Saturday, May 31, 2014

[Ocean which I pushed up]

The Immensity of the Sea (Pompano Beach, FL, 2011, M.A. Reilly )

[Ocean which I pushed up]

BY JOSHUA BECKMAN
Ocean which I pushed up
with my fingers so I could touch
the orange sand below

and white mountain
which is not white but for getting
caught in the cold

Stay here where it is warm
and where the sun shines, for later
celestial garlands of dead light
will draw you into the cold for sure
Joshua Beckman, “[Ocean which I pushed up]” from The Inside of an Apple. Copyright © 2013 by Joshua Beckman

Friday, May 30, 2014

For the Birds, Part 2 - Books for Grades 5-8

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from Peter Sis'sThe Conference of the Birds.
Traditional and Contemporary Stories

Lumbard, Alexis York. (2012). The Conference of the Birds. Illustrated by Demi. Bloomington, IN: Wisdom Tales Press.
Martin, Rafe. (2007). Birdwing. New York: Scholastic.
Sis, Peter. (2011). The Conference of the Birds. New York: Penguin.

from  Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95. 
Informational & Literary Nonfiction

Arnonsky, Jim. (2011). Thunder Birds: Nature’s Flying Predators. New York: Sterling.
Fleischman, Paul. (2013). I Am a Phoenix: Poems for Two Voices. Illustrated by Ken Nutt. New York: HarperCollins.
Hoose, Philip. (2012). Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Hoose, Philip. (2004). The Race to Save Lord God Bird. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
from  Looking for Seabirds: Journal from an Alaskan Voyage
Webb, Sophie. (2011). Far from Shore: Chronicles of an Open Ocean Voyage. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers.
Webb, Sophie. (2004). Looking for Seabirds: Journal from an Alaskan Voyage. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers.

Webb, Sophie. (2000). My Season With Penguins: An Antarctic Journal. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers.

This Room & Everything in It



Corset (M.A. Reilly, 2010)

This Room and Everything in It

BY LI-YOUNG LEE
Lie still now
while I prepare for my future,
certain hard days ahead,
when I’ll need what I know so clearly this moment.

I am making use
of the one thing I learned
of all the things my father tried to teach me:   
the art of memory.

I am letting this room
and everything in it
stand for my ideas about love   
and its difficulties.

I’ll let your love-cries,   
those spacious notes   
of a moment ago,   
stand for distance.

Your scent,
that scent
of spice and a wound,   
I’ll let stand for mystery.

Your sunken belly   
is the daily cup   
of milk I drank
as a boy before morning prayer.
The sun on the face   
of the wall
is God, the face
I can’t see, my soul,

and so on, each thing
standing for a separate idea,
and those ideas forming the constellation   
of my greater idea.
And one day, when I need
to tell myself something intelligent   
about love,

I’ll close my eyes
and recall this room and everything in it:   
My body is estrangement.
This desire, perfection.
Your closed eyes my extinction.
Now I’ve forgotten my
idea. The book
on the windowsill, riffled by wind . . .
the even-numbered pages are
the past, the odd-
numbered pages, the future.
The sun is
God, your body is milk . . .

useless, useless . . .
your cries are song, my body’s not me . . .
no good . . . my idea
has evaporated . . . your hair is time, your thighs are song . . .
it had something to do
with death . . . it had something
to do with love.
Li-Young Lee, “This Room and Everything in It” from The City in Which I Love You. Copyright © 1990 by Li-Young Lee. 




Thursday, May 29, 2014

Why Climate Change Debate About Humans Causing Global Warming Needs to Change

Screen Shot from John Oliver video


John Oliver's take on climate change 'debate'.  Funny, and yet so on the mark.


For the Birds: 50 Children's Books for K-4

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Biography

Davies, Jacqueline. (2004). The Boy Who Drew Birds: The Story of John James Audubon. Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. . New York: HMH Books for Young Readers.
Thomas, Peggy. (2011). For the Birds: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson.  Illustrated by Laura Jacques. Honesdale, PA: Calkins Creek.

Traditional and Contemporary Stories
Bryan, Ashley. (2011). Beautiful Blackbird. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.


de Mariscal, Blanca Lopez. (2001).  The Harvest Birds/ Los pajaros de la cosecha. Illustrated by Enrique Flores. New York: Lee & Low Books.
DePalma Mary Nwell. (2014).Two Little Birds. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers.
dePaola, Tomie. (2005). Days of the Blackbird. New York: Puffin.

from  The Lion and the Bird.

Dubuc, Marianne. (2014). The Lion and the Bird. Brooklyn NY: Enchanted Lion Books.
Dumont, Jean-Francois. (2014). The Geese March in Step. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers.
Graham, Bob. (2008). How to Heal a Broken Wing. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
Hayes, Joe. (2002). Pajaro Verde / The Green Bird. Illustrated by Antonio Castro L. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press.
Huxley, Aldous. (2011). The Crows of Pearblossom. Illustrated by Sophie Blackall. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
Judge, Lita. ( 2014). Flight School. New York: Atheneum.
Lionni, Leo. (2000). Tico and the Golden Wings. New York: Dragonfly Books.
Mikkigak, Qaunaq and Joanne Schwartz. (2013). Grandmother Ptarmigan. Illustrated by Illustrated by Qin Leng. Iqaluit, Nunavut: Inhabit Media.
Qitsualik-Tinsley, Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley (Inuit). (2014). The Raven and the Loon. Illustrated by Kim Smith. Iqaluit, Nunavut: Inhabit Media.


Rumi. (2014). Two Parrots. Illustrated by Rashin. New York: NorthSouth
Schwartz, Ellen. Abby's Birds. Illustrated by Sima Elizabeth Shefrin. Vancouver, BC: Tradewind Books.
Staake, Bob. (2013). Bluebird. New York: Schwartz & Wade
Steed, Philip. (2012). A Home for Bird. New York: Roaring Brook Press.
Van Camp, Richard (Dogrib). (1997).  A Man Called Raven. Illustrated by George Littlechild. New York: Lee & Low Books.


Williams, Maria. (Tlingit) (2001). How Raven Stole the Sun. Illustrated by Felix Vigil. New York: Abbeville Kids.
from  Little Bird.
Zullo, Germano. (2012). Little Bird. Brooklyn NY: Enchanted Lion Books.

Informational & Literary Nonfiction

Bash, Barbara. ( 1992). Urban Roosts: Where Birds Nest in the City. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
Bouler, Olivia. (2011). Olivia’s Birds: Saving the Gulf. New York: Sterling.
Cate, Annette LeBlanc. (2013). Look Up!: Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
Collard, Sneed B. III. (2008). Wings! Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.
Collard, Sneed B. III. (2002). Beaks!  Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.


Dunning, Joan. (2011). Seabird of the Forest. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press.
Dunphy, Madeleine. (2008). The Peregrine's Journey: A Story of Migration. Illustrated by Kristen Kest. Berkeley, CA: Web of Life.
Franco, Betsy. (2007). Birdsongs.  Illustrated by Steve Jenkins. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books.
Garelick, May. (1995). What Makes a Bird a Bird? Illustrated by Trish Hill.  New York: Mondo Press.
Gray, Rita. (2014).  Have You Heard the Nesting Bird? Illustrated by Kenard Pak. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers.
Henkes, Kevin. (2009). Birds. Illustrated by Laura Dronzek. New York: Greenwillow.
Hurley, Jorey. (2014.) Nest. New York: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books.
Judge, Lita. (2012). Bird Talk: What Birds Are Saying and Why. New York: Flashpoint.

from Puffin Patrol.
Lewin, Ted & Betsy Lewin. Puffin Patrol. New York: Lee & Low Books.
Kelly, Irene. (2009). Even an Ostrich Needs a Nest: Where Birds Begin. New York: Holiday House.
Schaefer, Lola M. (2014).  Arrowhawk. Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska. New York: Squarefish.
Schulman, Janet. (2008). Pale Male: Citizen Hawk of New York City. Illustrated by Meilo So. New York: Knopf.
Stewart, Melissa. (2014). Feathers: Not Just for Flying. Illustrated by Sarah S. Brannen. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.
Stewart, Melissa. (2009). A Place for Birds. Illustrated by Higgins Bond. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree Publishers.

Susan Roth's collages from Parrots Over Puerto Rico.
Trumbore, Cindy. (2013). Parrots Over Puerto Rico. Illustrated by Susan L. Roth. New York: Lee & Low Books.
Ward, Jennifer. (2014). Mama Built a Little Nest. Illustrated by Steve Jenkins. New York: Beach Lane Books.
Willis, Nancy Carol. (2006). Red Knot: A Shorebird's Incredible Journey. Middletown, DE: Birdsong Books.

Poetry

Florian, Doug. (2000). on the wing. Orlando, FL: Harcourt.
Johnston, Tony. (2001). The Barn Owls. Illustrated by Deborah Kogan Ray. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.
Prevert, Jacques. (2007). How to Paint the Portrait of a BirdIllustrated by Mordicai Gerstein. New York: Roaring Brook Press.
Rosen, Michael. J. (2009). The Cuckoo’s Haiku and Other Birding Poems. Illustrated by Stan Fellows. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
Sierra, Judy. (2003). Antarctic Antics: A Book of Penguin Poems.  Illustrated by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers.

Winer, Yvonne. (2002). Birds Build Nests. Illustrated by Tony Oliver. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.