Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - Bring On The Birds

I'm really enjoying the books coming out of Peachtree Publishers. For a long time they seemed to only publish regional titles, but they've broadened their list.  This is a great title for young birders!  Susan Stockdale's illustrations are engaging and bright, while her sparse, rhyming text is simple enough for first readers and perfect for a read-aloud!   Her additional back matter furthers the text for interested readers.

Happy Birthday Galileo Galilei!

This was my Galileo.  He had the most beautiful celestial blue eyes.  But his knowledge of the universe didn't go very far.  Oh, I still believe he was an old soul, but get him talking and what came out wasn't about the heavens.

The birthday we celebrate today isn't his, it's another Galileo's.  One less warm and fuzzy, but perhaps a little more worldly.

Galileo Galilei was one our our greatest astronomers.  

From Leap Into Space:
Galileo Galilei spent a good deal of his life questioning the accepted scientific beliefs of his time that were not proven by experiment.  Galileo heard about the new Dutch instruments built to see the heavens and built one himself…
He found evidence that the Earth was not at its center, just as astronomer, Nicolaus Copernicus had theorized. 

His theories caused him to be tried and convicted by the Catholic Church for heresy, but unlike common belief, he was never tortured or excommunicated.  He remained a loyal Catholic throughout his life.

Let's celebrate Galileo's 448th birthday with some of these titles:

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - Coral Reefs

Jason Chin has done it again. He's created another great title to add to your nonfiction bookshelf.   This time he's taken us from the redwood forest to under the sea in his latest book, Coral Reefs.  Again, Chin offers readers informative text and beautiful, imaginative illustrations.  In Coral Reefs, a young girl enters the New York Public Library, pulls a book about coral reefs off the shelf and finds herself in the undersea world she's reading about.  The text is straight nonfiction, while the illustrations offer the reader a healthy dose of magical realism.  I love the idea of text coming alive for readers and Chin has done a beautiful job of capturing the beauty of the reefs. His text, however, is not as creative as his illustrations.  Nonetheless, this title is an example of how creative nonfiction can be, while still providing readers with great information!

So if it isn't fiction, it must be nonfiction...

Nonfiction author, Melissa Stewart, blogged this week about the term "nonfiction".   I can remember sitting in a conference of science writers years ago debating the same problem. Today the debate continues.   Nonfiction is not simply something other than fiction  - it is its own entity and as such warrants a more definitive name.  The science writers I met spoke about the term verity, meaning "something that is true; especially: a fundamental and inevitably true value".  Should nonfiction books reflect a derivation of the term verity?  As Melissa stated, many librarians now refer to these titles as informational.   Perhaps this is something the Library of Congress should examine, or the ALA.

Thanks, Melissa, for bringing this up again.  I agree - we need to keep the conversation going!  

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge 2012 Week 5- Winter Titles

Even if winter never really arrives and we don't end up with some real snow cover, these two books are the perfect titles to share with kids this season! Both are so wonderful I just couldn't choose between them.   Kate Messner and Melissa Stewart present a world little seen in these well-done picture books.  Both are lyrically told and informative.  Each beautiful picture book would compliment an elementary science curriculum.

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge 2012 Week 4- The Watcher

Jeanette Winter's book The Watcher: Jane Goodall's Life with the Chimps joined Me...Jane on the bookshelves last year.  Both of these books were well received with star reviews.  Where Me...Jane focuses more on Goodall's childhood, The Watcher focuses on Goodall's early days in the field with her chimps. Beautifully illustrated and well-researched, The Watcher is a wonderful celebration of Goodall's tireless efforts in chimpanzee conservation.  Both titles are a must for a classroom collection!

Informational Fiction or Nonfiction????

I've been becoming increasingly concerned about the state of nonfiction.  Up until now I was quite positive about the growth in creativity and opportunities in children's nonfiction titles, but I'm feeling a little differently this month.  You see I've started reading numerous nonfiction titles each week as part of the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.  I've seen some terribly creative titles, but some of those titles seem to be fiction masquerading as nonfiction.

One of the titles clearly states on the cover that it is a mix of fact and fiction.  It includes a wonderfully imaginative journal and even a note on how the journal survived the tragedy the book speaks about, but it's imagined  ------not true.  And yet the book is classified as nonfiction by the publisher. Why hasn't the Library of Congress balked at this classification?  How can a reader distinguish fact from fiction?

In another title, also published by a traditional, well respected publisher, I found the following quotation:

"Then a cavewoman sprouts yellow hair. Why? The men have started to hunt for meat. The dangers of going after reindeer, mammoths, and horses are killing too many cavemen. Cavewomen have to compete for the few men left. Instead of beating each other up, they evolve ways to be more special. Being blond seems to help."



Can this be a true statement?  But it's nonfiction.  It must be.

Authors must put their foot down if a publisher misclassifies their work.  Our readers deserve better!  I hope I don't find many more of these titles during my challenge.  There are so many fine nonfiction authors out there who are careful about their work that I have faith these inconsistencies will be the exception.

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge 2012 Week 3- Fun Facts About Pets

Seymour Simon never disappoints.  I enjoyed this one on my Nook.  Fun facts!  Nice layout and love the READ TO ME feature.

Photo of the Day - SNOW!!!

It's blizzarding!!!  (The first real snow of winter calls for a new word - don't you think?)

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge 2012 - Tails

Robin Page and Steve Jenkin's What Do You Do With A Tail Like This?  bring tails to the forefront.  Hehe. Sorry.  I couldn't resist.

This team has an unbeatable way of bringing nonfiction to kids, with titles featuring lyrical text  and their signature illustrations.

Another title focusing on tails is Beth Fielding's Animal Tails.  With beautiful color photographs, Animal Tails is informative and fun.

Ever wonder why humongous elephants have skinnier tails than tiny squirrels?  You won't after reading Fielding's book!

Both titles are great additions to your nonfiction library.

Photo of the Day -

Reminder....Look up every so often.