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Educators eager to implement the Common Core standards into their work need look no further than School Library Journal’s newest column, Nonfiction Notes. This month, we examine titles that include biographies, the American Revolution, and exploration.
If students are not familiar with nonfiction texts, they may assume that every nonfiction book serves the same function.
Author Tanya Lee Stone talked to Curriculum Connections about the importance of visual storytelling in her work “Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles: America’s First Black Paratroopers.”
At a recent New York Public Library panel on Ethics and Nonfiction, four popular juvenile nonfiction authors discussed the challenges of writing entertaining and enlightening works for kids while adhering to the facts.
We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March by Cynthia Levinson, Peachtree Publishers 2012. Review copy from publisher. Finalist for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award. It’s About: In May, 1963, African Americans marched for freedom in Birmingham, Alabama. The marchers were school children. Just as with adult protesters, they were met with police resistance; [...]
Thinking about this idea of “New Adult” books (which Angela discussed here on Thursday), over on my personal blog I took a look at the Modern Library’s list of the 100 best books of the 20th Century, and found that half of the books on the list fit into one or another definition of New Adult. [...]
My First Day: What Animals Do on Day One By Steve Jenkins and Robin Page Illustrated by Steve Jenkins Houghton Mifflin ISBN: 9780547738512 $16.99 Grades K-2 In Stores Jan 8, 2013 Find it at: Schuler Books | Your Library The capabilities of newborn animals are, for the most part, a mystery. While you can’t walk [...]
Guest blogger Joy Piedmont is back (and I think we’ll be taking advantage of her at least once more before the season is done!), covering another major nonfiction title of 2012. Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon, Steve Sheinkin Flash Point, September 2012 Reviewed from final copy When I say, “World [...]
New Year, new category. Today I am weighing in on New Adult books. This post could be considered a response or addition to Liz Burns’s excellent work over on the Tea Cozy blog. She published three posts on this topic over the weekend, and I recommend that you read at least the first before continuing [...]
Listening for Madeleine: A Portrait of Madeleine L’Engle in Many Voices by Leonard S. Marcus. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2012. Review copy from publisher. It’s About: Madeleine L’Engle, beloved author of A Wrinkle In Time (Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1962). The Good: How to write a biography of Madeleine L’Engle, especially when so many people [...]
Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust by Doreen Rappaport Candlewick, September 2012 Reviewed from an ARC With five starred reviews, this was an easy auto-contenda to spot. Rappaport looks at the active, heroic roles Jewish people played during the years of the Holocaust. She shares 21 stories — many involving [...]
Moonbird: A Year On the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2012. Review copy from publisher. Finalist for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award. It’s About: B95 is a rufa red knot, first tagged in Argentina in 1995. Since then, B95 has been seen again and [...]
Occasional guest blogger Joy Piedmont is back! She (unlike, say, Karyn) likes to read nonfiction, and has OPINIONS about it. Thoughtful, considered opinions. Making her a perfect candidate to guest write as we try to catch up on our nonfiction 2012 piles. So, with no further ado… Titanic: Voices from the Disaster, Deborah Hopkinson Scholastic [...]
On Monday, I discussed looking for more diversity in nonfiction for teens, but I didn’t even broach what might be the most important aspect of all when it comes to reviewing and recommending nonfiction: accuracy. While fiction can certainly have factual inaccuracies in it, and errors can even change our evaluation of the book, it [...]
Looking at the New York Times’s list of 100 Notable Books of 2012, I was somewhat surprised and definitely disappointed to see that this blog had reviewed only two of the 47 titles the Times recommended (in contrast, we reviewed 12 of the Times’s 53 fiction titles). To be sure, we reviewed our fair [...]
Looking at the New York Times’s list of 100 Notable Books of 2012, I was somewhat surprised and definitely disappointed to see that this blog had reviewed only two of the 47 titles the Times recommended (in contrast, we reviewed 12 of the Times’s 53 fiction titles). To be sure, we reviewed our fair share [...]
Probably you have all seen the shortlist for The YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction already, but just in case:
Bomb
We’ve Got a Job
Moonbird
Titanic
Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different
(Click through for descriptions/why statements and cover art.)
Of the five finalists, we thought We’ve Got a Job skewed a bit young (but will be posting [...]
Probably you have all seen the shortlist for The YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction already, but just in case: Bomb We’ve Got a Job Moonbird Titanic Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different (Click through for descriptions/why statements and cover art.) Of the five finalists, we thought We’ve Got a Job skewed a bit [...]
National Parks: A Kid’s Guide to America’s Parks, Monuments, and Landmarks By Erin McHugh Art by Neal Aspinall, Doug Leen, and Brian Maebius Black Dog & Leventhal ISBN: 9781579128845 $19.95 Grades 3-6 In Stores Find it at: Schuler Books | Your Library It’s easy to overlook guides. They can be unassuming, but if your library [...]
