Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica), are common in the woods where we live, and they FREEZE in the winter, then in the spring the little frozen frogs thaw and come back to life. They are funny little frogs that look like a little robber, they are good, really, really good jumpers. Watch the video to be wow-ed!
Here is more about The Frozen Frog Challenge: What do frogs have to do with books? Well I learn a lot, really a lot, of cool and interesting things from books. What we want to know this week is all about books that teach you very cool things, like frozen frogs. Tell us the names of the books and the cool things you've learned from them (the books can be fiction or non-fiction.)
Please use the following format for your comment:
Title of the Book, Author, and your thoughts on what the book taught you.
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
ReplyDeleteI learned that there is a museum that I didn't know about in New York City and now I want to go there!
Spilling Ink
ReplyDeleteA Young Writer's Handbook
by Anne MAzer and Ellen Potter
My Mom and I are reading the book together. The Director of Interlochen Library found this book and though I might like to read it. We are only at the very beginning. I am hoping that it will teach me how to be a writer, I have big dreams about writing books! When we finish the book we'll tell you how it is!
Oh and another one:
ReplyDeleteJulie's Wolf Pack the third in the series (oh, its a series! I need to post that too!) by Jean Craighead George
I learned that only the alpha male and female in a wolf pack lift their leg to pee... all the other wolves in the pack have to squat! And wolves have a scent marker on the tip of their tails! Our dog both lifts his leg AND squats wonder what that means!
The Island of Lost Maps
ReplyDeleteby Miles Harvey
Until I read this book I had no idea what cartographic crime was, the history of map theft is fascinating. People steal maps --like art-- now because they are so valuable. In the past before GPS, google maps, mapquest and AAA the map itself was valuable simply because of the otherwise uncharted places people couldn't get to. Can you imagine finding your way without your "aps" (applications) maps?
Iberia
ReplyDeleteBy James A. Michener
I am frog-wowed, Little Sister, along with all the tales of maps, museums, and wolves! Ever wonder how orange marmalade was discovered? Well, when my son and your Uncle Chris, moved to Barcelona Spain, I read Iberia by James A. Michener. In one chapter, Michener told of barrels filled with fresh oranges from Valencia Spain being shipped to Scotland. Salt water was added to preserve the fruit, since sometimes weeks passed on the journey.
Imagine … the barrels being rolled off tall ships and guided to shore by seamen who jumped off the ship. The crew must have loved the bath they received after many days aboard ship! Turns out, the oranges were jostled even more with the salt water that trickled in. By the time the barrels were maneuvered to shore; the fruit was mashed and mixed with the salt water. The frugal Scots just mixed the puree with sugar and voila, orange marmalade! Michener is quite the story teller!
oh man that was CRAZY!~
ReplyDeletelillie said to repeat it! LOL.
i love the marmalade story. i'll need to think on this subject!
I just finished reading the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I learned a lot about the world of DNA research, the origin of the HeLa cells and ethical treatment of patients and families.
ReplyDeleteAhh, a possible non fiction response. I love it.
ReplyDeleteFour Season Harvest
Eliot Coleman
Who would have thought that you could be savvy enough to harvest food throughout winter in Maine (and Michigan!). Apparently the French share our latitude and have been doing it for ages, so we can too! (We have one, it works! So does MSU, but they're better.)
When I was about 12 years old, I got a book about juggling with a sack of three bean bags attached to it. I was really good at keeping two bean bags going and sort of good at three, but not for any length of time. I became fascinated with people that made things LOOK easy to do when they really aren't and take lots of practice.
ReplyDeleteAlong these same lines I am going to see the Peking Acrobats at the Cleveland Playhouse. I continue my fascination with this sort of thing. I won't be trying THIS at home though.; )
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond...Hunter gatherers were WAY healthier than us, in terms of germs. It wasn't until preople started domesticating (breeding) animals that germs began taking their toll on people. Animal-borne germs (like swine flu, bird flu, and HIV-A.I.D.S) jump to us from animals, especially when we invite them into our shelters where we sleep. Hmmm. Maybe THAT's why I don;t lile to let dogs lick my face? I have this EWWWW thing.
ReplyDeleteI love reading mysteries and detective stories! Today I was reminded, by something completely unrelated, of how much I learned of Native American life and culture by following the exploits of Officer Jim Chee and/or Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police in the novels of Tony Hillerman. And that jogged my memory to what I encountered in the workings of the 7th century Celtic Church in the Sister Fidelma series by Peter Tremayne. Before I thought of these two specific things, the only contribution I could think of for this challenge was that I know that much of what I learned of history I absorbed by reading historical novels. The wonderful thing about this type of reading is that you're engrossed in a fascinating story, reading for fun and relaxation, and not even realizing at the time how much more is happening to you.
ReplyDeleteI read this book called "The Name of this Book is Secret" and yes, that is the real name of the book. Anyways I learned about a very rare disease called "SYNESTHESIA". When someone has synesthesia, well, to make it easier to explain, I'll give an example: Some kid sees a chair, but they might hear bells ringing or they can see or smell something else, other than the chair. Another example is someone with synesthesia will be able to smell cookies from the oven, and they will instantly see an image of...a bunny for example! OR, they will see/hear letters of the alphabet and they will see those letters in a certain color! Someone with this disease may think that N always is green or P is always yellow and so on.
ReplyDeleteI think this disease is very interesting! I would love to meet someone who has this! Very cool!
The Frog Scientist, Pamela S. Turner
ReplyDeleteWhere the Mountain Meets the Moon,Grace Lin
Fort Mose: and the Story of the Man Who Built the First Free Black Settlement in Colonial America, Glennette Turner
YA:
Alive in the Killing Fields: Surviving the Khmer Rouge Genocide, Nawuth Keat
They Called Themselves the KKK: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group, Susan Campbell Bartoletti
The War to End All Wars: WW I, Russell Freedman