Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera written by Candace Fleming and illustrated by Eric Rohmann was released February 4, 2020 by Neal Porter Books. This book won the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal and was an honor book for the Orbis Pictus award in 2021. These are the two most prestigious awards for youth non-fiction. The publisher recommends the book for ages six to nine.
Apis’s story starts from the very first page before a title or copyright page can get in her way with “One summer morning deep in the nest.” The story has very detailed illustrations that try to portray what the bees look like in a realistic and approachable manner. Once Apis (Apis mellifera is the scientific name for honeybees, and our protagonist is called Apis throughout the book) is out of her cell, we see the title page, and then dive back into the story. The story is told in free verse lines of poetry. As she develops and grows the text takes us through her different jobs and keeps asking if she’ll be flying, a question many students would likely wonder too, but she goes through several initial jobs and days before getting to flying.
2 Comments
Who is Kamala Harris? by Kirsten Anderson and illustrated by Manuel Gutiérrez is part of the Who HQ series of books that cover who was, what was, where is, etc. The title was published by Penguin Workshop on January 19, 2021. Penguin Randomhouse recommends the book for ages 8-12.
While the Who HQ books are wildly popular in elementary buildings, I have learned that their popularity does not stop when students leave to head to middle school. I have 5th and 6th graders who want to read them for facts or enjoyment, and I have 7th and 8th graders who check them out with a gleam of nostalgia in their eyes. I had recently been considering ordering more of these books for my biography section, and then I stumbled across this recent title of Who Is Kamala Harris? in my local public library. I was intrigued, because 1) I had never read one of the Who Is/Was titles and 2) she’s the first female vice president. While all of these posts are to focus on non-fiction titles for youth, I have decided I am going to focus on new and upcoming titles. I started reading NetGalley ARCs after the pandemic in effort to try to get my reading grove that I had lost in the height of things back. So some will be from there and others will be new non-fiction books I find from my local public library. So most for now will have a 2021 publishing year, with perhaps a few 2020 or 2022.
Astronomy Activity Book for Kids by Aurora Lipper and illustrated by Victoria Stebleva will be published by Penguin Random House on September 14, 2021. The publisher recommends the book for ages 5 to 7. In the “Reach for the Stars!” introduction one line that stands out to me is, “In this book, you’ll get to be an astronomer, too.” I think there is great value in getting children to see themselves as scientists (or mathematicians, writers, historians, artists, readers, and so forth). It builds confidence and opens future doors of possibilities in their minds. The intro goes on to explain that the reader will explore solar system objects, learn about constellations, and discover star clusters and nebulae while completing activities along the way. This is followed by a page that says “I’m an astronomer!” with spots for the reader to fill in the blanks. |
Archives
November 2021
Categories |