Miranda Paul is not technically local. In fact, I've been disappointed in how infrequently she visits the Twin Cities. She lives in Wisconsin, where she grew up. However, we discovered her at Red Wing's Children's Book Festival and she quickly became one of my favorite children's book authors. She has a gift for taking a dry subject and making it, not only interesting, but poetic. Some of her books are co-authored with her husband, Baptiste.
My Favorite Books by Miranda Paul
The book links in this article are Amazon affiliate links and Family Fun Twin Cities receives a small commission on any sales through our site.
One of Miranda Paul's most recent books is Little Libraries, Big Heroes. You wouldn't expect a book about the origins of the Little Free Libraries to make you cry, but it did. I'd love to buy this book for all the big heroes in my neighborhood who maintain our the little free libraries on my walk routes.
This lovely book is perfect for the big brother or sister. In her usual poetic style, Miranda Paul links an unborn sibling's development with the changes happening for the family during each of the nine months of development. This would be a great sibling gift at a baby shower for a new parent.
This is the book that first introduced us to Miranda Paul. We won it in a drawing and were disappointed it wasn't one of the authors we knew of, but after reading it, we loved it. Follow water through all of its forms in this beautifully written book.
Before we dive in, I'd like to take a moment to address the requests from librarians, teachers, and parents who’d like to read my books online as part of their distance learning. Because I’ve been sick for several weeks, I haven’t been able to make videos or respond to everyone’s emails. Sorry for that—but I have a great update to announce!
Most or all of my publishers have relaxed their Fair Use policies regarding making videos of read-alouds of my books. On my website you will find some graphics that illustrate specific guidelines for each of the publishers I work with. To summarize for you, most publishers (and me!) are saying YES, you can make a video! Here are some general guidelines that most are asking for:
Acknowledge the creators of the book (authors, illustrators, publishers)
Share in a closed or link-only setting (not a public video for the whole world to watch, unless you’re that laughing granny, lol)
Use for educational purposes (not for commercial, promotional, or use in selling something)
Take it down in June or whenever you wrap up your school year
It means a great deal to me that teachers are continuing to share my work during this time.
Non-Fiction Stories and Activities
Oneplasticbag.com has powerpoints, worksheets, a word search, a recycled jump rope activity, videos and photos, and more. (Target grades 1-5) (click “Worksheets & Guides for Teachers”)
97-page Speech & Language Story Companion Guide to One Plastic Bag – this comprehensive resource includes games, interactive lesson plans, writing prompts, and so much more. This resource is available for a small fee on Teachers Pay Teachers and has the highest ratings and reviews. (Target grades: K-5)
Earth Day “Freebie” Activity – A worksheet to go along with One Plastic Bag, which includes five multiple choice comprehension questions, two versions of a guided summary, and an analysis of Isatou’s action plan. (Target grades 3-4)
Some great activity suggestions from the wonderful Beth Anderson. Including word work and vocabulary building, analyzing, writing, speaking and a mapmaking. (Target grades PreK – Grade 2)
What Could Your Hands Do? A worksheet that encourages young learners to trace their hand and write all of the ways they could help others one day when they become a grown-up community helper! (Target grades PreK-2).
The Classroom Bookshelf – Lessons on written responses, visual narratives, finding rhymes, the hydrologic cycle, drama, and more. (Target grades PreK-5) Art by Jason Chin
Sally’s Bookshelf – Engaging questions and water mapping activity for kids / STEM Friday
USGS Water Cycle for Schools – Images, data, files for printing and an interactive water cycle diagram. This is available in more than 20 languages!
Water is Water Song & Motions Guide – Get moving around just like water with this fun song and video from Emily Arrow, produced by Nick Goldston.
Water is Water 97-page Companion Guide! – This extensive teacher guide includes an entire unit of activities for K-2 and 3-5 to go along with the book. Please note this resource is available for a nominal fee at Teachers Pay Teachers.
Humans vs. Animals Comparative Info Sheet – Taken from the back matter of the book Nine Months, this PDF informs readers about the gestation period for several popular mammals so they can compare animal pregnancy length with human pregnancy. (Target grades K-4)
9 Things Most Babies Can Do Before They’re Born – Taken from the back matter of the book Nine Months. Discover several cool things that most babies can do before they are even born. (Target grades PreK-4)
Activity Worksheet – Readers can color the flag of Cameroon, locate it on a map, complete a word search, and answer questions related to the book. (Target grades 2-5)
Meet Farmer Tantoh – This four-minute captioned video introduces young people to the real Farmer Tantoh and his work planting organic gardens and bringing clean, sustainable water to villages in Northwestern Cameroon, Africa.
Save Your Future Association – Are your readers motivated to make a difference? Learn more about Tantoh Nforba’s nonprofit organization, SYFA.
Are We Pears Yet? The Script – perform the book as a stage play and learn about growth cycles in a fun way! This interactive resource is flexible and provides information on characters, props, and a script. This play which introduces concepts such as plant growth cycles, photosynthesis, and more, can be performed in a small or large group setting. (Target grades K-6)
View the back matter of Thanku: Poems of Gratitude HERE that includes short definitions of 33 types of poems and literary devices young readers can try! Target grade 2+)
How to Write a Tricube Poem – a step-by-step guide for writing your own poem, with an example (Baptiste Paul’s “Each Scar”) to try with students. (Target grades 2-6).
How to Write an Etheree Poem – a step-by-step guide for writing a poem called an Etheree, a 10-line poem like “All This” by Liz Garton Scanlon. (Target grades 2-8)
How to Write Math Poetry / Math Poems – a step-by-step guide to writing equation poetry, a fun format for even the youngest poets to try! Contains an example from Becky Shillington’s “Appreciation Equations.” (Target grades K-6) And click here for an additional resource explaining benefits of Math Poetry.
Research & Create-a-Pasta Recipe Activity This extension activity packet outlines an activity through which children can create their own gourmet dish! Engage young chefs while teaching them how to research and present their materials in the process of documenting the recipe for their new creation. (Target grades K-6)
The Great Pasta Escape Extension Activity Packet Includes a character “compare and contrast” activity, verb hunt and answer key, Class Book idea, inflectional ending hunt, and a brainstorm activity in which students rewrite the ending of the story. (Target grades K-4)
We love our wonderful community of local children's book authors in Minnesota. Minnesota kids books cover all types of books from fiction to nonfiction. There are books about penguins, books about the ocean and, of course, books about Minnesota. Whatever you are looking for, chances are we have something great coming out of our great state.
Historically, While we Minnesotan's have to share Laura Ingalls Wilder with several other states, we do get to claim Wanda Gag, author of Millions of Cats, and Maud Hart Lovelace, author of the Betsy-Tacy books and the inspiration for the Maud Hart Lovelace Awards.
Three Reasons to Add Books by Minnesota Children's Book Authors to Your Own Bookshelves:
Besides the fact that they are producing some very high quality books for kids, there are some great reasons to add these books to your own bookshelf:
You can often get your books autographed at book releases and other author events.
Sometimes these local book authors do school visits.
If you like the hunt of collecting used books, I've had really good luck finding autographed copies of these books when hitting the thrift stores. It's always exciting to find a book by someone local, but even more so, when I open the cover and find an autograph.
Author Yvonne Pearson reads at a BookHounds Story Time.
More About BookHounds:
BookHounds is the name Family Fun Twin Cities has given to everything to do with books, reading and authors.
