Showing posts with label Ecology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ecology. Show all posts

#IMWAYR May 23, 2022

Welcome readers! It's #IMWAYR time again, when bloggers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. These are fabulous places to start your search for what to read next. 

How are you all doing? In spite of the miserable cold weather, I managed to get the vegetable garden planted. When I was at the nursery I also picked up a few flowering plants for the other gardens too. You can never have too much colour in the yard. 
It was a strange reading week for me. I finished a brilliant novel by TJ Klune, and then couldn't get into anything after that. I started listening to a number of books and gave up. I started reading a few titles with my eyes, but couldn't get into them either. Thank goodness I finally found a book that I could connect too. 
Here in Canada we are celebrating the Victoria Day Weekend. It's been quiet since we stayed home and our children did the same. I'm off on Tuesday to Vancouver where I will visit my grandchildren for a couple of sleeps before heading off to my annual Women's Weekend. 

Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian or Indigenous Canadian Author and or Illustrator.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.

NON FICTION PICTURE BOOKS 

Shortly after Sundar Paliwal became leader of his village in India, he lost one of his daughters. He decided to honour her by planting 111 trees. Then he convinced the villagers to plant 111 trees every time a girl child was born into the village. He brought in engineers from the city to organize an irrigation system to keep the trees alive in the desert climate. Aloe Vera was planted to protect the trees from termites and other pests. From these plants women created health products to sell. Within a short period of time the community's health and wealth grew. Today more than 25000 trees have been planted. The landscape and lives of girls have been radically altered. 
In addition, through a shared community investment strategy, Sundar Paliwal ensured that each girl would go to school and not be married off until she was 18. 
Rendered in watercolor, gouache, and graphite, Marianne Ferrer's illustrations are just gorgeous. 
Our world needs more people like Sundar Paliwal. 

GRAPHIC

4 stars

Roll With It by Lee Durfey-Lavoie & Veronica Agarwal October 5, 2021

Thanks to Max at Completely Full Bookshelf for introducing me to this title. 
It is a story about a young girl with anxiety/OCD issues. In spite of this, her new year in middle school starts out well. She makes a new friend, joins an after school club, and seems to be settling in well. Things at home are mostly good. 
On the down side, one of her sisters might be leaving home, and there seems to be some kind of low crawling creature/monster lurking outside the school. As her anxiety increases, she starts to have trouble finishing homework. 
Maggie is controlled by a kind of magical thinking. Upon arriving home from school she engages in a ritual of switching the lights on and off. She carries a 20 sided die with her and rolls it continuously to help her make decisions. Her parents suggest she see a therapist, but despite the evidence, Maggie insists she is fine. By the end of the book, she realizes she needs help and goes to see one 
I liked a lot about this book. I liked that we see how therapy helped Maggie. I liked the inclusion of the role playing game. It took me back to the days when my sons were engrossed in Dungeons and Dragons. (They still play, but now that they are fathers, less often.) I appreciated the incidental diversity in the characters. I also liked the information in the back matter about how the book was developed. 

ADULT NOVELS 


What happens when a not very nice man dies unexpectedly and doesn't want to move on into the afterlife? Read this and discover one possibility: a possibility full of hilarity, sweetness, rehabilitation and romance. 
I did not want this book to end.
I am now an unapologetic fan of T.J. Klune. 
While this is an adult novel, I would happily include it in a high school library. 

I have long been a fan of Joan Didion, but until listening to this collection of essays from her earlier life, had almost forgotten why. That woman could write! Didion made everything she wrote about seem fascinating. She challenges her readers to reexamine our own perceptions of subjects she addressed. Her essay on the media (written in 1968) feels scarily prescient for where we are today. 
Also, the introduction by Hilton Als is a brilliant overview of her life.

4 stars

Okanagan Geology South by Murray A. Roed and Robert J. Fulton (Editors) October 2017  🍁

I asked my partner a question about what mountain range we are part of, and he handed me this book. I finished it in one sitting. I suspect that people not acquainted with the area would not be as fascinated as I was to read about the area's geological history and existing features. Being able to make personal connections to the different areas written about made it all come alive. My one quibble about this book is that it was difficult to keep track of all the figures mentioned in the text. I also wish the index was more detailed. 

CURRENTLY

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro & Sara Siu (Narrator)
Cress Watercress by Gregory Maguire

UP NEXT 

Cold by Mariko Tamaki
An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System: A Tale in Four Lives by Matt Richtel

READING GOALS

#MustReadFiction 11/24 

#MustReadNonFiction 8/18 

Canadian Authors 29/100

Canada Reads shortlist 5/5 

Indigenous Authors 11/25

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 120 /250
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#IMWAYR July 12, 2021

Hello everyone. It's #IMWAYR time again, when readers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to in the past week. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. Whatever you are looking forward to in your next great read, these are fabulous places to start your search.


I'm sharing two weeks worth of books today. My son, his partner, and their two children spent 5 days with us last week. I hardly had time to read, never mind write. Here they are picking cherries for the first time. 



They left Tuesday morning. We hated to see them go, but we were exhausted. A ten month old and a four year old will do that to you. To make matters worse I've had to deal with some complications from my surgery. Thankfully, it's all good for now. 

Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian or Indigenous Canadian Author and or Illustrator. 

Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book. 

RECENT BLOG POSTS


The Boreal Forest: A Year in the World's Largest Land Biome by L.E. Carmichael & Josée Bisaillon (Illustrations)

PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Mr. Postmouse's Rounds by Marianne Dubuc April 1, 2015 🍁

Mr. Postmouse delivers mail and parcels to many different animals on his daily round. Luckily there is nothing for the snake who is so long he stretches across a couple of two page spreads. The details of the different animal homes are full of whimsy. This is a delightful read for fans of Richard Scarry.

5 stars

Mr. Postmouse Takes a Trip by Marianne Dubuc March 2, 2017 🍁

I wish I had dug this out of my library pile when my grandson was visiting. Mr. Postmouse takes a break from work to go on vacation with his family. They travel around the world visiting all kinds of exciting places. There is a parcel to deliver at every destination. This is an ideal book for readers who like the kind of complicated illustrations of Richard Scarry. My sons loved his work and I'm sure my grandkids will love this.

5 stars

Wishes by Mượn Thị Văn & Victo Ngai (Illustrations) May 04, 2021

This book about a family fleeing from Vietnam after the war is profound. I had shivers reading it.

4 stars

Hike by Pete Oswald Mar 17, 2020

This wordless book tells of the adventures of a child and their father. The two of them get up early to go on a long hike. The illustrations are full of details about the landscape and the creatures inhabiting it. It's a glorious day to the top of a mountain and the youngster is tired out at the end of the adventure.

5 stars

Snail Crossing by Corey R. Tabor Feb 04, 2020

My grandson and I loved this book. We laughed so much we had to read it over and over. I especially loved how Snail helped the antsy ants and they in turn helped him.

3.5 stars

The Farmer and the Circus by Marla Frazee April 6, 2021

This delightful trilogy concludes with a romantic ending. 

4 stars

If You Come to Earth by Sophie Blackall Sep 15, 2020

This drop dead gorgeous picture book is a guide for aliens about our planet. I love the diversity in culture, families, gender, and abilities that are showcased. I have read that some people think aspects of this are problematic in that certain groups are stereotyped. 

NON FICTION PICTURE BOOKS


This book is a brilliant exploration of this biome. It looks at animals and plants across the seasons. To find out more and see some examples of the illustrations check out my post here. 

5 stars

Someone Builds the Dream by Lisa Wheeler & Loren Long (Illustrator) Mar 23, 2021

The art in this is spectacular. My four year old grandson and I enjoyed looking at all the details. He told me the names of most of the machines. We agreed that next time he should read it with Grandpa who can probably explain more about what is going on in the building pictures. I especially appreciated the diversity in the people working.

POETRY


4 stars

The One Thing You'd Save by Linda Sue Park & Robert Sae-Heng (Illustrations) Mar 16, 2021

This book feels kind of prescient. In the last week we had four fires break out within six kilometers of where we live. The air is full of smoke haze this morning. 
It is written in sijo, a Korean form of poetry. Through this narrative verse we learn about the different things students would save if their house was burning down. We learn a lot about each one from what they choose.
Having experienced a house fire once, all I can say is that so long as everyone is safe, it's all that matters.


CHAPTER BOOKS

My grandson hadn't read the The Princess in Black and the Giant Problem, a book that I got him for his birthday. When he was here I downloaded the first in the series from my library to my ipad. We read it together and then he insisted we download the second one. I did, although we read it together later. I am happy to say he loved both of them.


NOVELS


This is not a comfortable read, but it’s a necessary one. If you want to understand what went on in the residential ‘school’ system and the ramifications for survivors, this is your book. Even though I was aware of the horror of these places, Michelle Good's story of five survivors brought my understanding of this violence against culture, families and children into a deeper understanding.
Like a friend of mine said, "it opened my eyes even wider. The mean spirited nastiness, righteous arrogance, and lack of respect and empathy shown toward Indigenous people by residential institution leaders and our government makes me nauseous."


With house guests I couldn't just sit down and read this book from cover to cover like I did the first two in the series. Disrupting the flow meant that I wasn't as absorbed in the story and that on edge feeling that permeated those first two, didn't get a hold on me this time. I still loved it, but would have enjoyed it more without having to stop and start. I didn't begrudge spending time with my grandson, but it was close.
Like the first two, this one is full of worry and fear for the three protagonists, Anaya, Petra, and Seth. The different messages from different alien factions have Seth questioning who to believe. On the one hand the captain of the ship he's been brought to has given him the capacity to fly. On the other, rebel forces warn him not to trust him.


This is a collection of short stories that center around youth attending a pow wow. The contributors come from Canada and the United States. Some of these authors are people I am acquainted with but others were new to me. I'm looking forward to reading more from them. I especially liked those stories where characters from other narratives made an appearance - especially that dog!

4 stars

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez & Kyla Garcia (Narrator) Oct 17, 2017

Erika L. Sánchezes rich, complex, and authentic characters made this book a winner for me. She does this with all her people, not just the protagonist. I adored Julia, a young teen of Mexican ancestry who doesn't fit into the mold her family expects of her. I liked that Julia worked to understand who Olga, her perfect, older sister, was after she died. Her relationship with her family, especially her mother, is complicated and messy. I appreciated that Julia ended up in therapy and that her life improved because of it. This YA book is both gritty and beautiful. 

NON FICTION

5 stars

Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard by Douglas W. Tallamy & Adam Barr (Narrator) Feb 04, 2020

This fascinating book made me rethink what to do with our front yard space. I had plans for drought resistant plants, but this book has filled me with hope for what we can do individually in our own spaces to support local insects, bees, birds and other wildlife. Thanks to Sue Jackson who turned me onto this book. 

5 stars

The Goodness Paradox: The Strange Relationship Between Virtue and Violence in Human Evolution by Richard W. Wrangham & Michael Page (Narrator) January 17, 2019

Wrangham looks at how we humans have managed to domesticate ourselves. He identifies the difference between proactive and reactive aggression and shows how, over the last 250 million years, through self selection, we have managed to reduce the latter. This is an ideal companion book to read with War by by Margaret MacMillan.
I'm glad I purchased this because it's a book I will want to reread. I figure I only grasped the surface of it the first time round.


MacMillan addresses what Wrangham calls proactive aggression. She looks at the history of war and how it has shaped the kind of cultures and societies we live in. It's big picture and overarching in it's scope. 

CURRENTLY 

A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency by Seth Klein
The Elephant in the Room by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Fred Korematsu Speaks up by Laura Atkins 

UP NEXT

The Disability Experience: Working Toward Belonging by Hannalora Leavitt
Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
I'll also continue to work at getting the picture book pile under control.

BLOG POSTS PLANNED FOR NEXT WEEK

Fred & Marjorie: A Doctor, a Dog, and the Discovery of Insulin by Deborah Kerbel
 
PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MustReadIn2021 19/25  - one in progress 

#MustReadNFIn2021 7/12  - one in progress

#MustReadPBIn2021 39/100 

Big Book Summer Challenge 4

Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 23/25

Books by Canadian Authors: 72/100 - two in progress

Canada Reads 2021 4/5 

Discworld Series 41/41

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 252 /333 

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The Boreal Forest: A Year in the World's Largest Land Biome by L.E. Carmichael & Josée Bisaillon (Illustrations)


I checked this book out of my local library. It was published April 7, 2020 by Kids Can Press. 

There are multiple reasons you need this book. For a nonfiction picture book, it is remarkably comprehensive. It is absolutely chock full of fascinating information. I learned all kinds of new things. The glorious mixed media artwork by Josée Bisaillon is one reason all on it's own. A reader can get lost in the illustrations without beginning to read the text. 


The book opens with  a poem and introduction to how the boreal forest came into being. On the next page a map of the world shows where this biome forms a ribbon around the northern part of the world. Did you know "that there's more fresh water in the boreal forest than anywhere else on Earth, with more than six hundred thousand lakes in Canada alone?"


Each two page spread has a main body of text. Information boxes provide details about specific aspects of the this topic. The book cycles around the seasons showcasing the forest in different parts of the world. It highlights different habitats. I like that it shows temperature and distance in both metric and imperial measurements. 

For each season, information about plants and animals in the different part of the world is presented. We learn about an animal's life: where they live, what they eat and how they get it. We learn about the different plant adaptations for the time of year. 


Across the seasons. Indigenous peoples are shown living in their different territories and dealing with modern issues. We learn about the Saami in Siberia protecting their reindeer herds. We learn about the Pikangikum First Nation's historical relationship with forest fires. We are introduced to the Gwich'in First Nation's use of boreal plants as medicine. 

Each season addresses the impact of climate change on the forest. It is explained in the context of specific outcomes. An example is harmful insects. Usually these animals are killed by cold winters, but with winters warming, it doesn't get cold enough to accomplish this. Consequently, they spread out of control. (A perfect example of this is the devastation the pine beetle has wrought in my province of British Columbia here in Canada. "Temperatures need to dip below about -30 C for four or five consecutive weeks to kill nearly all pine beetle larvae nestled inside tree trunks, said Nadir Erbilgin, a University of Alberta professor of forest entomology who studies the pine beetle.")

The book addresses the role invasive species have on this biome. Earthworms are not indigenous to this landscape. However they are making their way into the forests. They destroy habitat by eating leaf litter much faster than local systems would. The loss of leaf litter dries the soil so it warms up. Many boreal plants are unable to survive in these new conditions. 

The end of the book includes detailed diagrams explaining the water and the carbon cycles. There is further information about the role of the forest with regards to climate change. The boreal forest is now a carbon sink. As it warms up, different actions are triggered that release this carbon into the atmosphere. In turn this increases the rate of climate change. 

A table of contents introduces readers to the substance of the book. The back matter contains a glossary, a resource section, a note from the author and an index. 

I had no intention of writing a full review of this title.  I just kind of fell in love and started making notes so I would remember what to write. I ended up collecting a lot of notes so I ended up with a more comprehensive take on it. If I was still working in my school library I would be tempted to purchase two of these. If I, as an adult, can get so much out of it, I'm certain it would be an ideal introduction for middle grade and high school students as well. At the very least it can be springboard for learning more about the different aspects of this remarkable and important biome. 
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#IMWAYR August 24, 2020

Hello out there. It's #IMWAYR time again, when readers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to in the past week. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. Whatever you are looking forward to in your next great read, these are fabulous places to start your search.

Eight days of company really cut deep into my reading life. No sooner did everyone leave, I headed off towards the big city for a medical test and time with my grandkids. At least here I am reading books with the little ones. I'm not including those here because I have already written about most them previously.

 Before I leave I hope to get to Kidsbooks to pick up a couple of copies of Old Rock is Not Boring. I read it with my grandkids a while ago and when they were visiting me, my grandson got very irate that I no longer had it. He understands about libraries but wanted me to go check it out right now. 
Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian Author and or Illustrator. Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.
NONFICTION PICTURE BOOKS 

I picked this up from the library, came home and read it. Then my granddaughter joined me on the sofa and we started it from the beginning. She looked at the first page and proclaimed, "It's so beautiful!" I agree. It was my first thought upon opening the book. Lindsay Moore's illustrations are just stunning. Each page is worthy of hanging on a wall. Her poetic text tells the experience of a year in the life of a polar bear from the polar bear's perspective.
The back matter contains additional information about polar bears and other animals mentioned in the book. While climate change isn't mentioned in main body of the text, it is addressed in these notes.
If readers already have an understanding of what is happening in the arctic because of climate change, they will understand why it may well lead to the extinction of this remarkable animal.

GRAPHIC NOVELS
5 stars
The Big Break by Mark Tatulli

 This story of two boys as their friendship deteriorates broke my heart a little bit. There are lots of stories about girl friendships disintegrating, but this is the first one about boys that I remember. For this reason alone, it's a must purchase for all school libraries.
Andrew and Russ are working on a video about the Jersey Devil. They plan to enter it into a contest in hopes of winning and getting a head start on their future careers as filmmakers. Unfortunately the two boys end up maturing at different rates. Russ ends up with a girlfriend and Andrew, who lost his father 18 months previously, feels abandoned. Add to that their inability to communicate sincerely with each other and it isn't long before they have a big blow up and stop talking altogether.
It takes a winter campout with others and a near disaster before they mend their fences.

NOVELS
4 stars
How It Went Down (How It Went Down #1) by Kekla Magoon & Narrators: Cherise Boothe, Shari Peele, Kevin R. Free, Avery R. Glymph, & Patricia Lucretia Floyd

Kekla Magoon makes space for multiple perspectives in this novel about the killing of a black teen by a white man. The scenario is all too familiar if you have been paying attention to social media in the past few months. How It Went Down is not only about the reality of the shooting, but about how it is experienced, twisted, and justified by different segments of the community.
4 stars
Light It Up (How It Went Down #2) by Kekla Magoon & Narrators: Landon Woodson, Karen Chilton, Cherise Boothe, Eevin Hartsough, Christopher Carley, Peter Jay Fernandez, T. Ryder Smith, Julian Thomas, Kevin R. Free & Korey Jackson

As in How It Went Down, Kekla Magoon makes space for multiple perspectives. This time she deals with the killing of a black special needs teen by a white policeman. It is not only about the reality of the shooting, but about how it is experienced, twisted, and justified by different segments of the community. What was especially fascinating was connecting with many of the same characters in the first book. The cast of narrators were brilliant.

 Both of these books put me in mind of Walter Dean Myers intense and gritty work.

 NONFICTION

5 stars
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (Civilizations Rise and Fall #1) by Jared Diamond

This pulitzer award winning book began with the author attempting to identify the roots of inequality in the world. He concludes that it is essentially a function of geographical luck. People who lived in areas with plants and animals that were easier to domesticate ended up having resources to support the development of technology. I highly recommend this book and am looking forward to book club and talking about it! If you don't have time to read it, You might enjoy the three national geographic documentaries based on it. I ended up watching the first 1 1/2 and plan to finish them all. I'm also planning on reading Collapse, the next in the series. 

Part 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HULhXXnMlww
Part 3: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVShQfYcX28

CURRENTLY

 Everything was put on hold while I read Guns, Germs and Steel, but I'm back to reading Yara's Spring by Sharon McKay & Jamal Saeed. I started it all over again. I just started listening to The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue by by Karina Yan Glaser. 

UP NEXT

 I hope to get to Audacity by Melanie Crowder. I picked Molly Bang's nonfiction picture books about sunlight and plan to read and write a blog post about them. The art in them is spectacular!

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS
  
Big Books Summer 2020 8/10 
#MustReadIn2020: 18/25 
#MustReadNFIn2020: 7/25
Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors: 17/25 100 
Books by Canadian Authors: 105/100 
 Goodreads Reading Challenge: 241/333
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Eagle Mother by Hetxw'ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson) & Natasha Donovan (Illustrations)

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. It was released April 28, 2020, by Highwater Press.

 The Mothers of Xsan Series highlights the Gitxsan’s way of knowing the world by showing the integration of culture and nature. Each book highlights the Salmon’s role as a keystone species both ecologically and culturally for the Gitxsan people in Northern BC. In this instance, it highlights its roll for the eagle.

 This book follows a pair of eagles across a year. It begins with Lasa Ya’a, the Spring Salmon’s Returning Moon. An eagle mother sits high in a cottonwood tree protecting the eggs in her nest against a spring snowstorm. Across the book we see the eaglets hatch, fledge, grow, and learn.



I appreciate that Eagle Mother shows the similarities between the Gitxsan people and the eagles. Both are dependent on the salmon, but the eagle has its own roll to play in the ecology of the forest.

 “Nox Xsgyaak and her partner may use this same cottonwood for up to 20 years. The time they spend there not only benefits the cottonwood, but the nitrogen rich skin and bone they leave at the bottom of the tree decays and leaves nutrients to spread throughout the ecosystem.”

Like the others in the series, the text uses Gitxsan terms and doesn’t hesitate to use scientific vocabulary. Most of these words are explained in small text boxes on the same page.

 The back matter has additional information about the Gitxsan people with a chart of the different moons. It also shows a map of their unceded territory.

 The biological, cultural, and spiritual connection between eagle, salmon and people is integral to this book. It’s there in the use of Gitxsan vocabulary in the text. It's there in Natasha Donovan’s stunning art. Her images, gorgeously coloured in the shades of the rainforest and river, integrate Gitxsan people in the background. What brings it all together is the use of traditional art into the landscapes.

 The Eagle Mother is a book loaded with information about the eagle life cycle. What makes it unique is how it puts this information into a context of indigenous ways of knowing.

 School Libraries should have at least 2 copies of each of the series. I can hardly wait to see what this team will offer up next.

 Here are the other books in the Mothers of Xsan series. 




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