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STEM Tuesday– Mixing Science and Poetry/Verse — Book List

By on April 9, 2019   /   Articles, Cross-Curricular, Curriculum Tie-in, Poetry/Verse, STEM Tuesday  

April is a time to celebrate poetry so we’ve gathered a list of wonderful STEM titles in verse for you to explore. Enjoy a poem each day. You might find many of these will spark you to write your own STEM poetry this month. From birds to biographies, these titles are sure to please.

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Leaf Litter Critters and Superlative Birds by Leslie Bulion

Leslie Bulion’s titles featuring familiar birds and bugs will spark joy this spring.

 

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry: More than 200 Poems With Photographs That Float, Zoom, and Bloom! by J. Patrick Lewis

With over 200 poems about nature by many well-known authors, you are sure to find a favorite.

 

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Carver, A Life in Poems by Marilyn Nelson – A biography of George Washington Carver

Explore the life of agricultural scientist George Washington Carver in these biographical poems by poet, Marilyn Nelson.

 

 

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org The Universe Verse by James Lu Dunbar

Explore this fun comic book in verse about the origin of the universe.

 

 

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman and Eric Beddows

This classic book by Paul Fleischman celebrates the insect world. It’s even more fun if you read it with a friend.

 

 

The Poetry of Science: The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong

This great classroom resource has over 200 STEM poems from 78 authors, including Joyce Sidman, Mary Ann Hoberman, Laura Purdas Salas, Jane Yolen, and Greg Pincus.

 

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Finding Wonders: The Girls Who Changed Science by Jeannine Atkins

Explore the lives of Maria Merian, Mary Anning, and Maria Mitchell is this beautiful text by poet Jeannine Atkins.

 

 

 

FICTION
Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Forest World by Margarita Engle

Margarita Engle brings this rainforest to life in this book in verse that is a perfect accompaniment to habitat lessons.

 

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Ringside: 1925 – Views from the Scopes Trial by Jen Bryant

This title is a bit older but is worth searching out to open up a discussion of the Scopes Trial with a middle school class. Perhaps pair it with Charles and Emma by Deborah Heiligman.

 

 

 

Lastly, we don’t usually include picture books on STEM Tuesday lists, but this classic title by one of our contributors is worth breaking the rules:

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Big Bang! The Tongue-Tickling Tale of a Speck That Became Spectacular by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano

Pair DeCristofano’s alliterative verse with The Universe Verse listed above. Both titles deal with the creation of the birth of our cosmos. How are they the same or different?

 

STEM Tuesday book lists prepared by:

Nancy Castaldo has written books about our planet for over 20 years including, THE STORY OF SEEDS: From Mendel’s Garden to Your Plate, and How There’s More of Less To Eat Around The World, which earned the Green Earth Book Award, Junior Library Guild Selection, and other honors. Nancy’s research has taken her all over the world from the Galapagos to Russia.  She strives to inform, inspire, and educate her readers. Nancy also serves as the Regional Advisor of the Eastern NY SCBWI region. Her 2018 multi-starred title is BACK FROM THE BRINK: Saving Animals from Extinction. Visit her at www.nancycastaldo.com

Patricia Newman writes middle-grade nonfiction that inspires kids to seek connections between science, literacy, and the environment. The recipient of a Sibert Honor for Sea Otter Heroes and the Green Earth Book Award for Plastic, Ahoy!, her books have received starred reviews, been honored as Junior Library Guild Selections, and included on Bank Street College’s Best Books lists. New:  Eavesdropping on Elephants: How Listening Helps Conservation, an NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book. During author visits, she demonstrates how her writing skills give a voice to our beleaguered environment. Visit her at www.patriciamnewman.com.

 

Shop your local indie bookstore

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Cover Reveal of SAVE THE CRASH-TEST DUMMIES by Jen Swanson!

By on April 3, 2019   /   Articles, Author Interviews  

Hello Mixed-Up Filers!

We have a special treat for you today! The cover-reveal of our own Jennifer Swanson’s SAVE THE CRASH-TEST DUMMIES!

Hi Jen,

Thanks so much for joining us today!

JR: Tell us a little bit about Save the Crash-test Dummies and the impetus behind writing it?

JS: For an earlier book I was doing, I had to research the self-driving car. At the time, Google was the only one making them. I LOVED the idea of a self-driving car! I mean, I am not a fan of driving. For more than 5 years I spent every afternoon from 3pm to 7pm in the car. That’s the price of  having 3 kids in 3 different sports across town all at the same time. Have a robot drive you? YES! Sign me up! (After all, I had alerady survived 3 teenage drivers).

But I knew I wanted this book to be a trade book, so I had to find the right hook. One night I was walking with my husband and we were talking about an old Crash-test dummy commercial that they had brought back (from the 70’s). I said something like, “Hey, if we have self-driving cars, we won’t need the dummies.” He said, “Yes, that would certainly, save the crash-test dummies life.” OMG! That was it! The hook, the title—everything all in one neat package. Suddenly,  the whole book popped into my head. I sat down to write my book about the history of car safety engineering from the Model T to self-driving cars.  The rest, as they say, is, well history.

 

 

JR: It looks fascinating! Everyone should go buy the book, but can you give us one thing that really surprised you while researching?

JS: It might surprise people to know that engineers were always concerned about safety, but the first group to create seatbelts was an emergency room doctor who saw first-hand the dangers of not having them in your car. He made them for his family.

 

JR: Have you ever been to see an actual crash test in person?

JS: Unfortunately, no. I would love to do so, though! I think it would be cool to see all of the equipment that is hooked up to the dummy. These things may be called “dummies” but they are really smart pieces of equipment, holding thousands of sensors to track every tiny movement and impact. We owe our lives to these “dummies” .

 

JR: Yes, we do. You’ve been very prolific in getting books out. How long does it take you to go from concept to finished product?

JS: Well that all depends on the publisher. I have TONS of ideas. But since I write for middle grade readers, I don’t write the entire manuscript, instead I submit a proposal. Sometimes the proposals are accepted right away. Then I start writing. If that happens, it can be about 3-4 months from idea to first draft. But if it takes longer to sell, it can take a while. In the meantime, though, I’m off and running on my next project and proposal. At any one time I may be working on 4-6 different projects (at various stages of publication) at once. It’s fun, if a bit challenging. But I love my job!

 

 

JR: What was the first book you wrote?

JS: The first book I ever wrote was in kindergarten. I used to write “books” about my dog, Lucky. I even illustrated them (with stick figures). My first nonfiction book that I wrote was called “Uninvited Guests: Invisible Creatures Lurking Inside Your Home” by Capstone Press. Very cool, but creepy if you don’t like crawly things.

 

JR: So, without further ado, let’s take a look at the cover for SAVE THE CRASH-TEST DUMMIES, illustrated by TeMika Grooms.

 

 

JR: Thanks again to Jen for joining us for her cover reveal! Make sure to get your copy when it comes out, or better yet, pre-order it now!

If any other authors want to have your cover reveal done at Mixed-Up Files, we’d love to host you!

 

 

Until next time . . .

 

Jonathan

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Book List: Just Right Poetry for Middle-Graders

By on April 3, 2019   /   Articles, Book Lists, For Parents, For Teachers, Nonfiction  

It’s National Poetry Month!  What better way to celebrate than to explore some of the great poetry books available for readers ages 8-12?  As you read poetry this month or anytime, remember that poets tune in to the sounds of feeling and the feelings of sound. Please READ  POEMS ALOUD to fully enjoy them.

Here are some appealing collections by single poets:

Marilyn Singer in Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reverso Poems, ingeniously turns familiar fairy tales like Snow White and Cinderella upside down in poems that you can  read forward and backward for opposite meanings! Her other books in reverso form are Follow Follow (featuring more tales like The Little Mermaid and The Tortoise and the Hare) and Echo Echo, based on Greek myths. All three are illustrated by Josee Masee.

Patrick Lewis’s Everything is a Poem: The Best of J. Patrick Lewis, Illustrated by Maria Cristina Pritelli, earns its title. It includes a range of poems written our third Children’s Poet Laureate. Subjects include animals, people, reading, sports (some of the best baseball poems I’ve read–take that, Casey at the Bat!), riddles, and funny epitaphs.

In Animal Poems, Valerie Worth captures the uniqueness of animals ranging from bear to porcupine to mole to jellyfish in brief but rich free-verse word pictures.  Stunning paper-cut animal illustrations by Steve Jenkins accompany the poems.

Joyce Sidman is our premier nature poet for children.  Her extraordinary books explore the natural world with vivid poems in various forms, based on solid science. Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors depicts animals that have adapted around the world and are definitely not endangered. See also her other titles , including her Caldecott Honor Winner Song of the Water Boatman and Winter Bees 

A good way to discover new poems and poets you love is to browse through anthologies with a variety of poets and poems. 
In Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets, Kwame Alexander, Chris Coldly and Mary Wentworth have written poems in homage  to great poets past and present who have inspired them., reflecting their styles and ideas.  The subjects include  Maya Angelou, Basho, e.e.cummings, Emily Dickinson, Walter Dean Myers, Pablo Neruda , Mary Olver, Rumi, and even Chief Dan George.  A joyful book with bold illustrations by Ekua Holmes.

Poet Naomi Shihab Nye is also a superb anthologist with a special interest in poems from less familiar voices.  See The Space Between our Footsteps: Poems and Paintings from the Middle East, and This Same Sky: A Collection of Poems from around the World.  She also compiled a collection of poems written by her students in poetry-in-the-schools classes over the years: Salting the Ocean: 100 poems by Young Poets. 

More and more novels in verse are appearing, most of them for at adult readers.
A wonderful exception is Kwame Alexander’s be-bop and free verse Newbery Award winner The Crossover. Here’s what Publisher’s Weeklyhad to say in its review of the book: “The poems dodge and weave with the speed of a point guard driving for the basket, mixing basketball action with vocabulary-themed poems, newspaper clippings, and Josh’s sincere first-person accounts that swing from moments of swagger-worth triumph to profound pain.” A page turner, even if you’re not especially a sports fan.  See also the other books in his Crossover series: Booked and Rebound.

Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate is a spare, quieter free-verse novel published in 2007 that still resonates in the present moment. This touching story of a young Sudanese war refugee trying to find his way in America is told through his own eyes and voice.

Middle Graders love humor.  Here are some books that take pitch-perfect aim at the middle-grade funny bone.

I’m loving Chris Harris’s I’m Just no Good at Rhyming and other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grownups.  Of course he is good at rhyming, but kids will find the title poem hilarious.

Caleb Brown is also a humor treasure, especially his Hypnotize a Tiger: Poems about Just about Everything.  See also The Ghostly Carousel: Delightfully Frightful Poems.  He has a new book coming out in June, Up Verses Down: Poems, Paintings, and Serious Nonsense.

Douglas Florian is  best known for his slightly younger books of clever word-play and paintings.  But he has two big books of humor: Poem Depot, Aisles of Smiles and Laugh-eteria. He has also collaborated with  J. Patrick Lewis in the wildly clever Poem-Mobiles: Crazy Car Poems.

Younger middle-grade fans of Shel Silverstein are in for a treat with his posthumously published book of spoonerisms  Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook.

What about middle-graders who would not only like to read poetry but to write their own?  Of course the best way to learn to write is to read and write and write some more.  But the following books may give young writers some encouragement and inspiration:

Kathi Appelt, Poems from Homeroom : A Writer’s Place to Start

Ralph Fletcher, Poetry Matters: Writing a Poem from the Inside Out and Writer’s Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You.

Paul B. Janeczko, A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms

Ted Kooser, The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets.

 

 

Readers, the hardest part about compiling this list was choosing from all the possibilities!  Please use the comments to add poetry titles you think or know from experience middle-graders would love.  Then let’s all get to our bookshelves, independent bookstore, or local library and celebrate National Poetry Month!

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