Bookcases. Bookaholics can't live without bookcases.

Some years ago I attended Science Fiction Convention, one of many that I attended during that time period.  Late on the last day (it always was held during a 3-day weekend), there was a panel discussion about -- Bookcases.  Being a bibliophile myself, who lived in a house with built in bookcases, plus being a librarian, naturally I was interested.

Bookcases.
Everyone on the panel agreed that you never have enough of them.
(so did everyone in the audience)

We were entertained with the tales of
-- how they managed to squeeze in 'just one more' bookcase into their tiny apartments.
-- how they struggled to transport them when they moved.
-- types of bookcases
-- and so on.

Well,
when I moved to California this past August, I did a horrible thing. I went through the whole collection of books (many left to me from previous generations), boldly making decisions as to what I'd bring and what was going to be left for the booksellers.  (the very HAPPY booksellers, I might add) And I chose which free-standing bookcases to bring.

Weight was a problem. (did you know that movers charge by WEIGHT?) I knew that moving across country was going to be very expensive. (didn't know it would be almost $10,000, though.)
So I chose only two tall bookcases. And one short bookcase for the 12-year old's collection of books.

Now, I can see you shaking your heads. You know already that this is going to end badly, don't you?  It was not enough bookcases. Once I unpacked and loaded one bookcase with nonfiction and the other with fiction, I was left with more boxes of books.

Off to Ikea.  A large bookcase made of cubes made a dandy place for my collection of picture books.  Easy-peezy.
A small, 4-cube bookcase became filled with CDs and DVDs.
Okay.
I decided I was a wiz at putting these together.  Now to put two small 4-cube ones together upstairs. But one wouldn't go together.  I tried and tried, but the middle shelf was a quarter inch too large making the screws in the top shelf unable to find their holes.  They just ground sawdust.

After sitting unfinished in my bedroom for several weeks, I finally gave up and returned the complete, but not yet finished bookcase to Ikea -- and they took it back.  Crossing fingers and toes that the replacement box has shelving the exact size and I get this new one together, so that I can unpack the last of my books.

Hey!  It's Nonfiction Monday and the roundup of interesting nonfiction books   Is being held at Lizann Flatt's blog, The Flatt Perspective.  Click on over and enjoy.
wo

Nonfiction Monday

Today's Nonfiction Monday is being hosted by Ana María Rodríguez at Ana's Nonfiction Blog.

Hey, great name!

Click away and enjoy.

Meanwhile, I'm also going to include some other Nonfiction -- namely, our beautiful grandson. One picture of the grandson with me and another of him with my husband and the ever wonderful Lancelot. (their dog)

-wo

Nonfiction Monday

For your weekly links to reviews of great Nonfiction books, click on over to Lori Calabrese Writes!

Nonfiction Monday

I'm at Vermont College of Fine Arts this week and next, but you can find Nonfiction Monday over at proseandkahn today.

Go, click, and enjoy.

wo

Nonfiction Monday

Nonfiction Monday is at Bookmuse today. Enjoy:

Nonfiction Monday

Today's Nonfiction Monday book reviews are at the Telling Kids the Truth blog.

Click away and enjoy.

To write or not to write, that is the question...

Sometimes you simply decide not to write a book because there's a much better one already on the shelves.

While I was visiting Colonial Williamsburg last summer, I sent the girls off to explore Williamsburg with a group of kids while I stayed in the motel, writing. At that point I was inspired to write a picture book biography of George Washington -- young George Washington, in fact.

During the fall, I did more research on the subject, including putting reserves on every picture book bio of him I could find in our library system.

But when I read Take the Lead, George Washington by Judith St. George, illustrated by Daniel Powers (NY: Philomel Books, 2005), I realized that there was no way I could do any better. This book is just about perfect.

It's written in an open, chatty style sure to appeal to child readers. Plus, I could detect no errors. (Every time I thought "But you didn't tell about..." the very next page described the person or event I had thought was going to be missing.)

Just a note: since I've already written a 128 page bio of George for Enslow that won a few awards, I've already done a lot of research into his life. Therefore, I was looking for very specific beats in his life. But even I was holding my breath as Judith St. George described his adventures in the wilderness. What exciting writing.

And -- she ended this book when George was sixteen, looking ahead to more adventure. Good spot to end it. This means she didn't have to get into the wrong decisions he made during the French and Indian war and the irresponsible way he treated his mother while he was at war.

Be sure to check out the other Nonfiction Monday posts at Tales from the Rushmore Kid.

Nonfiction Monday -- A Walrus' World

Caroline Arnold's Animals -- A Walrus' World. Picture Window Books, a Capstone imprint, 2010. Available now.

I was digging through the box of books that Capstone had sent me, looking for a book to review when I found one by my favorite easy reader nonfiction author, Caroline Arnold. When my own children were just learning to read and wanted information about animals, I always knew that Caroline Arnold would have something to interest them.

This series, however, isn't the photographic illustrated book I normally expect from her. This time around, she is illustrating the books herself with cut paper, instead. Which means, of course, that the double page scenes seem to be up close and personal.
Because she uses lines of paint as well as the cut paper, the walruses seem very real. (and very wrinkled, like they should be)

As the book progresses, a baby walrus grows up. During the summer, he and his mother joins a herd of female walruses, but in the winter several thousand male and female walrus join forces for protection and warmth. This is told in story format with yellow rectangles sprinkled on the pages offering more factual information about the beasts.

The book is square -- 11 inches on each size -- and could cause a problem in a library with tight shelving. As it is, it's just barely going to fit in my library with the 12 inch spacing between shelves.
For first and second grade readers.
(preschoolers would enjoy it being read to them because of the nice large pictures.)

Other books in this series --
A Bald Eagle's World
A Moose's World
A Polar Bear's World
A Kangaroo's World
A Koala's World
A Platypus' World
A Wombat's World
A Killer Whale's World
A Panda's World
A Penguin's World
A Zebra's World

More Nonfiction Monday reviews can be found at Diane Chen's SLJ blog, Practically Paradise.
Enjoy -wendieO

Nonfiction Monday - Little Kids First Big Book of Animals

National Geographic Little Kids First BIG Book of Animals by Catherine Hughes. 2010. Available now.

From the beginning photograph of the giraffe's head sticking out his purple tongue to the zebra at the end, staring at you as if asking if he can go home with you, this book is set up to fascinate youngsters and their older caretakers alike.

Thirty different animals are covered under chapters such as: Grassland, ocean, Desert, Forest, and Polar.

Don't let the 128 page thickness of the book put you off. This book is made for preschoolers and early readers. The wonderful National Geographic closeup photographs showing the animals in action or calmly watching the reader make you feel they are right in the room with you. And the large type, easy reading sentences simply invite early readers to come in and explore.

Despite the large size and thickness of the book, our material selectors have placed this book right where its readers can find it -- in the Easy Reading Nonfiction section of our libraries. (We have 10 branches in our library system.)

More Nonfiction Monday book reviews can be found at In Need of Chocolate blog.
-wendieO

Nonfiction Monday -- Calico Dorsey, Mail Dog

Calico Dorsey, Mail Dog of the Mining Camps by Susan Lendroth. Illustrated by Adam Gustavson. Tricycle Press, 2010. Available now.

Hey!
Did you know that Tricycle Press is now owned by Random House?
Me neither.

In the 1880s Dorsey, a border Collie, lived with Al, the storekeeper of the mining town of Bismark. Every week Al and Dorsey went to the town of Calico to pick up store supplies -- and the mail.

One week, Al decided it was too dang hot to make the trip over the mountain trail. (But Dorsey went anyway, to visit his Calico friends.) In fact, Dorsey visited more often than Al, every week.

Soon the men were attaching notes to Dorsey, back and forth, and eventually attached mailbags to his back. True story. A note in the back tells about the real Calico and even has a photograph of him.

This picture book biography of a Mail Dog should appeal to first and second grade readers as well as preschool listeners.

Links to more Nonfiction Monday blogs are listed at Write about Now.

Nonfiction Monday -- Tornadoes

Tornadoes by Mari Schuh. a part of the Earth in Action series from Capstone Press, 2010. Available now. (copy donated by the publisher)

As is the usual with Pebble books from Capstone, large page or page and a third photographs on the right are paired with two or three short sentences on the left. A glossary at the back of the book defines some of the more difficult words. The concise wording gives the early reader an overview of what causes tornadoes and how to remain safe, while the final photographs show the devastation a tornado can do, ending with people helping people straighten up the mess.

Capstone hopes the readers will come away with a better understanding of what causes these weather events and how to stay safe should a dangerous situation arise.

Other books in the Earth in Action series are --
Avalanches, Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Tsunamis, and Volcanoes. Enough violence to satisfy a bloodthirsty preshooler or to tantalize a first grader into wanting to know more.

Be sure to click on over to Anastasia Suen's Picture Book of the Day blog and follow the links to more Nonfiction Monday blogs.
-wendieO

Nonfiction Monday Links

Busy, Busy this week. But still there are lots of Nonfiction blogs out there.
For my own Nonfiction enjoyment, I often visit Marc Aronson's blog Nonfiction Matters or the group blog, I.N.K.: Interesting Nonfiction for Kids.

Where's your favorite blog?

The Nonfiction Roundup for this Monday had been gathered at: Madigan Reads. Click on over and enjoy.
-wendieO

Nonfiction Monday is Here

Today is Monday and that means the bloggers are reviewing children's nonfiction books today. Here's a sampling. Click on the links and enjoy. And keep checking back because I'll be adding more links every few hours:

Jeanlittlelibrary has a review of Bug Zoo by Nick Baker.

Mary Ann Scheuer's blog at Great Kids Books this morning is a bit different from the usual. Instead of recommending a great book for kids, she is sharing a most useful resource for parents: Getting to Calm: Cool-headed strategies for parenting tweens and teens, by Laura Kastner and Jennifer Wyatt. She says, "It's been a great resource to me as I've entered the water of parenting a moody, temperamental tween!" Since I also have a tween in the house, I'd better check it out, myself.

Over at NCTEACHERSTUFF, Jeff Barger has reviewed Saltypie: A Choctaw Journey from Darkness into Light written by Tim Tingle; illustrated by Karen Clarkson.

Charlotte from Charlotte's Library is in with What Goes On In My Head? How your brain works and why you do what you do, by Robert Winston.

There's a real treat over at Shelf Employed -- an interactive interview with Janice Weaver, author of Hudson, a biography of Henry Hudson. Join in the interview and ask your own questions!

Sarah at In Need of Chocolate says she has reviewed two books on Egypt: Pharaoh's Boat and The Great Pyramid.

Anastasia Suen is enjoying Into the Deep: The Life of Naturalist and Explorer William Beebe by David Sheldon at Picture Book of the Day.

Angela Craft at Bookish Blather has a review of Russell Freedman's stunning The War to End All Wars.

Over at Playing by the Book, is a review of Where Does The Poo Go? by Caren Trafford, illustrated by Jade Oakley.

There's a review of Insects: Biggest! Littlest! written by Sandra Markle at the Wild About Nature blog.

Shirley at SimplyScience today discusses the classification of Protists by Steve Parker. What are Protists? You'll have to check out her blog to find out.

This is Banned Book Week and MsMac over at MacLibrary talks about her experience with book banning.

Margo at the Fourth Musketeer reviews a new edition of the picture book, Old Abe, Eagle Hero: The Civil War's Most Famous Mascot, by Patrick Young.

The Allen County Public Library (in Indiana)will be holding their Mock Sibert discussion and Election on December 11. All sorts of great books are on the discussion list. Mandy invites all of you to please click here to add your voice to the discussion in the comment section of the ACPL Mock Sibert blog.

Carol Hinz points out that today at the Lerner books blog, she is kicking off a week focused on Rebecca L. Johnson's new book Journey into the Deep: Discovering New Ocean Creatures.

Wow, Becky has reviewed two books at two different blogs:
At Becky's Book Reviews, she has Liberty or Death by Margaret Whitman Blair.
And at Young Readers she reviews Lost Boy by Jane Yolen.

Lynne Marie on My Word Playground features a a spark of inspiration for nonfiction writers. It's a writing prompt from nonfiction author, Lori Mortensen, whose nonfiction book, COME SEE THE EARTH TURN: The Story of Foucault's Pendulum, just came out. The interview also features another of her non-fiction books,In the Trees, Honey Bees!

Tammy Flanders at Apples with Many Seeds looks at the book Kakapo Rescue: saving the world’ strangest parrot by Sy Montgomery.

At The Cat & The Fiddle, Michelle Markel explores the many possibilities of picture book biographies.

Middle-school librarian, Cindy Dobrez at the Booklist blog, "Bookends," is reviewing Young Zeus by G. Brian Karas this week.

Jennie at Biblio File analyzed a book for adults who work with children's literature, From the Beast to the Blonde: on Fairy Tales and their Tellers by Marina Warner.

Janet Squires at All about the Books with Janet Squires selected I Spy Shapes in Art by Lucy Micklethwait.

Tina Nichols Coury ­ at Tales From the Rushmore Kid interviews author Vicki Oransky Wittenstein, where she describes what
inspired her to write about astronomer Geoff Macy. The title of her book is Planet Hunter: Geoff Marcy and the Search for Other Earths.

And, there's even a PODcast.

Children's NF author Mary Kay Carson talked about her new Scientists in the Field book, The Bat Scientists, on a local NPR radio show over the weekend called Field Notes with Thane Maynard, director of the Cincinnati Zoo.
Click here for The Bat Scientists author, Mary Kay Carson's interview. (I hope these links work.)

Nonfiction Monday

To satisfy your Nonfiction needs for today, click on over to the wrapped in foil blog.

Nonfiction Monday -- How to clean a Hippopotamus

How to Clean a Hippopotamus -- a look at unusual animal partnerships by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. NY: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2010. Available now.

How DOES a turtle keep a hippopotamus clean?
or for that matter -- what are those birds doing with those animals?
Oxpecker and Giraffe?
Plover and Crocodile?
Cattle egret and waterbuck?
Coyote and badger?
All of them are either cleaning one another, or are hunting together. Most every partnership has been formed to help each other get food or for protection.

The Honeyguide can't get into the bee's nest, so it finds a honey badger, leads it to the nest and waits until the badger has torn it apart. Neither could get the delicious honey without the other.

This great book about Symbiosis for first or second graders is illustrated by Steve Jenkins's collage. But this time, instead of stark cut-paper, the cut-paper serves to give the animal a three dimensional look while shading and stippling on the animal gives them texture.

Ah, the HM website has this neat tidbit about the co-authors:
"Robin Page lives in Boulder, Colorado, with her husband and collaborator, Steve Jenkins, and their three children. Along with writing and illustrating children's books, Steve and Robin run a graphic design studio." Check it out. They're much younger than I had imagined, considering the number of books they've produced over the years.

More Nonfiction Monday reviews can be found at The Booknosher's blog.
-wendieO

Nonfiction Monday -- Frogs and Toads

What's the Difference between a Frog and a Toad? by Mary Firestone. Illustrated by Bandelin Dacey. Picture Window Booka/ Capstone Press, 2010. Available now.

Well, there I was -- sitting at the pool in 90 degree weather -- every so often jumping in to cool off. Soaking up rays and doing book reviews.
Hmmmm, sez I, a frog and toad book would be good for poolside.

I'm a sucker for a well-illustrated book and this one meets those standards. Large frogs on the left hand page of a double page spread, which the writer compares to the large toad on the right hand side. Perfect for showing to large groups, if you are in a frog mood.

Are there differences between frogs and toads? Aren't they the same kinds of animals? Well some things are the same. Their long sticky tongue is as long as one-third of their body length and they eat similar kinds of bugs.

But many things are different. Take, for example, their feet. Toads are land animals with a rougher, tougher skin and toes on their feet so they can walk and hop on land. Frogs are smooth-skinned with webbed feet. And some of them have sticky pads on their feet to make it easy to climb trees. (and houses and even glass windows)

Two pages of back matter: Index, Fun Facts, Glossary, Bibliography of easy readers, plus safe internet sites.

More Nonfiction Monday book reviews can be found at Lori Calabrese's blog. (and when I figure out when she's going to post those links, I'll insert it here.)
-wendieO

Nonfiction Monday -- How Do Animals Keep Clean?

How Do Animals Keep Clean? by Faith Hickman Brynie. Illustrated by photographs -- various photographers given credit. Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2010.

Interesting -- this series of books (I Like Reading about Animals!) is written on two reading levels. The first sentences on the page are short and easy to read. Then a longer paragraph (in a colored box) gives more information about the animal. Good for parent/ child sharing or teacher/ child sharing.

"What is this Lion doing?" introduces a page explaining how cats lick themselves clean -- but shows lions doing it.

"Is this eel going to eat the shrimp?" Good question? Actually the shrimp is cleaning the eel's teeth.

"Why is this zebra rolling in the dust?" The same reason birds 'dust' themselves. (although the book doesn't say this, but some parents and children might know.) To get insects out of their hair.

Three books and two websites are listed in the "Learn More" area.
Plus a very detailed index.
Where is the glossary? -- A "Words to Know" section is at the FRONT of the book, right after the table of contents.

You'll find more Nonfiction Monday reviews at Rasco from RIF's blog, today.
-wendie O

Nonfiction Monday

I"m on a train coming home from a great Novel Workshop in Vermont.
However, Nonfiction Monday goes on without me over on the Books Together blog.
Click on over and enjoy.
-wendieO

Nonfiction Monday -- Meet the Howlers!

Meet the Howlers! by April Pulley Sayre. Illustrated by Woody Miller. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge, 2010. Available now.

I have to say that every book by April Pulley Sayre is a delight and this is no exception.


Meet the howlers!
Living life on the go.
Meet the Howlers! who-hoo-hoo!
Ah-Uh-Oh!
(I probably would have put a couple of more exclamation marks after that last howl, just because I have heard Howler monkeys howl and the noise seems to echo everywhere.)

The double page spread continues, in smaller typeface, with facts about this howl -- only males can do it and they can be heard a mile away.

Each page uses this technique. Adults can simply read the rhythmic phrases to preschool children, treating this like a picture book story. Or adults and early readers can include the informational part before they turn the page. (Two types of books for the price of one.)

Because the monkeys spend most of their time in the treetop canopy, the illustrator has made the background for each illustration multi-shades of green, with an occasional glimpse of tree trunk or sky. Nicely done. It keeps your eyes focused on the Howler family's life.

The last pages have a map showing the monkey's range in Central America including parts of Mexico and Colombia and Ecuador. Another page has more nonfiction facts about howler monkeys.

This is what the publisher says about this book:
Meet the bad boys (and girls) of the primate world. Playful, poetic text and vibrant art introduce young readers to howler monkeys. Extra facts within the text give readers the low-down on these loud, sloppy, and rude rain forest dwellers.
This book is good for your brain because:
Habitats, Poetry, Emergent Reader, Life Science

And there you have it. Another fun presentation of animal life by the marvelous April Pulley Sayre.
You can read more about how this naturalist researches her books by reading the I.N.K (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids) blog. (click on the link) The blog is run by a group of nonfiction writers and April posts once a month.

More Nonfiction Monday can be found at the SimplyScience Blog.
Enjoy.
-wendieO

Nonfiction Monday -- The Best of Figure Skating

The Best of Figure Skating by Kathy Allen. Mankato, MN: Capstone Press, 2010. The Best of Pro Sports series from the First Facts imprint.

During the Olympics, what better book to check out than one giving you a quick background of some of the best moments in Figure Skating.
(I confess, figure skating is my very, very favorite.)

From 1968 when Peggy Flemming won the only Gold Medal for the United States to the fierce competition between Johnny Weir and Evan Lysacek from 2004 to 2008, this book tries to hit the highs of the sport. (The attack on Nancy Kerrigan might be considered one of the Lows, but the book focuses on her competing in the Olympics while injured and winning the silver.)

The book varies between a double-page spread about one skater (or a pair) with sections discussing two different skaters. It's hard to summarise a skater's career in 5 sentences, but that's what this book attempts to do. Nice photographs, too.

The readers this is aimed at won't know any of these skaters, but their parents will remember having seen their wonderful performances. Torvil and Dean -- who can forget their 1984 performance to the music of Bolero? I wonder if it can be found on U-Tube? Almost everything else is there. It changed the whole course of Ice Dancing from Ballroom Dancing to the variety of modern dance. (not that this book says that -- but I couldn't help mentioning it.)

Glossary, three-book bibliography, and safe internet sites.

More Nonfiction Monday posts can be found at The Art of Irreverence. Click and enjoy.
-wendieO