Author: Lydia Lukidis
Illustrator: Juan Calle Valez
Ages: 8-10 years, Grades 3-5 (according to publisher)
​Publisher: Capstone
Description from Capstone:
Deep, deep down, at the very bottom of the ocean, lies a secret world. Through lyrical narration, this spare-text STEM picture book takes readers on a journey to a place very few humans have ever been--the Mariana Trench. The imagined voyage debunks scary myths about this mysterious place with surprising and beautiful truths about life at Earth's deepest point. Deep, Deep Down shows a vibrant world far below, and teaches readers how interconnected our lives are to every place on the planet.

Request the book at your local library so they know to get it if they don't already have it. You can also purchase a copy for a school or classroom near you to help children everywhere fall in love with the ocean and all the wonders beneath the surface.

As a new Certified Daylight Saving Witch, Solina’s time to shine had arrived.

She had carefully collected sunbeams in preparation for her first official Daylight Saving Day. That day, Daylight Saving Witches around the world release sunbeams to add an extra hour of sunlight to each day for months.

On the big day, Solina took a deep breath and her golden jar outside, then lifted the lid.

Nothing happened.

She shook it.  Whacked the bottom. Jabbed inside with a spoon.

“Come out!”

The sunbeams refused.

“Aarghh! I already failed.” She threw the jar down. Then…

A little beam reached out…toward a flower! The flower’s leaves stretched to soak in the warm light.

Solina remembered her training.

​“The extra sunlight is for the plants! Holding the jar near flowers encourages the sunbeams to go!”
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 She scooted the jar closer to the flower and beamed as her sunbeams went on their way.

Every nature kid's childhood includes catching roly polies (aka pill bugs). I certainly passed plenty of sweaty hours in the Louisiana heat looking under logs, leaves and bark to find the cool little crawlies. So, when my little nature boy came home from camp (at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences) with instructions for a roly poly house to put in the garden, I was just as excited as he was.

The process was simple: Hollow out half a potato, put it in the garden, sprinkle with a little water, cover with leaves, then check after a few days to see if there are any pill bugs under the potato. It worked! Cool! So, I had an idea for an old candy jar we had in the shed. What if we did the exact same thing inside the candy jar? The pill bugs can't walk on glass, so they can't climb out. The lid is not air tight, so there will be plenty of air flow. The experiment began...

A little soil on the bottom...sprinkle of water...hollowed out potato half...leaf litter...some decorative sticks, moss, a pine cone. Looks good! Next, catch some new pets. We put the two pill bugs we had into the jar, then found a couple more. 

Over the next 9 months: The potato grew (which was cool), the pill bugs crawled around sometimes (but stayed hidden a lot of the time), we replaced the potato once (the new one grew, too), the moss dried up, some mold grew (we cleaned it out). A few days ago, we decided to freshen everything up. We weren't sure if there were any bugs still alive, so we caught some new ones. During the refresh, we found one roly poly balled up inside the jar. My son thought it was no longer on this mortal plane, so he decided to open the shell. When he tried to pry it open, legs started kicking! It was still alive! His name is Frank.

This roly poly biome (Minecraft reference, IYKYK) terrarium has been a fun project. My son has kept these "pets" in his room for months. This little bit of nature and natural processes kept close to observe has allowed us opportunities to talk about all sorts of awesome topics. Life, life cycles, death, decay, food, waste, evaporation, insect anatomy....so much. Thank goodness for Google.

UPDATE: Winners were just announced for Vivian Kirkfield's 2023 #50PreciousWords Contest, and my story was on the list! 

I read through the list of Honorable Mentions, feeling a bit of disappointment at the end when I didn't find my name. Then I read the list of winners and unbelievably found my name there!

I set a goal of entering two writing contests this year. #50PreciousWords is my first! This is the micro-est micro-fiction I've ever written, and it was super fun. Thank you Vivian Kirkland for the opportunity!

For anyone who has never heard of this, I encourage you to go to twitter and search #50PreciousWords. Then simply enjoy reading through all the delicious bite-sized stories talented writers have posted. You won't regret it.

This is a big personal milestone. I have a micro-fiction story and an illustration that have been accepted for publication in the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Carolinas Ignite the Spark Micro-Fiction Vol. 2 Book!

This will be the first fiction and the first illustration of mine to be published.

SCBWI Carolinas, and specifically the Ignite the Spark group, has been an amazing writing community. They are incredibly supportive, and the monthly ITS meetings have been an effective tool in my creative process. 

​The publication date has not been announced yet, but most likely later this year. I’ll have an update on that soon. I can't wait to share this with everyone!

We don't just have dinner in our house. We have dinner and entertainment. Two activities are always on the program: Dinosaur Comedy Club and Dinosaur Storytime. During joke time, we go around the table taking turns telling jokes. When nobody can come up with a new joke, my 7-year-old launches into some fantastical story involving his giant imaginary T. rex friend Rex.
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Each family member has become pretty practiced at crafting the dinnertime dino jokes. We've had to learn the source material. Learn what source material my youngest son also knows and likes (VERY important). We've had to brush up on the finer points of puns. Get the age level, silliness level, and nonsense level just right.

Here are a few of my little one's favorites:

• Which dinosaur is getting ready to go on a long trip? Ans: The PACK-ycephalasaurus! (Pachycephalosaurus)
• Which dinosaur loves to drive? Ans: The CAR-charodontosaurus! (Carcharodontosaurus)
• Which dinosaur always makes a mess? Ans: The T. Wrecks! (T. rex)
• Which dinosaur is a secret agent? Ans: The SPY-nosaurus! (Spinosaurus)
• Which dinosaur has to walk on crutches? Ans: A Sprained ANKLE-osaurus! (Ankylosaurus)

Then we have the non-dinosaur prehistoric creature jokes, because my little guy loves all the prehistoric critters...

• Which prehistoric marine reptile is the most polite? Ans: A PLEASE-iosaur! (Plesiosaur)
• Which prehistoric mammal loves to go to the dentist? Ans: A SMILE-odon (Smilodon)
• Which prehistoric mammal lived on Old McDonald’s farm? Ans: Eo-Eo-maia! (Eomaia)

 
One of the best things about living with an imaginative child is that he is a walking, talking writing prompt. A marvelous muse. If his mind is whirring with ideas, you better believe he will pull you into his wild world of colossal creativity…whether you like it or not!
 
I, for one, like it. The dazzling world he’s invited us into is one I forgot that every adult still has a lifetime pass to enter. One with dinosaurs driving cars, walking on crutches, and packing suitcases for nice vacations.