New Non-Fiction Picture Books

Jess Keating and Melissa Stewart are two of the best writers of non-fiction for kids. You can check out more of their books here.

Cute As An Axolotl is the latest of Jess Keating's The World of Weird Animals series. An Axolotl is a salamander. Those feathery branches on the side of its head are gills. Cute as they are, they are a critically endangered species. Some of the other cute animals in this book are the Fairy Penguin, Pangolin, Pygmy Hippopotamus, Dwarf Flying Squirrel and Fennec Fox. Also included is a two page spread on the science of Cute and a glossary. Illustrations are by David DeGrand. The previous books in the series have been a big hit with the second graders I work with. The Sonoma County Library has six copies.

Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers is Melissa Stewart's latest picture book. It is illustrated by Stephanie Laberis. This book is about the unsung underdogs of the animal world. What may be perceived as weaknesses may actually help these animals survive in an eat-or-be-eaten world. Some sleep most of the day away. How does that help them survive? Because they rest so much they don't need as much food to sustain themselves. Twelve animals are profiled and fit into one of the categories in the book's title. At the end of the book is a two page spread with more information on each animal. The Sonoma County Library has five copies.

2018 Caldecott Medal and Honors

Each year the Caldecott Award is given to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. This morning the Association for Library Services to Children, a division of  the American Library Association, awarded the 2018 Caldecott Medal to Wolf in the Snow, written and illustrated by Matthew Cordell.

An almost wordless book, Wolf in the Snow tells a compelling story about a girl who finds a lost wolf cub and returns him to his family. The wolves return the favor when the girl, exhausted by her journey lays down for a nap in the cold snow. The Sonoma County Library has five copies.

The Honors were awarded to:

Big Cat, little cat written and illustrated by Elisha Cooper.

 Big Cat, little cat reminds me so much of the relationship between two of my dogs, Piper and Gracie; it could be their story. Warning: you could shed a tear at the ending, I did. The Sonoma County Library has eleven copies.

Crown, An Ode to the Fresh Cut illustrated by Gordon C. James and written by Derrick Barnes.

Each award has its own committee that reads and follows books published in the category the award honors, Crown, An Ode to the Fresh Cut also won a Newbery Honor and both the Coretta Scott King author and illustrator Honors. The Sonoma County Library has six copies.

A Different Pond illustrated by Thi Bui and written by Bao Phi.

A true  father/son fishing story that takes place in my home town, Minneapolis, about the struggles of the past in Vietnam and the present in the early eighties Minnesota. The Sonoma County Library has five copies. 

Grand Canyon illustrated and written by Jason Chin.

A father and daughter explore the Grand Canyon's geology, animal and plant life in both the past and present. I am a big geology geek (thanks Uncle Peter and Cousin Mike) so I especially love the maps and back matter that goes further into the formation story. The Sonoma County Library has eleven copies.

Why, Fly Guy?

We have reviewed several Fly Guy Presents books on a single topic. Fly Guy Presents: Why, Fly Guy? is a BIG Question & Answer Book covering the human body, animals, plants and nature and plenty of other cool stuff. Each sub-topic has a two page spread that answers questions like, Why do my feet smell?  Why don't polar bears get cold? Why does thunder follow lightening? The answers are factual but not overwhelming. As an added bonus, some answers include a Science Project or Activity to help illustrate the answer. And, of course, there is plenty of witty commentary from Fly Guy. 

The Sonoma County Library has seven copies.

Expository Non-Fiction Picture Books

What is expository non-fiction? The simple answer is in the words of Joe Friday, "Just the facts". Some kids really want to learn about a subject; they are not interested in a story about their favored topic, but facts. Years ago, I had a second grade student who knew more about black holes that 99% of adults who were not astronomers. All he wanted was more pieces of data to build his understanding of what a black hole is and how it is formed. He was willing to learn to read anything that would further his understanding. In a guest post from author Melissa Stewart, in a School Library Journal blog, there is a much clearer explanation and some interesting research about how many students are interested in expository non-fiction.

Let's take a look at some recent books in this category, the first by Melissa Stewart Can an Aardvark Bark?, illustrated by Steve Jenkins. The simple answer to the title question is no, but it does grunt. What other animals grunt? River otters, Hamadryas Baboons, white tailed deer and oyster toadfish, each species grunts mean something different. Can a seal squeal? No but it can bark and so can capybara, barking tree frog, common barking geckos and woodchucks. To the caybara, it is a warning, to the tree frog it is a mating call, the gecko uses a bark to let other geckos know where he is and woodchucks bark when they are fighting with one another. Other sounds explored that animals use to communicate include squeal, whine, growl, bellow and laugh.

The Sonoma County Library has three copies.


Jess Keating is another author who known for her expository fiction. Pink Is For Blobfish is an exploration of pink animals. Each two page spread introduces a pink toned animal with a picture, facts such as species name, size, diet, habitat, predators and threats. Plus an interesting fact in cartoon form about each animal. Seventeen perfectly pink animals are featured. A map showing where you can find them, a glossary and where to find out more is included at the end of the book. The illustrator is David DeGrand.

The Sonoma County Library has one copy. 

Jess Keating and David DeGrand have paired up for another book What Makes A Monster? The unifying idea this time is exploring animals who look like monsters or act like monsters. The Aye-Aye's witch like claws are only dangerous to bugs. A legend in Madagascar says a sighting of one of these lemurs is a prediction of death. Laid out like the blobfish book, this book features fifteen animals and one fungus. The last animal can be found in every house. The end of the book pairs famous monsters with animals in the book like Dracula and the vampire bat and a glossary of useful words.

Fly Guy Presents Castles

Buzz and Fly Guy go on a field trip to learn about castles in Fly Guy Presents Castles by Tedd Arnold. Buzz and Fly Guy learn about when, where and why castles were built. They see moats and drawbridges, parapets and gatehouses and watchtowers and keeps. Weapons used to lay siege to a castle include a ballista, a battering ram and a trebuchet. The latter flung heavy stones, beehives and animal poop over castle walls. I believe this is the first time "poop" and in Fly Guy's case "poopz' have made an appearance in any Fly Guy book. This will cause some giggles, I am sure. Another first is Fly Guy speaks an entire sentence completely devoid of 'z's.

A brief history of castles includes a timeline and a discussion of the Middle Ages. There are pictures of castles from France (the birthplace of castles), Spain, Britain, Ireland, Germany, Romania, Prague, Japan, Russia, India and even New York City. Lots of information about who lived in the castles, including the Lord and Lady, Knights, Jesters, Gardeners, Blacksmiths, Tailors, Kitchen Workers and pets. 

The topic was picked and voted upon by Fly Guy readers. This should appeal to kids who like fairy tales, princess books and adventure stories. This book was published on Jan 6th. Neither the Sonoma County Library nor Accelerated Reader have it listed. Most of the Fly Guy Presents books have an AR around 3.2-3.7. 

Up next is a Tedd Arnold bonus book, Vincent Paints His House. Full disclosure:  have loved Vincent Van Gogh almost my entire life. In High School, I did a self-portrait in his painting style, spent two weeks in August many years later visiting places he lived in France including the sanitarium in Saint-Remy, ate lunch at The Little Yellow House in Arles and spent a day at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam viewing his paintings in chronological order. When I found this book, I had to buy it.

The story is simple, Vincent wants to paint his house. He thinks white might be nice. The next page shows four tubes of white paint: Snow, Ivory, Titanium and Cream. A spider says, "Stop! This is MY house and I like red". The next page has four tubes of red paint, each a different shade of red. And so it goes as a caterpillar, beetle, bird, butterfly, snake, mouse and bat state their preferences. Vincent decides to use all the colors and the last page has the multi-colored house in front of the Starry Night sky. 

This is a very accessible book for a beginning reader because there is so much repetition, picture clues, an easy to read font and lots of white space. The AR is 1.1. The Sonoma County Library has four copies.

Fly Guy Presents Weather

Buzz and Fly Guy take us on a tour of a weather station to learn about the weather in Tedd Arnold's latest book in his non-fiction series, Fly Guy Presents: Weather. Buzz and Fly Guy learn a couple of things I didn't know (or remember, same thing). Cirrus (SIR-uhs) clouds (the thin wispy ones) are made up of ice and lightening is hotter than the surface of the sun. We learn about the water cycle, hurricanes, blizzards and tornadoes. Meteorologists (mee-tee-uh-RAH-luh-jists) study and forecast the weather. Climate (KLY-muht) is what the weather is usually like in an area: temperate, tropical, desert or polar. Some places can have more than one of these climates, Antarctica is both a polar and a desert climate. Buzz and Fly Guy have some tips at the end to help keep the earth healthy: use less energy and water, recycle and plant trees.

Tedd Arnold is writing for beginning readers so he puts the phonic pronunciation in parenthesis next to harder to pronounce words so his readers will learn weather vocabulary.  As in the other Fly Guy Presents books, pictures are used to illustrate weather phenomenon like tornadoes, clouds, hail and flooded streets.

The Sonoma County Library has eight copies. The book was published this week and hasn't been given an AR level yet. The previous books in the series have ranged from 2.8 to 3.9.

Picture Book Gift Ideas

2014 saw several  new picture books aimed at kids 4-7 years old by some honored picture book authors. The author and illustrator of a 2013 Caldecott Honor book, Extra Yarn, Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen have teamed up again on Sam & Dave Dig A Hole. A simple story about two boys digging a hole to look for something spectacular.   Some kids back in the olden days amused themselves during long summer days by digging holes either to bury or look for treasure or for the more ambitious, to dig their way to the other side of the world. While the story is told pretty straight, Jon Klassen’s illustrations are humorous. We can see what Sam and Dave cannot. Just as they are getting close to finding something, they change course. Fortunately, their dogs does dig his way to a spectacular find. The boys eventually fall down the hole and come out the other side. They decide that is a pretty spectacular way to spend the day.  The AR is 1.9.

Mac Barnett came out with another book this year  illustrated by Jen Corace. Telephone is a play on that  another amusement from the olden days. One person whispers something to another, that person whispers what he heard to the next person and the last person who hears it repeats the message aloud. More often than not, it bears little relationship to the original. The whole story takes place on a telephone wire, the characters are birds. Peter’s mother tells a cardinal carrying a baseball bat  “Tell Peter: Fly home for dinner”. The cardinal tells a flyboy, “Tell Peter: Hit pop flies and homers”. Flyboy passes his version to the next bird on the wire and so on. Each bird adds a twist to the message until finally a very drenched bird relays a message that combines parts of all the versions to a wise looking owl who happens to be sitting near Peter on the wire. The owl thinks about what he just heard and says to Peter, “Your Mom says fly home for dinner”.

 

Tom Lichtenheld, illustrator of Exclamation Mark, has teamed up with Richard T Morris on This Is A Moose.

An unseen director is making a wildlife movie about a moose. Take one: the star of the movie wants to be an astronaut.  This will not do. The director yells, “Cut!” and says matter of factually that a moose cannot be an astronaut. Take two is interrupted by the star’s grandmother (yeah grandmas!). She wanted to be a La Crosse goalie and don’t tell her a moose can’t be one or you have a fight on your hands. Take three is interrupted by a  Regal Giraffe who always wanted to be a doctor. The director dismisses the giraffe because this is a woodland movie not a safari movie. At this point Grandma and Regal Giraffe take matters into their own hands and launch Moose into space. The director goes into a tirade about how that cannot happen because this is a movie about a moose doing moose things. Nonetheless the Moose is in outer space. Finally, we see the director, who happens to be a duck, yelling, “will somebody please find me an animal that acts like it’s supposed to!!”  We see the director pausing to  think and coming to the realization that if a duck can be a director then a moose can be an astronaut . The new movie is “This is an Astronaut” on location on the moon.

Great read-a-loud book. The AR is 1.9.

Katherine Applegate, the winner of the 2013 Newbery Medal for The One And Only Ivan, has written a picture book about the real Ivan called Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla. The book is beautifully illustrated by G. Brian Karas.

The story tells of Ivan’s birth in a tropical forest in Central Africa, his capture by poachers and his arrival in Tacoma, Washington. He was raised like a human child for three years until he became too big.  Then a cage in the shopping mall became his new home. He lived in that cage for 27 years without the company of another gorilla. Some people thought Ivan should have a better life. After letters, petitions and protests it was arranged to transfer Ivan to Zoo Atlanta. There he lived out his days in “a place with trees and grass and other gorillas”. The AR is 3.7.

Magazines for Kids

Magazines are a great way to get your kids interested in reading. Erica from the What Do We Do All Day blog has done the hard work of rounding up a list of 16 magazines for  preschool and grade-school aged kids. Our family has had experience with the Ranger Rick (and the preschool, My Big Backyard now called Ranger Rick, Jr.) and Highlights for Kids. One that I have never seen before is Ask, a science magazine for kids 7-9 or 10. For older kids, they publish Odyssey.

Kids love to get mail so magazines make great birthday or holiday gifts, especially since the gift lasts the length of the subscription.

NYPL: 100 Best Children’s Book for 2013

The New York Public Library is out with an interactive list of the best children's books of 2013. You can search by reading level, genre and theme. Click on a book that interests you and it will take you to a short description  of the story. There is something for everyone.

On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein

Jennifer Berne uses Albert Einstein’s curiosity to take the reader on a journey through his life. Even as a young boy, he was curious about the world around him. A gift of a compass helped him to see that there were hidden mysteries in the world and he wanted to understand them. One day while riding his bike, he looked at the beams of light coming from the sun to the earth. He imagined himself racing through space on a beam of light. Albert began reading about magnetism, gravity, light, sound and numbers. But he still had questions. He keep on reading and wondering and learning.

The illustrator, Vladimir Radunsky, helps to visually illustrate the scientific concepts that Albert was thinking and wondering about: motion, the universe and his famous equation, E=mc² . Right to the end of his life, Einstein was thinking about and working on questions.  But still there are many questions to be answered; maybe you or your child might become one of the scientists who will answer one of them.

At the end of the book is more information about Einstein’s life and his thought experiments, as well as a list of more books about Albert Einstein.

Several copies of   On A Beam of Light can be found at the Sonoma County Library. The AR level is 4.5.

Fly Guy Presents: Space

Tedd Arnold is back with a new non-fiction book about space starring two of his fictional characters, Buzz and Fly Guy. Buzz and Fly Guy go on a field trip to the Space Museum in Fly Guy Presents: Space. Like his previous non-fiction book, Fly Guy Presents: Sharks, this book is part live “action” and part scrapbook. All the photos come from NASA and satellite images. They learn  about the solar system, the sun, planets and the moons orbiting the planets. They also learn  about meteoroids, comets and asteroids. They learn about the sun’s gravity, that it acts like a giant magnet keeping the planets in orbit around it. We meet famous astronauts and learn about some of their accomplishments and about some of the equipment needed to get to space and even to live in space. This is a great introduction to space for kids who only know about it from Star Wars movies.

Tedd Arnold includes pronunciation guides to big, perhaps unfamiliar words like universe (yoo-nih-vurs). The Scholastic reader level is  2nd grade and appeals to K-2nd graders. The Sonoma County Library has several copies of the book. It is also available through Scholastic and other booksellers.

Summer Reading Recommendations 2013

The Horn Book, a publication about books for children and young adults, has published a long list of recommended summer reading from picture books to books for young adults. All were published in 2012 or 2013. For first and second grade readers, the Early Readers and Young Fiction category may be especially helpful. There is a list of books and description for each one  here.

Some of the featured books have been reviewed here: The One And Only Ivan, This Is Not My Hat and That Is NOT a Good Idea! Even more are in my to-review or to read pile: The Dark, Who Could That Be at This Hour?, Three Times Lucky, The Great Unexpected and H.O.R.S.E: A Game of  Basketball and Imagination. I have also been meaning to read at least one of the Bink & Gollie books because they are co-written by Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee. Bink & Gollie: Best Friends Forever is on the early reader list.

3-D Thrillers! Space

Not every child is interested in a narrative. Some, like Joe  Friday want “just the facts”. The 3-D Thrillers series  provides just that. There are books on the Ice Age, monster trucks and  T-Rex. As well as bugs, sharks and snakes. All come with a pair of 3-D glasses so you can see the pictures in all their  glory. This book, 3-D Thrillers! Space by Paul Harrison is kid tested and approved. My second grade tester is knowledgeable about space but learned a few things he didn’t know. He also found it easy to read because he knows words like galaxy and universe. It is recommended for grades 1-3.

The book is out of stock on the Scholastic website but you can check back to find it here. If you have a space obsessed grade schooler, he or she will enjoy the book.

The Puppy Place Guide to Puppies

Ellen Miles has written a companion guide to her hugely popular The Puppy Place series about the Peterson family who rescue and foster homeless dogs. Her guide includes chapters on finding the right dog for your family and where to find one, getting ready for the new puppy or dog and meeting your new friend’s basic needs of food, water, exercise and housetraining. There is a very good chapter on making it easy for your dog to be a good dog. She talks about using positive reinforcement instead of punishment: reward the good, ignore the bad. Instructions are given to teach your dog to SIT as well as instructions to teach your dog a simple trick. She includes a chapter on the importance of regular veterinary visits and what to ask the  vet. The chapter called Fun, Loving and Understanding includes a graphic called “ How to Speak Dog”. One of the main ways dogs communicate is with body language. Ellen Miles has a handy, dandy visual guide. The final chapter deals with the unexpected: a lost dog and death. Interspersed throughout the book are little vignettes from many of her Puppy Place books.

There is plenty of good information aimed at second to fourth graders and some good reminders for their parents, too.

This is another book that according to Amazon has a publication date in the future (April 1, 2013), so as of today the libraries do not have copies. It is available at the Yulupa Book Fair or online until March 17th at Scholastic/bvusd.

Fly Guy Presents Sharks

The Fly Guy series is turning to non-fiction in Fly Guy Presents Sharks. If fictional characters like Buzz and Fly Guy narrate a factual book on sharks is it still non-fiction? I’ll leave that to someone else to determine.

Buzz and Fly Guy take a trip to the aquarium. Buzz was excited to see the sharks but Fly Guy was scared. We meet many kinds of sharks, find out how they breathe underwater and learn that sharks have no bone, just cartilage. We look at lots of shark teeth, rough skin made of denticles and learn about  shark senses underwater. Did you know that a shark can hear a fish’s muscles moving underwater? Or that two-thirds of a shark’s brain is used for smelling? Or that baby sharks are called pups?

 

The information in the book is presented as part live action and part scrapbook. Buzz is taking notes as he and Fly Guy walk around the exhibit. We get a microscopic look at various kinds of dentricles and a close up of a shark eye that can see in very murky water. The cartoon drawings of Buzz and Fly Guy are superimposed over photos of the sharks. The humor of the series characters is intact. This is a great book for kids who love Fly Guy and for kids who want to know more about sharks. And, by the way, Fly Guy is not scared of sharks at the end.

Scholastic has this book rated at a 3.o grade level (most of the other books in the series are in the 1.4 to 2.4 range).

According to Amazon, the publication date is May 1, 2013, so the  libraries have no copies yet, but it is available from Scholastic, either at the Book Fair or until March 19th at Scholastic/bvusd. 

Monday’s Trip to the Book Fair

Yulupa School is hosting a Scholastic book Fair this week. I had a bit of a list but bought a few other books that caught my eye. I’ll be reviewing the books one by one but I thought I’d let you see what I bought today.

AR level 4.3, 3 points.

AR level 2.9, 3 points

5.3 AR, 5 points

AR 3.2, 0.5 points

AR 1.5, 0.5 points

The following books currently have no AR grade level and test:

As usual, my purchases are heavy on dog books. I also couldn’t resist  a new Fly Guy book or the sequel to a book I just reviewed and one I first read in 1957.

Weird But True!

You haven’t lived until you have been followed around by a kid carrying a Weird But True book asking repeatedly, “did you know …?” The books are based on the National Geographic Kids feature of the same name. Did you know that an ostrich can run as fast a race horse? Or that a 300 year old hurricane on Jupiter is still going strong? Or that cold water weighs more than hot water? Did you know that Antarctica is a desert? Or that you breathe in 2,000 gallons of air each day? If you don’t, prepare to be enlightened!

There are five books in this series and an Ultimate Weird But True with a thousand outrageous facts. The Sonoma County Library has a few copies of the Ultimate Weird But True. The iTunes store has a free app called Weird But True for the  iPad, iPod touch and iPhone. If you want to see more than the dozen free facts, you will have to pay $.99 each for the first three packs  or $1.99 for the mega pack.

Yulupa School will be having a Scholastic Book Fair March 4 thru 8. There are usually Weird But True books available at the book fair.

2013 Newbery Medal and Honor Awards

The American Library Association awarded the 2013 Newbery Medal  for “the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children” to The One And Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. I am delighted by this choice because it is accessible to younger elementary students as well as being compelling enough for middle grade students. Three cheers!

The Honor winners are Splendors and Glooms By Laura Amy Schlitz, Bomb: The Race to Build - and Steal - the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin and Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage.

 

The blog’s review of The One And Only Ivan can be found here. Three Times Lucky, Splendors and Glooms and Bomb: The Race to Build - and Steal - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon are all available at the Sonoma County Library .

Picky Readers

Melissa Taylor has a post up on Imagination Soup with some ideas to motivate picky readers. She has struggled with this issue with her own daughters, so she speaks from experience. At the end of the post, she links to bloggers who have reviewed a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction books for kids from pre-school to middle grades.