tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55301133377944555472024-03-05T01:32:05.592-05:00HANDS-ON-BOOKS: Info & Activities for Curious KidsBrandon Marie Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422176013858013061noreply@blogger.comBlogger135125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-11960224992717872652021-12-02T12:23:00.000-05:002021-12-02T12:23:45.592-05:00SIGNING OFFby Brandon Marie MillerDear Blog Peeps,Well, it's time. I can't believe our very first post was over ten years ago! And now, after nearly 100 blogs, we are saying goodbye to new material on Hands-On-Books. Thank you to everyone who has read, commented, and shared our blog! Happily, ten years of goodness remains for kids and adults, teachers, librarians, and parents to find-- greatBrandon Marie Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422176013858013061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-22524785241684289222021-10-31T16:57:00.000-04:002021-10-31T16:57:35.173-04:00Quick Collections! Welcome this month's guest blogger, Heather L. Montgomery*!Round rocks, red leaves, rhinoceros beetles—we all know that kid who would cram them in a pocket then clutter up the closet. . . That kid might be a scientist. George Washington Carver, Jane Goodall, Charles Darwin—all were incessant collectors as kids! My recent picture book, What’s In Your Pocket? Collecting Nature’s Mary Kay Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10252027481071466911noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-61579595718575384692021-10-03T13:52:00.000-04:002021-10-03T13:52:25.752-04:00 My new book BONES UNEARTHED! will publish on November 23. In those wacky times of broken supply chains, the pub date was
delayed from September, the perfect date to launch a book from my middle grade Creepy &
True series. Now the book will drop just before Thanksgiving (and is available for
preorder in case you are doing early holiday shopping. https://Kerrie Logan Hollihanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11053641063772538028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-61913519416547875572021-08-31T18:17:00.002-04:002021-08-31T21:56:28.433-04:00Get to Know Night Animals Welcome this month's guest blogger, Rebecca Hirsch*!Fall is coming. Maybe you’ve noticed it too—a chill in the air, leaves starting to turn, darkness arriving earlier in the evening. It's perfect time of year for an outdoor exploration of the dark and its animals with my new picture book, Night Creatures: Animals That Swoop, Crawl, and Creep while You Sleep.The book follows a mother and Mary Kay Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10252027481071466911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-47646464211820014332021-08-01T08:00:00.094-04:002021-08-01T08:00:00.166-04:00A SPORTS-TASTIC CHALLENGE!Welcome this month's guest blogger, Jennifer Swanson!How many of you are currently watching the Tokyo Olympics? Me! <waves hand wildly> I LOVE sports. I should. I grew up with three brothers and a father who love sports. It was natural that I would as well. After all, I spent most of my days playing baseball in the backyard with my brothers, shooting hoops in the driveway, swimming Mary Kay Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10252027481071466911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-82823473169312707862021-07-01T11:21:00.001-04:002021-07-04T08:35:04.800-04:00Sometimes the Political IS Personal: Make that Memory! When Hillary Clinton won the Democrat nomination for US president in 2016, many thought that she was the first woman so honored.Not so. Several women, Victoria Woodhull and Shirley Chisholm among them, had their names placed in nomination across the years.The name that rings in my mind is Margaret Chase Smith, Republican senator of Maine, who was nominated at the Republican Convention at Kerrie Logan Hollihanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11053641063772538028noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-40197598780254637562021-06-01T10:32:00.000-04:002021-06-01T10:32:00.486-04:00Investigate Flamingo FeathersWelcome guest blogger Jenna Grodzicki! My newest book, Wild Style: Amazing Animal Adornments, features 11 animals that decorate themselves in order to survive. Doing the research for this book was a blast! These wacky adornments help the animals stay safe from predators, protect their bodies, show power, make it easier to find a mate, or allow them to sneak up on their meal unseen. One Mary Kay Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10252027481071466911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-51277855221741957292021-05-02T16:03:00.001-04:002021-05-02T16:03:49.887-04:00Build a Bathyscopeby Mary Kay CarsonHappy spring, everyone! My just-released latest book Animal Watching is the perfect companion to warmer weather. It's part of a new Outdoor School series of books that encourages kids to get outside and explore the natural world. Kirkus gave the books a starred review, saying that the book is, "[s]ure to encourage readers to go outside and get to know their animal Mary Kay Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10252027481071466911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-10551702302089279492021-04-01T00:00:00.001-04:002021-04-01T00:00:00.542-04:00Mammal Mania! Make A Dichotomous Key...We welcome Lisa Amstutz, whose Mammal Mania! will be released on April 20. Happy Book Birthday!
My newest book, Mammal Mania (Chicago Review Press,
2021), explores what makes mammals unique, as well as their anatomy, behavior,
and conservation needs. Like the others in the Young Naturalists series,
it features three hands-on activities in each chapter. I designed these Kerrie Logan Hollihanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11053641063772538028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-39837663023292584402021-03-01T00:30:00.159-05:002021-03-31T09:55:09.691-04:00 Be an Archaeologist: Identify the Artifact! Welcome to Sarah Albee, whose newest book digs into a favorite subject: archaeology!
Have you ever dreamed of discovering long-lost treasure? I
know I have—ever since I was a kid. So I wrote a book about people who
stumbled across treasure by chance. It’s called Accidental Archaeologists:
True Stories of Unexpected Discoveries.
Each chapter begins with an unexpected discovery by a
“regular Kerrie Logan Hollihanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11053641063772538028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-54141850755285788692021-01-31T13:52:00.002-05:002021-01-31T13:52:59.509-05:00Opening the Road: Plan a Trip Using the Green BookIt's February and Black History Month. We welcome Keila V. Dawson, who has a brand-new book about a worthy topic. Let's hit the road.....OPENING THE
ROAD: VICTOR HUGO GREEN AND THE GREEN BOOK is the true story about the Green Book travel guides African
Americans used during segregation and its creator, Victor Hugo Green.
By the
1930s, affordable cars and improved highways lured travelers Kerrie Logan Hollihanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11053641063772538028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-21211360288223105472021-01-02T09:12:00.001-05:002021-01-02T13:45:30.472-05:00It's Mayan! Make Marshmallow Constellations & Enjoy an Ancient Mayan TreatThis month, Hands-on-Books features Sherry Ellis, who not only writes for kids, but is a gifted violinist. Welcome back!
I’m happy to announce the release of my newest book, Bubba
and Squirt’s Mayan Adventure. It’s the second in my Bubba and Squirt series
and it’s fiction based on my research about Mayan history and culture.When Bubba and Squirt travel through the magic portal, they
find Kerrie Logan Hollihanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11053641063772538028noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-31108857924828344772020-12-01T13:15:00.004-05:002020-12-01T13:15:56.913-05:00Make Some Paper!by Brandon Marie Miller Cave walls. Clay tablets. Stone. Bone. Papyrus. Vellum (animal skin). For thousands of years people etched drawings and painted writings onto these materials. Then, about 2,000 years ago, a Chinese court official named Ts'ai made the first paper.
The process mashed tree bark, hemp, shredded rags, and water into a pulp. The liquid was pressed out, and what was left Brandon Marie Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422176013858013061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-84468948421410634292020-11-01T17:43:00.007-05:002020-11-01T17:56:30.548-05:00Get Outside and Get Inventing! by guest-blogger Jennifer SwansonWant to find some amazing ways to use your imagination and explore things right from your window or in your own backyard? Awesome. Then this project is for you. First, answer this question. What do you get when you combine animals and engineering? Biomimicry, of course. Biomimicry is engineering inspired by nature. Engineers who work with biomimicry study Mary Kay Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10252027481071466911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-88738062189433032212020-10-05T17:28:00.008-04:002020-10-05T19:34:51.026-04:00The Essential Art of Asking Questions!As those
who know me know, I like to randomly “chat people up.” In fact, doing so is a proven technique of
journalists who often like to get interviews going by asking easy questions
before they move onto serious ones. Which what I did when I talked my family,
friends, and others doing research for my new book Unveiled!
For my ghostly
research,, I acted like an historian. I went to Kerrie Logan Hollihanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11053641063772538028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-17257868086574192712020-08-31T13:26:00.008-04:002020-12-09T11:32:50.559-05:00Why Do We Do the Things We Do?Welcome to Julie Rubini, whose dedication to children's literacy is well recognized across Ohio! Julie's new book is all about the teenage brain.....My latest
book, Psychology: Why We Smile, Strive and Sing explores the WHY behind
behavior and choices, written for teens. How cool is that?I wish I
had a book like this when I was a teenager. It would have helped me understand
all the different Kerrie Logan Hollihanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11053641063772538028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-66648115355354433312020-08-05T11:58:00.027-04:002020-08-05T12:49:16.910-04:00Revisiting Racism in Women's Suffrage. Plus: Pandemic projects
In
recent months, historians and the media have focused on racism in the women’s
suffrage movement. I wrote a book for young readers about suffrage back in
2012: Rightfully Ours: How Women Won the Vote. I asked myself, “Did I give
due diligence in writing about Black women who were suffragists?”
&Kerrie Logan Hollihanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11053641063772538028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-57793865606507106482020-07-01T17:13:00.001-04:002020-07-01T17:15:38.957-04:00Mission to Pluto Update and Paper Spacecraft Model
By Mary Kay Carson
Get your mission update! My book, MISSION TO PLUTO: The First Visit to an Ice Dwarf and the Kuiper Belt is now out in paperback! The reprint includes an update on the mission's perfectly fabulous first-ever flyby of a Kuiper belt object (KBO).
Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth.
The plucky piano-size spacecraft made history again in January of 2019 when it navigated a Mary Kay Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10252027481071466911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-20825944402573508342020-06-01T16:21:00.000-04:002020-06-01T17:11:06.864-04:00Solace in Natureby Brandon Marie Miller
My usual blog posts discuss American history. Today, I feel more than ever the ache that we desperately need to learn our history, confront it, and do better. We face hard times. We are in the midst of a Pandemic. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs. We are also in a fight for justice and equality in our streets that has been going on Brandon Marie Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422176013858013061noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-1092415382498266462020-05-05T13:14:00.000-04:002020-05-05T13:51:58.491-04:00Parents & Kids: For the Record...Track Your Quarantine
My note to parents during these strange days of Covid19.
Ask your kids to track their days living under quarantine. Why?
The future.
(I know: working from home and teaching your kids is asking a lot.)
Ask your children–of all ages including teens and college kids, to make a record of these days. There are lots of ways
to get it done:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->oKerrie Logan Hollihanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11053641063772538028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-49761946294098370492020-04-06T12:51:00.002-04:002020-04-06T12:52:21.300-04:00Upcycle a Coffee Tub to a Nest Box for National Wildlife Week
by Mary Kay Carson
Happy National Wildlife Week 2020, America! April 6-10 is this year's week for appreciating what's wild around you. As the National Wildlife Federation says: Embrace the wild life!
Spring is the perfect time to take notice of wildlife. Every day brings a new songbird returning from southern climes or a creature awakening from winter's long sleep. My new book for young Mary Kay Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10252027481071466911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-2618694861964627992020-03-14T17:51:00.001-04:002020-03-15T11:04:50.690-04:00Isaac Newton's Take on Social Distancing & Making a Plague Mask
Coronavirus. In this week of people socially distancing
themselves by working from home, the Washington Post ran a story about
Isaac Newton and what happened when he left his studies at Cambridge as the Plague
swept across England beginning in 1664. Here’s the link: https://buff.ly/39JEcl2/
Newton used his time in isolation at home in “Woolsthorpe” to
put all his university learning to Kerrie Logan Hollihanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11053641063772538028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-47429222055628632732020-02-03T12:27:00.000-05:002020-02-03T12:29:42.547-05:00Who Made George Washington's Breakfast?by Brandon Marie Miller
(Activity: Make Hoe Cakes)
1799, Mount Vernon, home of George and Martha Washington
Enslaved cooks Lucy and Nathan rise well before dawn to begin meal preparations-- coaxing embers into flame, lugging buckets and heating water. Nathan replaced the Washington's former male cook, Hercules, who ran away to freedom in 1797. Butler Frank Lee, also enslaved, Brandon Marie Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422176013858013061noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-23350887853636068272019-12-05T15:34:00.000-05:002020-04-06T11:29:34.874-04:00Games For a Winter Night by Brandon Marie Miller
December. Darkness arrives early as the days shorten. In the past, people lit candles, lanterns, or oil lamps against the gloom. They sat near their fires. Flames cast light and shadow around the room and reflected back from people's eyes. It was a time to chat, read books, sew, knit, play musical instruments. People also played games-- cards, dice, chess, boardBrandon Marie Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422176013858013061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530113337794455547.post-23897904817383127872019-11-05T10:57:00.000-05:002019-11-05T10:58:50.589-05:00Honoring Women Vets of World War I
Veterans Day is coming soon. And Yes! Women served back in World War I, a fact which has nearly been forgotten. Here's a reposting about their service..
Next month marks 100 years since
the United States went to war again Germany and the other members of the
Central Powers in the Great War – later called World War I. This month, we
celebrate Women’s History Month. Hence my post: toKerrie Logan Hollihanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11053641063772538028noreply@blogger.com0