Senor Parrot's Perch

Review: Clan Apis by Jay Hosler

senorparrot — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:04:42 +0000

Bees, or really, Honey Bees, are the subject of Jay Hosler's graphic text Clan Apis. Taking the graphic text approach, author Jay Hosler encapsulating the life cycle of honey bees within a coming of age story.

Coffee Break: Fight Alzheimers – Drink Coffee

senorparrot — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:31:14 +0000

Like your coffee? I like mine. Here's another excuse for one more cup of coffee:

Doppelganger by Pete Hautman and Mary Logue

senorparrot — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:44:47 +0000

Doppelganger is the third of the Bloodwater Mysteries series written by Pete Hautman and Mary Logue. And of the three, Doppelganger is my favorite. Like the previous two books in the Bloodwater Mysteries series, the chemistry between Roni and her sluething friend Brian is as fun as ever. However, in this story, Roni’s unbridled drive [...]

STEM Hires in K-12 go Begging

senorparrot — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 12:03:19 +0000

Reading between the lines, you wonder just how qualified are the applicants for those STEM, special education and foreign languages, that the jobs go unfilled. Yesterday I wrote about the task Don Mugan has taken on, up in North Dakota. His goal is to train the teachers that the school districts already have in how to teach the core STEM subjects. A good STEM project for our universities would be to clone Don and put a few of his clones in every school district in the country.

Teaching STEM to Teachers

senorparrot — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 14:47:37 +0000

Are teachers the weak link in introducing and teaching STEM careers to our kids? STEM, you may know, refers to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. These broad subject areas are the key's to successful careers in our kids' futures.

Does This Smack of Censorship? Scholastic Bowdlerizes Books for the Arab World

senorparrot — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 04:24:35 +0000

The L.A. Times reports that Scholastic is carefully "screening", or should we say, bowdlerizing, or more to the point, censoring, books to be translated into Arabic. By careful they mean no dredels or other symbols of Jewish culture, no magic, no birthdays and no Clifford the Big Red Dog-he's unclean! And they darkened Heidi's skin, too.

Dinosaur Scientist by Thom Holmes

senorparrot — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 23:53:56 +0000

Dinosaur Scientist is one of the rare and excellent science books describing what scientists do at a level that elementary and middle-schoolers can become engaged with. Holmes approach is to present 6 top paleontologists and describe their careers through short bio pieces, each making up a chapter. Along the way he explains the cool science, adventures and discoveries that each of these scientists has made, and how they solved the problems that they encountered.

Benny and Penny in Just Pretend, by Geoffrey Hayes

senorparrot — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:39:18 +0000

Benny And Penny in Just Pretend by Geoffrey Hayes is a fantastic book. Two little mice, brother and sister, fill the pages of this little book that kids will love. Older Benny wants to play alone at being pirates. His younger sister Penny wants to play together. So Benny, in a pique, tries to ditch [...]

Archie and the Pirates by Marc Rosenthal

senorparrot — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 04:57:40 +0000

Archie and the Pirates, by Marc Rosenthal, is a very good, very fun book. Kids, from little through first or second grade will love it. When I say this book has just about everything needed to be a sure success with kids, I mean it. That is to say, it's got a monkey and pirates! I think that spells instant winner with a lot of kids.

Wave, by Suzy Lee

senorparrot — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 14:34:55 +0000

Take one sandy beach and endless rolling waves and you have a foolproof formula for a full day of fun. We’re far from any sandy ocean beaches where I live, and it’s two hours the nearest dunes along lake Michigan, but Suzy Lee’s book, Wave, can transport you there in an instant.