For the past three years, I have hosted the Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday Challenge. This year, I pushed myself to read even more nonfiction and to fill in some of my gaps. At this point in the year, I have read 140 nonfiction books released in 2014, and another 112 from previous years. And I am still squeezing in a few more titles before next week's favorites are selected.
Last week, I shared with everyone the Best Of... Lists for Children's Books and how they fared with fiction and nonfiction. Overall, there was not enough nonfiction or a variety of nonfiction on these lists. So, I am doing my own best of list for nonfiction books for children. However, as I started looking over the books I have read this year, I realized that I would have a tough time limiting it to 10 or 20 books. Hence, I am doing the post in two parts and also sneaking in some runners up.
This week I share with everyone, Part I of my Nonfiction for Children Best Of 2014 list. Please note that the list is not in any specific order.
Best Poetry:
Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold by Joyce Sidman; Illustrated by Rick Allen (HMH Books for Young Children, November 4, 2014)
Runners Up: On the Wing by David Elliot (Candlewick, September 2014); Harlem Hellfighters by J. Patrick Lewis (Creative Editions, August 2014); Dear Wandering Wildebeest: And Other Poems from the Water Hole by Irene Latham (Millbrook Press, September 2014); Water Can Be by Laura Purdie Salas (Millbrook Press, April 2014).
Best Series:
Scientist in the Field by various authors (HMH Books for Young Children, 2014) - Since I couldn't pick which one was my absolute favorite, I selected them all.
Best Book With an Ick Factor:
When Lunch Fights Back: Wickedly Clever Animal Defenses by Rebecca L. Johnson (Millbrook Press, September 1, 2014)
Best Baby Animals Book:
Born in the Wild: Baby Mammals and Their Parents by Lita Judge (Roaring Brook Press, October 21, 2014)
Runners Up: A Baby Elephant in the Wild by Caitlin O'Connell, Photographs by Timothy Rodwell (HMH Books for Young Readers, March 2014); A Mom for Umande by Maria Faulconer, Illustrated by Susan Kathleen Hartung (Dial, April 2014)
Best Early Readiness Concept Books:
Jane Brocket's Clever Concept Books by Jane Brocket (Millbrook Press, 2014)
Best Math/Numbers/Time Concept Book:
If...A Mind-bending New Way of Looking at Big Ideas and Numbers by David J. Smith; Illustrated by Steve Adams (Kids Can Press, August 1, 2014)
Runners-Up: Mysterious Patterns: Finding Fractals in Nature by Sarah C. Campbell, Photographs Richard C. Campbell (Boyds Mills Press, April 1, 2014); At the Same Time, Around the World by Clotilde Perrin (Chronicle Books, March 2014)
Best Book for Making a Beetle Likeable:
Behold the Beautiful Dung Beetle by Cheryl Bardoe, Illustrated by Alan Marks (Charlesbridge, March 2014)
Runner Up: Beetle Busters by Loree Griffin Burns (HMH Books for Young Readers, October 2014)
Best Book that Explains the Science Behind the Super Hero:
Batman Science: The Real-World Science Behind Batman's Gear by Tammy Enz, Agnieszka Biskup (Capstone Press, February 2014)
Best Book About Services Dogs:
Sniffer Dogs; How Dogs (and Their Noses) Save the World by Nancy F. Castaldo (HMH Books for Young Children, July 2014)
Runner Up: Tuesday Tucks Me In: The Loyal Bond Between a Soldier and His Service Dog by Luis Carlos Montalván, Brett Witter, Photographs by Dan Dion (Roaring Brook Press, May 2014)
Best ABC Book:
Attack! Boss! Cheat Code!: A Gamer's Alphabet by Chris Barton, Illustrated by Joey Spiotto (POW!, October 2014)
Stop by next week for Part 2 and more wonderful nonfiction books.
Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews: