Nonfiction Monday Round-up

Welcome to Nonfiction Monday, a celebration of nonfiction children’s books. As usual, please leave your links in the comments section.

For my review, I have chosen a lovely book that is hard to find, at least it isn’t in any of our local libraries. Greene & Greene for Kids by Kathleen Thorne-Thomsen is loaded with history, gorgeous illustrations, information about turn-of-the-century architecture, and inspired hands-on activities. After writing a very popular book about Frank Lloyd Wright, Kathleen Thorne-Thomson has chosen to use a similar format to honor two architects with less name recognition, Charles and Henry Greene.

The Greene brothers designed houses in California, particularly in the area around Pasadena. They were big in the Arts and Crafts movement, and designed charming craftsman bungalows. The author obviously is passionate about the Greene brothers’ work and does a wonderful job of finding the details that children would be interested in reading. She also gives a feeling of what America was like when the brothers were growing up and how their designs are influenced by their time and environment. For example, she explains how at the turn of the century people started having the money and the desire to have creative and interesting homes.

The 19 activities are creative, too. They range from art projects, such as carving an Ivory soap sculpture, through making a root beer float (complete with history of the ingredients), to creating a small water garden. With this variety, a child can easily find something to spark his or her interest.

On the cover this book says, “art, architecture, activities.” I’d say that adds up to A+.

Be sure to take a look at all these wonderful posts.

Abby at Abby (the) Librarian takes us to new depths in the ocean with her review of Down, Down, Down by Steve Jenkins.

At Lori Calabrese Writes!, Lori reviews Eleanor, Quiet No More by Doreen Rappaport. It is a biography about former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

Kim reviews Plant Secrets by Emily Goodman at the Wild About Nature blog.

Shirley takes a look at Why is Snot Green? And Other Extremely Important Questions (and Answers) at SimplyScience. As usual, she includes two neat activities to reinforce learning.

Sarah at In Need of Chocolate shows us first hand that nonfiction is popular with children with her post about First Field Guide: Mammals.

Carol discusses an editor’s essential tools for editing children’s nonfiction at the Lerner Books Blog. A purple pen and dark chocolate, how fun!

Today Mary Ann reviews The Frog Scientist by Pamela Turner at Great Kid Books blog. She says it’s a fascinating look at Tyrone Hayes’s research about how pesticides affect frogs.

Barbara has a number of great reviews at INK: Interesting Nonfiction for Kids. See A ‘Super’ Find by David Schwartz, Artist Discoveries by Anna M. Lewis, Writing Across the Species Divide by April Pulley Sayre, Cultural Sensitivity: A Humbling Experience by Gretchen Woelfle, and Finding My Next Big Love by Deborah Heiligman.

Jone over at Check It Out writes about Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy, the story of Roy’s own aunt’s experiences during World War II.

Becky at Becky’s Book Reviews loves Clara’s War by Clara Kramer, another book about events during the Holocaust.

Amanda at A Patchwork of Books reviews the popular ER Vets: Life in an Animal Emergency Room.

Elizabeth at A Fuse # 8 Production may have pulled a few pranks in her day, but today she investigates Sir John Hargrave’s Mischief Maker’s Manual.

Cindy says, “At Bookends we reviewed Mission Control: This is Apollo by Andrew Chaikin and Alan Bean. Apollo 12 veteran Bean’s paintings are a fine addition to this stellar book.”

At Scrub-a-Dub-Tub Terry examines Famous Figures of Ancient Times, a set of historical paper doll/puppets that can be used to re-enact events or make up new stories.

Wendie wraps up our round-up with her review of the beautiful picture book One World, One Day at Wendie’s Wanderings.

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. For more information on past and upcoming round-ups, stop by Picture Book of the Day.