This year marks the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation—and these recently published books highlight the remarkable true stories of courageous Americans during this period of history.
About Kathleen Baxter
Kathleen Baxter is the former head of children’s services at the Anoka County Library in suburban Minneapolis and a speaker at school and library conferences all over the USA. She never goes anywhere without a book.
Flight for Freedom: True stories of courageous individuals who escaped from slavery | Nonfiction Booktalker
By on June 17, 2013 1 Comment
The Bear Facts: Books About Cuddly Creatures | Nonfiction Booktalker
By on April 9, 2013 Leave a Comment
Books about bears and pandas are super-popular with K–4 kids and a great way to encourage them to read.
Books That Explore Our (Very Distant) Past: Ancient skulls and skeletons can tell us about ourselves | Nonfiction Booktalker
By on February 19, 2013 1 Comment
The authors of the following books for fifth to eighth graders have gone way back in time—writing about intriguing research that has uncovered ancient bones, skulls, and complete skeletons.
Getting High: These incredible stories will catapult kids to surprising new heights | Nonfiction Booktalker
By on December 3, 2012 Leave a Comment
I’m not interested in extinct birds. Or Mars rovers. I’m marginally intrigued by Mohawk ironworkers. But give me a really good book on those topics, and I’m hooked.
Phillip Hoose can get me engrossed in anything, even Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 (Farrar, 2012). B95, a four-ounce red knot shorebird, was captured and tagged in 1995, and that tag became his name. Athletes would be awed by his stamina; every year B95 flies from [...]
The Secret Lives of Presidents: A behind-the-scenes look at the residents of the White House
By on October 1, 2012 Leave a Comment
Every U.S. president had a mother. Most of them had children and pets. Combine these obvious, but often-unconsidered facts with a touch of humor and they spell can’t-miss booktalks.
American Heroes: Four Books Highlight the Fight Against Racism | Nonfiction Booktalker
By on August 1, 2012 Leave a Comment
It doesn’t matter to students whether superheroes are real or fictional. It’s all the same battle as long as they fight injustice. These four books bring the struggle against prejudice and inequality blazingly alive.
Rick Bowers’s Superman versus the Ku Klux Klan: The True Story of How the Iconic Superhero Battled the Men of Hate (National Geographic, 2012) offers a fresh angle in the fight for freedom. After World War II, the Last Son of Krypton quickly took [...]
