Write a Sentence or a Story

 

Flash Fiction
 ©️ Linnea Heaney

Did You Ever Find a Special Rock?

The first rock in my rock collection was a gift from my grandmother. It had a small black crystal sticking out from the mostly light brown rock. I've wondered about that crystal forever. Did you ever find a special rock?

After my crystal rock, I found rocks of different colors and shapes on my own. The easiest rocks to find were in my garden, or on the way to parks in my neighborhood. When I went to the school library, I checked out a book about rocks. Later, I bought a laminated, fold-out guide to basic rocks to carry with me. Oceans and rivers have smooth rocks. Mountains, deserts, and valleys have all kinds of rocks.

Rocks are one or more minerals in many different combinations. As a rock collector, I learned that only twelve minerals make up most rocks. There are three main kinds of rocks: sedimentary, metamorphic, or igneous. An important fact to know about rocks is how they were made. Every rock has a story. Sometimes how one finds a rock is also a story.

To learn more, check out one of the many books about rocks at your library.

To show how big a rock is, put a penny nearby.
copyright 2023 Linnea Heaney

Here is a book title to take to the library and start your rock explorations:

ALL ABOUT ROCKS: Discovering the World Beneath Your Feet by Alessandra Potenza, illustrated by Gary Lacoste (2021, Scholastic).

Newbery, Caldecott, and other stickers on books

Stories About Pets

 CHAMP AND MAJOR by Joy McCullough.

DOG HEAVEN by Cynthia Rylant.

Tide Pools

More to come.

Great Adventures Begin in Books

Books throughout time have been the first versions of great adventure stories that are told again and again in movies, on television, and in plays. Characters we all know began on a printed page. Think about your favorite characters or stories. Have you read the book, or all the books in the series? A visit to the library or bookstore may surprise you with more stories to read about your favorite characters.

Examples of Great, Grand Adventure Stories in Books:

HARRY POTTER BOOKS (7)
WIZARD OF OZ BOOKS (14)
WRINKLE IN TIME BOOKS (5 & at least 4 more with related characters)
CHRONICLES OF NARNIA BOOKS (7)
ALICE IN WONDERLAND BOOKS (2)
LORD OF THE RING BOOKS (3 & THE HOBBIT)

Other Great Adventures:

REDWALL SERIES (22)
TOM’S MIDNIGHT GARDEN
BRIAN’S SAGA (5, beginning with HATCHET)
WALK TWO MOONS & THE WANDERER

Test of Time Adventures:

NANCY DREW (56 to 175 & other series with same characters)
TRIXIE BELDON (39)
BOXCAR CHILDREN BOOKS (19 to 149 & other series with same characters)

List your favorite adventures from new books. Examples might include:

A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS BOOKS (13)


Resources for Finding Books to Read:

COOPERATIVE CHILDREN’S BOOK COUNCIL

A MIGHTY GIRL

Bubbles Everywhere

Bubbles Everywhere

Did you know that the sound of waves crashing onto the land is the sound of bubbles crashing? Take a road journey to a beach on an ocean. See the color of the water, and the color of the waves. Walk along the water and wiggle your toes in the bubbles as the tide comes in. Feel softness. Listen. Smell the air. If the salty ocean is too far, consider a water park trip when the temperatures warm. For now, think about garden water features that bubble up. Can you find a water feature in your town?


Your Own Bubble Liquid
   Dishwashing detergent
   Water
Gently add about 1/2 cup water into about 1 cup of dishwashing detergent. Find an old or new wand, or have an older person help you make a wand out of wire. Slide wand in and out of a pie pan filled with your bubble making liquid. Blow bubbles outside, at a nearby park, or playground.

Draw a bubble picture with you inside. Write words describing your journey with bubbles. Can you make up a story with bubbles in it?

New Friends in Fictionalized Non-Fiction

When I was in about fourth grade, I started reading biographies from the school library. Most of these books had a plain teal blue cover with orange-red lettering. Each book introduced me to a historical person. But the books made me feel like I was meeting a new and interesting person, who would take me on an adventure with them. True, but not exactly, fun, and just for me.

I loved being in my fantasy world with interesting people experiencing other times and places. I had become a reader with non-fiction books. Then, I read THE BOXCAR CHILDREN. I'm still obsessed with mysteries, adventure, and characters that feel like a new friends. Non-fiction gives me needed breaks, and, maybe, keeps my feet on the ground. Books are some of my best friends.

Now, I'm interested in fictionalized non-fiction. How do these new books read? What kind of friends are on this School Library Journal list. Join me with a new adventure in the library.

SLJ Fictionalized Non-Fiction

Collecting Fall

Go on a walk in a city park or neighborhood trail and collect as many different kinds of leaves as you can find. Identify the trees, press leaves in an old catalog, and/or make a leaf rubbing. Decorate with nature's art!

See Highlights Online for rubbing directions and other activities:

www.highlights.com

Find Your Park

2016 is a year of celebration in our over 400 national park units. The National Park Service is 100 years old. The NPS takes care of these special places. Some are nature wonderlands and others are about our country's heritage. All tell a story. Fourth graders can visit all of the NPS unit parks free, see Every Kid in a Park. Find your park, whether national, state, or city and tell your own story!

Every Kid in a Park

National Park Service Centennial

Find Your Park

National Park Maps

Books About Bears

See a list of book about bears from the New York Public Library at this link in honor of A. A. Milne's birthday, January 18.

Following Winnie's Pawprints


More Books About Bears:

FINDING WINNIE: THE TRUE STORY OF THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS BEAR by Lindsay Mattick, pictures by Sophie Blackall (Little Brown Books, 2015).

WINNIE-THE-POOH (80^th Anniversary Ed.) by A. A. Milne, pictures by Ernest Shepard (Dutton, 2006).

FAMOUS BEARS & FRIENDS, WRITTEN AND COLLECTED by Janet Wyman Coleman (Dutton, 2002).

CORDUROY, story and pictures by Don Freeman (Viking Press, 1968).

A BEAR CALLED PADDINGTON (50^th Anniversary Ed.), story and pictures by Michael Bond (Houghton Mifflin, 2008).

BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR, WHAT DO YOU SEE? by Bill Martin Jr., pictures by Eric Carle (Henry Holt, 1967).

OLD BEAR, story and pictures by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow, 2008).

THE TEDDY BEAR, story and pictures by David McPhail (Henry Holt, 2002).

WHAT ABOUT BEAR?, story and pictures by Suzanne Bloom (Boyds Mills press, 2010).

HUMPHREY’S BEAR by Jan Wahl, pictures by William Joyce (Henry Holt, 1987).

JESSE BEAR, WHAT WILL YOU WEAR? by Nancy White Carlstrom, pictures by Bruce Degen (Aladdin, 1996).

JAMBERRY, story and pictures by Bruce Degen (HarperCollins, 1983).

THE TEDDY BEARS’ PICNIC by Jimmy Kennedy, pictures by Alexandra Day (Green Tiger Press, 1983).

Winter Season Books and a Link

Winter Season Picture Books:

THE SNOWY DAY by Ezra Jack Keats (Puffin).

OWL MOON by Jane Yolen, illustrated by John Schoenherr (Philomel Books, 1987).

SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, illustrated by Mary Azarian (HMH Books, 2009).

THE SNOWMAN by Raymond Briggs (Random House, 1978).

RED SLED by Lita Judge (Atheneum Books, 2011).

SNOW by Uri Shulevitz (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998).

BEAR HAS A STORY TO TELL by Phillip Stead, illustrations by Erin Stead (Roaring Brook, 2012).

EXTRA YARN by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen (Balzer & Bray, 2012).

THE MITTEN by Alvin Tresselt, or newer version by Jan Brett (HarperCollins or Putnam).

WHITE SNOW, BRIGHT SNOW by Alvin Tresselt (HarperCollins).

DREAM SNOW by Eric Carle (Philomel Books, 2000).

THE POLAR EXPRESS by Chris Van Allsburg (HMH Books).

SANTA CALLS by William Joyce (HarperCollins, 2001).

'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS by Clement Clarke Moore, illustrated by Jessie Wilcox Smith and many other illustrators.


 Charlie Rose reads "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," CBS, December 2015:
'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Spooky Stories

Check out books by these authors at the library:

Avi: SOMETHING UPSTAIRS
Bruce Coville: THE GHOST IN THE THIRD ROW
Neil Gaiman: THE GRAVEYARD BOOK
R. L. Stine: WELCOME TO DEAD HOUSE (Goosebumps)
Jane Yolen: THE BAGPIPER'S GHOST; for preschoolers: CREEPY MONSTERS, SLEEPY MONSTERS

Canyon Mapping

This is a simple map drawing, which does not show the many trail switchbacks.

Some of the best trails to take for an extremely active adventure are the trails in Grand Canyon National Park. Our pencil journey this month takes us there.

Pencil Journey

Locate a map, picture, or virtual trail (see June 2015) of the Grand Canyon, and imagine the trail adventure you want. Sketch the trail on a big sheet of paper. Draw pictures along the way of things you will see/do and need to take along. Remember the trail goes down a long way, about ten miles. And then, you have to hike back out. Read IN THE CANYON for inspiration.

General information:

Grand Canyon National Park

New book about a Grand Canyon trail adventure:

IN THE CANYON, story by Liz Garton Scanlon, pictures by Ashley Wolff (Beach Lane Books, 2015).

Virtual Trails

Everyone can use virtual trails by Google for planning a real adventure.


Climb!!!
https://www.google.com/maps/about/behind-the-scenes/streetview/treks/yosemite/

Hike!
https://www.google.com/maps/about/behind-the-scenes/streetview/treks/grand-canyon/

copyright 2013 Linnea Heaney 
On the South Kaibab Trail
in Grand Canyon National Park

Find Your Park:
http://www.nps.gov/findapark/index.htm

The Hero’s Journey

Some of the most popular stories in books are of a hero’s journey. Here are a few famous books using the hero’s journey.

Harry Potter series

The Time Quartet

The Chronicles of Narnia

The Hobbit

The Oz books

Alice in Wonderland
 

Which book is your favorite? Your librarian, teacher, or parent can help you find a hero’s journey book to read. Movies use the hero’s journey sometimes. Watch this clip from TED ED to learn about this kind of story. The journeys begin in the ordinary world. Do you hear the call to adventure?

ed.ted.com/lessons/what-makes-a-hero

Reading Aloud

A picture book to practice reading aloud with is THE ANIMAL THAT DRANK UP SOUND. Most of the words are easy. The punctuation helps to learn how to phrase the lines when reading aloud.

THE ANIMAL THAT DRANK UP SOUND by William Stafford, pictures by Debra Frasier (Harcourt, 1992).

Roll a Book

Many years ago, I took an art class taught by Jacques Rupp, best known as a layout artist for Walt Disney's LADY AND THE TRAMP. This You Tube clip allows us to hear about the "perfect recipe" found in making Disney’s DUMBO. The drawing lessons I learned from Mr. Rupp are always with me.

THE MAKING OF DUMBO

 

Pencil Journey

Cut a strip of paper. Draw a story in a few cartoon squares (frames) on the paper with your own story and characters. Make sure to add a few words with your cartoon drawings. Roll it up, like in this DUMBO You Tube clip, and you have a “Roll a Book.” For a quick design, glue a pencil at the beginning of the rolled paper and another pencil at the end. These fun stories are for you enjoy and share.

 

Live Your Life as Light

October 2 is International Day of Nonviolence, in honor of Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday. He was born on this day in 1869 in India. Gandhi went to school in London, UK. His legacy is of a leader using nonviolent civil disobedience to create change. 

GRANDFATHER GANDHI is a new picture book for all ages of readers to understand how to live one’s life as light. The book’s website includes the Live Your Life as Light Pledge, activities to help one understand feelings of anger, and a short video. 

The Anger Journal suggestions were written by Gandhi’s grandson, Arun Gandhi. Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus wrote this new book for new generations of people to understand how change can be nonviolent. The book shows how to use anger in a positive way.

 

GRANDFATHER GANDHI's Live Your Life as Light

GRANDFATHER GANDHI by Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus, pictures by Evan Turk (Simon & Schuster, 2014).

Authors at Texas Book Festival copyright Linnea Heaney 2014

 

Pencil Journey

Visit GRANDFATHER GANDHI's website and follow the steps to write about when you had feelings of anger. How could you use your anger in a good way? Take the pledge with your family and/or classroom.

Biography

What is a biography?
 
A biography is the life story of a person. Books about people are called biographies. 

In fourth, fifth, and sixth grade, I often checked out a biography from the school library. The books filled my mind with many stories about lives of people who became famous and their choices.

 

Here are a few picture book biographies from my cupboard reading shelf today: 

RACHEL CARSON AND HER BOOK THAT CHANGED THE WORLD by Laurie Lawlor, pictures by Laura Beingessner (Holiday House, 2012). 

A RIVER OF WORDS: THE STORY OF WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS by Jen Bryant, pictures by Melissa Sweet (Eerdmans, 2008). 

ART FROM HER HEART: FOLK ARTIST CLEMENTINE HUNTER by Kathy Whitehead, pictures by Shane W. Evans (Putnam, 2008). 

MISS LADY BIRD’S WILDFLOWERS: HOW A FIRST LADY CHANGED AMERICA by Kathi Appelt, pictures by Joy Fisher Hein (HarperCollins, 2005).

 

Author Donna Bowman Bratton has created a mashup of the word “birthday” and “biographies” to make-up “birthdayographies.” Read about biographies on the birthdays of the famous at her blog, BIRTHDAYOGRAPHIES. Thanks, Donna, for sharing!

BIRTHDAYOGRAPHIES