scrounge: /skrounj/ informal verb: to actively seek [books] from any available source
I really enjoyed Wild World, a collection of poetry about many of Earth's most recognizable wild places that contain animal habitats. The poetry is paired with lovely, colorful illustrations featuring many animals found in each type of place.
The poetry contains some wonderful imagery and metaphor, and as such is probably beyond preschoolers, but for older children and adults this is a lovely way to learn and be reminded about these animal habitats, and references to the food chain help prevent these vignettes from becoming romanticized. There are some general environments covered here such as jungles, deserts, mountains, etc., but also some more specific ones such as moorlands, mangroves, and the Australian Outback.
(Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)
Scrounged From: NetGalley
Format: Kindle
Author: Angela McAllister
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: None
I Love My Hair! is a book that portrays a girl named Keyana getting her hair brushed by her mother. It hurts and she doesn't like it, but when her mother is done, she reminds her that her hair is beautiful and she can wear it in any style she chooses.
This is a celebration of African hair, and I love the visual metaphors of different styles, such as "cornrows" showing her hair blending into a cornfield -- we also see other styles such as braids with beads, and the natural style, described as letting her hair go "any way it pleases."
Toward the end, the voice changes to Keyana's: "I love my hair, because it is thick as a forest, soft as cotton candy." She says her favorite style is one ponytail on each side of her head, like wings, and that one day she might take off and fly!
Scrounged From: Our local library
Format: Paperback
Author: Natasha Anastasia Tarpley
Illustrator: E.B. Lewis
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: None
Landforms is a beginning reader's basic overview of many of the different types of landforms that can be found on planet Earth. Simple text is paired with gorgeous photography of mountians, lakes, plateaus, and other impressive features of the land and water. There is an emphasis on time -- how some landforms can change rapidly, while others take a lot more time.
The end of the book provides a list of content words and high-frequency words, as well as some suggestions for further reading and other ideas to help children understand the science concepts presented in the book.
Overall, this is a great combination of literacy and science, which is visually appealing as well.
(Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)
Scrounged From: NetGalley
Format: Kindle
Author: Mary Lindeen
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: None
The Youngest Marcher is a story of a girl I'd never heard of before -- Audrey Faye Hendricks, who at nine years old was the youngest known marcher to go to jail for protesting segregation during the Civil Rights Movement.
I thought this book did a good job of balancing its tone between serious and lighthearted. Reading about a young girl being kept for a week in a dirty jail cell is sad and disturbing, but also important. But the story keeps its eye on the prize, and focuses on young Audrey's determination, sense of justice and, at the end, pride at having helped to accomplish the removal of segregation laws.
She was fortunate in that Martin Luther King, Jr. was a family friend who ate at their table and spoke at their church. He said that an "unjust law is no law at all," and called on people to fill the jails in protest. When there weren't enough people filling the jails, he declared that they should fill the jails with children, and that is what happened.
I think this book has potential to communicate the before-and-after picture of segregation very well, in a way that children can understand. Of course, parents/teachers should use discretion as to children's age/maturity levels, but I think Audrey Hendricks' ability to put a child's face on the Civil Rights Movement is very important.
Scrounged From: Our local library
Format: Hardcover
Author: Cynthia Levinson
Illustrator: Vanessa Brantley Newton
Pages: 40
Content Advisory: As mentioned, a little girl spends a week in jail, and protestors describe being sprayed by water hoses and chased by the KKK.
Little Kids First Big Book of Animals is a great book from National Geographic that introduces kids to many different kinds of animals all over the world. The book organizes the animals by the type of environment they live in: grasslands, the desert, the sea, forests and jungles, and the arctic.
Each section covers several animals (some more than others), with one or two double pages devoted to each animal. There are lots of great photographs, simple text, and an emphasis on the relationship between parents and baby animals. Some of the animals included are: snakes, giraffes, snowy owls, zebras, spiders, desert jerboas, penguins, raccoons, gorillas, koalas, dolphins, and more.
This book can be read all at once if the child's attention span is long enough, but could also be read in sections for use in a science or geography unit. My five-year-old son says about it:
"It's nice and long and I like to sit and read it. It has beavers in it. They chop up wood to make their dam. The animal I like the most is an octopus. It has a siphon under it that goes into the water with it."
Scrounged From: Books-a-Million
Format: Hardcover
Author: Catherine D. Hughes
Pages: 128
Content Advisory: None
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