Review of My First Day

My First Day by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

My First Day by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page; illus. by Steve Jenkins Preschool, Primary    Houghton    32 pp. 1/13    978-0-547-73851-2    $16.99 “What did you do on your first day — the day you were born? Probably not much” begins this book about baby animals’ first hours of life. Jenkins and Page’s simple text effectively highlights [...]

Will this be on the test?

Hand

I’d like to have been at this NYPL panel on nonfiction put together by Betsy Bird. The four panelists are among the best of our nonfiction writers, and I would have loved to ask them how their  job prospects were looking under the Common Core State Standards. With the CCSS (have we agreed this is [...]

Island: A Story of the Galápagos

Island

So, enough people have mentioned Island: A Story of the Galápagos that I thought I would do a little exercise with you. Many people wonder how the real committee members look at all the books they have to consider. I have no idea how others deal with this, but I have a little procedure. First, I just [...]

Review of One Times Square

one times square

One Times Square: A Century of Change at the 
Crossroads of the World by Joe McKendry; illus. by the author Intermediate    Godine    64 pp. 9/12    978-1-56792-364-3    $19.95 You are there at the birth, the decay, and the revival of Times Square, the “crossroads of the world” for a century. McKendry (Beneath the Streets of Boston, [...]

Review of Spirit Seeker: John Coltrane’s Musical Journey

Spirit Seeker by Gary Golio

Spirit Seeker: John Coltrane’s Musical Journey by Gary Golio; illus. by Rudy Gutierrez Intermediate, Middle School    Clarion    48 pp. 10/12    978-0-547-23994-1    $17.99 There have been other picture books about gifted jazz musician and composer John Coltrane that have focused on his music or his childhood, but this one dares to take on the complexity of [...]

Review of Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin

Electric Ben

Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin by Robert Byrd; illus. by the author Intermediate    Dial    40 pp. 9/12    978-0-8037-3749-5    $17.99 With a jacket showing Benjamin Franklin as a cross between a mad scientist and a superhero standing amid wild lightning bolts and surrounded by all manner of electrical devices, this book [...]

Review of Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad

Unspoken by Henry Cole

Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad by Henry Cole; illus. by the author Primary    Scholastic    40 pp. 11/12    978-0-545-39997-5    $16.99 This wordless picture book opens with a calm scene: a quilt hangs over a rural split-rail fence. A young girl enters the scene on the next double-page spread, leading a cow and watching a [...]

Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle

life in the ocean

Some of you who were here last year already know my deep love of Claire Nivola’s work. This year, instead of personal memoir, Nivola returns to nonfiction, a biography of oceanographer Silvia Earle. I heard an NPR interview with Earle the very day I received a copy of this fascinating book. Let’s take a swim [...]

Review of Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95

Moonbird by Phillip M. Hoose

Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with 
the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose Intermediate, Middle School, High School Farrar    
148 pp.    7/12    978-0-374-30468-3    $21.99 He’s called “Moonbird” because, over a lifespan of twenty years, he’s flown some 325,000 miles, the distance to the moon and almost halfway back. This robin-sized red knot (subspecies rufa), [...]

From the Editor – August 2012

roger_right2

You, Notes readers, have told us that you want more reviews of informational books. While—of course—I will tell you again to look to our Magazine and Guide for excellent and broad coverage of nonfiction titles, I’m pleased to inform you about a new publication that will debut in October. Nonfiction Notes from the Horn Book [...]