American Eagle Day

American Eagle Day commemorates the day the bald eagle was chosen as our national bird. In The Eagles are Back, Jean Craighead George tells a story of how a boy helps bring the eagles back from near extinction. When the puritans arrived, there were half a million bald eagles, but at the point of this story, published in 2013, there were fewer than 450 pairs. The eagles were threatened by the chemical DDT, which softened the eggs so that the weight of the eagle sitting on them cracked them. When the danger was discovered, Congress banned DDT, and the eagles began coming back. This story is about a boy who helps a ranger with the recovery efforts for the eagles. One method used to help bring back the eagles was to ship eggs from Alaska to nests in other areas in hope that the eagles would adopt the egg. The boy helps the ranger by watching the nest to see if the eagles accept the egg. It’s a beautiful story of a child helping and connecting with the environment. There is lots of good information about eagles and why they are our national bird. The illustrations by landscape artist Wendell Minor are beautiful. Children 6 to 8, and older, will enjoy this book.

Juneteenth

Today is Juneteenth. A beautiful book to read is All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom by Angela Johnson. This book is told by a young Texas girl who awakens one morning with no idea that this day will bring freedom. The smell of honeysuckle coming in her open window sets the mood of the story–quiet and sweet. The child and her family go to work in the fields before learning that they are free. When they find out through the grapevine that they are free, their celebration is fraught with meaning. They and their relatives eat dinner beside the water, giving the reader a sense of the world opening for them. The next morning, the little girl again awakens to the smell of honeysuckle, but on this day and every day to come, she is free. E.B. Lewis’s wonderful realistic illustrations add to the depth of the story.  

National Go Fishing Day

If you can’t take your kids fishing on Go Fishing Day, give them this book by avid South Louisiana fisherman Gary Alipio. It’s a tall fishing tale, told with Cajun flair, written by someone who knows the culture and the sport. Wonderful illustrations by Sarah Gramelspacher help bring the characters to life. The story centers around Hatcher Hampton, who is 11, going on 12, and the middle of three boys. He has a big imagination, which grows to heroic proportions when he discovers a way to gain fame and to help his family out of a crisis. Hatcher is set to participate in his first ever fishing rodeo, and the grand prize in his category is $500. If he wins, his picture will be in the newspaper, and the prize money will pay the rent and save his single mom and brothers from eviction. But why stop imagining–if his Grandpa wins the $500 prize in the adult category, there will be money to add to his savings for a Porsche. He can’t drive, but he can dream, can’t he? This sets up the story, as Hampton heads out with his older and wiser brother Hunter and his “live-and-breathe-for-fishing” grandpa. But Hunter is soon out of the picture when their mother has to go to work, and he is called back home to watch their little brother. Hatch has been nervous about his first ever overnight fishing trip, and now he’s on his own with Grandpa Grump and stormy weather approaching. Things get mysterious and scary, as only can happen at a camp deep in the Louisiana swamps. Grampa and Hatch encounter insects, snakes, unsavory characters, and a giant alligator. Kids will have fun with the character and with trying to unravel the clues. If you can’t actually go fishing today, read about Hatcher’s crazy fishing adventure on the bayou. It may be safer, and more fun, that way!

World Tessellation Day

World Tessellation Day is the ideal day to take time to color tessellations. John Alves’s Creative Haven Terrific Tessellations Coloring Book‘s designs are printed on only one side of the paper. With perforations, each page is easy to remove for coloring and displaying. The publishers suggest this book is suitable for kids who are eight or older.

National Fudge Day

The Candymakers by Wendy Mass is a sweet and delicious mystery. Part of the intrigue and the fun is that it’s told from four 12 year old viewpoints: Daisy, Logan, Miles, and Phillip. Each of them has their own secret recipe for winning a national contest to find the tastiest confection. The plot includes villains, secret codes, and candy! It’s a good story, and kids will learn about ingredients like carrageen, used in gummy bears, and chicle from the sapodilla tree, used in making gum. This is a story recommended for ages 8 to 12, but it’s also one that the whole family will enjoy.

Worldwide Day of Giving

Worldwide Day of Giving was started in 2010 as a day to give ten dollars to a stranger or a charity or to volunteer time for a worthwhile organization. Money isn’t meaningful in the life of Jonas, the protagonist in The Giver by Lois Lowry. In fact, gifts aren’t really meaningful either, because in Jonas’s world, everyone is content all the time. His world is a dystopian world of some future date when everyone’s needs are met, and there’s no need for emotion or color or music or love. Children are assigned their role for life at age twelve, and Jonas finds his role is quite unlike any other job; his job is to receive memories from the Giver, who holds generations of memories that come with accompanying emotions ranging from sorrow to joy. It is the job of one person from each generation to be the memory holder, who is known as the Giver. Jonas soon learns that death is the release given to people who don’t fit into society because of old age or illness or other conditions that make them misfits. He begins to see through the facades of his society and experience emotions, especially love, and finds he has some difficult decisions to make. Lois Lowry won the Newberry award for this book, and it is posted on many, many reading lists, including at least one list giving the 100 books everyone should read. It’s a book that compels the reader to think about what it means to be human and a book worthy of being read and reread through the years.

Flag Day

Every Flag Day my father made sure we had a flag flying in front of our house. Blue Sky White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus and illustrated by Kadir Nelson tells, and more importantly, shows why all Americans should honor Flag Day. This is not your average picture book. The illustrations are beautiful; the words are sparse. The author uses word play to push the meaning: a picture of Betsy Ross includes the words “sew together one nation.” The facing page has a painting of diverse faces with “so together one nation.” This a book to read with a child and think and discuss together all the beautiful things our flag means to all of us. There is meaning in every illustration and every word.

National Camping Month

The National Parks are a great place to camp in the USA. This book, National Parks of the U.S. A., written by Kate Simer and illustrated by Chris Turnham, is a wonderful resource for 21 parks located across the country. Parks included are  Acadia, Badlands, Big Bend, Biscayne, Bryce Canyon, Channel Islands, Death Valley, Denali, Everglades, Glacier, Glacier Bay, Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains, Hawaii volcanoes, Isle Royale, Mesa Verde, Olympic, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Virgin Islands, Yellowstone, and Yosemite.. I love that the illustrations show kids active in the park, so they can see what they can do. There are also maps and vivid descriptions of flora and fauna and fun facts to entice kids into an adventure of discovery. There is also an activity book that goes with the book, which might be fun when you are on a road trip to a park this summer.

National Peanut Butter Cookie Day

This book by Ruth Propper and illustrated by Tanja Varcelija is a clever introduction to the scientific method. Second grader Lizzie is accused by her mother of eating five peanut butter cookies after being warned to wait until after dinner to have one. All the evidence points to Lizzie, but she knows she is innocent. She looks for help from her friend Robert and his older sister Joule. Joule is in fourth grade and knows more things, which she is quick to point out to her younger sibling and his friend. Joule agrees to help Robert and Lizzie use the scientific method to discover what really happened to the cookies. The characters explain the steps as they work to solve the problem, and the black and white illustrations help develop the characters. It’s an interactive and fun way for kids to learn and appreciate the steps to discovery. Early readers will enjoy the story, and the back matter includes a glossary, discussion questions, and a recipe for peanut butter cookies!

Cotton Candy Day

What could be better to read on Cotton Candy Day than Happiness Tastes Like Cotton Candy by Tina Gallo! This picture book, with its array of colorful illustrations by Clair Rossiter, gives children a taste and a color for a range of emotions. It shows happiness, courageous, excitement, anticipation, playful, joyful, calm, kindness, surprise, and cheerful. Reading this aloud with a child is a fun way to talk about feelings and increase vocabulary.