Even an Ostrich Needs a Nest - Where Birds Begin

Even an Ostrich Needs a Nest - Where Birds Begin
Irene Kelly
Holiday House
Ages 5+

Scientists, innovators, writers, poets…the greatest thinkers the world over have been inspired by nature.

Leonardo da Vinci’s glider was designed with wings that did not fall straight down but went from side to side like leaves falling from a tree. He observed that fish had body shapes that were ideal for travelling through water – and thus came up with fish-shaped hulls in boats. His design of tanks was based on his observation of turtles, and more famously the ornithopter was designed after a detailed study of birds.

Closer home, there is Ruskin Bond, and Sir C.V. Raman who put it beautifully – “Science does not flourish only inside laboratories. The real inspiration of science for me has been essentially the love of nature. I think the essence of the scientific spirit is to realise what a wonderful world it is that we live in.”

This is probably what draws us to books on nature – on stars and planets, plants and animals, bugs and creatures that inhabit the sea.

Books like these make kids - and indeed, adults - look closely at the natural world around them.  We stand to gain a lot by doing so, because after all, nature is our best teacher.

When I began reading  “Even an Ostrich Needs a Nest: Where Birds Begin”, I got so engrossed, I completely lost track of time and couldn’t put the book down until I had read it a couple of times.

What does a bird need to build a nest?

Some birds don’t build a nest at all.
Murres are seabirds that lay eggs on cliff edges. The eggs don’t roll off because they’re so pointy they roll in a tight circle if nudged. Each egg has its own special pattern, so the parents can always find it!

Some birds cheat – the cuckoo and the cowbird lay their eggs in other birds’ nests.

From the tiniest nest of all – that of a hummingbird – half as big as a ping-pong ball, to the sociable weaver’s nest with a hundred chambers – what is common is their ingenuity.

The tailorbird, the masked weaver and Baltimore oriole build intricate nests – works of art.

The hornbills win the “Arundhati prize for best couple” – the female seals herself into a hole in a tree, the male feeds her through a small opening for the next four months while she lays and hatches her eggs inside her snug chamber, not breaking the barrier until the chicks are two weeks old.

The book looks at 40 different species of birds, all around the world.

Each double-page spread deals with a couple of birds, with large bright illustrations. Young readers can pick up the book and read about a few birds – and their nests - each time. This is a wonderful book and one that I would love to add to my home library for dipping into every now and then.

The world map at the end of the book shows the Atlantic Puffin in Asia – but that is something I’m willing to overlook considering the book is superb in every other way. This is the first edition of the book so I hope the error will be corrected in later editions.

So what does it take to build a bird’s nest?

There are different answers for different kinds of birds. Simple or fancy, every species finds a way to create a cozy nest that is the perfect home for raising a family. And, for those of us who are so inclined, there’s a lesson right there!

[Image source amazon.com]     

Tide Pool Books

We sought out a few tide pool books to reinforce our hands-on observations from our recent exploration along the Pacific coast, to understand more about the amazing inhabitants of the coastal tide pools like periwinkles, urchins, barnacles, mussels, anemones, chitons, and starfish among others, learning that Sea Star is a more appropriate name and not Starfish as it is not really a fish. 

The only thing that confused the 7 year old (and me) was whether "tidepool" is one compound word or should it be two separate words, "tide pool", or perhaps hyphenated," tide-pool"? Among the literature we found, all of the above are used interchangeably and deemed acceptable.

In One Tidepool

Crabs, Snails and Salty Tails

by Anthony D. Fredericks

illustrated by Jennifer DiRubbio

Dear Two-Armed Explorer, the book opens, with a full-page message from our five-armed buddy, Sea Star, about its habitat, the tidepool.

The illustrations are gorgeous leading us from the coastline of pounding waves to little pockets of water filled by tides where wondrous creatures thrive.

A curly-haired girl with wondering eyes

Found crabs and fish and a five-armed surprise...

We liked the repetitive text and the illustrations. The book has cumulative rhyming text - we start with barnacles, then fish, then anemones and so on... as we progress the verses grow as well, just describing the tidepool scene with its inhabitants in brief sentences.

Though not a book to get detailed information about these creatures, the crisp lines highlight the characteristics of each animal well.

Beside the sponge upon the ledge

(a curious creature from edge to edge),

Close to anemone with stinging cells,

The ones who grip the rocks and shells...

[image source: books.google.com]

Between the Tides

by Fran Hodgkins

illustrated by Jim Sollers

If you lived where the sea was

and then, wasn't... 

you could

Twice a day, the sea recedes leaving the sea creatures out on the shore to fend for themselves until they can get back in the ocean again. What happens when the tide is low? How do the creatures manage without water? That is what this book explores in a child-friendly way, with just enough details so as  not to overwhelm.

you could...

keep a little bit of the sea with you.

We learn that the Blue Mussel traps a bit of sea water and closes tight when the sea recedes, not much water, but enough for it to survive till the tide comes back.

The large full page illustrations and short simple text makes it a wonderful read for the four year old.

[image source: amazon.com]

At Home in the Tidepool

by Alexandra Wright

illustrated by Marshall Peck

What attracted me to this book was the young author - she was 13 when she wrote this book. Her first book was authored at age 11!

Simple direct text is descriptive yet brief, presenting fun facts about periwinkles, sea slugs and other tide pool creatures. The illustrations are vivid and colorful, bringing the ocean to life. 

[image source: barnesandnoble.com]

Star of the Sea

A day in the life of a starfish

by Janet Halfmann

illustrated by Joan Paley

The gorgeous illustrations attracted me to the book, and the story it revealed fascinated not just the kids but me as well.

A day in the life of a starfish sea star. Its tiny tube-like feet on the underside helps it move, albeit very slowly. She inches her way towards a bed of mussels. But how can she eat it when the hard shell protects them?

We learn that she uses her strong rays (arms) to pry apart the stubbornly closed mussel shell, and as soon as there is a small enough crack she extends her stomach right out of her mouth and into the tiny crack. Slowly, the mussel's small body into liquid right inside the shell. when she has thus done eating, only the empty mussel shell remains.

Another fascinating fact we learnt is that sea stars can have any number of rays or arms, not just five as it traditionally depicted. And when she loses a ray, she can grow it back over a period of time.

Back of the book has further information like how sea star babies come about, and the eyespots at the tip of the ray that helps it tell light from dark and so on.

[image source: author website http://www.janethalfmann.com/star-of-the-sea]

Ocean Soup: Tide-Pool Poems

by Stephen R. Swinburne

illustrated by Mary Peterson

Cartoon style comic illustrations and short rhyming verses makes this a fun book to read aloud.

As the book's website says, Crabs will pinch and urchins poke. It's rough out there - no joke!

Sea slug being one of the favorites that excites the four year old, Hello my name is Doris. I am a shell-less gastropod, but you can call me Doris if gastropod is odd, got memorized first.

[image source: author website http://www.steveswinburne.com/ocean-soup.php]

Gobble, Quack, Moon

Gobble, Quack, Moon

image source matthewgollub.com

By Matthew Gollub
Illustrated by Judy Love
Tortuga Press
Ages 3-6

A tale of four animal friends, rhyme that bounces merrily along, and a space odyssey – what’s not to like? Throw in some humor, puns and wordplay, vibrant watercolors, rhythm, and a fun CD – and you have a winner. This Benjamin Franklin award-winning book is sure to be enjoyed by little ones.

When Katie the cow gazes wistfully at a shimmering star, and wonders what it’s like to go away real far, the hitherto uneventful farm gets shaken up.

The turkey and the duck each knew a thing about flight.
They squawked and they quacked through half the night.
Then the four made a plan, and they talked, and they drew, with a
Gobble-gobble,quack! Hee-haw. Moo-moo.

The accompanying illustrations show the wannabe astronauts drawing up plans, lists and designs. And then…

The next day started with a bang tat ting!
The animals were building an incredible thing:
A tall rocket ship made of cans and glue,
While Farmer Beth slept in her bed with no clue!

Now picture the donkey wearing spectacles and with a pencil behind the ear, busy with the rocket manual!

The friends blast off and land on a surface full of Swiss cheese holes, made by big space moles? It is “udderly” great – they can float because there’s no weight. They dance in space and things are terrific. But in a while, Katie misses earth with its fresh milled grain, Farmer Beth, the sun and the rain.

Soon enough they land on a haystack, content in the realization that their life is the best here or there, or anywhere. Katie too, although she’s glad they reached for the stars.

The book struck a chord with my son who had been excited and looking forward to his trip to the other side of the world, but is now missing the comfort and familiarity of home.

He is now enjoying the CD, while I google the dance forms mentioned in the book.

Meet Malavika Shetty, author of The Sweetest Mango

She is a linguist with impressive credentials. The bio at the place she currently works reads:
Malavika Shetty is currently a Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellow at Georgia Tech, where she uses her background in linguistics to teach courses in multimodal communication. Her courses encourage students to think critically about the role of language in the media and in their daily lives.
Malavika received her PhD in Linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin. Her areas of interest are linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics, and narrative. Her dissertation, Television and the Construction of Tulu Identity in South India, looks at how television can be used by a community as an effective medium for language revitalization and maintenance.

pic courtesy Tulika books

She is also the author of a lovely children's book, The Sweetest Mango, published by Tulika books. A mouth-watering addition to their wonderful books for children.

As one of the winners of their mango blogathon, Tulika books sent me a copy of the book, and asked me if I would like to interview the author. Would I like to? Of course, YES!

So here she is, Malavika Shetty, in her own words.

ST: How did you conceive of the story idea?
I have always wanted to write a story about friendship and the close bonds formed during childhood. Also, I love mangoes, so I thought about writing a story about friendship, but also a story that was set during the mango season.

ST: Tell us a bit about your childhood and background.
I grew up in the suburb of Bandra in Bombay in an idyllic neighbourhood where I played all day with lots of children. We went cycling, plucked and ate mulberries from bushes, played cricket and hide and seek…. My childhood was a never-ending summer. I am still in touch with the friends I grew up with and, when we meet, we speak about how much fun we had growing up together.
My family is from a village near Udipi (the village I describe in the book is my village), and almost every summer, my family and I make the trip to the village where there are lots of mango and coconut trees. My summer holidays, growing up, were spent doing exactly what Suma and Jyothi do in the book (except the walking to school bit!). I plucked mangoes from the trees surrounding the house. I ate lots of mango curry.

ST: That certainly sounds idyllic! Did you have an experience similar to that of Suma or Jyothi, as a child?
While the setting of the story is similar to my experience of childhood in my village near Udipi, I do not recollect a similar incident of saving a mango for myself and finally sharing it.

ST: How did Tulika books enter the scene, and how did the journey of making the book go?
I have always loved reading Tulika books and enjoy reading them with my children very much. I also make up my own stories and tell them to my children, so the thought of writing a children’s book was always in my mind. I was in Chennai one summer, so I walked into the Tulika office and asked about how I could go about writing and submitting a story to them. I was, very kindly, given an email address to which I could submit a story. I got back to Atlanta, wrote the story, and sent it to Tulika. I was thrilled when they actually accepted the story for publication.

ST: Ajanta Guhathakurta, the illustrator, is an established name. One of the books illustrated by her, The Yellow Bird, has featured earlier on Saffrontree. As I said in my review, "A drool-worthy book, with warm, summery illustrations by Ajanta Guhathakurtha matching the yumminess of the text."  How did you collaborate with her on this book?
Ajanta read the story and came up with the fabulous illustrations all by herself.

ST: Your bio says:  "Her areas of interest are linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics, and narrative."  Could you elaborate on that? How do you associate that with creative writing?
My research broadly looks at the relationship between language and culture. I look at how language is a crucial component that binds communities together and how it is an essential part of a community’s identity. My training and background is in linguistics, but I use tools from anthropology to look how language is used by a community.
My dissertation looked at how a Tulu-language television station in Karnataka could change the way Tulu is regarded. Having a call-in Tulu TV show gave community members an opportunity to voice their opinions and present different versions of narratives like folk tales and folk songs that have been part of the community’s oral culture for centuries.
Listening to folk tales and folk songs while I was doing my research has been an amazing experience. There are so many stories and wonderful descriptions contained in our oral cultures. These narratives are a source of inspiration for my own creative writing.

ST: Tell us some more about the 'Mundappa mango' that the story mentions.
The Mundappa is a variety of mango found in the region of Karnataka that I describe in the story. It is one of biggest and fleshiest mango varieties, and, if eaten, when it is at its optimum moment of ripeness, is in my opinion, the sweetest mango in the world. The Mundappa has a distinct round shape and grows to be as large as a coconut. I used to see the Mundappa in trees far more often when I was growing up than I do now. It seems as though the Mundappa mango trees are giving way to other varieties, so laying ones hands on a perfect Mundappa is really a treat.

ST: It is said that it is more difficult to write for children than for adults. What do you say to that as seen from the perspective of your profession, and as a children's writer?
I don’t think it is a question of ‘difficulty’. For me, it is more of a question of what I want to work on at a given moment. Sometimes I find that I want to write something that adults would read. At other times, I want to write something that children might enjoy. While I enjoy my work as a linguistic anthropologist and like writing about aspects of my work for an academic audience, I have discovered that I also enjoy writing for children very much.

ST: That sounds wonderful, as it means that we shall see more of your work in the future. Are there more books in the pipeline?
Yes! I loved writing 'The Sweetest Mango', and working with the editors and staff at Tulika has been a wonderful experience. I will certainly write more children’s books.


Photograph courtesy Malavika Shetty.

The Titanic

An acute curiosity about the Titanic disaster prompted the 7-year old to seek out books on the subject. We found a few simple picture books that managed to satisfy her interest and spark discussions about ships in general - a history of voyaging vessels, great ships - as well as basic safety measures for open sea ventures.

Titanic stories involving 'real' people who were on the ill-fated liner makes the tale more gripping, even if heart-wrenching. But, the stunning pictures and gentle narration of factual details in these books resonated with us.

Inside the Titanic: A Giant Cutaway Book
text by Hugh Brewster
illustrations by Ken Marschall

This giant 14.5"x11.5" book with stunning illustrations tells the story of Frankie and Billy, along with their families, and other passengers who board the greatest liner ever built, full of hope and optimism to establish a new life in America.

The photographs and illustrations bring the narration to life, putting us inside the luxury liner, exploring and discovering its magic along with the boys. The events following the hitting of the iceberg and the eventual sinking of the Titanic is narrated with clarity and thoughtfulness.

While the tragedy has no happy ending to satisfy all, The Rescue section is a heart-warming read which left the 7-yr old appeased.

With just the right amount of text, in flowing narration, and imposing full-page and double-page art work, this book helped us feel the emotions associated with this historic ship.

Pig on the Titanic: A True Story
by Gary Crew
pictures by Bruce Whatley

This true story is about Edith Rosenbaum sailing in The Titanic with a music-box pig, Maxixe, that her mother gave her as a lucky charm.

Told from the pig's perspective, the story demonstrates extraordinary courage and depths of human compassion.

Refusing to get on the lifeboat to allow for children to be saved, Edith was thrown into a lifeboat by a sailor as her bundled up pig Maxixe resembled a baby.

How Maxixe kept the spirits high till the eventual rescue makes up the rest of the story.

"Is it true, Mama? Was there really Edith Rosenbaum? Did she really have that music box pig?" Was asked a few times over, registering disbelief.

The illustrations are beautiful and the text is crisp and charming. When Maxixe tells us that Ms.Edith carried her everywhere, the accompanying illustrations show the various rooms and decks of the ship with swimming pool and ballroom and dining room and such.

At least, Ms.Edith's story ends well as she gets rescued along with many children who were entertained by Maxixe while in a lifeboat on icy waters.

Titanic: Disaster at Sea
by Martin Jenkins & Brian Sanders

There is a 'pop-up' version of this book with novelty like tickets, menus, and fold-out picture of the ship, and a regular version of the book with more details geared towards older readers.

We liked both versions. The 'Message Ignored' and 'The Final Hours' sections were detailed and straight account of the facts. 'The Inquiry' section concludes that no one could have foreseen the accident and that no one was to be blamed. But, it gave rise to new standards in ocean liner design and safety measures.

As a natural segway, we read about some famous ships from history.

The Great Ships
by Patrick O'Brien

Old sailors know that every ship on the sea has its own personality.


Thus opens this wonderful collection of ships from the longships of the Vikings to the giant aircraft carrier The Enterprise.

Each double page presents one ship - full-page picture on the left, with the crisp and romantic details on the right.

We enjoyed learning about the 17 ships therein (counting the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria as one.)

[image source: amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com]

The Sweetest Mango

I recently participated in a blogathon held by Tulika books on mangoes and my post was declared one of the winning entries. My prize :  A copy of this book.

Pic courtesy tulikabooks.com

The Sweetest Mango
Written by Malavika Shetty
Illustrated by Ajanta Guhathakurta
Published by Tulika books
Ages 4-8 yrs

Do you remember that when you were a child, you probably had a very close buddy (a friend or a sibling) who you hung out with, with whom you shared every little secret, and who was your partner-in-crime for all the mischief that you got into? With whom you shared absolutely everything?

But sometimes you had something really tasty. You hoarded it, hid it from everybody, even your closest buddy and ate it bit by bit, all by yourself? Didn't want to share it with ANYONE?

I would do that. My mother would give me some guL-shengdaNe (jaggery and peanuts - a really yummy combination that I loved. You split open the peanut, and stuffed some jaggery between the halves, and then popped it into your mouth. Yum!) and I would be loath to share it with anyone. I would keep it in a box in a secret place, and eat it surreptiously throughout the day, making it really last. I was reminded of that as I read this book.

Suma is a little girl who loves mangoes in any form. There was, of course, the delicious, juicy fruit, but there were also the pickles and curries made at home that she relished.

Now, Suma has a bosom buddy, Jyothi. The two girls were neighbours in a village near Udupi, a coastal town on the mango belt near the western coast of India. The village had many mango and coconut trees, and there were some around their houses. Summer meant a surfeit of mangoes, and of course, they had to be got by climbing the trees, and eaten freshly picked from the branches.

There was a particular mango tree, the mundappa mango, that grew behind Suma's house. It grew huge, round and sweet mangoes. One day, Suma spots a really big specimen, bigger than a coconut.

'But it was still raw, and it would be a few days before it ripened to sweetness. 
Suma couldn't wait to eat it. "I won't tell Jyothi," she thought. "I'll eat it all by myself."

So what happens next? How does she get through the few days of waiting? Does she get to eat it? All by herself? What about Jyothi?

A book about the joys of friendship, and the carefree innocence of childhood. A drool-worthy book, with warm, summery illustrations by Ajantha Guhathakurtha matching the yumminess of the text.

A read the book within ten minutes of its arrival at home, and was smiling as she finished it. I suppose she, too, was thinking of the way she is often loath to share some of the goodies she gets from her grandparents' place when we visit. And how we sometimes enjoy them better when shared!

Shells: Treasures of the Sea

Shells: Treasures of the Sea
by Leonard Hill

This super large 14"x11" hardbound book weighing about 6 pounds is a recent favorite at home.

Turn to any random page and read it like an encyclopedia - the evolution and origins of sea shells, the animals inside the shells, shell architecture, genetic designs of color and pattern, conchology and all about Shells and Man.

The photographs are beautiful, whether they are an imposing double-page spread, a stunning full-page close-up, or just a small insert. It feels like a trip to the art gallery just looking at the pictures in this book.

Many shells from my childhood, shells that I collected just for the joy of it not knowing the creatures that were part of it or what they were called, came up in this book, stirring not just nostalgia but a renewed curiosity about them.

From stylish Coronate Pagoda Spindle, Common Turritella, Cypraeidae (Cowrie) shells ('Chozhi', in Tamil - pieces in a favorite game my mom and I used to play), Chambered Nautilus, Murex, gorgeous Green Abalone, to regular everyday Clams, Mussels, and Limpets, the book itself is a treasure for sea shell lovers.

Many of the soft invertebrate mollusks that can be traced back to over 600 million years ago have evolved to secrete a protective calcium carbonate shell which is what we see and love and collect as beautiful sea shells. 

The resident 7-year old has reached for it consistently over the last few weeks, especially after a full day at school, just laying on the sofa and leafing through its pages picking up random tidbits of information, indicating how absorbing this huge nonfiction volume can be.

[Book cover image source: amazon.com]

Leonardo da Vinci and Benjamin Franklin

Neo Leo: The Ageless Ideas of Leonardo da Vinci,

Now & Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin

by Gene Barretta

Musician, Writer, Inventor, Statesman, Cartoonist, Postmaster, Philosopher, Diplomat... Dr.Benjamin Franklin wore many hats and wore them well.


Now & Ben shows us many of Ben Franklin's creations that are still in use today, more than two centuries later.

With colorful and humorous illustrations, each double page spread shows Now... and Ben... featuring one (or more) of Dr.Franklin's creations as it is used now, and as it was originally put forth by Ben. For instance:

Now... bifocals are very common. Bifocals combine two sets of lenses into one pair of glasses. The bottom lens helps see the near, and the top lens helps see far.

Ben...originally designed bifocals for himself after he grew tired of switching between two glasses.

Of course, there is the iconic page mentioning Benjamin Franklin's famous experiment when he attached a metal wire to the top of a kite to gather electricity from storm cloud.

From the grabber for grabbing out-of-reach things and the flippers for swimming; the benefits of citrus diet to prevent scurvy; measuring and charting the Gulf Stream currents; to the glass harmonica and the writing chair, Benjamin Franklin's many creations are very much in use today, even if not in its original form.

I learnt a lot from this book, and so did the 7 year old. I did not know that Benjamin Franklin was the first to print a political cartoon in America or that he invented the first odometer when he was Postmaster General.

Along the same vein, Neo Leo introduces us to the amazing Leonardo da Vinci. At once an artist, engineer, mathematician, scientist, and visionary, da Vinci's detailed diagrams and designs from over five centuries ago paved the way for many of the modern mechanical contraptions we take for granted today.

The illustrations in the book are clever and cheeky, allowing an older reader (viz., me) to hunt and spot as many da Vinci associations as one can find in each page.

Dear Deer, A Book of Homophones was our first encounter with Gene Barretta which led us to Neo Leo and Now & Ben.

It is not easy to make biographies of great men/women accessible to kids - either they short-change the greatness or tend to be a tedious read. These two biographies by Barretta, however, are crisp and detailed enough to give an awe-inspiring picture of these stalwarts; and they certainly made a mark on the 7-year old, urging her to reach within herself and find all that she is capable of - at the moment, at least.

The fact that a single person was a veritable storehouse of such great ideas that made modern civilization what it is today certainly impressed upon us via these book.

[image source: amazon.com]