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Lee Ann has been an interpretive naturalist and environmental educator since 1980. Lee Ann is currently the director of Eastman Nature Center in the 5400 acre Elm Creek Park Reserve (near Osseo, Minnesota) with the Three Rivers Park District. She supervises a staff of eight, trails, habitat, and exhibits, as well as teaching school and public classes. She is an occasional youth classes instructor at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul. She has served three terms on the Minnesota Environmental Education Advisory Board and was asked to be the current chair. She served for 10 years on the Board of the Minnesota Naturalists’ Association. She was a Board member and past president of the Minnesota Association for Environmental Education. Lee Ann has given presentations at regional and national associations’ conferences as well as helped plan several state environmental education conferences. She also writes columns for employee and association newsletters. In 1998, Lee Ann was awarded the annual Excellent Employee award from her Park District. Lee Ann has led numerous nature tours to Costa Rica, where she owns a farm in the cloud forest. She is an avid world traveler, gardener, photographer, and bird watcher. She has a B. A. degree in biology from Carleton College in Northfield, MN and a Master’s degree in biology/ecology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Nature's Yucky was her first book. She was honored when it was a finalist for the Minnesota Book Awards in the children's nonfiction category. Nature’s Yucky! 2: The Desert Southwest was the winner of the USABookNews.com’s “Children’s Picture Book: Paperback Non-Fiction” Best Books award 2007 in November 2007. Negotiations are underway for a third Yucky book featuring animals of the Eastern U.S. |
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Nature's Yucky! 2: the Desert Southwest This follow-up to the disgustingly popular Nature's Yucky! takes young naturalists and other lovers of foul facts and icky information on an expedition to the American Southwest. Nature's Yucky! 2 introduces readers to sixteen desert creatures and vividly answers such scintillating scientific questions as: How does the regal horned lizard squirt blood from its eyes? Why do dung beetles eat poop? Why does the piglike javelina smell like stinky socks? Astonishingly detailed illustrations capture not just Mother Nature's revolting qualities but her stunning beauty. With its "Eeewww!!! That's YUCKY" refrain, the book is especially fun for reading aloud. Serious scholars will enjoy gathering further information about each animal in the "More Fun Facts" section. Those with an appetite for further yuckiness can use the kid-friendly recipe for raven-gut upside-down cake or sing the Nature's Yucky!" song. There is also a list of books and Web sites to encourage further scientific exploration. Awards |
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Nature's Yucky: Gross Stuff That Helps Nature Work Reading Guide available from Minnesota Storytime Did you know that honey is really bee barf? That grizzly bears sometimes eat rotting meat? Or that turkey vultures poop on their own feet? Nature's Yucky uses kids' natural fascination with the stinky, the gross, and the icky to help them learn more about wild animals and why critters behave as they do. Younger children will love having the book read to them, while older children and adults will also enjoy the "Animal Facts" section in the back, which has more in-depth information on the featured animals. Kids of all ages will get a kick out of learning to identify the droppings of various animals by making (and eating!) "scat cookies." Lovely watercolor illustrations balance out the "yuckiness," reminding us that nature is not just disgusting, but beautiful, too. Awards |
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