Nonfiction

The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy)

| Tasha

The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy) by Barbara Kerley, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham

At age 13, Susy, the daughter of Mark Twain, was annoyed that people writing biographies of her father got things wrong.  So she decided to write her own biography of her famous father because she truly knew him.  At first Susy’s biography was a secret but soon her parents had discovered her book and her father helped by offering quotes at opportune moments.  In her biography, Susy told of her father’s childhood, his public side and his private life.  She documented his finer qualities and also his lesser ones.  She also wrote about his writing practice and how her mother cleaned up the racier passages.  This is a biography that shows us Twain as a family man and father as well as an author.

Kerley’s biography of Twain is immensely readable and inviting.  She has incorporated passages from Susy’s biography in an inventive way.  They are placed in inserts that look like small books on each page.  Readers will be delighted by the passages and the insights they offer.  Fotheringham’s illustrations are a creative mix of vintage and modern.  Done digitally, they have a warmth and strong graphic quality. 

Highly recommended, this is a great biographical picture book for elementary-aged students.  It is also ideal to share with children who want to be writers since it shows not only Twain’s process but gives readers a young writer to model themselves after as well.  Appropriate for ages 8-12.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by Kiss the Book, Sommer Reading, and Young Readers.

You can read about Barbara Kerley’s own writing process for this book at INK.

In the Belly of an Ox

| Tasha

In the Belly of an Ox: the Unexpected Photographic Adventures of Richard and Cherry Kearton by Rebecca Bond

Two brothers, Richard and Cherry Kearton, grew up in the hills of Yorkshire and spent much of their time outside exploring.  When they both moved to London, they missed the countryside, so they visited it whenever they could.  One visit, Cherry brought his new camera and took a picture of a bird’s nest.  An idea was born!  The brothers decided to take pictures of birds nests using a variety of blinds, disguises and props, including a large bull to hide inside.  It took them three years and 30,000 miles of travel across Britain to make their book.  British Birds’ Nests was published in 1895.  It was the first nature book to be illustrated entirely with photographs. 

This is really the story of two brothers who were willing to work hard, invent their own solutions, and follow their personal dreams.  It is a story of being yourself and finding your own way in life and not listening to what “should” be done.  Make sure to look at the end of the book where you can see some of their photographs.  One is a heart-stopping photo of both brothers high in a tree with a ladder. 

Bond’s text here sets just the right mood.  She and the readers revel in the inventiveness of the brothers and their enthusiasm and hers shine.  Her illustrations have a wonderful vintage feel.  The watercolor landscapes evoke the region nicely and the brothers come through as vibrant characters.

A great piece of picture-book nonfiction, this title is one that should be shared.  It’s a great piece to start conversations about what children are really dreaming of, what their special gifts are, and what they may become someday.  And it just might get indoor children moving outside to take their own pictures and climb their own trees.  What could be better?!  Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from library copy.

Under the Snow

| Tasha

Under the Snow by Melissa Stewart, illustrated by Constance R. Bergum

After our blizzard on Wednesday, this book seems like a very appropriate choice as we dig ourselves out of 14 inches of snow.

Find out what animals and insects are hidden under the snow as they try to survive the winter.  Ladybugs packed into a gap in a stone wall and  butterflies that are active in the winter may surprise readers.  The cozy burrow of a chipmunk and the sleeping woodchuck deep underground will charm.  Then readers get to look below the ice on the pond to turtles, fish, frogs and newts to see the different ways they act in winter. 

Stewart keeps her explanations of the animals simple and straightforward enough to use with preschoolers.  I would have liked to have seen an appendix with more information on the animals themselves.  Bergum’s watercolor illustrations capture the animals and their natural surroundings with great skill.  They offer close-ups when they are needed and still manage to evoke the larger environment of field, forest and pond. 

A very nice scientific look at animals in winter, this will be welcome in preschool classrooms or for winter story times looking for nonfiction that is very readable.  Appropriate for ages 3-6.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Also reviewed by 100 Scope Notes.

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction – Finalists

| Tasha

YALSA has released the names of the five finalists for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for young adults (ages 12-18).

Almost Astronauts by Tanya Lee Stone

Charles and Emma by Deborah Heiligman

Claudette Colvin by Phillip Hoose

The Great and Only Barnum by Candace Fleming

Written in Bone by Sally M. Walker

The Story of Snow

| Tasha

The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter’s Wonder by Mark Cassino with Jon Nelson, PhD.

This book covers snow from the way it begins with a tiny speck and how it turns into a snow crystal.  Filled with delightful details like the types of things that form the tiny specks in the atmosphere. (It could be sea salt or plant leaf bacteria!) The book is a mix of drawings and snowflake photographs which works well.  The images of the crystals are stunning and will have readers poring over the pages and discussing their favorites.  The book talks about the different types of snowflakes, whether they are unique, and how you too can study their structure.

Snow is such an amazing weather phenomenon all on its own (or at least that is what I am repeating over and over again to myself as a winter storm bears down on Wisconsin.)  This book will mix well with fiction books about snow and winter, though it is one that children will want to hold and look closely at. 

Ideal for units on snowflakes and just for the pleasure of snow itself, this book has a place in all libraries.  Appropriate for ages 4-9.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by A Patchwork of Books.

Never Smile at a Monkey

| Tasha

Never Smile at a Monkey by Steve Jenkins

Jenkins of the amazing paper art illustrations returns with a book dedicated to animals that may not seem dangerous.  The problem is, you do have to know the tricks of how to avoid danger with them.  Some of the animals in the book are surprisingly dangerous.  The cone shell will make you never look at sea shells the same way again.  Then you have the obviously dangerous animals like the spitting cobra and you get tips to deal with an encounter with them.  Turning each page is a delight as you get a surprise each time and then the treat of wondering what in the world the danger could be.  Great fun.

Jenkins is best known for his art.  Here it is as gorgeous as one has come to expect.  He manages to create tangible fur from paper, eyes that really seem to see, and somehow loses that flat paper feel of most collage.  One forgets it is art and starts to think of it as photography.  Jenkins also excels at writing informational paragraphs about the animals.  They are short, fascinating and here they are filled with adventure too. 

Highly recommended, this book belongs on all public and school library shelves.  A great science picture book with a great hook, this book is appropriate for ages 6-10.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by A Year of Reading, TheBookNosher, A Patchwork of Books, and Fuse #8.

Apples and Pumpkins

| Tasha

Apples for Everyone by Jill Esbaum
Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum

Celebrate the fall season with this pair of book from National Geographic Kids.  Both book have simple text just right for beginning readers combined with vivid photographs.  In Apples, readers follow apples from blossom to harvest to different uses.  Mouths will be watering at the caramel apples, applesauce and cider.  In Pumpkin, readers get to see the pumpkins grow on the vine, turn orange, and be made into pies, jack-o-lanterns, and even boats.  Yes, boats.  The photographs feature children of different ethnicities, which is wonderful to see in nonfiction titles.

Esbaum’s photographs steal the show here with their crisp focus, bright colors and interesting compositions.  But her text is not to be ignored.  Her words add context and detailed information that make the photographs even more interesting.

Perfect to expand your fall seasonal shelves, these books come paperback bound so buy a bushel.

Reviewed from copies received from publisher.

Also reviewed by The Well-Read Child.

Yellowstone Moran

| Tasha

Yellowstone Moran: Painting the American West by Lita Judge

Thomas Moran was a painter who lived in the city.  When he met Dr. Hayden, a geologist, who was heading into Yellowstone, he didn’t want to admit that he had never been on a horse, never shot a gun, and never slept outside.  Moran joined the expedition in the summer of 1871 and learned on the trail to ride a horse.  Tom befriended the team photographer on the difficult journey.  After weeks of travel, they entered Yellowstone: a place of sulfur smells, white rock, gorges, waterfalls, and wonder.  Tom painted everything he saw, recording in small paintings and sketches with notes.  When he returned home after a harrowing exit from Yellowstone, he painted large canvases capturing the grandeur of this new landscape.

A delightful mixture of adventure and art, this book will intrigue children interested in both subjects.  Judge uses humor, drama and a great sense of pacing to tell a story that will keep young reader riveted.  Just the idea that the United States had not been fully explored in 1817 will astound some children.  Judge’s paintings that accompany the story offer a sense of the place itself, without attempting to mimic Moran’s style.  The illustrations help create the sense of journey, danger and amazement.

Recommended for art classes, but also as a fascinating biography in picture book form.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from copy provided by publisher.

You can check out Lita Judge’s blog to see some of her illustrations in sketch form.

Nonfiction Monday: Building on Nature

| Tasha

 

Building on Nature: the Life of Antoni Gaudi by Rachel Rodriguez, illustrated by Julie Paschkis

This picture book biography of the renowned Spanish architect and artist is a true celebration of his art and gift.  Readers follow Gaudi from his sickly boyhood to his dreams of rebuilding cathedrals and his study of architecture.  Then, of course, Gaudi goes his own way, covering a house in colorful tiles, creating ramps for horses to reach a stable in the basement, and making balconies from what looks like huge bones.  All of his buildings are unique and unlike anyone else’s.  They turn the rules on their head and are filled with imaginative touches, both small and big.  The book ends with a fascinating author’s note, links to see photos of the buildings online, and a bibliography.

Rodriguez takes a complicated subject and lengthy life and distills them down to just the right level for young readers.  She excels as using only a few words, not over-explaining things, and letting Gaudi’s work speak for itself.  As she describes Gaudi’s buildings, her prose is almost poetry.  Paschkis’ gouache illustrations are vivid, colorful and dynamic.  Her work embraces the swirling lines of Gaudi’s celebrating him in ever whorl. 

Recommended for art classes in elementary schools, this picture book captures the essence of Gaudi with style and color.  Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Check out the interview with illustrator Julie Paschkis on Jacket Knack.