Happy Birthday Lois Ehlert - November 9
We have been celebrating Lois Ehlert's birthday at our house for three years! I was challenged to develop an activity that featured a book that my children had not read in the past. I found the book,
Pie in the Sky, at the library. It is a story about a special tree -- a pie tree. However, it is hard to believe this is a pie tree at the end of winter as only buds are on the branches. Spring doesn't reveal a pie as only blossoms appear. Summer shows us why this is a pie tree when cherries begin to form. Birds and raccoons enjoy a treat before a pie is made in front of our eyes with Ehlert's signature collage illustration.
The last line of the book is "I wonder if the birds would like it?" I thought my children would have fun making a pie of their own for the birds. We chose not to make cherry pie, but instead used bread, seeds, raisins, and peanut butter.
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| First, we rolled out the dough for our pie. We used a piece of white bread for the pie crust. We then formed the bread into reused plastic fruit cups. |
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| We scooped in peanut butter and spread it over the bread the best we could. Then, my children chose the treats they thought would make the best pie for the birds. |
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| My son's pie included sunflower seeds, peanuts (some in the shell and others he cracked open), and raisins. |
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| My daughter's included a variety of seeds including nyjer and millet. |
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| We laid out napkins and our pies on our deck railing. |
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| We wondered... would the birds like our pie? |
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| It didn't take long for the birds to stop by to enjoy the pie! Here is black-capped chickadee. We like watching the chickadees grab one good seed then retreat to a tree to eat. They have such good manners -- respecting that other birds would like a chance to get a treat too. |
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| Throughout the day we had sparrows, tufted titmice, and chickadees eat our pies. I never want squirrels around my bird feeders. However, today I was hoping that they would stop by so I could read Nuts to You. A squirrel never showed up so we read the book ourselves before bedtime. |
Check Out Last Year's Lois Ehlert Birthday Posts Including:
Great post, Eric, and great idea with the pies. So nice for the kids to see how their fun activity was received by the birds. Bet it made their day. I love Lois Ehlert books, too. So many I still need to read, though, including this one!
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