Nonfiction Wednesday

I'm excited that Alyson Beecher, at Kid Lit Frenzy, is continuing her Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge for the third year in a row.  Here are my goals for reading nonfiction this year, prompted by Alyson:

 -  Set a goal as to how many nonfiction picture books (or nonfiction MG or YA books)  you would like to read over the course of 2014. Maybe you want to read one a month or one a week. Will they all be from 2014 or will you be reading ones previously published? Set a goal that will be fun and not stressful.  Last year I read 66 nonfiction picture books, middle grade, and young adult.  I'd like to match that number this year; to make it an easier number, I'll say 65.  I will read lots of 2014 nonfiction books, but I will include books from previous years, also.  Any adult nonfiction I read will be included on my It's Monday! What Are You Reading posts, but not on Wednesdays.  I don't include my children's/YA nonfiction on Monday posts.  I save them for Wednesdays' posts.
Alyson requests:  If you tweet about what you are reading as part of this challenge, please use the twitter hashtag #nfpb2014.

 

Ready for a great year of nonfiction reading?  I AM!  Here's what I read this past week:

 

 

The Beatles Were Fab (and They Were Funny) by Kathleen Krull & Paul Brewer, illustrated by Stacy Innerst

 

2013-book, biography, humor, mock-caldecott-2014, music, nonfiction, nonfiction-challenge-2014, picture-book       This book covers the amazing rise of Beatlemania while giving us the human, funny side of the Fab Four. Each year I have middle graders who are interested in reading about The Beatles, so I think there will be fans of this picture book - I'm glad I'm adding it to my classroom library. I really liked the zany, warm-colored illustrations, too.     Eat Like a Bear by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Steve Jenkins   2013-book, animals, creative-nonfiction, mock-caldecott-2014, nonfiction, nonfiction-challenge-2014, picture-book, science   Lots of information about bears can be found in this creatively told, beautifully illustrated book about what bears eat and how they live. Great facts about bears at the end.     Underwater Dogs: Kids Edition by Seth Casteel   2013-book, dogs, humor, nonfiction, nonfiction-challenge-2014, photography, picture-book     These photographs are hilarious, capturing dogs' faces underwater. Information about the swimmers is found at the end, and I liked the author's note - proof that sometimes good things come from mistakes. This is the kids' edition - I'd like to check out the original version, too.

 

 

To Dare Mighty Things: The Life of Theodore Roosevelt by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by C F Payne

 

2013-book, biography, government, history, mock-caldecott-2014, nonfiction-challenge-2014, picture-book, presidents, social-studies-connections, war     I LOVE how the jacket cover of this book captures the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt. I'm a fan of Doreen Rappaport and enjoyed learning more about the big personality of the 26th president. He certainly lived an extraordinary life. Great quotes, information, and illustrations.     Papa Is a Poet: A Story About Robert Frost by Natalie S. Bober, illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon   2013-book, biography, creative-nonfiction, mock-caldecott-2014, nonfiction, nonfiction-challenge-2014, poetry, point-of-view       At the risk of sounding cliché, Robert Frost is my favorite poet. I love everything about this book - the illustrations, point of view (told from the perspective of Lesley, Frost's oldest daughter), the lines of poetry and full poems in the back of the book, the information on the Frost family, and Frost's search to do what he loved. I'm so glad he pursued his dream: "Two roads diverged in a wood..."   What nonfiction are YOU reading?