Tag: Nonfiction Monday Review

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Math Every Day Series

Today we are continuing to put the M in STEM with two books from the Math Every Day series:  Animals Big and Small and Patterns Outside, both by Daniel Dunn.

” Let’s look at animals.

They are all different sizes.

Whether big, small, or tiny

they are full of surprises!”

Rhyming text is great for vocabulary building and to help young learners retain what they hear/read. Mix in age-appropriate math concepts and add illustrations that are full color photographs combined in fun designs (the cover for example), and you a recipe for have books that are sure to appeal to preschoolers.

Each book has an activity at the end to reinforce learning. The questions help the young reader think about what they have seen, as well as help the educator evaluate for understanding.

Are you looking for fiction to pair with these nonfiction books? You might want to try Bumble Bugs and Elephants: A Big and Little Book by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd.

 

Animals Big and Small (Math Every Day) by Daniel Nunn

Reading level:  Pre-K -K (ages 3-5)
Paperback: 24 pages
Publisher: Heinemann-Raintree (January 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1432957384
ISBN-13: 978-1432957384

Patterns Outside (Everyday Maths) by Daniel Nunn (Author)

Reading level:  Pre-K -K(ages 3-5)
Hardcover: 24 pages
Publisher: Raintree (September 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1406226157
ISBN-13: 978-1406226157

Bumble Bugs and Elephants: A Big and Little Book by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd.

Reading level: Ages 3 and up
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins (January 3, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060745126
ISBN-13: 978-0060745127

Copies were provided for review purposes.

 

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 Booktalking to see who is hosting each week.

The round-up today is at The Flatt Perspective.

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Infinity and Me

Infinity and Me by Kate Hosford and illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska soars above the usual, matter-of-fact mathematical explanation of the concept of infinity. Hosford doesn’t tell the reader the definitive answer of what infinity is, but instead gently shows how each person can search for his or her own answer.

Right off the bat there may be some adults who question the need for a picture book about such an abstract concept as infinity. Those adults probably don’t have children. I distinctly remember sitting eating lunch at the San Diego Zoo and desperately trying to answer my very young son’s questions about big numbers. I finally struck on using how many leaves were on a nearby tree and relating that to how many trees were on the surrounding hills. My son’s curiosity is definitely not unique. Did you know it was a nine-year-old boy who coined the term googol (for 1 with 100 zeros after it)? Yes, kids think about this kind of thing all the time. In fact, Kate Hosford got the idea for the book from the questions of her own sons at ages four and six.

The illustrations in the book are getting as much attention as the text, and rightly so. Pamela Paul of the New York Times says, “Swiatkowska’s Victorian-style drawings are vaguely reminiscent of Edward Gorey.” Shannon at Goodreads find the illustrations are “Beautiful art that makes me think of a slightly darker Sophie Blackall.” Actually Swiatkowska’s big-eyed, bow-lipped Uma stands on her own without the comparisons. Caldecott mentions are not out of line.

Infinity and Me is an amazing nonfiction picture book that brings a difficult abstract concept into focus for young children. Where they take it from there is, well, potentially infinite.

Jeff at NC Teacher Stuff has a another review.

Edit: And now there is a curriculum guide.

 

Reading level: Ages 5-10
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books (October 1, 2012)
ISBN-10: 0761367268
ISBN-13: 978-0761367260

 

Copy was provided for review purposes.

 

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 Booktalking to see who is hosting each week.

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Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building

Blocks,
cards,
sand,
sticks.
No matter what the materials are, children love to stack and build. The new picture book, Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building by Christy Hale, is sure to help them reach to even greater heights.

Picture a lovely illustration of children building with different materials accompanied with a intriguing shape poem that describes what they are doing. Now turn the page and there is a full color photograph of a real building that mimics the ideas from the play version, bigger and bolder than you can imagine. It just takes your breath away. This is the format for Dreaming Up.

The back matter contains full descriptions of all the buildings included in the book, as well as short biographies of the architects who created them. You will definitely appreciate these pages.

As you would expect from Lee & Low Books, the pictures and places reflect the diversity of our world. They also show, however, the universal appeal of certain activities.

How to use this book? Let me count the ways. First of all, you will want to have building materials on hands before having children read this because they are going to be inspired to create. At the very least have some art supplies so they can draw pictures of structures they would like to build. The book would be a wonderful introduction to the career of architecture (and construction) for career days. It could also be used to accompany lessons in art history, geography, etc. The possibilities are endless.

Looking for a fiction book to pair it with? Try one of our favorites. Roberto, The Insect Architect by Nina Laden.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building by Christy Hale

School & Library Binding: 40 pages
Publisher: Lee & Low Books (October 2012)
ISBN-10: 1600606512
ISBN-13: 978-1600606519

 

Book was provided electronically for review via NetGalley.

 

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 Booktalking to see who is hosting each week.

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The Emily Sonnets: The Life of Emily Dickinson

The Emily Sonnets: The Life of Emily Dickinson by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Gary Kelley is an absolutely lovely and fascinating book that suffers the question asked of many apparent picture books:  who is the intended audience? This book is going to be very hard to shelve. 

Yolen has written 16 sonnets that serve as a poetic biography of Emily Dickinson. Kelley’s serene, dark illustrations have a surreal feel, and complement the text nicely.

For all intensive purposes, this book looks like a picture book. Our library shelved it in the children’s poetry section (preschool and early elementary). We also have a juvenile section, where it might be more appropriate in content, but less likely to be taken out because no middle-school student wants to be seen with a book that looks like a picture book. I’m sure most would disagree, but people could make a case for shelving it in biography, especially since it contains three dense pages of notes in the back that cover Emily Dickinson’s life in detail.

It is too bad that the audience for The Emily Sonnets: The Life of Emily Dickinson is not clear cut. What is clear, however, is this book would be perfect for a lesson on sonnets, regardless of the age of the students.

Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Creative Editions (August 29, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1568462158
ISBN-13: 978-1568462158

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 Booktalking to see who is hosting each week.