Where the Wild Things Are

The National Park Service provides excellent learning opportunities at Evening Programs throughout the parks, and we took advantage of several at the Lake McDonald Lodge Auditoruium while in Glacier National Park. One featured a local actress portraying Josephine Doody, the "Bootleg Lady of Glacier National Park," another focused on characteristics of glaciers, and a third put the spotlight on an endangered tree (the whitebark pine) and a bird species (Clark's Nutcracker) whose caches of seeds (pinenuts) help the tree replenish.

The latter was also featured in a documentary we viewed prior to visiting the park, so we were especially interested in Ranger Becky's presentation. What I really loved, though, was how she integrated just the right illustrations from Where the Wild Things Are to introduce the main points of her program. It was her favorite book growing up, she said. When I watch children read and reread their favorite books, I can only imagine the impact those books will have in their grown-up lives. I could imagine a younger Ranger Becky reading about Max and the Wild Things as I listened to her connect the book to a topic of great importance to her and the environment.

For more information about Whitebark Pine, go to:

http://www.nrmsc.usgs.gov/research/whitebar.htm

For more information about the Clark's Nutcracker, go to:

http://www.nps.gov/brca/naturescience/clarksnutcracker.htm