For Non Fiction Monday, tell me the truth about Twitter

Like many of you, I loved Gregory K's original poem ("I'm Pretty Well Connected [a Web 2.0 poem]") posted on Poetry Friday. But it reminded me of a question I wanted to ask you writers and bloggers: do you Twitter? Why do you do it? Do you read everyone's entries?

Tell me the truth, people--is Twitter a total waste of time?

Non-Fiction Monday Mom Review

I'm busy working on Cybils panels, so Mom drops by for this Non-Fiction Monday with a review of Science on the Loose: Amazing Activities and Science Facts You'll Never Believe, by Helaine Becker and illustrated by Claudia Davila.

This review was written by Alice Herold.

I love reading and reviewing children's books because I always learn something new. Science on the Loose, by Helaine Becker, is full of fascinating information and science experiments for children ages 8 to 12. (Warning to all classroom teachers: Many of the experiments focus on farts and burps.) I'm trying the experiment about yawning when I substitute teach tomorrow.

Becker begins the book with an explanation of the scientific method in just four simple steps. This explanation is perfect for planning science experiments in the classroom or at home. One of my favorite experiments in Science on the Loose is "Innie or Outie." Did you know that about 90 % of people have an innie (bellybutton)? Are you checking now?

The author includes intriguing facts along with the experiments. Regarding "innies and outies," Becker notes, "Delphi, the holiest site in ancient Greece, was thought to be the world's 'omphalos' which is Greek for navel."

Here's information from the headache section: Did you know, for example, that 30% of the general population suffers from ice cream headaches, but that 90% of migraine sufferers do? The average brain-freeze headache lasts about 5 to 15 seconds and you can get rid of it by warming the roof of your mouth with your tongue.

Illustrator Claudia Davila contributes bright child-friendly illustrations to Science on the Loose, many of them optical illusions. Two lists are included in the back of the book: One defines sixty-some science concepts discussed in the book and the other recommends fifty science experiments for the reader to try.

Science on the Loose: Amazing Activities and Science Facts You'll Never Believe
by Helaine Becker, illustrated by Claudia Davila
Maple Tree Press, 2008
ISBN: 1-8973-4918-2
Suggested Age Range: 8-12

The Monday Non-Fiction roundup is over at Anastasia Suen's Picture Book of the Day.

Non Fiction Monday: Real Life Meets YA Lit

For this Non Fiction Monday, I bring you (instead of a review) a real-life story that concerns Young Adult fiction.

Let's just say I know a thirteen-year-old girl. She's a good kid: a great student, kind to others, and interested in the world.

All of a sudden this thirteen-year-old girl does something entirely out of character: She attempts to steal a candy from a convenience store. She's caught and read the riot act. At home, she's grounded beyond grounded.

When questioned with a "what the heck were you thinking?", the girl answered that almost every book she's read lately (Young Adult fiction) contains an episode of shoplifting. And that she just wanted to try it once.

Obviously the mother did not buy this argument, nor did it sway her in any way. But, still, it's interesting, isn't it? I mean, if we all got out our notebooks to emulate Harriet, or made bread out of walnuts a la Little House on the Prairie, could we also not copy other behaviors?*

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* And, don't worry. I'm not saying we should ban, or restrict, or water down any book. I do believe every child should read what he or she wants to read. This is just the first time I've encountered a child who has copied a negative behavior from a book.

Book Review: A Field Guide to Monsters

"World-famous" monsterologist Johan Olander takes a non-fiction approach to everyday monsters in A Field Guide to Monsters. Olander describes twenty eight monsters with their Latin Name, Habitat, Diet, Distinguishing Features, Life Cycle, and Safety Measures (you must take to avoid or defeat the monsters). Most terrifying category? Habitat. Most of Olander's monsters live right in your own habitat--the home.

Take, for example, the Leech-Eel (A.K.A. Toilet-Snake): "Leech-Eels live in plumbing fixtures and city sewers. They are often found in toilets." Olander's wonderfully detailed pencil-sketch illustrations add to the horror. The Leech-Eel looks like a cross between a Moray Eel, a Cookie Cutter shark, and a baby dragon without wings. What are the Leech-Eel's Distinguishing Features?

• "Since the Leech-Eel often slithers up the drains of toilets, it attacks humans 'where the sun don't shine' when they are sitting on the toilet seat, thus causing painful and embarrassing injuries. It hunts at night and grows up to 2 feet in length. It can weigh up to 4 pounds."

Scared to go into the bathroom? I know I am. Some of Olander's monsters are scary (the Brute, who lives inside you), while others are insanely cute (the Domestic Dust-Devil).* You'll never look at your home and garden the same way again.

A Field Guide to Monsters has great curb appeal, especially for those kids who like Non Fiction. My youngest (7), who is currently on a Egypt kick and carries around a hieroglyphic dictionary, took one look at A Field Guide to Monsters and said, "Hey, that looks like a good book." After reading A Field Guide to Monsters, he pronounced it "excellent" and "funny." I concur. A Field Guide to Monsters is not for the younger child who requests an under-the-bed or closet check before bedtime, because Olander's subjects include Bedwolf (who "consumes children, pets, and small animals" and can be found under the bed) and other realistic monsters who will scare the susceptible child. A Field Guide to Monsters is best suited for children ages six to eleven who will appreciate Olander's humor and may set off on monster hunts of their own.
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*Speaking of the Domestic Dust-Devil, let me just say that I wish s/he were my avatar. I'm in monster-love.
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Don't miss the Monsterwatch blog on which Olander shares kids' monster drawings.

Book Review: When Fish Got Feet, Sharks Got Teeth, and Bugs Began to Swarm

Have you read many children's books on the Silurian and and Devonian eras? Probably not as the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods are the real stars of children's non fiction. Hannah Bonner's When the Fish Got Feet, Sharks Got Teeth, and Bugs Began to Swarm: A Cartoon Prehistory of Life Long Before the Dinosaurs remedies Dino-dominance of the prehistory market with a focus on a fascinating period when the forests formed, dirt was born, and creatures scurried out from the seas.

Bonner begins with the oceans and what was happening 430 million years ago: "A warm, shallow sea covered most of North America. In it, zillions of animals were busy eating algae, plankton, and one another." Then we move to land--what was there first (lichens) and what "crawled out of the water to join the fun" (arthropods). Plants, bugs, and dirt come next, followed by a big change in the fish world--jaws. And you all know what comes with jaws, right? Sharks! (And other scary creatures like Placoderms and Acanthodians.) Forests (my favorite) and more bugs come next and, then, a section on "how we got feet."

Bonner's text is straightforward and lively--best suited for children ages seven through twelve. The central illustrations are realistic, but each two-page spread is accented with cartoons and silly jokes and sayings. ("Eek! There's a humongous fungus among us!") When the Fish Got Feet, Sharks Got Teeth, and Bugs Began to Swarm serves up prehistory with panache and fun. Highly recommended.*
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*Is it a bad thing to admit I learned a lot from this book? I hope not, because it's true. Be kind: Literature is my field.
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Other Blog Reviews:

Suite 101 (review by Elizabeth Yetter)
Greg Leitich Smith

And don't miss Cynthia Leitich Smith's interview with Hannah Bonner at Cynsations.
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The Non Fiction Monday roundup is at Anastasia Suen's 6 Traits blog.

Non Fiction Monday: Truth and Fiction

In the dust up over the Margaret Jones/Seltzer memoir Love and Consequences, I have to say I am one of those people who doesn't grieve for the genre we call memoir. (For a great post on the Jones/Seltzer affair, check out this one at Liz B's place.) Granted, I find Jones/Seltzer's appropriation of a life that wasn't hers repugnant and fraught with all sorts of troubling cultural and ethnic implications. But I find mourning a genre a little odd. Especially the memoir: It's always been a fluid genre and one that's embraced varying standards of truth in different eras and in different cultures.

But, after thinking beyond my first reaction to the abuse of authorial power committed by Jones/Seltzer, my next thought was...if Jones/Seltzer were a better writer...she'd write a compelling story. Like Lauren Groff's entertaining, multi-layered The Monsters of Templeton.


Groff opens her wonderful first novel with a quote from James Fenimore Cooper:

"An interesting fiction...however paradoxical the assertion may appear...addresses our love of truth--not the mere love of facts expressed by true names and dates, but the love of that higher truth, the truth of nature and of principles, which is a primitive law of the human mind. " (From Early Critical Essays, 1820-1822)

And, in her Introduction, Groff explains that there is indeed a lot of truth in The Monsters of Templeton--borrowed characters from James Fenimore Cooper, borrowed stories, a borrowed town. There's also quite a bit of fiction masquerading as truth in The Monsters of Templeton--letters, memoirs, journals, newspapers, oral accounts. (My favorite part of the novel is an absolutely brilliant exchange of "letters from the 1850s" between two young women--Cinnamon Averell and Charlotte Franklin Temple. These letters begin as expressions of love, move to passive-aggressive missives, and end as downright aggressive and hilarious threats.)

The Monsters of Templeton is truth served up right in a compelling, witty, beautifully constructed fictional package. While there are a few too many show-don't-tell moments (as I watched, as I listened...) scattered throughout the novel, The Monsters of Templeton is a stunning debut. I highly recommend it to all readers (teens included) and especially to those readers dismayed by the state of the memoir. Lauren Groff, with her fictional interpretation of truth, has me hooked. I'll be pre-ordering her next novel.
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I'm back in Smalltown. I have a lot of catching up to do: My inboxes overfloweth and it's time to post the March Edge of the Forest. And, I've been nominated for an award! Thanks, Aerin, for reading. I'm honored.
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Admittedly, this is probably the strangest Non-Fiction Monday post ever. But, I'm working on 3 hours of sleep after the trek back to Smalltown. Anastasia has the round up!
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Speaking of truth (now I'm really rambling...), I've been outed in Smalltown. Check out Grinnell Bloggers.

Monday Metablogging (and a Call for Help)

Did you know there's a blog devoted to blog quotes? Well, there is. It's called Blogtations and it's a fascinating endeavor. And, I was quoted today!
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The Children's Book Review wiki is chugging along, with new reviews being added daily. Thank you all for contributing and making CBR a great resource for readers. I do want to emphasize that Children's Book Review wiki is a resource for the community and not my project. So any and all suggestions and improvements (and, yes, even complaints) are welcome.

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Call for Help: And speaking of Children's Book Reviews...its existence has spawned a new creation called Redux Review. You see, the centralized wiki resource has inspired more than one author to ask me whether or not a print review of their book could be archived as well. So...in order to make this happen, a new blog was born. I've sent letters to journals asking for permission to post published reviews of individual books, and two journals (so far) have agreed! Reviews will only be posted upon request of the author, illustrator, or a reader and only by permission of the publisher.

Here's where I'm looking for help: 1) A co-blogger or co-bloggers: Someone who is willing to throw a review up there once or twice a week; 2) Graphics: I'd love a cool black-and-white header for the blog, ideally with an image of one of those old-fashioned reel-to-reel tape players.
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I missed Non-Fiction Monday this week, but you can find all the fabulous entries at Anastasia Suen's place.

Reviews: Cybils Non Fiction (MG/YA)-Part II

Now for Part II of Alice's comments on the Cybils Non Fiction (Middle Grade/Young Adult) short listed titles! (You can see part one here.) Alice--my mother--was on the judging committee and wrote out capsule reviews to share with you here. So, here we go!:

Reviews by Alice Herold

The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain
by Peter Sis

Peter Sis, with The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain, explains to his family and other young readers in words and pictures what it meant to live on the other side of the Berlin wall--the Iron Curtain. Sis includes journal entries and definitions (perestroika, Cold War, etc.) along with his compelling drawings. Sis connects his art to personal rebellion behind the wall. As a child, he loved to draw, beginning with shapes and then moving to human figures. He drew what he wanted to draw at home, but what he was told to draw at school. Children, as adults, were encouraged to report on their families and students. Slowly, though, Peter began to question authority. He joined a rock group and made a film, which was a target of the censors. But, Sis understood that art makes a difference: Peter explains that the Beatles made a crack in the wall, changing his own life via a smuggled 1966 copy of "A Hard Day's Night," and the lives of others. The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain is a compelling, educational, and entertaining read.


Giants of Science: Marie Curie
by Kathleen Krull

Kathleen Krull's Marie Curie is a well-written, expertly researched, entertaining biography about a giant in science who overcame tremendous odds in order to do her work. Marie Curie is part of the series Giants of Science and is illustrated by Boris Kulikov who adds poignant pen drawings to the text. My favorite drawing was a picture of young Marie staring with longing into a cupboard of glass tubes and scales. Krull also keeps the young scientist in mind, dedicating the book to Caitlin Krull, "future neurosurgeon." Though written for young readers, Krull doesn't avoid scientific terms and explanations: Marie Curie (Giants of Science) is a smart book for smart readers ages eleven and up.


And now for the winning title:

Tasting the Sky
by Ibtisam Barakat

Tasting the Sky, by Ibtisam Barakat, is a memoir set in the aftermath of the Six Day War. Barakat divides the book into three sections. The first--"A Letter to No One"--describes the author's travels to a nearby town to go to the post office. Ibtisam has pen pals all over the world so she can "see the world through other people's words." The letter is written when she is detained several hours on her way home. In Part II, the author is three and a half years old. She describes looking for her shoes so she can run from the planes. She shows living two weeks in a shelter, a month in someone's kitchen, and a month in a classroom because she can't return home. She is sent to an orphange even though her parents were alive. Language becomes Ibtisam's refuge. She writes, "Paper and ink, poems, and the postbox are the medicines that heal the wounds of life," and "without the help of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, millions of children would not have gone to school and learned to read and write." Barakat dedicates Part III as "A Letter to Everyone" and writes of her eternal friend Alef, who helped her find the "splinters of my life and piece them back together." Tasting the Sky is a love letter to the power of language.

Reviews: Cybils Non Fiction (YA/MG)

My mother, Alice Herold, served on the Non Fiction (Middle Grade/Young Adult) judging panel for the Cybils. She also reviews books for this site and The Edge of the Forest. Today, for Non Fiction Monday, I bring you her capsule reviews of four of the Cybils shortlisted titles. I'll post the other three next week.

Reviews by Alice Herold

The Periodic Table: Elements with Style
by Adrian Dingle, illustrated by Simon Basher

The Periodic Table: Elements with Style [Editorial interruption: That's one cool title!] is a completely original book about the 111 known elements. Dingle and Basher bring the elements to life, presenting them as cartoon characters and giving them a first-person voice. Radium looks like a newborn--a smiling baby boy encased in an oval shape, sound asleep. Helium is a pink balloon with a zen-like expression who says, "I am a noble gas with no color, taste, and smell. My main uses are in weather balloons and airships which need lighter than air properties." Dingle and Basher also include detailed information about each element--symbol, color, weight, density, standard state, classification, melting point, etc. The Periodic Table: Elements of Style also includes a helpful glossary and a colorful poster.


Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and Science of Ocean Motion
by Loree Griffin Burns

Did you know there is a floating garbage dump between Hawaii and California as big as Alaska? It lies in a convergence zone where currents come together and force the surface waters to sink. Did you know that 100,000 marine mammals in the Pacific Ocean die each year due to plastic ingestion? There is an underlying Save the Oceans theme in Tracking Trash, but Burns presents it in a way that leads the reader to think about the causes of pollution, rather than the effects. A glossary, a booklist, and a website resource list are included in the appendices. (I also learned that OSCURS--Ocean Surface Current Simulator--can tell you where and when lost cargo will wash ashore if you input a date and specific ocean location [longitude and latitude] where the cargo was lost.)

Smart-Opedia: The Amazing Book About Everything
by Eve Drobot, ed.

Smart-Opedia: The Amazing Book About Everything is my solution to increasing my Jeopardy! score. Ten writers and eighteen authors are behind this ambitious book that covers a range of information about, well, everything. The authors have included additional features as well for each topic, including "Career Opportunities," "Timelines," "Spotlight," "Kids' Questions," "Answers," and "Number Crunch" among others. One of my favorite features is "Tune-In" which offers a more in-depth look at a certain subject. This informational and fun-to-read "encyclopedia" makes a wonderful gift for a child eight years and older.

Who Was First?: Discovering the Americas
by Russell Freedman

Who Was First?: Discovering the Americas reads like a mystery. First Freedman debunks the assumption--Columbus discovered America in 1492--and then moves on to other, more compelling evidence: 1) Archaeologists in the 1970s discovered tools and the remains of ancient fire pits near Pittsburgh dating back 18, 000 years; 2) A 13, 500-year-old spearhead was found in 1933 next to a skeleton of a woolly mammoth in New Mexico; 3) Leif Erikson and crew established the first European settlement on North America around 1, 000 A.D. on the Northern tip of Newfoundland; and 4) There is a tower in Newport, Rhode Island that may date back to 1405-1433 when a mighty Chinese Armada set sail with 250 ships and perhaps 28, 000 crew members. Who Was First? is a fascinating and well-researched journey.

Up next week: Mom's reviews of Marie Curie, by Kathleen Krull, The Wall, by Peter Sis, and a longer review of the winning Non Fiction (MG/YA) title, Tasting the Sky, by Ibtisam Barakat.

Book Review: Build It Yourself (Non Fiction Monday)

The Do-It-Yourself bug starts early in some children. Certain projects have enduring appeal, like the old paint-your-own-room-with-markers job, or the build-an-igloo-out-of-wet-toilet-paper activity. But, maybe, just maybe, you as a guardian might prefer to channel the creative activity of your youngsters--and give them a little learning in the process to boot. So, if you have a crafty child in your home, classroom, or library, then I highly recommend Nomad Press's Build It Yourself Series.

I read Great Ancient Egypt Projects You can Build Yourself, by Carmella Van Vleet, and Great Colonial America Projects You Can Build Yourself, by Kris Bordessa. Both books follow a similar structure: They are organized around historical themes (Egypt--"Foundations of "Ancient Egypt," "Boats," "Hieroglyphs"; Colonial America--"The First Americans," "Life in a Colonial Home," "Colonial Farms and Gardens") and each chapter contains historical information and a few projects of varying complexity. Take, for example, Bordessa's chapter on "Life in a Colonial Home." In this chapter, projects include building your own model Wattle-and-Daub house, creating your own bricks, making straw ticking for a bed, making candles and candle holders, creating your own silhouette and braided rug, and making your own broom. There's something for everyone!

The Build It Yourself books also feature a number of games and toys a child can build, as well as information on the history of the toys and games and how to play them. The volumes also include brief asides on important historical figures, manners of the age, and on language. The Build It Yourself books are best suited for children ages 8 to 12 (third through sixth grades).

Now, get busy!
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Personal note: PJ Hoover! There's a make-your-own papyrus section in Great Ancient Egypt Projects.
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Anastasia Suen hosts the Non Fiction Monday roundups at Picture Book of the Day.

Non Fiction Monday + Wicked Cool Overlooked Books

Today Non Fiction Monday meets Wicked Cool Overlooked Books!

In thinking over 2007 and the Non Fiction books I think have been overlooked, Hugh Brewster's Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose was the first title to come to mind. (Here's my review.) Why? Well, most obviously, because it was the Non Fiction title I appreciated most in 2007. Second, I found Brewster's blending of the fictionalized (the fictional narrative of Kate, based on the very real Kate's diaries and letters) and the real (the story of John Singer Sargent's composition of Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose) to be a masterful example of compelling Non Fiction for Middle Grade readers. And, third? Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose features John Singer Sargent's unabashedly romantic paintings as illustrations, along with photographs of real objects from the same period. Published by Kids Can Press, the production value of Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose is high. Please, don't miss this one.

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose was reviewed in the Washington Post and the Christian Science Monitor, but not on the blogs. (I found one--count 'em, one blog review besides my own--at Fiske Miles's blog.)
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Updated: Hugh Brewster wrote in to let me know that he's created a recording of the song that inspired Sargent's Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose. He tracked down the sheet music, found some musicians and singers, and made a recording. You can hear it here (scroll down to the October 29 entry).
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A big welcome to the authors blogging at I.N.K. (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids)!

Non Fiction Monday: Ox, House, Stick

Anastasia Suen has instituted Non Fiction Mondays on the children's literature blogs: it's the hard-working Monday to the frivolity of Poetry Friday! Join in, won't you?

Today for Non Fiction Monday I bring you a review of a book my mother read and enjoyed greatly.

This review was written by Alice Herold.

Ox, House, Stick: The History of Our Alphabet, by Don Robb, illustrated by Anne Smith

Scientists interested in the history of languages have traced our alphabet back about 4, 000 years. Ox, House, Stick tells the origin of some of the letters. I was surprised that A was named for an ox in the early Sinaitic alphabet. Turn it upside down and it shows the horns of an ox. Anne Smith contributes helpful pictures on the sides of each page of Ox, House, Stick showing what the letter looked like in Sinaitic, Phoenician, Early Greek, Classical Greek, and Roman Latin.

Robb explains that scientists are fairly certain that our D began as the Phoenician letter daleth meaning door. M in its original Sinaitic form means water. O, P, R, and S came from words for part of the head.

I found it interesting that Greeks wrote in both directions--called "boustrophedon"--which means "as the ox plows," turning at the end of the row to go back the other way.

The Romans became tired of reading words without spaces between them so they began to put a dot between sentences. The dot later became the punctuation mark we call a period.

Ox, House, Stick is an educational, fascinating book especially since I read it one day after visiting the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition. Robb includes lists of websites and additional resources at the end of the book.