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Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Wednesday Non-Fiction

        I’ve found some great non-fiction books at my library and at the public library. Here are three of
them. If you haven’t seen them yet, they are beautiful, inspiring, and fun to hear about. Thanks to Alyson Beecher at KidLitFrenzy who hosts this community.
         Happy Reading everyone!
Have You Heard The Nesting Bird – written by Rita Gray and illustrated by Kenard Pak
             Using couplets, Rita Gray takes us on a journey of the sounds of many birds, so beautifully shown by Kenard Pak. Yet, in between those pages, the title’s question is asked: Have you heard the nesting bird? And we discover that this bird is quiet, and the reasons why, too. It’s a predictable mystery, but so enticing to see where the story will go next, with an ending of wonder. There is a creative two pages of backmatter as well, with an interview of the nesting bird herself! I enjoyed the book and believe it will entice younger students to pay attention to bird calls and what to do when they do notice a real nesting bird. The double-page spread of one night is so gorgeous, a quietly beautiful piece of art.


A Taste of Freedom, Gandhi and the Great Salt March- written by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel and
illustrated by Giuliano Ferri
              This book doesn’t say that this is true, but a great-grandfather tells the story of marching with Gandhi to the sea. It begins with the great-grandfather beginning the tale, and moves into the story and the illustrations that show the events.  Great-grandfather evidently was so inspired as a young boy by Gandhi and his followers marching thought the town that he joined the march with an older brother. This book relates a similar tale to others I’ve read, but relates little of what the marchers endured at the hands of the British soldiers. It’s an introduction to this wonderful leader’s influential march. There is additional information at the end.

Uncle Andy’s, A Faabbbulous visit with Andy Warhol - written and illustrated by James Warhola
               I learned quite a lot from this book, that Andy Warhol dropped the A from his home, and that he had a brother who was a junk man, who brought him treasures every year on the family visit. There were five children in Andy’s brother’s family, and they lived in a little town, but once a year, they piled into the station wagon, and took off for NYC to visit Bubba, their grandmother, and Uncle Andy. The author is James Warhola, one of those nephews, who is an artist himself, wrote and illustrated this fun story. We see Andy Warhol through the nephew’s eyes, his home, when he first began to paint ordinary objects, the 5th floor of his house filled with Campbell soup painted boxes! It’s another look at this “pop” artist.


16 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed the Q&A session at the end of Nesting Bird! Thanks for the 2 biographies, those are both new to me. Enjoy the rest of your week!

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    1. Thanks Michele-I agree, that Q & A was so clever. Hope you have a good week too, even these next two days are so busy!

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  2. I could not imagine Andy Warhol as an uncle! My grandfather was on that Salt march, Linda, so it would be interesting to compare this account to what I remember of his.

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    1. How wonderful to hear about your grandfather being there. I wish you would tell us more of the story! Thanks, Tara.

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  3. My son and I read Bonnie Christenson's excellent PB bio of Warhol a few weeks ago, so we're definitely going to have to find this book written by his nephew. I also find it hard to imagine Uncle Andy! I very nearly checked out Have You Heard the Nesting Bird from the library today and then left it on the shelf. Wish I'd seen your post before I made my visit! Oh well--will get it next time because it sounds good!

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    1. Next time for the Nesting Bird! I'll look for your bio of Warhol! Thanks!

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  4. These books sound wonderful. I'm going to have to check out the Nesting Bird. My students would love it.
    Mrs. Brown Loves Bookworms

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    1. Thanks, Sara. It is a lovely book, and filled with information!

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  5. That's probably one of my most favorite bird books published recently. The Q&A was so fun. And the illustrations- beautiful!

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    1. Thanks, Earl, you're so right, it is a lovely book.

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  6. Thank you for sharing these books! I enjoyed Have You Heard the Nesting Bird? and used it as a mentor text during our creative nonfiction unit. I haven't heard of the other two. I'm intrigued by them both!

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    1. Thanks, Holly. I agree that The Nesting Bird is one to have for an example of how to present information so creatively.

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  7. Hi, Linda. I don't have little ones in the house any more, but I'm still especially fond of picture books about famous artists. Their lives are such rich territory for storytelling. Looking forward to reading Uncle's Andy's.

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    1. I also just discovered that Warhol's nephew has written more than one book about his famous uncle-will try to find them too. Hope you enjoy this one. Thanks, Laura.

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  8. All of these titles look great. The Warhol title captured my attention. Thanks for highlighting it here.

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  9. Absolutely love the picturebook biographies you have here - the one on Gandhi shows how much we think alike - glad to see it here again! I truly enjoyed that title. I just pinned Uncle Andy's - will definitely be on the lookout for that one.

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