Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
Excavate! Dinosaurs by Jon Tennant (Storey Publishing, October 2014) is a crafty book in which the facts of the first half supplement the dinosaur bones cut outs of the second half.Kids read about 12 different kinds of dinosaurs and then must put them together. The catch, however, is that the dinosaur bones are not labeled, so
Draw-A-Saurus by  James Silvani (Ten Speed Press, September 2014) is the perfect book for a kid who loves two things: Drawing Dinosaurs I know one such kid, so I was delighted to come across this book. With clear step-by-step instructions, the author/illustrator shows the process for drawing realistically proportioned dinosaurs of all kinds. There is
What is Poetry? by Trudi Strain Truit (Lerner Publishing, September 2014) is an attractive nonfiction book for young readers or middle grade readers. It teaches common types of figurative language and common formats of poetry (free verse, rhyming, and so forth). Even better, it provides sample poems to demonstrate the concepts. It has large text for
The Case of the Vanishing Little Brown Bats by Sandra Markle (Millbrook Press, September 2014) is another fascinating scientific mystery. As with The Case of the Vanishing Tree Frogs, which I read and reviewed a few years ago, Little Brown Bats is about a species of animal that is mysteriously disappearing in the world. In
I’ve mentioned before that I love the nonfiction books I’ve read by Sally M. Walker. Ghost Walls (Lerner, 2014) is no exception. With Ms. Walker’s conversational style of writing and clear explanations of both science and history, Ghost Walls digs into the anthropological history of a seventeenth-century house in Maryland, giving life to a house that fell into
Sometimes when I finish a book that I loved I can’t wait to sit down and gush about how great it is. Other times, I love it but I just know I won’t be able to give it proper credit: I struggle to explain just why it is so incredible. Shapes in Math, Science, and
We often encounter books about the wives of US presidents. We’ve seen a number of books about the presidents themselves. But what about the mothers of the presidents? First Mothers by Beverly Gherman and Julie Downing (Clarion Books, 2012) finally puts the mothers’ stories at the forefront. With just one or two pages per mother,
I am an active Christian. I believe God created the world. I also believe we do not know how God created the earth, and I do not believe in a literal, seven-day creation. All I have learned about the big bang theory and the evolutionary history of the earth has only solidified the testimony that
50 Body Questions by Tanya Lloyd Kyi and illustrated by Ross Kinniard (Annick Press, February 2014) is a visually appealing book about the human body. As the title indicates, 50 questions take readers on a journey through the body, covering concepts about the digestive system, blood, muscles and bones, germs, the brain, and the nervous
Before the World Was Ready: Stories of Daring Genius in Science by Claire Eamer; art by Sa Boothroyd (Annick Press, 2013) tells the stories of a few scientists who had ideas that were not accepted. These scientists were correct, but the world did not accept their writing or the scientists lived before technology had been invented that
For my personal history education, I enjoyed the longer children’s nonfiction book (almost middle grade nonfiction) and detailed The Lost Colony of Roanoke by Jean Fritz. Fritz has a way of making history come alive. Her writing is geared for upper elementary school students or middle school students, and her book subsequently provides an increasing amount of
White House Kids: The Perks, Pleasures, and Pratfalls of the Presidents’ Children by Joe Rhatigan (Imagine Publishing, 2012) provides a fun and colorful picture of the history of children in the White House. From George Washington’s stepdaughter to the Obama girls, White House Kids gives an interesting portrait of how life changed for the children
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