Book picks similar to
Koko's Story by Francine Patterson


non-fiction
animals
childrens
nonfiction

Have You Heard the Nesting Bird?


Rita Gray - 2014
    Fun and informative back matter takes the shape of an interview so that readers learn more right from the bird's bill. Ken Pak's lively illustrations, paired with Rita Gray's words, render a visual and sonorous picture book to be enjoyed by young naturalists.

Hope for Winter: The True Story of a Remarkable Dolphin Friendship


David Yates - 2014
    Just feet from where Winter was found, appeared another injured dolphin, orphaned from her mother and struggling to survive. The Clearwater Marine team quickly went to work, attempting to nurse this new dolphin back to health. After a tough fight fought by the little dolphin and by the Clearwater team, the dolphin grew strong and healthy. She now lives with Winter and crowds flock to the aquarium to see them play. Her tale is one of courage and triumph. She was named Hope and this book tells her story.

Mix It Up!


Hervé Tullet - 2014
    Follow the artist's simple instructions, and suddenly colors appear, mix, splatter, and vanish in a world powered only by the reader's imagination. Tullet—who joins such greats as Eric Carle and Leo Lionni as a master of his craft—sets readers on an extraordinary interactive journey all within the printed page. Tullet prompts plenty of giggles in addition to a profound understanding of colors, and once again displays his unique genius and vision in a work that is a glorious and richly satisfying companion to Press Here.

Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices


Paul Fleischman - 1988
    They can be fully appreciated by an individual reader, but they're particularly striking when read aloud by two voices, making this an ideal pick for classroom use. Eric Beddows′s vibrant drawings send each insect soaring, spinning, or creeping off the page in its own unique way.With Joyful Noise, Paul Fleischman created not only a fascinating guide to the insect world but an exultant celebration of life.

Penguins!


Anne Schreiber - 2009
    These guys are now nature’s ROCK STARS! If you’re age 5, you’re probably as tall as an Emperor. But why do they throw up so much? March this way, and find out all!National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.

Pluto Gets the Call


Adam Rex - 2019
    That is, until the day he gets a call from some Earth scientists telling him he isn’t a planet anymore! You probably wanted to meet a real planet, huh? So, Pluto takes the reader on a hilarious and informative journey through the solar system to introduce the other planets and commiserate about his situation along the way. Younger readers will be so busy laughing over Pluto’s interactions with the other planets, asteroids, moons, and even the sun, they won’t even realize just how much they’re learning about our solar system!

Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years


Stacy McAnulty - 2017
    Beloved children's book author Stacy McAnulty helps Earth tell her story, and award-winning illustrator David Litchfield brings the words to life. The book includes back matter with even more interesting tidbits.

High Tide for Horseshoe Crabs


Lisa Kahn Schnell - 2015
    Dual-layered text introduces the life cycle of the horseshoe crab, with a focus on the annual mass-spawning event at Delaware Bay.

The Magic School Bus Wet All Over: A Book About The Water Cycle


Patricia Relf - 1996
    Frizzle's class is learning all about water. And when Wanda suggests they take a trip to Waterland, Ms Frizzle gets that funny look in her eyes. But instead of taking her class to the water theme park, she takes them on a seriously wet and wild ride - through the water cycle! Join the class as they evaporate, condense, rain, and make their way back to the ocean...only to evaporate all over again!

If a Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks


Faith Ringgold - 1999
    It would tell how the adult Rosa rode to and from work on a segregated city bus and couldn't sit in the same row as a white person. It would tell of the fateful day when Rosa refused to give up her seat to a white man and how that act of courage inspired others around the world to stand up for freedom. In this book a bus does talk, and on her way to school a girl named Marcie learns why Rosa Parks is the mother of the Civil Rights movement. At the end of Marcie's magical ride, she meets Rosa Parks herself at a birthday party with several distinguished guests. Wait until she tells her class about this!

Animals in Winter


Henrietta Bancroft - 1963
    Butterflies can't survive cold weather, so when winter comes, many butterflies fly to warmer places. They migrate. Woodchucks don't like cold weather either but they don't migrate; they hibernate. Woodchucks sleep in their dens all winter long. Read and find out how other animals cope with winter's worst weather. This is a Level One Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science title, which means the book explores more challenging concepts for children in the primary grades and supports the Common Core Learning Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) standards. Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out is the winner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru Science Books & Films Prize for Outstanding Science Series.

Science Verse


Jon Scieszka - 2004
    / 'Cause whether his or hers amoeba, / They too feel like you and meba.What if a boring lesson about the food chain becomes a sing-along about predators and prey? A twinkle-twinkle little star transforms into a twinkle-less, sunshine-eating-and rhyming Black Hole? What if amoebas, combustion, metamorphosis, viruses, the creation of the universe are all irresistible, laugh-out-loud poetry? Well, you're thinking in science verse, that's what. And if you can't stop the rhymes ... the atomic joke is on you. Only the amazing talents of Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith, the team who created Math Curse, could make science so much fun.

Bats


Elizabeth Carney - 2010
    They flock by the hundreds, and they sleep while hanging upside down! In this beautifully photographed Level 2 Reader, kids learn about one of the most interesting creatures around—and discover the bat’s unique place in the wild and in the world. The high-interest topic, expertly written text, and bonus learning activity lay the groundwork for a successful and rewarding reading experience.National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.

The Crayon Man: the True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons


Natascha Biebow - 2019
    purple mountains’ majesty, mauvelous, jungle green, razzmatazz… What child doesn't love to hold a crayon in their hands?  But children didn't always have such magical boxes of crayons. Here’s the true story of an inventor who so loved nature’s vibrant colors that he found a way to bring the outside world to children – in a box for only a nickel!

Animalium


Jenny Broom - 2014
    Open 365 days a year and unrestricted by the constraints of physical space, each title in this series is organized into galleries that display more than 200 full-color specimens accompanied by lively, informative text. Offering hours of learning, this first title within the series "Animalium" presents the animal kingdom in glorious detail with illustrations from Katie Scott, an unparalleled new talent.