Nonfiction

Killer Underwear Invasion! How to Spot Fake News, Disinformation & Conspiracy Theories by Elise Gravel

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Published by Chronicle Books

Summary:  In six chapters, Elise Gravel covers the bases of information literacy: fake news, disinformation, how social media spread such things, confirmation bias, and how to check for accuracy.  Her drawings and examples are funny, with cute monsters talking to each other about why doctors are bad, pollution is okay, and how drinking shampoo will make you healthy, but underwear might kill you.  The final chapter gives ten tips for telling real news from fake.  No back matter, alas.  104 pages; grades 2-6.

Pros:  This would make a great text to use for an information literacy class, using the humorous examples to springboard to real-life ones.  Kids will definitely be entertained, and there’s plenty of great information.

Cons:  Feels like librarians have been teaching this stuff for my whole twenty-plus-years-long career, yet the spread of disinformation is worse than ever.

Caves by Nell Cross Beckerman, illustrated by Kalen Chock

~ Janet Dawson ~ 2 Comments

Published by Orchard Books

Summary:  Addressing the reader in the second person (“You want to go in…do you dare?”), the book introduces different features of caves, then shows unusual examples of each one in seven caves around the world.  There’s the Cueva de Los Cristales in Mexico, filled with 39-foot crystals that had to be pumped dry for people to explore. And the Bracken Cave in Texas, summer home to twenty million bats.  The realistic illustrations convey the magnitude of the caves, often showing how small the human explorers are in comparison.  Includes notes from the author and illustrator, lists of cave rules and spelunking equipment, and more fun facts about three of the caves.  40 pages; grades 1-4.

Pros:  The poetic text and gorgeous illustrations combine to make a nonfiction book that invites readers on an adventure, in the spirit of Candace Fleming’s Giant Squid or Jason Chin’s Grand Canyon.  I’d love to see this get some Siebert Award recognition.

Cons:  I wish that there were more fun facts about all of the caves mentioned in the book, not just three.

The Tower of Life: How Yaffa Eliach Rebuilt Her Town in Stories and Photographs by Chana Stiefel, illustrated by Susan Gal

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Published by Scholastic Press

Summary:  Yaffa Eliach had a happy childhood in the Jewish town (shtetl) of Eishyshok, playing with her friends and older brother and helping her grandmother in her photography studio.  But when Yaffa was six years old, German tanks rolled in and the village, along with most of its inhabitants, was destroyed.  Yaffa’s family managed to flee and lived in hiding for the next several years.  They left their possessions behind except for a few photographs Yaffa hid in her shoe.  After the war, Yaffa moved first to Israel, and then to the United States, where she became a history professor specializing in the Holocaust.  When the Holocaust Museum was built in Washington, DC, President Jimmy Carter asked Yaffa to create an exhibit to show the lives of people who were lost.  Yaffa searched all over the world for photographs of people who had lived in Eishyshok.  Over the course of 17 years, she traveled to six continents to collect over 1,000 photos that were turned into the “Tower of Life” exhibit at the Holocaust Museum.  Includes a timeline of Yaffa’s life, a bibliography, and a brief author’s note.  40 pages; grades 1-4.

Pros:  An inspiring story of an amazing woman who emerged from tragedy to create a beautiful tribute that celebrates the lives of those who died in the Holocaust.  The illustrations capture those lives as well, incorporating photos into the paintings.

Cons:  I would have liked more information about Yaffa in the back matter.

Going Places: Victor Hugo Green and His Glorious Book by Tonya Bolden, illustrated by Eric Velasquez

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Published by Quill Tree Books

Summary:  Victor Hugo Green had a successful career as a mail carrier in Leonia, New Jersey, but he also liked to travel.  In the 1930’s, more people were buying cars and using them to visit new places.  Black travelers were less hassled in their cars than on trains, but they also faced Jim Crow laws that prevented them from using certain hotels, restaurants, and other establishments, and sundown laws that prohibited them from being in certain towns after dark.  Green used newspaper ads and articles and the knowledge of friends and co-workers to put together a directory of places that were safe to go.  Known as the Green Book, it started as a pamphlet in 1936, covering the New York City area, but continued to grow to cover the entire U.S. as well as Mexico and Canada.  In 1953, Victor Hugo Green retired from his postal career to spend his time running a travel agency and keeping up with the Green Book.  He died in 1960, a few years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made much of the Green Book obsolete.  Includes a timeline, selected sources, and a list of places to learn more about the Green Book.  40 pages; grades 2-5.

Pros:  This fascinating look at the man behind the Green Book weaves in plenty of details about the ways racism affected Black travelers for much of the twentieth century.  The vivid oil paintings bring traveling to life with their colorful postcards, reproductions of black-and-white photos, and maps.  Worthy of a consideration for a Coretta Scott King award or honor.

Cons:  While I was hoping to see a page from the actual Green Book, the illustrations offer only tantalizing glimpses.  Guess I will have to peruse the digital editions listed in the back matter.

Bessie the Motorcycle Queen by Charles R. Smith, Jr., illustrated by Charlot Kristensen

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Published by Orchard Books

Summary:  A daredevil motorcycle rider named Bessie takes the challenge to ride the Wall of Death, fearlessly showing off with no hands and riding sidesaddle.  When she takes off her helmet, the audience is surprised by her “hidden brown face.”  The year is 1929, and a Black woman riding her motorcycle alone across the country faces potentially dangerous situations, especially in the Jim Crow south, where she outruns a truck full of angry KKK members.  But Bessie is undeterred, choosing her destinations by flipping a penny onto a US map, repairing her bike herself, and sleeping on it when she can’t get a room.  The word VROOM is repeated throughout the story as Bessie zooms off to her next location.  Includes additional information about Bessie Stringfield and a bibliography.  40 pages; grades 1-4.

Pros:  The bouncy rhyming text and beautiful illustrations tell an inspiring story about this little-known woman. Although kids may need some explanations about Jim Crow laws and the KKK, this would be a good Black history read-aloud for primary grades.

Cons:  Unfortunately, not much is known about Bessie, so facts about her life like her birthdate and hometown are uncertain.


Standing in the Need of Prayer: A Modern Retelling of the Classic Spiritual by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Frank Morrison

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Crown Books for Young Readers

Summary:  Carole Boston Weatherford has created new words based on the traditional spiritual to trace the history of Black people in America.  Beginning with slavery, the verses and illustrations continue through Emancipation, the Great Migration, and the fights for integration.  The last few pages reflect the recent past and present: Florence Griffith Joyner, Colin, Kaepernick, and the Black Lives Matter Movement.  Includes additional information on each of the subjects, a list of online resources, and an author’s note.  32 pages; grades 1-5.

Pros:  Another beautiful resource for teaching Black history, with gorgeous thought-provoking oil illustrations.  The text, including the back matter, could serve as an excellent introduction to a variety of topics; readers can use the excellent list of online resources for further research.

Cons:  I wasn’t familiar with this spiritual and would have liked to have had the traditional words included somewhere.

Giving Thanks: How Thanksgiving Became a National Holiday by Denise Kiernan, illustrated by Jamey Christoph

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Published by Philomel Books

Summary:  Starting with a few thoughts about gratitude and how it’s expressed around the world, the book moves to the history of American Thanksgiving, with Sarah Josepha Hale’s campaign to create a national Thanksgiving holiday.  Abraham Lincoln finally agreed, declaring the holiday for November 26, 1863.  It was challenging to find much to be grateful for in the midst of the Civil War, but people celebrated and have continued to up to the present.  Turkey dinners, marching bands, and soup kitchens are all depicted as ways Thanksgiving is observed, and readers are asked to cite their own favorite parts of Thanksgiving.  Includes additional resources.  32 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  An excellent resource for those revisiting the history of Thanksgiving, as no mention is made of the Pilgrims or the Wampanoag.  It’s a good update to Thank You Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving by Laurie Halse Anderson (2002).  The excellent illustrations will serve as a good springboard for discussing kids’ heritages and traditions.

Cons:  It felt like the book tried to cover a lot of ground, making it feel a bit disjointed at times.

Maya’s Song by Renée Watson, illustrated by Bryan Collier

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Published by HarperCollins

Summary:  Maya Angelou’s story is told in a collection of free verse poems, illustrated with watercolor and collage illustrations.  The story begins with her birth in 1928 and continues through her childhood spent in California, Arkansas, and Missouri, where “her mother’s boyfriend hurt her body, hurt her soul,” leading Maya to stop speaking for five years.  Her love of poetry helped her to recover her voice, and she went on to become a singer and then a poet, befriending James Baldwin, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X.  Her memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings brought her to national prominence; the story ends with her reading a poem at Bill Clinton’s presidential inauguration, fulfilling her grandmother’s prophecy that she would be a preacher and a teacher.  Includes a timeline and notes from the author and illustrator.  48 pages; grades 2-6.

Pros:  This amazing poetry biography is sure to be considered for multiple awards for both the writing and the illustrations.  I was immediately drawn into Maya Angelou’s story; Renée Watson is a masterful poet who tells the most difficult aspects of that story in a way that can be shared with young children.  The illustrations are gorgeous, layered with colors and patterns.

Cons:  No additional resources are given.

What Isabella Wanted: Isabella Stewart Gardner Builds a Museum by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Matthew Cordell

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Published by Neal Porter Books

Summary:  The story begins and ends with the empty picture frames hanging in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum following the 1990 robbery of thirteen works of art worth $500 million.  In between, the reader learns of the eccentric Isabella who knew exactly what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to do what she needed to do to get it–even if it meant breaking some laws to obtain European and Asian artworks.  She built the museum herself, living on the top floor and displaying the art on the other three.  When it was done, she opened it to the public twenty days a year for more than twenty years.  Today, the museum is still a highlight to visit in Boston.  Includes an extensive author’s note with more information about Isabella (including her unethical collection practices) and a bibliography.  40 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  The lively free verse text and illustrations by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell bring Isabella and her museum to life and pose intriguing questions about the art theft.

Cons:  This is another New England Book Award finalist (the winner was Keepunumuk by Danielle Greendeer in case you’re interested) and may not be of as much interest to those living outside of New England.

I Am Ruby Bridges by Ruby Bridges, illustrated by Nikkolas Smith

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Orchard Books

Summary:  Ruby Bridges tells her story of integrating William Frantz Elementary School in 1960 at the age of six.  While she has heard of Brown v. Board of Education, she is more interested in making friends and who her teacher will be.  She is surprised to be driven to school by four white men, to have a white principal, and most of all, to discover that she is the only student in her classroom.  Seeing that empty classroom makes her finally realize what is going on: she is the first Black child to attend the school, and that will allow other Black students to go there too.  “And that’s a good thing, for Black kids.  For white kids, too…for all the kids, once they finally get here!”  Includes a glossary and notes from the author and illustrator.  48 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  An inspiring autobiography with bold illustrations that capture young Ruby’s humor and courage.  If you’re looking for a Black history read-aloud for primary grades, this is a perfect choice that shows kids the powerful difference one six-year-old made in a way that they will relate to.

Cons:  You will probably want to supplement this with additional material to explain to kids exactly what it was Ruby did.