Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion

Earlier this week, Kelli wrote a post on Eco Child's Play called "Teaching Kids About Trash", in which she asked her high school sustainability class, "When you throw something away, where does it go?" "Away" is the topic of Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Motion by Loree Griffin Burns. Based on the research program of oceanographer Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer, Tracking Trash chronicles the journey of trash in our oceans (Be sure to read to the end of this post in order to learn how to win your own copy of Tracking Trash on Eco Child's Play).

What do ocean currents have to do with preserving our marine environment? Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer became inspired to study this topic when his mother saw an article about hundreds of sneakers washing up on the beaches near Seattle. Dr. Ebbesmeyer wanted to discover the origin of the shoes. He stated,

Tracking toys and sneakers gives us a chance to see what the ocean does with our trash. We can see the movement of trash by the great ocean currents and we can see the disintegration of the trash over time...and we can learn from it.

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

The The Lorax is the original children's book on the need for conservation, originally published in 1971. Dr. Seuss cleverly used rhymes and silly words to warn several generations of the consequences of overusing natural resources. The truffula trees are rapidly cut down to be used in the manufacturing of thneeds, causing creatures, such as the brown bearbaloots and swamee swams, to flee from the habitat loss and pollution caused by the thneed factory. At the end of the tale, readers are left with a glimmer of hope, when one truffula tree seed is given to a boy. "Plant a new Truffula. Treat it with care. Give it clean water. And feed it fresh air. Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack. Then the Lorax and all of his friends may come back." You can read more about the Lorax in "Green Family Values: Who Speaks for the Trees?"

Growing Vegetable Soup

One of our favorite things to make from our garden is vegetable soup, and Lois Ehlert’s book Growing Vegetable Soupis perfect to read before this activity. Graphic images illustrate the text about the entire process from seed to the cooking pot, helping children make the connection between the food they eat and the garden/farm. The artwork is somewhat abstract, so this book may not be the best choice if your goal is to teach children what plants actually look like. However, children familiar with gardening and plants will enjoy this tale and its accompanying recipe for vegetable soup. The simple, bold illustrations do provide a model for creating gardening based art with children.

Children Don't Read Enough!

Last week, the New York Times published an article titled "Study Links Drop in Test Scores to a Decline in Time Spent Reading". Although I don't take much stock in standardized testing, I do believe that children are spending less time reading, and that this is detrimental to their intelligence. It is not just children that are reading less, adults are too, which creates a snowball effect. When adults don't provide children with print rich environments and model the love of reading, children don't learn its intrinsic value.

The National Endowment for the Arts report is the basis for the NY Times article. They write:

Among the findings is that although reading scores among elementary school students have been improving, scores are flat among middle school students and slightly declining among high school seniors. These trends are concurrent with a falloff in daily pleasure reading among young people as they progress from elementary to high school, a drop that appears to continue once they enter college. The data also showed that students who read for fun nearly every day performed better on reading tests than those who reported reading never or hardly at all.

So turn off the TV and have some quiet reading time at home together each day. Remember sustained silent reading from your elementary school days? This practice at home, as well as reading aloud, will help your children make reading part of their daily routines and create a little tranquility in the home.

Building a House by Byron Barton

My three-year-old son's current favorite book, you know the one we read over and over and over again, is Building a Houseby Byron Barton. This book has simple text and illustrations, which appeals to young children. It is not a "boy" book, as it would appear is the target audience of books by Byron Barton, as all children enjoy learning from these simple books that border on non-fiction.

Like many little people, my son is obsessed with heavy equipment, such as bulldozers and dump trucks (my daughter was too at this age). One drawback to Building a House is that these machines are not identified with names, like backhoe, but simple called a "machine". Perhaps this isn't a negative aspect of the book, since my son always feels the need to fill in the correct information. That is one of the things I like about Building a House, you can fill in the details as you see fit based upon the illustrations and the interest of the child. I use many of the books by Byron Barton in my preschool program.

The Tree

Beautifully illustrated, The Tree is an old growth Douglas Fir that hears the bulldozers coming to end its life. With simple text inspired by a song, the tree reflects upon its life in the forest. "For eight hundred years I have lived here, through the wind, the fire and the snow…There's a river flowing near me, and I've watched that river change and grow." As the tree ponders who will enjoy such sacred beauty once it is gone, the bulldozers get closer. The tree is saved by the children, who encircle its trunk in their arms. This book is published by Illumination Arts, a company devoted to publishing "high quality, enlightening children's picture books with enduring, inspirational and spiritual values."

The Mountains of Tibet

The Mountains of Tibet by Mordicai Gerstein is a beautiful story of life and birth. A woodcutter passes away, then he is left with a choice. "You know you have a choice. You may become part of the endless universe some call heaven, or you may live another life." The woodcutter searches the planets, stars, earth, etc. looking for parents and a new life. Beautiful mandala like watercolors illustrate this book on reincarnation. Even if you do not believe in Buddhist thoughts on the after life, this is a wonderful book about the numerous possibilities for life. The Mountains of Tibet is also helpful to read when a child has lost a loved one. We often talk about our dog's next life, and it brings us comfort to know our paths may cross again. We have always told our children that they chose us to be their parents, and I believe that. Our children have come to us so that they may teach us, and so that we may teach them about love and compassion.

The ABC's of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond

The ABC's of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyondis an amazing book on nutrition using the ABC's to organize the content. The book begins with each letter boldly illustrated on the left hand page, including the featured fruit or vegetable and a side bar of additional ones that start with the letter. On the right hand page, a rhyming description of the fruit or vegetable accompanies a drawing. The rhyme includes interesting facts, geography, and humor. For example, "J is for sweet jicama (HEE-ka-ma). They're eaten sliced or whole. If you pronounce the J like H, You're speaking Espanol!"

The ABC's of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond could end after the alphabet is over, but there is much, much more! The "Beyond" portion of The ABC's of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyondprovides recipes, fun facts, geography, links to other great children's literature on the letter or fruit/vegetable, jokes, tongue twisters, etc. This is a great resource for parents, teachers, homeschoolers, etc. to extend the nutritional and alphabet lesson.

ABC books are great for young children. They offer an enjoyable method to expose children to the alphabet. The more exposure children have to letters, the more they will notice their characteristics, etc. ABC literature is an effective method for letter introduction and reinforcement, and it is much more developmentally appropriate method than direct instruction. The ABC's of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyondoffers a fun way for children to learn about nutrition in the context of the alphabet. I can't way to try out some of the recipes!

My Big Dog

Merl's a cat, "a very special cat", then one day, a sloppy, annoying puppy enters his life. My Big Dogis about how Merl, a very funny cat, copes with the changes. He wonders what has happened to his cat loving family...Why would they want a dog? My own dogs can relate to this sentiment, as our cat has become a house cat and our dogs are living outside now, due to incontinence. In My Big Dog, Merl decides to leave his home and find some people that will respect him. He encounters several different options, like a crazy cat lady who dresses him up, but in the end, he is sad and alone...until...the puppy with the sloppy tongue comes to rescue him and bring him home.

My Big Dog is hilarious, and children really relate to the story. This is one of the best read aloud books, and it is very easy to read with expression. Every time I read this book at preschool, the parents and children are laughing hysterically. My Big Dog is another great book by Janet Stevens one of my favorite authors/illustrators.

Waldorf Alphabet Book

The Waldorf Alphabet Book illustrated by Famke Zonneveld is a sweet way to introduce your child to the letters of our language. On each page, the letter is introduced with a painting of a main object/animal/etc. in the shape of the letter that also begins with the letter. Surrounding the main image are other images that also begin with the featured letter. For example, on the "S" page the main image is of swans in the shape of an "S" surrounded by other images of snow, squirrell, salamander, seal, sail boat, stars, sand dollar, etc all within a stained glass window. The artistry is rather simplistic and childlike but appropriate for a children's book. Using the arts to introduce children to the alpahbetic principle is part of the Waldorf philosophy. According to the afterword written by Waldorf teacher William Ward, "To start with, the Waldorf teacher will harness a child's "feeling life" by introducing the letters artistically and imaginatively, as in the Waldorf Alphabet Book. For each fairytale told, a consonant character will be derived from the picture drawn to illustrate the tale the following day."

For an early childhood computer class I took, I tried to embrace this approach using KidPix. I created the "A is for Angel" image, however I got frustrated with the limited abilities of KidPix compared to Photoshop.

I have always found it ironic that this imaginative and holistic educational philosophy began in the Waldorf cigarette factory of Stuttgart, Germany in 1919.

Hello, Hello

Hello Helloby Dan Zanes and illustrated by Donald Saaf is based on Dan Zane's excellent children's song by the same name. The text/lyrics are very optimistic, speaking of the potential of each day and ending with a multicultural image and words for hello: konnichiwa, namaste, hallo, bonjour, etc. Hello Hellocomes with a cd, featuring five Dan Zane's songs. The lyrics and musical notation for each song is included in the back of the book. I truly love this song and book! "Every day brings more than the day before, open any door and say hello hello hello. It's the same bright sun shines on everyone...." Hello Hellosends the message to love life and its inhabitants, while the whimsical illustrations with fold out pages delight young children.

A Handful of Sunshine

A few years ago, we received A Handful of Sunshineby Melanie Eclare for my daughter's birthday. This delightful gardening book follows the life of a gigantic sunflower grown by Tilda. Real photographs of Tilda's sunflower growing experience accompany the text of A Handful of Sunshine. I particularly like Tilda's sense of style with her rubber boots and striped sweater, as she digs and plants in the garden. She climbs a ladder to reach her sunflower head and discovers a toad in the garden. In the end, she saves the seeds from the sunflower she grew to plant next season. The end page of the book shows a simple time line in the life cycle of a sunflower. Planting sunflowers after reading A Handful of Sunshineis a natural extension to this great gardening book for children.

Tibetan Mandala Coloring Book

I could not wait to have children so that I could buy the Tibetan Mandalascoloring book by Tatjana Blau. For some reason, I could not justify buying this book for myself, but once I became a parent, this was one of my first purchases. Now, I have a coloring book both my children and I enjoy.

The Tibetan Mandalascoloring book features some complex and some more simple designs that I find meditative when coloring. The mandala designs include simple explanations and excerpts from Buddhist texts. For example:

Pay no attention to the mistakes of others
nor to their acts and behavior!
It is your own deeds and your own negligence
you must focus on!
-Dhammapada verse 49

This verse is especially important for school age children who are distracted by other's behaviors and prone to tattle tales. It also speaks to children about how we are in control and responsible for our own behaviors. Children can also learn to forgive and have compassion for others by contemplating such verses.

Guest Review: Madeline

Editor's note: We have our first review written by a child! Princess Mikayla is six-years-old and dictated her review of the classic, rhyming story of Madeline.

Why I like Madeline is because it's about 12 girls, and my favorite girl is Madeline. Madeline is never afraid, and when they went to the zoo, all Madeline said to the tiger when it was trying to scare her, she just said, "Pooh, pooh."

She lives in Paris, and her appendix busted. She went to the hospital, and she got to play with a whole bunch of toys and got some candy. Her friends visited her, and they were jealous, because she got all the toys. Then, in the night, they were crying, because they wanted their appendix to burst, so they would get all the toys.

Fire Race: A Karuk Coyote Tale of How Fire Came to the People

If you are a true localvore, does that mean you read local tales to your children? I try to chose local goods as much as possible, and I have always had an affinity for Native American stories, so Fire Race fits into my localvore ideals by providing a locally based story to share with my children. In California Native American tales, Coyote is often the trickster. Fire Race begins with Coyote up to his old tricks as he steals fire from the Yellow Jacket Sisters.

Fire Race is beautifully illustrated by Sylvia Long, and the illustrations hold true to Karuk traditions in the garb of the animal characters. For example, Coyote wears a basket cap traditional to the Karuk Tribe. The Karuk Tribe resides in far northern California along the Klamath River. Fire Race tells the traditional tale of how Coyote appealed to the vanity of the yellow jacket sisters to steal their fire. The race begins, with many local animals passing the fire to one another as the yellow jacket sisters chase them. Eventually, the fire is swallowed into the wood, where it is stored today for us to burn and stay warm.

I just love this book! It has always been one of my favorites as a teacher and a parent. There are so many things to discuss, such as the vanity of the Yellow Jacket Sisters and the cooperative effort of the animals. I love to connect the story to our hearth for our children, as we give thanks for the warmth our woodstove provides us. It is a gift from the land.

Little Yelllow Pear Tomatoes

Little Yellow Pear Tomatoes comes from my favorite children's literature publisher Illumination Arts. In this book, a little girl marvels at the circle of life in her little yellow pear tomatoes. She says, "Everyone and everything-my daddy, my mommy, bugs and worms, clouds and sky, lakes and rivers, the sun and stars-are parts of the tomato you cannot see. Take away any one, and the little yellow pear tomatoes in my garden could not be." This book takes its inspiration from the author's little girl and Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. The interconnectedness of life is the theme of Little Yellow Pear Tomatoes, as the book is very thought provoking for children and grown ups. This is my favorite book of the five, and I can never look at the yellow pear tomatoes in my garden the same after reading this book.