Inquiry – Page 25 – Unleashing Readers

Locomotive by Brian Floca (Kellee’s Review)

April 16, 2014 by Kellee

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and was started to help promote the reading of nonfiction texts. Most Wednesdays, we will be participating and will review a nonfiction text (though it may not always be a picture book).
Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy and see what other nonfiction books are shared this week!

Locomotive
Author and Illustrator: Brian Floca
Published September 3rd, 2013 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Summary: The Caldecott Medal Winner, Sibert Honor Book, and New York Timesbestseller Locomotive is a rich and detailed sensory exploration of America’s early railroads, from the creator of the “stunning” (Booklist)Moonshot.

It is the summer of 1869, and trains, crews, and family are traveling together, riding America’s brand-new transcontinental railroad. These pages come alive with the details of the trip and the sounds, speed, and strength of the mighty locomotives; the work that keeps them moving; and the thrill of travel from plains to mountain to ocean.

Come hear the hiss of the steam, feel the heat of the engine, watch the landscape race by. Come ride the rails, come cross the young country!

My Review: Rhythm. Onomatopoeias. (Well-researched) History. Gorgeous (and historically accurate) illustrations. Lyrical narrative. Unique point of view. This book has everything.

YOU (second person POV!) are a passenger on a train cross America with your family in 1869. Throughout the book, you will encounter many different landmarks, experience things on a train very few had at this time in history, and learn about the intricacies of the train. So fascinating! And all told in rich, beautiful language. It is hard to even share much more about the book because it is such an experience.

Check out Ricki’s review of Locomotive as well HERE.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: I would LOVE to read this to kids. There are so many places to stop and discuss and research and learn, but never without an enthralling story accompanying. It would be a great book to use across subjects. There are definitely opportunities for all subjects: social studies (trans-continental travel, history, trains); science (the science of steam engines); math (travel); reading/writing (onomatopoeia, point of view, rhythm).

Also, and this is fresh on my mind because I just read it, but I would love to read this and The Donner Dinner Party and then look at the two journeys. How long did each take? Dangers? It would be an interesting look at how trains truly changed transportation.

Discussion Questions: How does having the book in 2nd point of view make it more enthralling?; What onomatopoeias were used in the book? How did these words help suck you into the story?; How did the author’s rhythm make you feel like you are actually on the train?; What are the landmarks that were passed on the trans-continental railroad? Why are these landmarks significant?; How does a steam engine work? What are the jobs of all of the different people on board?

We Flagged:
“Here is how this road was built,
with a grunt and a heave and a swing,
with the ring of shovels on stone,
the ring of hammers on spikes:

CLANK CLANK CLANK!

Men came from far away
to build from the East,
to build from the West,
to meet in the middle.

They cleared the rocks
and dug the tunnels.
They raised the hammers
and brought them down—

“Three strokes to the spike,
ten spikes to the rail!”

CLANK CLANK CLANK!”

Read This If You Loved: The Donner Dinner Party by Nathan Hale, Train by Elisha Cooper

Recommended For:

Flying Solo: How Ruth Elder Soared into America’s Heart by Julie Cummins

April 2, 2014 by Kellee

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

Flying Solo: How Ruth Elder Soared into America’s Heart
Author: Julie Cummins
Illustrator: Malene R. Laugesen
Published July 23rd, 2013 by Roaring Brook Press

Goodreads Summary: In 1927, airplanes were a thrilling but dangerous novelty. Most people, men and women, believed that a woman belonged in the kitchen and not in a cockpit. One woman, Ruth Elder, set out to prove them wrong by flying across the Atlantic Ocean. Ruth didn’t make it, crashing spectacularly, but she flew right into the spotlight and America’s heart. This is the story of a remarkable woman who chased her dreams with grit and determination, and whose appetite for adventure helped pave the way for future generations of female flyers.

My Review and Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Ruth Elder joins the group of amazing women who have eye-opening picture books about them and how they changed history. (I love this trend!) More and more brilliant and brave women from history are getting recognition through their story being told. Ruth Elder was America’s sweetheart daredevil, and through her crazy feats showed America that woman were brave too. Although Amelia Earhart beat her in her mission to cross the Atlantic, she never stopped pushing herself and the women around her. I would love to see a unit about amazing women in history that uses the slew of beautiful picture books about these woman. One idea would be splitting up kids into groups, having them each read about one of the picture books, maybe doing some extra research, and then sharing with the other groups what they learned. It’d be a great way to give these women the spotlight they deserve.

Discussion Questions: Although Ruth did not cross the Atlantic, why did she become famous?; Ruth had the chance to be a Hollywood star, but she chose to go back to flying–why would she make this decision? Do you agree with her decision?; How did Ruth and her race help change America’s view of woman pilots?

We Flagged: “On August 18, 1929, Ruth and nineteen other women set out to show that women could fly airplanes just as well as men in the first women’s cross-country air race. The pilots had more than headwinds to counteract. One reporter sputtered, “The only thing worse than dames in planes is dames racing planes!””

Look inside Flying Solo at Amazon

Read This If You Loved: Daredevil by Meghan McCarthy, Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming

Recommended For:

The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever by H. Joseph Hopkins

March 26, 2014March 26, 2014 by Kellee

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever
Author: H. Joseph Hopkins
Illustrator: Jill McElmurry
Published September 17th, 2013 by Beach Lane Books

Goodreads Summary: Unearth the true story of green-thumbed pioneer and activist Kate Sessions, who helped San Diego grow from a dry desert town into a lush, leafy city known for its gorgeous parks and gardens. Katherine Olivia Sessions never thought she’d live in a place without trees. After all, Kate grew up among the towering pines and redwoods of Northern California. But after becoming the first woman to graduate from the University of California with a degree in science, she took a job as a teacher far south in the dry desert town of San Diego. Where there were almost no trees.

Kate decided that San Diego needed trees more than anything else. So this trailblazing young woman singlehandedly started a massive movement that transformed the town into the green, garden-filled oasis it is today. Now, more than 100 years after Kate first arrived in San Diego, her gorgeous gardens and parks can be found all over the city.

Part fascinating biography, part inspirational story, this moving picture book about following your dreams, using your talents, and staying strong in the face of adversity is sure to resonate with readers young and old.

My Review: This book was fascinating! I love learning about strong woman who changed the course of history and did so when no one thought they could. Like Jane Goodall, Kate Sessions love of nature and learning started at a very young age, and she let this desire to learn drive her to become an amazing woman. She is an inspiration and one that many people probably do not even know about.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: I can picture this book being used so many different ways in the classroom! It is perfect just for a read aloud and discussion. It has some beautiful descriptive and figurative language that could be discussed. It could also be read in lit circles where each group gets a different strong female who changed the world and then they could each present and share on their woman. AND it has very unique science facts and information that help it cross seamlessly into science. Just a fantastic book for the classroom.

Discussion Questions: How did Kate change San Diego?; What did Kate do, that others didn’t, to help her transform San Diego?; Why did Kate go to San Diego?; What other women in history does Kate remind you of?

We Flagged: “Kate felt the trees were her friends. She loved the way they reached toward the sky and how their branches stretched wide to catch the light. Trees seemed to Kate like giant umbrellas that sheltered her and the animals, birds, and plants that lived in the forest.” (p. 7)

Read This If You Loved: Me…Jane by Patrick McDonnell, Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors? by Tanya Lee Stone, Daredevil by Meghan McCarthy, The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Heiligman, Brave Girl by Michelle Markel, Primates by Jim Ottaviani, Look Up! by Annette LeBlanc Cate, Players in Pigtails by Shana Corey

Recommended For:

Plastic, Ahoy! Investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by Patricia Newman

July 27, 2015March 19, 2014 by Kellee

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

Plastic, Ahoy! Investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Author: Patricia Newman
Photographer: Annie Crawley
Expected Publication April 1st, 2014 by Millbrook Press

Goodreads Summary: These scientists are on a mission. As part of a research expedition known as SEAPLEX, they’re studying the massive accumulation of plastic in the Pacific Ocean known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. As they use the scientific method to conduct their investigation, their adventures will introduce readers to the basics of ocean science and the hazards of plastics.

Kellee’s Review: At my school, I am an adviser of Future Problem Solvers which is a club that looks at futuristic issues and, by using the 6-step creative problem solving process, tries to come up with an action plan to solve the futuristic problems. One of our past competitions had the topic of “Ocean Soup,” and my students and I did research about the state of our ocean. It was at that time that I became aware of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and was disgusted by it. I am so glad that this book exists now, because just like I didn’t know about the issue, my students didn’t either, until we began researching. This nonfiction picture book takes the reader through a mission with scientists to study the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and by making it a mission instead of just a book of facts will help engage readers in the problem that we are facing now.

Ricki’s Review: I was most impressed by the layout of this clever book. I loved how the design was fashioned to draw the reader’s eye to different portions of text. This will really capture kids’ attention. Young scientists will be sucked into this text, and the zoomed in pictures help readers unravel this mystery at sea along with these real-life explorers. The language and headlines made me smile–“Trash Talk: Nurdles and Triangles” and “Ocean Science: Munching Microbes.” Students in the upper elementary and middle school grades will find much to study in this fascinating text.

Teachers’ Tool for Navigation: This book would be an interesting addition to an environmental unit (or Earth Day activity) to look at how humans affect the Earth. It has a lot of information about why the Garbage Patch is happening and what humans could do to stop it–all information that would fit right in with any discussion about the environment. The book would also be a great resource whenever talking about being a scientist, the type of work they do, and the type of equipment they use. The book was very informative about all of these things as it followed the scientists on their mission. The author also has a curriculum guide you can access here.

Book Trailer:

Discussion Questions: What is the explorers’ mission? What do you find interesting about their jobs?; Why is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch happening?; What do humans need to do to diminish the amount of damage we are causing the Earth?

We Flagged: “The SEAPLEX Trash Detectives found plastic in 130 of their 132 net tows over 1,700 miles of open ocean. That’s the same distance as between New York City and Denver, Colorado. ‘To see plastic debris in the middle of this large stretch of ocean, far from land,’ Chelsea said, ‘offers a wake-up call for the way we leave our footprint even on remote pieces of the Earth.'” (p. 36)

Read This If You Loved: Let’s Make a Difference (series) by Gabriella Francine, The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, Island by Jason Chin, Giant Squid by Mary M. Cerullo, Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins

Recommended For:

and

**Thank you to Barbara Fisch at Blue Slip Media for providing us with copies for review**

Blog Tour and Review!: Weeds Find a Way by Cindy Jenson-Elliot

July 27, 2015March 5, 2014 by Ricki

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

Weeds Find a Way
Author: Cindy Jenson-Elliot
Illustrator: Carolyn Fisher
Published: February 4, 2014 by Beach Lane Books

Goodreads Summary: Weeds are wonderful! Persistent, exuberant…these plants have personalities, and this nonfiction picture book puts them on colorful display!

From bright yellow dandelions popping through cracks in sidewalks to purple loosestrife growing rampant along roadways, weeds offer unexpected splashes of color and life to the least likely of places. With lovely language and a sly sense of humor, this beautiful picture book celebrates the tenacious temperaments of these pesky plants and is sure to have little ones chanting, “Way to go, weeds!”

Ricki’s Review: The illustrations! The illustrations! I was mesmerized by the gorgeous artwork in this text. As I read it aloud to my son and husband, I was oohing and aahing at the bright, luscious colors. It made me want to go outdoors and lay among the weeds. If it wasn’t the dead of the winter, I would pull my son outside and read the book to him in our garden. There are beautiful passages of figurative language–alliteration that reads like a song, and readers will be sucked into the sprawling passages that evoke lovely images. The book turns readers’ assumptions on their heads. The words and images show that we can find beauty in, of all things, weeds. While I learned much about weeds and found the informational passages at the end (about different types of weeds) to be quite informative, I found the idea of weeds to be symbolic, too.

Kellee’s Review: I was blown away with how fascinating the author made something that we walk by every day and ignore. The text itself is quite lyrical and has the amazing illustrations with it; however, I found the goodies in the research in the afterword. It was very interesting for me to learn that these plants, which we treat like pests, are actually so very useful. I second much of what Ricki says about the figurative language. I love seeing these elements being used in a nonfiction book! Overall, this is a nonfiction book that should be shared with kids and will definitely start some major discussions.

Teachers’ Tool for Navigation: Teachers will find multiple opportunities with this text. They can use it to teach different types of figurative language, or they might ask students to explore weeds in a more symbolic way. We love the idea of using nonfiction at such a young age, and we wonder if teachers might try literature circles with this text. While it is marketed for ages 4-8, it could be used for different purposes with a variety of age groups. The informational passages at the end might allow teachers to help students research about different types of plants. We also love the illustrations so much that we would love to have kids take the pictures and write their own stories to match the images. It would show that nonfiction can be accessible and fun.

Discussion Questions: Why do weeds get a bad reputation? What else might we compare weeds to? Are there other things in the world that are unfairly loathed?; How does the author use figurative language to draw the reader in?; What makes a plant a weed?; Some of the plants shared at the end of the book are useful (for foods, medication, etc.); however, we still treat them as weeds. Why do we have this perspective of these plants?

We Flagged: “Weeds find way to stay, reaching deep with a grip so strong, the stem always breaks first, leaving the living roots behind to sprout again; or pinching into pieces the minute you try to tug them out, spreading into a spray of plant parts that find new spots to take root” (p. 21-22).

Read This If You Loved: The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly, The Tree Lady by H. Joseph Hopkins

About the Author: Cindy Jenson-Elliott is the author of fourteen books of nonfiction and hundreds of articles for newspapers, magazines and educational publishers. She is a teacher and environmental educator with an MA in education and a passion for connecting children with nature. In her free time, she enjoys swimming in the ocean and spending time outdoors in San Diego, where she lives and gardens with her family of four humans and three Buff Orpington chickens. Visit her at CindyJensonElliott.com.

Recommended For:

Check out all the stops on the WEEDS FIND A WAY blog tour!

Mon, Feb 24	Growing with Science	http://blog.growingwithscience.com/
Tues, Feb 25	As They Grow Up	http://www.astheygrowup.com/
Wed, Feb 26	Kid Lit Frenzy	http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com/
Thurs, Feb 27	Sharpread	http://sharpread.wordpress.com/
Fri, Feb 28	Children’s Book Review	http://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/
Mon, Mar 3	Let’s Go Chipper!	http://letsgochipper.com/
Tues, Mar 4	Just a Little Creativity	http://www.justalittlecreativity.com/
Wed, Mar 5	Unleashing Readers	http://www.unleashingreaders.com/
Thurs, Mar 6	5 Minutes for Books	http://www.5minutesformom.com/category/feature-columns/5-minutes-for-books/
Fri, Mar 7	Archimedes Notebook	http://archimedesnotebook.blogspot.com/

and

**Thank you to Barbara Fisch at Blue Slip Media for providing us with copies for review**

Space Encyclopedia by David A. Aguilar

February 26, 2018February 12, 2014 by Kellee

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

Space Encyclopedia: A Tour of our Solar System and Beyond
Author: David A. Aguilar
Published August 17th, 2013 by National Geographic Children’s Books

Goodreads Summary: Presenting the latest exciting findings on space exploration and research and cutting-edge, spectacular views of the universe that technology is bringing back to Earth, all in one ultimate reference book. Authored by David A. Aguilar of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the National Geographic Space Encyclopedia is ideal for the family bookshelf, providing both accessible information for school reports and compelling reading on the mysteries beyond our world.

My Review and Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: This book is so full of information! It is almost more of a browsing or researching book because it is just so much. I will say the information is easy to understand (Aguilar constructed the book almost like a journey which makes it easier to follow) the the photographs and scientifically accurate illustrations are some of the best I’ve ever seen. In my time of reading this book, I learned so much and can definitely see how it would be a huge asset to a classroom (science or language arts).

Discussion Questions: After reading about _____, what did you learn?

We Flagged: “Neptune: We’re nearing the pale blue icy world of Neptune. It has the wildest weather of any planet in the solar system, with winds that blow at speeds over 1,200 miles per hour. Like the other Jovian planets, Neptune doesn’t have a surface to walk on. Although the clouds surrounding it are very cold, -350 degrees Fahrenheit, its rocky iron core is about the same temperature as the sun’s surface.” (p. 62)

Read This If You Loved: Any nonfiction book about space, for background knowledge when reading science fiction that takes place in space

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Tracey Daniels at Media Masters Publicity for providing a copy for review**

The Great American Dust Bowl by Don Brown

February 5, 2014 by Kellee

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

The Great American Dust Bowl
Author and Illustrator: Don Brown
Published October 8th, 2013 by HMH Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Summary: A speck of dust is a tiny thing. In fact, five of them could fit into the period at the end of this sentence.

On a clear, warm Sunday, April 14, 1935, a wild wind whipped up millions upon millions of these specks of dust to form a duster—a savage storm—on America’s high southern plains.

The sky turned black, sand-filled winds scoured the paint off houses and cars, trains derailed, and electricity coursed through the air. Sand and dirt fell like snow—people got lost in the gloom and suffocated . . . and that was just the beginning.

Don Brown brings the Dirty Thirties to life with kinetic, highly saturated, and lively artwork in this graphic novel of one of America’s most catastrophic natural events: the Dust Bowl.

Review: Ever since I read Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, I’ve loved learning about this scary time in American history (also, the danger hasn’t ceased just because it happens less often). This book does a beautiful job of taking this time in history and laying it out for the reader so that it is very easy to understand. It includes background about the geographical area, information about the Depression, and then takes you through the Dust Bowl all the way to modern days. So interesting!

Teacher’s Tools For Navigation: First, this book will make a great companion to Out of the Dust. I think many readers struggle with Hesse’s book because they don’t have the background knowledge needed to understand the book and Don Brown’s book gives all the background needed. The Great America Dust Bowl can also be used as a resource when teaching the Dust Bowl, the depression, or agriculture.

Discussion Questions: How did the Depression impact farmers thus help cause the Dust Bowl to happen?; How is the problems of the Dust Bowl still impacting us today?

We Flagged:

Read This If You Loved: Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan, Survival in the Storm: The Dust Bowl Diary of Grace Edwards, Dalhart, TX 1935 by Katelan Janke

Recommended For: