Books and Brunch: Nonfiction Children's Books
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Amanda's presentation on biographies, poetry, and science books!
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Semelhante a Books and Brunch: Nonfiction Children's Books
Semelhante a Books and Brunch: Nonfiction Children's Books (20)
Mais de Mansfield/Richland County Public Library
Mais de Mansfield/Richland County Public Library (7)
Books and Brunch: Nonfiction Children's Books
- 1. Books and Brunch 2010 Outstanding Children’s Nonfiction Books 2009-2010 Amanda Fensch, Children’s Assistant M/RCPL
- 2. Biographies
- 10. Sciences
- 21. Poetry
- 25. History of Exploration/Music/Social Sciences
Notas do Editor
- While younger children can understand what happened to Anne Frank, the subtleties of this book’s haunting photographs will make more sense to older readers. One of the most chilling images is toward the end of the book; it is an image of Otto Frank, Anne’s father, standing alone in the attic the family lived in while in hiding before it was opened to the public in 1960. He was the only member of his family to survive the Nazi concentration camps and this won’t be lost on the students as they conclude this excellent biography of a girl who they might recognize as someone as someone they could have known or been friends with—she had an older sister, a family she loved, a boy she liked, and lots of dreams and hopes she never lived to see become reality.
- One of my favorite books from this past year in children’s literature, and for many reasons; Nelson did an amazing job on this book and R. Gregory Christie’s illustrations only add to a great piece of literature. *read from this book*
- Black Elk is a unique historical figure, not only when speaking in terms of Native American culture, but in the broader aspect of American history. The “vision” he had when he was 9 during a bought of illness set before him a path of hopeful leadership; it was a path that he fought to fulfill but ultimately saw destroyed. This is a somber, sobering book that puts perspective on American westward expansion—I have never seen a biography of a Native American quite like this. The artwork, paired with the first person narrative, is quite stunning and sets this book apart from other literature like it.
- Daring, unconventional, intelligent—Nellie Bly was a globetrotting journalist who wrote stories about Americans fought for their rights. Bly was certainly the kind of woman who didn’t bend to societal pressures and act like the “typical” woman of the day—she broke every stereotype and made a name for herself as a whipsmart journalist who didn’t back down from any story. But she had her personal issues as well, and Macy doesn’t shy away from the topic of Bly’s husband, 40 yrs. her senior, or the money troubles her family had when she was younger.
- A little known fact: when the situation was uncomfortable, awkward, or even downright dire, President Abraham Lincoln didn’t make excuses or small talk to diffuse a potential political bomb—he used humor and wit. It isn’t the kind of humor you and I are used to. For example, when speaking about slavery, Lincoln once said, “Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.” Lincoln was indeed a clever and brilliant man, and students may only see him as our 16 th President. This book might help younger students get a grasp of just how intelligent and witty Abraham Lincoln, the man, was.
- James Matthew Barrie, or J.M. Barrie as most people know him as, gave the world the boy who wouldn’t grow up—Peter Pan. What Jane Yolen and Steve Adams have captured in this brilliant book is how Barrie overcame struggles during childhood and his adult life to become the man who gave the world Peter Pan; it’s a fascinating tale, one that children will not only be interested in, but that might also provide inspiration for children who are trying to deal with difficult issues in their own lives. Barrie was a small man in stature, but he gave the world a huge literary figure that is still very important today and children will understand that.
- From the product description: Plowing a potato field in 1920, a 14-year-old farm boy from Idaho saw in the parallel rows of overturned earth a way to “make pictures fly through the air.” This boy was not a magician; he was a scientific genius and just eight years later he made his brainstorm in the potato field a reality by transmitting the world’s first television image. Philo Farnsworth was a young boy with a big dream—he wanted to do what the scientists and engineers of his time hadn’t yet accomplished. This is a truly amazing story, one that your students will greatly enjoy, I certainly did.
- Houblon’s A World of Colors is a fun, inviting book that will engage kids not only in the book but also in their own environment. Easily adaptable into lesson plans on colors, art, or the world (locations, people, etc.), it’s a great tool to use to generate discussion and ideas for projects, whether its art or writing.
- I will fully admit to being a huge fan of Steve Jenkins’ work; I actually had to stop myself from putting more than two of his books on the list for today. I didn’t think that author bias was a good idea for the sake of variety, but I do think that Jenkins is a rare tour de force—a non-fiction author/illustrator that delivers prime material and astounding artwork with each book. That being said, his newest offering, Bones , is certainly not a letdown. Kids will love seeing different skeletons and individual bones, both from humans and animals, and learning facts about them—did you know, for example, that a giraffe’s neck is a long as a man is tall, but giraffes and humans have the same number of neck bones, seven. It’s cool facts like that that will have kids pouncing on this book.
- As much as I loved Bones , I think I like this book from Jenkins even better. On How To Clean A Hippopotamus , Jenkins paired with his wife, Robin Page, and together they wrote about some pretty strange symbiotic relationships found in the wild. Now, I read every book you’ll see in this presentation and a whole bunch more that I had on a list as potential books when trying to put this all together, and this was one of the few that I read more than once. You really learn from this book, and several times I caught myself saying “Really? They do that? No way!” or something akin to that. And I’m a grownup—imagine how fascinating this would be to a kid!
- This book is on the list of outstanding nonfiction for the reasons you see on the screen, but if that wasn’t enough, there’s a little story to go with it. I’ve used during a program we have here at the library called Marvelous Mondays, which is for ages 5 and up and focuses on nonfiction books and topics. We encourage kids in this program to explore their world—so we talk about all kinds of cool things. One of the programs was on bees and flowers, how bees pollinate flowers and trees, how they make honey, etc., and I read this book to the kids that came to the program that evening. They liked the book so much that I was asked to read it again—when I said I couldn’t, I was asked why, and that’s when I told them we had some games to play where we were going to pretend to be bees and learn how bees pollinate flowers and do a bee dance and make a craft. (Explain bee dance, bee wiggles when it finds nectar) Well, the book was forgotten when I said we were going to do a bee dance and showed them how to do it—so as long as you don’t do a bee dance, you may get asked to read this book a couple of times.
- Also known as the “night parrot”, the kakapo is truly a strange and wondrous bird. It is, as its nickname would suggest, mostly nocturnal, weighs around 9 pounds, is mostly bright green with greyish-gold whiskers on its face and has feathers that smell like honey, and has been hunted, both by humans and natural predators, into near extinction. Without question one of my favorite books this year, Kakapo Rescue is an amazing book.
- And continuing on with Nic Bishop, here is one of his standalone titles. Bishop has been on the children’s nonfiction scene for a while and I wanted to highlight one of his books because the quality of information paired with the absolutely gorgeous photographs make for great books that kids will want to look at on their own, share with a friend, or use for a school project. These books can also be read to an entire class, and sharing Nic Bishop’s photographs is always fun with a group—I’ve done it before and it’s amazing to see kids so enthralled by what they’re seeing. Plus, once their eyes are open, their ears are open too.
- This book, due to George’s powerful writing and Minor’s beautiful artwork, will put the history of the buffalo and its struggle for survival into sobering perspective, more so than any textbook might be capable of. While a work of nonfiction, The Buffalo Are Back does blend in a bit of fiction, but it is simply for the sake of artistic metaphor and imagery and doesn’t affect the story whatsoever (the image of a lark landing on a six foot blade of grass is mentioned a few times, for example). I really enjoyed this book and could see it being shared with a class or group and being thoroughly appreciated.
- This is a fascinating book about a fascinating man doing fascinating research-Tyrone Hayes, a less than stellar student with a ton of potential, was mentored by a very serious science professor in college, turned his life and career around, and is now an expert on frogs and the affects of the poison atrazine on his beloved amphibians. Tyrone is surrounded by the crew he lovingly calls his “Frog Squad”, a group of college students who spend their days pouncing on frogs in ponds, puddles, and swamps to study and doing lab work for Tyrone. Kids will easily view Tyrone as a pretty cool guy with a pretty cool job, and he didn’t have it handed to him because of social status or wealth—he worked hard for it, earned his place, and now he’s a well-respected member of the science community.
- The Salmon Bears is a truly interesting read—I had never heard of the Great Bear Rainforest and after I was finished with this book, I realized I had learned so much not only about the forest itself, but about its biggest inhabitants, the bears. The writing in this book is enthralling and McAllister’s photographs only add to the mystery and little bit of magic contained within the Great Bear Rainforest.
- This book is hard to categorize but for good reason—everything about it, poetry, photography, facts—is just stellar. Personally, I would use this book in the nonfiction program my coworker Melanie and I do here at the library called Marvelous Mondays, but I’m not sure if I’d use it in a poetry program or in a program about animals. But whatever my choice, this book would fit--*read from this book*
- If you can’t judge a book by its cover (even though I did with The Monsterologist ), can you judge it by its title? Dark Emperor And Other Poems of the Night —the title’s namesake is the owl, a night hunter who silently watches over the forest and swoops down on his prey. I think it’s a pretty great title for the book and gives readers an idea of what to expect even before they open the book; when they do start to read, what’ll they find is a really great collection of poems about what you might find if you go exploring the woods at night.
- I love children’s poetry—all of it. From the simple to the complex, children’s poets speak truths without ego or pompousness, and whether the poetry is sad or joyful or just downright silly, it’s as honest as honest can get. Children’s poets speak to children and to the child in all of us, so it’s no surprise that poetry like what you’ll find in Poetrees is both beautiful and inspiring…and fun if you can take the time to enjoy the rhyme in front of you on the page. *read*
- The Monsterologist is one of those books I picked up without knowing anything about it—I picked it up because of the cover. I know, don’t judge a book by its cover but it looks pretty cool! By the time I was done I realized that Bobbi Katz and Adam McCauley had created something incredibly clever—monster poems that appeal to more than just the kids that like spooky stuff. These poems are funny and fun to read out loud, and you don’t have to particularly like oooky spooky stories to enjoy the appeal of The Monsterologisti You just have to be willing to laugh.
- A neighbor planet close enough to explore with robots but too far away to send a human being, its conditions too inhospitable for any kind of life to flourish, and yet—two rovers, the first ever robots on Mars, find evidence of water on this dusty red planet. What does this mean? Had there been life on Mars at some point in the past, and could there be life again on Mars, even if we’re the ones to put it there? All of this is fascinating and perplexing and Alexandra Siy’s book Cars on Mars presents these questions in a format that’s easy to understand for kids in grades 5 and up but yet challenging enough to make them think. This is a fun book to read, especially for the kid that’s enthralled by the possibility of what could be out there.
- And we’re going from the last book and kids who really like outer space and exploration to kids who really dig music. A lot of us know someone like that, and a love of music often starts at an early age. Music speaks to children, even before they can speak themselves, so it’s not strange at all to read stories about children who, at age 6 or 7, are playing violin concertos or singing opera. But most of the talented musicians we know who would be drawn to this book are simply looking for some kind of advice or inspiration—the author, Crossingham, gives both in boatloads. I’m not musically inclined at all but I love listening to music, I love how my favorite songs can make me feel better even after a horrible day, and I really enjoyed reading this book. Consider this book also not only for the musician kids you know, but for the kids who might just be finding their interest, or who have yet to find it but need a push—you never know who they might be.
- “ Their order was simple. A doughnut and coffee with cream on the side.” This phrase you’ll read again and again in Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down , and along with other food metaphors and repeated phrases, is how Andrea Pinkney creates such an elegant portrait of a struggle for equal treatment through peaceful means. I was fascinated by this book and I think students will be too; it’s the perfect fusion of true story and illustration.