Get Puzzling with the kid! Although this official celebration is held every year on January 29th, puzzling is educational and fun anytime. It’s an opportunity to reflect on those puzzles, games and even challenges in life that we embrace every day but sometimes take for granted. Puzzles also offer us a great way to spend quality time interacting with family. Puzzles are an awesome way to make challenges and learning fun any day!~Bette A. Stevens
REVIEW
The Tangram Zoo and Word Puzzles Too! by Bette A. Stevens
Very Clever!
“I bought this book to give as a gift to my grandchildren. Reading through the book before giving it to them, I found it taught me a few things, too. First, I had no idea a tangram is a seven-piece puzzle with specific shapes. A pattern is provided to cut out and get started along with the history of it. There are many ways to put the pieces together, but the book supplies shapes to make—with clues or riddles as to what they are. Although, this is a very clever and educational book for children, I appreciated the added bonus that an adult can sit down and enjoy it with the kids!” ~D.L. Finn, author
Bette in her garden with one of the monarch butterflies that emerged from its chrysalis at the farmstead in central Maine.
Monarch butterflies offer an amazing view into the intricate nature of the wild. Their scientific name—Danaus Plexippus— Greek for “Sleepy Transformation,” gets part of the story right, but not the epic whole. Monarch butterflies embark on an amazing migratory phenomenon as they have the ability to hibernate and metamorphose. International conservation efforts to protect and restore monarch habitat are ongoing. These efforts may help improve the near-endangered/endangered status of the species; but we, as ordinary citizens, can easily help the monarch butterfly recovery right in our own backyards and gardens.
Resources for kids, families, educators and gardeners Download Bette’s FREE PDF“Fun & Learning with Monarch Butterflies” where you’ll find: ★ Monarch Butterfly Facts
★ Coloring Pages
★ Gardening
★ Video: How to Make an Origami Butterfly
★ Butterfly Teacher Guide and so much more…
★ How you can help protect our monarchs DOWNLOAD Bette’s FREE PDFhttp://4writersandreaders.com/fun-learning-with-monarchs-2/
“A great book for adolescents, young adults,
parents, mentors, and educators.”
PURE TRASH (Historical Fiction) by Bette A. Stevens
Grab a copy of this #must-read story today at Your Amazon http://amzn.to/1T5tMAZ today!
Recommended reading ages 10-adult.
“This is a glimpse into the characters of Shawn and Willie Daniels who take front and center in the author’s full-length novel, DOG BONE SOUP. A nostalgic vignette, PURE TRASH will whisk you into an era and place where many struggled to survive the grip of poverty. This short novella is filled with adventure, and the fun of boys being boys–riding bikes, collecting bottles for penny candy, and running into trouble…and prejudice.
“Enjoy this short read but when you are finished, I highly recommend purchasing DOG BONE SOUP. It’s a gem of a book that will leave a lasting impression with its memorable characters, heart and story line. Don’t miss it!” ~ Mae Clair, author
Book Blurb
PURE TRASH (Historical Fiction/Ages 10-adult) In this short story adventure set in New England in the 1950s, two young boys set out on a Saturday adventure you won’t want to miss! Experience the joy of a carefree Saturday and the blistering pain of feeling not quite good enough as you hop on a bike and ride into town with two delightful young boys who find adventure at every turn. Shawn and Willie Daniels live in the woods with no indoor water or plumbing. Dad spends most of his hard-earned money on beer. Prejudice, class division, alcoholism, poverty, injustice, and bullying are cleverly woven into this 1950s adventure short.
About the Author
Inspired by nature and human nature, author Bette A. Stevens is a retired elementary and middle school teacher, a wife, mother of two and grandmother of five. Stevens lives in Central Maine with her husband on their 37-acre farmstead where she enjoys reading, writing, gardening, walking and reveling in the beauty of nature. She advocates for children and families, for childhood literacy and for the conservation of monarch butterflies (milkweed is the only plant that monarch caterpillars will eat).
Stevens’s children’s activity book, THE TANGRAM ZOO and WORD PUZZLES TOO! was first published in 1997 by Windswept House Publishing, Mt. Desert, ME; a second edition was self-published by the author in 2012. AMAZING MATILDA , Stevens’s second children’s book, self-published in 2012 won a 2013 Purple Dragonfly Book Award(Honorable Mention for Excellence in Children’s Literature – Ages 6 and older category) and also placed #9 on The 2013 Gittle List for Self-published Children’s Picture Books. Stevens has written articles for ECHOES, The Northern Maine Journal of Rural Culture based in Caribou, Maine. In 2013, the author published her first book for the YA/Adult audience: PURE TRASH, a short story of a boy growing up in rural New England in a family whose poverty and alcoholism mark him as a target for bullying by young and old alike. This short story is a prequel to Stevens’s début novel DOG BONE SOUP (KCT International Literary Award Top Finalist 2017). Stevens is currently working on her first poetry collection—MY MAINE, Haiku through the seasons.
Write a Halloween Haiku & Get the Kids Writing Too!
BLACK CAT, A Halloween Haiku (inspired by Midnight, our fabulous furry feline). ~Bette A. Stevens, Maine author
Meet Midnight—The fabulous furry feline who inspired me to write BLACK CAT, a 🎃Halloween haiku🎃 (Haiku: a Japanese-inspired three-line: 5-7-5 syllable poetry form).
Midnight’s grooming table is decked out for each season or holiday and she loves it. I designed this year’s poster using a photo I took of Midnight resting on her grooming table here at the farmstead in central Maine. She’s a kitty who loves to hunt for spiders (one of her favorite treats). After taking the photo and writing the haiku, I added text plus spider and web graphics, then added a frame to make a poster. Kids of all ages enjoy writing and illustrating their own poetry. It makes a great family activity too.
What’s inspiring you this Halloween? Brainstorm your list and get writing. 🎃Have fun—don’t forget to get the kids writing too!
Here are some writer’s tricks (literary devices found in every writer’s toolbox) I used to create BLACK CAT. These tools can set a mood— they make writing and reading memorable and fun. Check them out and see if you can discover where I used them in my poem.
Read on to find out more about these literary devices.
BLACK CAT(haiku) by Bette A. Stevens
Black cat waits, watches… Stalking tricksters in their web. Spiders are her treats!
Three Writer’s Tricks (Literary devices used in writing poetry and prose)
Assonance Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words.
Consonance Another literary device used by writers and poets is consonance. It is the repetition of the final consonant sounds, usually in the more important words or in the accented syllables.
Alliteration You put your alliteration tool to work when words that start with the same sound are used close together in a phrase or sentence. The sound is usually a consonant and the words don’t have to always be right next to one another.
Finding “just the right words” Abundant resources are available in print as well as through online searches. Listed below are the two resources I had readily available in the classroom for my students (Grades 4-8). Paperbacks are inexpensive enough to have multiple copies available, and in my opinion, they are indispensable.
The Scholastic Rhyming Dictionary by Sue Young
Webster’s Thesaurus for Students by Merriam-Webster
🎃 HappyWritingandReading Haiku
&Happy Halloween 🎃
~ Bette A. Stevens, Maine author/illustrator
Find out more about how to write haiku and other poetry at Reference.Com
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Monarch butterflies are a threatened/near-endangered species. The Center for Biological Diversity and the Center for Food Safety filed a legal petition requesting Endangered Species Act protection for the monarch and its habitat.
Plant Milkweed Today
Monarch Butterfly HAIKU by Bette A. Stevens
Regal messenger Standing at the podium “Plant milkweed today!”
Did you know that monarch butterflies and the monarch caterpillars’ host plant milkweed is one that monarchs rely upon for their survival? This summer I was able catch a glimpse of 43 of these regal creatures dancing around my gardens where I encourage milkweed to flourish among the flowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables that we grow and harvest here at the farmstead in central Maine. I even managed to capture five of them with my Canon PowerShot. ~ Bette A. Stevens
Four more of the 43 Monarch butterflies sighted at the farmstead as of August 25, 2018.
To find out how you can help protect monarch butterflies—one of our amazing pollinators— download your free poster here:
“Meeting the challenges of life at every stage of life is no easy task. Matilda and her friends encourage readers and listeners of all ages to meet those challenges with patience and persistence.
“Matilda’s story is my story. It’s you story too. It’s a story the kids will want to hear you read to them again and again.” (Bette A. Stevens)
“One concern parents have is how to inspire their children to meet challenges with patience and persistence. This is the plot of a [children’s] book, ‘Amazing Matilda’.” ~Paula Hrbecek Examiner.com
Amazing Matilda, A Monarch’s Tale by Bette A. Stevens is available in paperback ($9.49) and eBook ($3.99) versions. Take a look inside and grab a copy or two today at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AU9ZISA/
“The love of reading is a lynchpin for successful learning—for success in life. Kids learn to read best when adults take time to share their passion for books with them.” ~Bette A. Stevens, Maine author.
One of the best ways to inspire kids to love to read is by reading aloud to them and talking with them about the books you share. We can all make a difference in the lives of the children around us when we #GetCaughtReading with the kids!
Benefits of Reading Aloud to Children of all ages
Expands vocabulary as they hear new words in context
Provides contextual examples for grammar and sentence structure that everyday conversation does not offer
Strengthens reading comprehension
Increases a child’s attention span
Teaches life skills associated with story themes and characters
Research has shown that children who come to school with a large vocabulary achieve more in school than those that have little familiarity with a wide range of words. Children are great listeners and imitators—they pay attention to what they hear. Reading aloud and discussing books with children is crucial to successful learning. Before children are reading on their own, a crucial part of their learning is based on imitating what they hear and observe.
Children are able to listen and comprehend content read to them two years above their actual reading level. Reading comprehension doesn’t catch up to a child’s listening comprehension level until eighth grade. When listening to adults read stories above their current reading level, a child’s vocabulary increases. This also provides an opportunity for listeners hear complete and complex sentence structure that is not offered in everyday conversation.
Children of all ages love to be read to by adults who are excited about books and reading. In fact, avid adult readers are walking, talking advertisements for books as they share their love of the written word with listeners. And, children enjoy talking about books with adults as much as the adults enjoy talking with them. When readers and listeners discuss characters and themes, their lives are enriched and family/generational communication skills are strengthened. A child’s story comprehension skills increase significantly as well. Reading aloud to children creates a win-win experience for everyone.
Where are the children?
In the U.S. alone there are about 15 million children living in families with incomes below the federal poverty threshold—many of these children do not have books in their homes or adults who are available to read to them.
Where are these children? We’ll find them in homes, schools and libraries in villages, towns and cities in our own communities and across the globe. Local libraries and elementary schools are pleased to hear from those of us who are looking for the opportunity to share our love of reading with those who need it most—children of all ages, from all walks of life. Together we can change the world—one reader, one book, one book talk—one child or group of children at a time.
“So it is with children who learn to read fluently and well: They begin to take flight into whole new worlds as effortlessly as young birds take to the sky.” ~William James
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Inspired by nature and human nature, author Bette A. Stevens is a retired elementary and middle school teacher, a wife, mother of two and grandmother of five. Stevens lives in Central Maine with her husband on their 37-acre farmstead where she enjoys reading, writing, gardening, walking and reveling in the beauty of nature. She advocates for children and families, for childhood literacy and for the conservation of monarch butterflies—an endangered species (and for milkweed, the only plant that monarch caterpillars will eat).
Stevens is the author of AMAZING MATILDA, an award-winning picture book (Ages 5-11); The Tangram Zoo and Word Puzzles Too!, a home/school resource incorporating hands-on math, science and writing (Ages 6-12); and PURE TRASH (Ages 10-Adult), the short story prequel to her début novel, DOG BONE SOUP (Ages 12-Adult)—coming-of-age story and family drama set in 1950s and 60s New England.
Find out more about author Bette A. Stevens and take a “Look Inside” her books for readers and listeners of all ages at http://viewauthor.at/BetteAStevens
Thank you dearest Mama For the lane you’ve led me down The light you shone before me Still helps me traverse on Climbing formidable summits Or facing storming skies I know that you’re still with me Watching through the Father’s eyes I can always feel the sunshine As your smile lights the way Love truly unconditional I’m thankful every day
Mama left us, bound for her heavenly home, in April of 2008. Mama’s strength of character, poise and wit—and her unconditional love— live on within all those whose lives she touched.
To find out how you can help protect monarch butterflies—one of our amazing pollinators— download your free poster here:
Find AMAZING MATILDA and all of Bette’s books at 
“Meeting the challenges of life at every stage of life is no easy task. Matilda and her friends encourage readers and listeners of all ages to meet those challenges with patience and persistence.
“The love of reading is a lynchpin for successful learning—for success in life. Kids learn to read best when adults take time to share their passion for books with them.” ~Bette A. Stevens, Maine author.
“So it is with children who learn to read fluently and well: They begin to take flight into whole new worlds as effortlessly as young birds take to the sky.” ~William James
Day Three Quote: 
Written
on 04/09/2019