Rounding up the best nonfiction for children and teens
To the Moon and Back: My Apollo 11 Adventure
by Buzz Aldrin (Author), Marianne Dyson (Author), and Bruce Foster (Illustrator)
Booktalk: Follow astronaut Buzz Aldrin as he encounters the “magnificent desolation” of Earth’s only satellite firsthand in this pop-up book. Then build an Apollo 11 lunar module with the pieces inside the book.
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It’s Nonfiction Monday!
Copyright © 2019 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Ambulances (Amazing Rescue Vehicles)
by Lori Dittmer (Author)
Booktalk: A basic exploration of the parts, equipment, and variations of ambulances, the fast-moving rescue vehicles. Also included is a pictorial diagram of this important rescue vehicle and its equipment.
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It’s Nonfiction Monday!
Copyright © 2019 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Two Men and a Car: Franklin Roosevelt, Al Capone, and a Cadillac V-8
by Michael Garland (Author / Illustrator)
Booktalk: It is December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt leads a nation in crisis. He must make a speech to a joint session of Congress that will build support for America’s entry to World War II, but to do that he needs an armored vehicle in which to make the short trip from the White House to the Capitol Building. According to legend, the car Roosevelt rode in that day, borrowed from the FBI’s impound lot, was an armored Cadillac V-8 built for gangster Al Capone in the late 1920s to shield himself from enemies. Is the legend true, or is it an American tall tale in the tradition of Paul Bunyan or John Henry? Either way, it’s an ideal vehicle to compare and contrast the lives of two American men who grew up within miles of one another: one a great president, the other an infamous villain.
Snippet: Cadillac V-8s were state-of-the-art vehicles in their time. If you were rich and powerful, a chauffeur or a bodyguard drove yours for you. This one was custom-built in 1928 for a notorious mob boss who ordered bulletproof windows and armor-plated panels. According to legend, ten years after the gangster climbed out of this automobile for the last time, one of America’s greatest presidents climbed in. How could two such different men come to share a car?
It’s Nonfiction Monday!
Copyright © 2019 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Finding the Speed of Light: The 1676 Discovery that Dazzled the World
by Mark Weston (Author) and Rebecca Evans (Illustrator)
Booktalk: More than two centuries before Einstein, using a crude telescope and a mechanical timepiece, Danish astronomer Ole Romer measured the speed of light with astounding accuracy. How was he able to do this when most scientists didn’t even believe that light traveled? Like many paradigm-shattering discoveries, Romer’s was accidental. Night after night he was timing the disappearance and reappearance of Jupiter’s moon Io behind the huge, distant planet. Eventually he realized that the discrepancies in his measurements could have only one explanation: Light had a speed, and it took longer to reach Earth when Earth was farther from Jupiter. All he needed then to calculate light’s speed was some fancy geometry.
Snippet: At night, Ole hurried up to his roof to look through his telescope. He had built its tubes, handles, and magnifying glasses himself with money given to him by the king. when he was finished, the telescope was ten feet long. On cloudy nights, all he could see was the Cathedral of Notre Dame a mile away. But when the sky was clear, Ole could see thousands of stars.
It’s Nonfiction Monday!
Copyright © 2019 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Absolute Expert: Volcanoes
by Lela Nargi (Author) and Arianna Soldati (Volcanologist)
Booktalk: Get expert insights from National Geographic explorer and volcanologist Arianna Soldati. Plunge deep beneath Earth’s crust to find out how volcanoes form. Get up close to clouds of ash and molten lava. Learn about the biggest, most extreme volcanic eruptions to date. On the hunt for incredible volcanoes, you’ll travel around the globe, dive into the depths of the oceans, journey into space…and so much more!
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It’s Nonfiction Monday!
Copyright © 2019 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Just in time for National Poetry Month we have the poetry collection Dreaming Big and Small by Sara Holbrook, Michael Salinger, and illustrations by Scott Pickering, great for middle grades on up.
As the authors explain up front, this is a collection of ekphrastic poems. Instead of writing poems and hiring an artist to illustrate them, the authors used Scott Pickering’s creative and playful illustrations to inspire their poetry.
Topics ranges from Kangaroos
…They wear a front facing backpack
as they bounce across the outback …
to socks:
Socks on the table
Socks in my drawer
Socks in my pocket
Socks on the floor…
As with any poetry collection, it can be read in pieces or all at once. Readers will likely want to return to their favorites again and again.
What I love the most is the message in the front encouraging readers use art to spark their own poetry.
Dreaming Big and Small is a delightful little book that packs a big wallop. Get inspired by a copy today!
Originally reviewed at Wrapped in Foil blog.
Copyright © 2019 Roberta Gibson All Rights Reserved.
River Rescue
by Jennifer Keats Curtis (Author) and Tammy Yee (Illustrator)
Booktalk: When oil spills, workers hurry to clean the land and water. But oil spills can also affect every animal that lives in the area. Who helps these wild animals? On the East Coast, a team from Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research rushes to the scene to save as many as possible. Follow along to learn how these experts capture oiled animals and treat them quickly and safely so that they may be returned to the wild.
Snippet: On shore, two pelicans hop rather than fly. See how black their bellies are? They are covered with oil. They cannot fly, and they cannot swim.
It’s Nonfiction Monday!
Copyright © 2019 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Limitless: 24 Remarkable American Women of Vision, Grit, and Guts
by Leah Tinari (Author / Illustrator)
Booktalk: A collection of portraits celebrating the groundbreaking achievements and indelible impact of twenty-four extraordinary American women: Louisa May Alcott, Rachel Carson, Julia Child, Shirley Chisholm, Ellen Degeneres, Ray Eames, Eve Ensler, Carrie Fisher, Dian Fossey, Aretha Franklin, Betsey Johnson, Carol Kaye, Yuri Kochiyama, Liz Lambert, Lozen, Shirley Muldowney, Tracey Norman, Annie Oakley, Georgia O’Keefe, Dolly Parton, Kimberly Pierce, Gilda Radner, Sojourner Truth, and Abby Wambach.
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See the book trailer.
It’s Nonfiction Monday!
Copyright © 2019 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
The Boy Who Grew a Forest: The True Story of Jadav Payeng
by Sophia Gholz (Author) and Kayla Harren (Illustrator)
Booktalk: As a boy, Jadav Payeng was distressed by the destruction deforestation and erosion was causing on his island home in India’s Brahmaputra River. So he began planting trees. What began as a small thicket of bamboo, grew over the years into 1,300 acre forest filled with native plants and animals.
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It’s Nonfiction Monday!
Copyright © 2019 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.