Birthdays

 Birthdays
May 222025
 
File:Mary Cassatt-Selfportrait.jpg

Mary Cassatt Self-Portrait

Mary Cassatt (born Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, 1844; died Chateau de Beaufresne near Paris, France, June 14, 1926) was an artist. Most of her works were around the theme of children and families. Children can view several of her works at: Mary Cassatt. Idea: She sometimes worked in pastels. Students could try this medium.

File:Conan doyle.jpg

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (born Edinburgh, Scotland, 1859; died Crowborough, Sussex, England, July 7, 1930) was a physician and writer. He is most famous for his Sherlock Holmes stories. Children can read many of his works at: Project Gutenberg. They can also learn more at: Doyle.

Nancy Krulik (born Brooklyn, New York, 1961) has written at least 200 books for children. Her books include the Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo series and the George Brown, Class Clown series. Children can visit her website at: Nancy Krulik.

Arnold Lobel (born Los Angeles, California, 1933; died New York, New York, December 4, 1987) was a children’s author and illustrator. He wrote and illustrated about 30 books. He also wrote books that were illustrated by his wife Anita Lobel. Finally, he illustrated at least 40 books written by other writers, including Jack Prelutsky and Charlotte Zolotow.  He received a 1973 Newbery Honor Award for Frog and Toad Together. He earned a 1972 Caldecott Honor Award for Hildilid’s Night and the 1981 Caldecott Medal for Fables. The 1987 Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration was given to him for The Devil and Mother Crump. Children can learn more at: Arnold Lobel. Notice he earned BOTH Newbery and Caldecott Awards.

Richard Wagner (born Leipzig, Germany, 1813; died Venice, Italy, February 13, 1883) was a composer. One of his most famous works is The Ring of the Nibelung.

Happy Birthday, South Carolina!

 Events
May 232025
 
South Carolina State Flag

South Carolina State Flag

South Carolina became the eighth state of the United States by ratifying the Constitution in 1788. It was named in honor of King Charles II. “Carolus” is Latin for Charles. Columbia is the state capital. South Carolina ranks 23rd in population and 40th in area. Its nickname is the Palmetto State, and its leading sources of income are tobacco, rice, and textiles. Children could visit an internet site at: South Carolina. They could also find out what a palmetto is.

Birthdays

 Birthdays
May 232025
 
Goodnight Moon

Goodnight Moon

Margaret Wise Brown (born New York, New York, 1910; died Nice, France, November 13, 1952) was a children’s author. She wrote about a hundred books under several names, but she is most famous for Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny. Children could learn more at: Margaret Wise Brown. They could also read The Important Book, by Margaret Wise Brown, and then write their own poems in the style of the book.

Oliver Butterworth (born Hartford, Connecticut, 1915; died Hartford, Connecticut, September 17, 1990) was an educator and a writer. He is most famous for writing The Enormous Egg.

Susan Cooper (born England, 1935) writes books for children and young adults. Known for her books of fantasy, she earned a 1974 Newbery Honor Award for The Dark Is Rising. She received the 1976 Newbery Medal for The Grey King. She also earned the 2012 Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement. Children can visit her website at: Susan Cooper.

Carl Linnaeus (born near Kristianstad, Sweden, 1707; died Uppsala, Sweden, January 10, 1778) was a naturalist. He devised the classification system for living things: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species. Children could learn more at: Carl Linnaeus.

Scott O’Dell (born Los Angeles, California, 1898; died Santa Monica, California, October 15, 1989) wrote books for children and adults. He received many awards. His book Island of the Blue Dolphins received the 1961 Newbery Medal. In 1967 The King’s Fifth earned a Newbery Honor Award. He received another Newbery Honor Award in 1968 for The Black Pearl. In 1971 Sing Down the Moon received a Newbery Honor Award. He received the very prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1972. In 1982 he created the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, and 1987 he received the award for Streams to the River, River to the Sea: A novel of Sacagawea. Children could learn more about Scott O’Dell and the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction from Children’s Book Award Handbook, by Diana F. Marks.

Peter Parnall (born Syracuse, New York, 1936) has written and illustrated at least sixteen books, In addition, he has illustrated at least 80 book written by other authors. He has earned three Caldecott Honor Awards: in 1976 for The Desert Is Theirs, in 1977 for Hawk, I’m Your Brother, and in 1979 for The Way to Start a Day. All three of those books were written by Byrd Baylor.

Brenda Seabrooke (born Mount Dora, Florida, 1941) writes books for children. Her books include The Swan’s Gift and The Dragon that Ate Summer.

Eritrea Celebrates Independence Day

 Events
May 242025
 

Flag of Eritrea

Eritrea celebrates Independence Day. It broke away from Ethiopia in 1993. The African country, bordering the Red Sea, was once under Italian and then British control. According to the CIA World Factbook, Eritrea is a bit smaller than Pennsylvania. About 6.3 million people live in the country, and about 80 percent of them are subsistence farmers. Deserts dominate the land along the Red Sea, but the central highlands are more temperate. Asmara is the capital. Children can learn more at: Eritrea.

Samuel Morse Sent First Telegraph Message in 1844

 Events
May 242025
 

First telegraph message was sent by Samuel F. B. Morse in 1844. The message, “What hath God wrought?” was sent from Washington, DC, to Baltimore, Maryland. Idea: Children could explore a GREAT website and learn Morse Code at: Translate. They could send messages to one another in Morse code. They could learn more at: First Telegram.

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