Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature, by Joyce Sidman, is a beautiful story displaying the many shapes in nature through short, poetic phrases and beautiful scratch board illustrations by Beth Krommes. This story invites us to look at the world around us a little differently. Spirals ARE everywhere in nature...we just need to look for them. From snail shells, to sheep horns, to tornadoes and galaxies, we see swirls all around us. We just loved paging through this beautiful book and I especially loved how each item was labeled. The short paragraph of information at the end of the book for each featured item helped with the many questions that piked up throughout the reading. This is one of my all time favorites!Who's it for? This book is best suited for children 5 and up. All ages, however, will appreciate the beauty and simplicity. It's great for a read aloud or to snuggle up with at bedtime.
Lesson Plans/Activities:
1. Create your own scratch art! Take a piece of paper and color the entire paper with many different colored crayons. Once you have covered the paper, use a black crayon and color over the colors. use a sharp wooden stick to create your own scratch art.
2. Choose a shape and go on a nature hunt! Draw and/or write about how these shapes come up over and over in nature. You'll be surprised at the many shapes hiding in our backyard!
The similar view of the forms is appropriate. We can meet the variations of such spiral formations in almost all objects of nature.
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