Wolfsnail Sighting!

We have found two wolfsnails recently! My son found a dead one earlier in the week while he was walking in the neighborhood. You could still see the snail's body, but it was starting to dry up. I knew it was a wolfsnail because of the large rosy-brown shell and because the snail had a mustache-- just like Sarah Campbell described in her book, Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator, and during her visit to St. Therese in the fall. Because of her research and book, this was one creature I didn't have to look up on the Internet to find out more about it!

The second snail was alive, but it was resting deep inside its shell. Maybe it had just eaten another snail and was tucking in for the night. I found it on a dried maple leaf at the threshold of my front door when I called for my cat, looked down, and saw what I first thought was a crawfish body! The leaf and shell together looked like one, strange creature with legs-- a hermit crab? But on closer look, I was surprised to find the wonderful wolfsnail!

Even though I had already tucked the children into their beds for some bedtime reading, I got them up so that they could see it. "Wow! A live wolfsnail! Call Mrs. Campbell!" I told them I would put it on the blog in the morning. As the night darkened, we left it on some jasmine underneath a bush. When I went outside this morning, it was gone.

Hard Work

What do these two photos have in common?

The first one shows a group of first graders reading Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator by Sarah Campbell. The second one shows a first grader reading Dr. Seuss's beloved The Cat in the Hat.

Today, Wolfsnail won the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Award for distinguished children's book for beginning readers. "Dr. Seuss " is the pen name for Theodor Geisel. The author of Wolfsnail, Sarah Campbell, visited third through sixth graders in the fall of 2008 and lives in Jackson, Mississippi. We have her book in our library. It is autographed by her and wishes St. Therese students the joy of discovering God's natural world around them.

This is a HUGE honor for Sarah Campbell. Out of all of the children's books published in 2008 (thousands and thousands), only a handful won honors like this today. Knowing Sarah and listening to her talk about her book, I know much time, hard work, imagination, and dedication went into creating it.

Wolfsnail is art. With simple words and detailed, close-up photography, she reveals to the reader small moments in this enormous universe that might otherwise go overlooked.

It is hard work learning how to read. It is also hard work to write a book that engages children (and adults) and tempts us to read and learn more. What an honor for Sarah Campbell. What a joy that she shared the lives of these amazing creatures with us.

St. Therese Featured on Sarah Campbell's Blog

On Monday, September 29th, Sarah Campbell visited St. Therese students in third through sixth grades. She has already blogged about her visit here:

http://www.sarahccampbell.com/Blog/

Mrs. Campbell is the author and illustrator of Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator published by Boyds Mill Press in 2008. I'll write more later and include more photos of the visit. It was a wonderful experience for all and sparked many interesting questions from the students.