I was listening to NPR, and I heard a review of Carolina Clay [The Life and Legend of Slave Potter Dave] by Leonard Todd. I thought, this is just an incredible story. It’s hard for me to know why it affected me so much, but my daughter’s a potter, and I’ve worked with clay all my life. He was a writer and I’m a writer, but I’m not heroic like Dave.

What made him heroic?

He dared to write on pots at a time when he could have been killed for that, and he signed his name. That’s just an amazingly courageous act—and subversive. But it’s also quiet, because he wasn’t saying anything—he was writing it. His ability and his talent gave him that kind of confidence and power, because he knew that if he was killed, who was going to make the 40-gallon jars?

You grew up in Cincinnati during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Did that help draw you to Dave’s story?

Oh, absolutely. I grew up in a neighborhood where I still live, close to downtown Cincinnati, which was predominantly African American at the time. All my friends were African American. We all remember the race riots, which happened about a block away from where we lived. I remember hearing things breaking and being with my African-American friends, and their parents being super-nervous and coming out all the time and telling us to stay on the grass and not to leave the yard.

Not much is known about Dave. How’d you find so many details about him?

It’s funny, I was talking to a friend of mine who writes biographies, and she doesn’t put anything in them that isn’t a fact. My biography really crosses that line and some people may not consider it a biography, which is fine with me.

The Library of Congress calls it a biography.

I couldn’t write the story of Dave without putting in things that I didn’t know he said or anyone else said, because there isn’t any record of that. There isn’t really another way to write the story, because all you have are bills of sale [of slaves] and these cryptic couplets [that he etched] on pots.

Your book feels so incredibly personal.

It’s interesting that you said that. When I worked on this book, I spent a lot of time feeling choked up and I couldn’t talk, or if the phone rang, I choked up.

What touched you the most?

It was the separation, the scenes where people are separated from people they love.

So many children and spouses—including Dave’s—were sold at the drop of a hat, and they never saw one another again.

That’s what really choked me up more than any sort of physical violence.

Do today’s kids understand how dehumanizing slavery is?

In a lot of ways, we’re failing our kids. Just recently, I went to a school to talk to a group of fourth graders, and one asked what I was working on.

I told her a little bit about Dave, and I showed her a slide of the woodcut of him on the auction block that’s in the book, and she said, “You mean he was being sold?” They’d done a whole unit on slavery, but she didn’t know that. And I said, “Yeah, slaves were bought and sold,” and she was stunned. Then she looked at me, and said, “Well, I hope the people that bought him were nice.”

What do you hope kids take away from the book?

I just want kids to realize there are a lot of ways to do what you believe is the right thing to do, and it doesn’t have to be screaming and yelling and fighting, or in any way violent.

There’s a woman who saved my mother during the Holocaust. She was a very quiet person and nobody’s ever heard of her. If I had to pick somebody, she’s the hero of my life. But she did what she did because she thought it was the most ordinary thing to do.

It’s very ordinary to want to write and read and express yourself. But because of the times, Dave couldn’t do that. So he became a quiet hero. If more kids knew about things like that, maybe they’d feel stronger themselves—and they could also do the right thing.

To read a starred review of Etched in Clay (Lee & Low), turn to page 117.

In Corey’s first book, You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer! (Scholastic, 2000; Gr 1-3), readers learn that, “Amelia Bloomer was NOT a proper lady.” In 1847, respectable women were not allowed to vote or work and dressed in tight, uncomfortable clothes that made it impossible to do much of anything. A visit from Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Stanton’s cousin Libby changed all that. “Instead of a dress Libby was wearing something that was NOT too heavy and NOT too long and NOT too tight and NOT too wide. It looked just right.” Amelia embraced the new attire by sewing an identical outfit and writing about it in the women’s newspaper she edited, The Lily. The controversy over women’s dress made the newspaper, and Amelia, famous—and quite improper.

While bloomers themselves eventually went out of style, women today can wear and do as they please thanks to independent thinkers like Amelia Bloomer. The book’s sparse, engaging text paired with Chesley McLaren’s vibrant, humorous gouache illustrations make this a terrific read aloud. A pattern at the back of the book can be copied and cut out to make bloomers for paper dolls with younger audiences. Older students can explore the history of women’s fashion or even sketch their own innovative clothing for babies, children, men, or women. Highlight Corey’s Amelia with Tanya Lee Stone’s Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote (Holt, 2008; Gr 1-4) and Linda Arms White’s I Could Do That: Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote (Farrar, 2005; Gr 2-4), two great stories about other plucky women of earlier eras.

Another rebel and innovator in female fashion is the subject of Corey’s Mermaid Queen (Scholastic, 2009; Gr 2-6). Annette Kellerman was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1906. A childhood illness was responsible for the leg braces she needed growing up, but would eventually lead to the great strength and joy she found in swimming. The daughter of two music teachers, Kellerman grew up in a house filled with singing and dancing. Though she felt clumsy on the dance floor, she was graceful and “fancy-free” in the water, which led to the creation of a new sport—water ballet.

The young woman traveled the world to showcase her invention, “But everywhere they went, people just scoffed. A girl swimmer? Too plain. Too plump. Too weird. Too wet. Too bad!” A stunt in the river Thames in which she swam 13 miles amidst boats and barges earned some attention in the newspapers. One paper challenged her to swim the English Channel; while she didn’t manage to do that, “…people marveled over the young girl who had swum so far and so well…she even made it look artistic!”

When Kellerman arrived in America, she was horrified to see women on the beach donning “stockings and shoes, bloomers and bathing dresses, collars and corsets and caps…How could anyone possibly swim in that?” Although her men’s racing suit got her arrested, she soon designed a sleek new women’s suit that became all the rage. She also wrote two bestsellers on female health and fitness. The vibrant, digitally-created illustrations by Edwin Fotheringham capture the athlete’s spirit and world with humor and accuracy.

Along with Mermaid, consider introducing David A. Adler and Terry Widener’s America’s Champion Swimmer: Gertrude Ederle  (Harcourt, 2005; K-Gr 4), another great read aloud about the first woman to actually swim the English Channel—and break the men’s record doing it. Show students clips from the 1952 biopic, The Million Dollar Mermaid or any of the water ballet videos available online. Cari Best’s picture book When Catherine the Great and I Were Eight (Farrar, 2003; PreS-Gr 2) illustrated by Giselle Potter, is a fun fictional pairing. Use Corey’s biography to introduce students to woman with “gumption,” as well as in units about healthy living.

Another feisty, improper woman, Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low, born in 1860, is the subject of Here Come the Girl Scouts! (Scholastic, 2012; Gr 2-4). “Daisy grew up in Savannah, Georgia, at a time when proper young ladies were supposed to be dainty and delicate.” She was nothing of the sort.

While her peers sipped tea, Daisy “rode elephants in India,” “flew in a monoplane,” and went fishing. She loved the outdoors and yearned to do something important. Then she met Sir Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts in Great Britain; she learned that his sister had subsequently founded the Girl Guides. “‘Why, the girls in America should have something like this!’ Daisy thought.” And so, on March 12, 1912, she hosted the first Girl Scout meeting.

The enthusiastic young girls learned to be honorable, loyal, useful, a friend to all, courteous, kind to animals, and obedient. While troops soon emerged all over the country, there were some, just like in Amelia’s day, who thought the organization “unthinkable” and “preposterous.” Still, eager girls of every class and race donned their uniforms, swam, hiked, and adventured in the great outdoors. “Daisy believed that girls could do anything. And she was right. Girl Scouts have been making a difference even since…” The last spread offers a gallery of portraits of famous Girl Scouts in all walks of life, including Hillary Clinton, Gloria Steinem, Rebecca Lobo, and Lucille Ball.

Once again, Corey makes every word count; the text is brief and lively and Hadley Hooper’s bold ink-and-paint prints are both amusing and add period detail. This title may easily inspire new local scouting chapters. Early scouts were both naturalists and conservationists–students will certainly want to experience the outdoors and possibly get involved in local “green” causes—just in time for Earth Day.

Corey is also the author of two fiction titles—meticulously researched and equally delightful and useful in classrooms and libraries. If your study of Corey’s work includes her fiction titles, be sure to have have a conversation about the distinction between historical fiction and nonfiction and the research that fiction often entails. Introduce your students to the author’s “true stories—partly,” Milly and the Macy’s Parade (Scholastic, 2002; Gr K-Gr 3), illustrated by Bret Helquist, and Players in Pigtails (Scholastic, 2003; K-Gr 4) illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon. Both titles are based on real events with fictionalized main characters that resonate with children.

Milly tells the story of how homesick immigrant employees at the landmark Manhattan department store joined together to create a new holiday tradition in America. More than one thousand costumed employees marched in the first parade in 1924 along with bands, floats, and animals from the Central Park Zoo. Milly, the fictionalized little daughter of one of these employees, brings the magic and wonder of this grand store to life for youngsters. After reading, show clips of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade today and have students design their own two-or-three dimensional balloons of favorite characters. Pair with Melissa Sweet’s Balloons Over Broadway (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Gr 1-5) to learn about the real-life person who created the first balloon puppets for the Macy’s Parade.

Katie Casey, the fictionalized protagonist in Corey’s Players in Pigtails, is not very good “…at being a girl,” but she loves baseball. Like Annette Kellerman, Casey struggles with parental and societal attitudes towards girls in sports until World War II changes everything. With most players turned to soldiers, the fields were empty. “Finally, Phillip Wrigley, the owner of the Chicago Cubs, had an idea. ‘If women can work in factories and even join the army…why can’t they play ball?” Though most people found the concept, “OUTRAGEOUS!,” hundreds of girls from all over the country, including Katie, showed up to play…and played just as good as their male counterparts, despite the silly dresses they had to wear.

Wisecracks such as “Careful, you might break a nail, girls!” and “Is this a ballpark or a ballroom?” quieted when the girls started to play. The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League lasted from 1943 to 1954, until “women were encouraged to leave the factories and the ballparks to make room for returning soldiers.” Show clips from the movie A League of their Own (1992), sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”—the words are on the endpapers—or play ball in the schoolyard to celebrate this fascinating slice of America’s national pastime. Share with Doreen Rappaport’s Dirt on Their Skirts (Dial, 2000; Gr 1-4) illustrated by E. B. Lewis and Marissa Moss’s Mighty Jackie: The Strike-Out Queen (S & S, 2004; K-Gr 3) illustrated by C.F. Payne, for nonfiction accounts of the League and star pitcher Jackie Mitchell.

All of these titles commemorate girls or women in history in entertaining, attractive packages. While the illustrators of all five books differ, Corey’s lively, spirited writing inspires each artist to create equally accomplished pictures that will appeal to elementary and middle school students. They empower girls to be the best they can be and follow their dreams. So take a swim, take a stand, wear the pants, and play ball!

Barbara Auerbach is a librarian at P.S. 217 in Brooklyn, New York.

Eds. note: Be sure to visit Shana Corey’s terrific website for more resources for educators as well as information about school visits.

*Amy Haskin’s blog of February 4, 2010

Many of the ELA reading, writing, speaking and listening standards for K-5 informational texts are incorporated into the lessons described. The titles and activities suggested above reference the following Common Core State Standards:

RI.2.1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
RI.2.6 Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.
W. 2.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
W. 2.7  Participate in shared research and writing projects.
SL. 2.2 Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud.
RL. 3.7. Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story.
RI. 3.7 Use information gained from illustrations…and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text.
W. 3.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting appoint of view with reasons.

content over coverage

How can teachers and librarians work together to model for students how we talk about texts, how we explore topics of study, and what initiates our inquiry into a topic of interest? Educators have long understood that speaking and listening are essential components of literacy.  But all too often, talking is left out of the curriculum, because talking takes time. With the recent emphasis on testing, we have witnessed too many quiet classrooms, with students silently reading, independent of one another.

To fully access what they are reading, students need time to process it, and that processing is often most effective when done out loud. We need to give students time to dig in and explore, to talk with one another and with adults about what they are reading, to grapple with multiple perspectives, to pose questions, and to examine the writer’s craft.

Fortunately, the Common Core State Standards require that teachers at all grade levels focus on the role of speaking and listening within the language arts and the content areas. Teams of teachers working with librarians can therefore look at their grade span standards and use the Speaking and Listening standards as a tool for meeting the Reading and Writing standards. Each informs the other. Students who talk about what they have read, who use conversation, modeled by their teachers, as a tool to access their reading, are better prepared to do the critical thinking around texts that the CCSS asks of them.

Promote Formal and Informal Conversations

What are some of the ways that school librarians can support student efforts to talk about the nonfiction texts they read? The first step is the recognition that nonfiction texts are not simply fill-in-the-blank resources useful for writing reports or studying for tests. Indeed, the best nonfiction reflects the questing and questioning that the author engaged in while crafting it. Nonfiction is not answers, it is exploration–which readers or listeners are invited to join, whether through swiftly moving, page-turning narrative, or the swell of insights, or vistas of new possibility that it opens. The more go-to favorite nonfiction books that engage, stimulate, and challenge in these ways that you have, the better.

Start your preparation by looking closely at your nonfiction and making subcategories for yourself–this one is an I-couldn’t-put-it-down thriller, that one made me see the world a new way, this one invites readers to join the quest by giving them an expert to identify with, this title is filled with the unforgettable facts my kids will want to share with one another. Then plan a nonfiction story time like a meal: an appetizer of the weird and wacky, a first course of adventure, a hearty main meal of intellectual quest, and a fine dessert of websites and games students can explore on their own. That splendid feast should whet students’ appetites for nonfiction and get them started on the kinds of thinking the Common Core requires of them.

In elementary and middle school, where library is often an integrated arts class, librarian and teacher teams can coordinate the exploration of nonfiction and informational text so that it is aligned with topics, themes, or the types of writing that students are studying in their core class(es). Having a school-wide strategy for implementing the Speaking and Listening standards is as important as having a school-wide strategy for the Reading and Writing standards that often get more attention. Grade level teams can decide which Speaking and Listening standards will be introduced in core classes, and which in the library.  At the high school level, where the library is often a place used by classes for particular academic purposes, librarians can plan with the content area departments on how best to support students in speaking and listening about nonfiction texts.

The following are some general strategies to bring more speaking and listening activities into the school library to support students as they read increasing numbers of nonfiction texts.

Nonfiction Conversation Podcasts

We often ask students to write original book reviews. But what about recording a conversation about a book as a form of book review? Pairs, trios, or even groups of students who have read the same nonfiction book can be recorded, in audio or video, discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the book. Students would first have to prepare their own reactions to the text, and then compare and contrast with one another to establish an outline for their recorded discussion.

Younger students will need more support than older students in this activity, and could create shorter podcasts. Upload the recording to a “Book Conversation” section of your school library webpage, and it is ready to be accessed by other students in the school. Such podcasts are also a way to bring community members into the school. Adults from your community can read the same book as a group of students, and their conversation can be recorded and uploaded.

Service Learning Projects

Coordinate with faculty who conduct service learning projects within the classroom, or in a volunteer or service club that meets before or after school, or at lunch. Students can start by reading nonfiction books and articles to learn more about the issues that they are working on. For example, if students are trying to fight hunger in your community, they can read a title or two on hunger and nutrition. Next, they can look at digital newspaper and magazine articles. Subscription databases have magazine articles for even the youngest of readers. Finally, students can read and discuss the information contained on the websites for various organizations that work to ameliorate the effects of hunger. Students will then synthesize their reading, consider what strategies may work best for organizing a food drive or fundraiser, and write and record a public service announcement that can be played on a community radio station, local cable access station, or both, sharing their knowledge as well as details about their project.

Creating Content for Younger Students

We know that in general, children can understand more complex information if they hear it or have it read aloud to them. Primary grade teachers often lament not having enough material that is developmentally appropriate for children, at a level that their students can read independently. Have the older students in your school research and record content that can be used by the younger children in your school. This can occur during library class or in conjunction with classroom research projects at the different grade levels.

Individually, in pairs, or small groups, students can research a topic, and create their own multimodal digital text to share. A project like this asks students to read and take notes on a topic and to compare and contrast the information and source material through careful discussion and deliberation. They will then have to outline and plan what the text will look like visually, negotiating details and differences, and finally, record their piece.

If posted on the library webpage, younger students will have access to the information. This is a wonderful project for Book Buddies. Of course, careful attention has to be paid to the accuracy of the student work. While doing all of this reading, writing, speaking, and listening, the older researchers will be enacting many of the Common Core State Standards.

Oral Histories

Turn your school library into an Oral History Center. By working with grade level teams, see if there are one or two willing to conduct oral histories as part of language arts/English class and/or in conjunction with social studies or science. Primary grade students can interview close family members or neighbors, while older elementary, middle, and high school students can interview community members in conjunction with specific units of study.

For instance, a high school chemistry class might interview scientists in the area if you have a local research center, university or manufacturing plant. Middle school students studying World War II might interview senior citizens in your area who were children at the time. For resources, go to StoryCorps or the Columbia Center for Oral History.

From left to rt: Myra Zarnowski, Marc Aronson, Mary Ann Cappiello

Eds. note: In last month’s column, “Deconstructing Nonfiction,” the authors considered the types of nonfiction texts, their purposes, and their use in the classroom.

ARNOLD, Caroline. Too Hot? Too Cold?: Keeping Body Temperature Just Right. illus. by Annie Patterson.  Charlesbridge. 2013. ISBN 9781580892766. JLG Level: SCE : Science Nonfiction Elementary (Grades 2-6).

Written in a voice that speaks directly to the reader, Arnold’s text presents facts about body temperature. “You have a layer of fat under your skin. It is like a built-in blanket that helps protect your body and keep it warm.” The author introduces various behaviors that influence natural temperature, such as weather, clothing, and location. Glossary and author’s note provide supplemental nonfiction text features.

MARKLE, Sandra. The Long, Long Journey: The Godwit’s Amazing Migration.

illus. by Mia Posada. Millbrook. 2013. ISBN 9780761356233. JLG Level: NEK : Nonfiction Early Elementary (Grades K-2).

In picture book format, Markle and Posada tell a story about the 7,200 mile migration of a godwit. Hatching in an Alaskan summer, the bird learns to fly, catch its food, and develop its defenses. In October, it will make a long, nonstop journey to New Zealand. Young readers will enjoy the narrative lilt of the text, while older children will appreciate the numerous facts. Appended information, including an author’s note, round out the nonfiction features. Beautiful collage and watercolor illustrations communicate one bird’s lifecycle in migration.

MARTIN JR., Bill. I Love Our Earth / Amo nuestra tierra. illus. by Dan Lipow. Charlesbridge. 2013. ISBN 9781580895569. JLG Level: PS : Primary Spanish (Grades K-3).

Full-color photographs illustrate a poetic tribute to the seasons of the earth and times of the day. This bilingual picture book uses simple language to convey an introduction to nature. Panoramic views depict mountains and seas. Kids of all ages and cultures illustrate the meaning of each line. This simple overview of a child’s world makes it a good selection for even preschool storytimes.

NELSON, Kadir. Nelson Mandela.  HarperCollins/Katherine Tegan. 2013. ISBN 9780061783760. JLG Level: BE : Biography Elementary (Grades 2-6).

Much-loved and respected author/illustrator Kadir Nelson gives children an up-close-and-personal look at Nelson Mandela. From the tight shot of Mandela on the cover to the final shot of the world leader’s fist in the air, powerful images punctuate this introduction to the life of the first black president of South Africa. Expressive verse allows the author to convey a young boy who saw injustice and vowed to make a difference. A must-have for your picture book biography collection.

For ideas about how to use these books and links to supportive sites, check out the Junior Library Guild blog, Shelf Life.

Junior Library Guild is a collection development service that helps school and public libraries acquire the best new children’s and young adult books. Season after season, year after year, Junior Library Guild book selections go on to win awards, collect starred or favorable reviews, and earn industry honors. Visit us at www.JuniorLibraryGuild.com.

Once again, Touch Press delivers an absorbing, in-depth look at a topic that will dazzle readers and viewers. This app takes viewers on a virtual tour deep inside the tombs and pyramids of Egypt’s Giza Plateau. 

On opening Pyramids 3D: Wonders of the Old Kingdom (Touch Press LLP; $13.99; Gr 6 Up), viewers soar over the Giza Plateau under the bright desert sun while the sounds of birds and the wind are heard in the background. In all, there are nine “Places” to visit at this ancient necropolis, from King Khafre’s Tomb to The Great Pyramid. Tapping on the entrance to a monument will bring viewers inside. Once there, they can take a virtual tour of the pyramid or tomb, methodically following arrows and using the floor plan as a guide, or swiping the floors and walls to move about independently within the labyrinths. The “Expert Intros” for each location, the only audio provided in this app, are informative, yet all too brief.

A menu at the top of each screen provides an alphabetized index of sites to explore and a “Quick tips” menu explains how to navigate within the monuments. Illuminated areas signal statues, wall carvings, and drawings that offer additional information. A tap on a picture label provides a description of the work. Titles, terms, and locales are defined and illustrated with maps. Throughout the app, scenes offer a “Then and Now” feature allowing users to toggle between the clean lines, vibrant colors, and the smooth surfaces that artists imagine these walls and items had millennia ago, and the fading colors and damage wrought by time, and in some cases, vandalism.

‘Statue of a Woman Making Bread’ from ‘Pyramids 3D’ (Touch Press) Photo by Sandro Vannini

An “Objects” option allows viewers to examine a collection of 40 artifacts, each of which can be enlarged and rotated 360 degrees. The clarity of detail is noteworthy. Particularly stunning is the “Golden Mask of Tutankhamun,” which shines as users tip their iPads to fully appreciate the pairing of ancient artistry and modern technology. Other artifacts include statues and statuettes, a gold-handled knife, and a piece of jewelry. For each item, details (size, material, etc.) and notes are provided.

The accompanying text offers an introduction and 10 chapters on topics ranging from “A Brief History of Ancient Egypt” and “The Pyramid Builders” to “The Mystery of the Queen’s Burial” and the 1954 “Discovery of the Solar Boats.” Fascinating details along with a timeline and photos of the site and artifacts are included. A postscript by the author—the noted archeologist Zahi Hawass—discusses recent political developments in Egypt and the plans for the Giza Plateau, its protection, and continued excavation.

Both the spectacular photography by Sandro Vannini and superb 3-D imaging will impress viewers, who will undoubtedly wish the app contained a larger collection of photos and locations to explore. A splendid production.—Deirdre Reddington, Uniondale High School, Uniondale, NY

STONE

To read an interview with Tanya Lee Stone, see Jennifer M. Brown’s “A Mission Above and Beyond Them.”

At the center is the Can*TEEN Trivia Wheel Library Interactive game, a new spin on the classic gaming style of multiple choice trivia questions, developed by the Carnegie Science Center. AASL, working with the Carnegie Science Center, and with support from the Motorola Foundation, will distribute Can*TEEN Trivia Wheel Library Interactive toolkits to more than 2,500 school librarians serving children ages 10 to 14.

Participating school librarians will receive a free kit for their library and will be asked to complete a follow-up survey at the end of the school year. The survey will evaluate how frequently the toolkit was checked out and how it was used in the school. More information and an opt-in form can be found on AASL’s website, and you can review clips from recent play tests, featuring two of the women who helped make the Can*TEEN Interactive, at www.canteengirl.org.

When teachers and librarians consider instructional strategies to improve students’ ability to read nonfiction, they often start with text features. Text features are a central component of book construction, but understanding how they work is not the ultimate goal. Teachers also ask students to consider text structures, the larger format or outline with which the book is written. Text structures are important when considering how a book is constructed, but an understanding of text structures is not the ultimate goal, either. The goal is to teach children how the different elements of a nonfiction book work together to contribute to the overall meaning.

Text Types and Structures of Nonfiction Text

If students are unfamiliar with nonfiction texts, they may assume that every nonfiction book serves the same function. This is not the case. Different types of nonfiction books serve varied purposes. Having an understanding of what those purposes are can help students understand why an author selected a particular structure for the book, and how the two work together to create meaning.

The most common form of nonfiction is the survey, which provides an overview on a topic. Surveys often have nouns as their title. Think “Snakes” or “Africa.” Because there are so many of these books in school libraries, students may expect every nonfiction book to do what a survey does. Students need to know that concept books focus on abstract ideas or classifications, such as life cycles; that specialized nonfiction dives deeply into a precise topic and may draw on primary and secondary source material; and that biographies focus on the life of one or several people.

Identifying the type of book they are about to read can help students develop an understanding of each type’s common traits. When students know what type of nonfiction book they are about to read, they have a sense of the book’s purpose, and can anticipate the range of material within its pages.

Just as there are different kinds of nonfiction texts, there are different types of text structures. Exposition is the most common type, often found in surveys, as it introduces a topic and divides it into subtopics. But some nonfiction titles employ narration, choosing to tell a story. Nonfiction picture storybooks are an example of this, but nonfiction chapter books can also adopt this approach. At times nonfiction takes a linear or chronological structure, and at other times, an external sequence is used, such as the alphabet or numbers, days of the week, or months of the year. Compare-and-contrast, question-and-answer. and problem-solution are other familiar structures.

Having conversations with children about identifying the text type and purpose of a book, as well as its overall structure, will allow them to better understand how print and visual components of a book work together to convey meaning. These conversations will also aid in understanding how the components contribute to meaning-making, strengthening students’ reading and writing.

Examining Text Features Outside, Around, and Inside a Nonfiction Text

Just as there are many ways to structure an entire text in order to give it clarity and coherence, text features can also support comprehension. In Checking Out Nonfiction K-8: Good Choices for Best Learning (Christopher-Gordon Pub., 2000), authors Rosemary A. Bamford and Janice V. Kristo refer to these text features by their location: outside the body of the book, around the text, and inside the text. This is a useful way for educators to discuss with students how the specific parts of a book support and extend its overall design. Since not every book will have all possible text features, be sure to provide a range of materials.

Outside a Nonfiction Text.

Begin by considering these features:

• Table of contents
• Bibliography
• Index
• Glossary

Outside features help readers locate what they want, understand the overall structure of the book, learn the sources used to write it, find additional books to extend their understanding, and enrich or support vocabulary. It’s a good idea to spend some time showing how these features help readers from the start. For example, closely examine the table of contents. Does it reveal the specific topics to be discussed? How are the titles written—as questions, topics, vivid quotes from within the chapter? By stopping to examine a table of contents, readers ready themselves for what is to follow.

Around a Nonfiction Text.

Before delving into the main text, consider how the author has framed the book for the reader by exploring these features:

• Introduction
• Author’s Note
• Illustrator’s Note
• Preface
• Afterward
• Appendix

Around features not only introduce readers to a topic, they also provide additional information about the subject and the author’s experience researching it. By carefully examining an author’s note, for example, students might learn how that person became interested in the topic, the kind of research required to write the book, and what discoveries were made. This information demystifies the process of creating nonfiction and helps readers understand the passion writers have for the topics they investigate.

Inside a nonfiction text.

As you discuss reading a text, explore how these features support the text or extend it by providing additional information:

• Headings and subheadings
• Sidebars and insets
• Photographs and captions
• Diagrams
• Graphs, charts and tables
• Timelines
• Maps

While headings and subheadings can guide students as they read, photographs and captions extend and assist in comprehension. A photograph may show details not included in written text. Captions can go much further by pointing out details, providing additional information beyond the text or the photo, giving opinions, speculating, and posing questions for the reader to think about. It’s a good idea to consider how these features complement and extend the writing.

Both text structure and text features provide ways for writers to organize and introduce information, while keeping the narrative engaging. When we introduce these features of nonfiction to students, they benefit both as readers and writers. Having conversations about texts is a major component of the Common Core State Standards. Discussing how texts are constructed and using examples from quality nonfiction books is both illuminating and essential.

Do you rely on tried-and-true series entries to lure less-willing readers into informational texts? Scholastic’s “You Wouldn’t Want to…” and the Gareth Stevens “Top 10 Worst…” books are excellent choices for this group, and  the “National Geographic Kids Chapters” are essential to have on hand. But there are also superior stand-alone titles with gripping or entertaining texts and high-quality art that will keep readers turning the pages. Listed here are a handful of recent books you won’t want to miss. The titles are in approximate Dewey Decimal order, just because we’re librarians.

The events and phenomena associated with UFOs and aliens are well-trodden territory for high-interest nonfiction, but Kelly Milner Halls puts them into clear perspective in Alien Investigation: Searching for the Truth about UFOs and Aliens (Lerner, 2012; Gr 3-6). Halls interviews experts and eyewitnesses, scouts old newspaper accounts, and reads formerly suppressed government documents. Her balanced presentation of multiple resources and theories invites kids to explore further before coming to their own conclusions.

If your idea of a book for reluctant readers involves glossy paper and sharp photographs, then Hélène Rajcak and Damien Laverdunt’s Small and Tall Tales of Extinct Animals  (Gecko, 2012; Gr 3-9) with its wry illustrations and classy binding, might not be an obvious choice. But the format of this oversize book—each spread features a funky comic on one page and a large, captioned drawing with a paragraph of description and history on the other—pulls readers into stories of the dodo, Steller’s sea cow, and the impractical-looking Irish elk.

Liven up your science collection with stories of nature’s undead. Rebecca L. Johnson’s Zombie Makers (Lerner, 2012; Gr 3-6) is well-researched, profusely illustrated, and undeniably unsettling. Luckily, most of the instances of fungal colonization, larval infestation, viral invasion, and parasitical worms involve invertebrates such as flies and caterpillars, but the guinea worm in the human leg is a photo you won’t soon forget. Kids will read this book to ribbons.

Are You “Normal”? More Than 100 Questions That Will Test Your Weirdness (National Geographic, 2011; Gr 3-6) by Mark Schulman satisfies one of the most basic and pressing needs of tweens and near-tweens: to minutely assess how they compare to others. Just take Greg Heffley, for example, who starts out the whole “Wimpy Kid” oeuvre by stating that he is the “52nd most popular kid” in school. So whether readers like pepperoni on your pizza or not, bite their fingernails or toenails, or prefer smooth peanut butter to chunky, there’s something in here everyone can say “yes” to. Curriculum bonus: exposure to graphing methods.

“Will my personality change as I get older?” “Is my voice unique?” “Does my brain stop working when I am asleep?” Older kids love learning about themselves, too, and Richard Walker’s Who Am I? The Amazing Science of Existence (Kingfisher, 2012; Gr 6-9) discusses topics ranging from emotions to metaphysics, and delivers concrete answers on questions teens might not have even considered. The author presents facts about issues related to bioethics, such as stem cell research, but avoids controversial statements. Sharp photos and snappy design add to the package.

There are abundant books that seek to tempt the young sports fan into a little reading—you can spot ‘em a mile off. What makes The Sports Illustrated Kids Big Book of Why Sports Edition (Sports Illustrated, 2012; Gr 3-6) superior to all the others? First of all, it includes facts about big-league sports and others such as gymnastics, lacrosse, and skateboarding. (There’s even a curling question.) The facts and trivia are presented in four sections, each of which is capped with a quiz. Readers are encouraged to challenge the adult sports expert in their life to take the quiz with them and compare results—making the book itself something of a game.

Strutting It! The Grit Behind the Glamour (Tundra, 2011; Gr 6-9) provides straight talk about the modeling profession from fashion insider Jeanne Beker. There are lots of quotes and anecdotes featuring a deep well of names such as Kate, Linda, and Naomi, as well as lesser-known models including Irina Lazareanu, Carmen Dell’Orefice, and Crystal Renn. More photos would not have gone astray, and the book is, unfortunately, not full-color. Still, this is a good choice for fabulous young ladies and gentlemen interested in the world of fashion modeling—either as potential participants or as avid spectators.

What’s scarier? A mountain lion’s snarling lunge or a cyber attack by a classmate? The lion’s claws may be sharp, but your “friends” have Facebook photo tagging in their arsenal. How to Survive Anything: Shark Attack, Lightning, Embarrassing Parents, Pop Quizzes, and Other Perilous Situations (National Geographic, 2011; Gr 4-9) by Rachel Buchholz, illustrated by Chris Philpot, offers practical advice for surviving both. Tween readers will also get valuable guidance on how to apologize, stay safe online, and find water on a desert island. Snappy design and hip, what-not-to-do illustrations hook readers.

Driest desert, deepest ocean trench, biggest earthquake…trust a book called Seymour Simon’s Extreme Earth Records (Chronicle, 2012; Gr 3-6) to take young readers on a tour of the most punishing places and severe geological events on the planet. Real-world comparisons (the average yearly snowfall on Mount Rainier’s south slope is about equal to the height of “a dozen children standing on each other’s shoulders”) combine with sharp (unfortunately, uncaptioned) color photos to make this a lively trip.

What would it be like to be buried under more than 2000 feet of solid rock…for more than two months? Elaine Scott’s Buried Alive!: How 33 Miners Survived 69 Days Deep Under the Chilean Desert (Clarion, 2012; Gr 3-6) weaves the remarkable human aspects of this drama—the duration of the miners’ confinement, their inspiring morale, the resources brought to bear in order to rescue them—with the economic and geographic context of the San José mine to create a readable, compelling story that will give readers insight into a lesser-known area of the world. Documentary photos of the ordeal establish credibility, and special attention is paid to the families and children of the trapped men.

Pete Athans has scaled Mt. Everest 14 times and reached the summit on seven occasions. In Tales from the Top of the World: Climbing Mount Everest with Pete Athans (Lerner, 2012; Gr 3-6), his sister Sandra Athans describes the anatomy of an ascent from base camp to peak, with the mountaineer’s stories of avalanches, killer storms, and white-knuckle rescues providing drama. Stunning photographs and informative diagrams bring readers on site with this intrepid adventurer.

You don’t have to be an animal lover to be deeply moved by the stories of canine loyalty, devotion, and courage in Dogs on Duty: Soldiers’ Best Friends on the Battlefield and Beyond (Walker, 2012; Gr 2-6). Military Working Dogs have been part of the U.S. armed forces since WWI, but their use in battle goes back to ancient times. Dorothy Hinshaw Patent describes the ways in which these animals have assisted armies throughout history and follows present-day selection and training. Short, accessible sections are accompanied by sidebars on individual heroic creatures. The descriptions of the loving bonds that these animals develop with their handlers make this a title children can relate to and present a positive window into the armed services.

Older readers crave you-are-there accounts of dramatic world events. Photographer Rafal Gerszak provides just that in Beyond Bullets: A Photo Journal of Afghanistan (Annick Press, 2011; Gr 6 Up), as he describes the harrowing, heartbreaking, and sometimes transcendent experiences behind his photographs of soldiers and civilians. There’s a fair amount of text here, but the stories of danger, hardship, and friendship, and the numerous images, will have readers poring over these pages. Photographs of amputees and injured children may be unsettling for some.

“Big Meeting—Ides of March—Bring Daggers!—Brutus.” Leeches, blister beetles, live burial, exploding bodies—all funny, if examined in a certain light. Georgia Bragg does just that in How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous (Walker, 2011; Gr 3-9), an excellent entrée to the study of advances in medicine and a great way to convince kids that biographies are not boring. Kevin O’Malley’s gross—and humorous—illustrations cement this book’s position on the must-purchase list.

Nathan Hale (1755-1776) was this country’s first spy, captured behind enemy lines prior to the invasion of Manhattan. One Dead Spy (Abrams, 2012; Gr 3-6), the first book in the “Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales,” begins as Hale is about to be hanged. Nathan Hale, the book’s author, (1976- ) is an acclaimed artist and history buff. His art is lively, meticulous, and clearly drawn, while his text is funny and rigorously researched. Sieges, raids, and night crossings may seem like perfect material for the graphic-novel treatment, but Hale even manages to make panels describing troop movements exciting.

Paula Willey is a librarian at Baltimore County Public Library and reviews nonfiction and graphic novels for School Library Journal. Read her opinionated reviews online at Pink Me.

Related TeachingBooks.net resources »»»

What is reassuring is that we know that children of all ages can think critically about the world in creative ways, particularly when they are given robust and developmentally appropriate texts as part of a well-crafted, student-centered curriculum. These specific groupings of books or multimodal digital texts are referred to as clusters, or text sets. Situating students within the context of a text cluster allows librarians and teachers to use their collections in new ways. Teachers already have tried-and-true books and can use their library to build outward—moving from highlighting a single text to using a text cluster.

Not only do clusters offer an opportunity to differentiate reading, they create a synergy within the curriculum, allowing students to consider multiple perspectives. When readers see that knowledge is not fixed, that there is no single way to represent an idea, a literary theme, a historical event, or a scientific concept, they see the role of the author in new and exciting ways. When given the opportunity to pen their own works, they can apply what they have learned about a variety of different genres and text types.

Text clusters, or text sets, offer rich opportunities in science, language arts, social studies, and the related arts such as music and art. Here are specific ways to use clusters in your library and classroom, and in your work with grade-level teams.

Clustering Concepts: Ecosystems

Text clusters can be used as a tool to teach science content standards as well as the Common Core State Standards for language arts and content literacy. Let’s say you are working with a third grade teacher who is teaching ecosystems or animal habitats. Most likely, your library has a variety of books on different ecosystems and animal habitats to support student inquiry. But to explore that topic with a tighter focus, and model the thinking across texts, the unit could launch with an exploration of how ecosystems change over time.

First, recommend that the teacher read aloud Joyce Sidman’s Song of the Water Boatman (Houghton Mifflin, 2005), illustrated by Beckie Prange. Moving from spring to winter, the book carries readers through four seasons in the life cycle of a pond. On each spread a poem, a nonfiction paragraph, and a woodcut illustration can be found.

Follow that title with the nonfiction picture storybook The Wolves are Back (Penguin, 2008) by Jean Craighead George, about the restoration of wolves in Yellowstone National Park. Students will understand what happens when one animal is removed from an ecosystem, and how that ecosystem shifts its balance when the animal returns.

Finally, the class could explore Thomas F. Yezerski’s Meadowlands (Farrar, 2011), an illustrated history of the wetlands region in northern New Jersey. In small groups, children can discuss how an entire ecosystem can suffer extensive damage and yet manage to rebuild itself over time. Each of these titles offers a different perspective and models a different text structure (poems and paragraphs; narrative; exposition) that youngsters can reference as they they compose in response to the study.

Clustering Biographies: Powerful Pairs and Triplets

Since biographies of the famous and infamous are abundant and ever increasing, it’s easy to put together “bio-clusters.” Start small with two titles that can be compared, and then build larger collections of books, and primary and secondary sources (photographs, prints, letters, newspaper articles, maps, political cartoons). Here are a couple of book clusters to get started.

Powerful Pairs: Beginning with Biographies

The CCSStandards call for us to begin comparing two texts on the same topic with students as early as kindergarten. Picture books are a good place to start because it’s easy for young readers to spot the differences in illustrated works. Using biographies about the same person is one way to show children that informational texts on the same topic are not the same.

For example, two picture books about Jane Goodall, can be used to highlight different approaches to the same information. That is, not all authors select the identical information to spotlight. Me…Jane (Little, Brown, 2011) written and illustrated by Patrick McDonnell ends with a young Jane Goodall going to sleep and dreaming of her future on the continent of Africa where she studies animals. When readers turn the page, Goodall, wakes up as an adult. The dream has been realized.

In contrast, Jeanette Winter’s The Watcher (Random, 2011), children receive a fuller story of how Goodall saved her money, traveled to Africa, and met the scientist Louis Leakey. It was Leakey who suggested that Goodall study chimpanzees in Tanzania.

Both books also provide unique kinds of visual information. Me…Jane contains actual writing and illustrations by the young Goodall, who as a girl, organized a group called The Alligator Society. The Watcher presents pictures of Goodall’s early life in small, tightly framed images. In contrast, once the woman begins working with chimpanzees, the pictures burst out of their frames and become two-page spreads. Her joy and sense of the freedom are obvious.

Terrific Triplets: A Cluster of Biographies

In books for older readers, bio-clusters raise additional questions about how history is written. The following titles bring readers face to face with contradictory information. In Amelia Lost (Random, 2011) author Candace Fleming casts doubt on Earhart’s claim that she saw her first airplane at the 1908 Iowa State Fair when she was 11 years old. According to Fleming’s research, there were no planes in Iowa at that time. She suggests that the aviatrix fabricated stories to suit an image she wanted to project.

Two other books, Amelia Earhart (Abrams, 2008), by Shelley Tanaka, and Corinne Szabo’s photobiography, Sky Pioneer (National Geographic, 1997), report that Earhart saw a plane at the fair as fact. The authors of these titles relied on Earhart’s own writings. Here is an opportunity to discuss with students that the sources authors consult can matter and that they may present conflicting information.

This cluster presents many additional opportunities to make comparisons. There are differences in text organization, visual information, theme, and more. Using these books, educators can initiate important conversations about craft and structure, the use of evidence to support ideas, and point-of-view.

Professional Sources Can Guide You

There are many ways to use text clusters or text sets in the library and in the classroom. What we have offered is a mere starting point. Professional resources are available to provide additional guidance as you begin working with clusters.

Eds. Note- two of the authors of this article have written relevant texts on the subject.

Myra Zarnowski’s History Makers (Heinemann, 2003) outlines how to compare biographies using such criteria as accuracy, style, illustration, theme, and selection and interpretation of information. A data chart is provided for gathering information and student samples show how it is done. In Making Sense of History (Scholastic, 2006) Zarnowski describes a hands-on approach for learning about multiple perspectives in history books.

For an up-to-date source on planning with clusters of nonfiction material, see Mary Ann Cappiello & Erika Thulin Dawes’s Teaching with Text Sets (Shell Education, 2012). This book describes innovative ways to incorporate nonfiction literature, as well as other genres, in the classroom while achieving CCSS and content standards. It provides both ready-to-use ideas and guidance for developing your own units of study using specific text models.

Just say the word “forensics” to a group of students, and you’re bound to get a reaction. The popularity of TV shows such as CSI has already brought kids into the library looking for books on the topic, and two new titles are sure to bring them back. The books point to the tantalizing clues left by ancient remains, and the painstaking work of geologists, archeologists, and physical and cultural anthropologists, as they search for and consider evidence, draw conclusions, and re-examine theories in light of new information and technologies. All valuable lessons for students.

Sally M. Walker and Douglas W. Owsley’s Their Skeletons Speak: Kennewick Man and the Paleoamerican World (Carolrhoda, August, 2012; Gr 6 Up) considers the story of the 9,000-year-old remains, discovered in 1996 by two young men along the banks of the Columbia River in Kennewick, WA. The find was startling in several respects, including the number and age of the bones and bone fragments uncovered. In telling Kennewick Man’s story, the authors weave in accounts of other remarkable Paleoamerican finds and the information they have yielded about the life and culture of early North American inhabitants.

How scientists build theories based on evidence gleaned from hours of close examination, testing, and retesting, allowing that sometimes the smallest clue can present important results, is a focus of the book. At various points, the authors point out how the same evidence led different scientists to different conclusions. Consider with your students the attention devoted to the discovery of a spearpoint embedded into Kennewick Man’s ilium. At what angle did the the stone point enter his body and what did this indicate? Did the injury impact the way Kennewick Man walked? Had this injury healed at the time of his death?  What were some of the theories developed in response to those questions, and how did scientists arrive at them? What further research was conducted to test those theories?

These were just some of the questions and avenues the authors explore as they present information on how theories—and research—evolve in light of debate. Ask your students to cite other, similar examples in the book. They can begin by considering what information was provided by technology that existed in 1996 when Kennewick Man was found, and what scientists learned in 2004 using newer technology.

Walker has stated that her research tools included “primary sources and ancient bones.” What other resources did the authors use? What resources do your students use as researchers? Are there others they might consider? Owsley has commented that “the sky is the limit” when it comes to the information gleaned from human remains. Have students list what they learned about Paleoamerican culture in general, and Kennewick Man specifically, from the book. What is there still to learn?

Early on, the authors discuss the importance of cultural sensitivity. Under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), a Native American tribe claimed the skeletal remains of Kennewick Man, requesting to rebury them according to their traditions. Government scientists there contested the claim in court. Ultimately the judge assigned to the case decided that the evidence presented “had not led him to conclude that Kennewick Man was affiliated with a modern tribe.”

This issue of cultural sensitivity is also addressed in James M. Deem’s Faces from the Past: Forgotten People of North America (Houghton Mifflin, November 2012; Gr 7 Up). In Faces, Deem, the author of many books, including the 2009 Sibert Honor title, Bodies from the Ice (Houghton Mifflin, 2008 Gr 5-8), covers the fate of often-unknown individuals and the repatriation efforts to honor them.

Deem’s account takes readers from Spirit Cave outside of Fallon, NV, and a 17th-century French ship found at the bottom of Matagorda Bay on the Gulf coast of Texas, to a Colonial burial ground in Albany, NY, and the site of the Battle of San Jacinto near Houston, TX. As the subtitle notes, the author set out to explore the lives of the “forgotten,” often “nameless,” people of our past; a Paleoamerican man, a sailor on Le Salle’s last expedition, enslaved workers at an upstate New York farm, and massacred Mexican soldiers left unburied during the Texas War for Independence.

In detailing these discoveries, Deem discusses what their remains have taught us about these individuals: their physical appearance, the foods they ate, their labors, and the causes of their deaths, when known. He includes primary source materials—letters, family and city records, and early maps and reproductions—to reconstruct their daily lives and their histories. He documents how researchers poring over old newspapers in were able to determine that a particular Wyoming location was the likely burial site of six Chinese workers killed in a mine blast in 1881. Sidebars provide additional, related information on such topics as The Texas War of Independence, The Chinese Exclusion Act, artifacts, NAGPRA cases, and more.

The author also describes radiocarbon dating and surveys the history of facial reconstruction from late 19th-century to modern techniques, with notes on the work of anatomists and sculptors and the challenges their assignments present. He illustrates the latter with fascinating step-by-step photographs.

Encourage your students to seek other titles on these topics. Be sure to recommend Katherine Kirkpatrick’s The Mysterious Bones: The Story of Kennewick Man, (Holiday House, 2011; Gr 5 Up). How does this title differ in focus and approach from the two discussed here? In illustrations and resource lists? For other titles on the work of scientists—including Marc Aronson and Lee Berger’s The Skull in the Rock (National Geographic, 2012), which covers recent finds in South Africa—read Kathy Piehl’s “A Lifetime of Study,” and “A Universe to Discover.”

How better to convince young adults that need coaxing to read nonfiction than with stories of thrilling discoveries and ongoing investigations? These new titles by seasoned writers explore the world of forensic science with stunning results, offering insight into the lives of early North Americans, the work of scientists, and the research process.

The Common Core State Standards below are a sampling of those referenced in above books and classroom suggestions.

W.5.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational text to support analysis, reflection, and research.
RI.6.7 Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually quantitatively)…to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.
R1.6.9 Compare and contrast one author’s presentation of events with that of another
SL 6.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions…Come to discussions prepared having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to prove and reflect on ideas under discussion….
SL.6.2 Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats…and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.
RI.7.1. Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
RI.7.2. Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.
RI.7.3-12. Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text.
RI 7.3-12 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. Develop factual, interpretive, and evaluative questions for further exploration of the topic(s).
RI 7.3-12 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
RI 7.3-12 Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
RI 7.3-12 Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.
RI 7.3-12 Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.

Related TeachingBooks.net resources »»»

What made you want to write a picture book about the life of John Coltrane?

When I was 17, I bought my first Coltrane record and was moved by the heartfelt quality of his sound. I had heard about his addiction history and knew he was great player, but only years later—as I listened to WBGO, the great jazz station—did I become really familiar with his depth and range. Some time after I’d finished writing my first picture book, Jimi: Sounds Like A Rainbow (Clarion, 2010), I heard a Coltrane birthday broadcast…and it was my mother’s birthday, as well. Because of that, I felt inspired to delve into the man’s life, and again, it was the qualities of heart and tenderness—in his story and in his music—that convinced me to write about him.

Coltrane had a complicated life and your book deals with some serious topics like drug abuse and alcoholism. Did you feel they were essential to the story, and did you have difficulty addressing those issues with a young audience?

I tried to discuss those topics in a way that would lessen some of the mystery often attached to them. As a therapist myself, I know that drug use is just a side-effect of difficult things that happen or exist in a person’s life, whether it’s poverty, trauma, the loss of a parent or someone close, and various kinds of abuse. People use drugs and alcohol to try and balance out feelings of sadness, pain, lack of confidence, or confusion. It’s never really about the substances, but always about what’s underneath. For John, the loss of all the men in his life (father, grandfather, uncle), at an early age, left him vulnerable to a certain loneliness—even emptiness—that was temporarily relieved by alcohol and drugs, despite his spiritual nature or maybe even because of it. He was a very sensitive teen—like many of the kids I work with today—and the power of his story lies in the fact that it’s a very human tale, about losing one’s way and finding it again. Kids can understand these things if we’re honest and straightforward in our talking or writing about them.

Tell us about the research you did for the book? What surprised you most about Coltrane?

I did a lot of reading about Coltrane’s life, from a variety of sources. This wasn’t simply to understand the arc of his life, but to benefit from different perspectives on the man and insights into his character. What surprised me most about Coltrane’s life were the details about his childhood. He was deeply affected by his father’s and grandfather’s deaths, and suffered panic attacks, tremendous self-doubt and grief because he lost his footing, part of his emotional foundation, at the age of 12/13. And of course, this was only intensified by living in the Jim Crow South. As a child, I experienced some emotional challenges of my own, and I still marvel at how people survive such powerful—and seemingly destructive—forces.

Spirit Seeker deals with spirituality. Are you spiritual yourself or did you include it because it was a big part of Coltrane’s life?

I’ve always been very drawn to the spiritual side of things, from my early exposure to Christianity to a deep interest in Eastern philosophies—Buddhism and Taoism—as a teenager and adult. I also nearly died as a result of an accident when I was 24 years old, and that experience changed my life in profound ways. It was a spiritual moment for me, and became a touchstone of sorts for everything that followed. Coltrane had a similar experience when he decided to stop using drugs—he experienced a revelation—and it put him on a new path, one that led to his work with Thelonius Monk, his reunion with Miles Davis, and his development as a band leader and composer. A Love Supreme is really all about his spiritual transformation, his rebirth, and the gratitude that he felt for being able to use and develop his talents. It’s a jazz lovesong, and you can hear Coltrane himself speaking the words “A Love Supreme, A Love Supreme,” over and over. It’s also about a personal approach to the Divine, and how each of us interprets that connection.
You’re a clinical social worker and psychotherapist who works with kids and teen on issues like addiction. How does it influence you as a writer?

Don’t tell anyone, but I’m really still 16 (though my wife might put the number considerably younger than that). I love teenagers because I tune into that age frequency, which is filled with longing and hopefulness, a search for the ideal. Teens want so much to believe in the goodness of the world, but they’re easily disappointed and often have trouble sustaining confidence in themselves, or faith in other people. And who can blame them? Which is why they need to be given inspiring examples—like John Coltrane—in books and movies. Teens are very susceptible to inspiration.

What do you think is the appropriate age that parents should start telling their kids about substance abuse?

So many parents I know—well-meaning parents—send mixed messages to their kids about substance use, and especially about drinking. Sure, it’s funny to see Cheech and Chong carrying a three-foot joint, but when adults start telling “war stories” about their adventures at Woodstock or Bonnaroo, we can’t blame kids for wanting to experiment. And teenagers will experiment—they want to learn about life on their own—but if we talk to them while keeping a cool head, the lines of communication can remain open. Teenagers also have advanced B.S. detectors, so if we say one thing and do another (like get drunk at a party or smoke a joint in the basement), then they feel there’s a double standard. Most of all, kids want adults to be consistent, honest, and reliable, and while none of us is perfect, it’s important to match our words to our behaviors as parent, caregiver, teacher or mentor. There’s really no perfect age for discussing substance use with kids, because every child has different needs and experiences. Ideally, it should be an ongoing conversation.

What do you hope kids take away from Spirit Seeker?

The book isn’t didactic, just a story of one person’s persistence, a desire to do the best he can with what he’s been given. Everyone’s best is different, of course, and we may feel that some people fall short of what they could accomplish. But life is more subtle and rich than that—things aren’t always so simple—and we can never say where someone will end up, given sufficient support and encouragement. Coltrane would have been the first person to thank all those—musicians, family, and friends—who helped him along the way, all of whom he saw as embodying Spirit in one form or another. We’re very much interdependent on one another.

You’ve also written books about Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan. Can you explain your fascination with musicians?

Music and musicians are fascinating! I love music and can never really get enough of it, given my taste for just about every genre: world music, jazz, pop, blues, symphonic, rock, folk, country, bluegrass and electronic. John Cage, Eminem, Bessie Smith, Bartok—I could go on forever—they’re all fair game, depending on the mood I’m in. Only problem is, if I listen to something intently and repeatedly during the day, I hear it all night in my sleep!

How does Rudy Gutierrez’s illustrations enhance your words and how closely did you collaborate?

I wish I could take credit for choosing Rudy, but that honor goes to my beloved editor, Lynne Polvino, of Clarion. She has a great talent for pairing picture book authors with illustrators, and even though she graciously asks my opinion, it’s not really the author’s call. Picture book authors and illustrators are pretty much kept apart (for their own good and the sake of the book!), but Rudy asked that I be present when he brought in his paintings/illustrations. So the folks at Clarion had his paintings—some of which were 5 feet high by 3 feet wide—set up around a large conference room when I arrived, and one look took my breath away. At that moment, I realized that the book wasn’t about me, or Rudy, or maybe even about John Coltrane, but about the themes of Art and Spirit that are at its core. I’ll also say that Rudy has a big heart, full of Spirit, and his sincere dedication to Coltrane’s story and music shows in those incredible images.

What are you working on now? Maybe something on Billie Holiday? I know my kids would love that.

Funny you should say that, because I always wanted to do a picture book on Billie but never found a way that made sense. Fortunately, Carole Boston Weatherford did write about her—for a teen audience—with Becoming Billie Holiday, a powerful, beautiful book. As for my present projects, I recently sold a picture book text called Bird & Diz, about the creators/creation of Bebop, and also finished a picture book text on Charlie Chaplin, another fascinating subject. See—I don’t just do musicians!

Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction. These new informational texts are scary, bizarre, but grossly enlightening.

ALBRIGHT, Rosie. Detection Rats. PowerKids Pr. 2012. ISBN 9781448861491. JLG Level: CK2: Series Nonfiction: Science K-2 (Grades K-2)

Detection Rats introduces primary readers to African pouched rats in this volume of the Animal Detectives series. With a large font and controlled vocabulary, kids learn that these large rats can be trained to use their sense of smell to locate land mines. They are also taught to decipher diseases. Includes an index, words to know, and links to websites.

FRANCHINO, Vicky. Tarantulas. Scholastic. 2012. ISBN 9780531209080. JLG Level: C35: Series Nonfiction: Science 3-5 (Grades 3-5)

Fondly known in elementary school libraries as “those blue animal books,” Tarantulas is part of the “Nature’s Children” series, and is filled with full-page photographs that will have your students quoting facts as if they were the scientists who discovered them. Some of those tidbits include: Tarantulas have eight eyes but their vision isn’t very good; they don’t have teeth, so they liquefy their victims in order to digest them; their stomach muscle acts like a straw and draws the liquid in. From fun facts to vanishing habitats, this “blue book” is sure pique interest and fly off the shelf.

JENKINS, Steve. The Beetle Book. Houghton Harcourt. 2012. ISBN 9780547680842. JLG Level: SCE: Science Nonfiction Elementary (Grades 2-6)

“Line up every kind of plant and animal on Earth…and one of every four will be a beetle.” With gorgeous torn paper illustrations, Jenkins again delivers fascinating research about more than 75 beetles. The poison in an iron cross blister beetle can kill a horse. When a deathwatch beetle bores into the walls of a house, its taps are loud enough for a person to hear. A female firefly may use her light to attract a mate and then eat him. Full size illustrations and highlighted enlargements strengthen the text.

Consider using the concluding list of beetles for your students to use in their research. What other amazing facts can your students discover?

JOHNSON, Rebecca L. Zombie Makers: True Stories of Nature’s Undead. Millbrook Pr. 2012. ISBN 9780761386339. JLG Level: SCE: Science Nonfiction Elementary (Grades 2-6)

Easily the most memorable, information-rich, and intriguing book in this list, Zombie Makers will send shivers up your spine. A jewel wasp locates a particular place in the brain of a cockroach and causes it to become a zombie. It lays its eggs in the body where they remain until they hatch and eat the roach (which is still alive). Scientists learned about zombie ants and the fungus that claimed them when they discovered that the ants were nearly all found in cool places about 10 feet from the ground. They observed zombie crickets drowning themselves in a pool. When they pulled them away from the water, the crickets walked right back into it. Nearly all of the crickets had the same fungus.

Horrific and amazing, these gross facts will have you reading aloud―and leaving the light on at night. You may never look at flies, roaches, wasps, and worms the same way―ever again.

WOOLF, Alex. Killer Crocodiles. Arcturus. 2012. ISBN 9781848379473. JLG Level: C35: Series Nonfiction: Science 3-5 (Grades 3-5 )

Magazinelike in layout, this volume from the “Animal Attack” series, explores the world of the crocodilian. It is the family of aquatic reptiles that includes alligators, crocodiles, caimans, and gharials. Punctuated by sidebars, the two-page spread highlights a topic with facts while drawing in reluctant readers with “Snack on This!” American crocodiles regurgitate their food to use as bait to attract their next meal. Crocodilians cannot chew, so they bite their food into pieces and throw their heads back to help it go down their throats. Full glossary and index complete the text and make it an excellent choice for your nonfiction fans.

And the shape of wombat poop? Unusual Creatures by Michael Hearst spills the facts― wombat’s feces is a six-sided cube. Why? You’ll have to read it to find out.

For ideas about how to use these books and links to supportive sites, check out the Junior Library Guild blog, Shelf Life.

Junior Library Guild is a collection development service that helps school and public libraries acquire the best new children’s and young adult books. Season after season, year after year, Junior Library Guild book selections go on to win awards, collect starred or favorable reviews, and earn industry honors. Visit us at www.JuniorLibraryGuild.com.

These picture-book gems not only tell a story, but they also provide nonfiction text features, including  glossaries, bibliographies, websites, primary source documentation, and author notes. The bonus for librarians and teachers is that many of the titles mentioned below are geared toward older readers but are also great read alouds.

As you may have recently heard at The Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards and Colloquium at Simmons College, picture books are not dead. In fact, they are constantly changing. At the event, award-winning illustrators Erin E. Stead and Jon Klassen concur that they have just begun to experiment with the form, and  the “Picture Book Proclamation” penned by author Mac Barnett, states that “we believe that a picture book should fresh, honest, piquant, and beautiful.”

The following are some of 2012’s best biographies.

FERRIS, Jeri Chase. Illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch. Noah Webster & His Words. Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2012. ISBN 9780547390550. JLG Level: BE : Biography Elementary (Grades 2-6)
Noah came from a long line of farmers. “But Noah did not want to be in that long line. Not at all.” When Noah was found studying instead of working on the farm, his father went to his teacher who “CON-VINCED [verb: overcame by argument] him that Noah should be in school. So Noah went to Yale College at age 15. In 1781, Noah wrote his first book, an American speller that would unite the new country by spelling words “the same way, every time, everywhere.” His blue-backed speller became the first American schoolbook and cost 14 cents. In 1807, Noah decided he needed to show where words came from and what they meant. With this decision, he began the writing and research of a book that would come to be the second best-selling book ever printed in English: Webster’s Dictionary.

HOPKINSON, Deborah. Illustrated by Raul Colon. Annie and Helen. Schwartz & Wade Books, 2012. ISBN 9780375957062. JLG Level: BE : Biography Elementary (Grades 2-6)
For her first teaching assignment, Annie Sullivan boarded a train in Boston and traveled thousands of miles to Alabama. Her first student was Helen Keller. Being partially blind herself, Annie knew Helen’s temper tantrums stemmed from her inability to communicate. Punctuated with excerpts from Annie’s letters, Hopkinson tells the story of two people who overcame physical disabilities and forged new frontiers. Beautiful watercolor illustrations complement the text and contribute to the time and setting of the story. The account ends with a photograph of Helen’s first handwritten letter home, just four months after her training with Annie began.

MARKLE, Michelle. Illustrated by Amanda Hall. The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau.  Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2012. ISBN 9780802853646. JLG Level: BE : Biography Elementary (Grades 2-6)
Henri Rousseau was 40 years old when he decided he wanted to paint. He loved nature and wanted to capture his feelings on canvas. Year after year, critics ridiculed his work. “If you want to have a good laugh, go see the paintings of Henri Rousseau.” Yet, Rousseau never gave up. He observed, painted, and continued to enter his works in exhibits. When he was 61 years old, he painted The Hungry Lion Throws Itself on the Antelope. For the first time, not everyone was critical, and he developed a following. Today he is known as a great artist, inspiring many. Rousseau’s life and work are brought to life through an amazing story and illustrations.

NOBLEMAN, Marc Tyler. Illustrated by Ty Templeton. Bill The Boy Wonder: The Secret of Co-Creator of Batman. Charlesbridge, 2012. ISBN  9781580892896. JLG Level: BE : Biography Elementary (Grades 2-6)
Nobleman reveals that Bob Kane was not the writer of the long-lasting Batman comics; in fact, Bill Finger, using secret identities, not only anonymously wrote the comics, he also came up with the original look and concept of the famous character. Iron-clad contracts kept Finger, who died in 1974, from getting credit. In the author’s notes, readers learn that Nobleman conducted diligent research, uncovering not only primary source documents, but also more pictures than had ever been found before.  And, perhaps most importantly, he found Finger’s last living heir. Not just for comic book fans, readers will be caught up in the life of a creative genius and the secret he kept so soundly.

RAY, Deborah Kogan. Paiute Princess: The Story of Sarah Winnemucca. Frances Foster Books, 2012. ISBN  9780374398972. JLG Level: BE : Biography Elementary (Grades 2-6)
Ray tells the tragic story of the Paiute tribe in the 1800s when white settlers continued to take over their land. As a young girl, Thocmetony believed what her grandfather told her about the settlers: “You must not be afraid. They are very good [people].” Sarah Winnemucca, as Thocmetony became known, was sent to live with a white family and went to school. As she grew older, she became a champion for her tribe. She fought for education, staging dramatic events to raise money to help her people. She fought against corruption and abuses within the Bureau of Indian Affairs , and became an interpreter for the Army. The “Paiute Princess” spent her life trying to bring peace. Ray tells a story of prejudice, unfair policies, the mistreatment of women and children, and of a strong woman who lived in two worlds and fought to gain respect and dignity for her people.

STANBRIDGE, Joanne. The Extraordinary Music of Mr. Ives: The True Story of a Famous American Composer.. Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2012. ISBN  9780547238661. JLG Level: E+ : Easy Reading (Grades 1-3)
“Even the most ordinary sounds are like songs to Mr. Ives. He writes music as busy as a city street.” Sadly, no one wanted to listen. Mr. Ives wrote his music anyway. In 1915 the ocean liner, Lusitania, was hit by an enemy torpedo. It took the lives of a thousand innocent passengers. The horrors of war struck the people of New York. Mr. Ives could not write, but one day he heard a man playing a hymn at a train station and was inspired to create a song. More than 50 years passed before anyone heard this masterpiece. Finally, composers listened to his music and liked  and understood it. Stanbridge’s wordless account of the sinking of the ocean liner makes the story all the more poignant. The scene at the train station will fill readers’ hearts, and strains of “Gather at the River” will echo in their ears.

For ideas about how to use these books and links to supportive sites, check out the Junior Library Guild blog, Shelf Life.

Junior Library Guild is a collection development service that helps school and public libraries acquire the best new children’s and young adult books. Season after season, year after year, Junior Library Guild book selections go on to win awards, collect starred or favorable reviews, and earn industry honors. Visit us at www.JuniorLibraryGuild.com.