Balloon Trees

by Danna Smith, Laurie Allen Klein

Overview

Ever wonder how a balloon is made? Follow the journey of a balloon from its beginnings as gooey sap in a tree to its completion at a rubber factory. You ll be surprised to discover what a balloon started out as and how it becomes the bright, air-filled decoration that you enjoy today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781106926647
Publisher:	Arbordale Publishing
Publication date:	02/28/2013
Series:	Balloon Trees , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	20 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Danna Smith received excellent reviews for Pirate Nap and Two at the Zoo, which was featured in Parenting Magazine and is a Raising Readers board book special edition. The inspiration for her most recent book, Balloon Trees, came from her husband's line of work running a rubber manufacturing plant. Although his company makes industrial rubber products, Danna chose to follow the creation of a fun product that is near and dear to a child's heart: the balloon. She lives in Northern California with her husband, two grown children, and their cocker spaniel, Peanut. Visit her website: http://www.dannasmithbooks.com/

Laurie Allen Klein has been a freelance artist for nearly 25 years. Over the last several years, she has worked as the on-staff artist for a marine park, where she does everything from painting life-size sea animal murals to illustrating children's activity books. In addition to Saving Kate's Flowers, They Just Know, Laurie has illustrated The Ghost of Donley Farm, Fur and Feathers, Where Should Turtle Be?, Little Skink's Tail, Solar System Forecast, Meet the Planets, If a Dolphin Were a Fish and Balloon Trees for Arbordale. She was the winner of the Outstanding Pennsylvania Author/Illustrator Award from the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association in 2008 and is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Laurie lives in Florida. See more of her artwork at lauriekleinarts.com.

Editorial Reviews

"With a little green tropical bird on every spread, the process of balloon making is outlined...These words must be read aloud to enjoy the internal rhyming and wonderful use of language. - School Library Journal

From the Publisher

K-Gr 2—With a little green tropical bird on every spread, the process of balloon making is outlined. Bright, full-color illustrations show the steps of harvesting and processing sap from rubber trees, shipping it to factories, and forming it into balloons of all sizes, shapes, and colors. Two lines of rhyming text on every page pulsate with action and engage readers: "The forms are flipped then dipped in quick-/a trick to make the color stick." These words must be read aloud to enjoy the internal rhyming and wonderful use of language. Back matter has activities that amplify the learning and a discussion of rubber as a natural resource. Beautiful, fun, and informative-a complete success.—Frances E. Millhouser, formerly at Fairfax County Public Library, VA

School Library Journal

No, these trees don't bear balloons, but they are the starting place for the production of these popular objects. Rhyming couplets and effective illustrations describe the general process by which latex is extracted from trees, converted into a colorful mix, shaped into forms, treated and sent to stores to be sold as balloons. Each double-page spread shows a separate step, watched over by what looks like a warbler with an observant eye. (Sharp-eyed observers will even see him through the red balloon on the cover.) At one point, the bird even comes close to becoming part of the process, shaking off the powder that coats each latex form after cooking. As in Smith's Two at the Zoo (2009), the rhyming text scans well, making this a good choice for an informational read-aloud even for preschoolers. As in all this publisher's books, there are also reproducible learning activities in the backmatter and available on the Web. Here, the four pages include a map showing where rubber trees grow, comprehension games and a text explanation with vocabulary suitable for elementary school readers. A Spanish edition is also available. Books for young listeners about how things are made are relatively rare; this one will stretch to fit a variety of goals. (Informational picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews