Discovering new nonfiction that I can use with students and share with teachers has become a little bit of an obsession with me. When I find something and I realized that it came out in a previous year, my initial question is "how come I didn't know about this"? Rationally, I know that I can't account for every nonfiction book that is released in a given year, but with all of the time I spend searching for it, you would think there would be no surprises.
This past Saturday, I attended the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association (SCIBA) Children's Literacy Day. One of the sessions was called Kid's Rep Picks. Four publishing reps selected specific titles to book talk to the audience. Simon & Schuster Rep, Kelly Stidham, talked about the Science of Fun Stuff series. Of course, my ears perked up at this. In addition to being nonfiction, they were early readers. I am always on the look out for early readers that are well done and appeal to kids.
Imagine my excitement at all of this early reader goodness...
Simon and Schuster's new Science of Fun Stuff series was recently released with The Innings and Outs of Baseball and The Thrills and Chills of Amusement Parks by Jordan D. Brown.
Here are some of the images and resources found within the text:
Newton makes more sense when you pair his theories with real life examples.
One of the resources at the end of the book is a timeline.
At the end of Innings and Out of Baseball, readers get an explanation of how an arm works in order to throw a ball.
Thrills and Chills of Amusement Parks:
Colorful cartoon-like images paired with humorous, informative text will draw in readers.
At the end of each book, there is a Science of Fun Stuff expert page.
One of the resources at the end of the Thrills and Chills of Amusement Parks is the Geography of Amusement Parks spread.
As I was looking for more information about the Science of Fun Stuff, I discovered another series published by Simon & Schuster called the History of Fun Stuff.
It appears that Simon and Schuster began with the History of Fun Stuff series in 2014 and will be releasing more in this series in 2015.
Here are a couple of interior spreads from The Sweet Story of Hot Chocolate:
An interior spread of some of the text from the early reader about hot chocolate.
An example of some of the additional information included at the end of the book.
Another series to keep an eye out for: Women Who Broke The Rules (Bloomsbury, May 2015)
In May 2015, Bloomsbury Publishers will release a new series called Women Who Broke the Rules by author, Kathleen Krull. Similar in length (48 pages) to an early reader, these books are more like a chapter book in shape and style. The text will draw readers in and encourage them to seek out additional materials on these four women. I look forward to seeing the finished version of these books later this spring.
Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews: