Bartoletti profiles several young children as they grow up in a word ruled by Hitler. The children join the Hitler Youth and we follow their journey. Their parents objected, they were attacked by communists, they were trained, their schooling was taken over by Nazi teachers, and many of them began to question their loyalty.
The style of this book is quite sobering. The content keeps your reading, and the photographs bring each child to life as you read about their exploits. Bartoletti's style keep you reading through this extremely heavy, but so very engaging book.
Bartoletti won a Newberry Honor, Sibert Honor, Orbis Pictus Honor, and the Parent's Choice Award - Gold Winner all in 2006. The following link provides educators with book readings, author studies, and interviews. http://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=8286
Bishop, N. (2007). Spiders. New York, NY: Scholastic.
Bishop writes a beautiful and informative book about spiders. He gives many facts, and many 'did you knows'. He details general spider facts, and also gets more specific explaining some the unique features of the spiders that he has photographed for the book. There is an index and a glossary at the end of the book.
The design of Spiders is superb. The pages are laid out in an aesthetically pleasing and easy to read way. The pages are bright colors, with extremely close up photographs of spiders.
Bishop won the Sibert Honor for this book. This is a highly engaging book and will offer even the toughest of readers some eye catching pictures and information. Please follow the link for a video with author Nic Bishop as he discusses spiders. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeBDOE55cxE
Bragg, G. (2011). How they croaked: The awful ends of the awfully famous. New York, NY: Walker
Bragg highlights 19 famous people, going through a brief history of their life, how they died, and several facts about the manner of death. King Tut is the first person reviewed. Not only does Bragg go into detail about some common known facts about the famous person and their death, but also discusses misconceptions and conspiracy theories
Bragg's accuracy is through the roof. There are pages of citations at the back of the book providing proof of information. I know that books like this and others about fun information on famous people may seem embellished, but after checking some of the sources, I have no doubt that everything in this book is accurate.
This book provides endless research and writing opportunities for students. If you follow the link, you will be taken to teacherspayteachers, a wonderful resource for finding lesson plans and activities. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/How-They-Croaked-Creative-writing-Research-writing-146525
Garza presents a simple to follow series of how-to's for making papel picado, traditional Mexican cut-paper art. She briefly reviews the materials and safety instructions before delving into the procedures. She gives several step by step instructions for creating folded paper art. When you have created all of the folded paper art, Garza then guides you in using a craft knife to cut out designs.
Garza writes with great organization. The layout is easy to follow, and I can effortlessly find a particular craft and begin creating it right away. Organization in a non fiction book, particularly a how-to, is extremely important to the reader's ability to understand and follow along.
This is a fantastic craft book. The artworks are easy to create and offer a great rainy day craft activity either at home or at school.
Rosa Parks, a young black woman, takes the bus home after work, to take care of her sick mother. She sits in a seat at the middle of the bus, when a white man asks her to move to the back so he can sit. Rosa refuses and the bus driver calls the police. From this moment, a movement begins with people refusing to ride the bus until segregation is over.
The style that Giovanni brings into this very serious piece of non-fiction is truly beautiful. His artwork jumps off the page, bringing Rosa Park's story to life.
There are many writing opportunities with this book. Students can think of a time when they felt that they were being unfairly treated, and discuss their feelings. Students can also dig deeper and research Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights movement.
Sexual reproduction can be a very tough subject to discuss with children. Harris developed a bumblebee and a bird as the main characters, each with valid feelings towards the subject that children, and adults can identify with. The information is presented in a matter of fact way, without any opinions or biases.
The way that Harris brought design to this book makes it truly special. The subject matter can be a tough one for parents and children. It's cleverly laid out, and easy for children to follow along and stay interested.
This book leaves room for families to introduce their own family values. It does not lean towards right or wrong, but merely presents the information. Harris wrote this book to be appropriate for children ages 7 and up, but please use your judgement to determine if this is appropriate for your own child.
Tony Sarg loved puppets. As a child he began designing his own marionette puppets, when his popularity grew. He eventually began working for Macy's designing costumes and parade floats. He ultimately created the now common parade balloon.
Sweet's wonderful illustrations brings a great design to this nonfiction story. It really draws the reader into Tony Sarg's live.
Science activities are an easy extension of this book. The science of states of matter, solids, liquids, and gases, paying close attention to gases would greatly benefit students to understanding how Tony Sarg created the parade balloon.
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