Booktalks – Page 14 – Booktalking #kidlit

Bombs over Bikini: The World’s First Nuclear Disaster

Bombs over Bikini: The World’s First Nuclear Disaster
by Connie Goldsmith (Author)

Booktalk: In 1946, as part of the Cold War arms race, the US military launched a program to test nuclear bombs in the Marshall Islands of the Pacific Ocean. From 1946 until 1958, the military detonated sixty-seven nuclear bombs over the region’s Bikini and Enewetak Atolls. The twelfth bomb, called Bravo, became the world’s first nuclear disaster. It sent a toxic cloud of radiation over Rongelap Atoll and other nearby inhabited islands.

Snippet: “I began to feel a fine powder falling all over my body and into my eyes. The coconuts changed color. By now all the trees were white, as well as my entire body. I didn’t believe this was dangerous. The powder fell all day and night over the entire atoll of Rongelap,” Moyor John Anjain later recalled.

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

Old Manhattan Has Some Farms

Old Manhattan Has Some Farms
by Susan Lendroth (Author) and Kate Endle (Illustrator)

Booktalk: No matter where you live, you can grow food! In this new take on “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” the farmers are city dwellers and the farms consist of rooftops, empty lots, hydroponic labs, patios, and other urban nooks and crannies.

Snippet:
Spray some water here,
move an earthworm there–
pull some weeds, grab a spade.
Who’s got veggies they can trade?

http://youtu.be/oFBMm68zUcw

Find out how the author was inspired to write this book.

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Keri Recommends.

Sequoyah and His Talking Leaves: A Play About the Cherokee Syllabary

Sequoyah and His Talking Leaves: A Play About the Cherokee Syllabary
by Wim Coleman (Author), Pat Perrin (Author), and Siri Weber Feeney (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Doing what no one had ever done before, Sequoyah set about creating a written Cherokee language – helping preserve the tribe’s history and culture even today.

Snippet:
Sequoyah: Why, many words use the same sounds! There are far fewer sounds then there are words! I need to discover every sound used in the Cherokee speech. Then I’ll be able to create marks for all of the sounds.

Historian 2: Many people call Sequoyah’s writing system and alphabet. Actually, it was based on the individual sounds of words, or syllables–so it was really a syllabary.

Flatland

Flatland
by David Sayre (Author) and Rebecca Emberley (Illustrator)

Booktalk: What happens when people and things we love are no longer where we can see them?

Snippet:

The United States Marines

The United States Marines (U.S. Military Forces)
by Michael Green (Author)

Booktalk: For younger readers, a simple introduction to the United States Marine Corps.

Snippet: The Marines quickly respond to threats against the United States. They are often the first troops called into battle.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Learn to Program with Scratch: A Visual Introduction to Programming with Games, Art, Science, and Math

Learn to Program with Scratch: A Visual Introduction to Programming with Games, Art, Science, and Math
by Majed Marji (Author)

Booktalk: Rather than type countless lines of code in a cryptic programming language, why not use colorful command blocks and cartoon sprites to create powerful scripts? Scratch is a fun, free, beginner-friendly programming environment where you connect blocks of code to build programs. While most famously used to introduce kids to programming, Scratch can make computer science approachable for people of any age. Hands-on projects will challenge you to create an Ohm’s law simulator, draw intricate patterns, program sprites to mimic line-following robots, create arcade-style games, and more!

Snippet: In Scratch, you won’t type any complicated commands. Instead, you’ll connect graphical blocks together to create programs.

This book covers Scratch 2, which was released in May 2013. This version allows you to create projects directly in your web browser so you don’t have to install any software in your computer…

To start Scratch, go to the Scratch website and click the TRY IT OUT link.

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

Share
by Sally Anne Garland (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: When Bunny’s little cousin visits, her mother tells her over and over that she must share. But her cousin wants to do everything Bunny does.

Snippet:
As soon as he came, he wanted my bear.
Mom said, “Remember, please let him share!”

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Random Noodling.

Stronger Than You Know

Stronger Than You Know
by Jolene Perry (Author)

Booktalk: After police intervention, fifteen-year-old Joy has finally escaped the trailer where she once lived with her mother and survived years of confinement and abuse. Now living with her aunt, uncle, and cousins in a comfortable house, she’s sure she’ll never belong. Wracked by panic attacks, afraid to talk to anyone at her new school, Joy’s got a whole list of reasons why she’s crazy.

Snippet: I reach for the front door to start my walk to school. I’m not going in the car because after yesterday and last night I’d rather not ride with Trent.

“Joy, wait. Trent wants to talk to you,” Aunt Nicole says from the kitchen.

In my limited experience, if Trent wanted to talk to me, Trent would be the one talking right now, not his mom.

It’s Okay to Make Mistakes

It’s Okay to Make Mistakes
by Todd Parr (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: It’s okay to make mistakes–that’s how you learn!

Snippet:
It’s okay if you spill your milk.
UH-OH
You can always clean it up.

Hear the author read the book.

Today’s U.S. Army

Today’s U.S. Army
by Don Nardo (Author)

Booktalk: The soldiers of the U.S. Army stand ready to defend their country. To become a soldier, recruits train hard to get into tip-top shape. They learn to use weapons of all kinds. Some head to war zones. Others undergo training to become special ops fighters. They are super-soldiers who perform top-secret, dangerous missions around the world.

Snippet: After finishing basic training, the recruits are full-fledged soldiers. Their initial rank is private. Over time some may be promoted to corporal or sergeant.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!