Posts

Posted on

The Stuff Between the Stars: How Vera Rubin Discovered Most of the Universe

Today at Growing with Science blog we are celebrating the new picture book biography, The Stuff Between the Stars: How Vera Rubin Discovered Most of the Universe by Sandra Nickel and illustrated by Aimée Sicuro .

Vera Rubin was an astronomer who discovered some cool and important “stuff”.

From a young age, she was captivated by stargazing.

As she got older, she began to investigate swirling clusters of stars, gases, and dust known as galaxies. She studied where galaxies were found in space and how they moved relative to each other. When the stars within galaxies move at different speeds as she thought they should, she demonstrated there was something in between the stars that we can’t see or detect, something pulling the stars. That “something” had been previously named dark matter and there is a lot of it!

Discussion:

In addition to revealing groundbreaking science, author Sandra Nickel also celebrates Vera Rubin’s passion for her work and how she kept going in spite of numerous obstacles, including others not understanding her work.

Aimée Sicuro’s illustrations are out of this world. They vacillate between concrete and abstract, capturing how grounded Vera was and yet her thoughts were in the galaxies. You can see what I mean in the page spread below.

The Stuff Between the Stars is sure to thrill budding astronomers. It would also be perfect to accompany a trip to a planetarium, as well as for Women’s History Month discussions. Gaze into a copy today!

Stop by Growing With Science for more information and activity suggestions.

Copyright © 2021 Roberta Gibson All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Stompin’ at the Savoy

Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Stompin’ at the Savoy: How Chick Webb Became the King of Drums
by Moira Rose Donohue (Author) and Laura Freeman (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Though a disability stunted his growth and left him with a hunched back, William Henry “Chick” Webb did not let that get in the way of his musical pursuits. Even as a young child, Chick saw the world as one big drum, pounding out rhythms on everything from stair railings to pots and pans. His love of percussion brought him to the big time as an influential big band leader.

Snippet:

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Copyright © 2021 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Unsolved Case Files: D.B. Cooper – Bookends Blog

Cindy: This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is escape-at-10000-feet-by-tom-sullivan.jpgHave we got a new series for you to put on standing order! Escape at 10,000 Feet (Balzer+Bray/HarperAlley, March 2020) by Tom Sullivan is the first book in the new Unsolved Case Files series based on real FBI cases. This graphics-intensive nonfiction title features the D.B. Cooper case, the only unsolved U.S. airplane highjacking case. On Nov. 24, 1971 a man in his 40s wearing a business suit and carrying a briefcase entered the Portland International Airport and bought a $20 one-way ticket to Seattle. Once seated in the back of the plane he lit a cigarette and handed a note to a flight attendant. The note?

Miss, I have a bomb here and I would like you to sit next to me.

From there, readers not familiar with the case learn about D.B. Cooper’s demands, the heist of $200,000, and the decades-long search for Cooper and the money. Young readers will be riveted with the details, including the astounding discovery of $5800 of the marked bills by an 8-year-old boy in 1980. Did Cooper survive the jump? If so where is he, and where is the rest of the money? A year or so ago a sixth-grade boy asked me if I had any books about D.B. Cooper. I wish I’d had this book then. The next in the series is Jailbreak at Alcatraz (Sept. 2021). I can’t wait!

Lynn: I know that there is crime and possible death at the heart of this unsolved crime but honestly, what a total hoot this book is!! Today’s kids are far too young to remember the show Dragnet but Tom Sullivan writes with a terrific deadpan Dragnet’s “Joe Friday” voice that is perfect for the topic. OK—most of you faithful readers are probably way too young to remember Dragnet too. So just take my word for it, this is Joe Friday with a sly sense of humor. Since this unsolved crime took place in 1971 when a LOT of things were different, Sullivan had to provide some background information for kids. The hijacker, for example, simply carried his briefcase/bomb on board with him, so one sidebar explains that, yes, in 1971 you just walked on a plane without ever having your baggage security checked. After settling into his seat, the hijacker ordered a drink, lit a cigarette, and handed a note to the stewardess. Here the sidebar assures readers that in 1970 people could smoke anywhere as astonishing as that sounds today. Sidebars also add a wild assortment of related ephemera that is irresistible, such as a diagram of the critically important rear staircase or what all the markings are on a $20 bill or a map of where the 3 bundles of marked bills were found nine years later by some campers.

I love the illustrations in this graphic novel too. Not to mix my references but the style reminds me of another icon of my childhood, the comic Dick Tracy, the crime-fighting hero with a geometric square jaw and unsmiling visage. The drawings are a perfect match to the just-the-facts, ma’am text. I read this in galley so I haven’t yet seen the promised photos from the FBI Files on the case that are to be included in the finished copy but I’m eager to.

Elementary and middle school librarians—you are going to need a zillion copies of this book to meet demand once the kids see it!

Visit us at Bookends!

Posted on

Black Heroes of the Wild West

Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Black Heroes of the Wild West: Featuring Stagecoach Mary, Bass Reeves, and Bob Lemmons
by James Otis Smith (Author / Illustrator)

Booktalk: This graphic novel celebrates the extraordinary true tales of three black heroes who took control of their destinies and stood up for their communities in the Old West. Born into slavery in Tennessee, Mary Fields became famous as “Stagecoach Mary,” a cigar-chomping, card playing coach driver who never missed a delivery. Bass Reeves, the first black Deputy US Marshal west of the Mississippi, was one of the wiliest lawmen in the territories, bringing thousands of outlaws to justice with his smarts. Bob Lemmons lived to be 99 years old and was so good with horses that the wild mustangs on the plains of Texas took him for one of their own.

Snippet:

See the book trailer.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Copyright © 2021 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Joseph Biden: Our 46th President

Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Joseph Biden: Our 46th President
by Ann Gaines Rodriguez (Author)

Booktalk: An illustrated biography discussing the childhood, career, family, and election of Joseph Biden, forty-sixth president of the United States. Includes a table of contents, time line, phonetic glossary, sources for further research, an index, and detailed captions and sidebars to aid in comprehension.

Snippet: At the very end of their term, Obama surprised Joe Biden by awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction–the highest civilian honor there is.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Copyright © 2021 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre

Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre
by Carole Boston Weatherford (Author) and Floyd Cooper (Illustrator)

Booktalk: The Tulsa Race Massacre a hundred years ago was one of the worst incidents of racial violence in our nation’s history. This picture book for grades 3-6 traces the history of African Americans in Tulsa’s Greenwood district and chronicles the devastation that occurred in 1921 when a white mob attacked the Black community.

Snippet:


Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Copyright © 2021 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Ocean! Waves for All

Today we have a nonfiction picture book that caught our eye at the library, Ocean! Waves for All by Stacy McAnulty and illustrated by David Litchfield. This book is part of the Our Universe Series published by Henry Holt and Co.

 

As with the other books in the series, Ocean! is narrated in the first person. The tone is lighthearted and conversational, including words like ‘bro’ and ‘righteous’.

Dude, I am Ocean.

The tone might be light, but the facts are deep. For example, did you know that more people have visited space than the deepest parts of the ocean?

David Litchfield’s illustrations are as big and vibrant as the ocean itself. They are packed full of emotion and creativity. To coincide with the first person voice, the ocean has a floating face with eyes, nose, and mouth.

Overall, Ocean! represents a new “wave” of picture books that push the boundary between fiction and nonfiction in interesting ways. Get on board and check out a copy today!

And be sure to visit Wrapped in Foil blog for more information and related activity suggestions.

Copyright © 2021 Roberta Gibson All Rights Reserved.