Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: Celebrating Women's History Month

Women’s History Week was established by President Carter in 1980 and then in 1987 Congress established it as Women’s History Month. For the month of March, I will be celebrating the lives of amazing women and their contributions to the world. So often their contributions haven’t been recognized or celebrated as they should. I love that in the past several years, the number of biographies about all of these women have shined a light onto their incredible work.

To kick off Women’s History, I am sharing three books…

Hedy Lamarr's Double Life: Hollywood Legend and Brilliant Inventor by Laurie Wallmark, Illustrated by Katy Wu (Sterling, February 5, 2019)

I was aware of Hedy Lamarr’s life as an actress but had no clue until a couple of years ago that she was quite the inventor. Sadly, I am not surprised that it took 50 years for her work in discovering frequency hopping to be recognized. In the 1930’s and 1940’s, women were expected to get married and have children. They were not expected to be thinkers and scientists and inventors and engineers. Wallmark provides young readers with a fabulous introduction to this incredible woman.

A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks by Alice Faye Duncan, Illustrated by Xia Gordon (Sterling, January 1, 2019)

Gwendolyn Brooks would have been a contemporary of Hedy Lamarr and yet I suspect that their lives were very different. Brooks was an exceptional poet and writer and became the first Black Writer to win the prestigious Pulitzer Award. Duncan intertwines her poetry and verse about Brooks with actual poetry written by Brooks. Definitely a love song for a very talented woman.

Gloria Takes a Stand: How Gloria Steinem Listened, Wrote, and Changed the World by Jessica Rinker, Illustrated by Daria Peoples-Riley (Bloomsbury Children’s Book, March 12, 2019)

When I was growing up, I remember hearing about and reading about Gloria Steinem. At the time, I don’t really think I thought about how significant her work was and the contributions she made in moving forward equal rights for women. Rinker providers young readers with a general overview of Steinem’s life and contributions. It has motivated me to read more about her.

Look for each of these books at your local indie bookstore or community library.

Don’t forget to link up your nonfiction reviews…

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: The Roots of Rap 16 Bars on the 4 Pillars of Hip Hop

The Roots of Rap: 16 Bars on the 4 Pillars of Hip Hop
by Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Frank Morrison
Little Bee Books (January 8, 2019)
Nonfiction * Music * Rap & Hip-Hop
Audience: Ages 7 to 10
Indiebound | Worldcat

Description from GoodReads:
Explore the roots of rap in this stunning, rhyming, triple-timing picture book!
A generation voicing
stories, hopes, and fears
founds a hip-hop nation.
Say holler if you hear.

The roots of rap and the history of hip-hop have origins that precede DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash. Kids will learn about how it evolved from folktales, spirituals, and poetry, to the showmanship of James Brown, to the culture of graffiti art and break dancing that formed around the art form and gave birth to the musical artists we know today. Written in lyrical rhythm by award-winning author and poet Carole Boston Weatherford and complete with flowing, vibrant illustrations by Frank Morrison, this book beautifully illustrates how hip-hop is a language spoken the whole world 'round, it and features a foreward by Swizz Beatz, a Grammy Award winning American hip-hop rapper, DJ, and record producer.

Quick thoughts about this book:

When I first heard about this book, I put it on my “list of books to read”. I have been a big fan of both Weatherford’s work and Morrison’s art. However, the small book cover on the screen of the computer does not properly prepare you for the beauty of this book.

The Roots of Rap: 16 Bars On the 4 Pillars of Hip Hop will make you gasp as you open it up. I think my first read through of the book was actually a simple walk through of the illustrations. I am truly in awe of Morrison’s incredible talent.

As I read through the text on additional read throughs of the book, I couldn’t help but look to see if the book was available in an audiobook format. I wondered about the rhythm of the text and if the rhythm changes as the history of rap unfolds.

I look forward to sharing this book with teachers and students and encouraging students to celebrate the history of rap and hip hop and be inspired to write their own spoken word poetry and musical lyrics.

Don’t miss the back matter at the end of the book. Weatherford and Morrison include their thoughts on the Hip Hop and the role music and spoken word poetry played in their life. There is also a Hip Hop’s Who’s Who and key vocabulary at the end.

Look for The Roots of Rap: 16 Bars on the 4 Pillars of Hip Hop at your local indie bookstore or community library.

Don’t forget to link up your nonfiction reviews….

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: 2018 CYBILS Winners and 2019 Green Earth Book Award

Last week the 2018 CYBILS winners were announced. I was thankful to have an opportunity to be a Round 2 Judge for the Elementary/Middle Grades Nonfiction category.

The 2018 CYBILS Nonfiction Winners:

Elementary NF Winner: Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor by Patricia Valdez, Illustrated by Felicita Sala (Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers)

Middle Grade Nonfiction Winner: Death Eaters: Nature’s Decomposers and Scavengers by Kelly Milner Halls (Millbrook)

Junior High Nonfiction: Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam by Elizabeth Partridge (Viking Books for Young Readers)

Senior High Nonfiction: The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler by John Hendrix (Amulet)

Congratulations to all of the winners. To read the full list of winners, click here.

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Recently, I learned about the Green Earth Book Award thank you to Melissa Stewart.

2019 Green Earth Book Award Long List Announced

From the website:
“We have announced the long list for the 2019 national Green Earth Book Award, which we bestow annually to children’s and young adult literature that best convey the message of environmental stewardship. Over 150 books were nominated this year in five categories: picture book, children’s fiction and nonfiction; and young adult fiction and nonfiction.

This is the 15th year environmental nonprofit The Nature Generation has bestowed the award in order to bring national recognition to important works and their authors with its highly qualified “seal of approval” for environmental literature. The winners are chosen by a panel of literary, environmental and educational professionals.

“This long list of environmental stewardship books brings educators and parents top quality, well-vetted choices to give our next generation the gift of the love of nature—and the gift of understanding facts and science about the environment, ” said The Nature Generation founder and president, Amy Marasco. “These gifts are the tools they’ll use to solve the critical environmental issues the world is facing.”

The short list will be announced in March and the final Green Earth Book Award winners will be announced at the Salisbury University Children’s and Young Adult Literature Festival in April.”

Congratulations to all of the finalists. I look forward to the short list announcement. To check out the full list of books, click here.

Don’t forget to link up your nonfiction reviews…

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: What are you reading? - 2/13/19

About once a month, I do a “What are you reading?” post. Here are some of the picture books that I read recently. I am still working through a stack of books and will share those titles soon. Since some of these books won’t be released until March or even later, I have included the release date next to each book.

Sweet Dreams, Sarah: From Slavery to Inventor by Vivian Kirkfield, Illustrated by Chris Ewald (Creston Books, May 1, 2019)

Yogi: The Life, Loves, and Language of Baseball Legend Yogi Berra by Barb Rosenstock, Illustrated by Terry Widener (Calkins Creek, February 5, 2019)

Popcorn Country: The Story of America’s Favorite Snack by Cris Peterson, Photographs by David R. Lundquist (Boyds Mills Press, April 16, 2019)

I am Farmer: Growing an Environmental Movement in Cameroon by Miranda Paul, Baptiste Paul, Illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon (Millsbrook Press, February 5, 2019)

Just Right: Searching for the Goldilocks Planet by Curtis Manley, Illustrated by Jessica Lanan (Roaring Brook Press, January 29, 2019)

Along Came Coco: A Story About Coco Chanel by Eva Byrne (Abrams Books for Young Readers, March 19, 2019)

Guitar Genius: The Legendary Les Paul and His Electrifying Inventions by Kim Tomsic, Illustrated by Brett Helquist (Chronicle Books, June 1, 2019)

From 2018:

The Eye That Never Sleeps: How Detective Pinkerton Saved President Lincoln by Marissa Moss, Illustrated by Jeremy Holmes (Harry N. Abrams, November 2018)

Look for these books at your local indie bookstores or public libraries.

Tomorrow, Thursday, February 14, 2019, CYBILS will announce the winners. I am so excited to share the winners of the Elementary Nonfiction category and the Middle Grades Nonfiction category.

Don’t forget to link up your nonfiction reviews….

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: Fact or Fiction

During one of the panels at NCTE ‘18, I asked the nonfiction authors about the process they go through in fact-checking their books. Each author assured attendees that they do rigorous fact-checking and that their editors and publishers also check the facts in their books. There was a confidence, an assuredness in their responses. Knowing who the authors were and what their backgrounds consisted of, I shared their confidence.

However, what happens when you discover that the information in a book is not correct? And I don’t mean just an accidental typo where the text mentions one date and the back matter references another date. Those kind of things happen. What I worry about are the bigger things that reinforce commonly believed information that might be outdated or simply false.

For example, if I were to ask the average adult or most 4th graders if all spiders spin webs, I would guess that they would say “yes”. I know I would have. Sure, those with a background in arachology, would know that hunting spiders or spiders that are members of the wolf spider family use other methods to capture prey, but that wouldn’t be me. A book mentioning that all spiders spin webs would be accepted by many without raising any questions. And yet it should be challenged.

In a recent conversation with a friend, with a science background, I discovered that this so-called trait about spiders that I had accepted as fact was indeed false. Now, let’s take this one step further, what happens when an author writes in a book that all spiders spin webs? If I were the reader of the book, I would accept what I read about spider making webs. My students would also accept it and together we would continue to propagate a myth. Do I believe that the writer intentionally tried to disseminate false information? No. There are some things that we think we know and don’t need to research. Just as I am certain that the author was not trying to pass off false information, I believe that most editors would accept what the author wrote without giving it a second thought. And yet, a nonfiction book containing this detail would be inaccurate.

As I thought about this, I struggled with what to do. Most elementary teachers that I know are generalists. Some may have a specialty area based on their own interests but we are trained to teach mostly language arts and math and a little of everything else. How do we know that what we are reading is accurate? Teachers are busy. It is hard enough to carve out the time to read lots of books each week. To add fact-checking books to my to do list seems a bit overwhelming, especially since I want to believe that all of the authors, editors, and publishers who create nonfiction for children also recognize how critical their roles as researchers and fact-checkers are to teachers, librarians, and students.

Currently, I am working on a series of lessons on deserts and forests. I am close to pulling out my hair. I am not working in my wheelhouse. As I work on these lessons, I am double and triple checking everything because these lessons will be implemented in multiple classrooms with dozens of children. Since this isn’t an area that I am a specialist, I am not accepting anything and questioning everything. The tricky areas come with what may be seen as generally accepted or commonly accepted facts that most people believe about deserts or forests. This is the blindspot. And this is the area that all authors, illustrators, editors, and publishers will need to address before sending a nonfiction book out into the world.

Don’t forget to link up your nonfiction reviews…