Non-Fiction Books - Savoring

      Each Wednesday I'm happy to link to Alyson Beecher's Non-Fiction Picture Book Challenge at her blog, Kidlit Frenzy, but I haven't posted for several weeks. That doesn't mean I've read many. It's the ending time of school (I know you know.) and I am scrambling to finish the evaluations.  I love finding good non-fiction picture books available about varied topics, for all ages, too. I own quite a few books, but I also have an amazing library that nearly always has the books I request. Here are three books with stories and illustrations that just might become favorites. I found the titles from the blogs I read, so to some of you, these will not be new. For others, hope you'll find them.

        Thanks Alyson!

Steve Jenkins and Robin Page have written another beautiful book that teaches. In egg, I learned many things about eggs, and especially loved that the information showed size in relationship to something familiar, and sometimes real sizes! The book is divided as you might guess, who lays them, where, how are they protected, and what happens at birth? There is a little additional information in the back matter. For those studying eggs, or the intricacies of animal behavior, this is a wonderful book. It is limited in information. Sometimes I had more questions. But that's good. It's a great book to start a child's interest in more than eggs. The animals fascinate too! The illustrations are marvelous Jenkins collages.

       I've seen this emu book by Claire Saxby reviewed and loved more than once, and the reviewers are right; it is wonderful. Just look at that face! The unique qualities of emus is that they only live in Australia, the male is the one who stays until the eggs hatch (like that sweet father penguin), and they lay eggs with shadowy stripes for camouflage in the grasses. The text is designed so that the "story" is told in one font, and the background facts are in another. I love the page (all the illustrations are full page spreads  by Graham Byrne and gorgeous) where the about-to-hatch chick cheeps. The explanation says it's to help wake up the others so they can all emerge within a few days of each other. One cannot help look and look at the pictures and enjoy the story of these big birds. The book is newly released from Australia.

This is another book I can't wait to read to my granddaughters. Since we read so many books, I think they will adore it, and love looking at all the happy detail of children learning how to read a story, with Mark Siegel's thought clouds floating all around the page. Books are spread on the floor as the little boy looks for just the right book. Kate Messner's definite directions are exactly right: "Couches are cozy. So are chairs big enough for two. Just be careful not to get stuck." There are more directions and a lovely surprise at the end.