Format: Picture Book Nonfiction

Clackety Track

Clackety TrackClackety Track: Poems about Trains by Skila Brown, Jamey Christoph
Published by Candlewick Press on March 12th 2019
ISBN: 0763690473
Pages: 32
Goodreads
five-stars

Climb aboard to the perfect train poem in this non-fiction picture book by Skila Brown.  The poems are written in a variety of forms that set the tone for the variety of trains depicted.  The welcoming jaunt of the railroad yard, the anticipation that tracks must feel, the “sleek and slick” Bullet train and the calming rhythm felt in a sleeper car come alive with the right mix of words and illustrations.  Snow Plow trains, the Zoo train and the Underground Subway Train are all represented.  The digitally rendered illustrations cover each two page spread with the train as the center piece showing movement, details and a diverse group of people. The poems are brief enough to share the whole book during a train story time.  Young engineers can learn more facts to supplement the poems in a Train facts spread in the back.

Reviewed by Sheila Dube, Springvale Public Library

five-stars

Titanosaur

TitanosaurTitanosaur: Discovering the World's Largest Dinosaur by José Luis Carballido, Diego Pol, Florencia Gigena
Published by Scholastic Press on February 26th 2019
ISBN: 1338207393
Pages: 40
Goodreads
four-stars

“Titanosaur” is actually written by the paleontologists who led the dig on the giant dinosaur, Dr. Jose Luis Carballido and Dr. Diego Pol, which is pretty cool! The book is a bit wordy for younger readers, but works well as an informational picture book. Unfamiliar words are defined in asides and photos of the actual dig and processes are shown throughout the book. The illustrations by Florencia Gigena are beautiful while still being scientifically correct.

You learn a lot about paleontology and how digs work without being overly detailed. The authors conveyed the excitement they must have felt while finding the titanosaur bones through the text: “It’s the biggest dinosaur ever found… for now!” Geared towards children age 5-7, “Titanosaur” is beautiful, informational, and fun. A must-buy for kids who love learning about dinosaurs!

Reviewed by Kate Radke, Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook.

four-stars

Mary Wears What She Wants

Mary Wears What She WantsMary Wears What She Wants by Keith Negley
Published by Balzer + Bray on January 15th 2019
ISBN: 0062846795
Pages: 42
Goodreads
five-stars

Inspired by an episode from the podcast The Memory Palace titled “Mary Walker Would Wear What She Wanted,” Negley created this picture book to share with the world Walker’s story and her message of wearing the clothes that make you feel the most comfortable. Walker was born in the 1830s when women were expected to wear dresses. She fought this construct, choosing a much more comfortable style of dress – pants!  Using spare text and a palate of pinks and grays in cut-paper collage, Negley focuses on Mary’s childhood when she first chooses to make the switch. She is supported by her father, shunned and chased by other children, and picketed by the townspeople. But Mary persists and by the end of the book things change for the better as more girls choose to wear what is comfortable instead of what is prescribed by society (this message could apply to any gender as it wasn’t about gender at all for Mary, but about comfort). The reader learns in an author note that Mary continued to fight convention by attending medical school and becoming a surgeon and then by fighting for women’s right to vote and wear what they wanted. Readers/listeners will cheer for Mary as they recognize the power struggle that getting dressed can represent but also as they struggle to understand that, once upon a time, girls couldn’t wear what they wanted and she persevered. The book deserves a place on the shelf along with the other books about forgotten women who took a stand and wrought change on an unforgiving and narrow-minded society thereby paving the way for women and girls today to use their voices to cast a ballot or wear the pants.

Reviewed by Jill O’Connor, Merrill Memorial Library, Yarmouth

five-stars

Eavesdropping on Elephants: How Listening Helps Conservation

Eavesdropping on Elephants: How Listening Helps ConservationEavesdropping on Elephants by Patricia Newman
Published by Millbrook Press (Tm) on August 1st 2018
ISBN: 1541515714
Pages: 56
Goodreads
five-stars

“I see my responsibility as being able to listen,” says scientist Katy Payne. As part of the Elephant Listening Project, Katy has listened to African Forest elephants for years. She knew that eavesdropping  could help scientists protect these important species.”

Katy Payne had listened to whales for some fifteen years . When she got back to Oregon, she was sitting in the elephant barn at the Washington Park Zoo in Portland, listening to the elephants. She wondered if these creatures communicated as whales did, using infrasound – sounds too low for humans to hear. The scientist in Katy had to know. Thus, the Elephant Listening Project was created and still works to study the calls of forest elephants. This middle school book examines the plight of the architects of the forest. It is filled with information on this key species. One third of the African rain forests come from the seeds dropped by elephants. Their daily activities help the forest flourish.  Could this information on the way they communicate help protect them, could the combination of sound and behavior help scientists decode what elephants are saying to each other? The information is still being collected today. This book of 56 pages is filled with photos supporting a clear, concise text. It also includes QR codes to allow the reader to see and hear the forest elephants.  This is a must for collections on conservation of both forests and species.

Reviewed by Kathy George, Gray Public Library, Gray

five-stars

It Feels Good to Be Yourself: A Book About Gender Identity

It Feels Good to Be Yourself: A Book About Gender IdentityIt Feels Good to Be Yourself: A Book about Gender Identity by Theresa Thorn, Noah Grigni
Published by Henry Holt & Company on June 4th 2019
ISBN: 1250302951
Pages: 40
Goodreads
five-stars

It Feels Good to Be Yourself is an informational picture book written by Theresa Thorn and illustrated by Noah Grigni which introduces the concept of gender identity to young children by showing four different children–brother and sister, Ruthie and Xavier, as well as their friends Alex and JJ. Ruthie is a transgender girl and Xavier is a cisgender boy. They both have brown skin, hair, and eyes, and appear to have a black mother and a white father. Alex is non-binary and has blue hair and freckled skin. JJ is also non-binary, with short, brown curly hair. They also use a wheelchair.

Thorn introduces the words transgender, cisgender, and non-binary with simple definitions that tie concretely into one of the four characters shown. Thorn uses language that is digestible even by young audiences but doesn’t talk down to readers or compromise the meaning of what she is describing. Thorn goes on to describe a little more about how genders are assigned and how a child might come to realize that their identity is different or the same to what they have been told to that point in their life. Throughout, Thorn reassures readers that whatever they identify as, however, they express themselves, and however much it all changes, it still okay and that they will be loved no matter what.

The text is accompanied by Noah Grigni’s watercolor, gouache, and ink illustrations, which bring diversity on each page with bold color and lines. The bright color they use invites readers into the story to explore a variety of different ways to express themselves.

The backmatter includes helpful terms to known, a note about pronouns, resources in the form of books for kids, book for adults, documentaries, and organizations/helplines. Both Thorn and Grigni provide a note to readers in the back.

The subject of this book is critical and the execution is sublime. Essential for all libraries.

Reviewed by Sarah Cropley, Scarborough Public Library. 

five-stars

Caterpillar and Bean

Caterpillar and BeanCaterpillar and Bean: A First Science Storybook by Hannah Tolson, Martin Jenkins
Published by Candlewick Press on April 2nd 2019
ISBN: 1536201707
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book Nonfiction
Goodreads
four-stars

Presented as a “science storybook,” this is two stories in one. A bean seed, wedged in  a crack receives enough rain to swell and grow. Leaves shoot up and roots grow down- thus begins it growing process. When enough leaves are on the plant- a caterpillar egg is laid and a hungry caterpillar emerges- thus beginning its life journey.Side by side, these two, plant and insect, grow and fulfill their life cycles. Clear, simple text supported by large muted illustrations done in mixed media make this an excellent choice to introduce the life cycle concepts to young scientists. There is an author’s note about growing at the front of the book and directions in growing a bean plant found at the back of the book. Use this selection with Pre-K- Grade-2 students in units about growing things, plants, and the life cycle of a butterfly.

Submitted by Kathy George, Gray Public Library, Gray

four-stars

Guide Dogs for the Blind

Guide Dogs for the BlindGuide Dogs for the Blind by Alice Boynton
Published by Red Chair Press - (Look! Books) on August 1st 2018
ISBN: 1634403150
Goodreads
three-stars

This non-fiction picture book for readers in grades 2-4 provides clear photographs and explanations of the process involved with training a guide dog.  This book is part of a larger series called “Animals That Help Us.”  The first section explains what the job of a guide dog is and then it follows various dogs as they progress through their training and finish with their day to day job.  The layout consists of two page spreads that contain a bright red heading, very adorable dog photos, three to four sentences in large fonts and plenty of white space. A few text bubbles are included on the pictures that label equipment like the harness or list the standard commands that the dogs respond to with the words that their owner would say.  The last page reminds readers to ask owners first before petting or playing with a service dog in harness.  A table of contents is provided in the front and the back matter includes a four word glossary, two book suggestions and two web sites to explore with an adult’s assistance and an index.   The first book suggested was an easy reader published in 1996 and the second book, although published in 2014, may be difficult to find in libraries, no libraries in the State of Maine catalog  had the book available.  There was not a bibliography, nevertheless, this would still be a useful title to provide to public libraries and school classrooms.

Reviewed by Sheila Dube, Springvale Public Library

three-stars

Hello, I’m Here

Hello, I’m HereHello, I'm Here! by Helen Frost, Rick Lieder
Published by Candlewick Press on March 20th 2019
ISBN: 076369858X
Pages: 32
Goodreads
five-stars

Helen Frost’s latest book is a poem about the first day in the life of a sandhill crane. Her rhyming text is short and has the voice of the small child, “I’m out in the world-I don’t know where. Mama? Papa? Hello, I’m here!” What makes this book special is the pairing of Ms. Frost’s words with the striking, detailed photographs of Rick Lieder. The reader is there as this chick stands, walks, and finds its first meal. As with their other collaborations: Step Gently Out, Sweep up the Sun, Among a thousand Fireflies, they offer a glimpse into the natural world. Information about the sandhill crane can be found at the back of the book. This is a book easy to read aloud with photos that will hold the listener’s attention. It is STEAM at its best. Offer it in units about babies, poetry about the natural world, or birds.

for ages pre-K- 3

Submitted by Kathy George

Gray Public Library, Gray

 

five-stars

Go Green by Fighting Pollution

Go Green by Fighting PollutionGo Green by Fighting Pollution by Lisa Bullard, John Wes Thomas
Published by Lerner Publications (Tm) on August 1st 2018
ISBN: 1541520165
Pages: 24
Goodreads
three-stars

How simple is too simple in non-fiction books for young readers? 

“My family and I ride our bikes.

That way we don’t use our car. 

Driving cars pollutes the air.”

This text from one of this book’s pages needs a LOT more discussion. Living in very rural Maine, statements such as this trouble me: 1) if you want to ride bikes, the safest places require people to drive there in their car and carry the bikes; 2) bikes are great only in summer months when it’s not raining – or in Florida & Arizona only in winter months; and 3) how do you carry your groceries or new furniture or materials to build your house?? The use of electric cars is not mentioned. 

The large, dark, thick easy-to-read font is probably the best thing about this “Early Bird Stories” book. The simple, cartoonish illustrations are adequate and emphasize the topic on each page. One one page, the narrator is shown wearing gloves when planting a tree but not when picking up garbage. Behind him stands a girl, frowning, arms crossed, apparently looking at another child holding a hose in which a dog has tangled itself. The dog looks a little angry, too. Are they thinking the water’s being wasted because the water is not yet going onto the tree being planted? 

The title says, “Go Green…” but the book does not use or explain that phrase again. Even though there are “how” and “why” questions on a few pages, this book is more of a simplistic statement for early elementary readers rather than an invitation to explore or discuss ways to reduce, reuse, or recycle.

Reviewed by Lynn Mayer, Librarian, Old Town Elementary School, Old Town

three-stars

The Truth About Crocodiles

four-stars

Much more than facts about crocodiles, this humorous presentation will entertain and inform.

This author has done other “Seriously Funny Facts…” books about elephants, dolphins, bears, and hippos. 

Although the image of crocodiles are vaguely realistic, they are shown talking with speech bubbles and have human facial expressions. An impala, turtles, and a young girl help provide humor with their comments. Earthy tones were created with pen and ink with digital coloring. 

Informative text is easy to access as sentences are placed around the page and the reader can jump around or read from beginning to end. A variety of interesting charts and easy-to-read font make this perfect for middle and perhaps lower elementary students.

Reviewed by Lynn Mayer, Librarian, Old Town Elementary School, Old Town

four-stars