A creative and informative guide for parents and educators.
The latest book in the Project Learning Tree series offers lessons for children ages 1 to 6, all related to the theme of trees.
The general topics in this curriculum—including shapes, sounds, textures, and seasons—all serve as pathways for kids to learn about different aspects of trees and connect those lessons to other areas of their education. Each section opens with an introduction, providing context for adults and suggesting ways to introduce the topic to youngsters; this is followed by suggestions for indoor and outdoor activities and ideas for ways parents and caregivers can reinforce lessons at home. Concepts and activities that are most appropriate for children 3 and under are highlighted. The book also points out connections between the lessons and curriculum standards, and it offers related children’s books for further reading. The lessons ably explore why trees matter and encourage kids to experience them in multidisciplinary and multisensory ways. This isn’t a book intended for casual readers, but its intended audience of educators will likely find it useful, and parents in search of ideas for exploring nature with children may also find it a help; it introduces basic types of trees, the functions of different tree parts, how humans use wood in everyday products, and the interdependence of trees and animals, among other concepts. The book is well organized, with a colorful, attractive layout. Instructions for specific activities, such as making toilet-paper-roll binoculars and “adopting” a local tree, are detailed and easy to follow. Lyrics for a tree-themed song (set to a familiar tune) are included as are links to recordings on a companion website. Appendices provide additional detail in several areas, including how to adapt lessons for different learning styles and abilities and how to connect them to STEM skills and careers. Overall, the book does a good job of making trees relevant to children, encouraging them to learn about the natural world and guiding them through the process. It also offers a variety of engaging low-tech activities in an appealing way.
A creative and informative guide for parents and educators.Pub Date: May 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-73592-096-2
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Project Learning Tree
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Bender (Toads and Diamonds, 1995, etc.) rises to the demands of the highly structured alphabet-book format. Each animal performs an alliterative action on the letter that begins its name (``Ants anchor Aa. Bats boil Bb''). The more outlandish the verb is, the better this works, as in ``Narwhals needle Nn'' and ``Unicorns undress Uu.'' The book passes the X-test with flying colors- -``Xanthid crabs X-ray Xx''—and has an extra gimmick for watchful readers in the page frames. Bender's technique of painting on acetates overlaid on a black background creates illustrations that shine with a fuzzy brilliance. However, instead of employing bright primaries, he elects a more subdued palette that still takes full advantage of the luminosity of the medium: Green browns and purple grays abound, and they are anything but dull. An exciting, approachable look at the animal kingdom. (Picture book. 2-6)
Pub Date: June 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-525-67520-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A history more splendid than any maharaja’s golden howdah. (b&w illustrations throughout)
A celebration of the Indian elephant, though the animal’s current precarious circumstances make this a cautionary tale as well.
While Alter (All the Way to Heaven, 1998, etc.) has spent many years in the subcontinent, this work stems from a series of journeys he made throughout India during 2001–02, ranging from Assam to Dehradun to the southern tip. It’s a story well and fondly told, of myth and art and great Indian masterworks, with a smattering (which is all that’s really known) of natural history about the Indian elephant’s behavior and biology. Alter notes that only a small percentage of Indian elephants live in national parks; the majority roam in forest reserves and private land, leaving them vulnerable to habitat encroachment and poaching. Dividing his time equally between scouring ancient texts and observation in the field, the author finds a close braiding of intimate knowledge of the elephant with the creature’s mythological status. In some instances they are portly, playful gods, in others emblems of authority, such as war elephants. As scholarly as Alter can be, he also has a knack for describing the elephants’ landscape: a gilded-green river under a saffron sky, flowers and birds flashing orange and turquoise, groves of bamboo and ordered ranks of teak trees. He works the animal’s contradictory status as both “an emblem of desire, the image of gajagamini—a woman whose walk is as seductive as an elephant’s,” and as a marauding raider, ruining a farmer’s crop in a night. The elephant’s survival cannot be assured solely by creating sanctuaries, Alter warns: it requires a “sustained commitment” from state and citizen alike.
A history more splendid than any maharaja’s golden howdah. (b&w illustrations throughout)Pub Date: May 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-15-100646-6
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2004
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