Non fiction books for children that we love.
Emma’s Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty was the hit story of the week! I picked it up at the library because I love the poem inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty, but knew nothing about its author. It turns out that Emma Lazarus was an exceptional woman, and I definitely recommend borrowing the book to learn more about her!
Since Emma’s Poem touches on immigration in the US in the late 1800s, I thought I would also highlight Green Card Stories – a book for adults that addresses immigration today. The book highlights an incredibly diverse selection of fifty recent US immigrants, each with permanent residence or citizenship – with gorgeous photographs accompanying each story.
I love the way the illustrations in A Man on the Moon give children a clear idea of what the first moonwalk was like! The story is told simply and clearly.
The Goat in the Rug stands on the fringes of non-fiction, since it is told (quite entertainingly) from the goat’s point of view, but it is described as a true story – right down to the details of the goat eating the plants intended for use as natural dyes with the result that the weaver gives up and purchases commercial dyes to use instead.
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MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
Man on The Moon and Green Card in particular look v good – I’ll be looking out for those!! Thanks!
There’s a plethora of Titanic related fiction and non-fiction books coming out ‘down-under’ at the moment.
Looks like a great list of non-fiction reads. That first one, Emma’s Poem, sounds particularly interesting.
I think you would really enjoy that one!
All of those sound really interesting!
Thanks for the recommendations! I love when learning something sparks a new interest! I really want to check out the Goat in the Rug and my son loves astronauts so A Man on the Moon would be great!
I love seeing what books older children can read – gives me a look into the future for some reason I can remember my childhood books but books from when I was around 8 onwards all blur together as I was such an avid reader
We haven’t read any of these books. I’ll have to check them out.
Oh, green card book sounds interesting considering that this is how both me and Lars came here. Thanks for joining WMCIR!
Great picks! And I love your new blog button! :)
Thank you! Glad you like it :)
Was Green Card overwhelming in all the information it presented?
Green Card presents mini-stories (one page, small type) for each of the fifty people. Overwhelming for a child, but I would actually recommend it for a teenager, say aged 14 or older. Maybe younger, if they had a strong interest in immigration. And the photography balances out the intensity of the text nicely.