Suzy Davies's Blog: Book News - Posts Tagged "teaching"

27th February is a very special day for "Snugs The Snow Bear," and, in fact, polar bears everywhere in the world, since it is a day we celebrate these majestic snow bears, and draw attention to the fact that these snow bears face extinction, unless we do something about Climate Change.
"Snugs The Snow Bear," Book One of my Children's Fiction Series, aims to entertain kids, but at the same time to inspire them, and teach them about our carbon footprint, energy conservation, and green issues, that is essential knowledge in our efforts to address man-made global warming.
As Polar Bears International states:
"Using less energy produced by carbon-based fuels reduces our carbon emissions and can slow and even stop global warming, in turn saving our sea ice. Polar bears require sea ice for efficient hunting. Without sea ice, polar bears will decline in range and numbers, making them vulnerable to extinction in the future."
I hope you and your children will have fun reading "Snugs The Snow Bear," and that my book will stimulate children's curiosity about the natural world, and endangered species, providing them with a springboard for their own discussions and projects.
When children are engaged, it makes learning fun!

It's not very often that I choose to comment on political matters, but I am heartened by Obama's erudite speech today in which he mentioned the importance of taking action on Global Warming.
Two years ago, I launched my debut Children's Book, "Snugs The Snow Bear," which tells a snowy seaside tale of a polar bear who has had to leave his native Greenland on a floating iceberg. He misses dancing with the friendly fires of The Northern Lights and feels very homesick.
Rescued by Captain Lightowler and a menagerie of animals, he journeys on a cruise ship to Iceland, where he bathes in the hot springs, and on to England, where he stays at an old lighthouse with Mr. and Mrs. Merryweather and their grandchildren, Carla and James.
My book addresses Green Issues such as recycling and teaches children about endangered species. Einstein famously commented about the benefits of being curious, and I hope my book will encourage children to find out more about Global Warming and this beautiful but fragile world in which we live.

When there's snow on the ground,
Snugs gets out of bed,
and goes with the moose on a ride on a sled,
Grandad and grannie watch as they go,
slippedy sliding away in the snow.

When there's snow on the ground,
and the evening is here,
the lighthouse's lit up,
to bring them good cheer.
The moose they are snoring - so loud and so deep!
But Snugs is so glad because it's Christmas Eve!

Sometimes, people overlook the value of reading fantasy to children because of our obsession with a hierarchy of knowledge that places “realism” above “fantasy” and “science” above “art.”

We want to cram our children’s heads full of facts, such is our banking system of education. But this is not what education is about.

Although my brain is more artistic than scientific, I value science and hope that my books will help to develop the imaginations of scientists in the making as well as budding artists. And I think they will! For nothing that has ever been invented by a scientist has been invented without an imaginative brain. And nothing created by an artist is created without the capacity to envision something out of the ordinary.

Although both my children’s books are based in reality, they are full of modern parables, tales within tales. This kind of fantasy is created at metaphorical level in the text and allows for a multiplicity of meanings and scope for children’s imaginations. It is through exploring the many threads that combining of metaphors can create, that children learn to innovate for themselves.

Learning to put unusual things together at metaphorical level helps "out of the box" thinking.

Older children will also learn to reason. Not all possible meanings in a text are equally valid. They will use logic and reason to uncover what is the most likely interpretation of the book or what the author intended the meaning to be. And they will have opinions of their own.

Some time ago a reviewer of “Snugs The Snow Bear” seemed to misunderstand why I had mentioned The Northern Lights in my snow bear tale, and gone into some detail describing them. They, of course, were a metaphor for the supernatural magic of the snow bear, and were meant to indicate that he should be free to show up like them, as part of nature, part of the environment and natural beauty of the world.

At another level, an older child might interpret these lights as triggers to fantastic memories of home, a kind of analogy to the way in which memory operates like cinema - a series of flashing images before one’s eyes, that can be fleeting and transitory. Of course, at a more literal level, The Northern Lights immediately conjure up the snow bear in his natural environment.

A quirky metaphor in Snugs The Snow Bear is an egg-timer. I will not reveal the literal meaning in the text here. But at metaphorical level, it may be interpreted to represent the “sands of time” running out on climate change.

Children’s books that are written clearly and simply mean very young kids can read them and enjoy them. Those that also have rich layers of meaning allow older children and adults to enjoy them, too.

It is my belief that imagination is like a muscle. Use it often enough, and you will develop it.

If we are to see future generations of artists, scientists, great thought leaders and innovative business people in the making, they will need imagination in bucketloads.

Children’s books are a rehearsal for life. Through fantasy, children can learn to problem solve, put themselves in the position of the characters and develop an imaginative empathy for others, including animals.

Rather than dumbing down and short-changing our kids, we should be posing questions about the world around them for which they can seek answers and solutions.

This does not mean our books have to be dry and boring. On the contrary, through being entertained, children will surprise us with the discoveries their imaginative minds make.

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It is well-documented that laughter is good for health, but there's a bit more to it than that. Humor in kids' books, develops life skills for kids, and here's how.

According to the Kids Experts in Children's Minnesota, you will be delighted to hear of the following, and I quote among the many benefits of reading funny children's books are:

"A good sense of humor is a tool that kids can rely on throughout life to help them: see things from many perspectives other than the most obvious

be spontaneous

grasp unconventional ideas or ways of thinking
see beyond the surface of things

enjoy and participate in the playful aspects of life
not take themselves too seriously."

Of course, sharing jokes is a way that kids find things in common with their peers, and a good laugh shared is twice as fun!

The bodily functions humor in my newest picture book, "Poop The Dragon," aims to take away the embarrassment some children feel when talking about "Poo" and to help develop an openness about that and farting, for example. In actuality, kids of early school age love slapstick and bodily functions kind of humor. My publisher, Lizy J. Campbell, CEO of Elite Lizzard Publishing, has illustrated this book in a fun Disney kind of way. Poop The Dragon is larger than life, and will appeal to kids' imaginations and make them laugh out loud!

Research shows that humor helps "pull in" reluctant readers and grabs their attention. Laughter, of course, triggers the natural "pleasure chemicals" in the body, so adult parents and grandparents who read along with their kids, will find that humor is contagious, and they will reap the proven therapeutic benefits, too.

Part of social and emotional learning, sharing funny stories reduces stress and builds a child's community of friendship, where kids learn we are all learning and growing, and it's okay to make mistakes from time to time.