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I have had the enormous pleasure of working with Sylvan Dell Publishing on a few previous reviews for Fall Releases?and Last Spring’s Selections. This spring I want to introduce to you the 5 new books in their collection, each of these books in their own way teach children about Science, Math and Geography. Each story is woven together with beautiful illustrations from across the United States and Canada.
The forest animals are surprised when a volcano suddenly explodes, covering the land in gritty, warm ash and rocks that make it unlivable for many plants and animals. Gopher survives in his underground burrow with food to eat. How does Gopher help bring life back to the mountain? Scientists spent years observing life returning to the mountain following the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980. This fictionalized story is based on their surprising observations of how life returns to an area that has been totally changed or destroyed.
Animals, like people, enjoy spending time with their friends and family. Many groups of animals have their own unique names. Did you know that a group of gorillas is called a band? And a bunch of billy goats is a tribe? Following in the footsteps of Multiply on the Fly (multiplication), What’s New at the Zoo? (addition) and What’s the Difference? (subtraction), this rhythmic, fun-to-read-aloud book introduces children to division as they conquer bands, tribes, mobs and more.
Baby Bat loves his cave home and never wants to leave it. While practicing flapping his wings one night, he falls, and Pluribus Packrat rescues him. They then explore the deepest, darkest corners of the cave where they meet amazing animals?animals that don?t need eyes to see or colors to hide from enemies. Baby Bat learns how important bats are to the cave habitat and how other cave-living critters rely on them for their food. Will Baby Bat finally venture out of the cave to help the other animals?
Penelope Parker lives with penguins! Short ones, tall ones; young and old?the penguins are from all over the Southern Hemisphere including some that live near the equator! Do the penguin antics prove too much for her to handle? Children count and then compare and contrast the different penguin species as they learn geography.
Beatrix the beaver longs to be good at something. Her brother Bevan is an expert at repairing the lodge with mud and twigs. Her sister Beverly is a superb swimmer and underwater gymnast. What makes Beatrix stand out? One day, she runs away by swimming up the creek and finds some fresh garden plants to eat, and tasty trees to gnaw. When her siblings set off to find her, all Three Little Beavers wind up trapped! It takes some simple engineering on the part of the humans who set the traps, and Beatrix’s discovery of her special talents, for the people and beavers to finally find a way to live in harmony.
All of the stories are wonderful. My tot’s personal favorite was the Gopher’s story, Gopher to the Rescue – A Volcano Recovery Story. The story has beautiful images of the earth slowly recovering over years from a Volcano and it resonates both a sense of change as well as hope after disaster. He may be 3, but I believe that all children desire to have that feeling that change isn’t always a bad thing and that little guys, like the Gopher, can make huge impacts in our world.
The Three Little Beavers is also a story similar to Gopher to the Rescue, that showcases three beavers that get caught in cages and how they feel. Then the people who capture them build them a safe haven and let them go. I loved this story, as a personal favorite, because I often times with rescue small animals and take care of them until they’re well enough to go; once a raccoon even. It shows little ones that even animals have homes, lives of their own and feelings and that we should be giving them a safe place to live.
All of Sylvan Dell Publishing books are great for in-home teaching for early learning, home-schooling as well as for public education. Their shop is filled with educational materials, companion e-books as well as teaching materials. Each book has lessons at the end that teach about Science, Geography or?Mathematics; so your children are always learning as they read.
With Spring at our doorstep, these books are perfect. They’re both lovely and insightful, as their many, many other books are as well. Take a moment to look through theircatalogand find one that fits your child’s educational path and don’t be surprised if it opens up a whole new world of questions, for the desire to learn is often coupled with our love of the world around us.
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Buy It!
You can buy any of the books above as well as an enormous amount of others in their Online Shop.
