I know, it’s Tuesday today.  I am losing track of days – but I guess that is what summer is about.  I’ve spent lots of time with my family and Maggie.  We’ve been walking everywhere and I’ve been collecting lots of feathers on those walks.

Some of the feathers are flight feathers, fallen from wings and tails.  Others are smaller feathers from breasts and bellies.  I think they are beautiful. Some are speckled and some are striped.  Some are iridescent and others appear to be different colors depending on the angle you see it from.  Most have white shafts, but some shafts are tan or even bright yellow.  Even the black feathers, that I’m guessing have been molted by crows, shimmer  midnight blue in the sunlight.  Melissa Stewart’s book Feathers: Not Just for Flying tells of how different feathers serve birds in different ways.  The book blurb says:

Feathers aren’t just for flying. They can also protect a bird’s skin like sunscreen, attract attention like fancy jewelry, or even distract a predator like a bullfighter’s cape. Feathers: Not Just for Flying introduces young readers to sixteen birds, from the sleek emperor penguin to the fluffed-up blue jay and describes just how positively practical feathers can be.

It is interesting to think of all the things feathers do.  Birds have made some many different adaptations that allow them to survive in so many different environments and habitats.

Another thing I’ve been noticing on my walks with Maggie are the mushrooms.  They are everywhere in the woods and along the dirt roads where we walk.  Elise Gravel has written a new book about hunting for and gathering mushrooms with her two daughters.  It’s called The Mushroom Fan Club.  In it you can begin to learn about how and where mushrooms grow.  Scientists who study mushrooms are called mycologists.  The author teaches us about a few different kinds of mushrooms – some that are edible and some that are poisonous – and ends with a collections of mushroom facts.  She writes: “In case I still haven’t convinced you that mushrooms are cool… There are about thirty species of mushrooms that glow in the dark!  The super mushroom from Mario is a poisonous fly agaric.  Mushrooms grow better where lightning has recently struck…”  Mushrooms are pretty interesting and the more you know about them, the more interesting they become.

The world is an amazingly wonderful place.  What have you been wondering about? What have you been noticing this summer?  What kinds of memories or things are you collecting during your summer days?

Last week after I read through many books of poetry, I started reading articles about the books that had won special awards last year.  One of the award winners was a book of poetry I hadn’t read yet, called Out of Wonder.  I went to a favorite book store in Concord the next day to find a copy.  It is gorgeous.  There is a poem for everyone. The one I most want to share with you is Majestic by Kwame Alexander, written as a tribute to Maya Angelou.  She is one of my all time favorite authors.  The last stanza is an important message especially to you:  “Shine on, honey!  Know you are phenomenal.”

Many of you looked through books one and two of The Next Best Junior Chef series by Charise Mericle Harper.  The last book in the trilogy was published a few weeks ago.  You’ll be able to discover who reaches the end of the contest when you read The Winner Is…  It’s a pretty exciting and intense competition with lots of surprising twists and turns.  The food lovers and chefs from our class are sure to be inspired by the choices these junior chefs make and the challenges they overcome.  I’d sure love to try their food creations (and I’d like to know how to cook like that too!). How would you design your own food truck if you won?

And finally I think you’ll like the picture book, Drawn Together.  It’ll be a great one to share with your whole family.  A boy, about your age, is dropped off at his Grandfather’s house.  He’s going to spend the day.  The problem is, they don’t speak the same language.  They try to find things to do together, but nothing seems to work – not talking, not lunch, not TV.  Finally the boy takes out his markers and sketch pad.  He begins to draw and that’s how their adventure together begins.  His grandfather draws too.  All day they create an action packed story full of daring do.  Without speaking many words they have found a way to come together.  I can only imagine what their next day together will be like.  I bet you can too!

I’ve been reading books of poetry looking for new poems to share in our classroom.  Last year, I don’t think we changed our poems as often as we could.  I wanted some new chart ideas.

National Geographic’s Book of Animal Poetry is as much fun to look at, as it is to read.  The photographs are breath-taking.  They feature animals great and small – can you imagine being the photographer who was able to capture each exact moment.  The poetry is stunning as well because of the different varieties and the flow and rhythm of the language.  Here are  some examples:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the book, there is an invitation to be inspired and write your own.  I hope you will.  Check out the collection in National Geographic’s Book of Nature Poetry too.  Our world is a wonderful, indeed. Find something beautiful, take a photograph and write poem sharing what you see.

I’ve been sharing Humphrey books with classes for about 10 year.  Five years ago, this up-coming 8th grade, really liked Humphrey.  We read School Days According to Humphrey and Secrets According to Humphrey.  We had several different Humphrey book clubs run by 8th graders at the time – past 3E Humphrey fans.  That year Kaylee really hoped there would be an Og series.  She wrote to Betty Birney sharing her suggestion and her ideas.

Fast forward to the week school got out and what do you think I found, Life According to Og the Frog.  I couldn’t believe it and I could wait to read it.  It’s a lot of fun.  At the start of the book Og has just joined Room 26 .  Originally he was captured and brought into Miss Loomis’ classroom, but the bullfrog already there didn’t like it.  He was a real bullying made so much noise the class couldn’t learn.  Now in Room26, is trying to figure out how he belongs.  He remembers the lessons he learned in the swamp.  He watches and listens to all that happens in the classroom.  Being in a classroom is overwhelming at first – and the little furry guy on the table next to him is confusing.  Whenever Humphrey talks all Og hears is “SQUEAK, SQUEAK, SQUEAK.”  Over time with the help of Mr. Brisbane, Aldo and some of his classmates, Og discovers the importance of being a classroom pet.  He discovers the music and poetry of the classroom. Og finds ways to enjoy his classroom home and to appreciate the new opportunities there.

Home Again is the fourth and final book in the Heartwood Hotel quartet.  It’s summer and the hotel is full.  There is a wedding to celebrate and new families to welcome.  There is also a drought and a heatwave.  Lightening sparks a forest fire that threatens Fernwood Forest where the great oak hotel sits.  Mr. Heartwood sends everyone away to safety while staying behind.  He hopes to save his beloved home.  Mona realizes what Mr. Heartwood has done and rushes back to convince him to move to safety as well.  Will she return in time?  Will she still have a home, now that she has finally found one?  Friends…family…home…

Two summers ago a learned about Joseph Cornell and his Dream Boxes in a picture book by Jeanette Winters.  This summer I read more about him in Candace Fleming & Gerard Dubois’ The Amazing Collection of Joey Cornell.  It begins:  Joey Cornell collected – everything…anything… that sparked his imagination or delighted his eye.  “If I like it, I keep it,” Joey always said.  At first he stowed his collection in his bedroom.  But it grew… and grew… and grew, until…”  Joseph collected things his whole life and put them together in unusual ways to create images full of whimsy and story.  He created his museum displays just for children and it sounds like the children loved the dreams of Joseph Cornell.  What do you collect?  How would you arrange them in a box to show your dreams?  I’m saving the things I find this vacation.  I’m going to try to arrange them in a dream box sharing my memories of this summer.  Want to join me?