Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
Big Ideas in Literature (The School of Life; March 2024) is a book all about one of my favorite subjects: literature. It introduces what makes literature literature, the history of literature and books, and what big topics literature can address, even through amusing situations and language. Throughout the book, the authors highlight literature from history
Throughout the picture book Flick a Switch: How Electricity Gets to Your Home by Barbara Seuling (illustrated by Nancy Tobin; Holiday House, 2003), a girl and her dog comment on what they see and learn about switches and electricity. It includes basic facts at an easy-to-read level, making it a great upper elementary-level research book
The Second Coming of the Lord by Gerald Lund (Deseret Book, 2020) collects and explains various scriptures and quotes from the prophets about, as the title indicates, the time when the Savior will return to the earth and reign with glory. With a personal approach to this religious topic, Lund manages to bring the difficult
Fungus is Among Us! by Joy Keller (Innovation Press, 2019) has a fictional and rhyming story-line that follows a girl walking in a forest and through her home. Throughout her walk, she learns about all the fungus that is in her life. This includes mushrooms, moss, mold on old food and on shower walls (ewwww).
In and Out the Window (illustrated by Catherin Peterslund; Philomel 2024) is a creative collection of children’s poetry by Jane Yolen. Poems are divided into thematic sections with further division into the categories of “In” and “Out” of a window. The volume shares poems about many aspects of children’s lives. Different sections featured include “At
Shen of the Sea by Arthur Bowie Chrisman (first published 1925) is a collection of stories taking place in China and featuring Chinese traditions. Although some of the tales are interesting reading, the lack of authenticity and subtle racism of the past make it a questionable book to give young children today. There are many
Dear Katie, The Volcano is a Girl by Jean Craighead George (illustrated by Daniel Powers; Hyperion, 1998) is the story about a grandmother and a granddaughter on vacation in Hawaii. They tour a volcano, and while Katie insists that the volcano is Pele (a goddess) her grandmother disagrees and explains how volcanoes form because cracks
The Out of Jerusalem series by H.B. Moore (Covenant Communications, 2003-2006) retells the story of Lehi, Nephi, and their families as they leave Jerusalem and head for the promised land, giving the characters in the early parts of The Book of Mormon distinct personalities. Although there were many aspects I enjoyed as a part of
The non-fiction picture book One Night in the Coral Sea by Sneed B. Collard III (illustrated by Robin Brickman; Hyperion, 2006) tells about the yearly spawning of coral. Brickman’s three-dimensional painted paper illustrations make this book stand out in the pile. But also Collard’s detail about the mass spawning of the coral in the world
One Big Open Sky by Lesa Kline-Ransom (March 2024, Holiday House) is a free verse historical fiction novel about Black covered wagon pioneers in 1879. It features a young Black girl and her family, told from her perspective and that of her mother and another young woman. They journey from a sharecropping atmosphere in Mississippi
The Voyagers: Being Legends and Romances of Atlantic Discovery by Padraic Colum (published 1925; reissued 2022 by Smidgen Press) was awarded a 1926 Newbery Honor. The subtitle describes the book very well. With a framework of Henry the Navigator viewing the Atlantic from a tall tower, various medieval scholars tell the tales of the lost
The Truth About Dragons by Julie Leung (illustrated by Hanna Cha; Henry Holt & Company, 2023) captures two different dragon traditions with rich illustrations depicting each culture’s tradition in a style reminiscent of the culture. Leung picture book is told from the grandmother’s perspectives, as if telling the child the story. The distinct shift between
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