Summer Birds by Margarita Engle illustrated by Julie Paschkis

It is International Women's Day - time to celebrate women in Science. I often think about this book Summer Birds and then I searched my blog the other day and realised I hadn't actually talked about it here. Unfortunately, Summer Birds was published in 2010 so you may have to hunt out a copy in a library.

Reading this book several years ago was a revelation. People used to think butterflies came out of the mud in the summer - like magic. Maria Merian, from a very young age, was a curious girl. She collected butterflies and caterpillars but she had to do this in secret because in the 1650s she could have been accused of witchcraft.

Maria observed that caterpillars come from eggs. These are eggs laid by summer birds (butterflies). Caterpillars eat leaves and grow bigger and bigger. Eventually the caterpillars spin cocoons. Then comes the complex part. Inside the cocoon, while they rest, the caterpillars turn into butterflies and then they come out of their cocoon ready to fly and sip nectar. Maria also noticed a change like this with frogs and tadpoles. 

"When people understand the life cycles of creatures that change forms, they will stop calling small animals evil. They will learn, as I have, by seeing a wingless caterpillar turn into a flying summer bird."

About Maria Merian (1647 - 1717) born in Frankfurt, Germany died in Amsterdam:

"At the age of thirteen, Maria was well on her way to disproving the ancient theory (that butterflies came from mud). By careful observation she discovered that metamorphosis is natural, not supernatural. There was no witchcraft involved. Beginning with silkworms brought from Asia by a merchant, she watched the slow process of change, recording every detail in her notes and sketches ... Today as a result of Maria Sibylla Merian's careful studies, we know that butterflies, moths, and frogs do not spring from mud."

See more images of her work here

In 1705 she published Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium (“The Metamorphosis of the Insects of Suriname”). Arguably the most important work of her career, it included some 60 engravings illustrating the different stages of development that she had observed in Suriname’s insects. Similar to her caterpillar book, Metamorphosis depicted the insects on and around their host plants and included text describing each stage of development. The book was one of the first illustrated accounts of the natural history of Suriname. Britannica

Read more and see her art here:

Botanical art and artists

British Museum

Natural History Museum

Royal Society video (4 minutes)

The Conversation (Background reading for teachers)

Here is another book about Maria Merian written for children:

Perhaps you have some books from the Little People Big Dreams series in your library. I would love to see a book in this series about Maria Merian. Here are some other women scientists to explore:

Using Summer Birds as a jumping off point I highly recommend the verse novels written by Margarita Engle. AND every library should have one or two books illustrated by Julie Paschkis - her art is incredibly special.

Singing with Elephants

Books illustrated by Julie Paschkis

Cicada Sing Song by Pat Simmons illustrated by Katrin Dreiling

I really want extra notes at the back of this book. I do like cicadas but I don't know much about them. They nearly drove my friend crazy this summer when she moved into a small granny flat beside a huge tree where hundreds of them were living - who knew they wee and this can drop onto you and the washing! In this book they sing but in reality they sound like this. 

Here are some types of cicadas here in Australia

This book mentions The Yellow Drummer; Black Prince (Psaltoda plaga); Green Grocer (Cyclochila australasiae); Orange Drummer (Thopha colorata); Brown Bunyip (Tamasa tristigma); Floury Baker (Abricta curvicosta); Razor Grinder (Henicopsaltria eydouxii) and Blue Moon (an alternate name for the greengrocer). I had to check that these were all real names which is another reason why back notes would be useful and I have added the scientific names.

Some facts about cicadas:

• There are approximately 280 named species of cicada in Australia,
• The majority of Australian cicadas belong to the Cicadidae family, with the greengrocer and black prince (Psaltoda plaga) among the most well-known
• Australia probably has more species of cicadas than any other continent
• Cicadas spend most of their life underground as a nymph, with the timeframe depending on the species.
• Much of their life, under and above ground, is spent eating the sap of plants and trees (often eucalypts)
• When cicadas transition from nymph to adult their skin splits and they emerge over about two hours.
• Only males produce the cicadas' distinctive sounds
• The song is loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss in humans
• Different species have different songs to attract only their own kind.
• Many species of cicada sing during the heat of the day. The loud noise repels birds
• Some cicada species only sing at dusk. They gain some protection from predatory birds by confining their activity to dusk

Here are some teachers notes from the publisher. 

I would pair this book with:

I am very keen to see Cicada Symphony - it won heaps of awards in the US:

• 2024 ALA Notable Children's Book
• 2024 Texas 2x2 Reading List
• 2023 Chicago Public Library Best Informational Books for Younger Readers
• 2023 Blueberry Honor Award
• 2024 Bank Street Best Children's Books of the Year

Cicada Sing Song is a rather strange book but the illustrations are appealing. This book could be a jumping off point for further research about this curious insect or your school music teacher could use the text as a stimulus for instrumental compositions or improvisations. Here is a sound file of actual cicadas - they don't sound especially musical as implied by this story. In Australia we do associate the sound of cicadas with the arrival of summer. 

The copy I borrowed from a school library was purchased from a bookshop I had not heard of - The Turning Page in Springwood. I recognised the name of the illustrator Katrin Dreiling and then I checked my blog and found she illustrated A Perfect Pig. I was thrilled to read her favourite illustrator is Beatrice Alemagna and for writing its Astrid Lindgren and Janosch!

Here is a 2019 interview with Katrin by Kids' Book Review. And here are her books:

Pat Simmons is a writer of poetry, short stories, flash fiction and picture books for children. She lives in Scarborough on the NSW South Coast with her menagerie of dogs, cats and assorted mini beasts.

Her poetry and short stories have been published in anthologies and children’s literary magazines including NSW School Magazine, Alphabet Soup and Looking Glass Magazine. She has won writer competitions in Australia and the UK. Her first picture book, Ziggy’s Zoo, was published by Little Pink Dog Books in 2018.

Mushroom Lullaby by Kenneth Kraegel

"You head up your soft mushroom stair and read a book in your big mushroom chair."

For the first few pages of this lullaby, we meet various mushrooms in different situations. On the ground, on a tree branch, in a desert, under a waterfall. Then turn the page and we find a mushroom house with a front door and window. This is sure to enchant your young reading companion. The path to the house even has a small lantern hanging on a twig rather like the light from Narnia. There is an outdoor table with a checkers board game and inside the house you will see shelves crammed with books and other toy treasures. There is even a model of the mushroom house itself. 

A nearly square trim size and ink-and-watercolor compositions with an abundance of curves and rounded shapes create a setting filled with quiet joy and a sense of security. Stippling and other surface patterns provide texture and gradations of light. As the day winds down, the warm palette becomes even more intense, with glowing embers in the fireplace and deep orange-red walls and décor. Kirkus Star review

The font is large and so easy to read throughout that it works so well for bedtime. There are relatively few words on each page, with merely a phrase or two on the spread. The illustrations are quite detailed and lovely, really inviting the reader to explore this magical world visually on each page and leading into the slower pace that works so well for bedtime books. The amount of words and simplicity of the story along with the rhymes will work well for toddlers on up. YA Books Central

Publisher blurb: In gentle rhyme, this spare and whimsical picture book from the one-of-a-kind imagination of Kenneth Kraegel introduces little readers to all sorts of wonderful mushrooms: ones that grow up high and ones that never stay dry, ones that grow in a park and ones that glow in the dark, and even one made just for them! Who can resist climbing up the soft mushroom stair, curling up in a plush mushroom chair, and preparing to dream sweet mushroom dreams? The lulling narration and warm illustrations of this charmingly quirky book will have drowsy young ones settling into their own comfy beds, ready to drift off to sleep.

I first saw this book in an independent bookstore (sadly this store has now closed). I told the teacher-librarian of the library where I volunteer each week and she generously purchased this for her library. I did mention the author Kenneth Kraegel in a previous post. Here is his webpage.

Cricket in the Thicket by Carol Murray illustrated by Melissa Sweet

There are thirty poems in this lively collection and as a bonus each page also has a small fact box with extra science details about the featured 'bug'.

Walking Stick Courage

If it's skinny
like a twig - 
and it looks 
like a twig - 
and it feels
like a twig - 
then -
it must be a twig.
C'mon, let's touch it.
You first!

I was browsing the poetry section of the library I visit each week (looking for one poem in a picture book for an IBBY talk we are preparing) when I spied this 'sweet' looking poetry collection. Melissa Sweet's art is always so special. Now for the bad news - yes this is out of print - but it might be available in your local or school library. This book was published in 2017.

Sweet’s dependably eye-catching illustrations—infused with humor here—are an appropriate match. Care was given to balancing gender among those poems that use pronouns, and there is, incidentally, a note devoted to the fact that female ladybugs are nearly indistinguishable from male ladybugs. Happy-go-lucky fun with words, collage, and a smattering of facts about bugs. Kirkus

Cricket in the Thicket is an entertaining and informative collection of poems.  Poems are written from a child-like perspective, using vocabulary and sound words they will enjoy.  The poems have a smooth rhythm and flow.  Often a whimsical approach is taken when describing the insects, such as the idea of hugging a ladybug or a cricket being an alarm. Books 4 Learning

See more books by Carol Murray here. 

Carol describes her book: A nonfiction picture book of poetry about fascinating insects with accompanying facts, notes, and illustrations by the Caldecott-winning Melissa Sweet.

Pray tell us, Mr. Mantis,

Do you pray or simply prey?

Do you scout about for victims

Or fold your hands all day?

In addition to the playful rhyming poems, the supplementary text highlights surprising facts about bugs of all kinds - from familiar ants to exotic dragonflies, cringe-worthy ticks and magnificent fireflies. Melissa Sweet's collage-inspired mixed-media illustrations beautifully render these creatures and complement the poems' whimsical tones. This is an enchanting and informative look at a perennial topic of interest for kids - cool bugs!

Carol Murray loves ladybugs, Melissa Sweet loves stick insects and I love the idea (I have never seen one of course) of fireflies.

We glitter and glimmer
and put on a show
in honor of Earth - 
come and share in our glow!

Woven in, around and under the title text Melissa Sweet places many of the bugs highlighted in the narrative.  She gives them personality with a plus! The varnished red on cricket and green on thicket add to the pizzazz of her design.  ... These illustrations rendered in watercolor and mixed media are as fascinating as the subjects they feature.  On the title page a grasshopper is leaping over an array of flowers beneath the text.  On the dedication page a close-up of a leaf shows a grasshopper munching out a large hole.  He is looking right at the reader through the gap in the leaf. For each poem a distinctive, individualistic image has been created, many of them bringing the insect world closer to readers. ...  Her unique details will have you stopping at every page turn; a cricket poised on the edge of a red tennis shoe, ants crawling over a single stalk as a night scene unfolds, inchworms and measuring tape for a garden plot, the B in buzz becoming bumblebee wings, six circles showing a roly-poly rolling...up and unrolling and June bugs blasting against a light bulb.  ... Librarian's Quest

The rescuer of Tiny Creatures by Curtis Manley illustrated by Lucy Ruth Cummins

Roberta sees the world in a different way - she notices the tiny creatures that everyone else seems to ignore or avoid or worse.

"I rescue tiny creatures. It's a special job. A job no one else seems to care about."

She rescues tiny caterpillars, earth worms, spiders and I love her words to the ladybird:

"I carry the ladybug outside. Fly away home, I whisper. And it does."

There is a bit of a nasty bite from a dragonfly and sadly sometimes she is too late for some of these tiny creatures. But the dead bumblebee and beetle are good to study under her microscope.

Then one day the classroom wall is covered in hundreds of spiderlings. Luckily Roberta is brave and clever, and she knows exactly what to do. She shows everyone how to fold small origami boxes (instructions in the back of the book) and one by one each child watches the tiny spiders climb inside. Then the children watch a miracle of nature when, on the roof of their building, the children set the little baby spiders free. Each unfurl their spider silk and they float away like balloons to "new homes far away." While all of this is happening, one little girl in the class - Maria - is clearly not afraid. The next day Maria and Roberta have a conversation about a honeybee named fluffy. Roberta has found a true friend. The final scenes will make you laugh out loud and on the final page there is the promise of a third friend too. 

Here is the Kirkus review. Read more review comments on the web page of Curtis Manley. This is a book that children in preschool, Kindergarten and Grade One are sure to enjoy. 

You could pair this book with a poem I once taught my Grade Three class:

Hey, Bug! by Lilian Moore

Hey, bug, stay!
Don't run away.
I know a game that we can play.

I'll hold my fingers very still
And you can climb a finger-hill.

No, no.
Don't go.
Here's a wall - a tower, too,
A tiny bug town, just for you.
I've a cookie. You have some.
Take this oatmeal cookie crumb.
Hey, bug, stay!
Hey, bug!
Hey!

And here are a couple of other special poems about insects and minibeasts:

Hurt no living thing by Christina Rosetti

Hurt no living thing:

Ladybird, nor butterfly,

Nor moth with dusty wing,

Nor cricket chirping cheerily,

Nor grasshopper so light of leap,

Nor dancing gnat, nor beetle fat,

Nor harmless worms that creep.

The Bug by Marjorie Barrows

And when the rain had gone away

And it was shining everywhere,

I ran out on the walk to play

And found a little bug was there.

And he was running just as fast

As any little bug could run,

Until he stopped for breath at last,

All black and shiny in the sun.

And then he chirped a song to me

And gave his wings a little tug,

And that's the way he showed that he

Was very glad to be a bug!

Ladybug by Joan Walsh Anglund

A small speckled visitor

Wearing a crimson cape.

Brighter than a cherry

Smaller than a grape.

Tiny Ladybug

A polka-dotted someone

Walking on my wall.

A black-hooded lady

In a scarlet shawl.

A Dragonfly by Eleanor Farjeon

When the heat of the summer

Made drowsy the land,

A dragon-fly came

And sat on my hand,

With its blue jointed body,

And wings like spun glass,

It lit on my fingers

As though they were grass.

Lucy Ruth Cummins is the illustrator of another book I really love:

Plague by Jackie French illustrated by Bruce Whatley

"Grass and wheat-lands spread to the horizon, and so did we, with too few ibis to control us. We could rage across the land. We ate the grass, the leaves, the wheat ... "

My first teaching appointment was to a farming community and over the years I lived there, we had a mouse plague and a grasshopper or locust plague. To counteract the impact of insects on crops the farmers used aerial spraying. One of the teachers in my school had a dreadful, almost life threatening, reaction to these insecticides. She had to keep her home closed and limit her time outside and eventually she and her family had to leave the district.

In Plague, Jackie French begins with the before times when the original people of our land lived in harmony with the season, land and animals. The locust narrator explains:

"We were never too many. The world was balanced then."

BUT swamps were drained, land was cleared for farming and things went out of balance. Specifically the habitat for ibis was lost. Jackie French explains that a single ibis can eat 700 locusts in a day. With no ibis (they moved to our cities - see books below) and delicious crops on the new farms, the locusts thrived. 

The farmers fought back - using poison sprays but this also killed our bush birds who ate the locusts.

"Long ago, people knew how Country must be cherished."

A wonderful book to talk about the topic of nature in balance with older children is this one:

Sparrow Girl

Here are some teachers notes for Plague. Plague is the sixth book in this splendid series by Jackie French - Flood, Fire, Cyclone, Drought, Pandemic and Earthquake. And each of these books have simply perfect illustrations by Bruce Whatley. I highly recommend this series as an essential addition to every school library. 

Here are my comments about Earthquake:

This title has a debossed title and shaken letters in shades of brown like the land after an earthquake. This is a perfect way to introduce the topic of this book. Jackie French is a master storyteller. Every word in this text is chosen with great care. Jackie French uses precise and effective words and phrases so readers can feel, hear, and even smell the effects of an earthquake. It is a richly descriptive narrative. Examples of this are phrases like matchstick debris; ripped like paper; the shop floor quivered like the sea. The text describes the destruction caused by an earthquake but this is balanced when we read that, earthquakes have help shape the land. The notes are the back are factual and personal. This is an engaging text that most certainly will assist the reader to understand more about our world. The end papers show the power of a quake to bring down huge stone blocks. The sense of place is very strong especially with the reference to Meckering in Western Australia (1968) and Newcastle (1989). 

Tiny Monsters by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

Subtitle: The strange creatures that live on us, in us, and around us.

"Be warned: after meeting some of these tiny monsters, you may never look at your cereal, your pillow, or your eyelashes in quite the same way."

Another impressive outing by a popular pair.  Kirkus

Books like this are so special and intriguing and are sure to greatly appeal to young readers. Yes it is true you can Google anything today but this book will take you so much further and all in one easy to access and very appealing format.

The 'monsters' in this book are fascinating but also slightly nauseating. You are sure to grimace when you read about the pork tapeworm, bedbugs and the bluebottle fly. Maggots of these last ones are found in dead animals. There are twenty-four creatures in this book.

My favourite micro creature is the tardigrade probably because they are survivors and some were even sent into space.

Image Source: Science 4 fun

Every page has a a brief text, huge illustrations and a scale diagram. Are you curious about the monsters  in your pillow? It's the house dust mite. They feed on our dead skin cells. Other monsters that feed on humans are bedbugs, the chigger and the eyelash mite. None of these will worry you too much but you probably don't want to be attacked by head lice or a tick. Nor do you want to be infected by a hookworm - they can cause serious health issues. 

The result is every bit the tour of stinging hairs, humongous eyes, and sucking mouthparts that people who cringe at creepy-crawlies may fear but grossout fans will enjoy. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Jenkins and Page keep their audience riveted with shiver- and itch-inducing pages and fascinating trivia: the tardigrade "can live for 30 years without eating or drinking"; the marine scale worm lives near "volcanic vents on the sea floor." Meanwhile, the cut- and torn-paper collage illustrations highlight creatures that, when enlarged to a visible size, are more intriguing than sinister--the wonderful detail simply demands a thorough and close inspection. Shelf Awareness

Book seller blurb: Some of these monsters are so tiny that they were barely recognised, even by scientists, until the invention of the electron microscope. Although they may seem like aliens from another planet, these miniscule creatures live right alongside us. And just about all of them are harmless - and some are even helpful! In his signature cut- and torn-paper style, Steve Jenkins shows readers that - seen up close - these pesky critters are as fantastic looking as any creature on Earth. This Caldecott Honor-winning duo also uses informational graphics and diagrams to demonstrate just how big the critters are, where they live, and how many there might be in your home right this second!

It would be great to ask your students to think about the title of this book. The late Steve Jenkins could have used micro monsters for example. Steve Jenkins died in 2022 - read more here. 

Good Night Firefly by Gabriel Alborozo

Blurb: (spoiler alert) Nina is afraid of the dark. Luckily she has a nightlight, but one night the power goes out. So Nina traps a firefly to keep her company. She has a jolly time with her new friend, until she soon realizes that the firefly doesn't feel the same way, and she must let it go.

Good Night, Firefly delivers a master class in the use of contrast and sparsity in illustration. It is an object lesson in ambience; this book feels quiet, like a house in the dead of night should, and what more could you ask for from a book about a house in the dead of night? Kinder Lit Canada

Good Night Firefly was first published in 2015. One of our Australian online book sellers (as of October 2022) have some copies on sale but you might need to act quickly.  We do have fireflies here in Australia, which is something I did not know. I find the idea of them quite fascinating. Take a look at this post from my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything.  Here are some other firefly books I enjoyed reading:

Kirkus add a warning to their review of Good Night Firefly. Readers (perhaps older than the audience for this book) need to be aware that fireflies are in danger.

Yes, fireflies are endangered. Their populations have declined in recent years due to a variety of factors, including habitat loss, pesticide use, and light pollution. While some species of fireflies are still relatively common, others are at risk of extinction. World Animal Foundation

Read more:

Let's celebrate Picture Books

Firefly conservation and research (Firefly.org)

ABC News NSW Mid North Coast, Sept 2021

Butterfly eyes and other secrets of the meadow by Joyce Sidman illustrated by Beth Krommes

 

A top-drawer blend of art and science.  Kirkus

What is it? What am I? Who is he? What are we?

This book consists of a series of poems each of which ends with a question. Then readers turn the page and see the answer and perhaps confirm their own guess. You will see dew, a rabbit and a fox, the spittlebug, milkweed and monarch butterflies, snake and toad, goldfinch and hawk. All creatures of the meadow. 

So this book is an interesting blend of poetry, guessing game riddles and non fiction. Here is a set of teaching ideas.

I have found another favourite illustrator - Beth Krommes. Her scratchboard work in this book is so appealing. I would love to see some of her originals. Here is an image from the end papers of Butterfly eyes:

This book was published in 2006 and so it may be difficult to purchase but perhaps you will be lucky and find a copy in a library (as I did). You can see inside this book here. And here are other books by Joyce Sidman. Here is an interview about writing poetry with Joyce Sidman.

Sixteen poems describe the multitude of meadow denizens that stake a claim in that particular kind of land. Each poem describes a creature, though it’s up to the reader to guess that animal/plant/insect’s identity. Two pages of poetry showing a hint of the thing being described lead into two more pages of factual information. ... Some poems are funny, some are mysterious, and most leave you ah-hankerin’ for more. At the end kids will also find a Glossary of those terms that might have escaped their comprehension earlier in the book. Fuse #8

An Apology to My Prey by Joyce Sidman

I am deeply sorry for my huge orbs

of eyes, keen and hooded,

that pierce your lush

tapestry of meadow.

And my wins: I regret their slotted tips

that allow such explosive thrust;

their span that gathers wind

effortlessly, and of course their

deadly, folding dive.

Let me offer an apology, too,

for my talons, impossibly long

and curved, sliding so easily

through fur and feathers,

seeking, as they do,

that final grip.

And last, of course, the beak.

It does tend to glitter, I know –

a merciless hook,

a golden sickle poised over

your soft, helpless heart.

I’m sorry. For you, that is.

All this works out quite well

For me.

What am I?

It Fell from the Sky by The Fan Brothers

"The Inchworm insisted it only bounced twice."

"Everyone agreed it was the most amazing thing they had ever seen."

"A Frog assumed it was a gobstopper."

"The Stink Bug doubted that it fell from the sky at all."

"The Luna Moth knew it was not a comet or a star or a planet."

"The Spider assumed they must have left to spread the word ... "

Blurb: It fell from the sky on a Thursday. None of the insects know where it came from, or what it is. Some say it's an egg. Others, a gumdrop. But whatever it is, it fell near Spider's house, so he's convinced it belongs to him. Spider builds a wondrous display so that insects from far and wide can come look at the marvel. Spider has their best interests at heart. So what if he has to charge a small fee? So what if the lines are long? So what if no one can even see the wonder anymore? But what will Spider do after everyone stops showing up?

The Fans’ marvellous illustrations sparkle with nuance, from lofting dandelion seeds to the Spider’s dew-dropped web. Kirkus

This contemporary fable begins on its title page with a cat’s-eye marble falling to earth from the sky.  Horn Book

Here is an interview with Eric and Terry by Elizabeth Bird at the School Library Journal. And here is another interview with We Need Diverse Books. 

This is my new most favourite picture book. I would so love to own a copy but the hardcover price here in Australia is SO high. I will just need to keep my eyes open for a sale copy - hopefully.

Companion reads:

More

Babak the Beetle

Here is an article that compares this book with It Fell from the sky

The Midnight Fair

Have you met the Fan Brothers? Pardon the pun but I am a huge fan!

Ocean Meets Sky