Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: June Releases

Thank you everyone for all of the great posts each week for the

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge 2014

.  At the beginning of each month, I like to try to do a post to spread the word about recent releases or upcoming nonfiction/informational titles.  It is not comprehensive, but I do try to include a variety of titles that might be of interest to readers.  Some of them I have read and some I have yet to read.  Often I include reviews in later posts.

Here are some June titles and a few books that I missed posting last month.  If you missed the posts from the past five months, I have included them below.

Link to January & February Releases

Post

Link to February & March Releases

Post

Link to March & April Releases

Post

Link to More April Releases

Post

Link to May Releases

Post

Releases this month...

June 3, 2014

My Country 'Tis of Thee: How One Song Reveals the History of Civil Rights

by Claire Rudolph Murphy; Illustrated by Bryan Collier (Henry Holt and Co.)

June 5, 2014

Tiny: The Invisible World of Microbes

by Nicola Davies; Illustrated by Emily Sutton (Walker Books)

June 17, 2014

I am Rosa Parks

by Brad Me

ltzer

(Dial Publishers)

June 24, 2014

What's New? The Zoo!: A Zippy History of Zoos

by Kathleen Krull; Illustrated by Marcellus Hall (Arthur A. Levine)

June 26, 2014

George Ferris, What a Wheel!

by Barbara Lowell (Grosset & Dunlap)

Some previous release...

March 18, 2014

A Baby Elephant in the Wild

by Caitlin O'Connell (HMH Books for Young Readers)

May 27, 2014

Tuesday Tucks Me In: The Loyal Bond Between a Soldier and His Service Dog

by Luis Carlos Montalván; Photographs by Bret Witter & Dan Dion (Roaring Brook Press)

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews...

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday - The Scraps Book

Thank you everyone for all of the great posts each week for the

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge 2014

.

The Scraps Book: Notes From a Colorful Life

by

Lois Ehlert

Beach Lane Books/Simon & Schuster (March 4, 2014)

Audience

: K-3

Memoir * Women Illustrators * Art

IndieBound

*

WorldCat

Description from GoodReads

:

The renowned Caldecott Honoree and illustrator of

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

provides a moving, intimate, and inspiring inside look at her colorful picture book career.

Lois Ehlert always knew she was an artist. Her parents encouraged her from a young age by teaching her how to sew and saw wood and pound nails, and by giving her colorful art supplies. They even gave her a special spot to work that was all her own.

Today, many years and many books later, Lois takes readers and aspiring artists on a delightful behind-the-scenes tour of her books and her book-making process. Part fascinating retrospective, part moving testament to the value of following your dreams, this richly illustrated picture book is sure to inspire children and adults alike to explore their own creativity.

Reviews:

Kirkus

|

HornBook

|

Publisher's Weekly

|

100 ScopeNotes

Extra Material:

HornBook's 5 Questions Interview with Lois Ehlert

|  

My thoughts on this book

:

"When I was little, I read all the books on the library shelf and I thought maybe someday I could make a book."

- Lois Ehlert, The Scraps Book

When I began teaching my first books were by author/illustrators such as Tomie dePaola, Eric Carle, and Ezra Jack Keats. My collection also included dozens of books by Lois Ehlert.  As part of my curriculum, I created many learning activities tied into Ehlert's books. Though I never thought to do an author study on Ehlert, with the release of her incredibly creative memoir,

The Scraps Book

, I am already itching to do exactly that.

Today, Lois Ehlert is 79 years old and still creating art and books. Frankly, amazing anyway you look at it. When I opened up this book, I knew within a few pages that it was coming home with me. Ehlert shares with readers how her family inspired and supported her art. Readers are treated to little facts about the art and ideas she used to create her books.  I loved that she explains that "

I'm mess when I work.

"

The Scraps Book

celebrates the life and art of Lois Ehlert in only the way that she can do it with mixed media and scraps of all kinds and the images that made us love her over the years. As I mentioned earlier, I already want to create lessons and an author study with this book as the center of our inspiration.

An interview with Lois Ehlert (Reading Rockets)

:

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews

:

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday - The Cosmobiography of Sun Ra

Thank you everyone for all of the great posts each week for the

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge 2014

.

Cosmo-biography of Sun Ra: The Sound of Joy is Enlightening

by Chris Raschka

Candlewick Press (May 13, 2014)

Audience

:  Grades 2nd to 5th

Biography * Jazz Musicians *  African American Musicians

IndieBound

*

WorldCat

*

Amazon

*

Barnes & Noble

Description from GoodReads

:

Jazz musician Sun Ra (1914–1993) always said that he came from Saturn. Being from another planet, he was naturally intrigued by everything earthly — especially music, because music is the one thing on Earth most like the stars. Earthlings themselves confused Sun Ra, the way they sorted themselves by color and fought wars against one another. So he made music. And he traveled with other musicians and singers, calling themselves the Sun Ra Arkestra, playing, singing, and dancing for people all over the planet. Because music, he said, is what holds us all together. Join acclaimed author-illustrator Chris Raschka in celebrating a legend of the jazz world who was truly one of a kind.

My thoughts on this book

:

As soon as I saw the cover of this book, I knew I had to find it.  On Monday's

What are you Reading

post, I said that this book was "Interesting and a bit out there.  However, I suspect that Sun Ra, the musician, was also a bit out there."  After watching the video that I included below, I can certainly say that Sun Ra was "a bit out there."  

Not knowing much about Sun Ra and his band, I wasn't sure what to expect.  After learning a bit more and reading

The Cosmobiography of Sun Ra

, I felt that Raschka captured the personality and flare of this very unique jazz musician claiming to be from the planet, Saturn. 

Since I am not sure that I can do justice to this book, I have included links to reviews by Kirkus (a starred review) and Publisher Weekly.  The author's note, found on the Candlewick website, provides further information for readers. Finally, check out the videos included in this post to develop a better sense of who is Sun Ra.

Reviews: 

Kirkus

|

Publisher's Weekly

Additional Material:

Author's Notes

Check out the official Book Trailer

:

Sun Ra Night Music - 1989 Video Interview & Performance -

A Taste of both Sun Ra and his music.

After reading Raschka's

The Cosmobiography of Sun Ra

, I would like to check out some of  his other Jazz biographies.

John Coltrane's Giant Steps

(Simon & Schuster, 2002)

Mysterious T

helonious

(Scholastic, 1997)

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews

:

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday - Sea Turtle Scientist

Sea Turtle Scientist

by Stephen R. Swinburne

HMH Books for Young Readers (January 7, 2014)

GoodReads

|

IndieBound

|

WorldCat

|

Amazon

|

Barnes & Noble

Description from GoodReads

:

Dr. Kimberly Stetwart, also known as the Turtle Lady of St. Kitts, is already waiting at midnight when an 800-pound leatherback sea turtle crawls out of the Caribbean surf and onto the sandy beach. The mother turtle has a vital job to do: dig a nest in which she will lay eggs that will hatch into part of the next generation of leatherbacks. With only one in a thousand of the eggs for this critically endangered species resulting in an adult sea turtle, the odds are stacked against her and her offspring. Join the renowned author and photographer Steve Swinburne on a journey through history to learn how sea turtles came to be endangered, and what scientists like Kimberly are doing to save them. For the complete selection of books in this critically acclaimed, award-winning series, visit

www.sciencemeetsadventure.com

.  

About

Scientists in the Field: Where Science Adventure Meets

-

The

Scientists in the Field

series shows people immersed in the unpredictable and dynamic natural world, making science more accessible, relevant, and exciting to young readers. Far from the research laboratory, these books show firsthand adventures in the great outdoors—adventures with a purpose. From climbing into a snake den with thousands of slithering snakes to tracking wolves, swimming with hammerhead sharks, and collecting bugs, readers experience the thrill of discovering the unknown.

The

Scientists in the Field

series has been deemed consistently excellent, imaginative, engaging, and informative. The series provides a broad range of curricular opportunities that will both teach and entertain children.

Follow them on:

Twitter

|

Facebook

|

Discussion Guide for Sea Turtle Scientist

My thoughts on this book

:

Lately, I seem to be partial to all things Scientist in the Field and National Geographic.  I have been trying out some activities with first and second graders using a variety of nonfiction titles. 

In

Sea Turtle Scientist

, Stephen R. Swinburne focuses on the work of Dr. Kimberly Stewart.  As I read about her work, I found myself not wanting to put the book down but instead to stay up late reading.  Additionally, I was struck by how hard it is to really observe and do research on sea turtles given their lifestyle and way of moving 1,000's of miles through the sea.  

For many of the first graders that I have been working with,

Sea Turtle Scientist

would be a challenge even as a read aloud.  However, the photographs tell their own stories and I found that by reading the text beforehand, I could summarize the text and use the photographs in a way that the students benefitted from the book.

We talked about Dr. Stewart and the type of education she would need to be a sea turtle scientist and also, how fun it would be to work on a beach and wear flip flops. It was a bit hard for students to understand why she would need to check the nests and also examine all of the egg shells.  I would love to bring in some flippers, sand and ping pong balls to help the students really begin to experience how difficult it is for the mother sea turtle to come from the sea to lay her eggs.  

I would highly recommend this book for grades three and up, but it could make a great read aloud for an attentive group of first and second graders. Below, I have included a few Sea Turtle Videos that you may want to use to front-load information for students or to supplement the books you are reading with them. I have also included some of my favorite Sea Turtle books for Kindergarten to Second grade.

All About Sea Turtles Video by Sea World

:

Turtle Hatching:

Other Sea Turtle Books for Younger Readers

:

Sea Turtles (National Geographic Readers)

by Laura Marsh (National Geographic, 2011) - As with all of the super readers by National Geographic, this book does a great job of introducing younger students to sea turtles.

One Tiny Turtle: Read and Wonder

by Nicola Davies; Illustrated by Jane Chapman (Candlewick Press, 2005) - I love this story and also the combination of narrative text with fact.

Scholastic Adventures With Books: One Tiny Turtle Classroom Activity Guide

.

I'll Follow the Moon

by Stephanie Lisa Tara; Illustrated by Lee Edward Fodi (Stephanie Lisa Tara Children's Books, 2012) - This fictional story in verse helps readers connect on a different level to the journey of baby sea turtles must begin when hatching from their nest.

On Kiki's Reef

by Carol Malnor, Illustrated by Trina L. Hunner (Dawn Publications, March 1, 2014) - A 2014 release, On Kiki's Reef provides a narrative look at the journey of a sea turtle and the reference to the life cycle of sea turtles.

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews:

Common Core IRL: Baseball Edition

Though we have not posted for awhile in our Common Core: IRL, we have re-grouped and have a few posts coming up in the near future.  Check out the wonderful explanation post over on Great Kid Books about nonfiction and reading choice.

From Great Kid Books (Mary Ann Scheuer)

:

This week, our intrepid group of

Common Core IRL

literacy experts are going to bat for readers -- coming up with great baseball books to recommend for kids. We will focus on nonfiction for kids to read along the reading spectrum, from beginning readers to advanced middle grade readers. We will include books to read aloud to children, because it's essential to read engaging, interesting nonfiction aloud to our children.

Here's our batting line-up for

Common Core IRL: In Real Libraries

:

• read aloud picture books (grades K-3) -- Kid Lit Frenzy (Wednesday)
• middle grade readers (grades 3-4) -- Great Kid Books (Wednesday)
• older middle grade readers (grades 5-6) -- The Nonfiction Detectives (Thursday)
• beginning readers (grades K-2) -- The Show Me Librarian (Thursday)

___________________________

For more ideas about children's picture books on baseball, please check out my post from

February 28, 2013

for a list of my favorite picture books about baseball.

___________________________

Since March, I have been working with a number of 1st grade classes and a second grade class on reading comprehension, and writing.  It has been an interesting experience and has given me much to think about.  Click

here

to read all of the standards for

Reading Informational Text

for first grade.

As part of this project, I have been using a number of picture books to help students begin to ask and answer questions about key details (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.1) and retell key details of a text (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.2).

Author and illustrator, Matt Tavares is a big fan of baseball and has written a number of picture books about baseball or baseball players.  For the purpose of this post, I am going to focus on two of his wonderful picture book biographies about two icons of America's favorite past-time. 

Becoming Babe Ruth

by Matt Tavares (Candlewick, 2013)

There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived

by Matt Tavares (Candlewick, 2012)

Book Trailer for There Goes Ted Williams

:

Both of these books are engaging, make excellent read alouds, and provide background information about these players that some may not know.

In addition to having students ask and answer questions and retell key details from the books, you can also have students focus on identifying similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.9).  Since the books are by the same author/illustrator, and written in similar style, it allows students to more easily make comparisons and identify differences.

Finally, you can assist young readers in learning about a few text features by looking at the author's note at the end of the book and the additional resources, timeline and other information provided (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.5).  This begins to lay the ground work for primary grade students in learning that informational text typically has features not present in fictional text. Students also begin to understand that these features have names, a purpose and a function which prepares them for more complex informational text with an increasing number of text features.   (Note: A good source of biographies with well utilized text features would be through

National Geographic

.)

With the proper introduction to informational text and the use of engaging material, you will hit one out of the park with your students.