My Facebook newsfeed is full of back-to-school photos. Has school started where you live? We drop Hazel off at boarding school for the first time today! My classes begin on Tuesday though. It seems everyone is thinking back-to-school. Today I get to share with you a perfect book for this time of year. It is Willard DoGooder and the Trail of Friends by Jen Kirkley and illustrated by M. Brayer.
As I mentioned in my last post I am visiting Cape Cod. Our house is on a marsh, and I shared a bit about saltwater marshes earlier this week. The other big thing in the news on Cape Cod is great white sharks. In fact, on this trip, we visited the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy's Shark Center in Chatham. I learned quite a bit about great white sharks and sharks in general there, but I also got a few books out of the library and did some searches for fun facts for you. There are more than 500 species of sharks and over 100 of them are endangered! Yet sharks have survived all five of the Earth's major extinctions. July 14th is Shark Awareness Day so this post will have you all set for it!
Do you know a young child who struggles with anxiety? My daughter has anxiety and has struggled with it from a very young age. I remember her separation anxiety as well as her getting nervous if she watched someone break a rule. I sometimes had to turn Curious George off because she got nervous when he broke a rule. There were so many conversations about how her anxiety caused her to feel sick. I wish today's book was available when she was young, but the author is only a few years older than Hazel and was experiencing her own anxiety. The author of today's book is in high school and wrote this book from her own experiences. The book is Frankie's Fishy Feelings by Quincy Kadin. Since the main character is getting ready for the first day of school, I recommend it for the preschool through early elementary age kids.
Last year I introduced you to Sharks Inc. with the middle grade novel Fins. This summer the Sharks Inc. threesome is back and are still tagging sharks and solving mysteries. Dr. Ford has brought the team to the Bahamas where Captain Hannah will oversee their work. While there they explore Katt Island with a local girl whose mother owns the hotel they are staying in and find all sorts of mysteries and trouble. The second book is Stingers by Randy Wayne White.
