Read Up! 3 Nonfiction Picture Books for Animal Lovers

I've got three here to share either on the lap or in a storytime; see what you think!

Every Day Birds
Amy Ludwig VanDerwater & Dylan Metrano
Metrano's large, bold cut-paper illustrations really catch the eye, and VanDerwater's sparse, lightly-rhyming text leaves plenty of room for the listener & reader to discuss whether they've seen each bird.  At the end of the book, for those with a more advanced attention span, all of the illustrations reappear in thumbnail form, along with a full paragraph of detail about each bird.

Fabulous Frogs
Martin Jenkins & Tim Hopgood
Hopgood's mixed-media illustrations are attention-grabbers for sure, starting out with the Goliath frog, which is 2-pages huge!  We get to see an amazing (okay, "fabulous") variety of frogs from around the world, with simple text printed large & bold, and more detailed information in a smaller font down below.  I love books that can work at multiple levels like this.  At the end of the book, the creators provide a simple index, recommended resources for further information--and even more wonderful frog pictures!

Giant Pop-Out Ocean
(Chronicle Books, no author/photographer information provided)
Kids in preschool & above will love knowing the answers to the guessing-game questions in this book ("I have a hard shell, and you'll find me in tide ppols.  My pincers help protect me.  What am I?"), and everyone will love the big, colorful photographs that unfurl as the answers.  I'm not sure what "I can even balance a ball on my nose" is doing on a spread that is supposed to be about wild dolphins, though!

Check out these books, and let me know what you think!  Do you have any favorite nonfiction picture books about wildlife, or favorite books of any kind about anything else?  Let me know!  See more of my suggestions at Read Up!

Storyteller John Weaver



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From the Inbox

This came in from the coordinator of a monthly "storyteller-in-residence"' program I've been doing this school year for several classes of preschoolers in Palo Alto:

 

Well you were paid the ultimate compliment the other day... My daughter, age four, told me that the story teller is sooo good that he does not even need BOOKs.  Rather, he TELLs the story without them.  She also told me that anyone can be a story teller.  Mission accomplished John!  i love it! Also, several parents have told me they have seen the development of much more imaginative play  in their children since you have been with the school.
We are so happy with this!

I'm so glad to know the program has been making a difference!

--Storyteller John Weaver