Nonfiction Monday

July 12, 2021July 11, 2021

The Floating Field

The Floating Field: How a Group of Thai Boys Built Their Own Soccer Field
by Scott Riley (Author), Nguyen Quang (Illustrator), and Kim Lien (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Booktalk: After watching the World Cup on television, a group of Thai boys is inspired to form their own team. But on the island of Koh Panyee, in a village built on stilts, there is no open space. The boys can play only twice a month on a sandbar when the tide is low enough. Everything changes when the teens join together to build their very own floating soccer field.

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Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

June 28, 2021June 27, 2021

The Science and Technology of Marie Curie

The Science and Technology of Marie Curie (Build It Yourself)
by Julie Knutson (Author) and Michelle Simpson (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Booktalk: Delve into the world of Marie Curie, a person who revolutionized the way we perceive the universe while getting the world to question gender roles and social norms. Then follow in her footsteps with hands-on STEM activities for ages 9-12.

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Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

June 21, 2021June 20, 2021

The Elephants Come Home

The Elephants Come Home: A True Story of Seven Elephants, Two People, and One Extraordinary Friendship
by Kim Tomsic (Author) and Hadley Hooper (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Booktalk: One day in 1999, Lawrence Anthony and Françoise Malby hear that a herd of wild African elephants needs a new home. They welcome the elephants to their wildlife sanctuary–Thula Thula–with open arms. But the elephants are much less sure they want to stay. How will Lawrence prove to them that they are safe and loved?

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Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

June 14, 2021June 13, 2021

Out of the Blue

Out of the Blue: How Animals Evolved from Prehistoric Seas
by Elizabeth Shreeve (Author) and Frann Preston-Gannon (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Booktalk: Life on Earth emerged “out of the blue.” It began in the vast, empty sea when Earth was young. Single-celled microbes too small to see held the promise of all life-forms to come. Those microbes survived billions of years in restless seas until they began to change, to convert sunlight into energy, to produce oxygen until one day “Gulp!” one cell swallowed another, and the race was on.

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Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

June 7, 2021June 6, 2021

Hidden Black History: From Juneteenth to Redlining

Hidden Black History: From Juneteenth to Redlining
by Amanda Jackson Green (Author)
@ Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Booktalk: Many important moments in history have not been taught in schools or explored in the mainstream media. These events often include people of color and involve Black history. Intentional or not, this puts all Americans at a disadvantage. Learn about Black history moments that shaped America, from the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in Virginia in 1619 to the Freedom Summer of 1964, and read about efforts to reshape how we teach Black history in schools in the 21st century as we prepare for Juneteenth on June 19th.

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Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

June 7, 2021June 5, 2021

Girl Warriors: How 25 Young Activists Are Saving the Earth

Are you an advocate for any causes? At Wrapped in Foil blog, we are advocates for children’s books, and more specifically the middle grade title Girl Warriors: How 25 Young Activists Are Saving the Earth by Rachel Sarah.

In this book you will meet 25 girls and young women under the age of 25 who have decided to speak up for the Earth and for themselves. Eloquent and innovative, they hope to change minds and make a difference.

Young women like:

• Daphne Frias in West Harlem, New York City describes herself as “an un-apologetically fierce Latina, who is proudly disabled,” and is currently in medical school.
• Maya Penn in Atlanta, Georgia who is an eco-fashion designer, animator, producer and TED speaker.
• Malaika Vaz in Goa, India who is a National Geographic Explorer and filmmaker.
• Vanessa Nakate in Uganda, Africa who founded the @TheRiseUpMovem1 and has been building solar-powered schools in Kampala.

Chicago Review Press books are all about getting hands on. If the stories of these girls and young women inspire you, delve into the four pages of resources in the back matter to find out where you can make a difference, too.

Rachel Sarah is trained as a journalist, which shows in her clean and unobtrusive writing. She has gleaned personal details on each of the young women, making each of them stand out as memorable individuals.

Girl Warriors is an exciting book for young readers interested in activism and making a difference. Get inspired by a copy today!

Stop by Wrapped in Foil blog for more information.

May 24, 2021May 23, 2021

And I Paint It

And I Paint It: Henriette Wyeth’s World
by Beth Kephart (Author) and Amy June Bates (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Booktalk: A father and daughter sneak away from their big, busy family to paint in the wild landscape. Together, they paint a lily, bright and white as a star; the green growing into the cap of a strawberry; the blue in the sky running pink. Henriette’s father is N.C. Wyeth, the famous artist, who encourages her to paint what she sees, to awaken into her dreams, and she does, in this picture book inspired by a famous American family of artists.

Snippet:
So that it’s only Pa and it’s only me,
sensing deeply, like Pa says.
Looking. Seeing. Smelling the air
and the earth,
and the turpentine,
and also that flower.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

May 17, 2021May 16, 2021

The People’s Painter: How Ben Shahn Fought for Justice with Art

The People’s Painter: How Ben Shahn Fought for Justice with Art
by Cynthia Levinson (Author) and Evan Turk (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Booktalk: As a child growing up in Lithuania, Ben Shahn yearns to draw everything he sees–and, after seeing his father banished by the Czar for demanding workers’ rights, he develops a keen sense of justice, too. So when Ben and the rest of his family make their way to America, Ben brings both his sharp artistic eye and his desire to fight for what’s right. As he grows, he speaks for justice through his art–by disarming classmates who bully him because he’s Jewish, by defying his teachers’ insistence that he paint beautiful landscapes rather than true stories, by urging the US government to pass Depression-era laws to help people find food and jobs.

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Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

May 10, 2021May 9, 2021

A Shot in the Arm!

A Shot in the Arm!: Big Ideas that Changed the World
by Don Brown (Author / Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Booktalk: Explore the history of vaccinations and the struggle to protect people from infectious diseases, from smallpox–perhaps humankind’s greatest affliction to date–to the COVID-19 pandemic in this nonfiction graphic novel.

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Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

May 3, 2021May 2, 2021

Parents Here and There: A Kid’s Guide to Deployment

Parents Here and There: A Kid’s Guide to Deployment
by Marie-Therese Miller (Author)
@ Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Booktalk: Parents have many different jobs. Some work in the military and are away from home for months or years. When your parent is gone, you miss what you did together. What are some things you can do while they are gone?

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Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!