nonfiction Archives - Page 645 of 664

Pitter and Patter
by Martha Sullivan (Author) and Cathy Morrison (Illustrator)

Take a ride with Pitter on a water cycle! You’ll go through a watershed, down, around and up again. How about going with Patter? You’ll even go underground. Oh, the places you’ll go and the creatures you’ll see. A water drop is a wonderfully adventurous thing to be!

#kidlit Writing Lesson: the small details

The two water drops landed in different places. The story follows one water drop at a time:

Pitter landed on the leaf
of an oak tree.
Hello, squirrel.
Good morning, blue jay.
Rise and shine, caterpillar.

After following Pitter all the way to the ocean, the book shows readers where the other water drop landed. The water cycle repeats:

Meanwhile, Patter had landed
in a spring meadow.
Hello, daisy.
Good morning, bee.
Rise and shine, butterfly.

The second water drop falls to the ground, travels back to the sea, and the water cycle begins again. The repeating pattern in the text reinforces the idea behind the story.

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

Guinness World Records: Wacky Wheels (I Can Read Level 2)
by Cari Meister (Author)

Booktalk: The BIG Picture

From the largest monster truck to the loudest bike horn, these Guinness World Records will rev the engines of imagination. Simple text and full-color photos will make learning about exciting topics fun for beginning readers.

#kidlit Writing Lesson: the small details

The book begins:

Bigfoot 5 is the largest
monster truck in the world.
It is 15 feet, 6 inches tall.
Bigfoot 5 weighs 38,000 pounds.

The wacky wheels on the book cover are explained first. Notice the bolded words? They show young readers the most important fact:

Bigfoot 5 is the largest
monster truck in the world.

The bolded words explain why each vehicle was included in the book.

And the marvelous math?

It is 15 feet, 6 inches tall.
Bigfoot 5 weighs 38,000 pounds.

Just right for Pi Day today . . .

It’s Nonfiction Monday!