April 28, 2025
I thought Make Way for Animals was an interesting book for Earth Day. We hear a lot about protecting endangered animals - and believe me,...
I thought Make Way for Animals was an interesting book for Earth Day. We hear a lot about protecting endangered animals - and believe me, it's still vitally important for us to continue doing so - but this book introduced a different topic: creating safe ways for animals to cross roadways.
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April 25, 2025
I couldn’t let Arbor Day pass this year without doing a feature story. But you cannot imagine how hard it was to pick just one feature boo...
I couldn’t let Arbor Day pass this year without doing a
feature story. But you cannot imagine how hard it was to pick just one feature
book for Arbor Day. We’ve read so many awesome tree books and I’m sure there are
dozens I haven’t discovered yet!
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affiliate, I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases – at zero cost to
you.
April 22, 2025
I'll be the first to admit I had no idea how Earth Day originated so this book was a great find! This year marks the 55th anniversary of...
I'll be the first to admit I had no idea how Earth Day originated so this book was a great find! This year marks the 55th anniversary of Earth Day and while I do believe it's helped us all pay more attention to how we treat our amazing planet, I think we still have ways to go! So we're going to keep trying to celebrate Earth Day every day by being mindful of what we use and throw out and how we care for the world around us.
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April 12, 2025
I can't talk about taking care of the Earth without mentioning National Parks! National Parks are vital partners in the quest for prot...
I can't talk about taking care of the Earth without mentioning National Parks! National Parks are vital partners in the quest for protecting the Earth. Not only do National Parks preserve and protect lands, but they allow us to explore, appreciate, and learn about the natural world around us. And none of that would be possible without park rangers!
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April 07, 2025
I'll be perfectly honest, I've COMPLETELY forgotten about Earth Hour the past few years. I remember trying to do it when the kids we...
I'll be perfectly honest, I've COMPLETELY forgotten about Earth Hour the past few years. I remember trying to do it when the kids were little (although, I'll be honest, it was pretty easy then because 8:30pm was time to be sleeping!) but somewhere along the way it just wasn't on my radar anymore. But while I was at the library collecting lots of awesome Earth Day books, I happened across this one! So I thought I'd kick off the month with Earth Hour as an inspiration for all of us to give an hour for the earth this month (even if you, like me, missed the official earth hour...)
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January 08, 2022
When I saw "The Adventures of Keva: The Power of the Trees" by Ebony Zayzay and Upit Dyoni, I just knew I had to read it! The t...
When I saw
"The Adventures of Keva: The Power of the Trees" by Ebony Zayzay and Upit Dyoni, I just knew I had to read it! The tree on the cover was amazing and powerful and inspiring and I wanted to know more about Keva and her trees. So I was overjoyed when author Ebony Zayzay sent me a copy to review.
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December 05, 2021
When I saw this Global Kids activity card set, I immediately thought of my Global Explorers series! How perfect would these be to pair w...
When I saw this
Global Kids activity card set, I immediately thought of my
Global Explorers series! How perfect would these be to pair with our country visits??
Barefoot Books generously sent me a complimentary Planet Protector Pack to review. Regardless, I only recommend products I personally use or believe would be beneficial to my readers. All opinions and ideas are my own.
There are five different categories of cards in the pack: create, play, eat, celebrate, and help out. The top of each card tells you what kind of card it is and what country it represents. Here is an example of a celebrate card, with a brief description of the holiday on the front. The back provides directions for making your own Diwali lantern.
And here is an example of an eat card.
These cards would be fantastic to use with country studies (and I will definitely be listing relevant cards in my Global Explorers posts), but you could also just grab a card when you need an activity to occupy the kids for a little while!
December 05, 2021
I've been searching for a nice atlas - preferably a sticker one so Squidgy can interact with it and put stickers everywhere since Lil C ...
I've been searching for a nice atlas - preferably a sticker one so Squidgy can interact with it and put stickers everywhere since Lil C had a sticker animal atlas when we were doing Kindergarten work. And I have to say,
"Barefoot Books World Atlas Sticker Book" by Nick Crane and David Dean is PERFECT! I was SO excited to receive it from Barefoot Books!
Barefoot Books generously sent me a complimentary Planet Protector Pack to review. Regardless, I only recommend products I personally use or believe would be beneficial to my readers. All opinions and ideas are mine.
The book begins with an overview of the earth, showing the continents and oceans. On this page children can place transportation stickers as well as footprint and compass stickers to show where they have been and where they would like to travel.
Then the book moves on to the oceans of the world. This is different from many children's atlases where the oceans are really only focused on where they meet land.
From there, we move to land masses. The book tackles the continents in sections so each area of larger continents can be highlighted. For example, there are pages for Southeast Asia, East Asia, North and Central Asia, South Asia, and Southwest Asia. I was very excited when I turned to the Europe page and found that Ukraine - where both sets of my grandparents grew up - had not just one but four stickers! Growing up, almost no one had heard of Ukraine even though it is about the size of Texas and sits right between Poland and Russia. I'm sure much of the reason for that was Ukraine was part of the USSR until I was 9. But anyway, I digress. My point is, this atlas really tries to highlight as many countries as possible and seems to blend facts about famous landmarks and cultures with those about lesser known ones. There are so many little facts to read and I guarantee everyone will learn something new!
The stickers are nicely organized by page number and can be pulled out of the book so you don't have to keep flipping back and forth. We have not started placing any of the stickers, but the description says the stickers are reusable.
Finally, at the very back of the book is a pocket with a fold out map of the world which includes every sticker image in the atlas!
I absolutely see us using this atlas all the time as our unit studies take us around the world! It would also be a wonderful resource to use along with our
Global Explorers series!
December 04, 2021
"Planet Power" by Stacy P. Clark and Annalisa Beghelli is a fantastic introduction to the world of renewable energy for children....
"Planet Power" by Stacy P. Clark and Annalisa Beghelli is a fantastic introduction to the world of renewable energy for children. It explores hydro, solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, and wave power and for each of them, discusses a city/country which is currently utilizing this power. I'm going to be perfectly honest with you and admit I hadn't even heard of tidal and wave power before reading this book! The book explains that all these forms of energy are created when some force - water, steam, wind - spins a turbine and powers a generator. Maybe this book will help our children grow up and discover a new method of harvesting renewable energy!
Barefoot Books generously sent me a complimentary Planet Protector pack to review. Regardless, I only recommend products I personally use or believe would be beneficial to my readers. All opinions and ideas are mine.
"Planet Power" would be perfect as a stand alone book to read with your children just to give them a taste of the various kinds of renewable energy sources available but it would also be a great starting point for a unit study on renewable energy. While reading, ideas kept popping into my brain for hands on exploration such as solar ovens, what melts in the sun, water play exploring water wheels, and making pin wheels. I had just been talking to another homeschooling mom about doing activities and lessons with our kids on climate change, conservation, and protecting the earth - I'm excited to use this book in a unity study on renewable energy and protecting the earth with our kids!
December 04, 2021
When I began reading "Water" by Christy Mihaly and Mariona Cabassa, I was overwhelmed with the amount of content and breadth of...
When I began reading
"Water" by Christy Mihaly and Mariona Cabassa, I was overwhelmed with the amount of content and breadth of information it provided! It is an AMAZING resource for all things water-related. As I kept reading, ideas constantly popped into my head of activities that could extend the learning on these pages or other books that could be read along. It honestly could be the focal point of a full unit study on water - and hopefully I'll have the time to create it one day! But I definitely didn't want to wait to share this wonderful book with you all.
Barefoot Books generously sent me a complimentary Planet Protector pack to review. Regardless, I only recommend products I personally use or believe would be beneficial to my readers. All opinions and ideas are mine.
First off, I want to explain that this is not simply an encyclopedia of information about water. There are various kinds of content within the book. The bulk of the book is informative, such as this page introducing water's various states.
There are also interactive sections which give you activities and experiments to do at home to extend your learning or help protect water. These include little flaps for children to lift as well as side flaps.
You can find brief bios of people around the world who are trying to help their communities in some way - in expanding access to clean water to fighting against pollution.
You can also find cultural folktales from various countries all relating to water in some way.
Finally, the end of the book provides you with information about a variety of jobs working with water in addition to bios on the author, the illustrator, and the cultural storytellers.
I cannot wait to utilize this book in our homeschool studies and I hope you all check it out as well!
