From Snow to Seeds
By Sandy Meagher

Have you ever tried pairing nonfiction books with fiction books? When working with classroom teachers, I help them look for fiction that will supplement the nonfiction books they've selected for a topic. Once teachers try pairing fiction with nonfiction, they're "book hooked!"

This snowy season
Our kindergarten and first grade teachers recently rewrote their reading curriculum through the science content area, using seasons as their theme. To support them, I purchased fiction and nonfiction that introduced science concepts.

The snowy setting of You Can Do It, Sam makes it a perfect fiction match for nonfiction books about snow.
Illustration ©2003 by Anita Jeram. Reproduced by permission of the publisher.

One excellent book is What Makes the Seasons? by Megan Montague Cash, (Viking, 2003, ISBN: 0-670-03598-X). This is nonfiction with rhyming text that introduces seasonal changes. The book would be great to use for word walls and art activities such as cotton-ball "snowballs" or paper "snowflakes."

Fireside tales
As for fiction about seasons, there are several good new books. In You Can Do It, Sam by Amy Hest (Candlewick, 2003, ISBN: 0-763-61934-5), Sam and his mother deliver cakes to their friends. Though Sam has to carry the cakes by himself, his confidence builds. Anita Jeram's illustrations abound with snow.

Also try The Lonesome Polar Bear by Jane Cabrera (Random House, 2003, ISBN: 0-375-82410-3), in which a snow cloud decides to make a friend for the bear. It drops snowflakes in the shapes of an owl, whale, seal, reindeer and finally another polar bear who doesn't melt and becomes the bear's friend. In addition to using this book to discuss friendship, try predictions: "Who will the bear see next?" Students can write sentences and create artwork for their predictions.

A nonfiction book to pair with this is Why Does Ice Melt? by Jim Pipe (Copper Beech, 2002, ISBN: 0-761-32723-1). The book includes projects about melting and freezing.

Sunny days, snow days
Snow Day! by Patricia Lakin (Dial, 2002, ISBN: 0-803-72642-2) would make a nice play with students acting out the text, in which crocodile children wake up on a snowy morning and are so excited about going sledding that they forget they have to go to school.

The "Green Light Readers" from Harcourt include some weather titles. I like Cloudy Day, Sunny Day by Donald Crews (1999, ISBN: 0-152-04850-2), which includes an activity in which students paint a picture of what they like to do on sunny days. A note from the author reveals what he does on cloudy days.

Scientific series
The "Science Solves It" series, from Kane Press, helps students understand science through stories. In What Homework? by Linda Hayward (2002, ISBN: 1-575-65116-5), Andy forgets to do his homework, a plant scavenger hunt. Students could be assigned Andy's actual homework.

The "Read and Learn" series from Heinemann includes Seeds by Patricia Whitehouse (2002, ISBN: 1-588-10525-3). We also use the series "Earth Science," from Compass Point, with titles like Watch It Grow by Craig Hammersmith (2002, ISBN: 0-756-50246-2). Don't forget Pebble Books for very easy reading levels. The series "Apples" includes Eating Apples, From Bud to Blossom, From Blossom to Fruit and Picking Apples, all by Gail Saunders-Smith. Their website is www.capstone-press.com

A scattering of resources
Two Old Potatoes and Me by John Coy (Knopf, 2003, ISBN: 0-375-82180-5) is a fiction picture book about a girl and her dad who grow potatoes, creating a tradition that helps them through the father's divorce from the mother. There's a mashed potato recipe at the end.

An Illustrated Treasury of Read-Aloud Poems for Young People (Black Dog, 2003, ISBN: 1-57912-289-2) contains a section called "Poetry of the Earth and Sky," which includes "The Months" by Christina Rossetti, "I Heard a Bird Sing" by Oliver Herford and other science-related poems.

The National Science Teacher Association has an excellent website with resources and book information at nsta.org.

Make sure you keep your librarian informed about your teaching needs. It's our job to support your teaching – and it's a job we love!

Sandy Meagher is the Library Department Chairperson and School Librarian in the Wayne Highlands School District, Honesdale, PA.

February, 2004, Vol.34, No.5