Non-Fiction Wednesday - Must Reads

        Time to share on Wednesdays with Alyson Beecher's Non-Fiction Picture Book Challenge at her blog, Kidlit Frenzy.   

        Thanks Alyson!   Tweet - #NFPB15

            A few books, and oh, they are good ones again. Thanks to those who shared about them. I was lucky to find them all at the library.

Granddaddy’s Turn A Journey To The Ballot Box - written by Michael S. Bandy and Eric Stein, illustrated by James E. Ransome

            Young  Michael talks about his granddaddy with love, even though he had to work hard at all the chores on the farm where they live. There is the sweetest picture too of both of them having fun sitting on a dock fishing. One day, not Sunday, Michael saw that his granddaddy was dressed like he was going to church, and wondered where they were going. As Granddaddy said to him often, “Patience, son, patience.” It was an exciting day, for this was the day that Granddaddy planned to vote for his first time. Sadly, it didn’t work that way. Like others treated during that time, Michael tells of the man who tried to get his granddaddy to take a reading test, and he couldn’t read. The story ends with joy, though somewhat bittersweet, with Michael grown, voting for his granddaddy, who never got to vote. There is a short piece at the end explaining about ways in the past that disenfranchised people, most of whom were African-Americans, and about the Voting Rights Act, passed in 1965. The pictures fill the pages with Michael’s happy life, and the sad time he never forgot.

Water Is Water - written by Miranda Paul and illustrated by Jason Chin

            I think this must be one of the most perfect non-fiction picture books to introduce a scientific concept I know. Written in rhyme, Miranda Paul tells the story of water from liquid to steam, vapor forming clouds, clouds dropping precipitation, and on, through snow, and then melting resulting in spring. The pictures fill the pages with the action, including children interacting with rain and mud and snow, lots of fun connected to water. There is additional information in the back about each concept, and even more water facts on another page.

Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans - written and illustrated by Dan Brown

             Reading this new book about the devastation of and sadness of the response to hurricane Katrina made me angry all over again. I remember well driving to work each morning, hearing more news of those suffering in New Orleans and in other towns along the Gulf, and also hearing about the waiting, waiting of those in the dome, the convention center. And the night's news brought pictures. From far away, we all worried and wrote to see how we could help, as I also heard of those who were helping, and those who were not. Dan Brown shows well the horror of Mother Nature's destruction in his artistic compilation of scene after scene-people waiting, people and pets dying, no one there to help. And, he places words sparingly and with most impact. After more than one description of the disastrous experiences in the dome, Brown's words are "Mayor Nagin is never seen there." Later-here are words about the convention center: "FEMA head Michael Brown admits to only just learning of the convention center mayhem. The newsman asks, 'Don't you guys watch television?'" The story is one that will start conversations that start with many "whys", and it would be good to hear some answers that would help this kind of aftermath of a disaster never to happen again.

Next Up: Flying Cars: The True Story