Rainbows to Snowflakes

Activities for Sometimes Snow Falls in the Summer

Non-Fiction - Education
42 Pages
Reviewed on 05/06/2014
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Author Biography

Deb Troehler has worn many hats over the years—teacher, award winning fabric artist, author, illustrator, designer, mother, and grandmother. Although each hat is unique, they are all stitched with a common thread—Deb’s connections to the world and the people in her life.

With 15 years as a special education teacher, Deb taps into her educational experience to create heartwarming stories, creative teaching tools, and a variety of teaching strategies for use in the classroom. After leaving the classroom due to a return of cancer, Deb moved to West Michigan to spend time with her husband’s family. To help make ends meet, she wrote instructional material and stories for several trade magazines such as Doll Crafter, Doll Reader, and Soft Dolls and Animals. Eventually, the magic of West Michigan motivated Deb to put pen to paper and record the stories inspired by her treks up and down the shores of Lake Michigan. When Deb’s stories were requested by magazines and a private publisher, she felt encouraged to take the plunge into the world of children’s book publishing. Her first book, Chipo’s Gift, is a tribute to a friend that had emigrated from South Africa.

When her grandson was born, Deb and her husband returned to Virginia to be closer to her growing family. Sadly, shortly after they left Michigan, Deb and her husband lost their beloved Ella, the best mother-in-law and mother anyone could hope to have. This great loss encouraged Deb to publish her next literary offering—Sometimes Snow Falls in the Summer, a gentle tale of a granddaughter’s visit to her Nana’s home. If you happen to read this book, look closely at the framed picture hanging behind Nana’s chair. The cross-stitched artwork contained within the frame was created by Deb’s mother-in-law, Ella.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Rainbows to Snowflakes: Activities for Sometimes Snow Falls in the Summer is a non-fiction educational book for teachers and parents of young children written by Deb Troehler. This is a companion book to a book about a young girl, Ella, entitled Sometimes Snow Falls in the Summer. Troehler presents a number of experiments and exercises based on nature, arithmetic and science. One series of experiments uses cattails to demonstrate the concept of mass. Children are shown intact cattails as well as the seeds and are given tasks to find the weight and volume displacement of the seeds when they're closely packed on the stem and when they're loose. Other projects are concerned with snow, ice and water, and how the volume of each differs, and with the traditional things found in each season of the year.

Deb Troehler's educational activities book is filled with fun science for young children. Their teachers or parents will also enjoy the experiments and projects that entertain while they inform. The rainbow-making instructions are sure to be a crowd-pleaser on all levels. While it's geared for teachers, I would recommend this book for parents who want to get involved in their children's learning processes or are homeschooling. Abstract concepts such as volume are made simple and easy to understand. Some of these projects are great rainy day or lazy summer afternoon projects -- they'd even be a welcome breath of summer on a wintry day when the snow really is falling. The projects in Rainbows to Snowflakes: Activities for Sometimes Snow Falls in the Summer make learning and exploring nature fun. It's highly recommended.