The text models a fiction format with the Garter Snake being the main character who experiences rising conflict, which keeps the story interesting and memorable. The story starts dramatically with Garter Snake’s birth on the first page (yes, some snakes give birth rather than lay eggs). She overcomes several challenges that include encounters with Bingo the dog, but all ends well with her finding a safe, warm place to overwinter. In between, the reader learns a great deal about the life history of garter snakes in general, including what they eat and how they defend themselves. Note:  there is a scene where Garter Snake plays dead, which might be slightly disturbing to sensitive children.

Anne Wertheim’s bright illustrations illuminate the page. The close-up versions of Garter Snake looks like she is going to slither right off the page.

We read the larger softcover version, which is a perfect size to share with others, but Soundprints provides the book in variety of options. You can download an audio version. The book also comes in a “microbook” format, with a plush toy snake. We have several of the microbooks from the series. They are 5 7/8 inches by 4 3/4 inches, a size which is definitely attractive to youngsters with little hands.

Garter Snake at Willow Creek Lane is just what you would expect from the high-quality Smithsonian Backyard series, sure to inspire children to learn more about snakes and nature in general. With so many options, I’m sure you can find a version that fits your needs.

We previously reviewed Little Black Ant on Park Street from the same series.

Make a snake craft and learn more about garter snakes at Growing With Science.

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Soundprints (July 15, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1607272091
ISBN-13: 978-1607272090

This book were supplied by the publisher for review purposes.

Stem Friday is at Shelf Employed today. Click through for links to more excellent STEM books.

If you would like to participate in STEM Friday in the future, go to the new STEM Friday blog for more information.

Starting with the dodo, which was last seen in 1665, Jenkins first names a few animals that have gone extinct. He then showcases the story of the tiger, an animal most children recognize from experiences at zoos. He goes into quite a bit of detail, showing many sides of the story of why there are so few tigers left in the world today and how they could easily go the way of the dodo. Jenkins doesn’t stick to the tiger, however, he also discusses less familiar or spectacular animals, such as the partula snail and the white-rumped vulture. He mentions the kakapo parrot, the subject of the recent Kakapo Rescue. Unfortunately, he has far too many examples to choose from.

Vicky White’s illustrations are what makes this book so special. She has captured the style of a nature journal, combining simple pencil sketches with a few breathtaking, photo-real full color pieces. It would be worthwhile to pick up the book to share the beautiful illustrations and the facts that accompany each animal.

Although the text is simple and straightforward enough for children, the overall message is disheartening. This brings up a question:  Is this book for children or adults? Have you seen this book yet? What do you think?

Reading level: Ages 5 and up
Publisher: Candlewick (February 22, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0763649090
ISBN-13: 978-0763649098

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by the new Nonfiction Monday blog to see who is hosting each week.

This week’s post is at Ana’s Nonfiction Blog.

Punctuated with numerous black and white illustrations, the book reveals many interesting tidbits that are sure to capture a child’s attention. It turns out that Ted Geisel (his real name) loved to draw but wasn’t a very good student. He made a lot of money coming up with funny ads for products, and came to the world of children’s books because that was one of the few areas his contract with advertisers allowed him to explore. As an aside, although he wrote many beloved children’s books, his wife Helen was unable to have children and so Ted never had any of his own.

Written in an energetic and fun style, this book would be a great addition to Read-Across-America, (which is celebrated on Dr. Seuss’s birthday, March 2) for older children. It is also sure to be an inspiration for budding illustrators and writers.

Random House Children’s Books has lesson ideas for using Dr. Seuss books throughout the school year.

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 112 pages
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap; Original edition (July 7, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0448455854
ISBN-13: 978-0448455853

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by the new Nonfiction Monday blog to see who is hosting each week.

This week’s post is at Apples With Many Seeds.

Besides the nontraditional format, the author has also managed to dig up some tidbits of information about Ben Franklin and times he lived in that I don’t remember reading about before. Ben Franklin was a general in the French and Indian War? People dipped their babies in cold water three times a day during colonial times? Fascinating!

John O’Brien’s watercolor and ink illustrations add illumination and humor to each page. Each page is filled with such detail that you want to come back again and again, finding new things each time.

Ben Franklin: His Wit and Wisdom from A to Z is an inspiring book. It could be used in both history and language arts classrooms. In addition to using it to teach about Ben Franklin, pair this book with a lesson about the history and design of almanacs and then have your students create their own.

Other reviews:

NC Teacher Stuff

The Fourth Musketeer

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Holiday House (April 1, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0823419509
ISBN-13: 978-0823419500

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by the new Nonfiction Monday blog to see who is hosting each week.

This week’s post is at Lori Calabrese Writes!.

Growing up in a time when young women were not encouraged to study music, Maria Anna Mozart managed to convince her music teacher father to give her lessons. Not only did she play well enough to tour with her younger brother, but she also composed pieces (which unfortunately have been lost). When she got older, however, she was forced to stay at home and give up her career. Finally she married and moved to a small town with no outlet for her talents. Rusch manages to keep the text fast paced and light enough that the sadness of the later events of Maria Mozart’s life are not too overwhelming.

The cover of the book indicates the illustrations are “paintings” by Johnson and Fancher, but they are some much more. Each piece has fabric incorporated into it as a collage that is so wonderfully textured you want to run your fingers over it.

How does the story of Maria Anna Mozart matter? For some children it may be simply an intriguing sidebar to history. To children who want to become musicians, however, it may strike a “chord” and the message becomes much more important. There has been a strong bias against women musicians even to this day. One study by two economists, Cecilia Rouse and Claudia Goldin, showed that women were less likely to be hired to perform in orchestras unless the auditions were held blind, that is the identity of the musician was hidden behind a screen (Blind auditions key to hiring musicians). The message that women can be expert musicians may encourage more budding talents to continue with their studies and also to let them know that others have been subject to bias.

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Publisher: Tricycle Press (February 8, 2011)
ISBN-10: 1582463263
ISBN-13: 978-1582463261

And for older children: In Mozart’s Shadow: His Sister’s Story by Carolyn Meyer

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Harcourt Children’s Books; 1 edition (June 1, 2008)
ISBN-10: 9780152055943
ISBN-13: 978-0152055943

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by the new Nonfiction Monday blog to see who is hosting each week.

This week’s post is at Check It Out.

	Sarah Emma Edmonds Was a Great Pretender: The True Story of a Civil War Spy by Carrie Jones and illustrated Mark Oldroyd
	Nurse, Soldier, Spy: The Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero by Marissa Moss and illustrated by John Hendrix

The two books were both enjoyable. During a side-by-side comparison, there were slight differences in the stories. For example, Jones suggests that Sarah Edmonds ran away from her childhood home in Canada to get away from an abusive father whereas Moss indicates Sarah was trying to avoid an arranged marriage. It is very possible that both were the case.

Oldroyd’s darker illustrations give a more somber feel, appropriate for the Civil War. Hendrix’s illustrations are more cartoon-ish, but at the same time accurately depict the look of the era. Moss has included more pages in the back with a long author’s note and an extensive bibliography.

Looking at the recommended ages on Amazon (see below), Carrie Jones’ book is recommended for younger children, but it is quite similar to Moss’ in density of text and level of language. Seems like books with large illustrations are often assumed to be for younger children than is really the case.

Picking up both books and comparing them would be a great lesson in history, plus a lesson in how historical figures are portrayed. Once again, both these picture books would be a fabulous way for an older child or even adult to get a quick overview of an interesting person in history, and possibly leading them to a deeper pursuit of the topic.

Nurse, Soldier, Spy: The Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero by Marissa Moss and illustrated by John Hendrix

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 48 pages
Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers (March 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0810997355
ISBN-13: 978-0810997356

Sarah Emma Edmonds Was a Great Pretender: The True Story of a Civil War Spy by Carrie Jones and illustrated Mark Oldroyd

Reading level: Ages 4-8
School & Library Binding: 32 pages
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books (April 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0761353992
ISBN-13: 978-0761353997

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by the new Nonfiction Monday blog to see who is hosting each week.

This week’s post is at Chapter Book of the Day.

If you are a fan at all, you probably have heard some of the details of J.K. Rowling’s rise from poverty to fame. She was known to have written much of her the first book while sitting in a cafe. She wrote it out longhand and then typed it on a typewriter. But did you know that name Potter came from Rowling’s childhood friends? Senker has done her research.

Packed full of color photographs and high interest side bars, with titles like “Honors Board,” “Inspiration” and “Wow!” the book will keep a child’s attention. It has several photographs of the movie scenes as well, which will be familiar to the children who are fans.

Cath Senker’s biography includes not only the highlights of J.K. Rowling’s life so far (including why she uses the initials J.K.), but also is a wonderful promotion of reading and writing for children. It contains lists of J.K. Rowling’s favorite books as a child, how she started writing at age six, sidebars with writing tips throughout the book, and in the end is a quiz to test whether you have what it takes to be a writer. An interest in J.K. Rowling’s life might open the door to an interest in language arts, and possibly inspire a future J.K. Rowling.

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Library Binding: 32 pages
Publisher: PowerKids Press; 1 edition (January 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9781448832880
ISBN-13: 978-1448832880

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by the new Nonfiction Monday blog to see who is hosting each week.

This week’s post is at proseandkahn.

Starting with the iconic Campbell’s soup cans in the endpapers, Christensen uses her rich illustrations to tell the story of an artist that blurred the line between commercial and fine art in a way that had never been done before. She emphasizes details that children can relate to, such as being bullied at school. Warhol was very sick as a child with a disease sometimes called “Saint Vitus’s dance,” which left his skin pale and blotchy. From those humble beginnings he managed to become rich and famous.

For those interested in more details, Christensen includes an extensive author’s note and Time Line in the back. There she reveals some of the grimmer details, for example the attack on his life in 1968.

Fabulous: A Portrait of Andy Warhol works at a number of different levels. In addition to being an excellent resource for a report on Andy Warhol, it could also be used in art class to accompany Andy Warhol-derived projects. Reading the book might comfort children who are feeling a bit out of sync with their peers, and let them know that it is still possible to be a success as an adult.

Frankly, I enjoy reading children’s picture book biographies because it is a quick way to get an overview of a famous person’s life and the authors always seem to find a new, fresh way to present the material. In this case, Christensen has done a lovely job of distilling the facts to their essence.

Reading level: Ages 6-9
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); First Edition edition (May 24, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0805087532
ISBN-13: 978-0805087536

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by the new Nonfiction Monday blog to see who is hosting each week.

This week’s post is at Bookmuse.

Reading level:  Picture Book Ages 4-8

Summary:  The Australian hip pocket frog is like the kangaroo of the frog world, except the male carries the babies. This story follows the struggles of a tiny (the size of an adult thumbnail) male hip pocket frog as he carries his tadpoles in special pockets in his sides.  The tadpoles he carries develop into froglets using food from the original egg, a process that takes about a month.

Illustrations: Lush watercolors

Comments:  With a combination of Sandra Markle’s passion for animals and Alan Marks’ extraordinary watercolors, this story of an unusual frog is sure to capture a young reader’s interest. Sandra considers her work to be “faction,” fiction based on real life.

2011 Charlotte Zolotow Award Honor Book, as well as other awards.

Related activities:

• Find an article of clothing with big pockets at the hips. Using marbles or small balls to represent tadpoles, see how many you can carry. Make a prediction, and then see how many actually fit. Or even better, find some plastic frogs to carry.
• Make a poster of a typical frog’s life cycle (see From Tadpole to Frog, and here’s an example). Make another poster showing the hip-pocket frog’s life cycle.
• Growing With Science has ideas for activities and more information at Summer Sounds: Frogs and Toads

Compatible fiction:  Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel

Publisher:  Charlesbridge  (February 2010)

ISBN-10: 1570917086
ISBN-13: 978-1570917080

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The team of Aston and Long have already written and illustrated two award-winning books, An Egg is Quiet and A Seed is Sleepy. This new addition is even better, if that is possible. How do you top perfection? They found a way.

Start with the front endpapers, a collection of vibrant caterpillars with names like “Moonlight Jewel” and “Hieroglyphic Flat.” Skip to the back endpapers and you will find equally vibrant illustrations of the butterflies that come from those caterpillars. You can spend hours studying the endpapers alone.

Aston packs some hard science into the text, using words such as pollination, camouflage, predator, and migration. She has obviously done her research. It is so lyrically written, however, that learning is beautiful. Each and every page is a delight.

Looking for a gift book? As well as being a high quality, enjoyable, and informative picture book for children, the glorious art and design of A Butterfly Is Patient make it a potential coffee table art book for adults (albeit a thin one). Yes, it is that good. This book is a must for libraries, for children interested in science, and anyone interested in nature.

Don’t be as patient as a butterfly, go check out a copy for yourself today! I’d love to hear what you think of it.

See another review by Amanda at A Patchwork of Books

Related butterfly science activities at Growing with Science

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Publisher: Chronicle Books (May 18, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0811864790
ISBN-13: 978-0811864794

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Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by the new Nonfiction Monday blog to see who is hosting each week.

This week’s post is at Books Together.

This book was provided for review purposes.