The Ghost of Donley Farm

by Jaime Gardner Johnson, Laurie Allen Klein

Overview

Rebecca, the red-tailed hawk, is not afraid of ghosts! One night, she bravely ventures into the barn to meet the famous ghost of Donley Farm. But when she finally meets him, Rebecca is surprised to discover that this “ghost” is much more familiar than she’d expected.  Join Rebecca as she stays up late to talk with her new friend and find out what they have in common and how they are different. This fictional story includes a 4-page For Creative Minds section in the back of the book and a 34-page cross-curricular Teaching Activity Guide online. The Ghost of Donley Farm is vetted by experts and designed to encourage parental engagement. Its extensive back matter helps teachers with time-saving lesson ideas, provides extensions for science, math, and social studies units, and uses inquiry-based learning to help build critical thinking skills in young readers. The Spanish translation supports ELL and dual-language programs. The enhanced ebook reads aloud in both English and Spanish with word highlighting and audio speed control to promote oral language skills, fluency, pronunciation, text engagement, and reading comprehension.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781628554755
Publisher:	Arbordale Publishing
Publication date:	01/20/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jaime Gardner Johnson is a ninth grade English teacher and former director of education at Brukner Nature Center. As a life-long nature lover, she has worked with rehabilitation centers for both raptors and other wildlife. Jaime lives with her husband and son in Kamuela, Hawaii, where they enjoy hiking in the volcanic hills in search of pueo owls. The Ghost of Donley Farm is her debut picture book.

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

"A solid tale about two birds of prey that seamlessly blends in learning. - Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2014-07-29
This "ghost" story introduces children to the habits, habitats and adaptations of a red-tailed hawk and a barn owl. Rebecca's habitat on the Donley Farm is perfect for a hawk: wide fields and meadows, ponds, an old fence and a big maple tree. She knows every inch, yet she's never seen the famous barn ghost, until the night she stays up late. At first frightened of the scary screeches, Rebecca eventually makes the acquaintance of Bernard. As the two get to know each other, they talk about the adaptations each has that allow survival: stiff versus soft feathers, differences in eye shapes and sizes (hawks also see color), bare legs versus feathered legs for the cool nights. In the end, Rebecca comes to the conclusion that if both she and Bernard were diurnal, one of them would go hungry; as it is, they can share a habitat. Klein's illustrations nicely extend the text, though some could use labeling, as with the picture comparing the two birds' feathers (addressed later in the backmatter), and the birds are slightly anthropomorphized. The backmatter provides more facts about raptors, red-tailed hawks and barn owls and challenges readers to identify nocturnal and diurnal animals. A solid tale about two birds of prey that seamlessly blends in learning. (Informational picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews