What Are You Doing to Go Green?

From now until the end of April, schools around the country are working on going green. If you want information on a start-up kit for your school, you can contact GEF, the Green Education Foundation. The site also offers lesson plans and ideas. Be sure to share your results with GEF to be entered in a drawing for a Green in Action award.  Winners get $250 for their classrooms.

Here's what one school did:



Leap Books supports environmental action in many ways. We've gone green in our book printing and office practices. And we publish authors who not only write about environmental themes, but are active in helping the planet.

Bonnie J. Doerr researches endangered animals, but she doesn't just get the facts. She helps the organizations by participating and doing fundraising. A portion of the sale of Doerr's books have gone to assisting the National Key Deer Refuge and the Turtle Hospital.




Doerr was recently featured as a green author on Linda Martin Andersen's blog and enjoyed this opportunity to promote "green" writing / living and National Green Week. To find out more about Doerr, vist her at Bonnie Blogs Green or read all about her the Girls Scouts website, where she is a featured author. Bonnie's books include Stakeout and Island Sting. She's researching in the Florida Keys right now on her next eco-mystery on pelicans.

Artist Joanna Britt and Author Bonnie Doerr Go to Camp

Last week Leap Books artist Joanna Britt (pictured on left) took her art to summer camp. She and author Bonnie J. Doerr talked with campers about the process of writing and illustrating books. The audience was enthralled as they described how they collaborated on Island Sting.

The campers were writing and illustrating their own books, so they got a lot of helpful tips on how to do that. They also enjoyed seeing how Bonnie doe her research for her books on endangered animals. That's Bonnie pictured on the screen below as she gets into the habitats along with rescue workers who save these endangered species.

The visit wasn't all about work, though. Everyone enjoyed playing a game while they learned more facts about the endangered Florida Key deer that are the stars in Island Sting. Did you know that Key Deer are only found on a few islands in the Florida Keys? And one fun fact that surprised most of the campers was that Key deer are tiny. When they're full grown, they're only about the size of a German shepherd dog.

Now these eager campers can't wait to get a hold of the next books in the series: Stakeout (2011) and Pelican Peril (2012). For more information about these books and the endangered animals Bonnie has worked with and observed, check out her blog: Bonnie Blogs Green.

Pelicans in Peril

The Gulf oil spill continues to endanger many animals. Leap Books wants to support the rescue efforts in any way they can. In addition to publishing books that highlight endangered animals, the company and its authors have donated money to wildlife agencies.

We hope our readers will also consider donating to the many wildlife agencies that are saving animals and birds caught in the oil spill. One of these organizations is IBRRC (International Bird Rescue Research Center).

IBRRC's Flickr shows pictures of pelicans covered with oil and how they are being cleaned. They also have this video and others at YouTube:

Though the task at times may seem impossible, IBRRC won't give up. As they say, "we maintain the belief that each individual animal is just one part of the larger population. We recognize that each life is valuable and that each animal is deserving of our care. In a world where life is not always respected and cherished we feel that preserving even the life of one bird sends an important message."

Leap Books agrees. Prior to the Gulf crisis, our author Bonnie J. Doerr had been researching pelican rescues for the third book in her eco-mystery series, Pelican Peril, so these birds are near and dear to our hearts. Please do what you can to help these pelicans and we will too. For the next few days, we'll highlight some ways you can help.

Pelicans Endangered Again

Nicknamed the Pelican State, Louisiana was once home to thriving colonies of brown pelicans. The state seal and early flag featured these nesting birds with their deep beaks for scooping up fish.

In the early 1900s about 50,000 brown pelicans lived along the Louisiana coast. Less than fifty years later, that number had dropped to 5000. By 1963 not one nesting pair could be found. The major cause was the pesticide DDT. The Mississippi River had carried it from the farms to the pelican nesting areas. DDT thinned out the eggshells, so when pelicans sat on their nests, they destroyed their eggs.

After DDT was banned, a pelican restocking program began. Wildlife refuges were set up on the barrier islands, and by the early 2000s, the pelicans had begun their return.

Now the pelicans are facing another danger. The massive amounts of oil spewing into the water off the Louisiana shore are imperiling wildlife, especially on the barrier islands and marshes.

According to the International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC), a dime-sized drop of oil is enough to kill a bird. Oil clumps a bird's feathers so it has no protection from the cold and it loses its buoyancy. A bird's instinct is to preen its feathers to remove the oil, which also harms its internal organs.

Birds can even die of stress when rescuers try to wash their feathers, so refuge workers give the birds food, water, and medical treatment before they dip them into baths of dishwashing detergent and water. IBRRC estimates that it takes 300 gallons of water to clean one oil-soaked bird.

Oil isn't the only threat to the endangered pelicans. Leap Books author Bonnie J. Doerr is busy writing Pelican Peril, her third eco-mystery. Here's a picture of Bonnie helping refuge workers in the Florida Keys save some pelicans.

Find out more at Bonnie's blog, Bonnie Blogs Green.

Danger! Endangered Species Area

If you've ever traveled to Big Pine Key in Florida, these signs will be familiar. The big yellow warning signs caution you to watch for an endangered species. So once you slow down, what species will you be looking for?

The tiny Key deer, as small as a dog, which is found nowhere else but the Florida Keys. Speeding cars can kill these miniature deer, but so do other things. One of the greatest dangers to these deer are humans--humans who feed them "people food." According to Kenzie, a character in Bonnie Doerr's book, Island Sting, "so many people in cars feed them that they're losing their fear of humans and traffic." So instead of running from cars, they come toward them, hoping to be fed.

To help with the problem, officers have posted signs they hope will prevent people from feeding the deer. Here's an illustration from Doerr's book:

The fine for feeding a deer is $250, but this doesn't always stop people from offering these cute deer snacks as if they were pets. Many of the deer are so used to humans that they'll stick their noses in bag of chips or eat bites of sandwich straight from a person's hand.

Junk food and speeding cars present a major threat to these endangered animals, but even more deadly are poachers. Because they are so small, the deer don't provide much meat. But food isn't the only reason some people slaughter Key deer.

In Island Sting, Angelo and Kenzie team up to stop a vicious criminal from killing the Key deer, but will they survive when the poacher turns from stalking deer to hunting humans?

Get your copy of Island Sting to find out the answer. If you use the secret code for spring specials, you can save 30% off the cost of the book from now until May 31, 2010. See Leap Books online store for more details.

Traveling to Texas

Author Bonnie J. Doerr has been traveling to promote her eco-mystery Island Sting. She’s been to FL, PA, VA, MD, and NC. Next up: TEXAS. She’ll be in the San Antonio area this weekend and through next week, so if your bookstore, library or school is interested in having an author visit next Monday, contact Cathleen Cartwright, Public Relations Assistant for Leap Books, at marketing@leapbks.com.

Teachers and reading specialists have been raving about Island Sting. It’s a fast-paced mystery that ties into the science curriculum. Suitable for tweens or hi/lo and reluctant teen readers, Island Sting pits a group of teens against a deadly poacher of the endangered Key deer.

Not familiar with Key deer? These tiny deer, about the size of a German shepherd, are only found in the Florida Keys. A former science and reading teacher, Doerr shadowed the National Key Deer Refuge rescuer workers and now helps out the shelter by donating profits from her books.

Stay tuned this week as we feature some stories from Bonnie’s travels—from accompanying rescuers of endangered turtles to helping to save dying pelicans. She also shares her adventures with authors Ruth Spiro (Lester Fizz, Bubble-Gum Artist), Emily Ecton (Night of the Living Lawn Ornaments), Deborah Heiligman (Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith), and Laura Rennert (Emma, the Extraordinary Princess), and Edie Hemingway (Road to Tater Hill).