S is for Save our Planet through Earth Day

Sunday, April 22, 2012, is Earth Day.  As I've said previously, I’m old enough to remember when Earth Day was a joke. It was. 

As teachers, many of us said, “Oh, yeah. Earth Day. I’d better do something, I guess.” Not anymore. Earth Day has a global platform and big teeth. And it should. Caring for our planet is no laughing matter. It is a deadly serious concern.

For me, Earth Day is a part of living my life each day.  After my husband and I bought a condo on Clearwater Beach, Florida, things got personal.  In walking our beach in the early mornings, I noticed more and more trash on the sand, much of it ready to be taken to sea by the surf. 

I began taking a bag and picking up as much as I could and placing it into the many trash cans (most were empty) along the route.  It was, of course, too big a job for one person.

  And that is when the Bella and Britt Series for children was born.  The first book was titled, Bella Saves the Beach.  When it was almost ready for publication, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred.

My publisher, Lynda Burch, of Guardian Angel Publishing, and I decided a children's book about the spill must be written.  She felt the Bella and Britt books would be the best vehicle for it.  She also wanted it, if possible, to be the first children's book in the US addressing the spill.

With that assignment, I worked tirelessly, ten to fifteen hours a day, and finished One Pelican at a Time in six weeks!  Happily, it was the first!  I am also happy to mention the book has won several awards, such as the Children's Literary Classics Seal of Approval.  It was on Amazon's Bestsellers for Children for eighteen weeks.

After Pelican came Sea Turtle Summer, a book that deals with the girls' protecting a Loggerhead sea turtle's nest.  Some adults don't agree with the girls' actions, but they feel empowered to carry out their plan.

Most importantly, this book series carries a universal message of earth stewardship.  They were written to empower kids to take action for their planet, even in the face of some adult disapproval.

That is my literary contribution to Earth Day.  I know you are contributing in the ways you do best.  Working together, we can help save our planet. It's the only way forward.

L is for Live Earth Day by Kathy Stemke

Today I'm happy to welcome Kathy Stemke to the blog.  She is a fellow author, Editor and Freelance Writer at DKV Writing 4 U Writing Services. 
                                                          

• author at Guardian Angel Publishing
• Writer at Kathy Stemke Freelance and Ghostwriting
• Owner, teacher at Hidden Treaures Tutoring

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Earth Day 1970 capitalized on the emerging consciousness, channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns front and center.

The idea came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda.

Senator Nelson announced the idea for a “national teach-in on the environment” to the national media; persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair; and recruited Denis Hayes as national coordinator. Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land.

As a result, on the 22nd of April, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environs worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

As 1990 approached, a group of environmental leaders asked Denis Hayes to organize another big campaign. This time, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts and Symbolism of the Flag.

According to legend, it was created as a combination of the letters e and o, from the words environment and organism. This flag was also based on the Stars and Stripes of the US Flag. Green was substituted in place of blue and red. The colors represent "pure air and green land" and environmental action.

TROUBLE ON EARTH DAY

By Kathy Stemke

With Earth Day Approaching on April 22nd it's time to focus on educating our children about conservation. Trouble on Earth Day would be a great resource for this purpose and a super addition to any school or home library.

 

Shelby the squirrel shares what she learned in school about conservation with her parents. Together they discover many things around their house that can be recycled. The main focus of the book is to Rethink, Reuse, and Recycle. 

 

Why recycle? How Long Does Garbage Last?

Scientist List Degradation Times:

 

Banana 3-4 weeks

 Paper bag 1 month

Cotton rag 5 months

Wool sock 1 year

Cigarette butt 2-5 years

Leather boot (or shoe) 40-50 years

Tin can 80-100 years

Aluminum can 200-500 years

Plastic 6-pack rings 450 years

Plastic jug 1 million years

Styrofoam cup Unknown? Forever?

Glass bottle Unknown? Forever?

 

Trouble on Earth Day is available at a discounted price on my blog: http://educationtipster.blogspot.com and through Amazon, B & N, and other online stores.

 

Sh Sh Sh Let the Baby Sleep is available through the publisher, http://guardianangelpublishing.com/shshsh.htm and through Amazon, B & N, and other online stores.

 

Award winning author, Kathy Stemke’s first children’s picture book, Moving Through All Seven Days, was published on Lulu. Her next two picture books, Sh, Sh, Sh Let the Baby Sleep, and Trouble on Earth Day were released in 2011. Both of these books have been awarded the Children’s Literary Classics Seal of Approval. 

 

Having been a teacher for 37 years, Kathy understands and loves children. It’s her desire to give parents and teachers exciting books and resources to help them teach their children all the things they need to have a successful life. 

 

Mrs. Stemke offers great teaching tips and children’s book reviews as well as a monthly newsletter titled, MOVEMENT AND RHYTHM, on her blog. http://educationtipster.blogspot.com

 

Throughout the book tour visitors will be asked to send their best EARTH photo to dancekam1@yahoo.com to be displayed on the last day of the tour. A winner will be selected and awarded a $10 gift card.

E is for Earth Day--A Billion Acts of Green

I’m old enough to remember when Earth Day was a joke.  It was.  As teachers, many of us said, “Oh, yeah.  Earth Day.  I’d better do something, I guess.”  Not anymore.  Earth Day has a global platform and big teeth.  And it should.  Caring for our planet is no laughing matter.  It is a deadly serious concern.

 Earth Day, founded by Senator Gaylord Nelson, was first organized in 1970 to promote ecology and respect for life on the plane.  It has come a long way from then with one hundred forty countries around the globe participating this year.  And counting.  Earth Day, very much like Earth Hour, has taken on a life of its own.

 

So what in the world can we do to help?  The smallest thing adds up to a billion acts of green! I’ve pledge to not use plastic bags, to using cold water in the washing machine and to using earth friendly cleaning products.  We’ve changed all light bulbs to save electricity, and they are turned off when leaving a room.  I remind students when doing a book signing that turning off a light helps save a polar bear!

But it’s more than these things, isn’t it?  Helping save our planet is really a state of mind.  It’s being in the flow of good ecology every day, even every minute. And soon, it’s a way of life. 

18 Weeks on Amazon Bestseller List

Living this state of mind will help save all our lives and the lives of those to come, our children and our grandchildren. What better ongoing gift can we give to anyone than a sustainable, green and whole planet?  Oh, and it’s not, of course, just April 22.  It’s every minute, every day for the rest of our lives.

Bumper Crop of Green Sea Turtles in the Philippines

More than a million green turtle eggs were laid last year on one of the Turtle Islands in the Philippines, breaking at least three records since recording of nesting there started in 1984, according to Conservation International.

CI reports that a total of 14,220 green turtle nests were recorded in Baguan in 2011, breaking the previous record of 12,311 nests in 1995. The 2011 figures translate to 2,844 nesting green turtles and 1.44 million turtle eggs laid.

 

Each morning on Baguan Island, Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary, the beach still shows the tracks the turtles make as they crawl across the sand to lay their eggs.

Female turtles crawl out of the water, usually at night, to dig a nest and lay their eggs. The entire process can take one to two hours. Turtles reach sexual maturity between 20 and 50 years old, and can live up to 200 years.

“1.44 million eggs is an astounding number and it presents great hope for boosting green turtle populations,” Romeo Trono, CI Philippines Country Executive Director, says.

A one percent survival rate sounds pretty awful, so it's no wonder so many eggs are required to maintain a stable population of these turtles.

The 36-hectare Baguan in southern Philippines is one of the nine islands of the Turtle Islands Heritage Protected Area (TIHPA), a unique protected area jointly managed by two countries: Malaysia and the Philippines. It is made up of six islands of the Philippines’ Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary, where Baguan is located, and three islands of Sabah’s Turtle Islands Park (TIP).

After emerging from their nests, hatchlings immediately make their way to sea, starting a journey that may take them right back to where they hatched, where they will then lay their own eggs.

Baguan’s nesting records have been declining and dropped to as low as just over 4,000 nests in 2003. Poaching by foreign fishermen, egg harvesting by local communities for food and trade, destruction and disturbance of habitats through illegal fishing methods and weak law enforcement were identified as the causes of the decline in the sea turtle population in the sanctuary.

“The increasing nest numbers show that when turtles are protected on their nesting beaches and in the water for long enough, they will recover,” said Bryan Wallace, director of science for the Marine Flagship Species Program at CI. “The Turtle Islands are a globally important area for green turtles, especially for the West Pacific population, because of the relatively high abundance present and because of increasing protections for turtles in the area.”

Wardens assigned to the sanctuary live in the Turtle Islands field station for months at a time, patrolling against poachers and doing data monitoring activities like turtle tagging.

“These partnerships with other agencies like the Coast Guard and Marines provide a big boost to law enforcement efforts in the Turtle Islands,” said Mundita Lim, director of DENR’s Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau. “We also enjoy a good working relationship with our Sabah counterparts in charge of managing their side of the Turtle Islands. Turtles nest throughout the entire area, regardless of political boundaries. That is also the approach we are using in managing these islands through productive partnerships.”

Turtles can be a prime ecotourism attraction, and it is hoped that in future, tourism income will help support conservation efforts for Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary.

My second book in the Bella and Britt Series, Sea Turtle Summer, describes how the girls help save a Loggerhead sea turtle's best on the beach one summer day.  It's a great teaching tool for kids, especially with Earth Day, just around the corner!

Interview with Author, Kathy Stemke

I'm very happy to welcome my guest, Kathy Stemke to the blog today.  Kathy is an author with Guardian Angel Publishing.  She is the author of the new children's picture book, Sh, Sh, Sh, Let the Baby Sleep. 

(Please see Kathy's trailer at bottom of post)

NS  Tell us a bit about your background, Kathy.

KS   I’m originally from New York, but now hang my hat in the North Georgia Mountains with my husband, Tony and my dog, Lucy. I have two daughters, two grandchildren and one great grandchild. I have an unquenchable passion for writing, the arts and all things creative.

After earning a Bachelor degree from Southern Connecticut State University, I did some graduate work at New York Institute of Technology and Columbia University. A few years ago I earned a bachelor degree at Covenant Life Seminary in Christian Ministry. My background in Early Childhood Education, Communication Arts and Dance Education has given me a unique approach to teaching by incorporating movement in the process. I find that children learn faster, retain more and have fun when learning with their whole body.

As part of the team at DKV Writing 4 U. http://www.dkvwriting4u.com I’m an editor and ghostwriter. I’ve published over a hundred articles in directories, magazines and on websites. My first children’s picture book, Moving Through All Seven Days, was published on Lulu. Gryphon House Publishing has published several of my activities in their Learn Every Day Series.

Sh, Sh, Sh Let the Baby Sleep, was released in May 2011 and Trouble on Earth Day was released in September 2011. Visit my book blog at http://shshshletthebabysleep.blogspot.com

My education blog offers great teaching tips and children’s book reviews as well as a free monthly newsletter titled, MOVEMENT AND RHYTHM. http://educationtipster.blogspot.com

NS  Would you tell the readers how you were drawn to writing for children?

KS  After retiring from teaching, I started an education tips blog. I got a great response from the parents and teachers. They wanted more. That led me to writing articles, a newsletter and picture books.

NS  Tell us about your new book, Sh, Sh, Sh, Let the Baby Sleep and how it came to be written.

Actually, I wrote the rhyming sections of the book first as a consonant blend activity for teachers. It was so well received that I decided to write a story incorporating the rhymes. Before I knew it, I had a superhero brother learning to love his new baby sister by protecting her from wind, trains, birds, and grizzly bears. Jack Foster’s fantastic illustrations demonstrate the humorous side of the story so well. Teachers love the songs, rhymes, worksheets and activities in the back of the book that reinforce consonant blends.

NS  How do you get the inspiration for new topics--something all authors want to know!

KS   I belong to several teacher groups that share activities and concerns with each other. I contribute ideas to them and listen carefully to their needs. I also have certain interests that beg me to write about them. For instance, I have a couple of dance books and a photography/poetry book in the wings.

NS  What are your plans for new books?
  

KS   I’m in the process of writing a YA historical fiction based on my mother’s life in England during WWII. It’s a great way to write my first novel and leave a family history for my relatives.

I have several pictures that I’m working on as well. The one closest to being ready is about a boy who collects toy soldiers and takes one that doesn’t belong to him. When he hides the soldier and lies to his mother, it gets bigger and bigger in his mind. The soldier is Mary Walker, who won the Medal of Honor in the Civil War! There are tons of learning opportunities in this book. Everything from don’t steal or you’ll have a big problem to interesting Civil War facts will inspire children to learn about history and life. Like all my books, I’ll have comprehension questions and activities in the back of the book.

NS  We are both fortunate to be part of the Guardian Angel Publishing Authors. How did you come to GAP?

KS   I met several authors who are published through GAP. They all had wonderful things to say about the company and its owner, Lynda Burch. Lynda seems to be ahead of the curve on e-books. I love the illustrators, authors and the quality of GAP’s books as well.
 

NS  I understand you just had another picture book released in September. Can you tell us about it?

KS  Trouble on Earth Day is an adorable picture book about a squirrel, who helps a homeless bluebird by recycling things around her house. And it has 24 additional pages of songs, poems, activities, crafts and worksheets. Teachers will have everything they need to do a unit on conservation and Earth Day in this book.
NS  Kathy, I am so happy you visited today!  You are such a talented person, and the bredth of your writing skills is amazing.  Thanks so much for the interview.

KS  Thank you for the opportunity to visit your blog, Nancy. I enjoyed it very much.

Earth Day Guest Post at The Children's and Teen's Book Connection (Book Giveaway!)

Happy Earth Day to all of you around our wonderful planet who follow this blog.  From Austria to Hungary to Iran and beyond, we know this is not only an important day but symbolically, a crucial one.

To that end, I've written an Earth Day Guest Post on a wonderful and intelligent blog.  It is by Cheryl Malandrinos and is called, The Children's and Teen's Book Connection.

On behalf of Earth Day, Cheryl has organized a giveaway of my bestselling children's book, One Pelican at a Time:  A Story of the Gulf Oil Spill.

Simply stop by her blog and register, so we know where to find you if you are the winner.  It is our distinct pleasure that one of you have the book, enjoy it and use its message, one person at a time.