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.
This week I am sharing my favorite books that I read in 2016.
They don't have to be published in 2016.
They don't have to have an author or illustrator that lives in the United States.
I just had to love the book.
Or know that kids are going to love the book.
The Year of the Kick Butt Women
There were some outstanding books about women who have done some truly incredible things. I'm glad to see these women being highlighted for this generation. May they inspire a whole new generation of women who can do anything!
Hillary Rodham Clinton: Some Girls Are Born to Lead
by Michelle Markel
Swimming With Sharks: The Daring Discoveries of Eugenie Clark
by Heather Lang
Miss Mary Reporting: The True Story of Sportswriter Mary Garber
by Sue Macy
Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor
by Robert Burleigh
Fearless Flyer: Ruth Law and Her Flying Machine
by Heather Lang
Anything But Ordinary Addie: The True Story of Adelaide Herrmann, Queen of Magic
by Mara Rockliff
Nadia: The Girl Who Couldn't Sit Still
by Karlin Gray
I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark
by Debbie Levy
The Boys Club
Couldn't leave out the men - they made their mark too!
Whoosh: Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions
by Chris Barton
Crossing Niagara: The Death-Defying Tightrope Adventures of the Great Blondin
by Matt Tavares
Some Writer!: The Story of E.B. White
by Melissa Stewart
A Poem for Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of The Snowy Day
by Andrea Davis Pinkney
The Wildest Race Ever: The Story of the 1904 Olympic Marathon
by Meghan McCarthy
Dive!: World War II Stories of Sailors and Submarines in the Pacific
by Deborah Hopkinson
The Coolest Kids
This was just a fascinating read this year. I love the impact these kids made with each other.
Watch Out for Flying Kids: How Two Circuses, Two Countries, and Nine Kids Confront Conflict and Build Community
by Cynthia Levinson
Best Books About the Arts
Without these people, the arts would not be what they are today. Whether they paved the way, fought the fight, or made something from nothing, the arts are better for today's generation because of them.
Esquivel: Space-Age Sound Artist
by Susan Wood
Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
by Javaka Steptoe
Dorothea's Eyes: Dorothea Lange Photographs the Truth
by Barb Rosenstock
Ada's Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay
by Susan Hood
Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph
by Roxane Orgill
Backmatter Matters
These books stand out for the content in the book, but the authors also did a fantastic job of highlighting additional information and sources in the backmatter of their books.
Every Day Birds
by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
Mountain Chef: How One Man Lost His Groceries, Changed His Plans, and Helped Cook Up the National Park Service
by Annette Bay Pimentel
Nonfiction With Super Cool Art
Again, love the stories, but the artwork in these two books were super cool!
The Marvelous Thing That Came From a Spring: The Accidental Invention of the Toy That Swept the Nation
by Gilbert Ford
The Secret Subway
by Shana Corey
illustrated by Red Nose Studio
Sweet Animals
Who knew learning about science could be pretty cool!
Giant Squid
by Candace Fleming
Animals by the Numbers: A Book of Infographics
by Steve Jenkins
The Great Leopard Rescue: Saving the Amur Leopards
by Sandra Markle
My Favorite Woodland Books
This year our school is doing project based learning centering around a woodland area in the back of our school. Two of my favorite books I shared with students this year about the woodland area and animals are:
Coyote Moon
by Maria Gianferrari
Because of an Acorn
by Lola M. Schaefer and Adam Schaefer
And.... the Book that Made Nonfiction Cool to Read This Year
Pink is for Blobfish: Discovering the World's Perfectly Pink Animals
by Jess Keating
This list is by no means exhaustive or accurate. Even as I made the list I realized I forgot books. There are so many books that touched me in some way or another, something inevitably gets left off. Please know I probably forgot a book or two or ten.
This list is by no means exhaustive or accurate. Even as I made the list I realized I forgot books. There are so many books that touched me in some way or another, something inevitably gets left off. Please know I probably forgot a book or two or ten.
What a great year for nonfiction reading! What were your favorites? Tune in the rest of the week to see my favorite picture books and middle grade!
2016 Middle Grade favorites
2016 Picture Book favorites
Next week - what to look forward to in nonfiction in 2017!
Great list, Michele. You reminded me of a few that I've wanted to get to, but somehow missed.
ReplyDeleteThanks for including Coyote Moon here among your favorites, Michele :). I am honored to have it featured here along with these many wonderful titles. Lots of my favorites are here too!
ReplyDeleteGreat list Michele--and what a year it was!
ReplyDeleteYou are indefatigable! Thank you for supporting us.
ReplyDeleteThank you for some useful ideas. The favourite non-fiction with my own children and those in the book club which I run was David Macaulay's How Machines Work: Zoo Break.
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