Monday, July 9, 2012

Non-Fiction Monday

Welcome to Non-Fiction Monday.  Please, leave your non-fiction posts in the comments below and I will update with everyone's contributions throughout the day. 


I came upon the greatest non-fiction graphic novel: Around the World.  I love to travel.  Currently my daughter and I are scheming to move our family to Paris - we decided that we need to first, learn French and second, save a lot of money.  So it may be awhile.  But needless to say this book quenched my thirst for adventure and world travel, at least momentarily.

Matt Phelan's book Three Remarkable Journeys: Around the World, tells the story of three world travelers in the 1800's.  The first story is that of Thomas Stevens who began his journey in San Francisco in 1884 on a $110 Columbia bicycle with 50 inch wheels.  He first set off to cross the country but when he made it to Massachusetts he decided he wanted to bike around the world.  

The second story belongs to Nellie Bly.  She is a female reporter living in New York City in 1888 who proposes to her editor that she can beat Phileas Fogg's 80 days and travel around the world in 74 days. She was told she could not do it.  But one year later her editor called her back in and said she set sail in the morning. Her trip takes her on train, boat and carriage and it is a close race against time. 

Joshua Slocum is the third intrepid traveler who sailed around the world starting in 1895.  Steamships were coming in and sailing was going out but he set out on the first solo journey on the seas in his sailboat.  He faces times of loneliness and a lot of the pictures depict memories of a previous journey with his wife.  While each story depicts the emotions of the journey - this one particularly focuses in on  the emotional side of the journey.  

The three stories each focus in on a different mode of transportation and very different adventurers.  I loved this book.  The illustrations tell a large portion of the story and do very well at depicting the humor and the hardships of the journeys.  I think the more muted color choices also lend to transporting the reader to the time period. This is a fantastic look into the changing modes of transportation in the 1800's and especially into the fascination of world travel at that time.  

I read the entire story to myself and the first story of Thomas Stevens to my 7-year-old.  She really enjoyed that story and is excited for the other two stories, but I would say that the targeted audience is probably a little older - perhaps 3rd or 4th grade and up.  


NON-FICTION MONDAY ROUND-UP

Over at Simply Science the World's Scariest Dinosaurs is being highlighted - a book that focuses on the "most extreme" of the bad guys.  


Shelf-employed reviews a new series of books for young readers - All about Nature - perfect for igniting backyard discovery this summer. 


NC Teacher Stuff highlights Clothesline Clues to Jobs People Do - a book geared toward pre-k and K that has visual clues for the reader to guess the occupation on each page.  


100 Scope Notes reviews Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: One Dead Spy - a graphic novel about America's first spy.  

Jean Little Library reviews The Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea - a book about the Sea that also contains interactions for at home science experiments.  

At Booktalking, The Adventures of Medical Man: Kids' Illnesses and Injuries Explained is reviewed - using 5 different movie genres and one comic book to explain common illnesses and injuries.

MotherReader reviews Bird Talk: What Birds are Saying and Why - A picture book grouping birds together based on how they communicate. 

True Tales & A Cherry On Top reviews Martin de Porres: The Rose in the Desert - it tells the story of Martin de Porres - born into poverty and canonized into Sainthood.  

A Teaching Life reviews two books - The Boy Who Bit Picasso and The Mysteries of Angkor Wat.  

At Biblio File Running to Extremes: Ray Zahab's Amazing Ultramarathon Journey is reviewed - a story about Ray Zahab's journey from a directionless life to Ultramarathon winner.  


The Nonfiction Detectives reviews Little Rock Girl 1957 - tells about the Civil Rights movement and how one photo helped create change. 
Books 4 Learning reviews Henry Aaron's Dream - Henry had a dream to be a baseball player, only he didn't own a bat or a ball.  

Gathering Books reviews Music for Alice - the life story of Alice Sumada, a dancer in her late 80s.


Bookends reviews Mrs. Harkness and the Panda - the story of bringing pandas to the U.S. in 1934.


All About the Books with Janet Squires reviews The Beetle Book - a book about all things Beetle.  






  


17 comments:

shelf-employed said...

Good morning and thanks for hosting. I'm featuring a new series of books for very young readers, All About Nature. http://shelf-employed.blogspot.com/2012/07/can-you-find-these-review.html

Jeff Barger said...

Thank you for hosting this week! I can't imagine going around the world on that bike in the 19th century. At NC Teacher Stuff, I have posted a review of Clothesline Clues to Jobs People Do:

http://ncteacherstuff.blogspot.com/2012/07/nonfiction-monday-clothesline-clues-to.html

Scope Notes said...

Thanks for hosting! At 100 Scope Notes I review the first book in the Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales series, One Dead Spy. http://100scopenotes.com/2012/07/09/nonfiction-monday-one-dead-spy-by-nathan-hale/

Jennifer said...

I have a review of Helaine Becker's Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea http://jeanlittlelibrary.blogspot.com/2012/07/nonfiction-monday-big-green-book-of-big.html

Anastasia Suen said...

Thanks for hosting! At Booktalking, I'm reading The Adventures of Medical Man: Kids’ Illnesses and Injuries Explained. (It's five different movie genres and one comic book!) http://wp.me/pa8jB-1sP

MotherReader said...

MotherReader is in with a review of Lita Judge's "Bird Talk" at

http://www.motherreader.com/2012/07/nonfiction-monday-bird-talk.html

Thanks!

Jeanne Walker Harvey said...

Thanks for hosting today and sharing AROUND THE WORLD. I've very intrigued to read this new graphic novel, particularly the section about Nelly Bly.

At True Tales & A Cherry On Top, I've featured Martin de Porres - The Rose in the Desert.

http://jeannewalkerharvey.blogspot.com/2012/07/martin-de-porres.html

Tara @ A Teaching Life said...

Thanks for hosting today, and sharing this marvelous book. I have reviews of two books - one about Picasso and the other about Angkor Wat.
http://tmsteach.blogspot.com/2012/07/its-monday-and-heres-what-im-reading.html

Jennie said...

Thanks for hosting! I'm in today with the Cybil nominated Running to Extremes.

http://www.jenrothschild.com/2012/07/nonfiction-monday-running-to-extremes.html

The Nonfiction Detectives said...

Thanks for hosting! Over at The Nonfiction Detectives blog we have a review of Little Rock Girl 1957.

http://www.nonfictiondetectives.com/2012/07/little-rock-girl-1957.html

Ryan said...

Thanks for putting this together. It's a great resource. The summer is a particularly good time for kids and adults alike to dive into great non-fiction books.

Books4Learning said...

Thanks for hosting. Please add my review of Henry Aaron's Dream. http://books4learning.blogspot.com/2012/07/nonfiction-monday-henry-aarons-dream-by.html

Janet S. said...

Thanks for hosting.
My garden is awash in Lady Bugs which aren't bugs at all, but one of many varieties of beetles. So it seemed appropriate that today's selection is "The Beetle Book" written and illustrated by Steve Jenkins.

GatheringBooks said...

Hi Camille, thanks for hosting. I have a picture book biography contribution by Allen Say - "Music for Alice." Here is the link: http://gatheringbooks.wordpress.com/2012/07/09/nonfiction-monday-music-for-alice-by-allen-say/

Cindy Dobrez said...

Bookends is exploring Mrs. Harkness and the Panda by Alicia Potter. http://bookends.booklistonline.com/2012/07/09/mrs-harkness-and-the-panda-by-alicia-potter/
Thanks for hosting!

cleemckenzie said...

These are such interesting non-ficiton books for kids. Appreciate your posting them. I'm in sore need of some good non-fiction for a summer reading program.

Thanks so much.

Anonymous said...

Two we love are "The Strongest Man in the World," by Nicolas Debon, and "Stand Straight, Ella Kate," by Kate Klise. Oh, and "The Man Who Walked Between the Towers" by Mordicai Gerstein. Love all these other suggestions! -Gail Viechnicki