The Great Lightning Count
When a jumpy Juniper gets her branches in a twist dreading an approaching storm, down-to-earth Rock reminds her that clouds are made of water and thunder is just a sound. By counting the seconds between seeing lightning and hearing thunder, Rock shows Juniper how to figure out the storm’s distance. But when Juniper doesn’t even get the chance to count to one juniper-berry, lightning strikes. Weathering this shocking experience deepens their friendship. THE GREAT LIGHTNING COUNT is a 650-word picture book with an engaging explanation of thunderstorms built into a classic friendship story.
rock and Juniper measure time
ROCK AND JUNIPER MEASURE TIME is a humorous 550-word informational fiction picture book about measuring time. When a curious juniper tree wonders how time is measured, her companion, Rock, takes ages to respond. While waiting for Rock to mine their vast stores of knowledge, Juniper observes the Sun rise and set, the moon change from a sliver to a circle, and the changing seasons. Just as Juniper is about to snap a twig, Rock guides her in understanding how natural cycles are used to measure time. Where do our concepts of a day, a month, and a year come from? Young readers discover the answers along with Juniper.
If you’re a dragonfly
This 680-word, informational picture book follows the life cycle of a dragonfly from underwater nymph-hood to when its exoskeleton splits down the middle, like a pair of too-small pants, revealing a full grown dragonfly with the superpowers that making it a more successful predator than a lion. IF YOU’RE A DRAGONFLY is a humorous firsthand look at survival in the insect world.
Whispering lake
I tossed a rock into the lake. It splashed in and ripples spread out in circular waves. John heaved a big rock into the lake. Circles spread out farther until they crashed into the shore. New half circle waves headed back to us.
“Cool,” I said.
Someone murmured something back, but no one else was here. Goosebumps covered my arms.
Blastoff to An Extraordinary Exoplanet
What if you were about to be the first visitor to a newly discovered exoplanet?
