Nonfiction Monday – Page 6 – Booktalking #kidlit

Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker

Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker
by Patricia Hruby Powell (Author) and Christian Robinson (Illustrator)

Booktalk: To close Women’s History Month and begin Poetry Month, a free-verse biographical poem about performer and civil rights advocate Josephine Baker. (Notice the use of primary source quotations in the second image below.)

Snippet:
Mama called her TUMPY, the round baby girl, after Humpty Dumpty.
With her first breath, she made faces.
As soon as she walked, she DANCED.

Sample the book with this 1:01 Josephine book trailer.

**Patricia is one of my former students!**

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Monster Trucks: Tearing It Up

Monster Trucks: Tearing It Up
by Brian Howell (Author)

Booktalk: Do you know what it’s like to drive a truck that is as big as an elephant? Despite their giant size, monster trucks can pull off soaring jumps, flips, and other epic stunts. These trucks compete head-to-head to reveal the fastest and the most agile of them all. Events such as the Monster Jam World Finals keep the crowds on the edges of their seats.

Snippet: In monster truck racing, two trucks race to the other end of the arena. The trucks do a turn around an obstacle and race back to the finish line. During the last part of the race, the trucks go over a ramp that launches them into the air. After landing, the first truck to reach the finish line is the winner.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Malala Yousafzai and the Girls of Pakistan

Malala Yousafzai and the Girls of Pakistan
by David Aretha (Author)

Booktalk: In 2012, a Taliban gunman shot a bullet into the head of Malala Yousafzai. The fifteen-year-old Pakistani girl needed to die, Taliban leaders reasoned, because she spoke out against the group’s policies, which included the suppression of girl’a education in Malal’s home region of Swat Valley.

Snippet: Finally, the shooter belived, the outspoken Pakistani teen had been silenced. The girl had delivered a speech entitled, “How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education.” Now, she was surely dead.

The gunman was wrong. Malala survived.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Under the Freedom Tree

Under the Freedom Tree
by Susan VanHecke (Author) and London Ladd (Illustrator)

Booktalk: One night in 1861, three escaped slaves made their way from the Confederate line to a Union-held fort. The runaways were declared “contraband of war” and granted protection. As word spread, thousands of runaway slaves poured into the fort, seeking their freedom.

Snippet:
1861
May moon
gleams
bright as
Colonel’s buttons.

Three slip out unseen.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Pinkalicious Cupcake Cookbook

Pinkalicious Cupcake Cookbook
by Victoria Kann (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: Cupcakes galore!
Now you can make all your cupcakes Pinkalicious cupcakes. The Pinkalicious Cupcake Cookbook features more than twenty cupcakes straight from the pinkatastic world of Pinkalicious.

Snippet:
All of the cupcakes in this book need a flat top to facilitate the frosting and decorating and sometimes for balancing one cupcake on top of another. When using a cupcakes baked from a cake mix, slice off the rounded top of the cupcake with a paring knife.

See how to follow these directions in this 40 second Pinkalicious book trailer

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Volcano Rising

Volcano Rising
by Elizabeth Rusch (Author) and Susan Swan (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Thought you knew all about volcanoes? Think again!

Snippet: KA-BOOM! Most people think volcanoes are either sound asleep and blowing their tops off in fiery ash-spewing catastrophes.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Planet Earth (The World in Infographics)

Planet Earth (The World in Infographics)
by Jon Richards (Author) and Ed Simkins (Illustrator)

Booktalk: From tectonic plates and meteorites to erupting volcanoes, the atmosphere, and the world’s longest rivers, this book explores planet Earth using a wide variety of icons, graphics, and pictograms.

Snippet: Welcome to the world of infographics. Using icons, graphics, and pictograms, infographics visualize data and information in a whole new way!

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Follow Your Money: Who Gets It, Who Spends It, Where Does It Go?

Follow Your Money: Who Gets It, Who Spends It, Where Does It Go?
by Kevin Sylvester (Author, Illustrator) and Michael Hlinka (Author)

Booktalk: Find out what happens to your money after you hand it to the cashier…

Snippet:
Money.
Money.
Money.
Everybody wants it. Some people have a lot of it. Most don’t have enough.
This book explores where the money you spend actually goes.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Look Up!: Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard

Look Up!: Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard
by Annette LeBlanc Cate (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: You don’t have to own binoculars and know a bunch of fancy Latin names to watch birds! No matter where you live, they’re in your neighborhood — just look up.

Snippet: I wasn’t always a bird-watcher, but several years ago, I thought it would be nice to keep a nature sketchbook. When I sat outside to draw trees and rocks and flowers, I couldn’t help but begin to notice lots of birds, some that I knew and some that I didn’t, flitting around the edges of my drawings.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

A Girl’s Guide to Fitting in Fitness

A Girl’s Guide to Fitting in Fitness
by Erin Whitehead and Jennipher Walters (Authors)

Booktalk: In this fun and practical guide, the writing duo behind FitBottomedGirls.com offers a real-world teen guide that’s sure to help even the most devoted TV-addict lead a fitter, healthier, and happier life—without the need for a gym or fancy exercise equipment.

Snippet: You’ve heard it repeated a million times: You should eat right and work out. Diet and exercise, diet and exercise, diet and exercise. Simple, right? But between the news of another new superfood and all of the celebrity diet fads out here, it can get pretty confusing.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!