journals, notebooks, even my own published books gathering dust on the shelf, laugh at me. 

I run outside, look up into the expanse of a beautiful, northcentral blue Kansas sky, take a deep breath, and close my eyes. My heart no longer races. It’s beating with the steady rhythm of rolling down I-70 through the Flint Hills at dusk. 

John P Salvatore, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

I return to my office. The Summer Calendar 2021 To-Do List hangs unchanged on the wall. But it’s just a list again. A suggestion of potential things. A creative direction. The journals and notebooks are raw stories, packed with potential which hopefully someday find their readers. My published books on the shelf remind me I can indeed do this creative thing competently enough to give them a shelf life.

Ah…the beauty of space. The absolute raw power of space to put everything into perspective.

Space. What an awesome word!

Space is a Swiss Army knife word with so many uses and meanings. Space is a word we should celebrate and appreciate. A word we should vault to the top of the toolbox.

I need to make a token to hang on the wall or wear around my neck to remind me of the value and importance of space and creative space. I need the reminder that when stuck, a step back to create space is necessary in order to move forward.

As the season turns and we make fresh To-Do lists, it’s the perfect time to remember and appreciate the spaces in your life. The other night, I sat for a few minutes on the patio and took in the night sky hoping for a glimpse of the conglomeration of planets on the western horizon or spotting a meteor or two from the eastern sky. Unfortunately, cloud cover and poor timing thwarted these efforts but all was not lost. Mesmerized, as always, by the Big Dipper, I stared at the northern sky for a few minutes. 

Beautiful space. 

A reminder we are all impossible beings floating across the universe at 492,126 miles per hour. Insignificant and yet significant in everything we do. 

Amazing space. My relaxed brain started firing off the important “spaces” in my life. I made a list. 

  • Creative space
  • Outer space
  • Inner space
  • Backspace
  • Negative space
  • Garden space
  • Yard space
  • Patio space
  • Deep space
  • Near space
  • Public space
  • Private space
  • Workspace
  • Office space
  • Family space 
  • Spacebar (How about a Space bar?)
  • Writing space
  • Headspace
  • White space
  • Green space
  • Space Jam
  • Spacesuit
  • Open space
  • Wide-open space
  • Tight space
  • My Space
  • Personal space 
  • Closet space
  • Dream space

How about you? Have you ever considered the importance of space in your personal, professional, or creative life? Do you have a go-to space to open the mind or recharge the soul?

Have a great end of summer and enjoy the promise of tomorrow! 

If you find yourself running into creative walls, remember to take a step back, give yourself some space, and identify the best way to move forward. 

Finally, and perhaps most importantly,

Space out, y’all!

The original uploader was Triddle at English Wikipedia.(original:Photograph taken by User:Triddle and User:Codedelectron), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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Celebrating International Wolf Day – A Book List

By on August 13, 2021   /   Articles, Book Lists  

Today is International Wolf Day – a day set aside to celebrate the important role wolves play in a creating and maintaining a healthy ecosystem and to debunk the many fears and misconceptions people still hold about wolves.

To celebrate the day, From the Mixed-Up Files has put together an International Wolf Day book list, including a book by our own Rosanne Parry. From fantasy to fact-based fiction, there’s sure to be a book for every reader’s taste.

 

A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Parry

Swift, a young wolf cub, lives with his pack in the mountains learning to hunt, competing with his brothers and sisters for hierarchy, and watching over a new litter of cubs. Then a rival pack attacks, and Swift and his family scatter.

Alone and scared, Swift must flee and find a new home. His journey takes him a remarkable one thousand miles across the Pacific Northwest. The trip is full of peril, and Swift encounters forest fires, hunters, highways, and hunger before he finds his new home.

Inspired by the extraordinary true story of a wolf named OR-7 (or Journey), this irresistible tale of survival invites readers to experience and imagine what it would be like to be one of the most misunderstood animals on earth. This gripping and appealing novel about family, courage, loyalty, and the natural world is for fans of Fred Gipson’s Old Yeller and Katherine Applegate’s Endling.

Includes black-and-white illustrations throughout and a map as well as information about the real wolf who inspired the novel.

 

Fun Fact: A wolf can eat 20 lbs of meat in 5 minutes. That’s 100 hamburgers!

 

 

The Wolf’s Curse by Jessica Vitalis

Gauge’s life has been cursed since the day he cried Wolf. The superstitious villagers believe that the invisible Great White Wolf brings death; if Gauge can see it, then he must be in league with it. So instead of playing with friends in the streets or becoming his grandpapa’s partner in the carpentry shop, Gauge must go into hiding. Then the Wolf comes for the old man, and Gauge is left all alone with a bounty on his head and a Wolf on his heels. When a young feather collector named Roux offers Gauge assistance, the two embark on a quest to clear Gauge’s name. But soon, the two orphans are forced to question everything they have ever believed about their village, about the Wolf, and about death itself. Jessica Vitalis’s debut is a gorgeous, voice-driven literary fantasy about family, fate, and long-held traditions. The Wolf’s Curse will engross readers of The Girl Who Drank the Moon and A Wish in the Dark.

 

 

 

 

Fun Fact: Wolves can swim close to eight miles at a stretch!

 

 

The Wolf of Cape Fen by Juliana Brandt

First Frost has touched Cape Fen, and that means Baron Dire has returned. For as long as anyone can remember, Baron Dire has haunted the town come winter, striking magical bargains and demanding unjust payment in return. The Serling sisters know better than to bargain, lest they find themselves hunted by the Baron’s companion, the Wolf. Then the Wolf attacks Eliza’s sister Winnie. They manage to escape, but they know the Wolf will be back, because the Wolf only attacks those who owe the Baron Dire. Winnie would never bargain, so that must mean that someone has struck a deal with Winnie as the price.

Eliza embarks on a journey to save her sister, but as she untangles the links between Baron Dire, the Wolf, and her family, she discovers a complicated web of bargains that cross all of Cape Fen. If Eliza can learn the truth, she might be able to protect her sister, but the truth behind the bargain could put her own life in danger.

 

 

Fun Fact: Wolves howl for many reasons, like to communicate affection to their own pack or to warn away other packs. A wolf’s howl can travel up to ten miles away!

 

 

The Boy, The Wolf, and the Stars by Shivaun Plozza

Some say that long ago in the land of Ulv the sky was filled with Stars. Twelve-year-old Bo knows the stories but, like most, thinks the Stars and the wolf who ate them are just myths, and that no bedtime story can stop the ravenous Shadow Creatures running rampant every night when it turns Dark. Until the day Bo’s guardian, Mads, is attacked by a giant wolf straight from the legends. With his dying breath, Mads tells Bo that a great evil has been awakened, giving the Shadow Creatures unprecedented power, and the only way to stop it from spreading is to return the Stars to the sky.

​And so Bo—accompanied by his best friend, a fox called Nix; a girl named Selene with surprising magical abilities; and Tam, a bird-woman who has vowed to protect Bo at all costs—sets off on a quest to find the three magic keys that will release the Stars. But they’re not the only ones after the Stars and the friends soon find themselves fleeing angry villagers, greedy merchants, and a vengeful wolf. And all the while, an evil witch lurks in the shadows.

 

Fun fact: Wolves have 42 teeth! That’s 10 more than an adult human.

 

 

A Wolf for a Spell by Karah Sutton

The Girl Who Drank the Moon meets Pax in this fantastical tale of a wolf who forms an unlikely alliance with Baba Yaga to save the forest from a wicked tsar.

Since she was a pup, Zima has been taught to fear humans—especially witches—but when her family is threatened, she has no choice but to seek help from the witch Baba Yaga.

Baba Yaga never does magic for free, but it just so happens that she needs a wolf’s keen nose for a secret plan she’s brewing… Before Zima knows what’s happening, the witch has cast a switching spell and run off into the woods, while Zima is left behind in Baba Yaga’s hut—and Baba Yaga’s body!

Meanwhile, a young village girl named Nadya is also seeking the witch’s help, and when she meets Zima (in Baba Yaga’s form), they discover that they face a common enemy. With danger closing in, Zima must unite the wolves, the witches and the villagers against an evil that threatens them all.

 

 

Fun fact: Wolf pups are born with blue eyes, which then shift to green as they age and finally become their adult color such as orange or yellow. Adult wolves do not have blue eyes.

 

 

Click on the link to learn more about International Wolf Day, the roles wolves play in a healthy ecosystem, and how you can help support their survival. And, let us know which of the books in our list strike your fancy.

Happy reading!

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STEM Tuesday — Fun with Physics — In the Classroom

By on August 10, 2021   /   Physics, STEM Tuesday  

As we get ready to head back to school, there are a ton of physics activities that kids can try at home or in the classroom. The books on this list will help students learn more about the world around us and how it works. What are forces? How do they affect you every day? Why is it harder to push a box across the carpet than it is to push it across a smooth floor? How do you bounce so high on a trampoline? These are just a few of the questions that physics can answer. Are you ready to dive in and explore physics?

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Fairground Physics: Motion, Momentum, and Magnets with Hands-On Science Activities by Angie Smibert and Micha Rauch We couldn’t enjoy our favorite summer fair without physics. This book uses real-world fun to explore physics.

Classroom activity: Most kids love the rides and games at amusement parks and fairs. Now they can apply science to one of their favorite activities! Have students choose their favorite ride or game and research the role of physics. What laws of physics apply? How do these laws of physics explain the way the ride or game operates? How does physics impact safety on the ride or game? Students can also design their own rides or games. What laws of physics will apply? How will physics explain the way the ride or game operates? Students may even build a model or diagram to demonstrate the new ride or game for the class.

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org

The Speed of Starlight: An Exploration of Physics, Sound, Light, and Space by Colin Stuart and Ximo Abadia This book presents key physics principles through amazing artwork.

Classroom activity: This book combines art and science in a fantastic way. Students can also use art to understand and explain science concepts. Have students pick a law of physics and create a piece of art that illustrates and explains the science. Encourage students to use different art forms such as drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, crafts, or video. Have each student present their art and explain the scientific concept.

Cover for Women Scientists in Physics and Engineering (Superwomen in Stem)

Superwomen in STEM: Women Scientists in Physics and Engineering by Catherine Brereton Read about STEM women who made a difference in the field of physics and engineering.

Classroom activity: Have students choose a physics and engineering pioneer to research. What has their chosen pioneer contributed to the science of physics and our understanding of matter and its motion? Have students work together to create a living timeline of physics’ most important discoveries and scientific achievements.

 

Looking to explore more and learn about physics and how the world around you works? The books on this month’s list are packed full of physics activities and experiments. Browse through the pages and choose a few activities to do in class or at home!

 

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Carla Mooney loves to explore the world around us and discover the details about how it works. An award-winning author of numerous nonfiction science books for kids and teens, she hopes to spark a healthy curiosity and love of science in today’s young people. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, three kids, and dog. When not writing, she can often be spotted at a hockey rink for one of her kids’ games. Find her at http://www.carlamooney.com, on Facebook @carlamooneyauthor, or on Twitter @carlawrites.

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