Finishing The Week With Jan Brett And The Mitten

A Ukrainian Folktale retold and illustrated by Jan Brett


Alibris

When Nicki drops his white mitten in the snow, he goes on without realizing that it is missing.
One by one, woodland animals find the mitten and crawl in; first a curious mole, then a rabbit, a badger and others, each one larger than the last. Finally, a big brown bear is followed in by a tiny brown mouse, and what happens next makes a wonderfully funny climax.
As the story of the animals in the mitten unfolds, the reader can see Nicki in the borders of each page, walking through the woods unaware of what is going on.
Once again Jan Brett has created a dramatic and beautiful picture book in her distinctive style. She brings the animals to life with warmth and humor, and her illustrations are full of visual delights and details faithful to the Ukrainian tradition, from which the story comes.

After reading the book (either buy it as a wonderful Christmas gift or borrow it from the library - or both!) visit Jan Brett's Homepage for activities to accompany this classic book.

She has masks of all the animals to print out and use to put on your own play of The Mitten,
a Print and Cut game of Put The Animals In The Mitten, a design your own mitten template , even a cross stitch pattern of the mitten and all the animals for a loving grammy to stitch as a gift.

Have fun joining the animals and staying snug all winter!

Winter For The Canada Goose

In spite of being called the Canada goose, these geese are one of the most common type of water birds, living or at least migrating through all of North America. There are really over a dozen kinds of geese that belong to the species called Canada Goose. Almost all of them migrate, but a few kinds do not, preferring to stay in the same location year round.

The Canada Goose enjoys the young shoots of plants such as cattails, pondweed, grasses, clover, most of plants that can be found growing near water. Seen in ponds with their head submerged underwater and tail sticking up high, they also eat insects and their larvae, snails, small clams and mussels.

In the winter, when the ponds and lakes begin to freeze and their food becomes scarce, the Canada geese begin to migrate to a place that is warmer with plenty of food. Scientists still aren't sure just how migration works or how the geese know what to do and where to go. They do know that most Canada geese travel the same routes or paths each year and arrive at the same place to spend the winter.
The geese migrate both by day and by night, stopping often for rest, food, and water. They make their migration in family groups and are led by experienced adults who have made the trip before. It is believed that they find their way by watching for familiar landmarks, such as mountains, cities, rivers, and lakes. It is also likely that the position of the sun, moon, and stars in the sky as well as the earth’s magnetic field helps them to find their way.
However they do it, we all have to agree that it is a very impressive accomplishment!

For some fun with the Canada Goose, visit these pages:

Canada Goose Coloring Page (from coloring.ws)

Canada Goose Coloring Page (with information)

Canada Goose Coloring Page with Labels (with information)

"What I've learned about the Canada Goose" Coloring Worksheet

Help the Canada Goose find the pond Maze

How many words can you make from CANADA GOOSE Word Worksheet

What Do Rabbits Do In Winter?

The cottontail rabbit is a familiar wild animal that can be found living alongside people almost everywhere, in the city or the countryside. In the summer these rabbits find food easily - nibbling on clover, green grass and other green plants, even raiding the neighbor's garden to eat the plants there!

Rabbits are most active at dawn and dusk. This is the best time to see them. They spend the remainder of the day resting in hollows or shallow nests in the ground called forms. In summer these nests are made in tall grass or brush. You might find a rabbit nesting in an unmowed lawn, meadow or under a bush. In the winter, the rabbit will seek out a place with protection from snow or wind. Overhead cover such as a bush protects the rabbit from birds of prey. Rabbits frequently use woodchuck, skunk or badger burrows during winter months and sunbathe in any nearby sunny spots.

During times in the winter with little snow rabbits eat grasses and other plants they can find. The bark of young trees and shrubs is eaten when snow covers other plant foods. You might want to help out the rabbits in your neighborhood by scattering apple peels, carrot tops or lettuce leaves on the snow in your yard.

You can sometimes tell that a rabbit lives nearby if you see small shrubs or tree seedlings nipped off just above the snow. You may see piles of their round, dark colored droppings. It's easy to identify a rabbit's tracks or footprints. When hopping, the hind feet land first with the front foot prints appearing inside the back feet's prints. Like this:




Click Here for a rabbit coloring page that you could also use for painting or as the beginning of a rabbit collage.

Do Squirrels Migrate Or Hibernate In The Winter?

Well, according to The Scholarly Squirrel

"Although squirrels seem to disappear from sight in the winter months, they are in the exact places where they lived during the warmer months. In fact, squirrels spend their entire lives within only three to five acres. Ground squirrels hibernate during the winter months, but tree squirrels do not. Tree squirrels keep warm by snuggling with their family in their tree nests or ground burrows. As soon as the weather permits, they emerge and begin hunting for food again. Squirrels are very sensitive to weather changes and prepare for an upcoming drop in temperature by instinctively burying their nuts underground as well as binge eating!"

Here's a page of links to directions for making various squirrel nesting boxes
And
a bunch of online jigsaw puzzles featuring squirrels and other forest friends!

Now Just In -
A List of Thirteen Fascinating Squirrel Facts by Nancy at Soliloquy.
Thanks, Nancy!

The Animals Are Getting Ready For Winter!

People usually spend the winter in a home with some sort of heat; they put on extra layers of clothing and heavy coats for added warmth when they go outside. When the need for food grips them, they go to the grocery store. But what about the wild animals that live around us?

The biggest problem for most animals in the winter is finding enough food. Wild animals cope with the changes in weather and availability of food in one of three ways: adjusting, hibernating or migrating. Most land-bound animals are forced to remain and stay somewhat active during the winter. They must adjust to our changing weather. Many make changes in their behavior or bodies. Cold-blooded animals (i.e., insects, reptiles, amphibians, and fish) must hibernate if they live in environments where the temperature and therefore their own body temperature drops below freezing. Box turtles burrow into the soil or mulch piles. Reptiles like lizards and snakes seek protective cover under rocks, leaf litter and mulch piles. Many others hoard food stores to get them through the winter. Squirrels and mice stash their food in tree cavities, under leaf litter, or in holes in the ground. Still other animals, such as voles, have communal food storage areas underground.

Most animals prepare for winter by changing their bodies - accumulating body fat is the most crucial, a vital insulator for warmth and source of energy. Many of these animals, like deer, squirrels, and raccoons, spend the fall feasting on energy- and fat- rich acorns and other nuts that help them put on an insulating layer of fat beneath their skin. Their sparse summer coat is gradually replaced by a warmer one made up of a dense layer of under fur and a thick surface layer that helps to trap body heat. These species, as well the rabbit, otter, muskrat, fox, and bobcat, remain active throughout the winter, foraging or hunting daily. For other species, such as opossums and skunks, winter activity is temperature dependent. During extremely cold periods they spend their time in their nests or dens, curled up in a semi sleep dormant state.

Hibernation is the practice among certain animals of spending part of the cold season in a more or less dormant state, apparently as protection from cold when their normal body temperature cannot be maintained and food is scarce. This deep sleep allows them to conserve energy and survive the winter with little or no food. Hibernation is caused by a chemical trigger released by the brain when the animal experiences extremes of temperature, lack of food, or decreased amounts of daylight. Most hibernators prepare in some way for the winter. Some store food in their burrows or dens, to eat when they awaken for short periods. Many eat extra food in the fall while it is plentiful, and store it as body fat to be used later for energy.

Hibernators have two kinds of fat: regular white fat and a special brown fat. The brown fat forms patches near the animal's brain, heart, and lungs. The fat sends a burst of energy to warm these organs first when it is time for the animal to wake up. Hibernating animals are able to store enough food in their bodies to carry them over until food is once again obtainable. They do not grow during hibernation. Their bodily activities are reduced to a minimum; in fact they may have only one or two heartbeats every minute. This energy-efficient dormant stage enables the hibernating animal to have periods of inactivity that last for weeks or even months. True hibernators go into such a deep sleep that they are difficult to wake and may even appear dead. Their body temperature drops, and their breathing and heart rate drop significantly. For example, the groundhog, or woodchuck, is one of our true hibernators. It spends most of the summer in fields and in tunnels it has dug below. During winter, the groundhog finds it way to the deepest recesses of those tunnels where it will hibernate. A hibernating groundhog's heart rate slows from 80 beats to 4 beats per minute, and its body temperature drops from 98F to as low as 38F. If its temperature falls too low, it will awaken slightly and shiver to warm up a bit.

If an animal lives in an area where the winter is mild, it may hibernate only briefly, or not at all. However, even when the winter is severe, hibernators may wake up for short periods every few weeks to use their "toilet rooms" and eat if food is available. Animals such as raccoons, skunks, and some chipmunks are light sleepers and are easily awakened. They may sleep during the most severe weather and wake to roam and forage for food in milder weather.

Our largest hibernator is the bear. Bears are unique because, unlike other hibernators, they do not eat, drink, or excrete at all while hibernating, which can be as long as six months. Although the quarters are cramped, female bears give birth and nurse their cubs during hibernation. Other true hibernators include the jumping mouse, little brown bat, the eastern chipmunk, and some species of ground squirrels.

This week, let's have some fun learning about how animals live in the winter.
Crafts, coloring pages, stories - we could even make a feeding station to help out the animals that live nearby.

If your family has some ideas we can use to learn about animals in winter, please leave a comment and I'll be sure to say Thank You!