It’s NONFICTION MONDAY!
Hello, and Happy Reading on Monday, May 17, 2010! Let’s share some nonfiction. I put out the call (yes, a bit late) that I hoped we could particularly share books this week that might be helpful to parents or enticing to kids for summer reading….so here goes, summer reading ideas and more!
Please leave for me in the comment section the name of your book and the link to your review – I am ready to see the great list that is always available to each of us by the end of the day! Don’t forget, you can see the current schedule for Nonfiction Monday on the blog PICTURE BOOK OF THE DAY; thank you, Anastasia Suen, for organizing this great weekly festival of nonfiction for all.
Here goes:
100 Scope Notes reviews a great book for enticing older elementary youngsters to nonfiction: Disasters by Brenda Z. Guiberson. This certaily appears to be a great book for discussion starters surrounding current disasters like the oil spill, the Iceland volcano, etc. Perhaps a good writing “prompt” or summer mini-research project made enjoyable? Thanks, Travis!
Scrapbooking Just for You! by Candice Ransom and Everything Spring by Jill Esbaum were read by Laura at laurasalas while traveling…great way to share the season of spring with a child and the scrapbooking guide could be a wonderful activity for kids in the summer, writing and reading and collecting and more!
At Abby the Librarian, there is a review of a new addition to the “Scientists in the Field” series – Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot by Sy Montgomery. Abby, thanks for the follow up information on the increasing numbers of Kakapos!
Lori notes a celebration of National Transportation Week at Lori Calabrese Writes! and has reviewed Driven: A Photobiography of Henry Ford, and she says it is an amazing book! Transportation is a great topic for summer reading for many, Lori will have more great suggestions for you by the end of the week I am sure!
Marie reviewed EMMA’S POEM for the Association of Jewish Libraries’ blog. Emma Lazarus was an activist for the poor and the author of “The New Colossus,” the famous poem about the Statue of Liberty. Searching for poetry about places to be visited or after the visit would be a great summer literary activity!
MsMac from Check It Out shares three books of Ralph Fletcher as she prepares for his visit to her library on Friday! The first two are for students, the third one for staff: Poetry Matters: Writing a Poem From the Inside Out, A Writer’s Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You, and Pyrotechnics on the Page: Playful Craft That Sparks Writing. I wish I could be there Friday, don’t you as well?
Shelf-employed’s post today falls under your “enticing to kids” category. The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary is the most fun you can have reading non-fiction! Rasco from RIF agrees, such great fun!
At The Book Nosher, Robin has reviewed When Marian Sang, a lovely picture book biography about Marian Anderson by Pam Munoz Ryan with illustrations by Brian Selznick. RIF sponsored Brian in some classroom talks here in DC several years ago and he spoke about his work on this title….the students were mesmerized, great choice, Robin. And as you note in your blog entry, there are so many teachable moments in this book!
Tricia from Miss Rumphius is sharing today a review of three books for use in the math classroom. I was impressed and excited by all the approaches shown by these three books but I was particularly “taken” with FIRST SHAPES IN BUILDINGS which uses photographs of architectural buildings to discuss math concepts. Whether traveling by armchair or other mode, a great book for summer!
Kim from The Wild About Nature blog has a review of Older Than the Stars by Karen C. Fox. Kim notes this book explains clearly the Big Bang theory both through verse (which was jazzy and fun from the excerpts she includes, great for the younger children) and sidebar facts that allow older children to dig into the meaning. Plus, I love the cover, it is really inviting!
Over at A Patchwork of Books, Amanda has a review of The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe. This is another title in the “Scientists in the Field” series noted earlier today. Here we learn more about the missing bees featured on newscasts over recent months. I am eager to read the actual book now as it is indeed such a natural wonder mystery; for children who have indicated interest in mystery books, this is a mystery of a different sort in which they might become engaged in and use the internet over the summer with parental assistance. Thanks, Amanda!
Wendie’s Wanderings allows us to find out How Do Animals Keep Clean? Now that is a FUN topic for summer exploration, reading and writing! Wendie also indicates a great feature of the book: The first sentences on the page are short and easy to read. Then a longer paragraph (in a colored box) gives more information about the animal.
Anastasia at Picture Book of the Day has shared The Honey Bee’s Hive which is part of the Spectacular Animal Towns Series; there are six of the books, and they look to me like great summer exploration guides!
I have chosen myself today to share with you Life-Size Zoo by Teruyuki Komiya with Toyofumi Fukuda as the photographer. I learned first about this book when it showed up on the 2009 Cybils Finalists for Non-Fiction Picture/Information Books, a category in which I was honored to serve as a judge. This book intrigues me as the photos are indeed life-size showing some feature of the animal! More than twenty animals are featured with the end papers having small photos and some initial facts….and then, you go to the contents of the book and find these HUGE photographs in some cases and all these great facts that will fascinate children. Recommended for ages 4-8 I see this book as invaluable for preparing children for that first visit to a zoo whether in your own home or in a group setting …perhaps learning of each child’s top choices for viewing on the day specified, giving some facts to dispel myths, and introducing totally new animals to some children. And it could be valuable on subsequent trips being planned to a zoo to decide what new animals you and the children wish to explore. So, do you know how you can tell a sea lion from a seal? You’ll learn that and much more in Life-Size Zoo.
Happy Reading!
Carol
Twitter: @RascoFromRIF
13 comments May 17th, 2010
