Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
Habitat Spy by Cynthia Kieber-King, Illustrated by Christina Ward (Sylvan Dell Publishing, 2011), introduces a variety of habitats with an illustrated snapshot of a scene, accompanied by a simple, personable rhyming text. Each page features text overlayed in a binocular-shaped text bubble, with an image of a child looking through binoculars right next to it.
The Nature Girls by Aki (Godwin Books, 2019) features a group of sixteen girls who explore various biomes of the earth. Each two-page spread shows cartoon-illustrated landscapes paired with rhyming couplets. Brief lines on each spread do not share many informational details, but it makes a nice read-aloud for younger children. The end matter shares
Many Biomes, One Earth by Sneed B. Collard III, illustrated by James M. Needham (Charlesbridge, 2008) gives a general overview of biomes on earth, explaining clearly the differences between a biome and a habitat and explaining why earth’s biomes may not look as they originally were before human intrusions. As he describes the various terrestrial
A Flower Is a Friend by Frieda Wishinski, illustrated by Karen Patkau (Pajama Press, May 2023), highlights the ways garden creatures and garden flowers exist together. A digitally rendered flower-and-creature image on each two-page spread nicely pairs with a simple action phrase from the flower’s voice stating what they do, such as “wake to the
The Girl Who Heard the Music by Marni Fogelson and Mahani Teave, illustrated by Maria Alvarez Miguens (Sourcebooks Explore, April 2023) tells the true story of Mahani Teave, who grew up to be a fantastic world-traveling pianist, only to return to her home island to see the mountains of trash remaining from the tourists. It
As the title indicates, How Birds Sleep by David Obuchowski, illustrated by Sarah Pedry (mineditionUS, March 2023) teaches how nearly two dozen bird species sleep. The tone of the text sounds like a bedtime book, and it has a frame of a barn owl waking just as the animals are ready for sleep. Then, at
We’re entering an era where the beginning of COVID-19 is actually a part of history, which feels incredibly weird to me. Nevertheless, it’s clear that the world’s success in overcoming the dangerous beginning stages of the virus was in motion long before the virus showed up. In Never Give Up: Dr. Kati Kariko and the
Backpack Explorer: Rock Hunt (Storey Publishing, February 2023) is an engaging activity book for “rock hounds” on the hunt for rocks all around them. From the beginning of this photographic and colorful book, kids see creative ways to make STEAM come alive as they find and examine rocks. Rock Hunt provides stickers for marking pages
It’s fun when learning about a somewhat difficult scientific concept is put into context. Push-Pull Morning by Lisa Westberg Peters (Wordsong, February 2023) does for young children by showing a child and his dog as they jump and play together. The subtitle is “Dog-Powered Poems about Matter and Energy,” and anyone has a dog would
As a gorgeous oversized watercolor-and-ink illustrated picture book and poetic tributes, The Late, Great Endlings by Deborah Kerbel, illustrated by Aimee van Drimmelen (Orca Book Publishers, 2022) is a visual delight to peruse. Add to that the factual STEM-theme about extinct animals, and it’s also a necessary reminder that humans have a direct impact on
I’m Trying to Love Math by Bethany Barton is told in alternating black-and-purple fonts, and an unnamed narrator (assumed to be a human) and a purple alien have a discussion about math, with the alien pointing out all the ways that the narrator has used math in his explanations: such as fractions and ratios. Math is
Circles by David Adler, illustrated by Edward Miller. Adler’s book introduces circles and then describes a hands-on method of learning what a diameter and radius are (tracing a plate, then folding symmetrically and drawing lines). Subsequent pages continue the hands-on directions to draw and define major and minor sectors of a circle and how to draw
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