Beloved Pangolins

Apr25

Pangolin. It sounds like an exotic musical instrument, but it means “something that rolls up” in the Malay language. This amazing critter lives in Asia and Africa and also goes by the name of “scaly anteater,” but pangolin sounds much nicer, I think.

worldbook.com

worldbook.com

A pangolin is a mammal which is covered with large scales that are made of keratin, the same material that makes fingernails hard. When in danger, a pangolin can curl up into a tight ball, making it look a bit like a giant, round pine cone. Its hard, sharp scales make it difficult for a hungry lion, for example, to make a meal of the creature. Their impressive scales do not protect them from human hunters, however. They are hunted for their meat and their scales and they are now on the list of endangered animals.

Lion attempts to crack the armor

Lion attempts to crack the armor

Most pangolins are nocturnal, meaning they are active at night. Their eyesight is dim, but they have sensitive noses to sniff out tasty insects. Some hang from their prehensile tails in the trees while they strip away bark to find bugs. Pangolins have long claws to help them climb trees and to help them dig up ant and termite nests. Their long, sticky tongues are ant magnets. They can slurp up thousands of ants in one night. They have no teeth for chewing up those ants. The ants are chewed up in the pangolin’s gizzard-like tummy which sometimes contains tiny rocks or sand to help grind the food.

baby-pangolin-riding-mothers-tail

Pangolin babies are only about 6 inches long at birth and weigh about one pound. The mother will nurse her baby for about 4 months. It rides on her tail when they go out of their den, and if the pangolins encounter danger, the mother will cover her baby with her body and roll up tight for protection.

PangolinBall

http://gwartney.blogspot.jp/2011/02/our-newest-resident.html

A pangolin is a ball of adorableness. I can’t help but fall in love with this amazing critter. It has a unique way of walking using its hind legs while curling its front claws under and out of the way. Watch the pangolin’s amazing moves:

World’s Weirdest; Pangolin

What do you think of the pangolin? What is the pangolin’s most amazing feature?

This entry was posted on April 25, 2013. 2 Comments

First Author Visit Ever!

Apr17

In the spring of 2013, at the invitation of Waseda International School’s Paramita Basu, I embarked upon my first author visit ever. My presentation was split into two sessions. The first session was attended by a bouncy contingency of thirty-eight preschoolers. The second session was attended by the elementary students ranging in ages from 6 to 12. Besides packing my MacBook with Keynote presentation, my iPad with digital book loaded, I also brought along… (to help me weather all 45 minutes with the preschool set)… a sack full of puppets for the youngest students to play with and try out.

Meeting Baabara

Meeting Baabara

Waseda International School is located in downtown Tokyo, close to Shinjuku. I was met at Takadanobaba station and we walked uphill to the school where we got set up in the lively and welcoming preschool room. Somehow, all of the wiggly three to five year olds were gathered onto a corner rug where they sang a song about the parts of a flower with their teacher who had a beautiful voice.

The children got to meet Baaabara, the library lamb, who enjoyed meeting all of the children even though she didn’t manage to learn all thirty-eight names. Blame it on those very fuzzy, but adorable ears. While Baaabara took a little nap in the puppet bag, the WIS preschoolers enjoyed “Princess Ramona, Beloved of Beasts,” which was projected from the iPad onto the large screen at the front of the room. BoBAuthorVisit2

As soon as the children realized that there was a dragon hidden in many of the illustrations, as soon as the digital page was turned, there was no continuing with the story until the dragon was found. The ability to zoom in on the details of the illustrations helped to hone in on the hidden dragon, much to the delight of the kids.

The older group enjoyed a Keynote presentation about the importance of reading… and the importance of knowing when and where to read. Reading with friends, reading with dogs, reading in trees… all good. Reading while driving, reading while pig wrestling, reading with a crocodile… not so good. The older students also got to see the entire “Princess Ramona” book and enjoyed the rhyming text of the story and the built-in dictionary. We stopped at various words to study the meaning which was especially helpful for the second-language learners.  A “lummox,” we discovered, is a clumsy, stupid person. They were happy to see that the lummox knight turns out to be a helpful and reasonable sort in the end.  You!ScreenShot

I was honored to be invited to Waseda International School to present “Ramona” to their delightful students. Special thanks to Paramita for the invitation and for arranging all of the many details! After such a positive experience and enthusiastic student response, I look forward to my next author visit.

Beloved Kamishibai in Japan

Mar31

Kamishibai1

Kamishibai is a Japanese  traditional form of  storytelling that employs the use of large illustrated panels held in a frame that are, one by one, pulled aside by the storyteller to reveal the scenes in a story. Kamishibai literally means “paper drama” and the storytellers are adept at gestures, character voices and timing as they draw their audience into their tale. The kamishibai storytellers used to arrive at a town with their box theater mounted on the back, ready to set up shop and entertain with several stories. Children who bought candy and concessions from the storyteller would get the front row seats for story time.

 

kamishibai man

This form of storytelling originated in Buddhist temples as priests told stories with a message, much like the morality plays of Europe in the medieval times. In those days, the audience was often illiterate and theater was a compelling way to present stories. The ancient art of kamishibai became popular during the 1920s and is recently enjoying a revival in Japan as families flock to libraries and community centers where they can enjoy free storytelling and other fun activities that stimulate their children’s interest in reading.

 

CIMG6831         Kamishibai4
Recently, I was asked to give a kamishibai presentation at a beautiful children’s cultural center located on the grounds of Mitaka City’s Observatory or “Tenmondai.” For this event, some Japanese friends helped to print out large, full-color renderings of the illustrations, without the text, of “Princess Ramona, Beloved of Beasts.” The printouts were then laminated so that the would easily slide in and out of the kamishibai wooden frame.

An amiable young man named Rin came along to help with the translation of the story. He did a fine job of interpreting the story and interacting with the children in the audience. “Truthful the Lion” was “on hand” to add comments and talk to the kids. After the story, several children were brave enough to approach the lion and talk directly to him. They understood that the lion’s Japanese was not fluent, but they didn’t seem to mind at all.

Kamishibai3

Our kamishibai was donated to the Mitaka Tenmondai Center with the text of the book in English on the back of each panel. These will be updated with a Japanese translation so that parents can share the story once more with their children in English and in Japanese.

 

Goodreads Review

Mar26

Goodreadslogo

Thanks to author and blogger, Jeanne Rogers, Princess Ramona, Beloved of Beasts now has a review on Goodreads!

Jeanne writes, “The tale is told in rhyme, and that, along with the brilliantly created drawings, will hold your child’s attention. The book can be downloaded as a ‘read to me’ book in iTunes. You will absolutely love it!”

Jeanne’s blog site, Australian Fantasy Adventures, also posted a review of Princess Ramona in early March: Blog Review Page 

Jeanne and I both have a heartfelt devotion to the welfare of animals, especially those that are in danger of disappearing off the the face of the earth forever. She is working on a series of books for children that feature endangered animal heroes. You can read more about her newest book here: The Sword of Demelza

 

Dearly Beloved!

Jan14

We are gathered here today to announce the launch of a new “Beloved of Beasts” website! Welcome! Come on in and look around. Read about the making of “Princess Ramona, Beloved of Beasts.” We will be updating this page with news and notes about author and illustrator, along with special events, giveaways, contests and the like.

In our world, beasts are beloved and respected… and sketched even if they won’t sit still long enough for us to finish their portrait.

We welcome your comments, ideas and stories about the beloved critters in your own lives.