Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Samantha D’Acunto
Posted in From the Library on March 23 2018, by Samantha D’Acunto
Samantha D’Acunto is the Reference Librarian at The New York Botanical Garden‘s LuEsther T. Mertz Library.
New titles from Arbordale Publishing have joined the children’s collection in the LuEsther T. Mertz Library! The titles featured below offer a perfect balance of education and entertainment with colorful illustrations, engaging storylines, and learning activities. All new titles are available for check out for library cardholders.
Bat Count: A Citizen Science Story by Anna Forrester / Illustrated by Susan Detwiler
Jojo and her family have always welcomed bats into their barn. It was not until a newspaper published a story about a disease that effected bats called white-nose syndrome that Jojo and her family decide to become citizen scientists and conduct a bat count. Throughout the years, they have noticed a drop in the number of bats they spot flying around their barn. Bat Count: A Citizen Science Story invites readers for an evening bat count with Jojo and her family. Read about bat facts, white-nose syndrome, and how to become a citizen scientist in the additional pages toward the end of the story! Bat Count is one of the selections for the National Science Teachers Association 2018 Outstanding Science Trade Books, as it is a wonderful way to encourage middle grade readers to explore and engage in science for fun.
If you do not have the opportunity to observe bats near your home consider taking a bat walk! Last autumn, staff at the NYBG Everett Children’s Adventure Garden hosted bat walks in collaboration with the Organization for Bat Conservation. Join us at future events! In the meantime, check your local bat or wildlife organization to find bat walks in your area.
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Posted in From the Library on March 9 2018, by Samantha D’Acunto
Samantha D’Acunto is the Reference Librarian at The New York Botanical Garden‘s LuEsther T. Mertz Library.
Winter is ending and warmer days are ahead of us. It’s time to spring out of your winter reading habits and practice being an active reader! The titles below from Charlesbridge publishing will inspire you to get up and get out with a book in hand.
With all the excitement going around about the opening of the Edible Academy, the LuEsther T. Mertz Library was very happy to receive a first look at Plant, Cook, Eat! by Joe Archer and Caroline Craig. Expect to see this book hit the shelves this month!
For all aspiring young chefs, Plant, Cook, Eat! is a wonderful invitation to explore the farm-to-table movement in a DIY fashion. Authors Joe Archer and Caroline Craig set readers up for success! Sections cover everything from seeds to harvest. Learn about composting, necessary tools to have handy, garden maintenance, including pest and daily chores, and finally harvesting your vegetables for meals. Additional growing information is provided about select vegetables such as carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, and more. Plant, Cook, Eat! offers guidance for growing vegetables in all spaces—whether you are growing indoors or outdoors, in a backyard or in a container, you will have the information and confidence you need to yield results.
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Posted in From the Library on January 11 2018, by Samantha D’Acunto
Samantha D’Acunto is the Reference Librarian at The New York Botanical Garden‘s LuEsther T. Mertz Library.
As we embark on 2018, consider revising your reading lists to incorporate these new and exciting titles from the circulating Children’s collection at the LuEsther T. Mertz Library! The National Science Teachers Association recently listed two of the titles in this post on Outstanding Science Trade Books 2018. The library will continue to feature more titles from this list in future posts.
Innovation Press celebrates innovative authors and illustrators, and the Library has welcomed three of their new titles into our collection. Kicking off this post is The Girl Who Thought in Pictures: The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin by Julia Finley Mosca, which introduces extraordinary visual thinker Dr. Temple Grandin, who harnessed her autism to visualize modern farming techniques that have been implemented by farms across the globe. This book has received high praise from both critics and readers! The illustrations by Daniel Rieley help readers see what Dr. Grandin was thinking. The combination of text and detailed visuals will excite readers of all needs, and Dr. Temple Grandin is an inspiration to innovators of all ages.
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Posted in From the Library on December 26 2017, by Samantha D’Acunto
Samantha D’Acunto is the Reference Librarian at The New York Botanical Garden‘s LuEsther T. Mertz Library.
Living in a city can pose various challenges for families who are looking for educational opportunities that balance city and nature. When most of our day is spent commuting shoulder to shoulder in a vastly overpopulated city, who has time to create well-balanced activities that invite exploration and nurture education? The LuEsther T. Mertz Library is here to help. Below you will find our new favorite titles for the entire family from Roost Books, exploring nature and environmental awareness in cities!
It’s a Jungle Out There! 52 nature Adventure for City Kids by Jennifer Ward invites parents and children to explore the nature behind and below all the traffic and the noise. The 52 fun and educational activities listed in the book are conveniently categorized by season. Ward makes it easy for families to hunt for worms in the spring, observe colonies of sidewalk ants during the summer, identify trees by their bark in the fall, and locate birds’ nests in the winter. There are even indoor activities to enjoy during inclement weather! Invite your child to a window and spend time observing what you see from it, or plant something together indoors. At the end of each activity, Ward provides an explanation of the lessons being taught during the activity. Sprinkled throughout the book are Plant the Seed prompts which encourage additional reading or actions that will enhance the activity’s lesson. The narrative throughout the book assumes an adult reader is the target audience but the context is simply written so that a reader of any age can enjoy Ward’s book. The book itself is thin and compact, making it easy to bring along as you discover parts of your city.
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Posted in From the Library on December 15 2017, by Samantha D’Acunto
Samantha D’Acunto is the Reference Librarian at The New York Botanical Garden‘s LuEsther T. Mertz Library.
Now circulating from The LuEsther T. Mertz Library children’s collection are the exciting and imaginative works by award-winning children’s book author Joyce Sidman. I invite you to explore shapes, seasons, wildlife, plants, and soil with the lyrical poetry and whimsical illustrations by Sidman and her peers. Her most notable work The Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems, illustrated by Beckie Prange, is the winner of the Caldecott Honors and the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award. Its riddle-like poetry encourages readers to use the images on the pages as clues.
Sidman continued to dazzle critics and readers by winning another Caldecott Honors and the Claudia Lewis Poetry Award for Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski. Experience the changing of the seasons with the bursts of color and the flowing verse throughout.
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Posted in From the Library on December 5 2017, by Samantha D’Acunto
Samantha D’Acunto is the Reference Librarian at The New York Botanical Garden‘s LuEsther T. Mertz Library.
We’re happy to share our newest titles from Barefoot Books. These charming stories will invite you to bring your storytime outdoors! All titles featured below are available for checkout for library cardholders. We hope to see you in the library soon!
Grandpa’s Garden by Stella Fry / Illustrated by Shelia Moxley (2012)
Billy and Grandpa begin to garden at the very first sign of spring. This will be Billy’s first year gardening with Grandpa, so there will be much to learn! After churning the soil and planting many seeds, Billy is finding it hard to wait patiently for results, so garden chores and exploring the wildlife around the garden keep him busy. Before you know it, Billy and Grandpa’s garden is bursting with lush green leaves and many vegetables. Grandpa’s Garden offers readers a realistic perspective on the seasonal chores necessary to achieve a successful garden. Throughout the book you will find plenty of new garden vocabulary, and at the end of the book there are seasonal chore tips and even a diagram of a suggested garden plot design. Grandpa’s Garden is inspirational and informative—you shouldn’t be surprised if even the youngest of readers are ready to start planting after reading this delightful story.
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Posted in From the Library on November 16 2017, by Samantha D’Acunto
Wisconsin-based children’s book author Miranda Paul has made her debut in the LuEsther T. Mertz Library circulating children’s collection. She’s won numerous awards and has received glowing reviews for the titles featured below. Paul’s passion, personality, and voice echo from the pages of each of her books. Her collaboration with various illustrators allow for unique experiences with all of her characters and environments. To learn more about Miranda Paul and her other titles, visit her website. We hope you find your way to the library to check out one of these titles for yourself!
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Posted in From the Library on November 6 2017, by Samantha D’Acunto
Samantha D’Acunto is the Reference Librarian at The New York Botanical Garden‘s LuEsther T. Mertz Library.
In the bustling streets of New York City, there are small details that are often drowned out by the sensory overload of the environment. One of the smallest of those details would be the ants of the five boroughs. At only a little over 100 pages, Dr. Eleanor’s Book of Common Ants of New York City is a rich resource that will satisfy curiosities about these small communities. Authors Eleanor Spicer Rice and Rob Dunn aim to highlight the remarkable strengths of these small animals and the large impact they have on our city.
Organized in fourteen chapters titled after individual ant species, each chapter offers a concise narrative packed with information. Before exploring the chapters, pay close attention to the preface and the introduction as they provide a base of information that will be useful as you read further. Each chapter begins with species name (scientific name), AKA (common name), size (mm), where the species lives, and what the species eats. The narrative is accompanied by the brilliant macro photography of Alex Wild, allowing the readers to experience the intricate visual details of the ants and their environments.
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Posted in From the Library on October 25 2017, by Samantha D’Acunto
Samantha D’Acunto is the Reference Librarian at The New York Botanical Garden‘s LuEsther T. Mertz Library.
The LuEsther T. Mertz Library is very happy to feature our newest titles! Candied Plums is a start-up independent publisher that aims to create contemporary Chinese children’s books. Their books are offered in simplified Chinese, English, and Pinyin. Candied Plums achieves carefully illustrated and visually engaging stories for children of all ages and languages to enjoy. All titles listed below can be found in our circulating children’s collection and are available for check-out to library card holders. See you in the library!
Picking Turnips by Xu Zhou / Translation by Adam Lanphier (2017)
Picking Turnips reimagines Tolstoy’s The Gigantic Turnip in a surprising way! The tale is told from the perspective of a mouse. Of course, living among piles of books, the young mouse is familiar with the tale but he quickly admits that he prefers his uncle’s version much better. Each page reveals a split scene of the struggle to remove the turnip above ground and the efforts to pull the turnip underground. Both farmers above and the mice below want the turnip for themselves. So who will succeed in pulling the turnip?
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Posted in From the Library on September 21 2017, by Samantha D’Acunto
Samantha D’Acunto is the Reference Librarian at The New York Botanical Garden‘s LuEsther T. Mertz Library.
It was earlier this year we received Anywhere Farm into the LuEsther T. Mertz library children’s circulating collection and instantly visitors and staff alike fell for Phyllis Root. Roots writing style is both familiar and refreshing. Collaborations with illustrators like Betsy Bowen bring to life Root’s rhythmic narrative of life, nature, and the unknown. Root and Bowen effortlessly capture the whimsical curiosities of child exploration, using imagery and language to invite the reader to discover the wonders of the environments around them. In the two titles featured below, the readers are asked to explore areas that often are over looked: a prairie and a bog.
Plant a Pocket of Prairie by Phyllis Root / Illustrated by Betsy Bowen
If you look beyond the tall grasses of the prairie, you will reveal a unique and endangered ecosystem. In Plant a Pocket of Prairie readers explore beyond the grasses to reveal the flora and fauna that once covered 40 percent of the United States. Sprinkled throughout the pages you will find delicate watercolors capturing snapshots of prairie landscape. Root and Bowen work together to introduce the reader to specific plant and animal species that are endangered, threatened, and extinct. Bursts of butterfly weed, silky asters, and big prairie sunflowers appear as the pages advance. Bison, American goldfinches, and monarch butterflies peak through the foliage. The race to restore the prairie is up to each one of us, and we can help if we plant a pocket prairie! But how? Root instructs readers to find the native prairie elements of your region and plant them wherever you can, both large and small spaces. We’ll never be able to bring back the species we lost but in planting a small pocket prairie we can support the species that remain.
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