NF Tip Of The Day

Nonfiction Tip Of The Day



It was my turn last year to give my nonfiction tip of the day.  If you asked me today for my tip, I'd say RESEARCH!    Thorough research leads to great nonfiction.   (And it's addictive to nonfiction writers!  We love it!)

Well, short post today…I'm off to a Skype visit with an elementary school in St. Louis, MO!

ICE! by Laurence Pringle

Thanks, Laurence Pringle, for bringing us a book about the ice business.  I took a peek at this book during the SCBWI Falling Leaves Master Class Retreat on nonfiction and can't wait to get my hands on my own copy.  Having grown up in Rockland County, I was well aware of our historic ice business.  Every year Rockland Lake hosts a fantastic festival, complete with ice sculptures and historical fanfare. Unfortunately, the festival is on hiatus for 2013, but they promise it will return in 2014.  In the meantime, we can enjoy ICE! by Laurence Pringle!  

Here are a few photos I took the last time I enjoyed the festival.

It's that time of year!

I'm so excited by the books that made this year's NY Public Library nonfiction list.  They represent a wide range of topics as well as a wide range of creativity.

There are stories of artists and scientists, historical events and the people they impacted, microbes and zombie makers…each book inspired by the author's own curiosity.  Marc Aronson wrote about a conversation he had about American nonfiction in a recent NY Times book review.  He extolled its virtues including the fact that our nonfiction is unique in that it is written out of our own  passions and is often a  "labor of love".   How true!

At our recent SCBWI Falling Leaves Retreat focusing on nonfiction I was overjoyed to chat during meals about the stories within us -- our passions, curiosities, and research.  What fun it is to gather with a group of nonfiction authors!  Their enthusiasm for their subjects is unparalleled.  My NF writer buddies are all research junkies who love the chase as much as the writing.  And they continue to challenge us with their ideas.  They know how to appeal to the kid inside us all --the kid who peeked under rocks or searched for treasure or made concoctions in their bathrooms before their parents were up each morning.

This holiday season is a great time to pick up one of these books for the kid on your list or yourself and feed your own curiosity.

NY Public Library's 2012 List of Nonfiction Titles

A Black Hole Is Not a Hole by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano. Illustrated by Michael Carroll. CharlesbridgeDive in to this lively and engaging exploration of one of our universe's most mysterious and misunderstood marvels.

Chuck Close: Face Book by Chuck Close. Abrams Books for Young ReadersThis innovative, large-scale portrait artist answers kids' questions about his life, his art, and other challenges he's faced.

Citizen Scientists: Be Part of Scientific Discovery from Your Own Backyard by Loree Griffin Burns. Photographs by Ellen Harasimowicz. Henry Holt and CompanyKids are scientists too! A year's worth of experiments and activities, including Fall Butterflying, Winter Birding, Spring Frogging, and Summer Ladybugging.

Creep and Flutter: The Secret World of Insects and Spiders by Jim Arnosky.Sterling Children's BooksThink you know bugs? Think again! Get all the facts about everything from mayfly nymphs to praying mantises in this lyrically written and gorgeously illustrated book.

The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau by Michelle Markel. Illustrated by Amanda Hall. Eerdmans Books for Young ReadersA toll collector achieves his dream of being an artist by painting a world he imagines. With illustrations that echo the self-taught master's style.

The Great Molasses Flood: Boston, 1919 by Deborah Kops. CharlesbridgeWhat do you get when 13,000 tons of molasses meet the streets of Boston? A sticky situation.

The Human Body Factory by Dan Green. Illustrated by Edmond Davis. KingfisherMaking a body work is a team effort, so get an inside peek into the mechanics of you!

Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure by Jim Murphy and Alison Blank. Clarion BooksA frightening look into the history of a disease that still infects people today.

It Jes' Happened: When Bill Traylor Started to Draw by Don Tate. Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. Lee & Low Books Inc.Why did 85-year-old Billy Traylor suddenly pick up a pencil one day and start to draw? As the book says, it just happened.

Jazz Age Josephine by Jonah Winter. Illustrated by Marjorie Priceman. Atheneum Books for Young ReadersYoung Josephine Baker "grew up singing nothin' but the blues" and went onstage to become the toast of Paris and the world. A jazzy "fairy tale" with vibrant, high-steppin', high energy art.

Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle by Claire A. Nivola.Farrar Straus GirouxFollow a modern day explorer who has spent more than 7,000 hours underwater. Includes engaging illustrations.

The Mighty Mars Rovers: The Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity by Elizabeth Rusch. Houghton Mifflin Books for ChildrenTake a trip with the ultimate explorers to the red planet. A place where no human foot has ever stepped.

Monkey Colors by Darrin Lunde. Illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne. CharlesbridgeDid you know that the mandrill with the most colorful face is the leader of the pack? Learn this and other fun facts in this book for young children.

Spirit Seeker: John Coltrane's Musical Journey by Gary Golio. Illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez. Clarion BooksThe highs and lows of a legendary jazz artist explored through dynamic, vivid art.

Stay: The True Story of Ten Dogs by Michaela Muntean. Photographs by K. C. Bailey and Steve Kazmierski. Scholastic PressSometimes a dog and a person find each other at just the right moment. Ten troubled shelter dogs find a loving home and a new life in the circus.

Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World by Sy Montgomery. Houghton Mifflin Books for ChildrenThis biography tells the story of an extraordinary scientist who used her autistic experiences to design humane animal-processing facilities.

Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson. Scholastic PressYou only think you know the full story, but just wait until you read this gripping account in the words of the survivors of history's most infamous shipwreck.

Those Rebels, John & Tom by Barbara Kerley. Illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham.Scholastic PressHere are twin portraits of founding fathers, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson – one short, stout and blustery and the other tall, thin and quiet. How this odd couple played a pivotal role in shaping the history of the United States of America.

We've Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children's March by Cynthia Y. Levinson.Peachtree PublishersWould you go to jail to fight for your rights? These kids did!

Zombie Makers: True Stories of Nature's Undead by Rebecca L. Johnson. Millbrook PressFor anyone who thinks that zombies aren't real, here is a "no-brainer" introduction to some worms, germs, molds and other parasites that control the minds of their hosts!

The Buzz on Bee Books

Beelieve me, these books pair together like mac and cheese.  Douglas Florian's UnBEElievables is a terrific introduction into the world of the honeybee.  Even kids with a fear of stingers will find that his beeautiful honeybee illustrations are friendly and fun enough to dispel all their fears. Florian's blend of poetry and nonfiction text is reminiscent of Joyce Sidman's award winning titles and equally effective.  

When kids are ready to step up their reading, Loree Griffen Burns' The Hive Detectives, is the book they should pick up.  Burns explores the mystery and science of the missing honeybees that has impacted our environment. Like other titles in the well-researched Scientists in the Field series, The Hive Detectives presents readers with a great science read right out of today's headlines.

Both of these titles are great additions to a classroom collection and dovetail well with core curriculum standards!

Playing Catch-Up

Hello everyone!

After my last post my life seemed to kick into high gear.  All good stuff - mega birthdays, a college graduation, SCBWI event planning and a trip to Italy, Turkey and Greece.  And that was all before June!  Then it happened…..I began a nonfiction book project for Houghton Mifflin!!!!

Whew, was there time for reading?  YES!  Was there time for blogging?  NO!

So, I'm checking in.  I read some amazing books over the summer.  Many I plan on sharing with you in the coming months.  Others were making their way into my book's bibliography.

It's proving to be a busy fall and some days I feel like one of the squirrels running around in my yard. But I promise I'll be back soon with more news and notes and, above all, some great nonfiction reads for you to add to your shelves!

                                                    The library at Ephesus in Turkey.

Happy Birthday, John James Audubon!

Anyone who has ever picked up a bird guide certainly knows who John James Audubon is….don't they? Well, they know he stuffed a lot of birds and made beautiful drawings of them, but there is so much more to this great naturalist.  

He loved birds all his life and said,"When I had hardly yet learned to walk, and to articulate those first words always so endearing to parents, the productions of Nature that lay spread all around, were constantly pointed out to me. They soon became my playmates; and before my ideas were sufficiently formed to enable me to estimate the difference between the azure tints of the sky, and the emerald hue of the bright foliage, I felt that an intimacy with them, not consisting of friendship merely, but bordering on frenzy, must accompany my steps through life." 


Jacqueline Davies captures that boy in her book, The Boy Who Drew Birds, beautifully illustrated by Melissa Sweet.  It's the perfect read to pull out on Audubon's birthday and any other day you'd like to inspire a young person's creativity and love of the outdoors!  

Biodiversity and New York City

Biodiversity and New York City.  You won't hear those words too often in the same sentence, unless you are talking about the lack there of.  Well, last week that changed.  Thanks to my writer friend, Loree Griffen Burns, I was alerted to news of a new frog species.  I am always excited about any discovery of a new species, especially since most are discovered in a rainforest.  But this time I was over-the-moon excited and immediately posted the article on my Facebook page…. This new frog species was not found in a rainforest, but an urban setting right here in my very own state!  It was found in New York City.  New York City, were the population of pigeons outnumbers every other species and the biodiversity among people is far more interesting to that of wildlife!

The frog is a type of leopard frog, in a beautiful shade of green, with it's own distinct call.  In fact it was it's call that got it noticed!

I have thought about the discovery of this frog for days.   When I wrote Keeping Our Earth Green I was bogged down with oodles of daunting issues.  And it was challenging for me to write ways that would encourage kids to make a difference.  I had to constantly focus my brain on the hope for the future.

This little frog did that for me this week like nothing else has!  If something new and special can be found amidst the urban wilds of New York City, then why not everywhere else?  Why shouldn't we get as excited about our own backyards as all of these other exotic and bio-rich locations?  

 I'm sparked! And I'm hopeful!

Green Earth Book Awards

The winners for this year's Newton Marasco Green Earth Book Awards are:

Picture Book
Arthur Turns Green, written and illustrated by Marc Brown (published
by Little, Brown and Company)

Children's Fiction
Wild Wings, written by Gill Lewis and illustrated by Yuta Onoda
(published by Simon and Schuster)

Young Adult Nonfiction
Gaia Warriors, written by Nicola Davies and illustrated by James
Lovelock (published by Candlewick Press)

Children's Nonfiction
The Mangrove Tree: Planting Trees to Feed Families, written by Cindy
Trumbore and Susan L. Roth and illustrated by Susan L. Roth (published
by Lee & Low Books)

And the 2012 Honor Books are:

*   101 Ways to Save the Planet, written by Deborah Underwood
(published by Raintree) 

*   Extraordinary Endangered Animals, written by Sandrine Silhol and
Gaëlle Guérive and illustrated by Marie Doucedame (published by Abrams
Books for Young Readers) 

*   Global Warming: A Personal Guide to Causes and Solutions, written
by Sneed B. Collard III (published by Lifelong Learning, Inc., DBA
Project CRISS) 

*   Human Footprint: Everything You Will Eat, Use, Wear, Buy, and
Throw Out in Your Lifetime, written by Ellen Kirk (published by
National Geographic Books) 

*   Luz Sees The Light, written and illustrated by Claudia Davila
(published by Kids Can Press) 

*   Nowhere Else on Earth:  Standing Tall for the Great Bear
Rainforest, written by Caitlyn Vernon (published by Orca Book
Publishers) 

*   Riparia's River, written by Michael J. Caduto and illustrated by
Olga Pastuchiv (published by Tilbury House)

Congratulations to all the recipients!  

Nonfiction - Inside Tornadoes

Every spring we face tornado season in our country.  It's scary, especially for kids.  They are random or least they seem that way.  I don't even live in tornado alley and yet have seen the effects of a tornado just a few miles from my house.

How do these horrible winds form?  Why is there a "tornado alley"?  How do you protect yourself?  These questions and more are answered in Mary Kay Carson's book, Inside Tornadoes.

As with all the books in the Inside series, it is an informative, interactive read.  First person accounts, diagrams, pull-out pages, and full color photos make it a great resource for kids and adults.

Naturally Speaking About National Poetry Month

It's National Poetry Month!  How could I not blog about one of my favorite poets, Joyce Sidman?  Her natural subjects are brought to life by beautiful poetry in clever collections for kids.   


One of my favorites, Ubiquitous, is an absolute treasure.  Sidman and illustrator Beckie Prange are the creators of the Caldecot Honor Book Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems.  This picture book, delving into nature's survivors including, the gecko, grasses, diatoms, bacteria, coyotes, and humans, does not disappoint.  Sidman's poems are eloquent and are accompanied by rich, scientific notations.  Prange's illustrations (linocuts, hand-colored with watercolor) are lush and inviting.  Ubiquitious is certainly deserving of its multiple starred reviews! 


Of course, all of her titles rise to the top.  Dark Emperor, Red Sings From Treetops, and Butterfly Eyes. And be sure to check out her latest, Swirl by Swirl  Each and every one a jewel that should be read over and over!  

Photo of the Day - Yellow

When I interned at Audubon Magazine, then under the direction of the wonderful Les Line, I helped edit a photo essay on the color blue.  What an amazing experience.  I was the first one to open all of those spectacular packages of transparencies from photographers I had always admired.  Helping to select the photos was an experience that taught me so much.

Seeing this forsythia in such a spectacular yellow brought that color essay back to me.  I began to think about all the things in nature that are yellow.  Daffodils, buttercups, caterpillars, dandelions, goldfinches, warblers, and the ever beautiful sunflowers.

It's fun to focus on one color in nature.  You begin to see that color everywhere.  What a treat for your eye!

For me today it is yellow.