Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: New and Recent Releases

I realized I had not done an official new release post in awhile. As part of the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge, one of the most popular posts are the round-up posts. Honestly, it is also my favorite post to put together.  This may not be a comprehensive list of releases for the month but I did find so many fabulous books that have come out this year that I missed in the past months, or books that will be coming out in May. Hope you find lots of new titles to celebrate. 

Check out the previous posts: January | February | March  

Check out these recent releases:

January 2018 

Be a King: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Dream and You by Carole Boston Weathersford; Illustrated by James E. Ransome (Bloomsbury)

Charlie Takes His Shot: How Charlie Sifford Broke the Color Barrier in Golf by Nancy Churnin; Illustrated by John Joven (Albert Whitman)

The United States v. Jackie Robinson by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen; Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (Balzer & Bray)

February 2018

Hurricane Harvey: Disaster in Texas and Beyond by Rebecca Felix (Millbrook Press)

Seeing Into Tomorrow: Haiku by Richard Wright - Biography and Illustrations by Nina Crews (Millbrook Press)

Rodent Rascals by Roxie Munro (Holiday House)

Big Tree Down! by Laurie Lawlor (Holiday House)

Earth Verse: Haiku From the Ground Up by Sally M. Walker; Illustrated by William Grill (Candlewick Press)

The Boo-Boos That Changed the World: The True Story About An Accidental Invention (Really!) by Barry Wittenstein; Illustrated by (Charlesbridge)

A Mammal is an Animal by Lizzie Rockwell (Holiday House)

Tugboat by Michael Garland (Holiday House)

All That Trash: The Story of the 1987 Garbage Barge and Our Problem with Stuff by Meghan McCarthy (Simon & Schuster)

March 2018

Leaf Litter Critters by Leslie Bulion; Illustrated by  (Peachtree Publishers)

The Flying Girl: How Aida de Acosta Learned to Soar by Margarita Engle; Illustrated by (Simon & Schuster)

Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide by Isabel Quintero; Illustrated by Zeke Pena (Harry N. Abrams)

Read and See by Bill Kontzias (Holiday House)

Washington, D.C.: Our Nation's Capitol from A to Z by (Holiday House)

April 2018

Abraham Lincoln's Dueling Words by Donna Janell Bowman (Peachtree Publishers)

Chester Nez and the Unbreakable Code: A Navajo Code Talker's Story by Joseph Bruchac; Illustrated by Liz Amini-Holmes (Albert Whitman)

The Funniest Man in Baseball: The True Story of Max Patkin by Audrey Vernick; Illustrated by (Clarion Books)

Camp Panda! Helping Cubs Return to the Wild by Catherine Thimmesh (HMH Books for Young Readers) 

Library on Wheels: Mary Lemist Titcomb and America's First Bookmobile by Sharlee Glenn (Harry N. Abrams)

Yummy! Good Food Makes Me Strong by Sheila M. Kelly, Shelley Rotner (Holiday House)

Woodpeckers: Drilling Holes & Bagging Bugs by Sneed B. Collard III (Bucking Horse Books)

Alphabet Boats by Samantha R. Vamos; Illustrated by (Charlesbridge)

My First Book of Lacrosse: Mostly Everything Explained About the Game by The Editors of Sports Illustrated Kids (Sports Illustrated Kids) 

One Day a Dot: The Story of You, the Universe, and Everything by Ian Lendler

Fairy Spell: How Two Girls Convinced the World that Fairies Are Real by Marc Tyler Nobleman; Illustrated by Eliza Wheeler (Clarion)

May 8, 2018

The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding the World's Coral Reef by Kate Messner; Illustrated by Matthew Forsythe (Chronicle Books)

Grandma Gatewood Hike the Appalachian Trial by Jennifer Thermes (Abrams Books for Young Readers)

May 15, 2018

The Hyena Scientist by Sy Montgomery; Nic Bishop (HMH Books for Young Readers)

The Truth About Dolphins: Seriously Funny Facts About Your Favorite Animals by Maxwell Eaton III

May 22, 2018

Stinkiest! 20 Smelly Animals by Steve Jenkins (HMH Books for Young Readers)

Speediest! 19 Very Fast Animals by Steve Jenkins (HMH Books for Young Readers)

Water Land: Land and Water Forms Around the World by Christy Hale (Roaring Brook)

May 29, 2018

Neymar: A Soccer Dream Come True by Mina Javaherbin; Illustrated by Paul Hoppe (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Look for all of these titles at your local indie bookstore or community library!

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews:

#Road2Reading Challenge: Judy Moody And the Right Royal Tea Party

Judy Moody and the Right Royal Tea Party
by Megan McDonald; Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
Candlewick Press (September 11, 2018)
Fiction * Family Trees  * Humor
Audience: Ages 6 to 9
Indiebound | WorldCat
 

About the book: Jolly smashing! Could the Moodys really have royal blood? Judy brings her new look to a comical episode about the ups and downs of exploring a family tree.

Judy Moody is in a royal purple-mountain-majesties mood. Make that Majesty with a capital M! With Grandma Lou’s help, Judy has dug up proof that some old-timey Moodys (aka the brave Mudeyes) lived in merry olde England. In fact, if her grandpa’s notes are right, Judy might even be related to — royal fanfare, please — the Queen herself! Should Judy start packing her purple robe for a sleepover at Buckingham Palace? But then Judy’s family tree gets a few more shakes — thanks to her nemesis, Jessica “Fink” Finch — and some more surprises come tumbling out. Crikey! These new gems are not nearly as shiny or sparkly as the crown jewels. Now Judy has some right royal family secrets she’d like to keep hidden away in a dungeon somewhere — and especially away from Jessica, the princess in pink herself! 

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Judy Moody is back! In the latest Judy Moody Chapter book by the name of Judy Moody and the Right Royal Tea Party, Judy tackles a school assignment to create a family tree. With the help of her grandmother, Judy's research leads her back to the time of Queen Elizabeth and could it be a possible family connection? Of course, Judy responds in her typical imaginative and bit over the top manner. Fans of the lovable third grader will enjoy the latest book. And I can't wait to see the final artwork for the new book. 

Fans of the books will also notice that Judy Moody has a new look. Candlewick Press has just relaunched the Judy Moody series with a redesigned cover by Peter H. Reynolds. And the newest Judy Moody title will be released in September. 

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Check out these links for additional resources:
Nerdy Book Club: Cover Reveal For Judy Moody and the Right Royal Tea Party 
Judy Moody Website: The Books | Teachers & Parents | Way-Not-Boring Stuff

Look for Judy Moody in your local indie bookstore and mark your calendar for September 18th when the newest book comes out. 

All journeys have a starting place.
This is a weekly place to find books and tools
that you may use with readers at the start of their reading journey.
Join in the conversation at #road2reading.

Do you work with readers who are starting their journey on the road to reading?  Join Michele Knott from Mrs. Knott's Book Nook and myself every Thursday as we explore books and ideas to help readers have a successful start to independent picture book and chapter book reading. If you blog or have a Goodreads page, please link up with us!

Girl Power Graphic Novels Blog Tour: Interview with Mairghread Scott

First Second Books (Macmillan Children's Books) is coordinating a five day multiple blog celebration of girl power-ness in graphic novels. Thank you First Second for including Kid Lit Frenzy as part of the fabulous Girl Power Graphic Novels Blog Tour.

For a complete list of all of the blogs participating, click here.

The City on the Other Side
by Mairghread Scott and Robin Robinson
First Second/Macmillan (April 24, 2018)
Comics * Fantasy * Fairies and Magic
Audience: Ages 8 to 12
Indiebound | WorldCat

About the book: 
In The City on the Other Side, a young girl stumbles into a pitched war between two fairy kingdoms, and the fate of San Francisco itself hangs in the balance!

Sheltered within her high-society world, Isabel plays the part of a perfectly proper little girl—she’s quiet, well-behaved, and she keeps her dresses spotlessly clean. She’s certainly not the kind of girl who goes on adventures.

But that all changes when Isabel breaches an invisible barrier and steps into another world. She discovers a city not unlike her own, but magical and dangerous. Here, war rages between the fairies of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. Only Isabel, with the help of a magical necklace and a few new friends, stands a chance of ending the war before it destroys the fairy world, and her own.

From Mairghread Scott and Robin Robinson comes a colorful fantasy graphic novel set in early twentieth century San Francisco

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To celebrate Girl Power in Graphic Novels, I asked Mairghread Scott (The City on the Other Side) a few questions. Thanks Mairghread for stopping by Kid Lit Frenzy. 

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Other than reading the comics in the Sunday paper when I was a kid, I was a late comer to the world of comics. However, from what I have seen and read, the profession is dominated by men. Over the past decade, more and more women writers and illustrators are making their presence known. How have you seen the world of comics change from when you were a child to the present day as a creator of comics for both adults and children? 

Things have changed dramatically! I remember being followed around by clerks when I went to comic stores because they were so surprised a woman was buying comics let alone wanted to make them. There still aren’t many women writing and drawing comics, but it is changing. Pioneers like Gail Simone, Devin Grayson and others helped many young women see that success is possible. In fact, the most successful creator today is Raina Telgemeier, by a mile! Each woman that succeeds in comics pushes us all a little bit forward and each girl that reads comics, any comics, proves we’re a market worth pursuing.

Writing comics that fall within a specific world canon (Marvel, DC, etc) must be very different from creating an original story. Your new book with First Second, The City on the Other Side, seems to be very different from your other work. What drew you to this story and was there a specific reason that you chose to set it in the early 1900's? Will this be the first in a series of books? 

The City on the Other Side is a lot younger than my other comics work, but my day job is writing cartoons so it’s a bit more in line with that. For people that don’t know: City is the story of Isabel, a young hispanic girl who falls into the fairy side of our world and discovers the fairies of San Francisco are in the midst of a civil war. Isabel gets a magic necklace she believes will end that war and has to journey to the city to do just that! I’ve always loved the “little kid on an epic adventure” story and San Francisco has always been a really magical place to me because I was born there but left before I could remember it. When I learned about the Great Quake of 1906 it felt like such an epic disaster that it seemed like the natural start for Isabel’s story, or at least, for our fairy civil war to begin. As far as more books, City is a complete story but we definitely left the door open if there’s interest. I’d love for Isabel and the gang to go on more adventures.

If you were to give advice to young girls wanting to enter the world of comics as a writer or illustrator, what would you recommend to them? 

When in doubt, speak up! It’s almost always the answer. Don’t know how to break in? Ask at a con. Don’t know who to send a submission to? Ask the publisher. Not sure what your editor’s note means? Say so. Think you’re gonna miss your deadline? Tell someone! Every problem I’ve had on a project could have been solved (or at least made better) if someone spoke up. It can be very scary to say you don’t know how to do something or you’re not going to be able to, but everyone in this business has been there at some point. Speak up, show up and keep trying. You’ll make it.

About the author: Mairghread Scott is an animation and comic book writer. Her published books include Marvel Universe Guardians of the Galaxy, Transformers: Till All Are One, Transformers: Windblade, Wonder Woman 75th Anniversary Special #1, and Science Comics: Robots & Drones. Her latest graphic novel is the fantasy adventure The City on the Other Side.

#Road2Reading Challenge: What I am reading? - 4/19/18

This week, I am sharing three books. Each book is for a very different reader. 

Two Dogs In a Trench Coat Go to School by Julie Falatko; Illustrated by Colin Jack (Scholastic, May 29, 2018) - A hilarious new series featuring two dogs. In the first book, Sassy and Waldo plan on rescuing their human, Stewart, from that evil placed called school. Let the fun begin.

Craftily Ever After: The Un-Friendship Bracelet by Martha Maker; Illustrated by Xindi Yan (Little Simon, March 27, 2018) - This is the first book in a new early chapter book series about two friends who love to craft. The story explores the evolution of their friendship and whether they can learn to include others into that friendship. Short chapters, lots of illustrations and large font make this appropriate for students transitioning to chapter books from early readers. 

Take a Hike, Miles and Spike! by Travis Foster and Ethan Long (Chronicle Books, August 14, 2018) - Though this is in the format of a picture book, the text is perfect for young readers. Lots of fun, rhyming phrases and bold illustrations will make this a book for new readers to tackle and experience reading success. 

So, what are you reading?

All journeys have a starting place.
This is a weekly place to find books and tools
that you may use with readers at the start of their reading journey.
Join in the conversation at #road2reading.

Do you work with readers who are starting their journey on the road to reading?  Join Michele Knott from Mrs. Knott's Book Nook and myself every Thursday as we explore books and ideas to help readers have a successful start to independent picture book and chapter book reading. If you blog or have a Goodreads page, please link up with us!

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: A Seed is the Start

A Seed is the Start
by Melissa Stewart
National Geographic Kids (February 13, 2018)
Nonfiction * Science & Nature * Botany
Audience: Ages 6 to 9
Indiebound | WorldCat

Description from GoodReads: 
Beautiful photography and lyrical text pair with comprehensive picture captions in award-winning author Melissa Stewart's story about the surprisingly diverse world of seeds. Learn all about the plant cycle, from how seeds grow, the fascinating ways they travel, and what it takes for a seed to become a plant.

Meet seeds that pop, hop, creep, and explode in this vividly illustrated introduction to the simplest concepts of botany. The story, which is perfect for elementary school Common Core learning, carefully highlights the many ways that seeds get from here to there, engaging children's curiosity with strong action verbs. Stunning photographs with fact-packed captions provide supporting details, explaining the role of seed features and functions in creating new generations of plants. Complete with an illustrated glossary and back matter featuring more resources, this book inspires wonder as it encourages budding botanists of all ages to look with new eyes at plants and their seeds.

Quick thoughts on the book:
One of the reasons that I love Melissa Stewart's books is because of the care and thought she puts into writing her books. Additionally, Melissa understands her audience, both students and teachers and what they need in a book. Her dedication to her craft is very evident as you read each page.

Though I am fond of the beautiful photos used in every National Geographic book, I am particularly drawn to the cover of A Seed is the Start. I recognize that authors often have little control in the selection of their covers. Consequently, I am thankful that National Geographic seemed to get it just right. 

Another aspect of Melissa's books that I always appreciate is the way she levels her texts. Readers can read the lively descriptive text and then return to spend more time with the details and additional facts that accompany the various photographs. 

Very young readers will celebrate the story aspect of this book and the vibrant photographs and well designed pages. Slightly older readers can collaboratively pour over the book and comment on the facts. And even older readers can use the book to support their own research and exploration of the world of seeds. 

If you haven't checked out Melissa's website and blog, then you are missing out on a fabulous resource. I have included links to several posts created by Melissa to support the use of A Seed is the Start in the classroom. 

Resources from Melissa Stewart's blog...
Blog Post: In the Classroom: A Science-Lit Activity for Grade 4 & 5 Students
Blog Post: In the Classroom: A Science-Lit Activity for Grade 3 Students
Blog Post: In the Classroom: A Science-Lit Activity for Grade 2 Students
Blog Post: In the Classroom: A Science-Lit Activity for Grade 1 Students
Blog Post: In the Classroom: A Science-Lit Activity for K Students

For additional books about seeds, check out Melissa's #NF10for10 post Celebrating Seeds!

Look for a copy of A Seed is the Start at your local indie bookstore or community library! This one is a must have for your classroom library.

Artwork by Sarah S. Brannen ©2017

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