Thank you to Cathy Mere (@cathymere) at Reflect & Refine
and
Mandy Robek (@mandyrobek) at Enjoy and Embrace Learning
for this wonderful day of nonfiction picture book sharing!
I share nonfiction picture book love every week thanks to Alyson Beecher's (kidlitfrenzy) weekly link-up. It's been an amazing resource for me! But I always wonder how to cultivate this list... what books to put together... what theme to use. My goal is to always make this something useful, something a teacher can immediately put to use. Hopefully this will inspire others today!
This year's grouping of books is for the primary crowd. Sometimes nonfiction can be a tricky collection to grow. What books to add? What are books are accessible for primary readers? With limited amounts of time to go through all of the great nonfiction that is out there, here is a list of 5 nonfiction series and 5 go-to authors that are great for primary classrooms.
Series
Seedling series
written by various authors including Kate Riggs and Aaron Frisch
With the bright photographs, accessible text, and just right length, this series is perfect for young readers. There is a series that focuses on animals, one on transportation and one on big machines. The series has done a wonderful job picking out subjects that will interest kids. For example, in the transportation series, some options to read about include speedboats, motorcycles and bullet trains!
2. Ordinary People Change the World
written by Brad Meltzer
This is a fun beginning biography series. There are some liberties taken - the famous person is depicted as a cartoon child that is dressed up in adult clothes. Dialogue is used throughout the book that is clearly invented conversation. However, they are engaging and give young readers a feel how to read a biography. A wide collection of people have been covered, including Lucille Ball and Jackie Robinson.
3. Did You Know? series
written by various authors including Laura Lyn DiSiena and Hannah Eliot
Fascinating facts and interesting details centered around a common topic are including in this fun series.
4. Disgusting Critters/Creatures series
written by Elise Gravel
Although this series also takes a few liberties with have the disgusting critter/creature talk to the reader, facts are embedded on each page that gives young readers plenty of information to say, "eww gross" or "no way"!
5. A ___ is a ___
written by Dianna Hutts Aston
I perhaps made the name of this series up, but Aston has done a wonderful job writing lyrical text that makes comparisons between a subject and a describing adjective. You can read these books by just enjoying the brief comparisons that are on each page, or if you want more detailed information, read the smaller print with additional details.
Authors
Suzi Eszterhas
Looking at a variety of animals, Eszterhas presents a well organized text that explains important details in an accessible way.
Steve Jenkins
Readers of all ages pour over Jenkins' books. So much to learn from them and in different ways. Most of his books are organized by having basic information on each page along with multiple captions that dive deeper into the subject content.
Robin Page
And if you have Steve Jenkins books, you'll want to make sure you have his wife's books, as well. Robin is a spectacular author in her own right. Her books speak to her young audience and wrap them into nonfiction reading.
April Pulley Sayre
With her nonfiction written in verse, who knew informational texts could sound so beautiful? Learning new facts along the way, young readers will love the beauty of her Sayre's words.
Nic Bishop
Young readers are enthralled with Bishop's amazing photography. So many details to see in his work. I love the many of his books, that are absolutely packed with information, have been turned into early readers that brings a whole new audience to his work.
What choices young readers have in nonfiction books today! I hope this list is helpful when trying to build a nonfiction collection in a primary classroom. I hope this list helps new teachers and teachers who are looking for new ideas. I know students will love these books and they will help them fall in love with nonfiction!
This year's grouping of books is for the primary crowd. Sometimes nonfiction can be a tricky collection to grow. What books to add? What are books are accessible for primary readers? With limited amounts of time to go through all of the great nonfiction that is out there, here is a list of 5 nonfiction series and 5 go-to authors that are great for primary classrooms.
Series
Seedling series
written by various authors including Kate Riggs and Aaron Frisch
With the bright photographs, accessible text, and just right length, this series is perfect for young readers. There is a series that focuses on animals, one on transportation and one on big machines. The series has done a wonderful job picking out subjects that will interest kids. For example, in the transportation series, some options to read about include speedboats, motorcycles and bullet trains!
2. Ordinary People Change the Worldwritten by Brad Meltzer
This is a fun beginning biography series. There are some liberties taken - the famous person is depicted as a cartoon child that is dressed up in adult clothes. Dialogue is used throughout the book that is clearly invented conversation. However, they are engaging and give young readers a feel how to read a biography. A wide collection of people have been covered, including Lucille Ball and Jackie Robinson.
3. Did You Know? serieswritten by various authors including Laura Lyn DiSiena and Hannah Eliot
Fascinating facts and interesting details centered around a common topic are including in this fun series.
4. Disgusting Critters/Creatures serieswritten by Elise Gravel
Although this series also takes a few liberties with have the disgusting critter/creature talk to the reader, facts are embedded on each page that gives young readers plenty of information to say, "eww gross" or "no way"!
5. A ___ is a ___written by Dianna Hutts Aston
I perhaps made the name of this series up, but Aston has done a wonderful job writing lyrical text that makes comparisons between a subject and a describing adjective. You can read these books by just enjoying the brief comparisons that are on each page, or if you want more detailed information, read the smaller print with additional details.
Authors
Suzi Eszterhas
Looking at a variety of animals, Eszterhas presents a well organized text that explains important details in an accessible way.
Steve Jenkins
Readers of all ages pour over Jenkins' books. So much to learn from them and in different ways. Most of his books are organized by having basic information on each page along with multiple captions that dive deeper into the subject content.
Robin Page
And if you have Steve Jenkins books, you'll want to make sure you have his wife's books, as well. Robin is a spectacular author in her own right. Her books speak to her young audience and wrap them into nonfiction reading.
April Pulley Sayre
With her nonfiction written in verse, who knew informational texts could sound so beautiful? Learning new facts along the way, young readers will love the beauty of her Sayre's words.
Nic Bishop
Young readers are enthralled with Bishop's amazing photography. So many details to see in his work. I love the many of his books, that are absolutely packed with information, have been turned into early readers that brings a whole new audience to his work.
What choices young readers have in nonfiction books today! I hope this list is helpful when trying to build a nonfiction collection in a primary classroom. I hope this list helps new teachers and teachers who are looking for new ideas. I know students will love these books and they will help them fall in love with nonfiction!
I still haven't read any of the books like The Worm and The Slug, maybe someday. I've used Eat Like A Bear for primary lessons in the past. You're right about April Pulley Sayre. Her books are terrific. Lovely post for primary, Michele.
ReplyDeleteGreat collection - and way to really skirt the 10 book "limit"! I love Steve Jenkins and know that kids everywhere would get a ton of out these great books. My Top 10 features Picture Book Biographies of Diverse Artists.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous way to create a post - We love the series and authors you selected. When nonfiction texts in classrooms are organized by author and series we think kids read about topics they might have passed over at first glance. We can't wait to share these titles with teachers.
ReplyDeleteSuch a great collection! I am going to link this on my nonfiction resource page! Thank you Michele!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great way to mention a lot terrific books. The Seedlings series is new to me and I'll check it out. Thanks,
ReplyDeleteTammy
Apples with Many Seeds
I love how you listed your books by author. There are several author series here that I didn't know about. I can't wait to find these books! Thank you so much for sharing!
ReplyDelete