Book Moot‘s review of Deborah Hopkinson’s Sky Boys last week got me thinking, especially this part:
This is a lovely and informative book. James Ransome’s illustrations are warm and inviting. I think this book is more easily shared as a read-aloud than Elizabeth Mann’s excellent Empire State Building which was a Bluebonnet nominee this year.
She’s right — for the picture-book crowd, Hopkinson’s book is a better introduction to the Empire State Building. But if a young reader is captivated by Sky Boys, it’s a good idea to have Mann’s intricately detailed and illustrated book at the ready to build on that interest.
Then, over the weekend, A Fuse #8 Production gave a glowing review to Cesar – Si, Se Puede! Yes, We Can! while also paying tribute to Kathleen Krull’s version of Cesar Chavez’s story:
Beautiful to look [at and] beautiful to read, this is a perfect complement to Harvesting Hope and a wonderful book in its own right as well.
These reviews brought to mind other nonfiction pairings that can make the most of any sparks set off by a reader’s initial exposure to a topic:
- Sherry Garland’s lyrical Voices of the Alamo can set the stage for Jim Murphy’s gripping Inside the Alamo.
- Kay Winters’ Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books can lead to Russell Freedman’s Lincoln: A Photobiography.
- And Spirit of Endurance: The True Story of the Shackleton Expedition to the Antarctic, by Jennifer Armstrong, can naturally be followed by Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance — also by Armstrong.
That’s just for starters, but I’m sure there are more. What one-two nonfiction punches can you recommend?
I loved Empire State Building by Mann too.
One of my favorite nonfiction pairings is Snowflake Bentley and Walter Wick’s Drop of Water. Wick’s color photographs of snowflakes never fail to evoke oohs and aahs. His photos of water as ice, steam and soap bubbles make it one of the most perfect science books ever.
I also love pairing Thomas Locker’s Water Dance and Cloud Dance with any book on the water cycle.
Rather pedestrian books on the rock cycle are illuminated by his Mountain Dance. Although not “strictly” nonfiction, Locker’s books are a great enhancement.
I loved Empire State Building by Mann too.
One of my favorite nonfiction pairings is Snowflake Bentley and Walter Wick’s Drop of Water. Wick’s color photographs of snowflakes never fail to evoke oohs and aahs. His photos of water as ice, steam and soap bubbles make it one of the most perfect science books ever.
I also love pairing Thomas Locker’s Water Dance and Cloud Dance with any book on the water cycle.
Rather pedestrian books on the rock cycle are illuminated by his Mountain Dance. Although not “strictly” nonfiction, Locker’s books are a great enhancement.
I loved Empire State Building by Mann too.
One of my favorite nonfiction pairings is Snowflake Bentley and Walter Wick’s Drop of Water. Wick’s color photographs of snowflakes never fail to evoke oohs and aahs. His photos of water as ice, steam and soap bubbles make it one of the most perfect science books ever.
I also love pairing Thomas Locker’s Water Dance and Cloud Dance with any book on the water cycle.
Rather pedestrian books on the rock cycle are illuminated by his Mountain Dance. Although not “strictly” nonfiction, Locker’s books are a great enhancement.
I think Bill T. Jones’s “Dance” and Susanna Reich’s bio of Jose Limon, “Jose! Born to Dance,” would work well together with five, six and seven-year-olds.
I think Bill T. Jones’s “Dance” and Susanna Reich’s bio of Jose Limon, “Jose! Born to Dance,” would work well together with five, six and seven-year-olds.
I think Bill T. Jones’s “Dance” and Susanna Reich’s bio of Jose Limon, “Jose! Born to Dance,” would work well together with five, six and seven-year-olds.
Here’s another variant on the idea: fiction and non-fiction pairings like Cronin/Lewin’s Duck For President with Judith St. George’s So You Want to be President?
Kids learn a lot when they don’t realize they’re being taught :-). I’ve often done double reads in the library or over two weeks (or tied in with the teachers when I actually have time to do that) and find that the follow-up is well received. Not quite your question, I know, but just a related concept.
By the way, I’d be interested if anyone has a great pairing for Mordicai Gerstein’s The Man Who Walked Between the Towers.
Here’s another variant on the idea: fiction and non-fiction pairings like Cronin/Lewin’s Duck For President with Judith St. George’s So You Want to be President?
Kids learn a lot when they don’t realize they’re being taught :-). I’ve often done double reads in the library or over two weeks (or tied in with the teachers when I actually have time to do that) and find that the follow-up is well received. Not quite your question, I know, but just a related concept.
By the way, I’d be interested if anyone has a great pairing for Mordicai Gerstein’s The Man Who Walked Between the Towers.
Here’s another variant on the idea: fiction and non-fiction pairings like Cronin/Lewin’s Duck For President with Judith St. George’s So You Want to be President?
Kids learn a lot when they don’t realize they’re being taught :-). I’ve often done double reads in the library or over two weeks (or tied in with the teachers when I actually have time to do that) and find that the follow-up is well received. Not quite your question, I know, but just a related concept.
By the way, I’d be interested if anyone has a great pairing for Mordicai Gerstein’s The Man Who Walked Between the Towers.
Chris, I linked to your blog over at mine today with a few more pairings my kids enjoy.
http://farmschoolathome.blogspot.com/
2006/03/book-pairings-for-one-two-punch.
html
I never thought of them as “one-two punches” but when I told my two boys (ages 6 and 6.5) they thought the idea was pretty nifty — thanks from the rock ’em sock ’em gang : )
Chris, I linked to your blog over at mine today with a few more pairings my kids enjoy.
http://farmschoolathome.blogspot.com/
2006/03/book-pairings-for-one-two-punch.
html
I never thought of them as “one-two punches” but when I told my two boys (ages 6 and 6.5) they thought the idea was pretty nifty — thanks from the rock ’em sock ’em gang : )
Chris, I linked to your blog over at mine today with a few more pairings my kids enjoy.
http://farmschoolathome.blogspot.com/
2006/03/book-pairings-for-one-two-punch.
html
I never thought of them as “one-two punches” but when I told my two boys (ages 6 and 6.5) they thought the idea was pretty nifty — thanks from the rock ’em sock ’em gang : )
Greg, the other year when we were getting ready to take the kids to NYC for the first time, to visit my parents, I borrowed the Gerstein book from the library, in part to prepare them for a talk about the towers. My eldest, then 7, ran to her room to get “Mirette on the High Wire” by Emily Arnold McCully, which at least shares the high wire idea.
The other library book I used to talk about the towers was “The WTC” by Debbie Levy, from the Great Structures in History series (ISBN 0737720719). At the time we mostly looked at the pictures.
Greg, the other year when we were getting ready to take the kids to NYC for the first time, to visit my parents, I borrowed the Gerstein book from the library, in part to prepare them for a talk about the towers. My eldest, then 7, ran to her room to get “Mirette on the High Wire” by Emily Arnold McCully, which at least shares the high wire idea.
The other library book I used to talk about the towers was “The WTC” by Debbie Levy, from the Great Structures in History series (ISBN 0737720719). At the time we mostly looked at the pictures.
Greg, the other year when we were getting ready to take the kids to NYC for the first time, to visit my parents, I borrowed the Gerstein book from the library, in part to prepare them for a talk about the towers. My eldest, then 7, ran to her room to get “Mirette on the High Wire” by Emily Arnold McCully, which at least shares the high wire idea.
The other library book I used to talk about the towers was “The WTC” by Debbie Levy, from the Great Structures in History series (ISBN 0737720719). At the time we mostly looked at the pictures.
For the Gerstein book, I’d one-two punch with Maira Kalman’s picture book “Fireboat,” which is also a super little Weston Woods video.
For the Gerstein book, I’d one-two punch with Maira Kalman’s picture book “Fireboat,” which is also a super little Weston Woods video.
For the Gerstein book, I’d one-two punch with Maira Kalman’s picture book “Fireboat,” which is also a super little Weston Woods video.
Thanks Becky and Susan for the suggestions. So many books, so little time!
Thanks Becky and Susan for the suggestions. So many books, so little time!
Thanks Becky and Susan for the suggestions. So many books, so little time!
Great comments, everybody. Thanks especially to Becky for taking this idea and running with it. (She even prompted me to come up with a pairing I missed.)
Camille, have you seen Lisa Westberg Peters’ and Ted Rand’s collaborations on the rock and water cycles (The Sun, the Wind and the Rain and Water’s Way)?
Greg, for older readers, there’s Philippe Petit’s own To Reach the Clouds: My High Wire Walk Between the Twin Towers.
Great comments, everybody. Thanks especially to Becky for taking this idea and running with it. (She even prompted me to come up with a pairing I missed.)
Camille, have you seen Lisa Westberg Peters’ and Ted Rand’s collaborations on the rock and water cycles (The Sun, the Wind and the Rain and Water’s Way)?
Greg, for older readers, there’s Philippe Petit’s own To Reach the Clouds: My High Wire Walk Between the Twin Towers.
Great comments, everybody. Thanks especially to Becky for taking this idea and running with it. (She even prompted me to come up with a pairing I missed.)
Camille, have you seen Lisa Westberg Peters’ and Ted Rand’s collaborations on the rock and water cycles (The Sun, the Wind and the Rain and Water’s Way)?
Greg, for older readers, there’s Philippe Petit’s own To Reach the Clouds: My High Wire Walk Between the Twin Towers.