Bonnethead shark dermal denticles magnified 350X

I used an electron microscope for the first time recently to take a picture of shark skin.  I’m not sure why this excited me so much, but I guess it felt a little like the first time I went scuba diving – like I had managed to sneak into a world where I didn’t really belong.  As a kid I remember seeing photographs taken from an electron microscope and I always imagined some prestigious scientist, locked in the depths of a high-security laboratory, peering down into the eyepiece of a house-sized microscope and revealing the tiniest secrets that nature had tried so desperately to hide.  Suddenly, I was that scientist – only, without the prestige or the high-security laboratory, and the microscope was only about the size of a computer.  And the process was completely different from my schooldays’ experience when I’d throw a sample on a slide, wet it, cover with a cover slip and stick it under a light microscope.  No, in fact, the pinky-nail sized sample of shark skin had to be completely dry so it could be glued to what almost looked like a metal thumbtack.  Then, I put the skin into a vacuum-sealed machine that performed what I can only describe as a magic trick as it produced electrical current and purple light to cover the shark skin in a microscopic layer of gold dust.  That’s right, I had to make gold-plated shark skin in order for this whole process to work!  Apparently, anything put into an electron microscope needs to have a metallic surface to produce a proper image.  The microscope fired a focused beam of electrons down onto the gold-coated shark skin, and the electrons then bounced back up into the imager and gave me a look at the bonnethead shark skin magnified large enough to see every detail of the tiny, tooth-like scales called dermal denticles.  Amazing!  You can’t see it with your naked eye, but these tiny scales are what make shark skin feel rough to the touch.  Dermal denticles are one of the defining characteristics of sharks, and I’m using this photograph in my film The Shark Riddle, the newest episode of my half-hour children’s series The Riddle Solvers.

A winning poster from Maire Elementary's poster contest to encourage reading

Ahoy all ye book lovers! We recently visited Lewis Maire Elementary in Michigan, who had a poster contest to raise awareness about reading. Every year, the school celebrates March is reading month by inviting an author to visit, and then the students read throughout the month (with pledges) to raise money toward the March of Dimes. Part of this year’s festivities included a challenge to create posters that encouraged reading, based on our children’s book A Pirate’s Quest and movie The Riddle in a Bottle. Why not use pirates and ocean creatures to encourage reading? Before each assembly, we were lucky enough to judge the posters and choose a few winners. I must say that I was very impressed – lots of great ocean creatures, like the octopus holding books in his tentacles. I particularly liked the student who created “book-head” sharks, which look like hammerhead sharks, but have books for heads.  There were also many animated pirates hooked on books, with reading treasure, sailing to reading destinations . . . Here are a few of the students’ pirate and ocean reading masterpieces.

Laura and Robert Sams pose with reading-themed poster winners after the afternoon author assembly

A Book is a Treasure Poster

"Book Head" Sharks Encourage Reading

Grab a Good Book

Pirate Reading Poster called Read a Whale of a Tail

Rrrrrrrrread it Poster

A Pirate-themed Poster: Read a Book It's Better Than Treasure!

We didn’t get pictures of all the posters, but I think you can see there were some great, creative ideas, which were proudly displayed in the school’s halls after our assembly. Congratulations to all ye poster-making scalliwags!

The juvenile pileated woodpeckers were filmed at Kensington Metro Park in Michigan. My brother felt very lucky to spend a couple hours filming them, since they are often shy and quick to fly from tree to tree. My grandmother loves pileated woodpeckers, and she didn’t see one in Michigan until several years ago, so we consider ourselves fortunate filmmakers!

Well folks, what do toasters have to do with gardening? And what do toasters have to do with sharks? And where can you get a shark microphone? If you are wondering about any of these questions, I suggest you watch this short, shark-related piece. When I was visiting the Sanibel Sea School to film children at a shark camp for The Riddle Solvers shark episode, I conducted some behind-the-scenes interviews for fun, in the blazing hot Florida sun, and this is what happened. And I should mention that you’ll see some stunning HD footage of sharks, from the Save Our Seas Foundation’s amazing library of footage.

Laura and Robert Sams Acting As Shark Dentists

“Are you a shark? Are you worried about constantly losing your teeth and having to see a dentist? Well don’t be. You don’t need a dentist. You’re a shark!”

That is the opening line to a short sketch we are filming called “Your Teeth and You,” featuring a 1950’s dentist (my brother Rob) and a dental assistant (me), who teach sharks about the different kinds of teeth they have. The sketch is for our new episode of The Riddle Solvers, and we just finished filming it in a lovely dental office in Oregon, where we were fortunate enough to find people who would let us take over their surgical room for a day. We were also lucky to work with a great makeup artist who could give Robert a dashing mustache, and who could give me very styled hair (and darker than usual eyebrows).

So why film a sketch about shark teeth? We are trying to bring the science and mystery of sharks to families in a funny, tangible way. And shark teeth are amazing. Shark teeth are mysterious and exciting to hold in your hand. They are symbols of beauty and adventure. When I was a girl, holding a shark tooth was a gateway to imagining the thrills of the deep blue sea.

Shark teeth are arranged like a conveyor belt for the most part, and some sharks can lose up to 30,000 teeth in a lifetime. Yes, one more than 29,999. That is a lot of teeth. (As Rob says in the sketch, in a very bad-joke kind of way, “That’s a lot of money from the shark toothfairy.”) Shark teeth come in all sorts of shapes and sizes too. They are fabulous examples of how you can learn about an animal’s diet from the size/shape of its dentition. Some shark teeth are like needles for holding prey, some are like knives for cutting prey, some are simply round for crushing shells . . . The Save Our Seas Foundation has a wonderful Sharks of the World Field Guide, which features all the known species of sharks, along with a sketch of every shark’s tooth shape.

If there were shark dentists, they would certainly have a diverse job, servicing so many kinds of tooth shapes. And it would probably take a long time to floss all the teeth in a shark’s jaw. I do think it would be frustrating that after cleaning and flossing a shark’s teeth, the teeth would soon fall out and be replaced anyway . . . . yes, it’s a good thing I chose a career other than a shark dentist.

Poster of Happy Teeth on the March, created as a prop by Dave Cain for our shark dentist's sketch

I think my favorite part of filming the scene was watching our right-hand man, Dave Cain, create a brilliant poster to hang in the dentist’s office, to cover up the huge television set there. We call it “Happy Teeth on the March!” The poster is now hanging in our own office.

I will leave you with the last line of the sketch. “Whether you’ve got cutters or graspers, crushers or mashers, slicers or dicers or just smiling nicers . . . be proud. You’re a shark.”

Robert sleeps in a bed on the beach during the shark lullaby, on the Oregon coast

I am going to state the obvious here – cameras don’t like water.  Water and electronics hardly ever mix in a good way.  Cameras also don’t like sand.  Sand is very tiny and very good at finding all of the tiny crevices on a camera.  Knowing this, then why on earth did we decide to make a movie on the beach?  Because it looked awesome – that’s  why!

Riddle Solvers Take 7

We just finished filming for eight days out on the beautiful and rugged Oregon coast.  We chose places with wicked names, like The Devil’s Punchbowl and Heceta Head, which I think translates to “even worse than The Devil’s Punchbowl.”  Every day, we had to know exactly what the tide was doing, because at high tide our filming locations were quite literally underwater…several feet underwater.  We also had to know what the weather was doing, because late October and early November is when Mother Nature turns her weather machine from “good” to “bad.”

Robert chisels a megalodon tooth out of rock

So after eight days, our crew of ten returned home soggy and sandy and exhausted from hauling our riddle solving stand up and down a flight of 102 stairs.  But it was all worth it to solve a mysterious riddle found inside an ancient shark journal.  Stay tuned for our newest Riddle Solvers episode: The Shark Riddle.

The Johnson Family Pirates

The winner of the Family Heirloom Story category is Makayla Johnson, Ms. Rodriguez’s Class, F.J. O’Neill School. Her story “The Johnson Family Pirates” was well-written, had clever character names and even alluded to a sequel story. Plus, it had crabs, monkeys, hidden treasure and secret keys. We also really liked the effort she made to print the story on paper that looked like an old map, with hand-torn edges and a pirate-esque font. To read her winning story “The Johnson Family Pirates,” click here.

The winner of the Pirates and Nature Drawings category is Andre Henrius, Ms. Modson’s Third Grade Class, F.J. O’Neill School. We really liked the variety of animals, as well as the effort to show animal behavior.

Pirate and Animals

The snake isn’t just in the grass – it is hanging off of a tree as if looking at the pirate. The ants have an entire burrow system, showing their different chambers they live in. They bird is actually pulling a worm out of the ground. The pirate is actually reacting to a large bird next to him. There is also a duck-billed platypus. When we film animals and when our artist created the drawings for A Pirate’s Quest, he drew animals interesting body positions that showed the animal’s normal behavior, and we think Andre did this in his drawing. To see Andre’s drawing, click here.

The winners will each receive an autographed copy of A Pirate’s Quest and The Riddle in a Bottle, as well as their own official pirate certificate.

We also chose several finalists, who don’t win prizes, but they do win a chance to be seen on our web site! I know you will enjoy them. Click on a link below to see their fabulous, funny, pirate-filed entries:

Family Generation, by Keyri Contreras

One Day I Lost My Family’s Heirloom Cannon Ball

Journey For My Family’s Heirloom

Picture by Karen Yanes, 4th Grade

Pirate Drawing Finalist from Karen Yanes, 4th Grade

Pirate Drawing by Rhianna Mulcahy, 3rd Grade

Pirate Drawing Finalist, by Rhianna Mulcahy, Third Grade

Pirate Drawing Finalist Drawing, by Tiffany Billups, 1st Grade

Pirate Drawing Finalist, by Tiffany Billups, First Grade

Whale Shark Tooth

In our next episode of The Riddle Solvers, we find an ancient journal with a riddle about shark teeth, and we go on quite a journey to find various kinds of teeth. I have been busy collecting props for the movie (from sea captain costumes to shark-themed bedding to actual shark teeth).  I just received two whale shark teeth in the mail . . . and I knew they would be small. But wow. I am absolutely blown away by how tiny they are, and how the biggest fish in the ocean has such tiny teeth.  For those of you not familiar with whale sharks, they can reach lengths of over 50 feet (over 15 meters) and mostly feed on small plankton. They are HUGE, but they don’t need big teeth, and they don’t have big teeth. They have very, very tiny teeth. We are definitely going to need a good macro lens to film this part of the movie. In fact, I specifically ordered two whale shark teeth, because I know if we accidentally drop one in the sand while filming, we are going to have a very hard time finding it.

I propose that instead of saying “It’s like finding a needle in a haystack,”  people say, “It’s like finding a fossilized whale shark tooth in the sand.”–  Laura Sams

And are you in the mood for a pirate joke? We get lots of them during our author visits to schools. Here is one from a boy at Orchard Primary School.

Question: What are pirates afraid of at night?

Answer: The daaaaaaaarrrrk.

Orchard Primary Pirate Reading Month

And maybe you feel like doing a pirate craft or school project? Check out these photos from elementary schools who have used pirates (and our book A Pirate’s Quest) as the inspiration for reading and writing. I am always amazed by what teachers and students can accomplish. I have even seen Principals dressed in pirate gear reading the morning announcements in their own pirate voice. If you ask me, that’s a good way to start school in the morning.

A contest for all ye pirate lovers, story lovers, art lovers and cookie lovers!

Ahoy mateys! Arrrrrrrrr you ready to think like a pirate and win some loot? International Talk Like A Pirate Day is coming soon (September 19), and in honor of such a fun-filled, swashbuckling kind of day, we have created a pirate-themed contest based on our book A Pirate’s Quest and the toe-tapping pirate tune The Peg Leg Song that inspired the book!

Do you like eating? Writing? Drawing? Then we have a contest category for you.

The book A Pirate's Quest with companion movie The Riddle in a Bottle

We will choose one winner from each category. Each winner will receive a free autographed copy of the book A Pirate’s Quest and the movie The Riddle in a Bottle (the movie with the song that inspired the book). Winners will also receive an official “Pirate Certificate of Approval,” signed by the book’s one-legged pirate and his two-legged sister (authors Robert and Laura Sams), making you an honorary pirate! Winning entries will be featured on our Web site and e-newsletter.

Category One: Pirate Cookies

Ghost Crab Holds a Pirate Ship Cookie, from A Pirate's Quest

In our book, A Pirate’s Quest, the pirate’s sister makes delicious chocolate pirate ship cookies. In fact, “many pirates claimed they would rather find a treasure chest filled with her cookies than a treasure chest filled with gold.”  Show us your swashbuckling skills in the kitchen and send us photos of your own pirate-themed cookies along with your secret recipe.  Get creative and we will choose our favorites from the photographs (no food samples necessary).

Category Two: Pirate Family Heirloom Stories

Pirate Triumphant, from A Pirate's Quest

In our book, A Pirate’s Quest, the pirate is searching for a lost family heirloom peg leg. “His one-legged grandpappy had worn it. His one-legged pappy had worn it. And he had worn it, hoping to pass it down to a one-legged son or daughter.” Here is your chance to imagine that you are a pirate, and your pirate family has lost something special. What special items could your pirate family have . . . and then lose? Write us a short story about your own family heirloom pirate adventure. 500 words maximum.

Category Three: Pirate Nature Drawings

Pirate Swims on Reef, from A Pirate's Quest

In our book, A Pirate’s Quest, the pirate’s journey leads him through many ecosystems as “he searched the lakes and followed the streams, which led to a river and out to the sea.” In the story, he passes deer, beavers, turtles, birds, whales, octopus and more. Draw your own picture of a pirate on a wild adventure. What animals do you imagine the pirate sees on his journey? Email us your drawings or send us your drawings in the mail.

How do you enter?
You may enter by email or by regular mail. Email your submissions (photographs or stories) to info@sisbro.com, along with your name, mailing address and phone number. If you enter by regular mail, send your entries to Sisbro Studios, 1925 SE Sherrett St. Portland, OR 97202 so that they arrive by September 25, 2009.  You do not need to buy any of our products to enter or win. Winners do need to live in the United States (for shipping purposes). All ages are eligible.

May you enter all three categories?
Yes. You may enter one, two or all three categories. Please submit only one entry per category though.

When is the deadline for entering?
All submissions are due by September 25, 2009.

Where and when will winners be announced?
Winners will be announced on September 30, 2009 on our Web site.

Where can you find inspiration?
Check out our page for A Pirate’s Quest to see photos from the book. And check out The Riddle in a Bottle page to hear The Peg Leg Song that inspired the book. You might also get inspiration from our web site www.sisbro.com.

Good luck, and may the best pirates win!