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What We're Reading:
Current Picks from the Watermark Staff
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Watermark Teacher Feature – June 4, 2008
In this issue:
FRESH TITLES:
* “Moonpowder” by John Rocco
* “Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague” by Brandon Mull
* “City of Bones” and “City of Ashes” by Cassandra Clare
NEWSFLASHES:
* Summer Children’s Picks from Indie Bookstores
* Newsweek Reports on Avid Teen Readers
UPCOMING EVENTS:
* June KMUW Literary Feast: Tony Horwitz, Friday, June 6
* Maggie Sefton: Knitting-Sleuth mysteries, Tue., June 10
* Jonis Agee: Nebraska novelist, Friday, June 13
FEATURE: Reconnecting Kids & Nature
* “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder” by
Richard Louv, recipient of the 2008 Audubon Medal
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This and previous issues of Teacher Feature are available on the Watermark Web
site. You can read on-line, complete with pictures and clickable links, here:
www.watermarkbooks.com/teach.html
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Greetings and salutations,
Summer has gotten off to a rather damp start here in south-central Kansas, but I
hope it has been rejuvenating all the same. And on the bright side, rainy
weather means more days spent with our noses in our books! Still, outdoor time
is coming, so look below for a featured review of Richard Louv’s “Last Child in
the Woods,” a newly updated book that aims to help parents and educators
encourage strong connections between children and the natural world.
Until next time, stay dry!
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FRESH TITLES
Picture books:
“Moonpowder” by John Rocco (Hyperion, 9781423100119, $15.99, ages 4 to 8)
John Rocco’s new picture book, “Moonpowder,” is a great bedtime or quiet-time
story and a fine book for Father’s Day. Rocco’s calming, richly painted
illustrations help tell the story of an inventive young boy’s quest to return
sweet dreams to the world as he waits for his father to come home from serving
his country: Read
review
Middle-readers fiction:
“Fablehaven: The Grip of the Shadow Plague” by Brandon Mull (Shadow
Mountain, 9781590388983, $18.95, for ages 9 and older) Readers of Harry Potter
and Percy Jackson should investigate the mysterious reports from the Fablehaven
Fantasy Preserve, a hidden sanctuary for mythical creatures tucked away in the
deep woods of modern America. In this newest Fablehaven adventure, a young
brother and sister work to stop a magical sickness infecting all the preserve’s
incredible creatures. This is first-rate modern fantasy!
Read review
Young adult:
“City of Bones” and “City of Ashes” by Cassandra Clare (Margaret
K. McElderry, 9781416914297, $17.99, ages 14 and older) Need something to soften
cravings for Stephenie Meyer’s next book? Sink teeth into Cassandra Clare’s
“Mortal Instruments” series, which mixes teen romance with suspenseful urban
fantasy. When city girl Clary Fray witnesses a supernatural murder in a
Manhattan club, she suddenly discovers she has the power to see magical
creatures--werewolves, faeries, vampires, more--and she’s quickly pulled into a
secret battle between the monsters and those who hunt them. These are perfect
books for “Twilight” readers:
Read review
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NEWSFLASHES:
Summer Children’s Picks from Indie Bookstores.
Check out this quarterly list of new book picks from independent booksellers
across America. Printed copies are available free in the bookstore:
http://news.bookweb.org/booksense/6050.html
Newsweek Reports on Avid Teen Readers.
Newsweek On-line recently published an interesting piece on YA books and what
it’s calls “Generation R,” a new generation of teens who read for pleasure and
escape. Follow this link to the article:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/136961
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UPCOMING WATERMARK EVENTS
June KMUW Literary Feast: Friday, June 6. 7:00 p.m.
The June book will be “A Voyage Long & Strange” by Tony Horwitz, a Pulitizer
Prize-winning journalist. This new non-fiction book digs into the fascinating,
and nearly forgotten, history of North America in the century between the voyage
of Columbus and the settlement at Jamestown.
Tickets for the feast are available at the Watermark book counter or by calling
(316) 682-1181. Places are limited, and we recommend purchasing your ticket well
in advance. Read more about the book and author on the KMUW Web site:
http://www.kmuw.org/LiteraryFeasts.html
Maggie Sefton reading & signing. Tuesday, June 10. 7:00 p.m.
Maggie Sefton, author of the Kelly Flynn knitting-sleuth mysteries will be at
Watermark to read and sign her new novel “Dyer Consequences.” Sefton is a
Virginia native and happy knitter-writer. Plan to come, and bring your knitting
needles as well as your sleuthing cap!
Jonis Agee reading & signing. Friday, June 13. 7:00 p.m.
Nebraska author Jonis Agee will read and sign “The River Wife,” her latest
novel. Agee is an award-winning writer, and her new book embraces more than a
century (1811 to the 1930s) of American life along the Missouri River, including
earthquake, marriage, and family history. The New York Times Book Review calls
Agee “a gifted poet of that dark lushness in the heart of the American
landscape.”
For a full listing of Watermark events, including book clubs and art openings,
visit the Events page of our Web site:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/events.html
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FEATURE: Reconnecting Kids & Nature
“Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder”
by Richard Louv (Algonquin Books, 9781565126053, $14.95)
Are today’s kids losing touch with nature? Journalist and prominent children’s
advocate Richard Louv believes they are, and in “Last Child in the Woods,” he
argues that the causes and effects of this loss deserve the attention of
parents, educators, and everyone involved in the lives of young people.
As America has become more urban and suburban, he says, as electronic
entertainments have gained popularity, and as families have become more fearful
and less likely to venture out of doors, our children have less and less direct
experience of the natural world. Louv describes this reality as more than a
simple sad fact. He argues that this change strongly affects young people’s
physical health by decreasing vigorous activity and contributing toward obesity
and disease. It leads to shortened attention spans and to replacing patience and
calm with anxiety and strong drives for immediate gratification. It also
changes, dramatically, what they know about the world and how they know it.
Presenting findings from diverse surveys and studies, Louv points out that less
time playing outdoors and exploring nature yields children who are inexperienced
in using their physical senses, in observing, in making predications about
animals, plants, weather, and landscapes. It lessons their ability to learn and
squanders their innate aptitudes for science and reasoning and for many related
areas of comprehension and learning. It leads to children being alienated from
their surroundings, to kids who are ignorant of where their food comes from and
how natural forces shape our world.
But “Last Child in the Woods” isn’t a prediction of doom. Louv spends much of
the book finding ways for parents and teachers to reintroduce children to
nature. This newly released, updated paperback edition includes points for group
discussion, lists of great Web resources and field guides, and lots of suggested
action points to help heal the breach he identifies. Some points are for
policy-makers, but many are simple actions anyone can take: helping a child
learn to listen and pay attention to the nature around him, identifying the
crawlies living under a scrap of board laid on bare dirt, observing clouds and
matching them to the weather they most likely indicate. There’s no rocket
science here, it’s easy, everyday--but important--stuff.
“Last Child in the Woods” isn’t a shrill, depressing warning, nor is it another
diagnosis of dysfunction for today’s much-studied kids. Instead, it’s an early
call to reasonable, common sense action, and it’s filled with thoughtful,
thought-provoking ideas. Richard Louv is a writer who has taken time to listen
carefully to children, their parents, and their teachers, and to think about the
world we’re all growing up in. His words carry a great deal of hope, and his
book absolutely rewards the curious reader.
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Past reviews and archived issues of Teacher Feature can be read on-line on the
Watermark Web site at:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/teacharchives.html
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Later educators,
Mark David Bradshaw
Click here for the Teacher Feature Archives
Peruse
back issues of teacher feature since its inception in April
2003.
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