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Non Fiction
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Non Fiction
Non Fiction ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This site is part of a class project for LS 5603, a graduate level children's literature course offered at Texas Woman's University. On this page I review non-fiction for children. See Below: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Simon, Seymour. 1993. Autumn Across America. Singapore: Hyperion Books For Children. ISBN 1562824686. This book is a picture book with breathtaking photographs of autumnal scenes and images from all across the Unites States. The format of the book uses the colors of bright red, orange, gold, and yellow of autumn leaves to catch the eye coupled with in-depth yet interesting text about the fall season. The text is written in a manner that captures the reader’s attention, in that it provides information in a way in which young children, older children, and adults will find interesting. For example, an interesting tidbit of information from the book is that the colors that the leaves of the deciduous trees change to differ, depending upon the area of the country in which the trees are growing. The book does not only provide information about the changing colors of leaves. It also describes the migration of birds, such as geese and the bald eagle during the fall season. It offers details about what insects do during autumn, and the fact that butterflies also migrate. There is also a section on the harvesting of pumpkins, a traditional symbol of autumn in this country. In fact, in discussing the pumpkins, the author reminds the reader about their significance to Halloween, thus making the information more meaningful to the reader. I would highly recommend this book for its gorgeous photography and factual yet readable text. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Freedman, Russell. 1996. The Life and Death of Crazy Horse. Illus. by Amos Bad Heart Bull. New York: Holiday House. ISBN 0823412199. This book describes a portion of the history of the United States that occurred in the mid-to-late 1800’s through describing the life and times of Crazy Horse, a Native American of the Sioux tribe. Crazy Horse was a revered leader of his tribe who never signed a treaty with the White people and fought for the rights of his people. Through reading the poignant and powerful story of Crazy Horse’s life, the reader is provided a glimpse of what it was like to live as a Native American in the mid-to-late 1800’s and to have to struggle and fight to hold on to land, freedom, and a way of life. The clash of two cultures during this historical time frame - Native American and White American - is made starkly apparent in this book. The historical facts about several of the battles fought over land in the West between the Native Americans and The White Americans are offered from a Native American perspective. The information for this in-depth and captivating story was obtained through interviews of relatives and friends of Crazy Horse, and those who had observed him and his life first hand. Although this story is told from a Native American perspective, the author uses direct quotes from White American leaders of the time also to round it out. The illustrations of the book are photographs of pictures that were drawn by Amos Bad Heart Bull, who was a young relative of Crazy Horse and a tribal historian. These illustrations provide the reader with a sense of the book’s authenticity. The book’s authenticity is further supported by a detailed bibliography at the end of the book. I would highly recommend this educational, stirring and heartrending book for older children and adults of all ages. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gibbons, Gail. 1996. Marshes & Swamps. New York: Holiday House. ISBN 0823413470. This book is a nonfiction picture book about wetlands, such as marshes and swamps. It is illustrated with watercolor images of marshes and swamps and the creatures that inhabit them. The parts of the marshes or swamps and the creatures that live in them are labeled in each picture to provide the reader with specific details about marshes and swamps not mentioned directly in the text of the book. Thus, the illustrations complement and enhance the text well. The text uses brief phrases and sentences to state factual information about marshes and swamps – how they are formed, descriptions of different types of marshes and swamps, etc. The author makes the information in the book meaningful in that she provides a map of where wetlands are in the United States. She also has an illustration of people at some wetlands in a conservation area with boardwalks – demonstrating how fun it is to go to visit wetlands and to see the interesting sights and creatures that live there. Finally, the author makes the point that many wetlands have been filled in by the construction of cities and that they are a necessary resource for many creatures that should not be destroyed. Thus, this book is informational and carries an important message about the value of wetlands. I would recommend it for young readers as an informative and interesting book. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Armstrong, Jennifer.1998. Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0375810498. This book is a step by step recounting of the incredible yet true story of 28 men’s voyage to and survival in Antarctica after the loss of their ship, the Endurance. Interspersed within the story of the expedition are facts about Antarctica, and the political climate at the time in Europe. For example, the expedition began in 1914, just at the start of World War I for the British. This book is impossible to put down after reading it has begun. With each page, the adventures and perils that the men faced and the difficult decisions that they had to make in order to survive become more and more compelling reading. The story is punctuated with direct quotes from journals written by the leader and crew of the expedition. From those quotes, the reader is provided with the lived experience of the group of men as they struggled to survive. This makes the story seem real and come alive for the reader. Those entries, along with the black and white photos taken by one of the explorers during the actual expedition, make the story as it is told seem truly authentic. The photos are crisp and of excellent quality, and it is amazing that they, along with the men, survived the journey. The author further supports the authenticity of her work by providing bibliographic citations in the back of the book. I would highly recommend this book for older children and adults of all ages. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stott, Carole. 1993. Night Sky: How to Observe and Understand the Mysteries of the Night Sky. Illus. Edited by Vicky Wharton. London: Dorling Kindersley Limited. ISBN 1564583937. This book provides facts about the night sky – including stars, planets, black holes, nebulas, etc. It is replete with illustrations of different types – photographs, drawings, diagrams, and figures - to explain concepts offered in the text. This book is the type of book that the reader does not need to read from cover to cover. Rather, each page is full of interesting facts about the night sky and the solar system and therefore reading just a few pages at a time may be sufficient for one sitting. This book makes the topic personally interesting to the reader by providing him or her ideas of projects that he or she can do while learning about and becoming familiar with the night sky. For example, the suggestion is made to cover a flashlight beam with red cellophane when going outside to look at the stars at night. Doing so allows a person to still see his or her path to walk safely in the dark, and yet the red light of the cellophane-covered flashlight does not ruin his or her view of the stars. The author also offers historical bits of information about how people in the past used to understand the night sky, which makes for interesting reading as well. After reading this book, I felt as though I had learned a great deal that I had not known before about the night sky. I would recommend this book for young and older readers alike. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here are Some Links To Pages about Children's Literature (On this Website)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Home ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Picture Books ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Traditional Literature ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Poetry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Author Study about Lloyd Alexander ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Historical Fiction ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fiction and Fantasy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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