Informational Text or NonFiction

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus
by Jen Bryant
Eerdman's Books for Young Readers (2014)

A quiet, observant boy, Peter Mark Roget enjoys making lists.  It helps create order in his young life after the death of his father prompts a move from Switzerland to England.  It may even be a compulsion, but he uses it as a learning/organizing tool, and shares it with students he tutors.  Eventually his lists help him in his career and to improve his social skills by giving him confidence in abilities.  The lists are published as Roget’s Thesaurus, which has been in print continuously since 1852.

Appropriate Target Audience:  
GR 2-5, ages 7+; story would work for younger children, (6-8 y.o.) especially as a read-aloud, but the illustrations are a huge part of the story.  Younger readers in the target age range may be overwhelmed by the abundant graphics and their interplay with the text if reading independently.  Older readers, including teens and adults, will enjoy the rich art that helps tell the story of Peter Roget in more than just the right words.

Strengths/Weaknesses and Accuracy/Authenticity:
The award-winning author and illustrator have both written other award-winning Juvenile Biographies.  This duo often include additional notes and resources in their books to further enhance the learning experience. In The Right Word, they include a comparison timeline of principal events of both Peter Mark Roget’s life and world events, an author’s note, an illustrator’s note, a bibliography, suggested further reading, and an actual page from Roget’s original word list book.  Some strengths of Bryant’s and Sweet’s work is that it is engaging for many ages and balances information with beauty; the illustrations in The Right Word that accompany the text are entrancing and fortify the story.  A weakness could be that some children find the idea of lists of words being a hobby or passion quite ridiculous.  But that’s one of the beautiful things about hobbies, they are what you love, for whatever reason.

Meaningful/Creative uses:
Create a display using a print thesaurus (include a digital version if possible) along with other types of Reference books: Dictionary, World Almanac, Index of Birds… how did they come to be?  Who thinks about the creators of resources? Label the display with the authors/creators, along with short bios.  
Make a list: it doesn’t have to be words and synonyms, you could make a play list of music you want to share, or photos of places you want to visit, or recipes you hope to cook.  Does creating a list make something more real?  
Write down interesting words in a notebook or journal (for school or for fun).  Use them in conversation, school assignments – be ready to give a definition for those who don’t know them yet!  

Awards:  Golden Kite Award, 2015 Picture Book Illustration; Kirkus Prize, 2014 Picture Book Biography; Lupine Award, 2014 Picture Book; Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, 2015 NonFiction; Randolph Caldecott Medal, 2015 Picture Book; Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal, 2015 Picture Book

Read-Alikes:
Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine, by Laurie Wallmark; “Ada Lovelace, the daughter of the famous romantic poet, Lord Byron, develops her creativity through science and math. When she meets Charles Babbage, the inventor of the first mechanical computer, Ada understands the machine better than anyone else and writes the world's first computer program in order to demonstrate its capabilities.”

The Day-Glo Brothers, by Chris Barton;  “A discovery that made the world a brighter place! Joe and Bob Switzer were very different brothers. Bob was a studious planner who wanted to grow up to be a doctor. Joe dreamed of making his fortune in show business and loved magic tricks and problem-solving. When an accident left Bob recovering in a darkened basement, the brothers began experimenting with ultraviolet light and fluorescent paints. Together they invented a whole new kind of color, one that glows with an extra-special intensity: Day-Glo!”

The Boy Who Drew Birds; The Story of John James Audubon, by Jacqueline Davies; “John James Audubon was a boy who loved the out-of-doors more than the in. He was a boy who believed in studying birds in nature, not just from books. And, in the fall of 1804, he was a boy determined to learn if the small birds nesting near his Pennsylvania home really would return the following spring. This book reveals how the youthful Audubon pioneered a technique essential to our understanding of birds.”

Tags: Inventions, passion, hobby, fill_a_niche, introverts, think_outside_the_box, lists, words, reference

Picturebook

Red, A Crayon's Story
by Michael Hall (author/illustrator)
Greenwillow Books (2015)

Red Crayon’s friends and teacher try to encourage him, but there are disappointing and frustrating results.  His parents and grandparents worry, but perhaps they should just let Red be himself.  With a fresh perspective, Berry, a new friend, helps Red Crayon understand his strengths.  A philosophical story that tells children obvious labels may not be entirely correct.

Appropriate Target Audience: 
Preschool - GR 2, although older children and parents may enjoy the story’s message.  The amount of text on each page is light and very well supported by the illustrations.  One page shows a traffic light, drawn by Black, Green, and Yellow, who are lined up alongside it.  The top “light” is blue, and there is a smudged, trailing blue line leading to the turn.  You just know Red has left, needing to vent his frustrations.  This would make a great read-aloud, where different voices and inflections could captivate the listeners.

Strengths, Weaknesses:
The different crayons in Red have attitudes to match their color/labels: Sunshine is very optimistic and Army Green is commanding. Red’s grandparents are represented by worn nubs of Grey and Silver.  Touches like this make the book fun for all ages. The drawings are done in a very childlike style that matches the age of the crayon characters, and of the intended audience.  The story is in a childlike handwriting, while the conversations of the crayons is in a simple sans serif font.  Red is a very comforting book, despite the young crayon’s troubles, since the conflicts do get resolved.
I could find no weaknesses.

Awards:

• Goodreads Choice Awards: Best Picturebook 2016
• Included in SJL’s Top 100 Picturebooks 2016
• Cybil Awards 2015 – Best Fiction Picturebook 
• Many state and local awards

Meaningful/creative uses:
This book could be an aid to discussing differences in traditions, stereotypes, and gender.  Sometimes a visible label is not entirely correct.  Brainstorm and list things that have a stereotype (blue sky, red apple) that isn’t absolute, like Purple cauliflower, and Hi-Viz green firetrucks.

Read-alikes:
Thunder Boy, Jr. by Sherman Alexie, illustrated by Yuyi Morales.  The author’s first picture book has hit home.  The young hero wants his own name, not just his dad’s name plus “Junior”.  The story goes through many iterations of what he could be called, until Dad helps him settle on his true name.

Bloom, by Doreen Cronin, illustrations by David Small.  I’ve never heard of a mud fairy… but that’s what keeps the glass kingdom safe, the magic mud of Bloom.  The king banishes her for being embarrassingly messy, and the kingdom starts breaking apart.  Magic can come in many forms.

Ernest, the Moose Who Doesn't Fit, by Catherine Rayner.  Ernest is a big moose with a problem: he doesn’t fit in his book!  Ernest and a friend cobble together a foldout page (really) that allows his entire illustration to fit.  Sure, they could have changed perspective, but where is the fun in that?  Rayner’s story is cute, the illustrations are lovely, supporting the idea of “fitting” inside a book.

Tags: Unique, individual, labels, colors, jobs, family, friends, concern, help, outside the box, crayons, picturebook

Poetry

A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms,
Paul Janeczko, editor, illustrated by Chris Raschka.
Candlewick (2005)

A beautiful collection of works which demonstrates twenty-nine poetic forms. Poems collected from writers for children, and some Old Masters, appear with an explanation and illustration.

Appropriate Target Audience: GR 3-7, though the Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices suggests it would be useful for ages 8+.

Strengths/Weaknesses:  
Janeczko certainly has credibility, authoring six books of poetry, twelve NF/Professional books about writing Poetry, and being involved with 25 anthologies.  A Kick in the Head gives an overview to poetry styles; there are rules, not unlike sports, it makes it more challenging, not just chaos; and yet, the author admits not all poems do follow the rules.  Each example work has an explanatory note and an illustration; there’s also a pictorial clue in the upper corner of the page, which acts as a guide to the poem’s form.  Some children may still groan over the thought of studying poetry, but perhaps because it was never presented to them so well as by Janeczko and Raschka. Part of a series.

Meaningful/creative uses:

Celebrate National Poetry Month with a Poetry Slam: read original poems, favorite works, and have a cold read (where they read what’s pulled from a hat). Display with other poetry anthologies and children’s books that are written in verse (Zen Shorts, Brown Girl Dreaming).  

Have an art show: illustrate a page or scene from a favorite story, copy the inspirational page to hang up with the original art.

Awards: Lupine Award, 2005; Parent’s Choice Award, 2005 for Picture Book 

Poetry Slam Toolkit

Easy Reader

Carl and the Kitten

Author/Illustrator - Alexandra Day
Square Fish: (2011)
My Readers series, Level 1

A kitten has climbed up a tree, and is now afraid to climb back down.  Carl the Rottweiler tries various ways to help the kitten return safely to Mama Cat.  Carl, Mama Cat, and her kittens are all introduced in the first pages, along with the plot: one kitten has run away, climbed a tree, and is now afraid to climb back down.  The setting is a backyard with a large tree, which proved to be very enticing to one little kitten.  This book would appeal to both boys and girls, especially those who enjoy stories about animals.  

Appropriate Target Audience:

Carl the Rottweiler is a very popular book character, likely familiar to most children.  Many of the picture books by Day are wordless, so this book for emerging readers (GR Preschool- 1) is not overwhelming, with either too many words, or too much change in the main character.  The illustrations are the same, familiar watercolors that Day uses in all her Carl series.  The is very predictable, with words like Carl, kitten, and tree, backed up by the illustrations.  Even if there were no words, this story could be enjoyed through the beautiful art.

Strengths/Weaknesses:

A possible weakness: one sentence is continued after the page turn, using “…”; which may be confusing to new readers.  Splitting the information into separate sentences would be a safer route for reading success.

The strengths far outweigh that fault.  This simple story line has short, complete sentences, just a few per page, that could work for a new reader.  The text is large and centered in white space.  The illustrations support the story, so the reader could likely figure out the text with the visual prompts. This book is very close to the true Emergent Reader books such as Bob Books, so a good option for a first successful independent read.

Day introduces new words by progression, (tree to branch) and reiteration of an idea:  (I can help you; it’s not so far; I’m much closer now), which are all supported by the beautiful illustrations showing the helpful Carl taking steps to rescue Kitten.  The kitten being afraid to try Carl’s rescue attempts repeats through the story, along with the predictable and fun-to-say “Meow!”  Carl makes the jump less far (and so less scary) by offering different graduated escape options.

Meaningful/Creative Uses:

Carl’s rescue method is a bit shaky – literally – the tower of objects he uses to be close enough to reach Kitten tumbles down after the jump.  This may be a way to talk about being safe: how would you rescue the kitten?  Use a stacking game to demonstrate, or create rescue methods on a Lego table. 

This particular title has not won any awards, although Alexandra Day’s Carl series is very popular, with over 20 titles; Carl’s Christmas was a New York Times Bestseller. 

Read-Alikes: More easy readers for animal lovers:

Biscuit in the Garden, by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, pictures by Pat Schories; a My First I Can Read title.   While the little girl works in the garden, Biscuit explores, discovering insects, flowers, and birds.  Everything she describes to Biscuit, the puppy’s response is: “Woof, woof!”, making for fun repetition.

Mama Loves, by Molly Goode, illustrated by Lisa McCue; a Step Into Reading title.  A series of affirmations of mother’s love, each page is dedicated to a different animal and her offspring.  The simple, rhyming text teaches about the various animals as well:  a whale has a calf, an elephant sprays her baby with water from her trunk. 

Olivia and Her Ducklings, adapted by Veera Hiranandani, illustrated by Shane L. Johnson; a Ready-To-Read title.  Olivia is another popular character, this book ties in with the television show based on the books by Ian Falconer.  Olivia finds ducks in the park, and they follow her home.  This book has more text per page than Carl and the Kitten, but rebus icons are used to help the new reader. 

Tags: My Readers, leveled, series, classic characters, beginning reader, Carl, dog, kitten, rescue, animals, friends, easy reader