Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday - June is for animal books, post 3 - 6.17.2020

Wednesdays I join Alyson Beecher from kidlitfrenzy and other

#kidlit bloggers to share wonderful nonfiction picture books.

The intention of today's blog post is to give professionals that work in the
education field new nonfiction reading material and ideas to use 

with students to promote a love of reading nonfiction materials.

I've been celebrating animals on Wednesdays in June, and today we're looking at some small animals - insects!



You're Invited to a Moth Ball: A Nighttime Insect Celebration
written by Loree Griffin Burns
photographs by Ellen Harasimowicz
This is a must have book and one you'll want for your mentor text collection!
This narrative nonfiction book invites the reader to participate in a moth ball - at first I thought it was just a clever way to center this book around a fun idea, but no, moth balls are a thing!  Burns pulls the reader in by letting them know what you need to get ready to host a moth ball... the anticipation begins as we see some fun things like ultraviolet lights, a sheet, flashlights, a rope...  And who won't want to help make some moth food - rotting bananas and brown sugar!  Yum :)  As nighttime approaches... it's time to sit back and enjoy and learn about moths up close!
You'll want this as a mentor text for narrative nonfiction writing.  The way Burns draws the reader in and builds up anticipation, all while feeding you information about the subject.  If you haven't been tuning in to Melissa Stewart's blog series about narrative and expository writing using Burns' book and Stewart's upcoming Ick!, you'll want to find these posts here and here.
This is a book you can use for a read aloud, but kids will want to return to later to pour over the information and photographs.
I loved the information in the author's note, don't miss it!  The photographer's note will be especially fun for those interested in how the photographs were taken - and an additional fun photo!
Definite must have!


Heads and Tails Insects
by John Canty
In the follow up to Heads and Tails, this time readers get clues to guess the insect.  With clues that go from what the insect looks like, to its behavior, to what it's known for, readers will quickly figure out the insect the clues are describing.  For some additional supports, the reader can also use the illustration to gain more information.
The first book was a huge hit with readers this past year.  While most of the text has decodable words, there are enough supports given that even the content vocabulary isn't too hard to figure out.
I'm sure this one will be a hit, too!


Have you read either of these books?  What are your favorite insect books?