Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: My Weird School Fast Facts

July 13, 2016 Alyson Beecher

My Weird School Fast Facts: Sports
by Dan Gutman; Pictures by Jim Paillot
HarperCollins (June 21, 2016)
Audience: Grades 1 to 5
Nonfiction * School & Education
IndieBound | WorldCat

Description from GoodReads:
Think fast with A.J. and Andrea from My Weird School!

Did you know that the only sport that’s been played on the moon is golf? Did you know that an NFL quarterback once threw a touchdown pass to himself?!

Learn more weird-but-true sports facts with A.J. and Andrea from Dan Gutman’s bestselling My Weird School series. This all-new series of nonfiction books features hundreds of hysterical facts, plus lots of photos and illustrations.

Whether you’re a kid who wants to know more about sports or just someone who is curious why Major League Baseball umpires have to wear black underwear, this is the book for you!

With more than 10 million books sold, the My Weird School series really gets kids reading!

My thoughts on this book:
I know that some of you are saying "Aly this isn't a picture book." And you would be right. This isn't even the typical nonfiction that I feature on Wednesdays. My Weird School Fast Facts: Sports is not a picture book. However, it is a fact book and really, how many kids do you know that LOVE fact books? If you said "a lot" you would be right, and for kids who love Dan Gutman's Weird School books, then it will be an easy sell.

Professor A.J. introduces the book to readers with typical Gutman humor. There are thirteen chapters which includes a beginning and ending chapters and each sport gets it own chapter.

Readers bounce between alternate factoids shared by the two main characters, A.J. and Andrea.

And occasionally, A.J. throws in some humor and Andrea calls him on it.

In addition to Fast Facts: Sports, readers can also read about geography facts in Fast Facts: Geography (click on cover for link).

The good news for school librarians and teachers, is that this comes in both a librarian edition and paperback edition. Definitely a fun addition to a school or classroom library.

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews:

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: Grow! Raise! Catch!

July 6, 2016 Alyson Beecher

GROW! RAISE! CATCH! HOW WE GET OUR FOOD
by Shelly Rotner
Holiday House (July 30, 2016)
Audience: Ages 4 to 7
Nonfiction * Cooking & Food * Farming * Nutrition
IndieBound | WorldCat

Description from GoodReads:
From author and photo-illustrator Shelley Rotner comes a new and exciting book surrounding the food we eat each day and where it all comes from.

Who grows our juicy fruits and yummy vegetables? Who raises animals for our tasty eggs, milk and meat? Who catches fresh fish for our table? Farmers and fishermen show off their bounty in this lively look at the people who produce the food on which we all rely. In a book filled with bright and enticing photographs and an accessible text, Shelley Rotner s latest book offers a breakdown of the farm-to-table process that is perfect for preschoolers and kindergarten students. A glossary is included."

My thoughts on this book:
I have to admit that I do not have a green thumb. My previous attempts at gardening, particularly vegetables, met with limited success. This is in part due to limited patience and skill. Regardless of my own minimal success, I did develop a new appreciation for those who grow fruits and vegetables. When I walk through our local Farmers Market, I never fail to leave without a sense of awe at the natural beauty found in fresh fruits and vegetables.

When I taught preschool and kindergarten, I realized that my students really did not understand where food came from. Many of my urban students had never been on a farm and if they lived in an apartment building had never even experienced a backyard garden. Milk, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and meat all came from the local market.

At ALA, I picked up an advanced copy of GROW! RAISE! CATCH! HOW WE GET OUR FOOD by Shelley Rotner. I was attracted to the topic but also by the memories of my students. While back at my hotel room, it was one of the first books that I read. I loved the photographs that would certainly be effective with young students during a read aloud. I loved that it celebrated farmers and fishermen. And I love how it celebrated where food comes from and how important healthy, nutritious food is for our growth. I also love how the book not only focuses on bigger farms but also on the city garden and the family home garden. The end of the book contains an author's note or "Did You Know?" on healthy foods. Additionally, there is a glossary of terms.

GROW! RAISE! CATCH! will be an excellent addition to a classroom library and a unit on gardening and growing food. I wish I had had this when I was a classroom teacher. Pick up a copy of the book at your local indie bookstore at the end of the month or at your community library.

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews:

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: The ALA Edition

June 29, 2016 Alyson Beecher

ALA Annual Conference is one of my favorite events. It's a fabulous opportunity to meet up with friends, authors, illustrators, and publishers and celebrate books. I always say I will take more pictures and I still miss getting all of the pictures that I would like, especially pictures of the fabulous authors and illustrators that I got to spend time with. So, where I don't have a picture from the wild, I did add the cover image. The books are sorted by publisher but not in any particular order and this is not an exhaustive list. My goal was just to get you excited about some of the exciting titles coming out this summer and fall.

Boyds Mills Press

The Music in George's Head: George Gershwin Creates Rhapsody in Blue by Suzanne Slade; Illustrated by Stacy Innerst (September 2016)

Blood Brother: Jonathan Daniels and His Sacrifice for Civil Rights by Rich Wallace and Sandra Neil Wallace (September 2016)

Charlesbridge

Looking for a book to help support visual fluency, then you might want to track this book down in August 2016.

I found myself reading the F&G (advanced copy) of POOP DETECTIVES: WORKING DOGS IN THE FIELD one evening of ALA despite how tired I was. I was just fascinated by these service dogs. Look out for this book in October 2016.

HMH Books for Young Readers

I have no idea how Jenkins can release as many books per year as he does, but his second title with HMH for 2016 comes out November 2016.

If you don't have SOME WRITER! on your list to read this fall, you must add it. I have read it once but want to go back to read and savor it. Some of Sweet's finest work. Comes out October 2016.

Holiday House

This picture book introduces young children to the concept of how we get our food.

Lerner/Millbrook Press

Rebecca E. Hirsch has two books out this fall. PLANTS CAN'T SIT STILL reminds me of Lois Ehlert's work but it will pair nicely with PLANTING THE WILD GARDEN and books about seed dispersal.

Kirsch's other book looks at how wind power and birds can co-exist without impacting the environment in negative ways.

Sandra Markle has a new book coming out in August 2016. I can't believe that I had a fabulous opportunity to spend the evening with Sandra over dinner and never got a picture of the two of us. I was fascinated by Sandra's adventurous spirit but her understanding of how to communicate her books with teachers blew me away. I was so thankful for the time we spent together. I also loved that Sandra created a special blog post about Little and Littler Monkey, when I asked about a nonfiction book to pair with Quick, Little Monkey! by Sarah L. Thompson (Boyds Mills Press, 2016).

Anne Rockwell and Floyd Cooper have created a picture book biography on James Lafayette. An incredible story out in November.

Though I didn't get to read this one, I did get to flip through the pages and it is beautiful. Can't wait to get my hands on it this fall.

Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor's Story by Caren Stelson (Carolrhoda Books, October 2016)

Macmillan Children's Publishing

Antsy Ansel: Ansel Adams A Life in Nature by Cindy Jenson-Elliott; Illustrated by Christy Holt (September 2016)

Science Comics: Volcanoes Fire and Life by Jon Chad (October 2016)

Squirrels Leap, Squirrels Sleep by April Pulley Sayre; Illustrated by Steve Jenkins (November 2016)

Giant Squid by Candace Fleming; Illustrated by Eric Rohmann (September 2016) - This book pairs beautiful verse with gorgeous illustrations.

Simon and Schuster

I managed to snap a picture of this one but not get a chance to read it. Can't wait to get my hands on it.

Another one that I want to read just because Robin Page illustrated it.

And for the final title...a picture book biography on Stephen Bishop.

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews:

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: Gorillas Up Close

June 22, 2016 Alyson Beecher

Gorillas: Up Close
by Christine Nippert-Eng; Photographs by John Dominski & Miguel Martinez
Henry Holt and Company (April 19, 2016)
Nonfiction * Animals * Apes
Audience: Ages 8 to 13
Indiebound | Worldcat

Description of the book:
Have you ever wondered how experts train a gorilla? Or what design features make a great gorilla habitat? Did you know that some gorillas can solve problems on giant touch-screen computers?

Filled with facts and photos, Gorillas Up Close takes us into the world of gorillas. Explore the differences between gorillas in zoos and in the wild with the gorilla family troop in Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo. Readers will delight in the similarities gorillas share with humans while finding out more about these incredible animals.

Thoughts on the book:
At 176 pages this is clearly not a typical picture book, but to be fair, GORILLAS UP CLOSE has pages and pages of photographs of gorillas. Along with all of those fabulous photographs, Nippert-Eng has provided readers with accessible facts, information, and stories of gorillas. I found the choice of sharing about gorilla development, and behavior in the context of actual gorillas was effective in helping to better understand about the life and relationships and behaviors within a gorilla troop. Readers also learn about how zoo gorillas can differ some from gorillas in the wild.

Though one book cannot provide readers with all the facts about a given subject, GORILLAS UP CLOSE does a good job with this. Young readers upon finishing the book will have a strong understanding of gorillas. For those wanting to know even more about gorillas, this book is an excellent starting place. Additional resources, websites, and information follow at the end of the book.

Readers can check out the Lincoln Park Zoo for more information about some of the gorillas referenced in the book and to follow their blog posts on gorillas. This is definitely a book to add to a classroom or school library. Look for a copy of GORILLAS UP CLOSE at your local independent bookstore or public library.

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews:

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: New Releases

June 15, 2016 Alyson Beecher

As part of the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge, one of my favorite things is to round-up as many new quality nonfiction books for children and share them with readers of this blog. Some months, I miss the release of books and add them to the next month's post. Since I have not seen every book listed, I cannot always confirm if they are truly a nonfiction book or more of an informational fiction text or a bit of historical fiction.

Links to previous new release posts: January | February | March | April | May

March 8, 2016