The interesting facts discussed in Arizona Way Out West and Wacky are new even to an Arizona native now living in New Mexico. I loved how they cover non-traditional facts while giving you a unique view of the state. Our boys loved the illustrations and I’ve opted to copy the pages for them to color so they can color them over and over.
Although its target audience is grade-school children, Arizona Way Out West & Wacky is as appealing to adults as it is to kids. Highlights of Arizona’s history are punctuated with true but gross, humorous, interesting and wacky stories and facts about the Grand Canyon State. Readers learn: What Geronimo and yawning have in common. Why sleeping in wet sheets didn’t mean you had a nighttime accident. What a glass eye has to do with Phoenix being Arizona s state capital. How many teachers it would take standing head-to-toe to go from the bottom to the top of the Grand Canyon. Which Arizona city got its name by accident and much, much more! But it takes more than amusing writing and fascinating facts to keep children’s attention, so the AZ WOWW award-winning creative team added word searches, crossword puzzles, coloring pages, recipes, crafts and more to the mix.
There was a very interesting recipe in the book to make ink out of pecans. We just so happen to have multiple pecan trees on our property so we picked up a few fallen pecans for a fantastic homeschool lesson.
The recipe is simple: 8 whole pecan shells and one cup of water. Crush the pecan shells, place in pot with water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30-45 minutes. Strain out the shells, store in a glass jar and you will have a nutty ink. Since this is a food based ink, it will spoil but don’t worry, stir in 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar (prevents fading) and 1/2 teaspoon of salt (prevents molding) to fix that problem. Shake the glass jar until the salt dissolves completely.
Preview
Disclosure: This post brought to you by 5 Star Publications. All opinions are 100% mine.
9 replies on “Arizona Way Out West & Wacky”
thanks looks like a great giveaway
I learned that Lynda and Conrad are experienced writers with lots of publishing credits between them.
I learned that They have a school section
they have kids illustrate
vmkids3 at msn dot com
i learned the authors do classroom visits
These books sound like a great way to learn about Arizona history since they include activities like crosswords and provide fun state facts.
rsgrandinetti@yahoo(DOT)com
I’m a teacher and I’m from AZ, so I’ll have to check this book out. I may just have to find it for my classroom!
Jump on over to their website in the school section to find out how you can arrange for the authors to come visit your students. They have a contest going on right now to win a visit from JR, the mammal mascot, and one of the authors.
[…] Please click here to enter this online sweepstakes […]