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Terezin: Voices from the Holocaust Ruth Thomson

The Terezin ghetto was a holding center for Jews on their way east to Auschwitz. Terezin remains a bit of a “special case” in the historical record of concentration camps. There was a propaganda workshop here and many of the slave artists stole supplies and created an alternate visual record of their reality. These works were hidden and survived the war. Terezin was also used for a propaganda film to show the world that it was a model village where the Jews lived normal lives.

Thomson lets the residents of Terezin tell their own tale. Each page spread has a different subject, in roughly chronological order. There is a paragraph or two of introduction, then quotations from the people who were there, as well as large illustrations-- either photographs or the surviving work of the artists.

The design is crisp and clean.

The problem in the this approach is that it ends up a bit detached. The lack of overall narrative and the brief introductions don’t provide enough context and, as with many remembrances of extremely traumatic events, the quotations tend to be factual and unemotional. As such, the book doesn’t give a true sense of the scope and the horror of what happened, or what was different about Terezin.

It needed more to put these voices into context.

Today's Nonfiction Monday round up is over at Ana's NonFiction Blog. Be sure to check it out!

Book Provided by... my local library

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50 Poisonous Questions: A Book With Bite Tanya Lloyd Kyi, illustrated by Ross Kinnard

I'm not familiar with the other books in the 50 Questions series, but this book makes me want to check the rest of them out.

This book has everything for high reader appeal-- gross out factor, easy to browse, funny illustrations, and good information.

Each chapter has several questions on a topic (such as bugs, or environmental disasters) with information answering the question, quick "foul facts" and some other related sidebars and pages. At the end of each chapter, it describes a hypothetical situation and using the information you just learned, you can guess the poison and how it was delivered.

I really like that it covered more than just natural poisons. Yes, lots on spiders and snakes and plants, but also poison gas, terrorism, and chemical spills. It does a great job of exploring some dark areas without getting too dark. It also covers large areas of time-- everything from poisons in the ancient world to modern environmental spills and the Tokyo sarin gas attack.

It's a fascinating and fun book that grosses you out without freaking you out.

Rasco from RIF is hosting today's Nonfiction Monday round-up. Be sure to check it out!


Book Provided by... the publisher, for Cybils consideration

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Start It Up: The Complete Teen Business Guide to Turning Your Passions into Pay Kenrya Rankin

This book covers EVERYTHING teens need to know about starting their own business. Picking a business, writing a business plan, the legal stuff, balancing school + work + life, hiring employees, dealing with cranky customers, marketing, what to do with your business when you graduate high school, and even how to be a responsible corporate citizen.

There are sample forms, lots of examples from other teen entrepreneurs all in an easy-to-read and use format. This is so well done, I’d recommend it to adults wanting to start their own business. I mean, it even makes the insurance stuff sound interesting!

BUT. There are some serious copy-editing/design issues. Sentences start and when you turn the page, a new chapter begins and the sentence never ends. This happens more than once.

It’s such a shame, because this book could be truly excellent. It’s so useful and deserved so much better.

Despite the errors, I still recommend it. Just not as highly as I want to.

Today's Nonfiction Monday is over at Booktalking. Be sure to check it out!

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Digging for Troy: From Homer to Hisarlik Jill Rubalcaba and Eric H. Cline

Hollywood's portrayals of archaeologists, such as the classic Indiana Jones, are about as close to the truth as Mickey Mouse is to a real mouse. Yet Hollywood may have gotten something right in their swashbuckling adventures. Sometimes the fantastical details of a legend really do stir adventurers into action.

Thus begins this interesting look at the legend of Troy, the people who tried to find it, what they discovered, and how archaeological practice has changed over time.

Heinrich Schliemann wanted to be remembered, and what better way to ensure your play in history than by discovering Troy and proving Homer a historian as well as poet? Unfortunately, his way of doing archaeology destroyed a lot. But, in 1870, he started digging up Troy. The site is a layer of cities, built up at different times, and Schliemann bulldozed his way down to where he thought Homer's Troy lay. Ever since then, scholars have followed in his footsteps, sifting through the mess he made, finding the different layers, and arguing over which layer was Homer's Troy and how much of The Iliad is true, how much metaphor, how much legend and flight of fancy.

Rubalcaba and Cline do a great job of explaining changing practices, findings, and conclusions as they trace the history of Troy and of scholarship done on Troy, starting with Schliemann. I especially appreciated how they made each scholar's case for why a different layer of Troy was Homer's. There's excellent use of Grecian urn art as illustrations in the sections explaining Homer's story, and photographs and maps illustrating the sections on archaeology and modern findings.

There's not much here to interest fans of Greek myth or the ancient world, but there is a lot here for fans of archaeology and discovery.

Be sure to check out today's Nonfiction Monday Roundup over at Rasco from RIF!

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Tornado!: The Story Behind These Twisting, Turning, Spinning, and Spiraling Storms Judith Bloom Frandin and Dennis Brindell Frandin

Do you know what's more terrifying than a tornado? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

One of the nice things about moving from the Midwest to the DC area is I no longer spend all my time in the basement, freaking out about a Tornado Warning. Or ready to sprint to the basement because of a Tornado Watch.

Tornadoes scare the ever-long !@!@#@#% out of me.

This book full of science, facts, survivor stories, and giant pictures of TORNADOES.

It's pretty cool and, if you're me, a little terrifying. I do really like how much it covers in the different areas while not being overwhelming or too advanced for solidly middle grade readers. I also think the design is wonderful-- large pictures, good graphics, great pull quotes and pull-out boxes make for a wonderful design.


Today's Nonfiction Monday round up is over at

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart Candace Fleming

Much of what we know about Earhart is myth and legend. Much of the myth and legend developed after her mysterious disappearance over the Pacific, but much of the myth and legend was invented by Earhart herself. In this stunning biography, Fleming strips backs the layers of the myth and legend to show us a woman who soared to unimaginable heights, even if she did so in a different way than we thought.

Some cool things I learned--

Earhart had straight hair. To get that tousled, trademark look, she took a curling iron to it every morning.

She was the captain, but not the pilot on her first trans-Atlantic flight.

She and her husband were excellent at marketing Earhart as a brand, the money that resulted allowed her to keep flying. Part of this marketing was deliberately playing with and highlighting the physical similarity between Earhart and Charles Lindbergh.

What I really liked about this book was the structure. It starts with the crew of the Itasca, a Coast Guard cutter off the coast of Howland Island, waiting for Earhart. When she doesn't arrive, it then jumps back to her early childhood. In between the chapters of her life, sections chronicle the search for Earhart and some of the eeriness of her disappearance-- including the stories of several people who claimed they heard her distress calls over their short-wave radios. Even though we know how the story ends, these interspersions keep the tension high as everyone's on edge, listening to the radio static, hoping to hear a voice.

Overall, it's an excellent biography that sheds new light on a person and events we thought we knew.

Today's Nonfiction Monday Roundup is over at Practically Paradise.


Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

The Mysteries of Angkor Wat Richard Sobol

When Sobol lived out a life-long dream to photograph the ancient ruins at Angkor Wat, he found something completely unexpected. When he gets to the temple complex, he is surrounded by children selling souvenirs. Anyone who's been to a developing nation tourist destination is used to this swarm of kids. Instead of pushing through, he takes their photograph and asks them to show him their favorite spot in the ruins. They will if show them their special dee no soo he comes back to see them. Sobol asks everyone and no one knows what the dee no soo is.

The book then delves further into the life of the children who grow up around the complex-- their school day (they start learning English early so they can more easily talk with international tourists) games they play, and extra-curriculars (like traditional dance classes.)

Eventually, he finds the kids again and they take him to see the super-special dee no soo. I won't say what it is, but it's so amazingly awesome. It's a something tourists won't see and it's something that only a kid would notice. It's perfect.

By focusing on the children, Sobol makes this book very kid-friendly. It's not a report book on Angkor Wat, but a great story about modern kids growing up next to something ancient. At the same time, there's great information and photographs introducing the Cambodian temple complex to readers. I love that he stopped to talk to the kids and thought to ask them what their favorite part of the complex was-- he discovered something he never would have seen.

The whole thing is really very cool.

Today's Nonfiction Roundup is over at A Curious Thing.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and its Legacy Albert Marrin

It's probably about time I got around to reviewing the book that I nominated for the MG/YA Nonfiction Cybils.

While this book is about the tragic fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, it's about so much more. Much of the book is about placing the fire in context. We're more than half-way through the book before the actual fire. Marrin instead details the immigration boom between the Civil War and WWI. He explores the tenements and the life that many of the Triangle workers led. There's some great stuff on photographer Jacob Riis and income inequality on Manhattan. There's a history of the sweatshop and how garment manufacture moved from home-based piecework to the factory. We also get information on the labor movement up until that point in time.

And then comes the devastation of the fire and the aftermath-- both in the local sense of judgements and sentences handed down (or not) and the larger impact on worker's rights.

There's also great information on how the mob became linked with unions and the history of the garment industry since the Triangle fire.

I most appreciated the end section on the modern sweatshop and the double-edged sword of sweatshop labor. Not even that it allows us cheap clothing, but that while, to a Western eye, these jobs seem horrible and inhumane, often in the locale of the sweatshop, its seen as a very good job with a much higher earning potential and better working conditions than anything else out there. It's a complicated issue that has more gray than we like to think, and I was happy to see it so well presented in a book for younger readers.

All in all the fire, the context, and the effects are presented and explained really well. There are several black-and-white photographs to illustrate the text and bring turn-of-the-century New York to life.

Today's Nonfiction Monday Round-up is over at Books Together.


Book Provided by... my wallet

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way) Sue Macy

This is a very interesting book because it’s not just a look at bicycle history and how bicycle-mad America was in the late 19th century, but an in-depth look at how the bicycle helped the cause of women’s rights.

The bicycle allowed women greater freedom of movement and an acceptable way to exercise. In order to take part in its popularity, dress had to change and become less restrictive-- good by corsets, hello bloomers! (Did you know that the reason girl bikes don’t have that top bar is to make room for the heavy skirts worn at the time?) I also loved how women’s groups and farmers worked together to call for greater paving of roads-- and how the bicycle helped phase out horses in the years leading up to the automobile.

The design is wonderful-- frequent pull out boxes/side bars show different ways bikes were seen in pop culture-- one’s on racing, one on songs about biking (including, of course “Daisy Bell” aka “Bicycle Built for Two”) , one on bicycles used in advertising, etc, etc.

Lots of primary sources including frequent newspaper articles from around the country and big photographs. I especially loved that not all the photographs were of white riders-- there are a few of African-American women riding their bikes, too.

A refreshing quirky history that was very enjoyable to read.

OH! And a personal surprise-- the forward was written by Leah Missbach Day, the founder of World Bicycle Relief and MY OLD CAMP COUNSELOR. What?!

Today's Nonfiction Monday roundup is over at Playing By the Book.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

The Many Faces of George Washington: Remaking a Presidential Icon Carla Killough McClafferty

George Washington is forever etched into our minds as an old man with a clenched mouth and a powdered wig-- the same way he appears on the $1 bill. Or maybe a slightly more majestic side view from the quarter.

But George Washington was not always old and everyone who knew him said that no painter ever got his likeness quite right.

So... what did George Washington really look like?

The staff at Mt. Vernon wanted to find out and they wanted to make three statues of Washington-- one at 19, when he was a surveyor, one at 45 when he was a General in the Revolution, and one at 53, when he was being sworn in as the President.

The book is two-fold-- one part is history and explores who Washington was at the time-- how his actions and events shaped the man. The other part is science, technology and art-- how they determined what Washington looked like and then used that knowledge to make the statues. They couldn’t disturb Washington’s remains and just x-ray them to get a good sense of skull shape, so instead they looked at one bust that had been made from a mask taken of Washington’s face. They aged it up and down. They looked at his tailoring orders to learn about his body shape and how his clothes fit.

It’s a fascinating read. I already knew a bit about this due to a local news story (Mt. Vernon’s just a few miles away from my house) but I enjoyed learning more about the process (and now want to make the jaunt over to see the statues in person.) I think kids will be really interested to learn in more concrete terms that history’s figures aren’t perpetually frozen in time in their most iconic portraits or photographs-- they used to be kids, too and when they were, they just didn’t look like short versions of themselves. The process they went through to reconstruct Washington at different time periods is also a bit like a CSI or Bones episode, so that’s always cool.

A very neat book.

Today's Nonfiction Monday roundup is over at Charlotte's Library!

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

If I were to ask you who was the inventor of human flight, how would you answer? Would you rack your brain for school memories and then come up with the Wright brothers? Would you be surprised and interested if you then found out that perhaps it wasn’t the Wright brothers after all, but someone else entirely?

The Fabulous Flying Machines of Alberto Santos-Dumont by Victoria Griffith, illustrated by Eva Montanari is one of the most enjoyable nonfiction picture books I’ve read this year and it tells the story of one Alberto Santos-Dumont, a Brazilian living in Paris at the turn of the 20th century, who, it turns out, has a very good claim on being the inventor of the airplane.

Alberto Santos-Dumont, inspired by a childhood passion for Jules Vernes, was crazy about inventing flying machines. He was famous across Paris for his preferred mode of city transport – his own private airship, a dirigible, which he used like an airborne taxi to take him to cafes and shops around town. But like many inventors Santos-Dumont didn’t sit still; he was knew “even the best inventions can be improved” and so he set about designing an airplane.

One chilly morning in November 1906, on the outskirts of Paris, Santos-Dumont promised to make the world’s first public airplane flight. Things didn’t get off to a good start when a rival would-be pilot turned up with his own airplane. But when this plane failed to make it off the ground, it was Santos-Dumont’s turn….

And he was off! Although he flew for barely more than 20 seconds, Santos-Dumont became the first person to lift off and land a completely self-propelled plane. Santos-Dumont was of course delighted: “these machines will mean the end of all wars. Once people are able to fly to different countries, they will see how much we have in common. We will all be friends.”

Victoria Griffith must have been jumping with delight as she gradually learned about Alberto Santos-Dumont; what better hero for a story could there be? He was a larger-than-life gentleman (he gave away most of the money he earned for his inventions), an eccentric, he played an important role in a world changing invention and he left a lasting legacy that you may well have heard of, even if you didn’t associate it with Alberto or had never knowingly heard his name before (there’s a clue in the picture below, but I’ll leave it for you to read the book to enjoy the story associated with it!)

Now it’s one thing to unearth a great story waiting to be told, but it’s quite another to weave it all together to create a narrative that grabs you from the outset, captures your imagination and makes you want to know more about the facts in question. Griffith does all of this perfectly, showing us a very important scientific truth along the way – that facts are often far more complicated than the received wisdom about them.

Eva Montanari’s illustrations, with e

Please Read (if at all possible): The Girl Project Kate Engelbrecht

From the title page:

In 2007 Kate Engelbrecht began sending cameras and questionnaires to teenage girls across the country. She asked them to use the camera to communicate their view of themselves ad the world around them. The questionnaires were based on the famous Proust Questionnaire, aimed at revealing a person’s true personality. Eventually, nearly 5,000 girls between the ages of 13 and 18 took part in the project. Girls from all parts of the country, of different backgrounds, faiths, and races, participated in what became know as The Girl Project. It is an account of teenage girlhood, experienced and communicated as only teenage girls know and understand.

The book is mostly the photographs that were taken, along with a few full questionnaires and some selected answers.

The photographs tend to show similar themes or poses, or direct juxtapositions. Every so often we’ll get someone's questionnaire-- in their handwriting. Then, we’ll get just one question and a few pages of answers from that question-- in each person’s handwriting.

I have a few complaints-- there were a few quotations that were used multiple times, like someone would have their entire questionnaire used and then some answers would also appear on the group answer section. If over 5,000 girls responded, surely they could have chosen someone else’s answer for the group answer section. Also, some questionnaires indicated that answers continued on the back, but the book only used the first page, so we didn’t get all of the answers.

That said, I loved this book. I love that it shows all types of girls and combats the popular culture view of girls as shallow, vapid, and mean. It shows the anger they have at being portrayed in such a way. It shows girls who feel stuck in small, conservative towns and can’t wait to get out. It shows girls who love where they live. It shows girls who love their boyfriends, girls confessing love to their best friend, girls who can’t get boys to notice them, girls who don’t want boys to notice them. It’s an important book and I think it’s one that teens will like, especially as it’s mostly photographs.

It’s a fascinating glimpse into the lives of real girls. Girls who aren’t nearly as messed up as we worry they are. Girls whose answers read exactly like mine would have when I was in high school. If at all possible, you should read this.

Check out today's Nonfiction Monday Roundup over at Jean Little Library.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

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By: Jennie, on 10/3/2011
Blog: Biblio File (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  YA, history, Nonfiction, nonfiction monday, standards in nonfiction, James L. Swanson, Add a tag

If I Had a Hammer: Building Homes and Hope with Habitat for Humanity David Rubel

Short version of this book:

1. Habitat for Humanity is the most awesome organization in the world.
2. Building houses for poor people is super-duper rewarding.
3. Building houses for poor people has lots of steps that change depending on location and size of the Habitat affiliate.
4. Habitat seriously rocks.
5. Religion drives you to do good stuff.
6. Habitat for Humanity is the most awesome organization in the world.
7. Building houses for poor people is super-duper rewarding.
8. Habitat for Humanity is the most awesome organization in the world.
9. Building houses for poor people is super-duper rewarding.
10. Habitat for Humanity is the most awesome organization in the world.

Ok, that was more snark than this book deserves, but...

The book really rubbed me the wrong way. It reads like a book-length promotional brochure for the organization (and I really like Habitat-- I've built houses for them!) and talks about how nice and rewarding it is to build houses for all those poor poor people who need someone to help lift them out of poverty. Occasionally, it felt a bit exploitative. Also, in focusing on Habitat's Christian roots, it really focused on how people's faith makes them volunteer. It was careful to point out that it's not just Christians feel this, but it did make it sound like you had to have religion in order to want to do good and help other people. Because atheists are just sacks of selfish pigs? I don't know.

I also feel that for a book focused on young readers, it doesn't offer any way for them to get involved to help Habitat, as the target audience for this book is too young to volunteer to build. There are ways for kids to get involved-- I know when I was a kid, my church was doing a Habitat build and the kids all made sandwiches and coffee and cookies and stuff to take over to the site to feed the volunteers. I'm sure there are other things that younger readers can do as well.

BUT! I did really like the look at the international, large scale projects. My experience with Habitat has been building a house in an existing neighborhood. A lot of the international projects involve building an entire village. I liked the discussion about how houses are designed and how local culture and customs are taken into account during the design process.

The book design was also clean and I liked the little side pictures of construction implements and what they're used for.

Today's Nonfiction Monday roundup is over at Tales from the Rushmore Kid.


Book Provided by... the publisher for 2009 Cybils consideration

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

2 Comments on Nonfiction Monday: If I Had a Hammer, last added: 9/19/2011

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Roberta said, on 9/19/2011 8:43:00 AM

Great review, it was a lot of fun to read. :-)

Myra Garces-Bacsal from GatheringBooks said, on 9/19/2011 6:18:00 PM

Love snarky commentaries! Hahaha. I enjoyed reading through your review and how refreshingly candid it was. I'm actually surprised you even reviewed the book at all, haha. It must have a few redeeming qualities then. :) Usually if I find the book a bit tiring, I hardly ever (if at all) review it, although on occasion I do write a few snippets here and there. I'm glad though that you shared with us your reservations about the book. :)

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By: Jennie, on 9/12/2011
Blog: Biblio File (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Nonfiction, Pakistan, nonfiction monday, Greg Mortensen, central Asia, Add a tag

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Journey to Change the World... One Child at a Time (The Young Reader's Edition) Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin, adapted by Sarah Thomson

Ok, so I read this before everything came out challenging the accuracy of Mortensen's story.

According to the book, after getting lost while coming off K2 after failing to reach the summit, Mortensen stumbled into a small Pakistani village. The villagers there took care of him as he regained his strength and health. When he saw that the kids had no school, but practiced writing in the mud every day even though a teacher only came three days a week, Greg promised to build the kids a school.

Raising the money and building the school was hard, but it got done and Greg built more schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He believes that through education comes peace.

Of course, now we're unsure how much of this really happened. BUT! Schools got built. Schools are good and I think that education brings economic prosperity and peace. Education is the key.

I tried to read the adult version of this and just couldn't get through it. The Young Reader's edition is much tighter! But, both books idolize Greg Mortensen. I guess it kinda makes sense, because the adult version was his memoir and I'm sure he meant it to also work as a fundraising tool for the Central Asian Institute. But, at the same time, these books present him as God's gift to the Pakistani people. Even before the revelations came out, I was questioning the book, because Greg just seemed too good to be real, like Nancy Drew or an Ibbotson romance heroine.

And it's sad that the book did this and it's sad that so much of the story might not be true, because it dilutes the importance and impact of education and schools. It dilutes the ways that kids here can help other kids around the world and promote friendship and understanding.

Today's round up is over at Wrapped in Foil.

Book Provided by... the publisher for Cybils 2009 consideration

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

1 Comments on Three Cups of Tea, last added: 9/13/2011

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Roberta said, on 9/13/2011 1:20:00 PM

Thanks for discussing this book. Sometimes when there is a backlash against someone, a lot of good is thrown aside.

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By: Jennie, on 9/5/2011
Blog: Biblio File (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Nonfiction, Mexico, Juvenile, Texas, nonfiction monday, exploration, Cybils, history, Add a tag

On the Texas Trail of Cabeza De Vaca Peter Lourie

There's a subset of children's nonfiction where a large part of the book is less about the result of research and more about the process of the research. Scientists in the Field does this and it's part of what made Ain't Nothing but a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry so awesome.

On the Texas Trail is about Lourie's attempts to retrace the journey of Cabeza de Vaca, a conquistador who was shipwrecked near Galveston, walked across Mexico to the Pacific and then back inland before hitting Mexico City, where he was able to get a ride back home to Spain. Throughout his travels, de Vaca was dependent on the Native Americans he met along the way. He learned many of their langauges and grew to respect them as people equal to Europeans.

There are competing theories on the route de Vaca took. Lourie very briefly discusses this, and very briefly discusses which path he thinks is the right one, and why. And then he very briefly discusses how he visits some points on that path to try to match them up with de Vaca's writings of his journies.

Overall, it was just too short to adequetely cover de Vaca, the scholarly controversy of the path of his journey, and Lourie's travels. I wanted and neede dmore. However, I really appreciate Lourie's honesty in his failures. He spends a large amount of time searching for a canyon of pine trees-- this canyon being on the key pieces of evidence. And he comes and sees and leaves. Only he didn't actually see what he thought he saw:

I was like the conquistadors blinded by their desire to find gold. I had seen what I wanted to see. In my desire for historical discovery, I had made pine trees out of cedars.

Roundup is over at Playing by the Book.


Book Provided by... the publisher for 2009 Cybils consideration

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

1 Comments on Nonfiction Monday: On the Texas Trail of Cabeza de Vaca, last added: 9/5/2011

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Playing by the book said, on 9/5/2011 11:50:00 AM

A bit of history completely new to me - thanks for the introduction!

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By: Zoe, on 9/4/2011
Blog: Playing by the book (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Nonfiction Monday, Add a tag

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By: Jennie, on 8/15/2011
Blog: Biblio File (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  history, school library journal, China, Nonfiction, nonfiction monday, professional literature, Add a tag

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By: Loree Burns, on 7/11/2011
Blog: Loree Griffin Burns: A Life in Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  books, nonfiction monday, Add a tag

BLIZZARD OF GLASS: THE HALIFAX EXPLOSION OF 1917
By Sally M. Walker
Henry Holt, 2011

Category: Middle Grade/Young Adult Nonfiction




I picked up an Advance Reader’s Edition of this book at the annual conference of the American Library Association last month. Technically, I am too biased to review it: Sally Walker is a friend and Henry Holt is publishing my own next book. But I’m not the sort of girl that would let those things sway her into praising a book she didn’t love ... and I love this book too much not to sing about it.

In 1917, a ship carrying munitions into Halifax Harbor collided with another ship, setting off what was then the largest man-made explosion in history. The accident happened on an otherwise humdrum December morning, and Sally Walker tells the story perfectly, bringing readers into Halifax, showing them around, feeding them breakfast, walking them to school, and leading them, moment by painstaking moment, toward the disaster that changed the community forever. She gives special attention to those facets of the story that will most intrigue young people, and she does so with respect and care for both her subjects and her readers.

This is narrative nonfiction at its finest, folks. A page-turner right out of the history books, a disaster story told not for its shock value, but for its enduring value. Today’s kids are surrounded by disaster—natural or manmade, real or in sound-byte. To some of them, it may feel as if disaster is a new thing, as if dealing with it is something humans are not equipped for. The fact is—and BLIZZARD OF GLASS readers come to understand this—we humans have dealt with disaster for our entire history. And time and again, we’ve come together, in community, to help one another through. That message rings powerfully in this book, and its why I made sure both my tweens had a chance to read it before I passed it along, with rave reviews, to my town librarian.

BLIZZARD OF GLASS will be available in bookstores on November 22, 2011. Don’t miss it!


Edited to add:

It's Nonfiction Monday, which means a gaggle of bloggers are talking about children's nonfiction. You can see a roundup of today's offerings at the proseandkahn blog. As always, you can read up on Nonfiction Monday celebrations at the official website.

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By: Tricia, on 5/22/2011
Blog: The Miss Rumphius Effect (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Nonfiction Monday, Add a tag

The eNature blog had an interesting post last week entitled Why Do Bird Eggs Vary In Shape and Color?. That and a trip to the lake to watch the baby goslings got me thinking about egg books.

Eggs, written by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by Emma Stevenson, is a gorgeous look at these extraordinary vehicles of early life. The book begins:

IT'S A QUIET CRIB.
It's a bobbing boat.
It's a private pond.
It's a room with no view.
It's walls to break through.
It's breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
It's an egg.

It goes on to discuss how all animals need to make more of their own kinds, and that while some animals give birth to live young, many animals lay eggs instead. Eggs are described as special worlds that provide everything a developing embryo needs to grow, from food and drink to oxygen. But embryos need more than this to survive. They need a hospitable climate, meaning they must not freeze of overheat. Singer goes on to describe the texture, shape, size and color of eggs. Readers learn about how many eggs different species lay, how they're protected by parents, nests, or both, and how they hatch. Emma Stevenson makes her debut as a picture book illustrator with this book and it is a beautiful first effort. The gouache paintings are finely detailed and offer a visual treat to accompany the text.

The book ends with a extensive series of notes, including information on protecting eggs, a glossary, source notes and wildlife organizations. A comprehensive index is also included.

I learned several new facts about eggs while reading this book. Did you know that ...

• Bird eggshells are always hard, but their texture varies? Some eggs feel soapy, while some are powdery.


• A flying fish's eggs have long threads to catch on to seaweed so they won't float into dangerous waters?


• A termite queen may lay as many as a billion eggs in her lifetime?

Overall, this is an informative and thoroughly engaging book. I highly recommend it.

Book: Eggs
Author: Marilyn Singer
Illustrator: Emma Stevenson
Publisher: Holiday House
Publication Date: 2008
Pages: 32 pages
Grades: 3-8
ISBN: 978-0-8234-1727-8
Source of Book: Personal copy purchased from a local independent bookstore.

If you are interested in some other books about eggs, check out my thematic book list on spring life that focused on eggs and life cycles.

This review was written for Nonfiction Monday. Head on over to Great Kid Books and check out all the great posts highlighting nonfiction this week.

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Charlotte said, on 5/23/2011 3:38:00 PM

This sounds fascinating! I'll look for it.

proseandkahn said, on 5/23/2011 5:48:00 PM

I have a weakness for bird books. Thanks for pointing me at this one. It looks gorgeous!<br /><br />brenda

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46. Lift the Flap and Learn: The Human Body

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By: Catherine Nichols, on 5/16/2011
Blog: The Cath in the Hat (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  nonfiction monday, Simply Science, Lift the Flap and Learn, Owl Books for Kids, The Human Body, Add a tag

Kids love books they can manipulate, whether they be pop-ups or lift-the-flaps. There's something satisfying about pulling a tab or lifting a shape to see what's hidden underneath. Babies have Pat the Bunny to mutilate. Toddlers and preschoolers, Where's Spot. But what about beginning readers?

The Human Body is perfect for this age group. Cleverly done, children can lift, slide, and pull to their heart's content, while picking up fascinating facts about how their bodies work. The book starts with a matter-of-fact account of how babies are made. (No tabs to pull or lift here!) Children then lift flaps to see the developing fetus and even get to help "deliver" the newborn when they pull the tab in the operating room. The next spread shows how babies grow and change into adults.

Kids are then introduced to some of the body's major systems (muscular, skeletal, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, nervous, and integumentary) with detours to explore the five sense and taste buds, as well as information on germs and how to take care of ourselves when we're sick.

My all-time favorite spread is called "Your Digestion." It shows how a forkful of broccoli works its way from the mouth through the intestines. The reader helps push the food down as it gets processed. When the tab at the bottom is pulled--out comes the poop. One review I read deplored this as being in questionable taste, but I think kids will appreciate this very graphic illustration of how food turns to waste. I know I did!

For the most part, the illustrations are cartoonish and not very detailed. The illustrator draws germs as weird-looking creatures with facial features. Yet they are realistic enough to portray essential information about the body accurately. The bones that make up a hand, for instance, are correct in number and size.

After pulling and lifting their way through this book, kids are sure to come away with plenty of questions of their own. So bone up on your anatomy and be prepared with your answers.

Lift the Flap and Learn: The Human Body
by Pascale Hedelin
illustrations by Robert Barborini
Owl Kids, 40 pages
Published: 2008
Book provided by publisher.

  This week's Nonfiction Monday Round-up is at Simply Science.



  

2 Comments on Lift the Flap and Learn: The Human Body, last added: 5/17/2011

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shelf-employed said, on 5/16/2011 3:56:00 PM

This sounds like a fun concept, although since this is a beginning reader, I'm trying to imagine what happens when the reader pulls the tab in the operating room! As for the poop, well, kids should love that one! I don't think that my library owns this title, I'll have to check on it.

Joan Kane Nichols said, on 5/17/2011 9:47:00 AM

Does the poop come out of the front of the body? That's how it looks in the illustration.

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47. if rocks could sing: a discovered alphabet by leslie mcguirk!

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By: Jama Rattigan, on 5/16/2011
Blog: jama rattigan's alphabet soup (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  book reviews, nonfiction monday, leslie mcguirk, alphabetica, Add a tag

#31 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.

"Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others." ~ Jonathan Swift




Oh. My. God.

This has got to be the most astonishing alphabet collection ever -- the coolest of the cool, the most unique and inspiring gift from nature anyone has ever received!

Some time ago, author/illustrator Leslie McGuirk began taking a closer look at the sedimentary rocks on a stretch of Florida beach near her home. These fascinating natural sculptures, smoothed and shaped by thousands of years of wave action, consisted of grains of sand and fossilized shell fragments "glued together" by a chemical in the seawater. Yes, they were all amazing and beautiful, each in its own way, but it was Leslie who noticed that some resembled letters of the alphabet.   

        
    
She soon became obsessed (my kind of woman), and began collecting these special letter rocks, as well as rocks resembling objects beginning with each letter. She did this for over ten years. Patient, persistent, eyes open, heart waiting. One by one, they revealed themselves to her. And now, she's sharing her collection with the world in her brand new book, If Rocks Could Sing: A Discovered Alphabet (Tricycle Press, 2011), which will be officially released on Tuesday, May 24th!

In her Author's Note, "Rock Talk," Leslie says: "Finding these letters, and rocks that looked like objects to match them, was a process of believing that anything is possible. These are beautiful sculptures, little works of art. I feel honored to share these rocks with the world. These compositions are intended to allow these rocks to speak for themselves . . . and for us to imagine what we would hear if rocks could sing." 

Leslie is here today to tell us more. You will no doubt be inspired to take a closer look at the world around you and marvel anew at the wonders of nature.

Jama: How and why did you start collecting alphabet shaped rocks?

Leslie: When I first moved to Florida, I started looking for shells, but they were all broken and not very interesting. So my brain switched gears and started to notice the rocks, which were truly odd little shapes. They became a total fascination for me. Suddenly I noticed letters, like L and C, which are easy to find, and then I started to think about writing out a word in stone. The obsession began!

Jama: What was the first alphabet rock you found?

Leslie: Probably a C or an L or an I. Those are pretty common.



Jama: Do you have a favorite?

Leslie: For sure the letter K, as I still have only one, after 10 years of looki

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48. Nonfiction Monday: Ultimate Guide to Bastketball

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By: Camille, on 4/4/2011
Blog: Book Moot (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Nonfiction Monday, basketball, Add a tag

 In honor of the Final Four which is here in town:

Ultimate Guide to Basketball: Facts, Stats, Stars and Stuff by James Buckley, Jr. Beach Ball Books, 2010 (review copy provided by the publisher)

In the style of Guinness Book of World Records and other "record" books this is a fun, start-anywhere-book of facts and information about basketball.  This is not a book with every conceivable stat and fact but at 160 pages, it does give  nice brief, overviews of the sport.  The focus is on professional basketball, the history of the game and the NBA. Lots of short, interesting (to me) descriptions of court positions and player roles, facts on steals, blocks, and assists are included.
So THAT is what a "pick and roll" is.

Legends of the game, including  Wilt Chamberlin, Bill Russell, Magic Johnson, and some of their stats are detailed.  Information about each NBA division and franchise is also included along with some "funky facts" about each team.  I did not know Mavericks guard Jason Terry wears 5 pairs of socks because it is "more comfortable" when he plays.

Two color printing with insets and fact boxes and balloons make this an accessible and entertaining overview of the game.
The Nonfiction Monday Roundup is at L.L. Owens!

0 Comments on Nonfiction Monday: Ultimate Guide to Bastketball as of 1/1/1900

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49. Spring Has Sprung!

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By: Catherine Nichols, on 3/21/2011
Blog: The Cath in the Hat (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  children's books about spring, Thomas Blackburn, nonfiction monday, Add a tag

Awake, thou wintry earth -
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!
~ Thomas Blackburn, "An Easter Hymn"

Sunday was the Spring Equinox. As if on cue, a robin made its first appearance in our backyard in eastern Pennsylvania. To celebrate the longer days of light, here are five books about Spring to share with young readers.

Spring: An Alphabet Acrostic
By Steven Schnur
Illustrated by Leslie Evans
Clarion, 1999

This book is out of print but well worth searching for. Starting with A for April (After days of/Pouring/Rain, the last/Ice and snow/Leave the earth.), each letter of the alphabet gets its own acrostic poem celebrating Spring. Vibrant linoleum-cut illustrations showcase Spring in all its glory.
 

A New Beginning: Celebrating the Spring Equinox
By Wendy Pfeffer
Illustrated by Linda Bleck
Dutton, 2008

This book explains in lyrical prose the science behind the Spring Equinox and shows how different cultures celebrate its arrival. Hands-on activities, such as growing a pot of wheat or barley as Iranian families do when celebrating the growing season, round out this informative book.

The Spring Equinox: Celebrating the Greening of the Earth
By Ellen Jackson
Illustrated by Jan Davey Ellis
Millbrook Press, 2003

Beginning with the Mayans of ancient Mexico, Jackson examines how different cultures throughout history have welcomed Spring.  Included are the familiar holidays of Easter and Passover, as well as lesser-known ones, such as No Ruz (Iranian) and Holi (Indian). And of course there is our brand new celebration of Spring: Earth Day.  

It's Spring!
By Samantha Berger and Pamela Chanko
Illustrated by Melissa Sweet

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booksdogsandfrogs said, on 3/21/2011 12:16:00 PM

These are some great titles, we have the other season acrostics, but not spring. It is funny that our library has tons of books on the winter equinox, but nothing on spring. I'll have to try some of these titles!

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50. Nonfiction Monday: Duke Ellington

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By: Jennie, on 2/14/2011
Blog: Biblio File (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Stephanie Stein Crease, music, Biography, Nonfiction, nonfiction monday, jazz, Add a tag

Duke Ellington: His Life in Jazz with 21 Activities Stephanie Stein Crease

I'm still working through my backlog of Cybils 2009 reviews-- trying to turn my notes into why or why not a book was on my short list into an actual useful review is hard y'all!

Anyway, this is a biography of the great American composer and band leader, Duke Ellington.

It's comprehensive and does a good job of tying the changes in Ellington's life and career in with the broader social changes happening at the same time. There are several pull-out boxes with extra information on everything from new advances in related technology and biographies of the musicians and composers Ellington worked with to information on broader trends of the time.

The other thing this book has is 21 activities that readers can do to explore different parts of Ellington's story. These activities include everything from baking corn bread (a popular rent party food during the Harlem Renaissance) and designing album covers to building instruments and writing your own jazz improvisations.

Overall though, I found the book uneven. It was interesting, but the tone often seemed to be talking down to kids. Kinda like 'and then Ellington did this! Wasn't that neat?' One random example can be found on page 19 "Many of you might be scratching your heads by now. What kind of role model was Ellington anyway? A high school dropout? A ladies' man? Today, leaving high school would be considered a mistake with a capital "M"! But times were very different then."

Also, I couldn't tell which age group the activities were for. Anything involving a stove or exacto knife was labeled "adult supervision required" and some included blowing across bottle tops and changing the water level to change the sound, or making a toilet-paper tube rhythm shaker. But a lot of the music-based activities assumed a pretty solid background in performance and theory-- like being able to sight-sing or knowing what a B flat 7 chord is. And, when Stein did try to explain more complicated theory concepts (like syncopation) I thought they were confusing, and I'm an adult with many years of music theory study under my belt.

Overall though, I think kids will find it an interesting read, and it's a different type of biography that might appeal to kids who don't like to/want to read a biography, and this time of year, EVERYONE has a biography project to do.

Today's nonfiction round up is over at Wrapped in Foil. Be sure to check it out!

Book Provided by... the publisher, for Cybils 2009 consideration

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Roberta said, on 2/15/2011 7:15:00 AM

Sounds like an interesting book. I love the hands-on aspect of Chicago Review Press, but lack of clarity of audience is a common comment about their books. For kids who learn by doing, which are most children I think, these are treasures.

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