Silver and Gold: Shiny new honors for Arbordale books!

Treats came in the morning emails just in time for Halloween!

Announced this weekend, Maggie: Alaska’s Last Elephant received a silver honor from the California Reading Association in this year’s Eureka! Awards. Then yesterday, Purdue University released their annual Engineering Gift Guide from the INSPIRE Research Institute and Cao Chong Weighs an Elephant is featured.

Both organizations bring STEM and nonfiction to young readers. Here is a bit more about each award…

Eureka! Nonfiction Children’s Book Award, created by the California Reading Association, celebrates quality nonfiction books for students of all ages. The gold and silver honor books are announced each year at the CRA conference.

Maggie just happens to live in California, so this honor is extra special! The book tells the story of that journey…

Many years ago, elephants lived in Alaska. Two different kinds of elephants lived at the Alaska Zoo. Maggie, a small African elephant, whose herd was culled, was brought in as a companion for Annabelle, an Asian elephant, who had been acquired by the zoo because her owner was unable to care for her. Not long after Maggie came to Alaska, Annabelle passed and once again, the Alaska Zoo was home to one lonely elephant. Despite the staff and keepers’ best efforts, Maggie became sad, befriending a tire, and later becoming weak. To keep Maggie happy, the zookeepers knew Maggie needed friends and warmth. Fortunately, the Performing Animal Welfare Sanctuary (PAWS) in Galt, California, agreed to take her. PAWS, founded in 1984 by animal trainer to the stars, Pat Derby and her partner, Ed Stewart, is home to rescued exotic and performing animals, including two elephant groups.

When parents want more from gifts than just fun, the Engineering Gift Guide is a great place to turn to for STEM-related products. Cao Chong Weighs an Elephant is one of the 140 toys, books, and games chosen by the INSPIRE Research Institute for Pre-College Engineering.

As a former software engineer, Songju Ma Daemicke understands an interest in science at a young age and the need for more creative thinking.

Rich in Chinese history, the story begins when the ambassador of the Wu Kingdom presents Cao Cao with an elephant. Cao Cao challenged his advisors to find a way to weigh the giant animal. It was his six-year-old son, Cao Chong, who emerged with the best idea. The weight of the elephant was discovered.

Get your own copies of Maggie and Cao Chong Weighs an Elephant at arbordalepublishing.com!

It’s time to celebrate Π!

3.141592653

Not only is today PI day and the celebration of the ratio used to calculate a circle’s circumference or diameter, this PI Day has a special significance. Set your clocks and experience a moment that only happens every 100 years.

On 3/14/15 at 9:26:53 the country will experience a pi second where the first ten digits of pi line up perfectly with the time. A statistician in Toronto has even calculated the pi instant where all the digits of pi line up exactly with time.

So to commemorate this special event we are making a blackberry pie, and reading Blackberry Banquet!

If you would like to do the same here is a recipe from Allrecipes.com

4 cups of blackberries
½ cup of white sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour
9 inch double pie crust (store bought) or recipe
2 tablespoons milk
¼ cup white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Combine 3 1/2 cups berries with the sugar and flour. Spoon the mixture into an unbaked pie shell. Spread the remaining 1/2 cup berries on top of the sweetened berries, and cover with the top crust. Seal and crimp the edges, and cut vents in the top crust for steam to escape.
3. Brush the top crust with milk, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly and the crust is golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

And read Blackberry Banquet with us today for FREE online!

Back-to-School Fiction Reading List

Now that back-to-school season is upon us, it’s time to get the kids back into reading so that they will be 100% prepared for the first day of school! Check out these great books to add to your back-to-school reading list.

 
Count Down to Fall | ‘Twas the Day Before Zoo Day | My Even Day

Count Down to Fall: The first day of Fall is September 23 this year! Celebrate the upcoming season with a countdown of all of the different kinds of falling tree leaves.

‘Twas the Day Before Zoo Day: There are only a couple of weeks of summer left! Make time for one more trip to the zoo–but don’t forget to read this fun story about zoo preparation first!

My Even Day: Get back into the swing of things when school comes back around by refreshing your memory of all of the even numbers with this quirky story!

   
The Giraffe Who Was Afraid of Heights | Sort it Out! | Deductive Detective

The Giraffe Who Was Afraid of Heights: Are we a little anxious for the first day of school? Read how the giraffe overcame his fear of heights so that you can figure out how to overcome your own fear of going to school!

Sort it Out!: Now that it’s almost time to go back to school, it’s about time to start getting all of our new back to school supplies sorted and organized! Read about the different ways that Packy Packrat was able to sort out his collection!

Deductive Detective: Help Detective Duck deduce who the cake-eater could be from all of the clues left behind in this fun mystery story.