That Sly Fox

Cunning, sly and beautiful are words often associated with a fox. This commonly found wild animal does not have the best reputation in literature throughout history. They are often found playing tricks to get what they want. Ferdinand is not that kind of fox!

Naturalist Mary Holland spent a summer photographing Ferdinand and his family to capture a real life way a fox kit grows up. The amazingly cute photos are paired with a wealth of fox information. Ferdinand learns how to adapt to his habitat, hunt for food and even play with his siblings.

Learn even more about how foxes adapt to their environment in the For Creative Minds section in the back of the book. Here you may see why foxes get their bad reputation.

Visit www.sylvandellpublishing.com for quizzes, activities and facts about Ferdinand. Also sign up to win a copy on Goodreads!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Ferdinand Fox’s First Summer

by Mary Holland

Giveaway ends March 29, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

 

Here is a silly sentence activity, Have Fun!

FoxSillySentences

The Quantum Classroom

Quick! What’s behind you right now? Did you peek over to see desks, the wallpaper, students, books, or toys? Were those objects there even before you looked at them? Are they there now, even though you’re reading this instead of seeing them? As strange as it sounds, some scientists believe that nothing exists definitely until someone measures it, such as you did with your eyes and ears. These scientists work in a field of science called Quantum Mechanics.

In the early 1900s, smarty-pants scientists like Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, and Werner Heisenberg studied, experimented and argued over the question of what light was made of. Light was very mysterious to scientists at the time, because in some experiments it acted like a wave, similar to the invisible radio and magnetic waves all around us. In other experiments though, light acted like a particle, a solid object like a Pop Tart, a textbook, a penny, a skyscraper… Anything that’s in one place and that weighs something is a particle. It didn’t seem to make sense for something to be an invisible wave and a solid particle at the same time, but in test after test, light was both! You might think it was time for these scientists to turn in their labcoats and get new jobs… this was too hard to figure out! Instead of giving up though, the scientists continued experimenting and studying the subject until they found a solution: light is a wave until it gets observed, then it becomes a solid particle!

This was huge news for scientists. If light acts like this, then other solid objects may not be so solid after all too. The scientists studying Quantum Mechanics presented this thought-provoking possibility: that that the world is actually a wave of possibilities until we observe it, then it becomes the solid place we can feel, touch, taste and smell. It’s a bit like hiding trash under your bed: if you can’t see it, it’s not there!

The Most Dangerous Animal of All

What do The Most Dangerous and news reports of West Nile virus have in common, the mosquito. When Terri Fields wrote the story of a ferocious animal contest, she had no idea how topical the book would become at the release date.

With more than 1,000 cases reported in 38 states this outbreak is the largest in U.S. history according to the Center for Disease Control.  Not all mosquitoes carry the West Nile virus and not everyone will show symptoms of the disease if bitten. However, it is important to protect yourself from mosquito bites, as they are proven to transmit several different diseases to humans and animals all over the world.

Even if a non West Nile mosquito bites you, they leave behind an itchy and uncomfortable bump. The best way to protect yourself from a bite is use bug spray with Deet, wear long sleeves and long pants when you are outside and eliminate any standing water in your yard.

In The Most Dangerous, children will be excited by the parade of scary animals, but they will be surprised when the tiny mosquito shows up to the contest. Although the disease is not mentioned in the book, it is a great way to kick off a conversation about West Nile and mosquitoes with kids.

Learn more about The Most Dangerous!

Dangerous animals from all over the world gather for the Most Dangerous Animal of All Contest. Snakes, spiders, sharks . . . who will the winner be? Deadly poison, huge teeth, razor -sharp horns, and fearsome feet are just a few of the ways that animals kill. Predators mean to kill. Prey simply defend themselves. And yet, the unexpected most deadly animal doesn’t mean to harm at all!

 

Terri Fields (Burro’s Tortillas, The Most Dangerous) has written nineteen books which have garnered a number of awards including the Maud Hart Lovelace Award for Middle Grades Fiction, the Georgia Children’s Choice Award, being named to the Recommended Reading List for Chicago Public Schools, the TAYSHAS (Texas) Reading List, the Southwest Books of the Year List, and as one of the 100 Top Kid Picks in Children’s Books in Arizona. A long time desert-dweller, Ms Fields has enjoyed sharing her books with children all over the world. In addition to writing, Ms. Fields is also a educator who has been named Arizona Teacher of the Year, ING Education Innovator for Arizona, and been selected as one of the twenty teachers on the All-USA Teacher Team of the nation’s top educators. Terri Fields has worked with students in first through twelfth grades.  Ms. Fields sees the world around her in terms of the wonderful stories it reveals. Visit Terri’s website http://www.terrifields.com/.

Award-winning illustrator Laura Jacques is passionate about illustrating children’s books that focus on natural history, wildlife, and environmental awareness for children. In addition to illustrating The Most Dangerous, Baby Owl’s Rescue and Whistling Wings for Sylvan Dell, she has also illustrated For the Birds: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson, Squirrel Assist, At Home in the Rain Forest, and Wildlife Refuge: A Classroom Adventure. Her books have won several honors and awards, including “NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children” sponsored by the Children’s Book Council and the “KIND Children’s Book Award” sponsored by the Association for Humane and Environmental Education, a division of the Humane Society of the United States. For more information, visit Laura’s website: http://www.laurajacques.com.

September’s Book of the Month read The Most Dangerous here http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com/index.php!

Elephant Seals Helping Scientists

Drive along the Pacific Coast Highway and you may witness one of the great migrating animals. Elephant Seals come to the beaches near Big Sur, California to breed and molt each year. They are quite a site to see. Although the massive mammals appear to be lazy beach sunbathers, they to travel thousands of miles and dive deep into the ocean to find food, but they return to their beach each season.   

In another part of the world, these animals are working for scientists gathering data in the Antarctic on the Fimbul Ice Shelf.  The seals were able to collect impressive data, that otherwise would have been extremely costly and very difficult for a boat crew to brave the Antarctic winter.  With the new accurate information scientists were able to determine that the ice shelf is melting at a much slower rate than computer models originally predicted.

To read more about the American Geophysical Union’s findings at the Fimbul Ice Shelf click here. For more information about elephant seals click here. Sylvan Dell Publishing features elephant seals in the Book Water Beds, to learn more about this book click here.

National Zoo and Aquarium Month

June is National Zoo and Aquarium Month! 

The zoo is a fantastic place for children to get up close to animals that live on all ends of the earth where learning and exploration is fun even to an adult. However, there is so much more to a zoo or aquarium than meets the eye.  What you don’t see is the rehabilitation programs where zookeepers work with injured animals, animal behavior research and endangered species research to keep these animals around for us to enjoy.

These are the people that help our authors, research the animal behaviors featured in Sylvan Dell books, and check the For Creative Minds sections for accuracy. We would like to thank all the wildlife specialists for their help through the years, and encourage Sylvan Dell readers to support and visit their local zoos and aquariums this month and throughout the year!

Little Skink celebrates in 2012

As you know, at Sylvan Dell we love the topic of conservation and celebration of the animals in our world. Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC) dedicate this year to the lizard.

Our most famous Sylvan Dell lizard is Little Skink. In Little Skinks Tail, she tries on the tails of all the animals she meets, after hers is lost to a feisty crow. Later Little Skink looks back, and her bright blue tail has grown back where it belongs.

Little Skink is a Five Lined Skink found in wooded climates where they like to soak up the sunshine during the day, and eat small insects. They are found in the United States and in some states they are on the endangered list, such as Connecticut.

For Creative Minds  fun activities, or more information about Little Skinks Tail can be found at Sylvan Dell Publishing click here.

Celebrate World Turtle Day

It’s no secret that Sylvan Dell loves turtles. From Carolina that started it all to those turtles in our sandbox and Tudley we have written and educated young minds about the turtles living in the sea and on land. Today we celebrate World Turtle Day, started 12 years ago by the American Tortoise Rescue to bring awareness to the problems that the world’s turtles are facing.

Turtles are one of the world’s oldest species, and they are disappearing due to several factors.

• Turtle habitats are shrinking.
• The pet market has increased demand and taken turtles out of the wild.
• Turtles are being poached and sold on the food market. In some countries, their eggs, considered a delicacy are plucked out of nests before they have a chance to hatch.
• Turtle shells are highly sought after to make fashion, and decorative pieces.
• Sea turtles nests are very vulnerable to predators and human interference, as well as a shrinking population.
• Fishing nets are a major threat to the sea turtle population in many parts of the world.

These are only a few factors that threaten turtles, and many of these problems are preventable. Today is a day to learn more about our slow and steady creatures, and do what we can to help keep all our turtles around for 200 million more years.

Little Blue Butterfly Receives Protection

The Miami blue butterfly, once thought to be extinct, is now protected by the Endangered Species Act. Only 50 of these butterflies were alive in 2003, and they were isolated in the Florida Keys. Since then, only some populations have survived. Thankfully, now the Miami blue butterfly is officially on the endangered species list, making it illegal to harm them. Let’s hope this butterfly species’ numbers can recover!

Read the full article on these butterflies here: http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/2726-endangered-blue-butterfly-protected.html

To learn more about the habits and life cycle of butterflies (with some math skills thrown in!) check out Ten For Me:

Look Who’s New at the Miami Zoo!

It’s a baby giraffe! Born to 5-year-old mother Mia on April 10th, this zoo baby stands at about 6 feet tall and weighs nearly 150 pounds.

See more pictures here: http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2012/04/zoo-miami-welcomes-45th-zoo-born-giraffe.html

And, if you’re interested in learning about the babies of other animal species, check out our book What’s New at the Zoo?  which contains information about baby elephants, monkies, penguins, and more!

  

Amazing Mimic Octopus

It is well known that octopuses are amazing animals–they are intelligent, can squeeze through tiny spaces, and can change color at will. And apparently, they can also make fun of humans! Check it out:

It seems like the octopus was poking fun at the divers watching it!

To read more about amazing octopus abilities, read Octavia and learn how she defends herself from predators!