BOOK GIVEAWAY & Craft: Puffins!

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Who knew there was such a word as “puffling”? Well, this delightful nonfiction picture did. If you didn’t guess, “puffling” refers to a puffin chick, but I plan to integrate it (somehow?) into my vocabulary. Author Maria Gianferrari’s perfect verse meets the bustling, vivid comic art of illustrator Maris Wicks to inform and captivate readers. The story follows Little Puffin from her hatching on Maine’s Eastern Egg Rock Island through her life cycle.

I happen to be a teacher-librarian-person who hoards paper towel and toilet paper rolls for craft occasions. So, I took out my trusty tubes to create some pufflings of my own.

WHAT YOU NEED

  • cardboard tubes
  • card stock, construction or origami paper (or all of the above)
  • glue stick
  • scissors
  • optional: hole punch (for eyes), hot glue, poster paint
  • also optional: rock collection

Children might prefer to paint their tube black and let it dry; I chose to cover my tube with black origami paper. I then glued on a white heart-shaped face and a white belly. Your cardboard creation will really start looking like a puffin when you add the flat, large beak cut from orange card stock. I folded a narrow tab at the base of the beak to give it a surface with which to glue it on. I couldn’t decide on the shape of the wings (pointy and simple? tiered and feathered?) or color (dark blue? origami print?) I tried all variations before settling with simple, pointy, and standard black. The paddled feet were fun. They are connected in the back (I cut them in somewhat of a heart shape) to make it easier to tape or glue to the bottom of the tube.

Kids can get creative and adapt this easy project however they puffin-please! In the end, they will have a sweet puffling for company during story times of this book.

Maria Gianferrari is a proud bird-nerd who is thrilled to have seen Atlantic Puffins and other sea birds at Eastern Egg Rock Island. She’s the author of these bird-y books: You and the Bowerbird and Hawk Rising, both published by Roaring Brook Press, as well as Whoo-Ku Haiku. She loves backyard birding from her kitchen window perch in Massachusetts, though she lives too far from the sea to see puffins.

Maris Wicks is a writer and illustrator of science comics. She is the illustrator of The New York Times Bestselling book Primates (2013), written by Jim Ottaviani. Her latest graphic novel, Human Body Theater (2015), is a 240-page rollicking romp through the major systems of the human body (told in comics format, of course).

BOOK GIVEAWAY & Craft: Just One Oak

Posted in Children's Books, Free Tutorials, Paper, Recycled materials, Stuff to make by

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Just one oak
from the tip
of its crown
down to the ground
with roots all around
sustains so very
many creatures,
from the teeny tiny . . .
to the big and mighty.

On the school grounds where I work are three amazing hundred-year-old trees. (Two hundred years, maybe?) The children play around the foot of these trees, looking for insects (or fairies), balancing their small feet on the exposed roots. The trees are benevolent giants, looking over us all.

Just One Oak, a nonfiction picture book by Maria Gianferrari, recognizes and celebrates the many ways even a single oak tree nourishes so many forms of life around it. Gianferrari’s verse gives the broad strokes, while her informative sidebars please the deeply curious. Dana Sudyka’s illustrations are both playful and accurate, with the oak tree’s “many creatures” labeled and rendered with precision.

To mark the publication of this lovely book and the arrival of spring, I decided to use recycled cardboard and craft foam to create stamps. Hand-printing is imperfect–a product of experimentation and serendipity. This craft is meant for kids–but adults will like it too.

Materials:

  • Flat cardboard
  • Toilet paper rolls
  • Craft foam
  • Craft paint (or other water-based paint)
  • Scissors
  • Cardstock or construction paper

To begin, I looked online for some outlines of creatures that I like. I chose an oak leaf, acorn, inch worm, cicada, woodpecker, and a chickadee. I printed out the images and used a glue stick to adhere them to a piece of craft foam. The glue stick does a good job of keeping the paper in place while you cut along the outline and through the foam. Yet, it didn’t stick so well that I couldn’t easily peel off the paper, leaving the foam shape intact.

Next, I glued the foam shape to flat cardboard. To make a stamp handle that would suit little hands, I hot-glued toilet paper rolls to the back of the flat cardboard.

Then comes the fun part. I used a paintbrush to layer the foam shapes with paint. (You could opt for filling a shallow container with thinner paint for kids to dip and coat their stamps.) I loved experimenting with paint thickness and different colors to see what emerged. Copper-colored acrylic paint looked great on black paper. Let me know if you give this craft a try!

Maria Gianferrari is a picture book reader/writer, animal-lover, and bird nerd. She writes books that honor our bonds with creatures both domestic and wild, and that celebrate urban ecosystems and the natural world around us. Maria’s newest releases are Just One Oak and Puffins!, both published in April 2026.

Diana Sudyka is a Chicago-based illustrator. Working mainly in gouache, watercolor, and ink, Diana is inspired by a passion for nature and science, as well as folk-art traditions. Her author-illustrator debut, Little Land, was published in 2023. Her children’s book illustration includes Dear Treefrog by Joyce Sidman, Angela’s Glacier by Jordan Scott, as well as Fungi Grow and Just One Oak by Maria Gianferrari, among others. 

BOOK GIVEAWAY & Craft: Rain And The Reading Horse

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Learning a new skill makes us all feel vulnerable. When the learning is hard going, we can feel embarrassed or even ashamed. Sometimes we just need the space to breathe deeply and a gentle presence to act as a patient witness to our efforts. In the heartfelt picture book, Rain and the Reading Horse, authored by Maria Gianferrari and illustrated by Hannah Salyer, a young girl who is struggling to read finds her own pace and path to learning with a little bit of help. She discovers peace in the rhythms of barn chores and the calm company of a horse named Snow. Gianferrari’s lovely, well-chosen prose, matched with Salyer’s dreamlike painting, creates a story that will inspire children for whom reading does not come easily. Sometimes we all need a creature, who stands by without expectation or judgment, to hear us.

To celebrate the publication of this hopeful, gentle book, I created a pair of small reading horses out of recycled cardboard. To honor Salyer’s delicate, blue-tinged illustrations, I painted my horses light blue and by chance, I happened to have variegated blue yarn in my craft cabinet for their tails and manes.

After I made my miniature horses, I walked them to the pond near my house for a photo shoot. I wonder what passersby thought of that! Next, I will corral them and introduce them to the students in my school library. I’m sure emerging readers will love to practice with these tiny reading horses as their audience.

MATERIALS:

  • Toilet paper roll
  • Water-based paint
  • Craft sticks (4)
  • Yarn
  • Hot glue gun (low temperature for kids)
  • Cardstock
  • Ruler

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Paint the toilet paper roll
  2. Trace the profile of a horse’s head onto cardstock, cut it out and paint it. You can add a face if you’d like!
  3. Trim the tips off the 4 craft sticks (I thought I might need an X-acto but it was easy to snip off the end of the craft sticks with a regular scissors.)
  4. With hot glue, adhere the horse head and the four craft stick legs to your cardboard roll. Paint the legs once the glue is dry.
  5. Wrap yarn into a “pony tail,” knotting it on one side. Glue the knot to the inside of the roll and then trim the tail as needed.
  6. This is the hardest step! Wrap yarn around the ruler. Glue one edge and trip the other. Then glue the “mane” to one side of the horse’s head. Repeat this step with the other side. This makes a thick, beautiful mane!

About the Author:

As a shy, animal-loving kid, Maria Gianferrari wishes she could have read to a horse like Snow. As a shy, animal-loving adult, she now gets to write about all kinds of creatures and the bonds that they share with humans. Maria lives in Massachusetts with her family and dreams of reading Rain and the Reading Horse to a horse! You can learn more at her website: mariagianferrari.com.

About the Illustrator:

Hannah Salyer’s work, including Packs: Strength in Numbers and Ancestory: The Mystery and Majesty of Ancient Cave Art, has been recognized by American Illustration and the Society of Illustrators. She teaches art to students of all ages, has a ceramics practice, and is co-founder of Underland Gallery.

Book Craft and GIVEAWAY: To Dogs, With Love

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To Dogs, With Love by Maria Gianferrari and illustrated by Ishaa Lobo, is a sweet thank you to our four-legged companions that give us so much. This book reminds readers of the unique healing that dogs bring to the life of a child as pets and as therapy animals. Dogs bring comfort to classrooms, hospitals, legal settings, prisons–any setting where children face challenges and benefit from the “calm and connected” presence of the enduring devotion of humankind’s best friend.

To celebrate the publication of To Dogs, With Love, I created a cardboard roll craft. After all, toilet paper rolls are ubiquitous in every household! I had fun fashioning dog faces inspired by Ishaa’s adorable illustrations and figuring out ways to make therapy dog vests and little wheels for a two-legged friend. Here are directions for a kid-friendly version of these cardboard creations:

Materials:

  • Cardboard rolls
  • Cardstock or construction paper in different colors
  • Paint or markers
  • Scissors
  • Glue stick and hot glue

Directions:

  1. Dog face: On cardstock, draw a heart-shaped face and cut out. Draw and cut out tear-shaped or pointy ears. Position and use glue stick ti adhere ears to your doggy head.
  2. Dog body: trim the cardboard roll to the length that you want. Decorate your dog’s body (cardboard roll) with paint or markers.
  3. Tail and legs: Cut out two strips from a different cardboard roll. These strong, curled pieces will become the legs that can support the body. Fold the end of each strips to make feet. You can cut out a tail from the same roll or from cardstock.
  4. Put it all together: This requires an adult and hot glue! Adhere all the pieces to make your new canine companion.

For Maria Gianferrari, dog love is the most pawsitive medicine of all! To Dogs, with Love is Maria’s seventh book featuring beloved canine characters, following Being a Dog: A Tail of Mindfulness, Operation Rescue Dog, Hello Goodbye Dog, Officer Katz and Houndini, and the Penny & Jelly series.

Ishaa Lobo is the illustrator of The Mystery of the Love List by Sarah Glenn Marsh; To Dogs, with Love byMaria Gianferrari; and There’s Always Room for One More by Robyn McGrath. Her next book, Bigfoot’s Big Heart, written by Sarah Glenn Marsh, will be released next year. See her work at ishaalobo.com. 

Book Craft and GIVEAWAY: Fungi Grow and Mushroom House Craft

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Fungi Grow by Maria Gianferrari and illustrated by Diana Sudyka is a delightful homage to the funny, fantastic world of mushrooms. Maria’s winsome rhymes and fascinating factoids, matched with Diana’s dreamy, mulchy paintings are as delightful as a walk in the woods and as surprising as spotting a Red Chanterelle!

Inspired by Fungi Grow, this Mushroom House craft uses all of my favorite ingredients: whimsy, simplicity and recyclables! I pilfered the recycling bin for a mix of cardboard textures, and that classic craft mainstay–the cardboard toilet paper roll (no one ever runs out of these.)

MATERIALS:

  • Cardboard toilet paper roll
  • Cardstock paper (or cereal box-cardboard)
  • Scissors
  • Hot-glue gun or glue stick
  • Paint

Optional: cupcake liners, coffee filters, corks, whole-punched paper, origami paper, textured cardboard odds and ends–get silly and creative!

DIRECTIONS:

  1. With scissors, cut a curved “door” at the base of your toilet paper roll (leaving one side attached to serve as the “hinge.”
  2. For the mushroom cap, cut out a circle of your card stock or cereal box cardboard (or any paper of your choice). Circles can be lopsided and imperfect. Start big and trim smaller as desired.
  3. Cut one slit to the center of your circle. This will allow you to overlap the paper and create your cap.
  4. If you are using card stock or cardboard, use hot glue to adhere (adults only). Thinner paper will hold with glue stick. Confused about this bit? Watch the video below:

5. Glue the mushroom cap to its stem.
6. Now is the time to paint! Let it get messy. Add bits of paper, buttons, beads–bedazzle!
7. Finally, invite little critters to move inside. . .

Which mushrooms are real?

Maria Gianferrari’s yard is full of fungi. From branching corals and pointy stinkhorns to smoky puffballs and colorful jack-o’-lanterns, everything’s coming up mushrooms! Someday she hopes to find some morels—she’ll even share them with a squirrel. Maria’s favorite edible mushroom is the hearty portobello. She lives in Massachusetts.
Diana Sudyka grew up hearing stories of her grandfather, an ardent forager, bringing home chicken of the woods and maitake mushrooms for meals. Her favorite edible mushroom is the delicious morel that popped up in her yard last spring. Diana lives with her family in Evanston, Illinois.