Rounding up the best nonfiction for children and teens
How Birds Sleep
by David Obuchowski (Author) and Sarah Pedry (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop
Booktalk: From the parrots of Thailand to the ostriches of Australia and even the pigeons of New York City, every bird sleeps–but they do it in ways that will surprise you. Discover the mysterious and fascinating sleeping habits of more than twenty bird species from around the world in this picture book.
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Copyright © 2023 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
The Real History of Angel Island
by Carol Kim (Author)
@ Amazon | Bookshop
Booktalk: People often learn about Ellis Island when they are taught the history of immigration in the US. However, many people also came through Angel Island in California. Discover the history of the Angel Island Immigration Station, the experiences of the people who arrived there, and how it closed.
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Copyright © 2023 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Special Delivery: A Book’s Journey Around the World
by Polly Faber (Author) and Klas Fahlén (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop
Booktalk: Follow the process of making a book from printing to shipping to selling . . . to reading!
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Copyright © 2023 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Cinco de Mayo: A First Look
by Percy Leed (Author)
@ Amazon | Bookshop
Booktalk: In this beginning reader, children learn about Cinco de Mayo, a holiday that celebrates Mexican culture.
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Copyright © 2023 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
One World: 24 Hours on Planet Earth
by Nicola Davies (Author) and Jenni Desmond (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop
Booktalk: Our planet is always turning. It may be midnight in London, but in different time zones other living things are waking up, ready to hunt or feed or fight. As the clock strikes twelve, two sisters are spirited away on a journey to glimpse, in the span of a moment, extraordinary biodiversity: a mother polar bear and her cubs hunting seals in Svalbard, tiny turtles in India following the moon toward the sea, and enormous whale sharks gulping plankton in the Philippines.
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Copyright © 2023 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Inventions of the USA: A Shine-A-Light Book
by Carron Brown (Author) and Giordano Poloni (Illustrator)
Booktalk: Get your flashlight ready to meet American inventors and discover their inventions with this “shine-a-light” see-through-page format.
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Copyright © 2023 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Big Ideas from History: A History of the World for You
by The School of Life (Author) and Anna Doherty (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop
Booktalk: This middle grade book is a big history of the world, from the beginnings of the universe to now, which places the reader at its center by encouraging children to think about how they experience the world and asking them to imagine a world they would like to live in. What might they learn from self-knowledge? How can they grow, develop and create their own place in history?
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Copyright © 2023 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
I Begin with Spring: The Life and Seasons of Henry David Thoreau
by Julie Dunlap (Author) and Megan Elizabeth Baratta (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop
Booktalk: Formatted like a nature notebook, this exploration of seasonal changes in Thoreau’s day is also a visual story of his life and times with an introduction to climate change in the back matter showing the use of his 150-year-old observations in our time.
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Copyright © 2023 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Courage Like Kate: The True Story of a Girl Lighthouse Keeper
by Anna Crowley Redding (Author) and Emily Sutton (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop
Booktalk: Fayerweather Island had seen blustery blizzards and rip-roaring tides, but it had never seen a pint-sized hurricane until Kate Moore claimed that tiny island as her own. Little Kate was supposed to be the lighthouse keeper’s daughter, but she thought of herself as Papa’s assistant.
The thirty-three spiraling lighthouse stairs finally took a toll on Papa’s body, and so twelve-year-old Kate stepped up. Over the years, she kept the flame lit to guide ships to safety, listened for cries for help, and, time and again, pulled men to safety–twenty-three of them in all. At the age of forty-seven, Kate received word–she had been named the official lighthouse keeper of Fayerweather Island.
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Copyright © 2023 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Fighting for YES!: The Story of Disability Rights Activist Judith Heumann
by Maryann Cocca-Leffler (Author), Vivien Mildenberger (Illustrator), and Judith Heumann (Afterword)
@ Amazon | Bookshop
Booktalk: From a very young age, Judy Heumann heard the word NO. When she wanted to attend public school, the principal said, “NO.” When she wanted her teaching license, the New York Board of Education said, “NO.” Judy and people with disabilities everywhere were tired of hearing “NO.”
In the 1970s an important disability rights law, Section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, was waiting to be signed. Judy and other disability rights activists fought for “YES!” They held a sit-in until Section 504 was signed into law. Section 504 laid the foundation for the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was established thanks in large part to the ongoing work of Judy and her community.
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Copyright © 2023 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.