Nonfiction Wednesday

Thanks to Kid Lit Frenzy, I made a goal to read more nonfiction this year which I will be featuring on my blog every Wednesday.

This week's nonfiction included:

Bats: Littlest! Biggest! by Sandra Markle

2013-book, animals, nature, nonfiction, nonfiction-challenge-2013, science I am so excited to be a part of the 2013 Markle's Book Explorers!!  We're featured on Sandra Markle's blog (link above when you click on her name): I'm definitely looking forward to connecting and sharing with each of the 2013 Markle's Book Explorers Schools. I'll shortly be sending an autographed copy of my newest book BATS: BIGGEST! LITTLEST! (Boyds Mills Press, 2013) to congratulate the winners. Arthur Jacobsen Elementary School, Auburn, Washington Burns Elementary School, Kings Mills, Ohio   *THAT'S US!! :-) Gier Elementary School, Hillsdale, Michigan John Muir Elementary School, Santa Monica, California McCord Elementary School, Ponca City, Oklahoma Minooka Intermediate School, Minooka, Illinois Naples Elementary School, Naples, New York North Georgetown Elementary School, Georgetown, Delaware Samoset Elementary School, Bradenton, Florida Shirley Hills Elementary School, Warner Robins, Georgia

Here is the inscription and some of the book swag we received:

My Review:

I think bats are fascinating, and I learned all kinds of new things about them in this book. I can't wait to share it with kids - they're going to love it! From Gray-Headed Flying Fox bats, of which Markle shows a photograph including a diagram with its body parts and wingspan, to a Bumblebee Bat, you will learn about various defense mechanisms, physical adaptations, and food preferences of all kinds of bats. The photographs are awesome, and I liked the map at the back showing where the various species of bats live. There's also a good glossary and summary of the two bat groups - megabats and microbats.  Pair it up with the fiction picture book, Nightsong by Loren Long.

I thought I was new to this author, but I realized I read and reviewed another one of her books not too long ago:

Goodreads Review

Markle is a prolific writer - I couldn't believe all the titles listed on her Goodreads profile!  Come back next Wednesday for my What If You Had Animal Teeth? review. Sandra Markle sent that to us as part of the Book Explorer's program, and I'm going to raffle it off to a student after we read it.  I'll include the review and a picture of the lucky student!

Born and Bred in the Great Depression by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Kimberley Bulcken Root

biography, character-traits, family, history, nonfiction, nonfiction-challenge-2013, picture-book, point-of-view, reading-gap-challenge-2013, social-studies-connections, the-great-depression

A boy tells the true story of his father growing up in East Texas during the Great Depression. He describes the family of 10, squeezes into a tiny white frame house with no electricity or indoor plumbing. Finding work was difficult for his father's father, sometimes having to win a race to get to work on the railroad that day. No matter how hard it got, though, the family never went hungry and never took a hand out. Simple things like a ride in the Model T made life enjoyable, and finally, times got better. I like how the author chose to tell the story - telling it as if he were talking to his father, remembering stories that were told to him. The illustrations go well with this lyrical biography. It would be a good introduction to books such as A Turtle in Paradise, Moon Over Manifest, Bud Not Buddy, and A Long Way From Chicago.