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BOOK PICKS: SPRING
By: Shannon Kaiser | March 30, 2022
After splashing in puddles, chasing butterflies, smelling fresh flowers, celebrate the arrival of spring with these great books for kids!
SHAKE A LEG, EGG!
By Kurt Cyrus
It’s springtime, and the pond is bursting with new life. There are beaver pups, heron hatchlings, and lots and lots of ducklings. Everyone is out and about, swimming, flapping, chirping, and quacking—except for one family of geese. When, oh when, will their last little one break on out and join the waiting world?
Purchase the book through Amazon HERE.
NESTING
By Henry Cole
In this black-and-white picture book highlighted with robin’s egg blue, the reader will follow two robins as they build a nest with twigs and grass. Then mother robin lays four beautiful blue eggs and will keep the eggs warm in the nest until they hatch into four baby robins.
The father robin protects the babies until they can fly on their own. The perils the babies encounter are many, including snakes and storms. The nest is always their safe place.
Nesting provides introductory biology and animal science concepts for very young children, and also makes a spectacular springtime gift.
Award-winning author-illustrator Henry Cole has re-created the life story of the robin with simple text and stunning artwork. Nesting is the perfect primer for young bird-watchers and nature lovers. The beautiful, intricate black-and-white illustrations are illuminated with lovely washes of blue that breathe life into the artwork.
Purchase the book through Amazon HERE.
AND THEN IT’S SPRING
By Julie Fogliano and Illustrated by Erin E. Stead
Following a snow-filled winter, a young boy and his dog decide that they've had enough of all that brown and resolve to plant a garden. They dig, they plant, they play, they wait . . . and wait . . . until at last, the brown becomes a more hopeful shade of brown, a sign that spring may finally be on its way.
Purchase the book through Amazon HERE.
SPRING WALK
By Virginia Brimhall Snow
After a long winter’s sleep, the soil is springing to life. Spring flowers break through the ground to welcome warmer days. Come with Grammy and her grandchildren as they explore and learn all about 24 different flowers. Once home, she teaches them how to plant their own flowers from seeds and make beautiful bouquets.
Purchase the book through Amazon HERE.
ABRACADABRA, IT’S SPRING
By Anne Sibley O’Brien and Illustrated by Susan Gal
Winter turns to spring in this lyrical book that celebrates the magic of nature and the changing seasons. Eleven gatefolds open to re-create the excitement and surprise of spring’s arrival, revealing what happens when snow melts, trees bud, flowers bloom, birds arrive, and eggs and cocoons hatch. Finally, it’s warm enough to pack away winter clothes and go out and play!
Purchase the book through Amazon HERE.
SPRING PARADE
By Camelia Kay and Illustrated by Allyn Howard
Here comes Spring! March along with Mama and Baby Bunny as they welcome a festive parade of budding flowers and blossoming trees, new birds, butterflies and bees, and all of their beloved friends, emerging from the winter season.
Purchase the book through Amazon HERE.
MUD
By Mary Lyn Ray and Illustrated by Lauren Stringer
An ode to muddy hands and feet, brown earth, and new grass. Simple text and exuberant illustrations will make children and their grown-up friends want to sink their feet into gooey, gloppy, mucky, magnificent mud.
Purchase the book through Amazon HERE.
EXPLORE SPRING!: 25 GREAT WAYS TO LEARN ABOUT SPRING
By Lauri Berkenkamp and Illustrated by Alexis Frederick-Frost
From tracking spring peepers and raising tadpoles to learning about seeds and recording plant growth, Explore Spring! 25 Great Ways to Learn About Spring invites young readers to explore the wonders of spring by becoming scientists in the field. Combining hands-on learning with solid science, trivia, riddles, and terrific illustrations, projects investigate the reason for the season” and include identifying trees and measuring their growth, recording soil temperature, and observing the forest floor. Bird migration and nest building are covered, and the movement of air and water is studied with experiments in capillary action and in such activities as Making Parachutes,” Making Kites,” and Mapping Air Currents with Bubbles.”
Purchase the book through Amazon HERE.
A LITTLE BIT OF DIRT: 55+ SCIENCE AND ART ACTIVITIES TO RECONNECT CHILDREN WITH NATURE
By Asia Citro, MaEd
Bursting with creative hands-on outdoor science and art activities, A Little Bit of Dirt is full of motivation to get outside and explore. Whether you're investigating the health of your local stream, making beautiful acrylic sunprints with leaves and flowers, running an experiment with your backyard birds, or concocting nature potions, you'll be fostering an important connection with nature. The engaging activities encourage the use of the senses and imagination and are perfect for all ages. Discover more about the natural world waiting just outside your door!
Purchase the book through Amazon HERE.
I LOVE DIRT: 52 ACTIVITIES TO HELP YOU AND YOUR KIDS DISCOVER THE WONDERS OF NATURE
By Jennifer Ward
I Love Dirt! presents 52 open-ended activities to help you engage your child in the outdoors. No matter what your location—from a small patch of green in the city to the wide-open meadows of the country—each activity is meant to promote exploration, stimulate imagination, and heighten a child's sense of wonder.
Purchase the book through Amazon HERE.
THE GARDEN CLASSROOM: HANDS ON ACTIVITIES IN MATH, SCIENCE, LITERACY AND ART
By Cathy James
Packed with garden-based activities that promote science, math, reading, writing, imaginative play, and arts and crafts, The Garden Classroom offers a whole year of outdoor play and learning ideas—however big or small your garden.
Every garden offers children a rich, sensory playground, full of interesting things to discover and learn about. There's a whole lot of science happening right before their eyes. The garden can also be a place to develop math and literacy skills, as the outdoors offers up plenty of invitations to weave learning into everyday gardening. The garden classroom is a place where plants grow, and where children grow too.
Purchase the book through Amazon HERE.
Amazon Smile
Help raise money for SMMC philanthropy projects by selecting Southern Marin Mothers’ Club as your AmazonSmile beneficiary. AmazonSmile is an easy way to give back and support the organization with your Amazon purchases. Register your Amazon account HERE.
Shannon Kaiser lives in Tiburon with her husband, Rolf, and three crazy kids who are in 4th grade, 1st grade, and Montessori. She spends her days chauffeuring her kids around town, folding laundry and serving as the 2021-22 term Southern Marin Mothers' Club President. You can reach Shannon at president@southernmarinmoms.com.
More from this issue:
Book Picks: Spring Read >>
How to take Better Spring Break Photos Read >>
Mindfulness in the Making: No Mud, No Lotus Read >>
Rose-Colored Glasses Read >>
Spring Forward with Courage Read >>
Spring Forward; Learn Ahead Read >>
Support and Protect Pollinators with Spring Planting Read >>
The Test Read >>
Welcome Community Partner: Chronos Academy Read >>