Non-Fiction Books for Writing

Non-fiction reading, poetry and a poem

I'm posting at Alyson Beecher's blog, Kid-Lit Frenzy for Non-Fiction Picture Book Wednesday. Thanks to Alyson, we have a group that shares terrific non-fiction!  Tweet at #nfpb2014.   

I Can Write A Book Called "If I could talk to animals..."- written and illustrated by

Bobbie Kalman

           This is a most awesome book for creating any kind of book, taking young students through the process step-by-step from choosing the animal one might wish to write about, all the way to creating all the important pages needed at the process end, like title page, dedication, table of contents, etc. 
  

         In addition, the back of the book shows the numerous animal books the author has written herself, but the inside is what is terrific. There are many pictures and illustrations, helping young writers to understand the parts needed to research about animals, how to gather resources and take notes, ways of organizing, every single step. With the friendly pages so interestingly illustrated, and the basic material based on using who, what, when, where, why and how, it would be easy either to teach from it or to let a student use it independently. 

Haiku: Asian Arts & Crafts for Creative Kids - written and illustrated by Patricia Donegan

         In a post last year, sadly I don't know whose, I discovered this book, and then checked it out from my library. It may say it's for children, but I wanted to learn more about writing haiku, some basic background, other related structures, and this book has all that and more. It begins with the basics, adds in some philosophy and gives many examples of famous, well-written haiku. It adds other ideas for related structures, like haibun (a mini story with a haiku added), haiga (a haiku with an illustration) or a tanka (an earlier form used in court). I think I may need to purchase it for myself, it is so filled with helpful information. 

         In bits and pieces, I am reading How Children Succeed, Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character, by Paul Tough. So far, I find it's very interesting.