MORE 'NONFICTION-MIDDLE-GRADE' POSTS
Beavers: The Superpower Field Guide By Rachel Poliquin Illustrated by Nicholas John Frith $18.99 ISBN: 9780544949874 Ages 9-12 On shelves December 4th Here, sit down a sec. I wanna tell you a story about this beaver I once knew. So I’m at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, which, if anyone asks, is my favorite […]
At Home in Her Tomb: Lady Dai and the Ancient Chinese Treasures of Mawangdui By Christine Liu-Perkins Charlesbridge $19.95 978-1-58089-370-1 Ages 9-12 On shelves now When I say the word “mummy” what springs into your mind? Movies starring Brendan Fraser? Egypt and scarabs and rolls of crumbling papyrus? Absolutely. But what if I told you […]
Maybe it’s Common Core. Maybe not. I’m not always quite certain how far to place the blame in these cases. However you look at it, children’s nonfiction bios are getting weird these days. In some ways it’s quite remarkable. I’m the first one to say that nonfiction for kids is better now than it has […]
Jumping Penguins by Jesse Goossens Illustrated by Marije Tolman Lemniscaat $19.95 ISBN: 9781935954323 Ages 6-11 On shelves now. Here’s a puzzler for you. See what you think. There’s been a lot of talk lately about nonfiction for kids and the importance of highlighting those books that adhere strictly to the truth. That means no invented […]
Locomotive By Brian Floca Atheneum (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) $17.99 ISBN: 978-1-4169-9415-2 Ages 4 and up On shelves September 3rd Many childhood obsessions come down to sheer scale. Whether it’s dinosaurs or trucks (the modern, smog belching dinosaur equivalent) or even princesses (adults are large, no matter how you approach them), size matters. […]
Native Americans: A Visual Exploration By S.N. Paleja Intro by Kevin Loring Annick Press $19.95 ISBN: 978-1-55451-485-4 Ages 9-12 On shelves now Nonfiction trends in children’s literature are oddities. For all that children make up such a large swath of the American population, relatively few people specialize solely in creating works of nonfiction for them […]
Cowboy Up!: Ride the Navajo Rodeo By Nancy Bo Flood Photography by Jan Sonnenmair Wordsong (an imprint of Highlights) $17.95 ISBN: 978-1-59078-893-6 Ages 8-12 On shelves now Sometimes I think half my job simply consists of making lists. Not that I’m complaining. I love lists. I love making them, and checking them, and adding to […]
Diego Rivera: An Artist for the People By Susan Goldman Rubin Abrams Books for Young Readers $21.95 ISBN: 978-0-8109-8411-0 Ages 10 and up On shelves now National Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15th to October 15th. How many folks could tell you that off the top of their heads? Meanwhile, few awards are specifically […]
Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: One Dead Spy Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: Big Bad Ironclad! By Nathan Hale Amulet (an imprint of Abrams) $12.95 ISBN: 978-1-419700396-6 ISBN: 978-1-4197-0395-9 Ages 9-12 On shelves now If you should find that you share your name with a Revolutionary War Hero you have various ways of making use of that […]
Zombie Makers: True Stories of Nature’s Undead By Rebecca L. Johnson Millbrook Press (an imprint of Lerner) $30.60 ISBN: 978-0761386339 Ages 9 and up On shelves now There’s this podcast I like to listen to called RadioLab, which is essentially just a show for people who like kooky science but are still a little foggy […]