Nonfiction Monday is HERE!

If you are a fan of nonfiction, keep checking back to this blog post.
All day long I'll be collecting links to posts all over the KidLithosphere that you can click on to reach all sorts of interesting nonfiction -- books, articles, and blog posts.

By Tuesday morning, I should have quite a long roundup here.
Enjoy.
-wo

To kick us off, Lisa at Shelf Employed is relieved that Finally there's a New Book featuring the career of Librarianship -- A Day with Librarians by Jodie Shepherd, coming out from Scholastic 2013.

Tara at A Teaching Life shares two books she uses all the time:
1)  Shh! We're Writing the Constitution by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Tomie de Paola originally published by Harcourt Houghton Mifflin, which shows all the juicy backstabbing stories, the secret agreements and deals (you wanna know just why certain things were left out of the Constitution?) and the heated arguments... Hey, it sounds just like politics today.

2) She uses Pricilla Cumming's Red Kayak to teach many strategies of reading realistic fiction and recognizing plot structure. (available in paperback from Puffin Books.)

Poet Laura Salas reviewed a poetry book (of course) on her blog -- Eight Days Gone by from Charlesbridge, 2012.  Its a rhyming picture book that tells the tale of the first lunar landing and is perfect for any kids who are nuts about science.

Wow, did you know that there are people who run shelters for abused city chickens? Louise at Nonfiction Detectives discovered that this is what the book, City Chickens, by Christine Heppermann (Houghton Mifflin, 2012) is all about.

Amy at Hope Is the Word talks about Island, a Story of the Galapagos written and illustrated by Jason Chin, a new book at Roaring Brook Press, 2012.  Fascinating story of the evolution of these islands from their volcanic birth to their eventual disappearance, including the development of variations of life on them.

Two books about Abraham Lincoln are reviewed by Alice at Supratentorial. Lincoln Tells a Joke by Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer focuses on Lincoln's sense of humor while What Lincoln Said is a picture book biography.

Jennifer at the Jean Little Library blog brings our attention to Moonbird by Philip Hoose which follows this bird's year long trip as it flies practically around the world -- from Tierra del Fuego near the South Pole all the way to the Arctic in the north.

Although most sea birds lay their eggs on a rocky shore or in a burrow, author/ illlustrator Joan Dunning discovered one that does not.  Deborah at The Swimmer Writer blog reviewed Joan's book: Seabird in the Forest, the Mystery of the Marbled Murrelet, published by  Boyds Mill Press, 2011.

Oh boy.  I love holidays, don't you?  Then you might enjoy the gorgeous Lighting Our World:  A Year of Celebrations by Catherine Rondina illustrated by Jacqui Oakley, published by Kids Can Press, 2012. You'll find Perogyo's review for it over on the Perogies and Gyoza, adventures in books and bilingualism blog.

Sue at Archimedes Notebook checked out tales of animal tails today with What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. Houghton Mifflin, 2003. Sounds like FUN.

Over at True Tales and a Cherry on Top, Jeanne features the impossibly wonderful Magritte's Marvelous Hat which was inspired by a real person -- the surrealist artist Rene Magritte. Written and illustrated by J.B. Johnson, Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2012.

Lynn Rutan at the Bookends blog reviewed How to Raise Monarch Butterflies: a Step-by-Step Guide for Kids by Carol Pasternak, published by Firefly, 2012.  Like her, I also tried getting butterflies to hatch in my library and would have found this book to be very useful to have on display near the cocoons while we waited, and waited, and waited for them to hatch.  (We gave prizes to the people who guessed the closest to the date when the butterflies would emerge.)

Shirley at the Simply Science blog didn't just review a book -- she asked the author, Darcy Pattison to be a guest blogger today, TALKING about how she researched her book, Desert Baths (Sylvan Dell, 2012 illustrated by Kathleen Reitz), and the animals she met. How did she manage to include the desert Tarantula in her book even though it never needs to take a bath?  Click on over to see.

All About the Books with Janet Squires reviews The 13 Nights of Halloween, written and Illustrated by Guy Vasilovich (Harper, 2011).  Inspired by The 12 Days of Christmas, Vasilovich gives his young readers a ghoulish countdown to Halloween. "On the first day of Halloween, my mummy gave to me...."  Ooooh, I like it already.

A review of The Emily Sonnets: The Life of Emily Dickinson by Jne Yolen and Illustrated by Gary Kelley is at the Wrapped in Foil blog today. This is a lovely book of 16 sonnets that reveal the life of poet Emily Dickinson.  Should this book be shelved in biographies (a picture book biography), or in the poetry section of your library?  Roberta's review makes the case for both.  What do you think?

Just in time for the World Series playoffs, Iron Guy Carl has reviews of two baseball books on his Boys Rule Boys Read blog:
1) Ballpark written and illustrated by Lynn Curlee, Athenum, 2005. Are all ballparks the same?  Not according to this book. Ballpark stadiums are a vital part of baseball and yet they are hardly ever shown or mentioned on TV. But your avid baseball fan will love knowing all the background facts revealed here.

2) Heroes of Baseball: The Men Who Made It America's Favorite Game by Robert Lipstye, Athenum, 2005. Why did nobody like Ty Cobb, even though he was probably the greatest baseball player who ever lived? Hey, did you know that Yogi Berra was not his real name.  You can find this out and much much more in this book about famous and not-so-famous baseball players.

That's All Folks.  Thank you for coming.
wo