Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday 1.06.16 - Burping in Space!

Every Wednesday I join Alyson Beecher from kidlitfrenzy and other

kidlit bloggers to share wonderful nonfiction picture books.

The intention of today's blog is to give educational professionals

new nonfiction reading material and ideas to use 

with students to promote a love of reading nonfiction materials.

It's a new year - Happy 2016!  At the start of each year, I always try to reevaluate my reading goals.  Thinking about nonfiction and my Wednesday posts, I continue to not worry about the number of books I will read this year, but keep thinking about what I'm reading and how to get information to teachers.  Last year I wanted to read more books that could be used with our new science standards.  This year I will continue that, but in order to help me find those posts quicker, I will add more blog labels so I can find them faster in a search.  I also would like to try and write more posts that cultivate ways to use groups of books, not necessarily by subject matter.  I think those posts are what Carrie Gelson likes to refer to as "lists" :)  They are very useful to me when she makes them so I'm going to attempt my hand at more of them.
Happy nonfiction reading this year!  

How Do You Burp in Space?

written by Susan E. Goodman

illustrated by Michael Slack

published by Scholastic

I came across this book a few years ago in my Scholastic order.  I knew it would be fun based on the title - Space?  Check!  Burping in Space? Done deal!  I knew I could sell this book to students.
This year it was chosen to be on our state book list - the Illinois Bluestem List for 3rd-5th graders.  Now I had another reason to push this book into hands of readers.

It's such a fun nonfiction book.  Written as a "guidebook", each chapter is organized around a part of space travel.  Instead of there being dry information about space travel, the author has written every description in such a humorous way, young readers will be surprised they are learning new information while laughing out loud.  Here's a part that particularly interested me:

pg. 23 "Microgravity also affects your body.  The good news?  You grow taller because gravity isn't pushing the bones of your spine as close together.  The bad news?  You'll look a little weird.  The fluids in your body shift upward rather than being pulled low by Earth's gravity.  So your legs get skinny.  In fact, people call them the 'chicken legs' of space.  Some of the fluid travels up toward your head, so you get a puffy face, too."

Skinny legs?  Taller?  Sign me up for space travel!

All of the information is well organized into the separate chapters that are subdivided by headings.  Additional information is found in captions, labels and cutaways.  The photographs have great images that are sure to keep kids looking and asking more questions.

This book was filled with fascinating facts.  Every few paragraphs or so I wanted to stop and share information with someone around me.  This is a really fun informational text to share with readers.