California Kids - February 2016

February 2016

We make math make sense. mathnasium.com

Granite Bay

(916) 791-9119

Fair Oaks

(916) 967-6222

Folsom West (916) 983-6222

Folsom East (916) 983-0108

Rocklin

(916) 435-1400

El Dorado Hills (916) 673-9119

Cameron Park (530) 350-7388

Table of Contents Travel: Family Winter Getaway

by Carmel L. Mooney .........................page 6 Make it yourself ..............................page 7 The Book Report: Nicola Davies

by Connie Goldsmith ......................page 8 Who Wrote That? Picture Book Potpourri

by Patricia Newman .................. page 11 Calendar of Events ...................... page 12 Parties! Parties!............................ page 14

Sacramento Zoo Events for February sacramento Museum Day 2016 Saturday, February 6 - 9 am to 4 pm Enjoy half-price admission to the Sacramento Zoo and Fairytale Town and free admission to 25 local museums! For more information visit the Sacramento Association of Museums website.

Join the Zoo and the Sacramento Library in an open play environment, the last Saturday of the month anytime between 10 am to 2 pm. We will be reading stories, playing, and exploring the wonders of the natural world with a new topic each month. Activities are included with Zoo admission.

i heart sacramento Zoo Sunday, February 14 - 9 am to 4 pm Bring your valentine to a special I Heart Sacramento Zoo day organized by the Sacramento Zoo Teen volunteers. The event features valentine-themed animal enrichments, informative talks and activity tables – all included with general admission.

Leap Day celebration Monday, February 29 - 9 am to 4 pm Celebrate Leap Day at the Sacramento Zoo! Enjoy Keeper Chats focused on the Zoo’s greatest leapers, visit EdZOOcation Stations and become a Zoo Parent with a great package deal on one of our featured leapers, the Coquerel’s Sifaka. Leap Day is also Gus the Green Tree Frog’s birthday! Sign his birthday card and take a picture with him as he makes guest appearances throughout the day.

nature explorers Saturday, February 27 - 10 am to 2 pm

www.valcomnews.com Publisher: David Herburger Contributing Writers: Connie Goldsmith, Carmel L. MooneyPatricia Newman Art Director: John Ochoa Graphic Designer: Annin Greenhalgh Advertising: Steve Crowley 916-429-9901 Cover photo courtesy Kimyetta Barron

California Kids! is published monthly and distributed to more than 1,000 locations in the Sacramento Valley, including all of Sacramento County, and portions of Yolo (Davis and Woodland), Placer (Rocklin and Roseville), El Dorado (Cameron Park, El Dorado Hills, Placerville) counties.

Subscriptions are available for $30/year. Mail prepaid check or money order to California Kids!, 2709 Riverside Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95818. Make sure to specify the person and address to which you wish issues to be mailed.

Deadlines for advertising and calendar listings are the 25th of the month prior to publication. Calendar listings should be mailed to 2709 Riverside Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95818, faxed to (916) 429-9906, or e-mailed to kathleen@valcomnews.com.

Copyright 2016 by Valley Community Newspapers Inc. 2709 Riverside Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95818.

Phone: (916) 429-9901. Fax: (916) 429-9906. E-mail:calkidsmag@gmail.com.

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.

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Special Event!

Sunday, February 14 9 am - 4 pm

Enjoy Watching Animals Receive Valentine-themed Enrichments sacZOO.org | 916.808.5888 CALIFORNIA KIDS! Family Fun Guide • FEBRUARY 2016

Celebrating National Children’s Dental Health Month A Message Brought to You by First 5 Sacramento

F

ebruary is National Children’s Dental Health Month, which is a good time to remind families about the importance of good oral health care early in life. Tooth decay is the number one childhood illness, but also the most preventable. Since dental health is an indicator of overall health, it’s important to take care of our children’s teeth and establish healthy habits early.

First 5 Sacramento provides various dental programs to help children and families find dental homes and get the care they need.

Pregnancy Healthy teeth and gums start even before your baby is born.

Babies’ teeth begin to develop between the third and sixth months of pregnancy, making it important for pregnant mothers to take care of their teeth and bodies with a well-balanced diet and good brushing habits.

Hormonal shifts during pregnancy can wreak havoc on a mother’s mouth and cause pregnancy gingivitis, which results in red and swollen gums that can bleed easily.

Good Habits Start Early Establishing healthy habits early leads to a lifetime of healthy teeth and bodies.

You can start taking care of your baby’s mouth within the first days after birth by regularly wiping their gums with a wet cloth.

Once those teeth begin to appear (typically around 6 months), you can begin to brush them with a softbristled brush and water.

Make sure to brush your toddler’s teeth twice a day using a small drop of toothpaste. When they have at least two teeth that touch, you can start to floss.

Take your child to the dentist by the 1st Tooth or 1st Birthday.

Stay Away from Sweets Sugary beverages can harm teeth and possibly lead to a lifetime of health issues.

Tooth decay can impact a child’s overall quality of life, inhibit their cognitive and social development, and compromise their growth, function, and self-esteem Even baby teeth are susceptible to cavities. Maintaining healthy baby teeth is important for children to be able to chew their food and develop language skills.

To avoid “baby bottle mouth,” avoid putting anything other than breast milk, formula, or milk in their bottles and do not put them down to sleep with a bottle.

Children who drink sugary beverages, like soda, have nearly double the risk of tooth decay and an increased risk of obesity and diabetes. So help them stay away from sugary beverages and drink milk and water instead. Find out how much sugar is your beverage at www.cutsugarydrinks.org Make Brushing Fun In order to encourage daily brushing habits, make brushing fun for your kids.

Brush your teeth together as a family for 2 minutes.

Children want to mimic their parents so if they see you brushing twice a day then they will want to have those healthy habits too.

Have them brush their teddy bear’s teeth so they see the toothbrush as a fun toy to use every day.

FEBRUARY 2016 • CALIFORNIA KIDS! Family Fun Guide

Get fun ideas on the First 5 Sacramento Pinterest site with over 27 boards of parenting tips—www.pinterest.com and search First 5 Sacramento.

Need parenting advice?

Call the 24 hour confidential Parent Support Line at 1-888-281-3000. These trained specialists can talk you through your parenting questions from picky eaters, tantrums, to de-stress tips.

Looking for parent/community resources in Sacramento County?

Call 2-1-1. With more than 3,000 referral resources, the 2-1-1 specialists can help you locate the services you need for your family.

About First 5 Sacramento - Research shows that a child’s brain develops most dramatically in the first five years and what parents and caregivers do during these years to support their child’s growth will have a meaningful impact throughout life. Based on this research, California voters passed Proposition 10 in 1998, a tobacco tax, to support programs for expectant parents and children ages 0-5.

In the last year, First 5 Sacramento distributed approximately $14 million a year in Prop 10 revenues to programs and services that meet local needs in Sacramento County.

All 58 counties have a First 5 Children and Families Commission providing unique local services for that county. More information available at www.first5sacramento. net, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

4 Things parents should know about dyslexia

J

ust about every person starts talking without having to be taught.

When you were a baby, just being around people who were talking was enough to get you started talking, too. You did not have go to talking school or take talking lessons.

Reading is different, though. No one is born knowing how to read—we all have to be taught to read.

Dyslexia is a neurological, brain-based type of learning disability that specifically impairs a person’s ability to learn to read.

Dyslexic students typically read at levels significantly lower than expected, despite having normal intelligence. Dyslexia mainly affects language (reading, writing, and spelling), but can also affect math.

Here are the 4 points parents need to know: 1) Not all reading problems are dyslexia.

2) The reading programs that are normally used in schools are not designed for the dyslexic reader and WILL NOT work for someone with dyslexia. If your child is is not reading and progressing as well as others, you should be concerned that the program used in your child’s school is not working. It is time to get more help.

3) Not all dyslexics have ALL the same underly-

ing issues. THUS, the assessment process has to be very specific to determine exactly what needs to be done to close the reading, spelling and writing gaps.

It is essential that the test be a test designed to diagnose dyslexia.

A basic reading test is not enough. The test must include auditory processing, phonemic awareness, visual processing, rapid naming, memory, orthographic skills and more.

4) There is a lot of talk about the “gifts of Dyslexia” and there are many success stories about famous people with dyslexia that can offer hope for dyslexics. Parents must be perfectly clear that these famous dyslexics HAVE learned to read! You do not hear about the people who do not learn to read well enough to allow them to be successful in school and life.

Warning signs of dyslexia and reading problems include slow, choppy and inaccurate reading; confusion between left and right; mixing up sounds in words; failure to remember or comprehend what was read; poor spelling; difficulty processing auditory and visual information; limited vocabulary; very slow writing; poor spelling, punctuation and capitalization: and hard work harder that most with limited achievement.

For more information about dyslexia, please see Decodingdyslexia.com, Understood.org and Keeping pacelearningcenter.com.

Carol Hess, Director of Keeping Pace Learning Center is available to speak at community organizations about warning signs, diagnosis and remediation of dyslexia. Contact her at keepingpacelearningcenter. com or 916-686-1619

Your Child is struggling

and you are puzzled

FREE PARENT INFORMATION AND TRAINING FEBRUARY 2016

Parent Information Night Tuesday, February 16th 6:30 PM Auditory Processing Parent Training Monday, February 29th 6:30 PM

MARCH 2016

Parent Information Night Monday, March 7th 6:30 PM Executive Function Parent Training Wednesday, March 16th 6:30 PM

CALL 916-686-1619 TO RESERVE SPACE OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

$100 RECEIVE MENT S S E S OFF AS Parent at *Attendance uired Req Info Night t for Discoun

Here are the steps to solving this puzzle: STEP 1: Attend a Free Parent Information Night STEP 2: Schedule a comprehensive cognitive & academic assessment STEP 3: Start services as soon as possible

Keeping Pace Learning Center and Reading Clinic (916) 686-1619 | www.keepingpacelearningcenter.com (9

2016 is the year to PERMANenTLY SOLVE your child’s learning difficulties.

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CALIFORNIA KIDS! Family Fun Guide • FEBRUARY 2016

Effie Yeaw Nature Center California Avenue and Tarshes Drive, Carmichael, CA 916-489-4918 - www.sacnaturecenter.net

Dot-to-Dot - Have fun coloring!

February 2016 FREE WEEKEND ACTIVITIES Donations gratefully accepted. There is a $5 per car entrance fee into Ancil Hoffman County Park (Free to members) Saturday the 6th at 10:30 AM – River Stroll- Take a guided hike along the American river and enjoy the sights and sounds of this special ecosystem.

Sunday the 7th at 1:30 PM – Story Time - Join a Naturalist for some tantalizing tales of creatures, people, and nature.

Saturday the 13th at 10:30 AM – OH, Deer! Hit the trails and see what our local deer population is up to as winter comes to an end.

Sunday the 14th at 1:30 PM – Critter Corner- Valentine’s Day Edition! –Get eye to eye with one of our loveable slimy, scaly, or feathered residents! Show some love as you construct hand-made Valentines to be displayed on their enclosures. $1 suggested donation for each Valentine displayed.

Saturday the 20th at 10:30 PM- Birding for FamiliesBring the family out for a birding and nature walk led by a Naturalist and our special guest guides from the Sacramento Audubon Society. Birdwatchers of all levels welcomed. Make sure to bring your binoculars, or we can loan you a pair.

Sunday the 21st at 1:30 PM – Whooo, What, Where, How! Uncover the mysteries of owls: what they eat, where they sleep, how they find food and more! Get a close-up look at a live owl. All ages welcome.

Saturday the 27th at 10:30 AM – Critters of the American River- Do know how to tell the differences between reptiles, mammals and birds? Learn all about our local wildlife by examining skulls, furs, feathers and even live animals up close!

Sunday the 28th at 1:30 PM – Pipevine Preview – Come learn about this oddly beautiful California native that’s the host plant for the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly. Join a Naturalist on a hike to see if any “Dutchman’s Pipe” is blooming in the Nature Study Area!

FEBRUARY 2016 • CALIFORNIA KIDS! Family Fun Guide

Las Vegas Makes the Best Thrill-Seeking Family Winter Getaway

By Carmel L. Mooney

A

n easy and economical flight away from Sacramento International Airport, an afternoon jaunt from Disneyland and Universal Studios, or a day’s drive from Northern California, Las Vegas, Nevada provides a wonderful winter getaway for families who crave excitement, glitz, upbeat dining, breathtaking shows, and thrill seeking attractions.

Las Vegas has evolved so many times over the decades yet it remains a fabulous family travel destination, particularly for family-friendly adventure seekers and those with tweens and teens.

Inside and outside the Strip, the main avenue of the city, wintertime in Las Vegas offers excellent deals and promotions, generally great weather, as well as smaller crowds and more vacancies throughout the Entertainment Capital of the World.

On our recent visit we stayed at the Stratosphere Casino, Hotel and Tower at the North end of the Strip. At 1,149 feet high, the tallest building in Las Vegas, the Stratosphere hotel is a top choice for both families and adults when staying in Las Vegas. It is known to be the only hotel to have its very own amusement park on its roof.

In recent years, new attractions have been added to the top including the Sky Jump, a scream-inducing leap from the 829 foot Tower and the highest controlled descent according to Guinness World Records. If that’s not enough, you can try The Big Shot that blasts you 160 feet straight up into the air from the Tower and you can pull some G’s as you free fall back to the launch. Insanity The Ride will surely be next on the list for adrenaline junkies as its giant mechanical arm holds you 900 feet high as you are spun 64 feet over the Tower edge. X Scream is your last chance at feeling a rush as participants are catapulted head first 27 feet over the Tower edge while dangling 109 stories above Las Vegas and are snapped back for more.

Once you’ve found your stomach, the Stratosphere has it’s own upscale rotating restaurant in the observation tower at the top of the roof, where families can eat, drink, and overlook the bird’s-eye view of Las Vegas’ lights. An outdoor pool and cabanas are also offered on the 8th floor but there’s so much to do both day and night that you may never even make it to the pool.

Our family enjoys Michael Jackson music and what better way to

thrill everyone but from the original Thriller?

MJ LIVE is a phenomenal Michael Jackson tribute show that has rightfully so, won awards as the best in the world. In the comfort and convenience of the Stratosphere’s own building, the MJ LIVE Tribute is the perfect show to see when you want to stay in the comfort of your hotel yet feel the excitement and quality of Las Vegas shows. This incredible venue will amaze your family with perfected choreography, singing, and outstanding lighting effects with a Michael Jackson impersonator who will actually make you feel like you’re at a real Michael Jackson concert. During the show, mom and dad can order from a variety of themed alcoholic beverages like Black & White and Human Nature. And there are plenty of specialty drinks that are without alcohol for the youngsters in your group.

A visit to Las Vegas would not be complete without a Cirque du Soleil show. One of the best top-rated shows to see in Las Vegas is Mystere. Completely family-friendly, unlike some of the others, it is the one your family will not want to miss. As professional acrobats perform in the very aisles near your seats, it’s impossible not to get the full experience. This show is so elaborate, if you blink once you could miss it. Just the outstanding, intricate, enormous, and constantly changing sets, are completely mind boggling and captivating.

You’ll be gripping your seat the whole time while watching Mystere as the live music, acrobatics, avant-garde costumes, acting, masks, make-up, and imagery is astounding. You will gasp as actors and acrobats perform incredible feats over your head and in every corner of the auditorium. Dancing, climbing, trapeze, pole climbing, and body and mind bending positions will have you awestruck and forgetting to breathe for nearly two hours.

When you finally make your way onto the Strip and away from the Stratosphere the options are endless day and night. While traveling with children in Las Vegas it is important to understand that Las Vegas, as family-friendly as it is, does have large crowds of public visitors. It is nearly impossible to not be exposed to people who are under the influence of alcohol in public places along the Strip as well as advertisements for activities that are certainly not family-friendly.

So it is important to be flexible and have accurate expectations as you visit

with your children. It may be best to plan your outings to be complete before midnight when things can become more lively, adult-themed, and to perhaps plan to be back at your hotel before late in the evening.

That being said, there are wonderful, family-friendly dining venues, light shows, and shopping both day and night along the Strip.

The Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino offers exotic wonders of the ocean, from large stingrays to crocodiles and sharks.

More than 2,000 animals in 1.6 million gallons of water will captivate you. Children will also have fun at the Shark Reef Jungle, where they can see different species of reptiles and the famous Komodo Dragon.

Adventuredome is now the largest indoor Theme Park in the United States and guarantees fun for kids and adults of all ages. Roller coasters, attractions, clown shows, and an arcade area where you can win fun prizes is located inside the Circus Circus Hotel & Casino.

The most popular medieval dinner show in Las Vegas is located at Excalibur Hotel & Casino. At Tournament of the Kings guests will have fun eating with their hands and enjoying a spectacular show complete with knights, armor, damsels, horses, and fireworks.

At The Mirage Hotel & Casino you can come face to face with large tigers and lions and you can visit the underwater paradise where happy dolphins make performances in and out of the water. This is definitely a place for Las Vegas animal lovers at Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat.

For those who whetted their thrill seeking appetite atop the Stratosphere, there is The Roller Coaster for those who visit the New York New York Hotel & Casino. At 203 feet from the ground and going at a speed of 67 miles per hour, you will be turned

upside down with screams and the whole clan will enjoy this spectacular experience.

A replica of the famous tower, The Eiffel Tower Experience which is located at the Paris Las Vegas, is 165 meters tall and allows visitors to go up to its highest level to have a great view of the whole Strip. It’s definitely one of the best views of Las Vegas right along with the Stratosphere Tower.

The Children’s Discovery Museum located next to The Smith Center in Symphony Park in downtown Las Vegas, shows that the Entertainment Capital of the World also offers cultural activities for people of all ages with three levels and nine interactive rooms where children can learn and have fun at the same time.

Las Vegas is not just the Entertainment Capital of the World but a mecca of delights for kids and families of all ages. You can beat the heat and get the best deals by planning a trip there before Spring. While there is enough to keep a family busy with entertainment for a week, it’s the perfect destination for an extended weekend as well.

CALIFORNIA KIDS! Family Fun Guide • FEBRUARY 2016

Make it yourself!

Beaded Ornament

Foam Heart Photo Frame

T

his quick and easy foam heart photo frame uses pre-cut bought foam hearts. It is a quick and easy gift idea for all sorts of occasions, and if you stick a magnet to the back, looks great on the fridge!

T

his beaded ornament is fun for kids to make for Valentine’s Day or Christmas - it looks very pretty hung on a tree or in the window - or you could even make a miniature version as a pendant!

You will need:

You will need:

Craft wire, Beads

Instructions: Bend your wire into a simple shape. Thread the beads onto the wire. Twist the ends together. Cut the wire so you are left with two over hanging pieces of wire. Twist the ends of these together to form a loop to hang.

Butterfly Magnet

T

his butterfly magnet makes a cute craft for kids for Valentine’s Day - perfect for cheering up the front of the fridge!

You will need:

Pink, red and white craft foam hearts (you can cut your own but it is easy to pick up bags of die-cut shapes), Pink craft foam, Glue, Photo (passport size), Card, Magnet, Double sided sticky tape, Glue

Instructions: Cut out a heart shape from the pink foam. Now cut out a smaller heart from the middle. Don’t worry too much about the shape as it will be covered up.

Glue the foam hearts to the heart frame, overlapping them and covering all of the frame. Leave to dry.

When the glue is dry use double sided sticky tape to stick your photo to the back of the frame.

Cut a piece of card the same size as the frame and stick it on to the back with double sided tape.

Finally glue a magnet on to the middle of the card.

Handprint Heart

4 large craft foam hearts, 7 small craft foam hearts, 2 tiny craft foam hearts, Pipe cleaner / chenille stem, 2 small wiggle eyes, Red pen, Magnet, Glue

I

f your child prints a handprint heart, it will be yours forever!

These make a super quick craft activity for Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day and a lovely keepsake, too.

Instructions: Stick three of the small hearts in a column overlapping the point of one heart over the top of the heart below. This is the body. Stick a small heart into the middle of each large heart. Arrange the large hearts into the wing shape. Glue the top ones overlapping the bottom wing part. Glue the body to the center of the wings. Cut two short pieces of chenille stem. Stick these to the back of the top heart of the body, which is the head. Stick a tiny heart to the end of each piece of chenille stem. Stick the wiggle eyes to the head and draw on a mouth. Finish by gluing a magnet to the back of your butterfly.

You will need: Pink and purple paint, Paper

Instructions: Keeping fingers together, print a handprint of purple paint on the center of the paper. With the other hand add a handprint of pink paint overlapping the fingers with the purple handprint.

Crafts courtesy of: www.Activity Village.co.uk - Keeping Kids Busy FEBRUARY 2016 • CALIFORNIA KIDS! Family Fun Guide

THE BOOK REPORT

Picture Book Potpourri

By Connie Goldsmith

W

hile children’s literature contains as many genres as adult literature, many books published for children are picture books. The simple words and colorful art continue to beguile young listeners time and again. Picture books must appeal to the adults who purchase them and must stand up to the ritual of repeated readings that children demand.

Take a look at the selection below and find the book that’s just right for your child.

“A Spectacular Selection of Sea Critters,” by Betsy Franco, illustrated by Michael Wertz.

(Millbrook/Lerner Press). Sea animals appear in this dazzling collection of concrete poetry— poems in which the words are shaped into the verse’s meaning. For example, words to the poem titled, ‘Spiny Puffer’ form spines around the globular fish. “Because you live in oceanscapes, you don’t know porcupines. You just might like them if you did, ‘cause they’ve got pointy spines.” The clever rhymes bring life to the sea sights, while the brightlycolored art enhances them.

The varying colors, fonts, and direction of the words make reading the poems both challenging and rewarding. The anemone is especially beautiful, as are the dolphins and octopus. These 29 concrete poems celebrate the sea and its amazing life. Little listeners will simply enjoy the color and sound of the poems, while older kids will love following the lively words as they twist into animal shapes.

“Search and Spot Animals,” written and illustrated by Laura Ljungkvist. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). “Where’s Waldo?” meets Animal Planet in this unusual seek-and-find book. Children discover new animals with every turn of the colorful pages: ten dragonflies hidden among a page of frogs lolling on lily pads, and squirrels on a double page spread of an impressionist forest.

Find horses and hens, city cats

and country cats. The searches range from easy to challenging. For example, it’s easy to find ten eggs hidden on the page of chickens, but harder to find a daddy longlegs lounging on a page of tiny insects! Readers young and old who like puzzles should enjoy this unique book.

“Home,” written and illustrated by Carson Ellis. (Candlewick). Follow the dove as it flies through a world of real and imaginary homes. Home can be a boat, a palace, or a shoe (think Mother Hubbard). There are sea homes, bee homes, and let’s not forget homes for Moonians and Atlantians. The arresting gouache-and-ink art and details of each home will inspire observant readers to return for a second or third look.

And two especially intriguing homes—one dangling from a cliff and one nestled under a mushroom ask the reader to guess whose homes they are.

Notice the first and the last pages show the author with red pigtails in her own home.

The next-to-last page shows her studio filled with images of items that appear in previous drawings.

“How to Draw a Dragon,” written and illustrated by Douglas Florian. (Beach Lane Books). This humorous book begins, “Drawing dragons isn’t hard. Drag a dragon to your yard.” Find neighborhood kids pulling sleeping dragons into their yards in red wagons, for they have a secret mission. To draw a dragon, you’ll need a LOT of art supplies. These dragons are full of surprises. While dragons are grumpy, they also love to draw. Dragons like to ride bikes, and they sneeze when it rains. The deceptively simple crayon-like art will appeal to children. The little girl and boy artists draw many dragons throughout the book, but soon, the dragons must all wave good-bye and go . . . to the school’s Dragon Art Show, shown in a double page spread at the end of the book. Match the dragon drawings the kids did to the

drawings on exhibit in the school art show and cheer on the young artists!

“The Whisper,” written and illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.) A little girl in a charming red hoodie borrows a special book from her teacher. While she runs home, words escape from the book, leaving only the art. A whisper tells her that she can imagine the words, for there are no rights or wrongs in imagination. The mixed media art is absolutely stunning, especially Tiger’s Prayer, Golden Key, and Magical Cloak, in which a wizard blows bubbles that turn into white whales. And the tiny images of the girl looking at pictures in her book as we see them on the pages are captivating, drawing us further into this sumptuous fantasy. This two-time Caldecott Honor recipient is well on her way to earning the Caldecott Medal. ** Reviewer’s pick of the month**

Connie Goldsmith (www.conniegoldsmith.com) lives in Carmichael, CA where she writes for adults and older children. Her newest nonfiction juvenile book, Dietary Supplements: Harmless, Helpful, or Hurtful? is now available.

Other recent books include: Bombs over Bikini; Traumatic Brain Injury: From Concussion to Coma; Battling Malaria: on the Front Lines Against a Global Killer,” and many others. Her books can be found in school and public libraries, and at online booksellers.

CALIFORNIA KIDS! Family Fun Guide • FEBRUARY 2016

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Who wrote that?

KIDLIT CREATORS WHO MAKE KIDS WANT TO READ Featuring Nicola Davies

By Patricia Newman

N

icola Davies enjoys solitude. “Almost all my positive memories are solitary…And almost always in nature.” In one of her clearest memories, Nicola is six and sits at the edge of a clifftop barley field while on holiday with her parents in a coastal village in Wales.

“I remember sitting near the field and watching the winds moving the barley and the sun going down over the sea and having a visceral sense of my own mortality. But also somehow very connected with that—a sense of the earth going round and me being on it and me being a part of it whether I was alive or dead.”

Of course, Nicola did not have the vocabulary at the time to articulate her newfound awareness, but as a children’s author she’s not surprised when kids share their profound thoughts. “I often try to remember how emotionally complex and layered they already are. They really don’t know very much about the world. They haven’t got much experience. They are looking and thinking and feeling and that has to be acknowledged and respected.”

I met Nicola in Washington, D.C. in October 2015, for the Green Earth Book Award ceremony where her book, The Promise, was honored. We sat down for a Skype chat last month while she was at home in Wales.

Patricia: How does your passion for nature seed your writing process? nicola: I wouldn’t have had the first idea how to answer that question more than five years ago. All I know is that I need to get my brain in a particularly decoupled state for it to work. I need to put lots of things in there. I need to do lots of research, but very often the germ of a story is something completely unpredictable. Which is why it’s necessary to not be at your desk the whole time.

You need to be looking outwards, and not just doing factual research, but looking at other artwork.

Nicola Davies

The art that inspires me to write is very often pictures or sculpture.

P: So you need a visual stimulus? n: Actually an emotional stimulus. I am more and more keen to make the links between the natural world and our emotional lives.

Partly because those stories are more pleasurable to write and partly because when I write stories like that the response from my readers is greater. Because of that response, I’m more and more desperate to find an emotional silver bullet that will make people get the message about caring for the planet.

P: Why do you write for children? n: I still experience that physical pleasure of curling up with a book or looking forward to curling up with a book which is almost better, but I still don’t read like I read when I was nine, with that absolute intensity. And I remember that experience of reading. And to be the creator of that experience for other human beings is huge!

P: How does the germ of an idea become a book? n: The Lion Who Stole My Arm is a story about the problem of living with maneating lions in East Africa.

I was researching another book—and very often I find it’s a kind of chain reaction thing—when I came across a research project in East Africa by a woman called Colleen Begg who was working with local people to change their behavior to keep them safe from lions.

FEBRUARY 2016 • CALIFORNIA KIDS! Family Fun Guide

Actually the things that she was encouraging them to do seemed pathetically obvious really, but because of the local belief system it was hard to get them to do it. When they [followed Colleen’s advice], they started being safe from lions and they started then changing their attitude toward lions. Instead of being terrified of them and angry with them, they started being really rather proud of the fact that they were sharing their environment with this animal that was famous across the world.

Okay, this story I want to tell, but I wanted to write it from the point of view of a child in [an East African] village…I liaised very, very carefully with Colleen to get the facts right, but what I needed was a central character based in reality.

Quite by accident, I found a photograph of a little boy taken by an American photographer…and in this photograph the little boy’s looking very solemn—he’s ten years old—and his left arm is missing. He was attacked by a young lion when he was five. It grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into the bushes. The boy had one arm free and punched the lion in the face and the lion let go. Finding that photograph gave me the backbone of the narrative for that book.

P: Which book is your favorite? n: The Promise is the one that’s in front of my mind at the moment because

that’s doing a very good job across a wide range of ages.

And it’s doing a good job in terms of its environmental message. Also in terms of its human rights and personal development message. For instance, Amnesty International in the UK has just picked it up as one of their core texts for 2015.

Also Tiny Creatures, a picture book about microbiology [winner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Science Books & Films Prize for Excellence in Nonfiction]. My aim with Tiny was just to do the very, very basic, to say to the very youngest children there’s a whole world that’s invisible.

And it’s invisible not because it’s magic, but because it’s too itty for you to see. And it’s really important. The reason your mum and dad are always saying wash your hands before you eat dinner and cover your mouth when you sneeze is because of this tiny stuff and the stuff that it can do. So I deliberately didn’t use [the words] bacterium or virus, I just used the word microbe. There is the whole [concept] of scaling to give [readers] an idea of just how tiny microbes are. Here’s the good stuff they do: make cheese, Daddy’s beer, your yogurt in your breakfast, make

bread rise, and give us quite a lot of the oxygen we require.

They also do nasty stuff like give you diseases, but here’s how you can prevent them. It was a really difficult book to write…and when we published it I kind of was ready to get my head down behind the parapet for all the microbiologists to throw things at me. The very first review we had was from a microbiologist who put something up on Twitter about how wonderful it was.

P: What would you like your readers to know about you? n: I’m not fussed about my readers knowing about me. As long as they read my stories and get them, there’s nothing they need to know about me. It’s all there on the page.

Patricia Newman visits schools!

Her newest book, Ebola: Fears and Facts, received a starred review in Booklist and is a California Reading Association Eureka! Silver Honor book for excellence in nonfiction.

Additional books include Plastic, Ahoy! Investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch winner of the Green Earth Book Award. Visit her at www.patriciamnewman.com for more information.

LEARN MORE ABOUT NICOLA DAVIES Visit: http://www.nicola-davies.com/

SELECTIONS FROM NICOLA DAVIES’ LIBRARY Heroes of the Wild series

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Calendar of Events the Little Mermaid Master class Presented by California Musical Theatre at Sierra 2 Center February 3, 2016 Broadway Sacramento Master Classes offer an exclusive experience for aspiring artists and lifelong learners to study with talented experts from the professional world of musical theatre. Classes end with a question and answer session, giving participants a chance to gain unique insight into the world of professional theatre.

For this class, students will work vocal selections with hands on coaching and technique-building direction from a cast member of The Little Mermaid tour.

Presented by california Musical theatre at sierra 2 center February 3, 2016 Admission Info: $35 Ages 8-1 General Day and Time Info: Wed 4pm-5:30pm Phone: (916) 4465880x147

Blast From the Past!

Rockin’ Rocks & Diggin’ Dinos

Lego Block Party (noWMar) Presented by Sacramento Public Library at Franklin Community Library Now - March 26, 2016 Join the Lego Block Party! At the Lego Block Party you bring your imagination and creativity, and the library supplies lots and lots of Duplo and Lego blocks to build with.

This is a free program hosted by the Franklin Community Library the second and fourth Saturday of each month.

Individual Dates & Times: * Feb 13, 2016: 10 am - 3 pm (Sat) Feb 27, 2016: 10 am - 3 pm (Sat) Mar 12, 2016: 10 am - 3 pm (Sat) Mar 26, 2016: 10 am - 3 pm (Sat) * Event durations (if noted) are approximate. Please check with the presenting organization or venue to confirm start times and duration.

Phone: (916) 264-2920 Preschool Planet Protectors Presented by Roseville Utility Exploration Center at Roseville Utility Exploration Center February 11, 2016 Admission Info: Free General Day and Time Info: Thurs Individual Dates & Times: * Feb 11, 2016: 10 am - 12 pm (Thu) * Event durations (if noted) are approximate. Please check with the presenting organization or venue to confirm start times and duration.

3615 Auburn Blvd. Sacramento 95821 916.808.3942 www.TheDiscovery.org

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Phone: (916) 746-1550 Roseville Utility Exploration Center

1501 Pleasant Grove Blvd.

Roseville, CA 95747 Valentine’s Day at the Animal shelter Presented by Front Street Animal Shelter February 14, 2016 The Front Street Animal Shelter is offering a Valentine’s Day camp for kids. Kids tour the shelter, meet the cutest residents, learn how to safely interact with an unknown dog, prevent pets from going missing (and how to get them back if they do), meet an animal care officer, learn about animal careers, make toys to keep cats entertained, play games, make friends, and more.

Note: All proceeds support our lifesavinig efforts.

Admission Info: $50 Ages 8-12 *The camp fee includes t-shirt and lunch. **The primary age range for the camp is 8-12, although other ages may be considered. ***Please RSVP by email.

General Day and Time Info: Sun 1pm-5pm Artful tot (noW-Mar) Presented by Crocker Art Museum at Crocker Art Museum 216 O STREET Now - March 1, 2016 Every month, toddlers explore art-making with different materials in new ways, from printmaking and color mixing to clay and fabric. Adults learn how to encourage experimentation and self-expression while nurturing their child’s creativity. Families are welcome to arrive anytime during this drop-in program.

Note: Please dress for mess.

This program is for children from Age 19 to 36 months old and their caregivers.

Admission Info: Museum member tot $7 Nonmember tot $10 *Fees includes Museum admission.

General Day and Time Info: Tuesdays (1/5, 2/2, & 3/1) 10:30am-Noon

Individual Dates & Times: * Feb 2, 2016: 10:30 am - 12 pm (Tue) Mar 1, 2016: 10:30 am - 12 pm (Tue) * Event durations (if noted) are approximate.

Please check with the presenting organization or venue to confirm start times and duration.

Phone: (916) 808-1182 Parking: The parking available around the Museum is managed by the City of Sacramento. On-street parking meters bordering the Museum and Crocker Park require quarters. A parking lot is available on Second Street and costs $3 per two hours.

Parking for visitors with disabilities can be found in the parking lots and at meters located on 2nd Street. sAcrAMento PuBLic LiBrArY Toddler & Family Story Time Early Childhood (0-5) Valley Hi-North Laguna 7400 Imagination Pkwy, Sacramento, CA 95823 February 3, Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Please join us every Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. for books, songs, stories and fun. The event is geared especially for toddlers (aged 12 to 36 months), but is appropriate for anyone who wants to sing and/or move.

Everyone is welcome to “stay and play” after with our fabulous toys.

Valentine’s cards and cookies School Age (6-12) Ella K. McClatchy 2112 22nd St, Sacramento, CA 95818 February 6, Saturday, 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Come make a heart-shaped Valentine’s Day card or a Valentine’s cookie for your favorite sweetheart--or make both. All materials, cookies and decorating items will be provided.

CALIFORNIA KIDS! Family Fun Guide • FEBRUARY 2016

FEBRUARY 2016 • CALIFORNIA KIDS! Family Fun Guide

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Parties!

Parties!

Parties!

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Parties!

Fun ideas for an Art Themed Birthday Party

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se these ideas for your next Art birthday party to create and plan your own masterpiece. Having an art party for kids brings out the creativity in everyone.

Invitation Ideas for an Art Party

Make invitations for an Art Party in black and white coloring book design and attach a crayon so birthday party guests can color in the Art invitation.

Have your child color a picture on the front of blank note cards, then send through the printer to add the birthday information on the inside.

Art Party Decorations Attach large sheets of white butcher block paper to cover the table(s) where the children will be sitting. On the white paper scatter pens, pencils, markers and color crayons around the table and ask them to color where they will be sitting.

Use empty paint cans to hold flatware. Set out large artist palettes with a different colored candy (skittles or M&M’s work great) in each place on the palette.

Use artist palettes for plates.

Buy several different packages of solid colors plates, napkins, cups and flatware and mix and match them around the birthday cake table.

Tie brightly colored helium balloons on the backs of chairs around the table and tie with several different colors of curling ribbon.

Fun Ideas Ask Home Depot for aprons or find inexpensive aprons at the craft store. Use to keep clothes clean and also as a party favor they can decorate and take home.

Tie brightly colored helium balloons outside on the mailbox. Large crayons (the big plastic Crayola banks), large paint brushes (string mops) and posters.

Play Dough Sculptures Give each child a small can of play dough.

Tell them that they will be sculpting different things that are birthday related … but they only have 1 minute to make their sculpture. Call out a birthday item and have all the kids sculpt that item within 1 minute. Then have them mash their creations into a ball and call out another

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birthday item. Some fun birthday items for the kids to sculpt are: birthday cake, candle, cupcakes.

Art Party Activities Art centers Set up several Art centers around the art party area. Some fun Art center ideas are: Dart Paintings Pin balloons filled with paint on canvases and let the party guests throw darts at the balloons to pop them. aHave one large canvas that the birthday child can hang up in their room after the Art party or use smaller canvases and let each party guest take their masterpiece home as a party favor after the party. sidewalk chalk Set out several containers filled with sidewalk chalk on a paved surface and let the party guests make their own sidewalk art.

For fun you can also set out spray bottles filled with water (for erasing) and items to trace around. See our sidewalk chalk ideas page with over 30 ideas for games and activities.

Painting Hang up large poster boards on fences or walls. Give each poster station a set of watercolors, a brush, small container of water and paintbrushes.

Paint can glam Ask your local paint or home improvement store for empty paint cans. Let party guests decorate the outside with paint pens or stickers. Use these as goody bags to hold party favors after the Art party.

Masterpiece copy Choose a famous painting and make a color copy of it. Cut the copy into different pieces and label them 1, 2, 3, 4 ... etc. on the back. Buy several canvases and assign each canvas a number. Give party guests one piece of the masterpiece art copy and a canvas. Ask them to paint their piece of canvas to match the smaller See Art Party, page 15 CALIFORNIA KIDS! Family Fun Guide • FEBRUARY 2016

Parties!

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Art Party: Continued from page 14

copy piece.. When they are done put the pieces together and show them the finished masterpiece.

Bead Bracelets Make colorful art bracelets from beads. Guests can take them home as a party favor.

Picture Frames Decorate picture frames with foam stickers, paint and stick on jewels.

Finger Paints Cover tables with large sheets of butcher paper. Set out different colors of finger paints, brushes and sponges and let them experiment with the finger paints.

Play Dough Set out cans of Play Dough, rolling pins and cookie cutters. Guests can create freely or give them objects to copy such as a

Parties!

Parties!

party hat, birthday cake or birthday card.

Sidewalk Chalk Art Use our sidewalk chalk ideas page to give little artists some ideas on what to draw with sidewalk chalk. Have kids work on one large art project with the chalk or give them each a large section of sidewalk or driveway.

Art Party Food Ideas Set up a cupcake decorating station and the kids can decorate their own cupcakes. Supply lots of different kinds of frostings, sprinkles and candies.

For a fun Art Party experiment mix Sprite or water with a little food coloring in the primary colors of red, yellow and blue in 3 separate pitchers. With these colors you can mix drinks for party guests in any color of the rainbow. Green = yellow + blue, Orange = red + yellow, Purple = blue + red.

FEBRUARY 2016 • CALIFORNIA KIDS! Family Fun Guide

Parties!

Masterpiece cupcakes Before the party make small copies (about 2 x 3 inches) of famous paintings. Glue them onto toothpicks and place the toothpicks in already baked cupcakes. Display them on a cupcake stand. Let the kids make food sculptures with baby carrots, cheeses, celery, olives, etc. - held together with toothpicks.

Rodina Elite Gymnastics Academy Everyone is Welcome! See you in the Gym!

Art Party Favors Aprons that the kids can decorate Art supplies - paint brushes, paper, pastels, small pads of drawing paper, markers or crayons. Art shaped candies. Play Dough mini cans.

Sidewalk Chalk.

Goody Bags Empty paint cans the kids can decorate and turn into a goodie bag. Buckets or containers that will hold art supplies.

Apron with pockets - fill pockets with art supplies and fun art shaped candy.

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