Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: More End of the Year Favorites

Today is the last Wednesday of 2018, and part of me is wondering if time is speeding up. I am feeling like I need more days or more hours in the day to complete everything. Last week, I shared 6 nonfiction picture book biographies that I really loved this past year. In this post, I am sharing a few more titles that have inspired me to teach.

Do you ever read a book and immediately want to start planning out a unit with the book playing a central role in the unit? I do realize that this is a very subjective list. Every year, I read 100+ nonfiction new releases and though I love many, there are only a few that jump out and shake me and say create a lesson or unit. Well, each of these books have inspired that enthusiasm within me. I have wanted to partner with other teachers and to start planning the unit and see how the implementation of the lesson(s) work with students.

Please remember that I may have loved many books this year, I have limited this book to five titles. Leaving out titles didn’t mean that they aren’t inspiring or important.

Bugs Don’t Hug: Six-Legged Parents And Their Kids by Heather L. Montgomery, Illustrated by Stephen Stone (Charlesbridge Publishing) - This book made me want to time travel back to student teaching and re-do my insect unit. I have decided to use it for a unit I am working on creating for this summer.

Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers: Celebrating Animal Underdogs by Melissa Stewart, Illustrated by Stephanie Laberis (Peachtree Publishers) - This book has so many layers to it and I have wanted to use it as a part of a mini-unit with students and also show teachers how to work with the various layers.

Cute As an Axolotl: Discovering the Worlds Most Adorable Animals by Jess Keating, Illustrated by David DeGrand (Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers) - I have been wanting to do a lesson or series of lessons using Keating’s The World of Weird Animals series. I love it as a mentor text but I am eager to dive in and do some planning.

Stretch to the Sun: From a Tiny Sprout to the Tallest Tree on Earth by Carrie A. Pearson, Illustrated by Susan Swan (Charlesbridge) - I have decided to play around with this book along with some others to create a unit to look at environments and habitats for a unit in March. I will report back.

Terrific Tongues by Maria Gianferrari, Illustrated by Jia Liu (Boyds Mills Press) - I simply love this book and excited to see the way young kids will respond to the book. Similar to Pipsqueaks, I am looking to use this book in a mini-unit.

What books inspired you to go the next level and do something fantastic? Look for these books and others at your local indie bookstore or community library.

Don’t forget to link up your nonfiction reviews…

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: Favorite Nonfiction Picture Books of 2018 Part I

As I think about this post, I wonder if this is more a reflection of the nonfiction books I read in 2018 than a best of list. So rather than just one best of list, I decided I would do several posts between now and the end of 2018 sharing and highlighting some of my favorite nonfiction books.

Maybe because I am feeling particular sensitive lately, and a bit frustrated that there are many, many women that I am just learning about in 2018, I decided to start with my top picture book biographies of women. The following six books touched something deep within me. Whether it was a politician from Texas that I knew little about, or a slave from Massachusetts/New York, whom I thought I knew but saw in a new light, I was inspired by their strength and indomitable personalities as I read these books. Along with two women who knew how to use their voice for change, I was also struck by all the women who ventured into jobs that were traditionally only done by men. Studying math and math applications, pursuing a passion in studying lizards, being the first woman film director should have made these women better known way before now, but I am thankful for the authors who penned these books and the illustrators who sought to bring them to the forefront of our attention. Finally, I truly appreciate the collaborative compilation of multiple women and the women who brought their stories alive through text and illustrations.

Here are my six favorite picture book biographies of women published in 2018. Please remember that if you don’t see a book on this list, it doesn’t mean it wasn’t powerful or meaningful. These six just stood out a little brighter for me.

What Do You Do With a Voice Like That? The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan by Chris Barton, Illustrated by Ekua Holmes (Beach Lane Books)

Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor: The Woman Who Loved Reptiles by Patricia Valdez, Illustrated by Felicita Sala (Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers)

Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain by Cheryl Bardoe, Illustrated by Barbara McClintock (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

So Tall Within: Sojourner Truth’s Long Walk Toward Freedom by Gary D. Schmidt, Illustrated by Daniel Minter (Roaring Brook Press)

Lights! Camera! Alice! The Thrilling True Adventures of the First Woman Filmmaker by Marla Rockliff, Illustrated by Simona Ciraola (Chronicle Books)

Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World by Susan Hood, Illustrated by Various Women Illustrators (Harper Collins).

What books inspired you this past year? Check in over the next few days as I share more of my favorite nonfiction titles from 2018.

Finally, congratulations to each of the finalists of the 2019 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award. Here is a link to the announcement for the award.

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

Illustrations by Sarah S. Brannen ©2017

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


Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: The Race to the End of 2018

Sometimes, as the year end nears, I feel like I am in a race with time to read as many nonfiction books that were released in the current calendar year. I am still scrambling around to track down several more titles.

Here are the titles that I most recently read….

Hubots: Real-World Robots Inspired by Humans by Helaine Becker, Illustrated by Alex Ries (Kids Can Press, September 2018)

Bloom: A Story of Fashion Designer Elsa Schiaparelli by Kyo Maclear, Illustrated by Julie Morstad (HarperCollins, February 2018)

Lovely Beasts: The Surprising Truth by Kate Gardner, Illustrated by Heidi Smith (Balzer & Bray, September 2018)

Birds From Head to Tail by Stacey Roderick, Illustrated by Kwanchai Moriya (Kids Can Press, October 2018)

Water Land: Land and Water Forms Around the World by Christy Hale (Roaring Brook Press, May 2018)

Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover by Markus Motum (Candlewick, March 2018)

Look for these at your local indie bookstore or community library. And hope you have found many wonderful books this year.

Don’t forget to link up your nonfiction reviews…


Blog Tour: Fly With Me



Welcome to Fly With Me Blog Tour!

To celebrate the release of Fly With Me by Jane Yolen, Heidi E. Y. Stemple, Adam Stemple, and Jason Stemple, blogs across the web are featuring exclusive content from the Yolen-Stemple family plus 5 chances to win a copy!


A City Girl Learns to Love Birds 
by Jane Yolen

Jane's husband, David Stemple
I was a city kid, New York if you please. We lived across from Central Park West and saw lots of. . . pigeons. If you'd asked me about birds then I would have said sarcastically, as my father did: "Flying rats."

And then, when I was all grown up, I found the man I was to marry, David Stemple. Though we met in New York, he was not a New Yorker. He'd grown up in the mountains of West Virginia. But both of us were working in the city where we had a small apartment. 

And then--only then--did I find out about how much I had been missing all those years. Yes, there were pigeons in New York, and ladies with bags of bird seed and nuts feeding them, but there were also owls and hawks and wrens and juncos and sparrows and crows and. . .

Later David--who later became Pa in my book OWL MOON--and I raised our three children on an old farm in Massachusetts. He became a professor and I a writer/editor. But as busy as he was, he always found time to take them out birding even when they were barely walking. He taught them the names of birds, how to listen to birds, and how to identify one little brown bird from another.

When those children grew up, they were birders and all book people. They became writers and photographers and I had a chance to work with each of them on books. And each of them now has well over 20 books published, both with and without me. It has been a great joy for me and a learning curve for all of us. It expands what a mother and her children can talk about. It deepens our relationship. It broadens, too.

And this book--FLY WITH ME--is for all of us a book of the heart, for at the heart of it is their father, dead far too young at 68 of cancer, but still there teaching us all something new every day.


*****

Blog Tour Schedule:

December 10th — A Dream Within a Dream
December 11th — Kid Lit Frenzy
December 12th — Christy's Cozy Corners
December 13th — Colorimetry
December 14th — Chat with Vera
Follow Jane: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Follow Heidi: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Follow Adam: Website

Follow Jason: Website | Facebook | Instagram

Follow National Geographic Kids: Website | Twitter | Books Twitter | Facebook | Youtube

Enchanting stories, lyrical poems, stunning photography, and fascinating science fill the pages of this treasury celebrating the amazing world of birds.

This thoughtful and beautifully curated collection of our flying, feathery friends highlights the role birds play in human life from centuries ago to present day. While it's beautiful, it's also full of valuable real science about these wondrous creatures. From history and behavior to spotting and photographing, there's sure to be something for every bird fan in your flock. Young birders will learn all about migration and the importance of habitat conservation. They'll find stories about bird rescues and fun facts about the fastest, strongest, and tiniest fliers. They'll also discover the best bird nests, sweet songs to sing, ways to listen for and identify the birds around them, and more. Paired with stunning art and photography and beautiful design, this treasury is sure to become a classic for bird enthusiasts of all ages.

Fly with Me was created to help celebrate Year of the Bird, National Geographic's 2018 initiative to bring awareness to the plight of birds around the world.

"Yolen and her three children celebrate birds with a lavishly illustrated compendium of facts, photographs, and poetry...As is characteristic of National Geographic publications, the plentiful photographs are well-chosen and beautifully reproduced. A treasure for browsers and bird lovers everywhere." 
- Kirkus Starred Review

"With text that never talks down to its audience, this makes an ideal choice for family sharing or classroom browsing." 
- Booklist


L to R: Adam, Jane, Heidi, Jason

 About the Authors: JANE YOLEN is an author of children's books, fantasy, and science fiction,
including Owl Moon, The Devil's Arithmetic, and How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? She is also a poet, a teacher of writing and literature, and a reviewer of children's literature.

HEIDI STEMPLE was 28 years old when she joined the family business, publishing her first short story in a book called Famous Writers and Their Kids Write Spooky Stories. The famous writer was her mom, author Jane Yolen. Since then, she has published 20 books and numerous short stories and poems, mostly for children.
Stemple, her two daughters, her mom, and a couple cats live in Massachusetts on a big old farm with two houses.

JASON STEMPLE is an author and photographer. He lives with his wife and children in Charleston, South Carolina.

ADAM STEMPLE is a novelist and musician. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.



GIVEAWAY

  • One (1) winner will receive a copy of Fly With Me
  • US/Canada only

To enter the giveaway, please complete the rafflecopter.