Update on the Real Hank the Tank or is it Henrietta?

I have an update on the infamous bear who is the subject of my book, Hank the Tank: Animal in the Spotlight. Hank was back in the news this past summer after being captured in Lake Tahoe and has received a name change. Hank is now Henrietta. How and why did this happen? 

According to the Wild Animal Sanctuary NEWS and an NPR Report from August, DNA evidence proved that one of the “Hanks” in the news in 2022 was a female, which the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) identified as Bear 64F. By monitoring the bear with a tracking collar, authorities determined that she was responsible for 21 or more of the fifty bear invasions between California and Nevada in the Lake Tahoe Area. According to NPR, she spent the winter months in a den under a home in the Tahoe Keys.

Due to intense public support, the life of Bear 64F was spared. After being captured by CDFW in the summer of 2023, that agency, in collaboration with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, allowed The Wild Animal Sanctuary (TWAS) to transport the bear to a 230-acre Wild Animal Refuge outside of Springfield, CO. When she arrived, she got a beautiful new home and a new name – Henrietta. Unfortunately, this type of rescue is the exception rather than the rule. Hundreds of "nuisance bears" are euthanized every year, and places like TWAS can't possibly rescue all of them. Not only that but relocated bears tend to either try to find their way back home or wreak havoc in their new location.

The Wild Animal Refuge is a beautiful 230-acre wooded property in Colorado. Henrietta will receive plenty of food, so they are expecting she will be content to stay put. It is one of the properties belonging to The Wild Animal Sanctuary. Although visitors are not allowed at the Refuge, they are welcome and encouraged to visit the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, CO. It is located about 30 miles north of Denver and is open almost every day of the year. Ticket sales and donations help to support the mission of this important non-profit charity. If you can’t visit in person, check out their website at www.WildAnimalSanctuary.org and read about other exciting animal rescues.

To learn more about the story behind Hank and Henrietta and to learn what you can do to help keep bears wild, check out my book, Hank the Tank: Animal in the Spotlight and the 164-page Activity Book. Watch for the Audio Book coming soon. If you purchase books at Bookshop.org. proceeds may go to your favorite local bookstore. Hank is also available through Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Read about a special gift I have created for my readers HERE. It is based on the adventures of Hank and Henrietta and includes a student Illustration Caption Contest. Sign up for my newsletter HERE and receive a free copy of my first decodable book, No Gift for Man.

TEACH MY KID TO READ Offers Library Support for Decodable Books

Teach My Kid to Read is a non-profit organization with a mission to help libraries across the country gain access to decodable books.  They have started with a campaign to help 25 libraries access decodable books for emerging and struggling readers, and not just access, but also education on the topic. They currently have a waiting list of 135 schools and public libraries seeking help establishing decodable book collections. You can learn more about their initiative and contribute to their campaign at Teach My Kid To Read (TMKTR). 

Last week, Marion Waldman, director of TMKTR pictured on the right, attended the New York Library Association Conference in Albany, NY. She reported that most of the librarians told her their patrons were asking for decodable books. Librarians prefer decodable books to leveled texts once they learn how decodable books are specifically aligned to students' learning skills. 

Teach My Kid to Read wants to help change the culture of learning to read to include decodable books that provide practice in learning the specific skills children have been taught. They know that librarians are uniquely positioned to provide literacy hubs, collections of decodable books, and information about how decodable books work. 

Sometimes it's tricky for librarians to tell the difference between a phonics book, a leveled reader, and a decodable book based on a specific scope and sequence. Teach My Kid to Read helps librarians demystify this process. New legislation nationwide has schools scrambling to find resources for struggling readers. TMKTR can help. Use the QR code below to get more information about TMKTR and the Decodable Book Alliance.

Watch Too Many Kids Struggle to Read, the video by Maggie Bevars, a college student with dyslexia, who shares her struggles and successes. She talks about the importance of providing accessible books for students with dyslexia. The video is on the "Teach My Kid to Read" YouTube Channel. You can also find her video at All Kids Deserve to Read.

I met Marion in person at the International Dyslexia Conference in October. She is on the right below, and I am on the left. We are with Larissa Phillips, one of the authors at the booth for Phonic Books.

Jill Lauren, member of the Decodable Book Alliance and creator of Whole Phonics books, and Marion gave a poster presentation at IDA on "Engaging Libraries to Create Equitable Literacy Solutions for Early and Struggling Readers." Their poster provided practical solutions for parents and teachers to encourage their local and school libraries to find and provide decodable texts. 

I am also a member of the Decodable Book Alliance. I am particularly interested in decodable books because they are the focus of my new HOT ROD series (Higher Order Thinking through the Reading of Decodables). Check out my website at www.wordtravelpress.com for more information and to find the Scope and Sequence of the series.  I aim to provide resources for older struggling readers, fourth grade through adult. For more information about decodable books, check out my page on Choosing the Right Decodable Books for Your Students. It includes a list of several publishers. 

My new book, Hank the Tank, is available now at Barnes and Noble and Amazon in e-book, hardcover, and paperback. Watch for the audiobook coming soon. The 164-page Activity Book is on sale through Cyber Monday, November 27th on Amazon. It includes 50+ activities and games for Decoding, Reading Comprehension, Writing, and speech. I'm working on a special freebie to encourage writing and illustrating over winter break. Watch this blog and my newsletter for information coming soon. Sign up for my newsletter HERE and receive a free copy of my first decodable book, No Gift for Man.

Exploring Authentic Writing Experiences at ASHA

I will travel to Boston, MA, in one week for the American Speech-Language and Hearing 2023 Conference (#ASHA2023).  If you are going, check out Booth 1254 for Word Travel Press along with my presentation on Saturday afternoon from 4-5 p.m. entitled "Story Frames for Teaching Literacy: Using Narratives as a Bridge to Informational Text." The presentation is largely based on Chapter 7 of my Story Frames book - "From Story Writing to Expository Writing: Bridging the Gap with Narrative Nonfiction," but the strategies I discuss may be used with any program. 

I gave a similar presentation twice this year already in author/educator panels with Jolene Gutierrez and Beth Anderson. See my interview with Beth, where she talks about The Resilience of English Language Learners. Then check out my blog post with Jolene on The Resilience of Bionic Beasts. I'm excited to announce that CCIRA has asked us to present this same author panel on February 8-10, 2024 in Westminster, CO. The specific day will be determined later. All the attention on this topic confirms my belief that students need help making the leap from stories to informational text in both reading and writing.

In addition to discussing ways that narrative strategies may be used to enhance understanding of informational text and vice versa, I will also discuss ideas for exploring authentic writing opportunities, including crafting a "Letter to the Author" that follows a format similar to a short essay. One of the most successful writing activities I ever conducted for struggling learners was in a tenth-grade special education Language Arts class. It was a Letter to Author Cynthia Leitich Smith that arose organically after we read the graphic novel based on her book, Tantalize. Because they knew their letters were going to a real person, the author of a book they enjoyed, everyone participated in a way I hadn't seen with any other writing activity. Students were eager to edit because they wanted their letters to be perfect. Some even brought in special stationery.

I always get excited when I learn about opportunities for students to explore authentic writing experiences. Jill Lauren, creator of the Whole Phonics series of decodable texts, is a member of the Decodable Book Alliance that I joined recently when I started writing decodable books. Jill is holding a contest through November 30th where students can win a puzzle by illustrating a scene from one of her books and writing a one-sentence description. Find out more HERE. If you don't have any of Jill's books, don't worry. You can get a free copy of A Pig and His Wig by visiting her website at  https://whole-phonics.com/ and joining her mailing list. She offers 4 other decodable texts on her partnership page with ReadWorks. These free titles include Zac's Pal (short "a"), Rod's Box (short "o"), Buzz, Buzz (short "u"), and Get Up! (short "e"). You will want more of her books, but you can start now with these for free. 

Often, decodable books lack real-world application, but Whole-Phonics does a good job of bridging this gap by partnering with ReadWorks to provide background knowledge. That's exactly the gap I'm attempting to fill with my HOT ROD decodables for older readers. 

Writing contests provide simple but compelling opportunities for authentic writing. If you are wondering what decodable books are, check out the article on my website at https://www.wordtravelpress.com/. Go to the tab at the top for Resources>Decodable Books. You can also learn about the HOT ROD series (Higher Order Thinking through the Reading of Decodables).

I was already working on a December Poetry Giveaway to encourage reading and writing over winter break when I read about Jill's contest,  I decided to turn my Poetry Freebie into a contest starting on December 1 after Jill's contest ends. If you want to be sure to get the latest information about that contest, as well as other freebies, articles, and book news, join my Author Newsletter list. You will automatically receive a PDF of my first decodable book, No Gift for Man. You may unsubscribe at any time.

The Decodable Book Alliance works in conjunction with Teach My Kid to Read which is a 501c3 dedicated to educating librarians about the importance of decodable text. My next post will be about their experiences at the recent New York Library Association Conference, so stay tuned.

HINT: My December poem giveaway is called, A Long Winter's Nap and was inspired by a mother bear hibernating in a most unusual location.