Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
Air speaks directly to the reader in Our Air by G. Brian Karas. With this second-person perspective, Our Air introduces the ways we know air is around us, and explains the reasons why air is so important, including its role as a “perfect combination of nitrogen and oxygen”, which provides for us as well as
Secrets of Air by Mi-ae Lee, illustrated by Hae-ryun Jeong, tells basics about air. It discusses how air wraps the earth, how air is thinner the higher we go, how air moves as wind, and even basics about air currents. Each page has a few easy to read sentences to make it feel like a
As indicated by the subtitle, Up, Up High: The Secret Poetry of Earth’s Atmosphere by Lydia Lukidis, illustrated by Katie Rewse is a poetic collection with details about the various layers of the atmosphere, told with the perspective of a journey to space in a rocket ship, showing what might be seen and experienced outside
As the title suggests, Up in the Blue Sky: Journey from the Earth’s Surface to Outer Space by Gianumberto Accinelli, illustrated by Guilian Zaffaroni, shows a progression meter by meter of the things that travel to various levels in the atmosphere, beginning with ants close to the ground, moving up toward Olympic pole jumpers, and
The marsh is a key player in Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (published 2018). The marsh hides the footprints and possibly other secrets behind the murder of Chase Andrews, a popular young man in the small town of Barkley Cove, North Carolina. But when the isolated Marsh Girl, Kya Clark, is suspected of
The Doll family has an island adventure in the early Newbery Honor book Floating Island by Ann Parrish (published 1930). Mr. Doll, Mrs. Doll, their three children, their doll house, and Dinah (their Black cook) are shipwrecked as they are enroute to a child. With the shipwreck, sister Annabel and Dinah have been separated from
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See (Scribner, 2019) is the story of questioning fate tied into friendship, war, survival, betrayal, and ultimately forgiveness. Two girls from different backgrounds, Mi-ja and Young-sook, become friends in the 1930s, and their friendship story alternates between their growing-up years and 2008 “modern-day” Young-sook, who is a bitter
The stray dog Bob finally got to tell his story in The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate (Storytide, 2020). Bob was the friend of the gorilla Ivan, who spent 27 years in a cage at an interstate exit mall, and a baby elephant named Ruby. As Bob talked about his early days, his
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
Life After Whale: The Amazing Ecosystem of a Whale Fall by Lynn Brunelle (illustrated by Jason Chin; Neal Porter Books, 2024) is a nonfiction picture book about the complete ecosystem that forms around a whale carcass on the bottom of the ocean. It begins with an elderly whale and in the first pages, the whale
The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown (Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2023) is the third volume in the story about The Wild Robot. My daughter and I listened to the others in anticipation of seeing the movie (as soon as it’s not $$$ to rent online!). I was excited when I first learned
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