Brave Jane Austen: Reader, Writer, Author, Rebel


Lisa Pliscou - 2018
    Jane didn’t have much opportunity to go to school but she read everything she could, including the books in her father’s study. And before long, she began to write her own stories, filled with funny, clever, and inventive characters.Today, Austen’s novels ― including Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Emma ― are widely read around the world. She's recognized as one of the most important and influential writers of all time; about her J.K. Rowling has said, "Jane Austen is the pinnacle to which all authors aspire."

Wait, Rest, Pause: Dormancy in Nature


Marcie Flinchum Atkins - 2019
    This highly curricular book teaches young readers about different kinds of dormancy and which animals do what. Featuring creatures like ladybugs, chickadees, squirrels, and even alligators, this book won't put curious kids to sleep!

A Penguin Named Patience: A Hurricane Katrina Rescue Story


Suzanne Lewis - 2015
    She is small at roughly 6 pounds and approximately 20 inches tall; but at 24 years old, she is the "penguin in charge" of the penguin exhibit at New Orleans's Audubon Aquarium of the Americas. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hits, devastating the city and surrounding areas with its catastrophic winds and flooding. The aquarium is severely damaged. With no electricity or relief in sight, the temperature in the aquarium reaches dangerously high degrees, putting the penguins in peril. Patience, and the 18 other penguins, along with some of the other zoo animals, must leave their home and their favorite human, Tom, the penguin keeper. Tom drives his penguins to Baton Rouge where an airplane transfers them to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. Here the penguins will recuperate and live until they can return home to New Orleans. After nine long months away from Tom and their home, the aquarium is finally restored. And Patience, who has been patient, and her penguins return to New Orleans to a cheering homecoming.

Butterfly for a King: Saving Hawaiʻi's Kamehameha Butterflies


Cindy Trumbore - 2021
    Named to honor the great king who united the Hawaiian Islands, the butterfly is one of only two species native to Hawaii.After the Kamehameha butterfly became the state insect--thanks to a group of fifth graders--people noticed that the butterflies were disappearing. So a team of dedicated professional and citizen scientists began working together to restore the butterfly's natural habitat and reintroduce butterflies in places where they were once found.From the Sibert Medal-winning team that created Parrots Over Puerto Rico comes another nature adventure. Discover the captivating story of the Kamehameha butterfly and the people all around Hawaii who are helping it survive.

Red-eyed Tree Frog


Joy Cowley - 1999
    Award-winning photographer Nic Bishop's larger-than-life, gorgeous images document the hunt, which ends happily with the frog settling down in the leaves to spend his daylight hours sleeping! Joy Cowley's simple, readable text makes the frog's story fun, interesting, and accessible to young readers. This is a nature tale like you've never seen before!

The Great American Dust Bowl


Don Brown - 2013
    In fact, five of them could fit into the period at the end of this sentence.On a clear, warm Sunday, April 14, 1935, a wild wind whipped up millions upon millions of these specks of dust to form a duster—a savage storm—on America's high southern plains.The sky turned black, sand-filled winds scoured the paint off houses and cars, trains derailed, and electricity coursed through the air. Sand and dirt fell like snow—people got lost in the gloom and suffocated . . . and that was just the beginning.Don Brown brings the Dirty Thirties to life with kinetic, highly saturated, and lively artwork in this graphic novel of one of America's most catastrophic natural events: the Dust Bowl.

Brother Sun, Sister Moon: Saint Francis of Assisi's Canticle of the Creatures


Katherine Paterson - 2011
    Illuminated with the exquisite illustrations of cut-paper artist Pamela Dalton, this picture book offers a stunningly beautiful tribute to nature.

The Mushroom Fan Club


Elise Gravel - 2018
    While the beautiful coral mushroom looks like it belongs under the sea, the peculiar Lactarius indigo may be better suited for outer space. From the fun-to-stomp puffballs to the prince of the stinkers—the stinkhorn mushroom—and the musically inclined chanterelles, Gravel shares her knowledge of this fascinating kingdom by bringing each species to life in full felt-tip-marker glory.The Governor General Award–winning author Gravel’s first book with Drawn & Quarterly, If Found . . . Please Return to Elise Gravel, was a Junior Library Guild selection and an instant hit among librarians, parents, and kids alike. Fostering the same spirit of creativity and curiosity, The Mushroom Fan Club promises to inspire kids to look more closely at the world around them and to seek out all of life’s little treasures, stinky or not!

101 Facts... BEARS! Bear Books for Kids - Amazing Facts, Photos & Video Links.


I.P. Factly - 2014
    "101 Facts… BEARS!" Amazing facts, photos and video links to some of the world's most lovable animals. Bear books for children - a fun and fascinating way for young readers to find out more about these highly intelligent creatures. This bear book for kids mixes facts, photos and even includes a video clip section. IP Factly's 101 Facts series has been designed to encourage and bolster independent reading. Accompanying webpage with video clips This book provides fact after fact for information hungry children to tell family and friends, and even has an accompanying webpage with video clips of the bear species in the book. The videos are split into bear species to further encourage independent reading and learning. It makes learning fun and gives a real reason for children to want to read by themselves. Kids will love discovering animal facts to share and enjoy. The video links mean children come back again and again, naturally developing their reading and learning skills (early kindle models don't support video but the safe website link is given). Fascinating Facts Include... The giant short-faced bear existed up until 11,000 years ago. It is believed to be the largest carnivorous mammal to have ever lived. A bear’s sense of smell is seven times better than a bloodhound’s! In spite of being classified as carnivores, about 75% to 85% of a bear’s diet is made up of plants. Bears do eat honey, although they do not like it as much as Winnie the Pooh does. In fact, they prefer to eat the baby bees when they do stumble upon a beehive. Contrary to popular belief, bears are not nocturnal. In fact, most of them are active during the day. Bears tend to walk in their own tracks. This means that an area frequented by bears may have only one set of tracks, but the paw prints will appear sunken as if they have been beaten into the soil. Scroll up and Buy this book now - your child will love going back to it again and again.

Bird, Butterfly, Eel


James Prosek - 2007
     From the first buds of springtime to the first autumn frost, nature shows us that change is all around us and that the world has its own way of beginning anew. Bird, Butterfly, and Eel spend their summers on the same coastal farm, but in the fall they go to very distant and different places. Their journeys to the far reaches of land and sea make them remarkable creatures. James Prosek uses their stories and his own sun-kissed paintings to introduce young readers to the basic elements of bird, fish, and insect migration.

When Spring Comes to the DMZ


Uk-Bae Lee - 2019
    But the vivid seasonal flora and fauna are framed by ever-present rusty razor wire, warning signs, and locked gates--and regularly interrupted by military exercises that continue decades after a 1953 ceasefire in the Korean War established the DMZ.

Every Day Birds


Amy Ludwig VanDerwater - 2016
    Every Day Birds helps children identify and learn about common birds. After reading Every Day Birds, families can look out their windows with curiosity--recognizing birds and nests and celebrating the beauty of these creatures! Every Day Birds focuses on twenty North American birds, with a poem and descriptions written by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and beautiful paper-cuttings by first-time picture book illustrator Dylan Metrano. Interesting facts about each bird are featured in the back of the book.

Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots


Michael Rex - 2020
    Some things are facts--like the number of robots in this book. Other things are opinions--like which robot would make the best friend, or which robot dances best. And sometimes to tell the difference between a fact and an opinion, you need to wait to get more information--that's because facts can be proven true or false, and opinions are things you feel and believe--but that you can't prove.

One Day a Dot: The Story of You, the Universe, and Everything


Ian Lendler - 2018
    But the biggest question of all cannot be answered: Where did that one dot come from?One Day a Dot is a beautiful and vibrant picture book that uses the visual motif of circles as to guide young readers through the stages of life on Earth.

Frog Song


Brenda Z. Guiberson - 2013
    Frogs are astonishing in their variety and crucial to ecosystems. Onomatopoeic text and stunning illustrations introduce young readers to these fascinating and important creatures, from Chile to Nepal to Australia.