Bright Ideas
Holiday Book Fair!
November 30, 2021
It’s that time of year again: time to treat your family and friends (and yourself!) to a special gift! And what makes a better gift than a good book?
Natural Start is excited to host our second annual Holiday Book Fair, featuring newly released resource books from Dr. Carla Gull and Peter Dargatz and children’s book recommendations from speech-language pathologist and self-proclaimed book lover, Ranita Anderson.
We’ll kick off the event with one of our favorite books from 2021, Fatima’s Great Outdoors, written and read by Ambreen Tariq. Then, we’ll hand it over to our talented guest speakers who will share some of their favorite titles from this year, including books they wrote! We’ll wrap up the hour by inviting all of you to share your favorite books, from new releases to old favorites. Come ready with your best book recommendations!
Watch a recording of the Book Fair below:
Meet the Presenters
Ranita is speech-language pathologist who specializes in working with families of children with autism and a range of other developmental needs around communication and language. She is also passionate about literacy development and diverse representation in children's literature. Ranita is working to take her passion for the outdoors and knowledge in child development and research to support the next generation of environmental leaders and ensuring individuals with all abilities and their families are able to explore the outdoors. She desires to develop a nature/forest school to engage multigenerational recreation and learning within and about natural spaces.
While his claim to fame might be as a retired racing sausage for the Milwaukee Brewers, Peter Dargatz is prouder for being a father of three nature-loving children, a national board certified teacher, and the coordinator of a well-respected, public school nature kindergarten program at Woodside Elementary in Sussex, Wisconsin. Transitioning his classroom from the inside to outside has allowed him to create and develop his “4P’s” philosophy, focusing on play-based, place-based, project-based, and personalized learning. This philosophy’s foundations are cemented in play, citizen science, service learning, and community collaborations. Peter’s first book, Teaching Off Trail, was released by Redleaf Press in November, 2021.
Dr. Carla Gull, full-time faculty at University of Phoenix, has been in education for over 20 years and hosts the Facebook group Loose Parts Play and the podcast Loose Parts Nature Play. She leads professional development and academic research in outdoor classrooms, loose parts, tree climbing, and nature play. She is coauthor of the recently released book, Loose Parts Learning in K-3 Classrooms.
