Wednesday Non-Fiction

        I’ve found some great non-fiction books at my library and at the public library. Here are three of

them. If you haven’t seen them yet, they are beautiful, inspiring, and fun to hear about. Thanks to Alyson Beecher at KidLitFrenzy who hosts this community.

         Happy Reading everyone!

Have You Heard The Nesting Bird – written by Rita Gray and illustrated by Kenard Pak

             Using couplets, Rita Gray takes us on a journey of the sounds of many birds, so beautifully shown by Kenard Pak. Yet, in between those pages, the title’s question is asked: Have you heard the nesting bird? And we discover that this bird is quiet, and the reasons why, too. It’s a predictable mystery, but so enticing to see where the story will go next, with an ending of wonder. There is a creative two pages of backmatter as well, with an interview of the nesting bird herself! I enjoyed the book and believe it will entice younger students to pay attention to bird calls and what to do when they do notice a real nesting bird. The double-page spread of one night is so gorgeous, a quietly beautiful piece of art.

A Taste of Freedom, Gandhi and the Great Salt March- written by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel and

illustrated by Giuliano Ferri

              This book doesn’t say that this is true, but a great-grandfather tells the story of marching with Gandhi to the sea. It begins with the great-grandfather beginning the tale, and moves into the story and the illustrations that show the events.  Great-grandfather evidently was so inspired as a young boy by Gandhi and his followers marching thought the town that he joined the march with an older brother. This book relates a similar tale to others I’ve read, but relates little of what the marchers endured at the hands of the British soldiers. It’s an introduction to this wonderful leader’s influential march. There is additional information at the end.

Uncle Andy’s, A Faabbbulous visit with Andy Warhol - written and illustrated by James Warhola

               I learned quite a lot from this book, that Andy Warhol dropped the A from his home, and that he had a brother who was a junk man, who brought him treasures every year on the family visit. There were five children in Andy’s brother’s family, and they lived in a little town, but once a year, they piled into the station wagon, and took off for NYC to visit Bubba, their grandmother, and Uncle Andy. The author is James Warhola, one of those nephews, who is an artist himself, wrote and illustrated this fun story. We see Andy Warhol through the nephew’s eyes, his home, when he first began to paint ordinary objects, the 5^th floor of his house filled with Campbell soup painted boxes! It’s another look at this “pop” artist.