“The door opens. I smile, enter and shake off the cold.“

This book was super cool. I think it showed an interesting perspective of someone mixing art with science. I did not know who Willian Carlos William was until reading this and now I want to learn more!

A River of Words by Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet is a biography. It was published in 2008. This story is about the life of William Carlos Williams. He was a poet and a doctor. His main dream was to be a poet, but he realized that he needed to make a living so he went to medical school and became a doctor. All throughout his time as a doctor he never stopped writing poetry.

“We are star stuff harvesting sunlight.“

I had no idea who Carl Sagan was before reading this book. This book did a great job of summarizing his life and accomplishments. It would be great for a lesson on space as well as imagination.

Star Stuff by Stephanie Roth Sisson is a biography. It was published in 2014. This book was about the life of Carl Sagan. Sagan was a scientist who focused on space. The book tells us about a time when he was handed a book about stars as a child. He loved the book and it excited him very much. The book continues on to tell about his research and accomplishments like the launching of the Voyager probes.

“'I want to go to jail,' Audrey had told her mother.“

This was AMAZING. It would be perfect for a lesson about the civil rights movement. I also think this would be a great book to show children that no matter how old they are they can stand up for what they believe in.

The Youngest Marcher by Cynthia Levinson is a biography. It was published in 2017. This book is about Audrey Faye Hendrixs. She is the youngest person to be arrested for a civil rights protest. She was nine years old at the time. She lived in Alabama and was protesting segregation when she was arrested. She was put in jail for a week and was interrogated and intimidated by guards. Then she was released to her family.

“But he was their baby, so they loved him... no matter what.“

This book was so great! It would be a nice opener for a lesson about Einstein himself or innovation itself. I also really liked the illustrations in this book.

On a Beam of Light by Jennifer Berne is a biography. It was published in 2013. This book tells us all about the life of Albert Einstein. It starts by telling us about his childhood which was quiet. He loved asking questions and learning new things. It then goes on to tell us about his adult life and all of his many achievements like his inventions and findings. It ends with children staring at question marks with an inquisitive look.

“More than forty years passed since Horace won his first box of paints. Now, at last, everyone knew he was an artist.”

This was super interesting because I have never heard of this artist before. This would be great for children to expand their knowledge and inspire them to be artists themselves.

A Splash of Red by Jen Bryant is a biography. It was published in 2013. This book follows the life of the artist Horace Pippin. It tells us about his childhood and how he has always loved creating art especially drawing. He was then in the military and was in war in which he got injured. Luckily he was able to move back home and get married and continue his artwork.

“It was her hopes and dreams that went hurtling into space with Collins, along for the ride.”

This was a super inspiring book! I feel like we always hear about the male astronauts and they get all the glory, but this book highlights the females! It is so great to see and I would love to have this in my classroom.

Almost Astronauts by Tanya Lee Stone is a collection of biographies. It was published in 2009. This book is comprised of twelve different biographies on female astronauts. It gives their life stories, successes and challenges. The stories are each so detailed and well written. These are empowering stories for young and old people to help them realize that women are so strong and on the same tier as men.

“Franklin wanted to know how everything worked.”

This book was okay. The information was good, but it was a lot. It didn‘t really pull me in or keep me interested. I feel like there are better ways to teach children about Ben Franklin.

Electric Ben by Robert Byrd is a biography about Benjamin Franklin. It was published in 2012. This book is a super in depth biography on Benjamin Franklin. It starts from birth, goes into detail about his childhood, all of his inventions, his family and his death. It is super long and I don‘t think I would ever want to read the whole thing. Details are good, but this is a lot.

“Iguaca! Iguaca! The parrots called as they flew to Sierra palm trees to eat their dark, bitter fruit.”

This is a great book to not only learn about birds, but also the culture of Puerto Rico and extinction. This is super informative for children and is addressed in a clear and straightforward way. I also like that the page orientation is different.

Parrots Over Puerto Rico by Susan L. Roth is a piece of nonfiction. It was published in 2013. This story is about a native breed of parrots in Puerto Rico that almost went extinct. These birds were around when Christopher Columbus was exploring. Later Hurricane Hugo hit and a ton of trees were knocked over and a lot of these birds homes were ruined. Through the work of scientists they were able to save this species.

“To stay warm, the red fox sleeps with its long, busy tail wrapped around its nose. Heads... or tails?”

This book was super cute! The illustrations were adorable! This is a topic I would have never through to teach children, but it is so interesting!

Time to Sleep by Steve Jenkins is a piece of nonfiction. It was published in 2011. This book explains that just how we need sleep as humans, animals need sleep as well. It then continues on and describes how and when a bunch of different animals sleep in their different environments. This is an easy book to start in the middle and learn about a specific animal.

“The smallest beetle, and one of the smallest insects in the world, is the North American featherwing beetle, so tiny it could pass through the eye of a needle.”

This book was super informative! This would be a great resource for children to learn about bugs. I know the children at the CDC have a love for beetles!

A Beetle is Shy by Dianna Hutts Aston is a piece of nonfiction. It was published in 2016. It takes us through a beetles whole life cycle from beginning to end. It tells us about characteristics of the beetles and their environments. This almost feels like a beetle index. This book would be an easy one to jump into at any point and learn some quick facts.

“Other shops sail home safe... because the lightship holds her place.”

This was super intriguing! I feel this is a type of ship many people don‘t learn about and this book is a great resource for that!

Lightship by Brian Floca is a piece of nonfiction. It was published in 2007. This book tells us all about a ship. It includes the parts, how there‘s a caption and a crew and so many other details. This shop doesn‘t go from port to port or carry people it just sits and waits. When it‘s foggy the crew shines the light and blows the horn so other ships can get to their destination safely. This is a super interesting thing to learn about!

“Many birds dance to communicate with a future mate.”

This book would be a great intro into a section on birds as well as a section in how animals communicate with each other. The illustrations are great and the facts are simple and easy to comprehend. Loved it !

Bird Talk by Lita Judge is a piece of nonfiction. It was published in 2012. This book discusses a ton of different birds and the noises they make. It talks about what different bird calls mean like mating calls and fighting noises. It also tells us about how some birds dance in order to communicate. This is great because it teaches children about a ton of different birds and helps us learn about what the sounds mean.

“A ladybug‘s inner wings beat eighty five times per second.”

This book was super informative. From looking at the cover I didn‘t think it would be so educational but it truly was. This would be great to help kids learn about bugs and how they help our environment.

Ladybugs by Gail Gibbons is a piece of nonfiction. It was published in 2012. This book is all about ladybugs. It talks about their body parts, life cycle, purposes and environments. It gives so many scientific facts about ladybugs which are still simple enough for children to understand. It is all fact and no opinion which makes this a great accurate book. Kids would really love the illustrations.

“We have learned that every kind of living is part of a big, beautiful complicated pattern.”

This was super cool. The illustrations were so beautiful. It gave so much insight on so many different things.

Many: The Diversity of Life on Earth by Nicola Davies is a piece of nonfiction. It was published in 2017. It talks about how there are so many living things on our planet. It also gave great examples of each living thing that was brought up. It also talks about how living things eat, and their life functions.

“If we will join in this goal, then there is hope for humanity.”

This is super interesting to me because both of my grandparents were impacted by the holocaust. I wish I had time to read the whole thing!

Surviving Hitler by Andrea Warren is a biography. It was published in 2001. This book follows the life of a boy who was in Poland when the Nazis invaded. He was taken to a concentration camp and was moved around a lot. He survived because he was chosen for forced labor. This book tells us about his experiences.

“Dear red fab parrot: Where did you get that funny hat?”

This book was so cool! I loved the point of view! I think children would really love this and be very interested by it.

Creature Features is a piece of nonfiction by Steve Jenkins. It was published in 2004. This is basically an index of animals. It tells us about why certain animals have the characteristics they do. It‘s really neat because it is asked in a question and it is answered from that animals point of view. This is a book you can easily jump around in.

“The Cherokee Nation praised the writing Sequoyah invented. And in 1825, they gave Sequoyah a silver medal.”

It was so cool that Sequoyahs language was actually in the book under the English text. It would be a great way to teach children about Native American culture.