Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday - My 2016 Favorites 12.21.16


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
Hillary Rodham Clinton: Some Girls Are Born to Lead
by Michelle Markel

Swimming with Sharks: The Daring Discoveries of Eugenie Clark
Swimming With Sharks: The Daring Discoveries of Eugenie Clark
by Heather Lang

Miss Mary Reporting: The True Story of Sportswriter Mary Garber
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
Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor
by Robert Burleigh

Fearless Flyer: Ruth Law and Her Flying Machine
Fearless Flyer: Ruth Law and Her Flying Machine 
by Heather Lang

Anything But Ordinary Addie: The True Story of Adelaide Herrmann, Queen of Magic
Anything But Ordinary Addie: The True Story of Adelaide Herrmann, Queen of Magic
by Mara Rockliff

Nadia: The Girl Who Couldn’t Sit Still
Nadia: The Girl Who Couldn't Sit Still
by Karlin Gray

I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark
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
Whoosh: Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions
by Chris Barton

Crossing Niagara: The Death-Defying Tightrope Adventures of the Great Blondin
Crossing Niagara: The Death-Defying Tightrope Adventures of the Great Blondin
by Matt Tavares

Some Writer!: The Story of E.B. White
Some Writer!: The Story of E.B. White
by Melissa Stewart

A Poem for Peter
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
The Wildest Race Ever: The Story of the 1904 Olympic Marathon
by Meghan McCarthy

Dive! World War II Stories of Sailors & Submarines in the Pacific: The Incredible Story of U.S. Submarines in WWII
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!
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
Esquivel: Space-Age Sound Artist
by Susan Wood

Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
by Javaka Steptoe

Dorothea's Eyes: Dorothea Lange Photographs the Truth
Dorothea's Eyes: Dorothea Lange Photographs the Truth
by Barb Rosenstock

Ada's Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay
Ada's Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay
by Susan Hood

Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph
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
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
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
The Marvelous Thing That Came From a Spring: The Accidental Invention of the Toy That Swept the Nation 
by Gilbert Ford

The Secret Subway
The Secret Subway
by Shana Corey
illustrated by Red Nose Studio

Sweet Animals
Who knew learning about science could be pretty cool!

Giant Squid
Giant Squid
by Candace Fleming

Animals by the Numbers: A Book of Infographics
Animals by the Numbers: A Book of Infographics
by Steve Jenkins

The Great Leopard Rescue: Saving the Amur Leopards
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
Coyote Moon
by Maria Gianferrari

Because of an Acorn
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
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.

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!

5 comments:

  1. Great list, Michele. You reminded me of a few that I've wanted to get to, but somehow missed.

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  2. Thanks 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!

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  3. Great list Michele--and what a year it was!

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  4. You are indefatigable! Thank you for supporting us.

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  5. Thank 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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