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Reading Rockets' children's literature expert, Maria Salvadore, brings you into her world as she explores the best ways to use kids' books both inside — and outside — of the classroom.

Vacation...and the learning is easy

July 28, 2008

We're on vacation this week, visiting my sister in southwest Florida. It's a tropical climate, and we're here during the rainy season. Happily, the tropics — where the energy for hurricanes begins — have been quiet so far.

There's a lot to do here: swimming in the Gulf of Mexico (we saw juvenile stingrays and cavorting dolphins a bit farther out), golf — miniature and non-miniature — and watching different birds in the wild, the suburbs, and in a nearby wildlife preserve, the Ding Darling Refuge, part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

We've seen snowy egrets, osprey, lots of brown pelicans (they look almost prehistoric), a very large wood stork, and even a stunningly beautiful Roseate Spoonbill — (I guess this one decided not to go north for the summer).

I purchased a one-page guide, but still want a book to learn more about these exotic beauties. With a good identification book, we'd be better able to better answer my young nieces' questions and better satisfy our own curiosity.

I think I'll look for a bookstore (or find the local library) now to bone up on Southwest Florida wildlife. I'm sure we'll keep an eye open for birds when we head north. We listen to audio books on the seemingly endless trip home so our eyes remain available to see any unexpected flyovers!

I've learned a ton on this vacation and it's aroused the kids' curiosity.

Summer, don't you love it?

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