Nonfiction Book Reviews
244 book reviews found, page 26 of 49. Narrow results by selecting age range:
Many Ways: How Families Practice Their Beliefs and Religions
Shelley Rotner (2003), 32 pages
Illustrated by Sheila Kelly
Audience: 2nd Grade - 3rd Grade
This book shows children that people from other religious groups are just like them in many ways, despite differences in specific religious beliefs, prayers, and places of worship.
Reviewed by: sc
Date read: 4/13/2009
ISBN-10: 0761328734
ISBN-13: 9780761328735
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I had not really read about Marco Polo before. This book relates happenings in his early childhood. He did not meet his father until he was 15. His father and uncle had been exploring and buying goods throughout the world as it was known in the 1200's. Marco Polo begged to accompany them on the next voyage and wrote the memories of his travels to the far reaches of the world. Most travel at that time was taken by boat, but the Polo men also made long distance travel by camel caravans overland to China. Demi created detailed illustrations to help present an enjoyable read.
Reviewed by: cjones
Date read: 2/14/2011
ISBN-10: 0761454330
ISBN-13: 9780761454335
Margaret, Frank, and Andy: Three Writers' Stories
Cynthia Rylant (1996), 48 pages
Audience: 3rd Grade - 8th Grade
Rylant wrote this collective biography of three well-loved children's authors, Margaret Wise Brown, L. Frank Baum, and E. B. White. Margaret Wise Brown began writing for children in the 1930s. She wrote so many books that she needed to use the name Golden MacDonald so that publishers had room for all her books on their lists! L. Frank Baum grew up in the late 1860s. The Oz stories grew out of stories he told his children. He was inspired to name the country, 'Oz,' by a label on a file cabinet: 'O - Z.' Elwyn Brooks White was known as Andy. He only began writing for children after he moved back to the country from the city. Charlotte (the spider) was probably based on his own life. Some little-known details are included about each of these well-known authors.
Reviewed by: sc
Date read: 4/14/2009
ISBN-10: 0152010831
ISBN-13: 9780152010836
Mary Anning: Fossil Hunter
Sally M. Walker (2000), 48 pages
Illustrated by Phyllis V. Saroff
Audience: 1st Grade - 4th Grade
Mary Anning lived during the early 1800's. Women were seldom allowed to go to University. Mary learned the technique of fossil hunting from her father and continued to look for them with her brother after her father died. Joseph, her brother, finally decided to follow another path. Mary continued her interest in fossils by asking questions, reading, and studying fossils. She was very poor and sold her fossils to help pay the rent and buy food. Mary received little credit for her work at the time, but letters, journals and scientific articles from her time have helped us know about her.
Book Series: On My Own Biography
Reviewed by: cj
Date read: 2/8/2010
ISBN-10: 1575054256
ISBN-13: 9781575054254
Reader Comments
Ivy and Bean Fans May Like This One!Commenter: Emily, grade 18
Fans of Ivy and Bean may know of Mary Anning from the book Ivy and Bean Break the Fossil Record. There, she is introduced as the first person in the world to find an entire ichthyosaur fossil when she was only twelve years old (her brother actually discovered the skull, and she found the rest of the fossil). She went on to find many other important fossils, including several plesiosaurs, a pterosaur, and a chimaera. The information in Ivy and Bean varies somewhat from the information about Mary Anning in the biography. This may be because, as the biography notes, it has been difficult to piece together an accurate picture of Mary's life from historical information about her, since she didn't receive much recognition for the work she did in her lifetime. As a woman in the 1800s, it was hard to earn respect from the scientific community. This account, which has many helpful illustrations, tells us how Mary came to be a fossil hunter and about the many important fossils she discovered in her lifetime.
Mary Todd was born in Kentucky on December 13, 1818. She met Abraham Lincoln in 1840. They had very different backgrounds, but their love of politics brought them together. In 1861, Abraham became president. The country was at war, and divided over slavery. She was from the South, but favored the North's view. The South considered her a traitor, and the North considered her a spy. People disliked her, and the expensive social gatherings that she hosted. A little known fact is that she was the first president's wife to be called 'First Lady' by the newspapers, in 1863.
Mary did not have an easy life. Three of her sons died while they were still children, and on April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre. Mary was overcome with grief. Following the death of her youngest son, she acted strangely and her son, Robert, tried to declare her insane. On July 16, 1882, she died of a stroke.
Book Series: First Ladies
Reviewed by: sc
Date read: 4/13/2009
ISBN-10: 1599287978
ISBN-13: 9781599287973
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