Leslie BulionReseñas

This book is more for intermediate readers because there is a lot of writing, and the rhyming sequence is a little difficult to understand. there are also facts about the human body throughout the book that goes along with the poems.

Recommended Ages: Gr.

Plot Summary: Each spread has 1-2 poems about something from the Galapagos ecosystem, then a short informative paragraph.

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Personal Thoughts: not written in a way for kids to read independently. Very high reading level.

Genre: non-fiction

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This book is a collection of poems about sea creatures. It covers topics about predation and the way creatures interact with each other. The art is colorful and relevant to each individual poem. I would use this collection of poems to demonstrate a marine habitat.

From frogs and toads to salamanders and caecilians, amphibians are found around the world. However, they require specific moisture and temperature conditions. They are vertebrates who typically start out as larvae living in water, but become air-breathing as adults. They’re often used as ecological indicators and have experienced a dramatic decline around the globe.
Read the recently published nonfiction book for youth, then learn more at the websites:
AMPHIBIAN ACROBATS written by Leslie Bulion provides an engaging combination of poetry with scientific facts. Featuring twenty poems, each two-page layout includes an illustrated poem along with background information about frogs, salamanders, or caecilians. The book concludes with a glossary, notes about each poem’s form, a world map, and an illustration comparing the size of amphibians.
AmphibiaWeb includes over eight thousand amphibian species and provides a searchable database, educational resources, and information about amphibian declines. Involve youth in learning about a creature and writing their own poems.
To learn more, go to https://amphibiaweb.org/.
ARC courtesy of Peachtree.

Spiders are six-legged, air-breathing arthropods. The largest order of arachnids, most have fangs that inject venom and spinnerets that spin silk. Other than Antarctica, spiders are found throughout the world.

Read the science poetry book for children, then learn more at the websites:

SPI-KU: A CLUTTER OF SHORT VERSE ON EIGHT LEGS written by Leslie Bulion and illustrated by Robert Meganck combines poetry and science for an engaging exploration of spiders. This richly illustrated work contained over a dozen, two-page explorations of these fascinating arthropods. Each spread focuses on a different topic and includes poem(s) along with useful information and realistic illustrations. Haiku, tanka, doditsu, and cinquain are just a few of the poetic forms used in the text. The book concludes with a glossary, notes about poetic form, activities, and additional information.

Use the following websites to jumpstart spider poetry writing ideas.

SPIDERS from Cornell University provide learning resources about spider biology. To learn more, go to https://blogs.cornell.edu/spiders/.

SPIDERS: SILK AND FANGS from San Diego Zoo Kids is an attractive infographic introducing students to spiders. To view the infographic, go to https://bit.ly/3cPuuBx. To read a more in-depth page, go to https://bit.ly/2OsqSMu.

ARC courtesy of Peachtree.

We learn about the superlatives of the bird world--the smallest, who has the most feathers, the biggest nest, etc.—through poetry enhanced by an accompanying paragraph labeled Science Notes. Different styles of poems are employed for each bird. Backmatter includes a glossary, notes on the style of poem used for each bird poem and birding resources. The diversity of poetry styles includes blues, tanka, madsong stanza and tendi. Poems are clever, quirky, humorous and lively, and incorporate facts about the birds, all within the poem’s designated style. Words do not feel wasted, are selected and placed just so. Overall, an informative and entertaining non-fiction package, very accessible to young new birders.

If you know a child who loves bugs, or one who enjoys gardening or someone that is interested in composting or decaying debris, then this is the book for them. Full of information about how things decay and breakdown told in a variety of poems in a variety of formats. From bacteria to worms to pillbugs we learn how they adapt and live in the decaying piles and help the environment. The back of the book was full of amazing information. Facts about the different poetry styles (some I was not familiar with), a glossary, experiments and other resources will allow the reader to further investigate. The illustrations are wonderful and add so much to the information. My grandson kept asking about the pictures and wanted to know what they were called, what they were doing and if there were any outside in our back garden. Definitely a winner in his eyes. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via netgalley.

At the Sea Floor Cafe: Odd Ocean Critter Poems by Leslie Bulion is a book of poetry to explore the interesting features of odd creatures in the sea. Leslie Bulion has a degree in oceanography and is a resident of Durham, Connecticut. This book would be an excellent addition to shoreline library collections or libraries where learning about ocean creatures is encouraged, so that library patrons can learn more ocean critters.

Have you ever wondered what lives underneath and in between the leaves and debris on the forest floor? There are millions of tiny little organisms that work together to create a unique ecosystem. Some of them we can see and some of them can only be seen under the lens of a microscope.
The Book, Leaf Litter Critters is a unique approach to teaching science concepts while simultaneously learning about poetry. This book is recommended for optional purchase. It could be used in 4th through 6th grade classrooms to introduce decomposition and poetry if the teacher is teaching both language arts and science. The glossary and poetry notes further reinforce both science and language arts concepts introduced in the book.

LEAF LITTER CRITTERS by Leslie Bulion contains nineteen poems exploring science topics related to decomposers and forest ecology.

Each two-page spread features a short poem, a science note, and a colorful illustration. The book concludes with a glossary, poetry notes, science investigations, a size comparison, and an infographic.

Librarians will find the combination of science and poetry useful for STEAM activities. The colored pages and attractive illustrations will draw student interest. Don’t let this fun book get lost in the poetry section. Work with teachers to integrate it into an elementary, cross curriculum activity.

Published by Peachtree Publishers on March 1, 2018. ARC courtesy of the publisher.½

So much is packed into this little book! Meticulously researched, you can learn about the bacteria, fungi, and insects that act as recyclers and decomposers in the "brown food web" with entertaining poems followed by science notes about each critter. What elementary or middle school kid wouldn't love a poem about pillbugs (isopods) with stanzas like "This crew can chew the whole night through / In dead leaf demolition, / And then they chew each others' poo, / For extra-rich nutrition!" I was fascinated by facts such as this one about the water bear (tardigrade): It can survive extreme environmental conditions for years by shrinking into a "tun" and stopping all bodily functions until things get better. It makes me wonder what amazing, life-saving abilities we can learn from all "leaf litter critters" and figure out ways to adapt their skills for human use in the future. I found myself singing the final poem to the tune of "My Favorite Things" before I even realized this was Ms. Bulion's intention. But wait, there's more! The book includes a scale that compares the sizes of each critter relative to a straight pin, a glossary, experiments to try, and websites and books to explore the topics further. My favorite part, I have to admit, was reading the poetry notes about each poem. Do you know what a rubliw is? I hadn't heard about this poetic form before this. Add Mr. Meganck's fun and bright illustrations and you've got a winning combination. (I received an ARC. Publication date: March 2018)

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

It advertises "Gross Anatomical Riddles In Verse". How could I possibly NOT be interested in this booklet?

It's aimed at children, and I think it's still enjoyable even when you're no longer exactly a child. It tries to spark an interest into the human body (which I always applaud) and also into poetry as some of the riddles contain more or less obvious hints at Shakespeare. If you've already got some knowledge about the human body you're probably not going to learn anything new, but if it motivates anyone to go looking for more information it has done a great job.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Fun, witty collection of verse about the human body influenced by Shakespearean works.

If Z wasn't so into the subject matter, I'm guessing it would have been three stars for the poetry. But, it was a nice combo of obscure sea creatures (with scientific notes) and different poetic forms for him.

Review also published on my blog: AWordsWorth.blogspot.com
Book provided by publisher for review

Miller Sanford is eleven-and-a-half, and has been waiting on this day for a long, long time. What day? Why, Fair Friday of course! The day all schools and businesses close, and everyone in his little town of Holmsbury flock to the fairgrounds and enjoy a day "alone" before all the neighboring towns come. This year, Miller is striving to prove he is reliable and responsible enough to be on his own at the fair -- even going so far as to be nice to his little sister Penelope and her friends Andrew and Lou Ann. (And that should tell you something, ha!) Funny thing about being eleven-and-a-half though, things don't always work out the way you plan. Soon, Miller's fair plans are one big, huge, giant, tangled mess. Who knew that so much could go wrong in one day? Miller definitely gets a chance to show off his new, older, more responsible side.

Miller's day of misadventures is told in an easy, humorous, and oh-so-very realistic style. Miller's a bit of a science nut (physics, to be exact), and he spends a lot of time breaking down his surroundings and decisions into scientific parts. (It's actually eerily like the way my brother would look at life from a more naturalistic/biological perspective, so Bulion got the science-boy aspect spot-on!) And the loose black and white illustrations are perfect accents to the story. There's a little mystery, a lot of dramatic build-up, and some wonderful miscommunications. I loved the little kids too, and Miller's best friend Lewish -- who is glued to his video camera. All in all, The Universe of Fair definitely made me want to go spend a day at the Fair ... only, without quite so many mishaps -- even though everything worked out, I'd rather read the (admittedly comic) drama than live it.½

literature and science meet.

FROM AMAZON: He has secrets—lots of them—and they weigh heavily on his mind. One deception leads to another, and he lies to his Uncle Nate about joining the local swim team, not wanting to explain his fear of the dark salt water.

When Sumi, a budding marine biologist, asks him to be her research assistant, he jumps at the chance to make some money. But he gets into a lot more than he bargained for. Soon he will have to face his greatest fears and give up his secrets forever.