A Plump and Perky Turkey

A Plump and Perky Turkey
by Teresa Bateman
illustrated by Jeff Shelly

Ages 4-8

Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Corporation

Stories told in rhyme have a charm and allure that is hard to miss. A Plump and Perky Turkey is one such which, despite its simple story line, managed to put us in a Read->Laugh-along->Repeat cycle.

The people in Squawk Valley
were downhearted and depressed.
Thanksgiving was approaching,
but without its special guest.

Special guest? Why, the turkey, of course!

Far and wide and long and hard they search but not one single turkey was to be found.

But then, Ebenezer Beezer has an idea: why not let the turkey find them instead? And that is what they set out to do. A Squawk Valley Art Show with a turkey theme.

An ad is circulated: Model Wanted for the Art Show.

Why, even turkeys understand
(as everybody knows)
you can't make turkey art
without a turkey there to pose.

None respond, except for silly old Pete, the Plump and Perky, Clever and Cocky.

With a proud and jaunty gobble,
he gave out a hearty cry—
"A plump and perky turkey?
Well, I'm sure I qualify."

He is hired without delay and put to work right away posing for the artsy-craftsy folk to make their turkey art.

They make turkeys out of spuds,
and out of clay and out of rope.
They made turkeys out of oatmeal,
and out of paper, out of soap.

When it is time for Pete to judge the Pete-inspired art, the salivating people exult at having trapped the hapless bird. He studies each work of art as the crowd close in and cheer; he stops for a closer look and then he... disappears!

How? you ask. Well, since I believe it is cruel to leave the reader hanging (esp., if they cannot get their hands on the book easily), here's what Pete did:
The room was full of turkeys,
in a wall-to-wall collage.
For a clever bird like Pete
it was a perfect camouflage.

And manages to escape.

Needless to say, the people of Squawk Valley are certainly disappointed. Crashed are their hopes to relish a roast turkey. But, being pragmatic folk, they agree when Beezer says breezily:
Right now, at least I'm thankful
that we still have shredded wheat."

Turkeys are notorious for lack of smartness, sometimes even to their own detriment. The story puts an interesting twist on this fact. And why cannot they be found around Thanksgiving in Squawk Valley? Well, being clever flightless birds, they gather in groups, hop on hot air balloons and head to warmer shores come autumn.

The illustrations by Jeff Shelly are silly, comical, expressive and busy. The beautiful oranges and browns capture the autumn in the air.

The catchy lilt and rhythm, the double-trickery, the illustrations, and the autumn cheeriness of the setting all have added up to a merry read-aloud favorite.

Five Autumn and Harvest Books

Autumn, Fall, whatever name we choose to use, is a wonderful time of the year, cherished and celebrated around the world. As we enjoyed the pageantry of leaves - bursting with bright red, deep burgundy, sparkling yellow, shocking orange, and even dark pink, eventually falling from the branches leaving the trees bare for the upcoming winter - we also enjoyed a few books about Autumn.

Again, not an exhaustive list or top-five of any kind on the subject, but, just a handful of recent reads that informed and engaged the kids.


Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf
by Lois Ehlert

Ages 4-8

This is the story of a sugar maple tree, as told by the girl who planted it in her yard and watched it grow. Lois Ehlert has many wonderful books to her credit with quite amazing art work. Leaf Man and Color Zoo were a couple of Ana's favorite a few years ago. This book is no exception.

The vibrant reds and yellows on some pages, and the blues and greens on the others, with beautiful collages created from various objects makes this book a visual treat.

The simple text makes it easy for the 2½ year old to follow along, even if not all the words are in his vocabulary yet.

Back of the book provides information about the sugar maple tree - seeds, leaves, buds, bark, tree flowers etc., plus how to select and plant a sapling. Inside the back flap is a simple idea for making a Bird Treat to hang in the tree to invite the local birds.


We Gather Together
Celebrating the Harvest Season
by Wendy Pfeffer
illustrated by Linda Bleck

Ages 4-8

Pfeffer-Bleck author-illustrator team has presented Summer Solstice, Winter Solstice, Autumnal Equinox and Spring Equinox in a child-friendly way with some basic scientific facts and celebrations around the world.

We Gather Together introduces the science behind the Autumnal Equinox, roots of agriculture which leads to harvest season and celebration of Nature's bounty across cultures through the ages.

This non-fiction survey of harvest traditions is not too staid or uptight despite providing factual details, which makes it an easy read for the five year old.

Notes at the back of the book provide recipes, craft ideas, science activities, and further reading.


The Autumn Equinox
Celebrating the Harvest
by Ellen Jackson
illustrated by Jan Davey Ellis

Ages 4-8

Much like the Pfeffer-Bleck book above, in the Jackson-Ellis book, we read about the autumnal equinox and harvest celebrations around the world.

The book starts off like a story: Long ago, the Chinese relied on movement and phases of moon to tell them when planting and harvesting should begin. And we learn about the seasons observed by different people in different parts of the world and how they came to celebrate it with a tradition of their own. From Celts to Germanic people of northern Europe, Native American Iroquois, Nigerian Yoruba.

Being a child-friendly survey of harvest traditions, it brings home a general sense of appreciation for farming and harvesting - our ability to produce and share foods - which makes life a lot easier than it used to be before Man stumbled upon agriculture.

There is usually a mild struggle between stereotyping and abstracting-and-highlighting cultures, and if the adult mind can get past it, the illustrations and text are quite engaging for a five-year-old.


It's Fall!
by Linda Glaser
cut-paper illustrations by Susan Swan

Ages 4-8

While the five-year-old found this book rather boring, the 2½ year old enjoyed it. The bright colors, and pictures, plus the story as told by a little boy probably appealed to him better via the simple sentences.

The exquisite cut-paper illustrations by Ms. Swan reminded me of Steve Jenkins/Robin Page creations, with beautiful dimension and depth and rich colors and action, adding to the experience.

The simple yet descriptive text captures the happenings and delights of fall season. Back of the book lists some Nature Activities to Do in the Fall.


Hello, Harvest Moon
by Ralph Fletcher
illustrated by Kate Kiesler

Ages 4-8

When the harvest is over and the crops have been processed and stored, what do we see rising at the edge of the world, coming up over the ripe corn and wheat fields? Why, the Harvest Moon, of course!

The text flows like poetry as it describes the scenes illuminated by the radiant moon: The harvest moon has its own work to do. It paints the wings of owls and night hawks with a mixture of silver and shadow.

The oil paintings with deep velvety night scenes bathed in soft yet brilliant moon light evoke feelings of wonder and mystery.

The lush language, imagery, and artistry packaged into this book is certainly a treasure for my five-year-old to unwrap and appreciate as she grows older.

[image sources: TTLG, 109things, Swap, Naturally Educational, EllenJackson.net]

Kids Art: Fall Foliage Placemat, Greeting Cards

About a decade ago, being a single grad student got me invited to Thanksgiving dinners with the family of friends in town or nearby. During one such nice meal, one of the kids in the host family was thrilled to bits about setting the place for the dinner because as it turned out, she had made the placemats herself: Fall leaves trapped in clear contact sheet with thick paper backing. She was very happy to share the technique. And the placemats were for us to take home after the meal.

I saved the placemat in one of the many boxes that still remain snugly packed with old notes and books from my student days that I haven't had the heart to sort through and toss out, and promptly forgot about it.

Anyway, in a recent newsletter from Kids Crafts Weekly, this project was listed and it brought back memories... and inspired me to make these place mats with Ana.

Plus, serendipitously, on our walk to the park last Saturday, Ana managed to find beautiful autumn leaves and pebbles and twigs and fairy dust (possibly sand with glitter that some kid was playing with) that she meticulously tucked away in her little back pack she brought along - a new hobby of hers. Sorting through her rocks and twigs and leaves and flowers and mud and walnut shells and dandelions and what-nots is a secret indulgence for me...

Moving on, as long as materials are handy this is simple enough, but, not easily doable by a 4-yr old alone. The clear contact sheet is tricky to handle as it is sticky and likes to curl up on itself if not properly weighted down after peeling off the backing. So, I helped her with the technicalities that she can't handle alone.

Usually, I have a few rolls of clear contact sheets in stock. At about a dollar a roll it seems rather inexpensive, especially as it has many craft uses - one of which is actually to sort of "laminate" Ana's little art/drawing and attach adhesive magnetic strips at the back to make them into little fridge magnets. A neat way to save and display her current favorite art work, and easily recycled when she has forgotten about them ;)



Items Used: Clear contact roll (forgot to note the yardage in a roll*), fall foliage or anything else interesting, scissors, some cello tape, card stock or heavyweight construction paper.
*we managed to make 3 placemats from a roll, slightly smaller than 8x11 inches rectangle each

We had some pressed poppies and other foliage from last year's fall crafts and decided to use them here as well.

• Cut the heavyweight construction paper to the required placemat size. If making a greeting card, consider making the 'laminated' art the size you want and tape it to the front of the greeting card.
• Cut the clear contact sheet such that there is enough to fold over and have about 1 inch margin all around, which can be trimmed away if needed - easier to trim away excess than find it short
• Peel away the backing of the clear contact sheet part-way and weight it down at the corners so as not to allow it to curl up and stick on itself
• Place the fall foliage or other interesting things on the exposed sticky side of the clear contact sheet to desired pattern, face down
• Place the heavyweight construction paper already cut to size on top of the pattern of foliage arranged
• If preferred, make this a double-sided place-mat and arrange foliage on top of the construction paper too
• Peel away the rest of the backing from clear contact sheet, fold over the paper and press down on all edges to make it stick together, with the paper and foliage sandwiched inbetween
• Trim away edges for a uniform margin all around
• Voilá!

I am a bit stingy with craft and art supplies, so, I just cut enough of clear contact sheet to fold the edges over about an inch and used another smaller sheet to cover the back, rather than cutting enough to fold over as above,and used some tape to secure the pieces and the edges :) Probably why we managed to get 3 placemats out of a single roll of clear contact sheet.



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