Jan Thornhill brings the great auk back to the Atlantic for Halifax's TD Kids Book Club
A group of Grade 6 students in Halifax met with Jan Thornhill to talk about the rise and demise of the Atlantic bird, the great auk. Thornhill documented the bird's extinction in The Tragic Tale of the Great Auk, which won the 2017 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award. The illustrated book packs all the depth of a natural history text into a few illustrative paragraphs and vivid drawings, featuring the extinct creature.
Today on <a href="https://twitter.com/Mainstreethfx?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Mainstreethfx</a>, meet our <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TDReads?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TDReads</a> book club featuring Ms. Everitt's 6th grade kids -- or Great Auks? -- from <a href="https://twitter.com/Duc_dAnville?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Duc_dAnville</a> School <a href="https://t.co/sLBnMJXqd1">pic.twitter.com/sLBnMJXqd1</a>
—@CBC_FeliciaOn Oct. 23, 2017, students at Duc d'Anville School got to hear from Thornhill at one of six TD Kids Book Club visits happening across the country. Mainstreet's Bob Murphy hosted the regional event, where Thornhill shared her expertise and love of animals with young readers, and talked about her work as a writer.
Students also expanded their vocabulary along with their knowledge of Canada's natural history. The class participated in an exercise inspired by the picture book and compiled a list of definitions of scientific terms. Their answers aired as part of a Mainstreet episode in a segment titled "Auk Word Moments."
