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:
The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon
book, creativity, nonfiction, nonfiction-challenge-2013, problem-solution, problem-solving, reading-gap-challenge-2013, science
This is the picture book version of the amazing story of William Kamkwamba, a 14-year-old boy living in Malawi. In his small village, he dreamed of building things and taking them apart. He wondered about how an engine made a truck go while he worked in the fields of maize. When his village began to starve due to a severe drought, he began to search the American library for answers. He had to translate the English science books into his language. Slowly, hope began to grow. Could he build a windmill to bring water to his village? He used pieces of junk found in the junk yard to build what he needed. The villagers called him misala. CRAZY. Even as they teased and giggled, William waited for the wind to spin the blades of his makeshift windmill, and it did! When he connected wires to a small bulb, the power of the windmill lit it up. He shouted, "I have made electric wind!" William built more windmills to bring water to his village. A two-page spread in the back of the book gives more details about William's great achievement.
Here is the full-length book:
My daughter read this book as part of the Miami University Summer Reading Program when she was an incoming freshman in the fall of 2011. Reading the picture book will give older kids a terrific ladder for reading this NYT Bestseller.
What nonfiction have YOU read this week?
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