Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: Elephants and Wolves

Despite how hard I work to find books when they are released, sometimes, I don’t discover them until months or a year later. The Elephant has been on my list of books to read, since I first heard about it last year. Lobos was a 2018 release that I just discovered. In case, like me, you missed these last year, I hope you enjoy learning about them now.

The Elephant by Jenni Desmond (Enchanted Lion Books, November 2016) -

In a similar fashion to The Blue Whale and The Polar Bear, Desmond tells readers about The Elephant. Initially, I expected the book to be more of a compare and contrast text between the African Savanna Elephant and the Asian Elephant, but Desmond focuses ore on what they share in common than how they are different.

After reading multiple picture books about elephants, I am still surprised when I see one that seems to add something to my knowledge of elephants. Desmond’s illustrations pair beautifully with the text.

Lobos: A Wolf Family Returns by Brenda Peterson, Photographs by Annie Marie Musselman (Little Bigfoot, August 2018)

Peterson shares the story of a mated Gray Wolf pair and how they and their pups travel from Wolf Haven International to eventually be released into the wild in Mexico.

The simple straightforward text provides young readers with the basics of re-introducing wolves into a new area to help with re-population. For older readers, this would be a jumping off point to learning more about wolf conservation and species survival plan.

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

Don’t forget to link up your nonfiction reviews…











Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: May Releases

Can’t believe it’s already May and there are more new releases to celebrate. Here are a few of the books that are being released this month. I have included the links to past month round-ups in case you want to look back on past releases.

January | February | April part I | April part II

Titan and the Wild Boars: The True Cave Rescue of the Thai Soccer Team by Susan Hood, Patthana Sornhiran, Illustrated by Dow Phumiruk (HarperCollins, May 2, 2019)

Crossing on Time: Steam Engines, Fast Ships, and a Journey to the New World by David Macaulay (Roaring Brook Press, May 7, 2019)

The Truth About Crocodiles: Seriously Funny Facts about Your Favorite Animals by Maxwell Eaton III (Roaring Brook Press, May 7, 2019)

Before They Were Authors: Famous Writers as Kids by Elizabeth Haidle (HMH Books for Young Readers, May 14, 2019)

The Girl Who Named Pluto: The Story of Venetia Burney by Alice B McGinty, Illustrated by Elizabeth Haidle (Schwartz & Wade, May 14, 2019)

When Sue Found Sue: Sue Hendrickson Discovers Her T. Rex by Toni Buzzeo, Illustrated by Diana Sudyka (Abrams Books for Young Readers, May 14, 2019)

Serena: The Littlest Sister by Karlin Gray, Illustrated by Monica Ahanonu (Page Street Kids, May 20, 2019)

Science Comics: Cars: Engines That Move You by Dan Zettwoch (First Second, May 28, 2019)

The Sound of Silence: Growing Up Hearing with Deaf Parents by Myron Uhlberg (Albert Whitman Company, May 28, 2019)

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




Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: What Are You Reading? - 4/24/19

I was wondering if I was going to get a blog post up this week. Two weeks ago part of my ceiling in the living room came down due to water damage. We made a decision to replace the whole ceiling and I spent the weekend packing things up and for the next two weeks, my cats and I are essentially living in my bedroom. While packing up things (including many many books), I read through a stack of picture books. Some I posted in my It’s Monday! What are you reading? post and today I feature some of the nonfiction titles.

Butterflies in Room 6: See How They Grow by Caroline Arnold (Charlesbridge, March 2019)

I was really curious about this book and hoping it would be good. I can see a lot of teachers using this as part of their units on butterflies. I also wish I had read this when we had an explosion of Painted Butterflies in our area about a month ago. It would have been the perfect book to share as students were fascinated by all the butterflies that surrounded us.

Doctor Esperanto and the Language of Hope by Mara Rockliff, Illustrated by Zosia Dzierzawska (Candlewick Press, March 2019)

I had heard of Esperanto as a language many years ago but I knew little of its creator. Rockliff gives readers an initial introduction to Leyzer Zamenhof and all of his work. Hopefully it will inspire students to learn more and to try learning some of it.

Weird Animals by Mary Kay Carson (Sterling Children’s Books, January 2019)

I really enjoyed how this book was laid out. The color coding of the text to guide young readers in organizing their thoughts about each of the creatures in the book makes this a fun mentor text for nonfiction writing. Plus all of the great facts will be enjoyable for children to partner share as they read this book.

So, what have you been reading?

Don’t forget to link up your nonfiction reviews…