Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
With a wide variety of poems, the picture book Volcano Wakes Up! by Lisa Westberg Peters (illustrated by Steve Jenkins; Henry Holt, 2010) shows the plants, crickets, and road having a conversation as a sleepy volcano “wakes up.” Based on volcanoes on the Hawaiian Islands, this book reminds readers that the Hawaiian Islands are active
With collage illustrations, Little Turtle and the Changing Sea by Becky Davies (illustrated by Jennie Poh; Little Tiger Press, 2021) emphasizes a turtle’s life cycle, with emphasis on the dangers of human pollution when the ocean changes one day. As the title suggests, the story highlights two different oceans. The first ocean turtle encounters, beginning
Grace Goes to Washington by Kelly DiPucchio (illustrated by LeUyen Pham; Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2019) is a friendly picture book introduction to government. It begins with a school lesson about the branches of government, making correlations between the principal and the president as well as between the student council and the Congress.
In The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2018), our robotic friend from the first book has been refurbished and sent to work as a “normal” robot on a farm in a futuristic world. With all of her memories and abilities from her wild years, however, Roz is only
What if a robot never interacted with humans? What if a robot’s survival instincts taught it how to survive in the wild, among animals? This is the premise of The Wild Robot by Peter Brown (Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2016). Rozzum Unit 7134 has crashed into a wild island, where she learns to
The Apartment: A Century of Russian History by Alexandra Litvina (illustrated by Anna Desnitskaya; Harry Abrams, 2017) illustrates 100 years of Russian history through the lives of the changing residents in a Moscow apartment and the lives they lead. With the Muromstev family as a connecting link, the reader learns of the dozens of children
I really enjoyed reading The Embattled Vote in America by Allan Lichtman (Harvard University Press, 2018). It began with an examination of the Constitution and how it does not guarantee the right to vote to any particular people. The book continued by discussing the different ways voting has changed through the years of of the
Seymour Simon’s nonfiction picture books have the bonus of being illustrated with full-color photographs. In his Coral Reefs (Harper Collins, 2013), the beauty of the coral reef is shown in the rich photos. Simon begins with a thorough discussion of various types of corals, along with images that show their distinct shapes and patterns. He
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
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
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
In Newbery Honor book The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani (Kokila, 2018), the partition of India has a profound effect on the life of twelve-year-old Nisha, who is half-Muslim and half-Hindu and now must figure out where she is welcome. Along with her twin brother and her widower father, now Nisha finds she must leave their
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