Carolyn Creger offers a creative writing lesson for upper elementary and middle school students combining tall tale characters with constellations. Creger highlights the purpose, objectives, materials needed, activities, and procedures of the lesson. The Columbia Education Center, located in Portland, Oregon, provides the lesson online.

Most of the constellations, the patterns of stars found in the night sky, are connected with the ancient myths which people developed to give meaning to what they saw in the sky, based on the experience of their culture. The ideas of modern astronomy play a similar role for us today. They are stories which help us understand the phenomena we discover when we look deeper into the sky than is possible with eyes alone. In this book, the ancient sky stories and those of modern astronomy are woven together in a unique way. Coverage includes twenty-four important constellations as well as the sun and the moon and the sky as a whole. For each of these, one of the old stories is tied together with the astronomical understanding of a key feature in that part of the sky, allowing one story to serve as a reminder for the other.

Embark on a thrilling journey with Elmer Haslett's Luck on the Wing, where thirteen stories of a sky spy unfold, taking readers on high-flying adventures. Luck on the Wing: Thirteen Stories of a Sky Spy by Elmer Haslett: Soar through the skies with Luck on the Wing: Thirteen Stories of a Sky Spy by Elmer Haslett. This collection of thrilling aviation tales takes readers on a riveting journey through the clouds, exploring the daring escapades of sky spies and the unpredictable twists of fate that define their high-flying adventures. Why This Book? Luck on the Wing offers a thrilling and adventurous escape into the world of sky spies, where danger and excitement intertwine with every flight. Haslett's mastery of storytelling and his firsthand experience as a pilot bring authenticity to these tales, making them a must-read for aviation enthusiasts and adventure seekers alike. Elmer Haslett invites readers to take flight with Luck on the Wing, a collection that captures the exhilarating spirit of aviation and the unpredictable nature of luck in the skies.

Weaving together loss and anxiety with fantastic elements and literary sleight-of-hand, Kevin Brockmeier’s richly imagined Things That Fall from the Sky views the nagging realities of the world through a hopeful lens. In the deftly told “These Hands,” a man named Lewis recounts his time babysitting a young girl and his inconsolable sense of loss after she is wrenched away. In “Apples,” a boy comes to terms with the complex world of adults, his first pangs of love, and the bizarre death of his Bible coach. “The Jesus Stories” examines a people trying to accelerate the Second Coming by telling the story of Christ in every possible way. And in the O. Henry Award winning “The Ceiling,” a man’s marriage begins to disintegrate after the sky starts slowly descending. Achingly beautiful and deceptively simple, Things That Fall from the Sky defies gravity as one of the most original story collections seen in recent years.

A beautiful collection of stories and poems about our southern skies. From the legends of Matariki and Rona and the Moon through to how tuatara made the stars, Melanie Drewery weaves a special magic through all her stories that will ensure we never look up at the night sky in the same way again. Accompanied by Jenny Cooper's stunning illustrations this will be a book to treasure and read over and over again.

"Rios evokes the mysterious and unexpected forces that dwell inside the familiar."—The Washington Post "Ríos delivers another stunning book of poems, rich in impeccable metaphors, that revel in the ordinariness of morning coffee and the crackle of thunderous desert storms. In one sonnet, Ríos addresses injustice in the borderlands, capturing with mathematical precision the everyday struggles that many migrants face—'The border is an equation in search of an equals sign.' A series of sonnets about desert flora abounds with fantastic, magical imagery—'Bougainvilleas do not bloom—they bleed' and 'Apricots are eggs laid in trees by invisible golden hens.' Likewise, Ríos's bestiary sonnets overflow with inimitable similes, worthy of a book unto themselves—'Minnows are where a river’s leg has fallen asleep' and 'Gnats are sneezes still flying around.' This robust volume is the perfect place to start for readers new to Ríos and a prize for seasoned fans."—Booklist In his thirteenth book, Alberto Rios casts an intense desert light on the rich stories unfolding along the Mexico-US border. Peppered with Spanish and touches of magical realism, ordinary life and its simple props—morning showers, spilled birdseed, winter lemons—becomes an exploration of mortality and humanity, and the many possibilities of how lives might yet be lived. Mad Honey Made from magnificent rhododendron, poisonous rhododendron, Very difficult-to-pronounce rhododendron—whatever Rhododendron even is—I would have to look it up myself, This word sounding puffed up, peacocky with its Indianapolisly-long spelling, all those letters moving in and out. But the plant itself, the plant and the bees that find it: The bees see in its purple flower, first, a purple flower. They do not spell it. They do not live in fear of quizzes, Purple offering what it has to offer, unapologetic, without further Definition, purple irresistible to the artist's and to the bee's eye— Who can blame either one this first-grade impulse toward love? Purple, always wearing something low-cut . . . Alberto Rios is the Poet Laureate of Arizona and host of the PBS program Books & Co. He was a finalist for the National Book Award for his poetry volume The Smallest Muscle in the Human Body. He teaches at Arizona State University and lives in Chandler, Arizona.