Fly Me to the Moon

Don't you wish you could fly?
Where would you go?
The Pacific Ocean? The Sahara? Antartica?
Wherever it is, I imagine it would be more peaceful than it is here right now.

I heard the news today, oh boy. The uglier it gets the sadder and madder I become.  I know I am not alone. I get frustrated, too, because how can whatever little I do really make a difference? Hence the parties. A little sunshine to poke out of the dark clouds for my students and me.

Lucky for us, we got to celebrate a book birthday today, a Monday!  All the Birds in the World by David Opie (pronounced Oh-pee, in case you were wondering) is a perfect book for right now.  The little kiwi bird is trying to figure out where he fits in the big bird family.  He's a tiny New Zealand bird that doesn't fly. I wanted to learn more about this rare bird so I checked PebbleGo.  Bummer. No entry for it 😢 I'll check other databases, or, just wait to read more about it when the book comes in.

I love the message. Who knew there were so many different kinds of birds with so many differences in beak size, number of toes, whether they fly or not, egg size, song, etc.  Did you know the ostrich egg is as big as a cantaloupe?  And the hummingbird's is as big as a jellybean? And yet, these animals are beautiful and special and, most importantly, all classified as birds. As educators and parents, we could do a lot with that. Inclusivity. I can't wait to share this book with my students in the fall and champion it during our 2021 Sibert Smackdown.

It's always great to have the author or illustrator (or both in this case) join us for our celebrations.  The singing of Happy Birthday has got to be a hoot on their end.

Woohoo! I made a new friend today! Next up, David says is All the Fish in the World.  I'll start planning the party now--Goldfish and Swedish fish for sure. In the meantime, I wonder, where would you go if you could swim endlessly?