Heroes of Our National Parks

We had a Summer Book Club event this week for kids - our book was The Camping Trip That Changed America: Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, and our National Parks by Barb Rosenstock. This book imagines what happened on the actual trip that President Roosevelt took with naturalist John Muir to Yosemite in 1903. It is thought that the two men laid the framework for our National Parks system during this short camping trip. It's a great book for families to read together - and the artwork by Mordicai Gerstein is wonderful!

 

Of course no book club event at RML would be complete with snacks - here's what's left of the Smores Cookies! (You can find the recipe at the Girl Who Ate Everything blog or follow the link):

Smores Cookies Recipe

 After talking about what we thought of the story, I gave the kids a little quiz that helped facilitate discussion. This is a great book for kids and helped me find lots of facts:

National Parks: A Kid's Guide to America's Parks, Monuments, and Landmarks by Erin McHugh

You can find more information (and fun!) here:

Mapquest List & links 

National Park Service 

WebRangers 

Every Kid in a Park

For our craft, I had the kids mimic Gerstein's artwork in the book by drawing pictures in pen on the lightning bug jar cutouts, and then painting with watercolors. The only rule was that the picture had to be something you could find in a National Park!

 "We are not building this country of ours for a day. It is to last through the ages." - Theodore Roosevelt, 1903

"As long as I live, I'll hear waterfalls and bird and winds sing. I'll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm and avalanche. I'll acqauint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can." - John Muir