About this item
Slosh from the big one into the small. Whooshing and slooshing--your own waterfall. When young children observe the natural world, what do they see? Very often, it's an inspiration for creative play. As in Nora Hilb's previous book, Wiggle Giggle Tickle Train, 13 vibrant spreads show how children use the world around them to come up with ideas for play. Striking real-life photographs of waterfalls, worms, and wintry roads are juxtaposed with lively drawings to reveal a child's own inventive interpretation. Short bursts of action-packed poetry encourage preschoolers to identify patterning in text and the sounds associated with ideas. The sight of a beautiful rainbow is reflected in multihued crayons as two children create their own masterpieces.
About the Author
Simon Shapiro was born and grew up in South Africa where kids can play sports outdoors all year round. When Simon wasn't reading, he was playing sports. He loved lots of different sports, though he was never very good at any of them.
At school Simon also loved, and excelled at math, science and English. At university he majored in math and science and discovered an aptitude for computer programming. He started programming in South Africa on computers as big as a brontosaurus (but more primitive) . Early in his career he moved to Canada, where he's lived for the last forty years.
His latest book Faster, Higher, Smarter combines sport and science. It tells the stories of amazing people who totally transformed different sports through their bright ideas. And it explains the science that makes these ideas work.
Simon is married to Sheryl Shapiro, a graphic designer. They have teamed up to write five books of poems for kids, all published by Annick Press. Although those books are all for a younger audience than Faster, Higher, Smarter, several of them have an element of science or math. Better Together (2011) is about the concept of mixtures, and Ladybugs Have Lots of Spots and Zebra Stripes Go Head to Toe (Fall 2013) introduce young children to concepts of shapes.
Writing books for Annick Press is something of a family tradition. Simon and Sheryl have one son, Stephen, who has written five books, all on history, published by Annick Press. His first book Ultra Hush-Hush was published while Stephen was still a teenager.
Simon's hobbies include photography, folk-dancing and making ice-cream. He loves travelling, reading and theatre. He lives in Toronto.
