Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
The children’s book Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (published 1935) became a beloved classic thanks to the popular 1970s television show, but reading the book through today’s lens is painful. How can such a beloved classic be so racist? I loved the stories in this book. Mr. Edwards meets Santa Claus
The Boy Who Was by Grace Hallock (published 1928) is a uniquely organized story about the history of the Bay of Naples through the ages, each chapter using the same young goat boy (who has eternal life as a young man) as a key character. The prologue introduces the boy, named Nino, in the present
With a playful tone, the nonfiction picture book Plants Can’t Sit Still by Rebecca E. Hirsch (illustrated by Mia Osada; Millbrook Press, 2016) teaches readers how plants and seeds move in a variety ways, including how plants face the sunshine and spread seeds, and then the seeds sprouting into new plants. The pages have 1-3
The nonfiction picture book The Three R’s: Reuse, Reduce, Recycle by Nuria Roca (Sourcebooks, 2007), offers a refreshing perspective on the environmental subject through a first person plural and a second person narration (“we” and “you”), allowing us to delve into the concept of these three terms and comprehend the issue of excessive waste. This
Follow the Moon Home: A Tale of One Idea, Twenty Kids, and a Hundred Sea Turtles by Phillippe Cousteau and Deborah Hopkinson (illustrated by Meilo So; Chronicle, 2016). Watercolor illustrations and friendly text with unique typography share the story of a child new to the area that spearheads a class project. The project, “Lights Out
Volcano: Where Fire and Water Meet by Mary M. Cerullo (Capstone, 2021; a Smithsonian book) features color photography from around the world to teach about volcanoes. The book focuses on Hawaiian island volcanoes, although it does talk about other types of volcanoes, other famous volcanoes, and how volcanoes change the face of the Earth. There
Microbes have never been as fascinating to a young child as they are in the nonfiction picture Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes by Nicola Davies (illustrated by Emily Sutton; Candlewick, 2016; originally published 2014 as Tiny: The Invisible World of Microbes) . As with other nonfiction books by Davies, this illustrated book has a
I’m a sucker for a good time travel story, so the third middle grade novel in the Mystwick School of Musicraft series, The Dark Refrain by Jessica Khoury (audiobook by Audible Originals, 2024), was definitely one I enjoyed. In this volume, Amelia Jones finds out that her grade is taking a one-month field trip to
The picture book Wired by Anastasia Suen (illustrated by Paul Carrick; Charlesbridge, 2007) gives two levels of text to teach about electricity in our communities. First, rhythmic poetry provides just a few words on each page to give a gentle poem about electricity going from a power station to a home for young readers. The
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (published 1932) was the first book published by this acclaimed children’s author, and it kicks off the “Little House” series of stories that were loosely based on the author’s own childhood as a pioneer in Wisconsin. I find it to be more like a collection
The picture book Look by Gabi Snyder (illustrated by Samantha Cotterill; Paula Wiseman, 2024) is a work of art. Illustrated with photographs of hand-made three-dimensional collage sets, Look gives a visual exploration of patterns along with text that encourages the young reader to “look” around for details. The text and art seamlessly harmonize. A red-haired
Unicorns prepare to take over earth in the picture book Invasion of the Unicorns by David Biedrzycki (Charlesbridge, 2021). The story follows the daily journal-like report from one particular unicorn, who is conveniently similar to a stuffed animal, as it reports back to its home planet about what earth life is like. The unicorn complains
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