Author Archives: Dana Sheridan

Total Rock Star

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People might think rocks are totally boring and just sit there. But this book proves them all wrong! Turns out when it comes to eras, rocks win the time travel marathon, hands down! Why be sedentary when you can be…wait for it…sedimentary?

We read Old Rock (is not boring) by Deb Pilutti (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2020). Tall Pine, Spotted Beetle, and Hummingbird are convinced that Old Rock is boring. He doesn’t go anywhere, see anything, or do anything. But Old Rock explains how many millennia ago, he flew from a volcano, gazed at dinosaurs, rode a glacier, tumbled down a ridge, and watched a forest grow around him. It’s all about perspective!

You’ll need:

  • 1 small tissue box
  • 2 foam beads
  • A short piece of bamboo skewer (ours was 5″)
  • A 7″ paper plate
  • One time travel wheel template, printed on 8.5″ x 11″ paper
  • Tin foil
  • 1 rock
  • Box cutter, scissors, glue and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating

We loved the idea of time passing for Old Rock, so we created this simply time machine project! Begin by placing a small tissue box on its side. Use a box cutter to cut a 1″ wide space in the sides and top of the box (leave the bottom intact):

Next, glue a foam bead to the center top of the box. No foam bead handy? Use a small snippet of drinking straw instead. Repeat with a second bead on the opposite side of the box. The bamboo skewer should thread easily through them, creating an axle for your paper plate:

Now for your spinning time travel wheel! Cut the template from the paper and color. A special shout out summer intern, Malaysia for her volcano, dinosaur, and glacier artwork! You’ll notice the final panel on the template is blank. That’s where kids can draw their own homes.

Use the bamboo skewer to poke a hole through the template and the paper plate. Thread the skewered plate through the foam beads to create your rotating time travel wheel like so:

Decorate the outside of the box with tin foil (we offered embossed foil paper and sparkle stems as well). If you’d like the “Totally Rockin’ Time Machine” sign, here is the template. Make sure not to cover the open mouth of the tissue box open – that’s your time travel machine’s viewfinder. Finally…the rock!

We didn’t have a supply of rocks handy, so we crafted these out of model magic. Just add grey craft paint and wiggle eyes and you have one very charismatic rock. Place the rock inside the time machine, spin the wheel, and watch the millennia fly by!

This book went over SO well at story time! It’s lovely, well-paced, and exciting. It’s no surprise it’s a multiple award-winner. The kids were absolutely riveted. But we were further delighted when, completely randomly, a youngster arrived with a couple rocks of his own! You can see them in the intro image, but we wanted to give his special rocks a portrait of their very own:

 

Sneak Peek: Hobbit Door

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Bilbo Baggins’ birthday is September 22nd, and we’re throwing a huge bash that’s sure to be the talk of Hobbiton! We’ll share an extensive post about it soon, but today is a sneak peek at a craft project I designed for the big day….a petri dish hobbit door that doubles as a trinket box AND mini exhibit!

You’ll need:

  • 1 plastic 3.5″ petri dish
  • Construction paper or poster board
  • 1 wooden bead
  • 1 hobbit door template, printed on 8.5″ x 11″ card stock
  • Scissors and glue for construction

First, the door! Cut a 3.5″ circle out of construction paper or poster board, and glue it to the lid of the petri dish. You can add additional paper strips to create a “wood grain” effect if you so desire. Glue a wood bead to the center of the door. Note: we ordered our petri dishes bulk on Amazon. Make sure to get the version without agar.

Now for your mini exhibit! Cut both circles from the template: the illustration and the label. Glue the illustration to the inside bottom of the petri dish. Next, flip the petri dish’s lid over and glue the label to the opposite side of the door.

Your competed hobbit hole is now ready to house little treasures. Like…I don’t know…a RING??? Yesssss my preciousssssss.

Hello, Dolly!

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Even when we’re traveling, Katie and I are always in the lookout for literary connections – we’ve been to charming historic towns, unusual houses, legendary locations, natural areas, volcanic landmarks, and the Shire! This summer, Katie visited Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and discovered Dolly’s fantastic literacy initiative, the Imagination Library. Take it away, Katie!

Steel Magnolias. “Jolene.” 9 to 5: The Musical. “Islands in the Stream.” Coat of Many Colors. What do all of these things have in common? The amazing Dolly Parton, of course! While she is most famous for her incredible music career, Dolly is also an author, actor, and founder of the most ticketed attraction in Tennessee, her theme park appropriately named Dollywood. Her proudest achievements, however, involve her philanthropic desire to give back to others, particularly in the area of literacy.

Inspired by her father’s inability to read and write, Dolly founded the Imagination Library in 1995 to instill a love of reading in children. Kids enrolled in the Imagination Library receive a new age appropriate book, free of charge, that is sent directly to their homes from the time of their birth until they enter kindergarten. Dolly wanted children to experience the magic of books and be excited to read, regardless of where they lived or their family’s income. Since its humble beginnings, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has gifted over 250 million books. One in seven children under the age of five in the United States receive books from the Imagination Library!

The program became so successful in the United States that it expanded and is now available in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland. Thanks to funding from Dolly and her community partners, over two million books are shipped each and every month to kids around the world!

Visit the Imagination Library to find a local program in your area and to learn more about this extraordinary resource. As Dolly says, “You can never get enough books into the hands of enough children.” We couldn’t agree more.

Our summer vacation to Tennessee was exactly what we needed this year. We spent a week with friends in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area exploring Great Smoky Mountains National Park, finding cold mountain streams to go fishing and swimming, visiting as many barbecue restaurants as we could find, and staying up way too late looking for fireflies and shooting stars. Some of us were even lucky enough to see a black bear!

No trip to Pigeon Forge is complete without visiting Dollywood. We spent the first part of our day keeping cool at the Splash Country water park. Later in the afternoon, we dashed over to the theme park to ride ALL of the roller coasters. And eat a loaf of Dolly’s world famous cinnamon bread. Dollywood was fully decorated for the annual Summer Celebration with fun bright colored kites and umbrellas waving overhead, gorgeous flower arrangements, interactive fountains, and plenty of butterflies. Definitely stay until the park closes so you can watch the drone and fireworks show – it’s spectacular!

If you’re interested in further literary adventuring, pack your bags and check out this post. And just in case you’re wondering…yes, Katie did bring me back a little present from Dollywood. And yes, it is awesome!