CLIP Review: View From the Air

Charles Lindbergh's Earth and Sky
Author: Reeve Lindbergh
Photographs by: Richard Brown

 

In this lovely book, Reeve Lindbergh poetically writes about one of the last flights her father made.  Just  two years before his death, Charles Lindbergh flew with a young nature photographer over the landscape of rural New England. The aerial photography shown in this book is nothing short of breathtaking. Reeve Lindbergh writes as if she is speaking from her father's perspective and feelings - sharing with the reader her father's lifetime love of earth and sky that is every pilot's view from the air.




          "This was the world I discovered.
           Each year, each season I'd fly,
           Watching the earth like a lover,
           This was my view from the sky."

Suggested age: 7 - 10 years

CLIP Questions:

1.  One line in the poem says, "Earth can still heal and recover, Given our time and our care." What do  you think this means? How might this healing take place?

Music: Lifted by Jenna Paulette

Lifted is based on the book, The Book, The Kite & The Wind by Al Andrews

LYRICS:


A little boy
learns to fly a kite
in the wind so high
and the sun so bright
He watched it soar
running aimlessly
wild and free

CHORUS
Lifted, he was lifted
holdin' on to
somethin' bigger than him
he was lifted, so lifted
knowin' it could change on a whim
he was lifted

V2:
that little boy
ran his kite
into branches
grippin' it tight
that greedy tree
couldn't let it go
but he knows, he knows

CHORUS

Bridge:
As he learned to listen to the wind
the one thing that wouldn't change
was it's big-ness or that it was always there
and it would always be... he was

Alt.CHORUS
Lifted, he was lifted
holdin' on to
somethin' bigger than him
he was lifted, so lifted
knowin' it wouldn't change on a whim
he was lifted

CLIP Review: Bag in the Wind

Author: Ted Kooser
Illustrator: Barry Root

March is known for its windy days, which may cause what's left of the leaves to blow furiously about, or make us scurry swiftly to our cars to avoid having our hair blown everywhere.  March winds are known to bring squeals of glee in kids of all ages who delight in tackling the breezes at attempting to fly a kite. And yet, because of our carelessness, these same winds also scatter litter and trash we have carelessly discarded over our roads and countrysides. 


This is the story of one such gust of wind. It began one cold morning in early spring, when a bulldozer pushed a pile of garbage around a landfill and unearthed an empty plastic bag - just the color of the skin of a yellow onion. It had two holes for handles, and even though it was a perfectly good bag, someone had thrown it away. Throughout the day the bag somersaults across fields, slips through fences and tugs itself past tree branches. And then along comes Margaret, bundled up against the cold, her pockets full of crushed aluminum cans. Delighted at finding the bag hooked on a fence, she empties her pockets and continues picking up more cans. She's hoping to save enough for something special. Will she have enough after turning  in her cans?  However, the story of the little bag doesn't end when Margaret turns in her cans. It has quite a few more adventures. You might be surprised with all the twists and turns our little Bag in the Wind takes...and where it ends up!
                                                                                        Suggested Age: 6 - 9 years


CLIP Questions:
1.  What are some ways in which littering can harm animals?
2.  Plastic bags can be reused in your home. List some ways before you read the last
     pages of the book. Did you think of some that weren't listed?


Americans use 100 billion plastic shopping bags every year; which means each of us uses between 350 and 500 bags per year. Because landfills pile garbage very deep, it takes many years for these plastic bags to decompose. Also, many bags fly around and become a danger to animals who mistake them for food or become entangled in them. 
                                                     

Here are some useful resources:

www.plasticbagrecycling.org

www.onebagatatime.com

Recipe: Tie-Dyed Kite Cookies

Why not bake some kite cookies to enjoy as you read this month's kite and wind themed CLIP books!

24 ServingsPrep: 30 min. Bake: 10 min.

Ingredients

• 1 tube (16-1/2 ounces)
  refrigerated sugar cookie dough
• 1 to 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Pink, green and blue gel food coloring
• 24 to 28 pieces pull-and-peel licorice (9-1/2 inches each)
• 48 to 56 Life Savers candies
• 1/2 cup vanilla frosting

Directions

• Cut cookie dough in half width wise; let one half stand at room
• temperature for 5-10 minutes to soften (save the other half for
• another use).
• On a lightly floured surface, knead enough flour into softened dough
• until dough is stiff. Press into a 5-in. circle. Top with one dot of
• each color food coloring; knead 5-10 times or until color just
• begins to swirl.
• Roll out dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut out with a floured 3-in.
• diamond-shaped cookie cutter. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking
• sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-13 minutes or until edges are
• lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to
• wire racks.
• Turn cookies bottom side up. For each cookie, lace one piece of
• licorice through one Life Saver; loop the licorice through the Life
• Saver again to hold the candy in place. Repeat with second Life 
• Saver. Attach kite tails to the back of each cookie with frosting.
• Let stand until set. Yield: about 2 dozen.

Recipe and image from TasteofHome.com