Gail Nelson's Blog

Convergent evolution explains why the emerald tree boa and green tree python are similar despite living in different parts of the world. Explore the Amazon treetops with Fiona & Fuzz while they learn about it.

Why do we call them bats? From leather flapper to flitter mouse, explore the wild word origins and surprising lives of these fluttery cuties.

Artists do a lot of things behind the scenes that make what they do possible. Have you ever wondered how children’s book characters stay so consistent from beginning to end? There’s more to it than a ton of practice—much like musicians, artists have to practice in ways that make sense. For example, you wouldn’t see […]

The bright red bird and Catholic cardinals share a name—but which name came first?

Spinach is overrated. Try lamb’s quarter instead! It’s wild, free, and works anywhere spinach does.

My iPad gets more use than nearly any other piece of technology I own, for everything from art to writing and editing. Because the device gets so much use, I have to be picky about anything that changes its look or feel. In the iPad’s case, the plain glass screen doesn’t do it for me […]

If you ever thought, “Gee, I would love to take lessons, but I can’t afford $100 (or more) a month. ..” then I have just the thing. First, I completely understand! budgets are super tight, and we are all trying …

I don’t know about other teachers, but I have had a fair amount of new students asking about online lessons. It’s probably due to coronavirus, and the desire to maintain some level of normalcy in a pretty crazy time. Of …

Practice isn’t always fun. As a kid, I became frustrated when, in my words, “I sucked” at playing something. A very kind, but brutally honest teacher overheard me and pointed out the difficult truth: I would continue to suck, until …

The short answer is, of course, “No.” You can learn an instrument and be happy just playing for your own enjoyment. Many hobby musicians do just that – but what if playing in front of people actually made music even …