#nfpb10for10

Thanks to Cathy Mere, Mandy Robek and Julie Balen, we have the pleasure of seeing favorites from many others! You can discover all about the history, the how and the where to post HERE!

             Non-fiction picture books help us all learn about the world in order to navigate it. From people and places, from prose and poetry, these books can include the history of the peoples of the world who educate and inspire. Among so many that I first listed, here are the ten I chose. They are both very recent and much older, yet to me they all have a message for us about our world. I've put the link for the longer reviews on Goodreads at the beginning of each summary.

 Here are my past posts. I love re-reading them, reminding me of books loved in the past, some I own and re-visit. 

2013    2014    2015    2016    2017

The Way To Start A Day is this --

Go outside

and face the east

and greet the sun

with some kind of blessing

or chant

or song

that you made yourself

and keep

for early morning.

         From a beloved author whose books I used over and over again, a book I've shared more than once, The Way To Start A Day by Byrd Baylor. She shows the parts of her day in the southwest, with a strong, yet subtle, invitation to find your own way to start your day in your country. 

Nature is an important part of my life, was an important part of my teaching. I had the privilege at my school to travel often and to wonderful places all over with my students. Even as we went to cities, we remained committed to learning about the nature in them, too. One will commit to caring for a thing when one both loves it and knows it well enough to love it even more.

            I adore it, not least because it's about one of my favorite topics, the moon! I've done moon journaling with students before, observed it, wrote about it, created art and wrote poetry inspired by it. Oh, how I wish I'd had this book to enhance our learning! 

#NF10for10 - Time For Longer Wish Lists

Hurrah, it's #NF10for10 2016. Here's how you do it, according to Mandi Robek at Enjoy and Embrace Learning. Thanks to Mandi and Cathy Mere at  Reflect and Refine: Building A Learning Community hosting at a Google site. I'm looking forward to reading everyone's posts!

               Everyone will probably say how hard this is to choose. There are favorite books in every category I can imagine. I could share books about animals or nature, inspiring people, people from history, diverse books about people, on and on. In past years, I have chosen a topic, but this time I’m going to share my recent top favorites, not always the latest, no matter the category, but adding in that these authors have published other wonderful books, too. If you like this book, there will be more to find! I'm also linking each to my Goodreads review, so if you want to know details, you can take a look. You may know most, but I hope you'll find at least one or two that looks like a "must read"!

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus - Jen Bryant and Melissa Stewart

          for knowledge and for enjoyment of something that has been presented so beautifully

Big Red Kangaroo - Claire Saxby and Graham Byrne
                  for a good story with information embedded

Non-Fiction Picture Book 10for10

It’s time for the wonderful Non-Fiction Picture Book Sharing, otherwise known as #nf10for10, started and hosted by Mandy Robek, Enjoy and Embrace Learning, and Cathy Mere, Reflect and Refine: Building A Learning Community. Get ready to add many wonderful books to your TBR lists!

This year, share at the new Google Community Cathy and Mandy have created HERE!

         Students in my school each study their own chosen topics and the curriculum is built around them. One challenge is to help broaden their outlook of what makes a good way to communicate what they discover. I teach a mixed group of 6th, 7th and 8th graders.

         Here are Books I’ll Use With Middle School to help them present research in new ways:

What Do You Do With An Idea? - written by Kobi Yamada and illustrated by Mae Besom

          I’ve shared this many times, and believe it’s inspiring to all who have that one idea that’s been boiling around and they’re unsure about their ability to make it work. This is what I want my students to know, that they should go for it!

No Monkeys, No Chocolate – written by Melissa Stewart and Allen Young and illustrated by Nicole Wong  

          Clear and interesting information, tells the story backwards, from the cocoa bean and all the other interrelated pieces that must happen in order to have chocolate. Another way to say it is that connection happen in all sorts of places. Also, there’s a little worm on each page following along with funny asides.

It's #NFPB10for10 - get your lists and your $$$$$ ready!

            Hurrah! It's Cathy Mere at Reflect and Refine, Julie Balen at Write At The Edge and Mandy Robek-Enjoy and Embrace Learning bringing us non-fiction 10 for 10 picture book day! Here's where you prepare to make a very long list, and order many, many books - from the library of course. (Or maybe a few from your favorite Indie store!)     Thanks Julie, Cathy and Mandy!

     Be sure to add your 10 for 10 link with Julie, and then tweet at #NFPB10for10

Here are my recent favorites, some old, some very new! 

                                                              Author- Page McBrier Illustrator - Lori Lohstoeter

Published by the Heifer Project, this story is about a real nine-year-old girl from Uganda. She yearns to be able to attend her local school, even standing near the school as the students gather in a group and pretending she is one of them. How much our children in America take for granted! The story tells of the amazing arrival of a goat to this family, but first they must prepare a shed and begin growing the food it will eat. The goat arrives and is named “Mugisa”, meaning “luck”. And as the story grows, luck also does in the form of twin kids, which mean more prosperity for the family, all from a donation of one goat. The story is one of many that The Heifer Project shares, and this time in a beautifully illustrated picture book.