New Nonfiction Faves

Hope everyone is enjoying this Winter Wonderland of Break!! Whether you are cuddling up with a book (or books), sipping coffee and just relaxing or taking a short trip, whatever it is, I hope you are enjoying it. That's the point of mini-vacation. Do whatever your heart desires. Mine? Well...I can't spend a vacation without wondering and diving into a good book, well...because that's just me! I'm pretty excited to discover a couple of great nonfiction books that will help me with an intense unit I'll be teaching after break. So here are four fantastic informational books for the young ones that I'm expecting to be a huge success, and they are all around the theme of animals!

 Wild Alphabet by Mike Haines and Julia Frohlich. Oh too much fun...so here it is! Not only an informational book, but also a pop-up book which guarantees children to go crazy for it! Each animal has a short description written in first person (as if the animal itself is talking), and one of the cool features is the ONE word chosen in that description that stands up from the rest....like JUMP, ROLL, FAST, SPLASH. Each word is featured in a different way, just a fun way for that word to get attention. A fun tool for young writers to know and understand how it is being used.

 Just One Bite 11 Animals and Their Bites at Life Size! by Lola Schaefer and illustrated by Geoff Waring. Just like the title suggests it, this book teaches us how much an animal can eat with just ONE BITE! For example, with just one slurp octopus can eat this much crab. Each fact is supported with life size bites illustrations so readers can have a clear and true understanding. I must say that the illustrations in this book are AMAZING! The artist behind this book is an amazing London-based art director with years of experience working in the artistic world. Such a winning team!
 Zoo Borns! Zoo Babies from Around the World by Andrew Bleiman and Chris Eastland.  Oh get ready to melt with each brilliant photograph! This book will be a favorite for all children regarding age because when it comes to baby animals, most children can't resist to wonder! I love how photographers from different parts of the world joined forces to put together an incredible book.  The book is written in first person thus giving personalities to each zoo born. The short, simple and sweet description of each animal is interesting enough to allow children to wonder more. This is all intentional since at the end of the book you can find three pages filled with MORE information about each baby animal including the zoo born location.
 Get ready to hold a huge book in your hands and to have wondering eyes all over you as you lift each flap  and read cool information! Out of sight by Pittau & Gervais is a work of art as well. This lift-the flap book shares more than 50 animals with its interesting fact. This is the kind of book you want to take your time and read it with no rush. Take days to discover, read a couple of facts each day, put the book away and come back the next day for more new learning! I might need two copies of this book in my classrooom because I can see children going back to it each day for more independent reading time.

So here are my discoveries so far! I can't wait to share these new titles with my students. I can't wait to dive intensively in our unit of Informational Books because we will be learning and reading them as readers but with writers' eyes as well.

So this is it for 2010! My last post of this year! I wish each one of you a quiet moment to reflect and be thankful for the year we're about to say goodbye to. I know it hasn't been easy for everyone, but I also believe in finding beauty in imperfections as well. I wish each one of you make of 2011 the year you would want to always always remember. Life is too short. Carpe Diem.