Saturday, October 25, 2014

Zombies in the Real World?

(Zombie walk Pittsburgh 29 Oct 2006CC BY-SA 3.0view termsOriginal work by MissDeeCS; Original uploader at en.wikipedia was PNG crusade bot; The PNG crusade bot automatically converted this image to the more efficient en:PNGformat. The image was previously uploaded as "Zombie894.gif". - This is my own photo. Originally from en.wikipedia; description page is/was here.)

As Halloween approaches, zombie images and events appear. My own town is hosting a Zombie Walk tonight!

Zombies are the walking dead, beings who seem alive and yet are not, controlled by some supernatural force. Which leads us to the question, "Are zombies real?"

That's the question that children's non-fiction author Rebecca L. Johnson asks to begin her book, Zombie Makers: True Stories of Nature's Undead.


In this award-winning book, Johnson tells us how fungus "invades" a fly to support itself and turns the fly into a mechanically-moving, vacant creature. Johnson also explains how parasites and worms do their work to make "zombies" out of other living beings.

Johnson's science background draws her to write about topics like this, making them interesting and accurate for young readers. Many of the zombie discoveries occurred when scientists noticed something and continued to observe. Johnson writes in her author's note for this book: "Nature has no shortage of wonders. Scientists are finding new ones all the time. Even as I finished this book, a new zombie maker was discovered that infects honeybees. Who knows how many more are out there, just waiting to be found?"

Be ever watchful and have a happy Halloween!

Here's a classic from the Kingston Trio, "Zombie Jamboree"








Monday, October 13, 2014

Many Ways to Tell a Story




Today South Dakota celebrates Native American Day, as it has since 1990. Communities across the state commemorate this day in different ways, including with storytelling.

I was privileged recently to hear and see Lakota Kevin Locke , who told stories orally, with his flute,



and with his hoop dancing. In each case, he talked about all people being one and challenged each of us to be a bridge of understanding from one person to another. With 28 hoops, he created an eagle, a globe, a flower, a ladder, and a whirl of color!


He demonstrated his message of the importance of each individual by removing a hoop from one of his formations. The formation collapsed. 


This kind of storytelling--hoop dancing--takes a lot of energy! Kevin does it with such joy and grace, it is a pleasure to watch.  See him in this performance from last year:



What other kinds of storytelling have you experienced? Which ones are most meaningful to you?

(photos copyright 2014, Jane Heitman Healy)