Nonfiction Monday: Miss Moore Thought Otherwise by Jan Pinborough

We are honored to be hosting this week's Nonfiction Monday, a weekly meme highlighting some of the newer nonfiction books available for children.

 

Our review for the week is of Miss Moore Thought Otherwise:

 

978-054-747-1051

 

This is a story no librarian or bibliophile could resist. I grew up raiding the public library on a regular basis, checking out the maximum number of books each time. There were always plenty of children's books around our house, and over the decades I've seen an explosion of authors and subgenres and trends in children's publishing. It is hard for me to imagine a time when books for children, let alone a space in the library for them, were pretty much unheard-of concepts!

 

Much of Miss Anne Carroll Moore's life was unheard-of. In a time when girls were expected to take part in quite activities within the home, and when women were expected to simply marry and have children, she...well, thought otherwise. From enjoying wild toboggan rides with the boys, to helping pioneer the formation of children's libraries in New York, and around the world, Miss Moore led an exciting life, facing challenges in ways that have benefitted us all.

The accounts of how children were not trusted to take library books home, because they might dirty them or lose them, will no doubt catch the attention of young patrons. It reminded me of when I was teaching in Ukraine, and the administrator kept locking my books in cabinets, because "someone might take them home". Um....that's what they were there for?! The illustrations, by Debby Atwell, manage to convey the sense of long-ago while still being bright and cheery enough to fit in with any of the other picture books on your shelves. Highly recommended for any elementary school library!

Fellow bloggers, please leave a link to your nonfiction Monday post, and I will get them up here throughout the day!

*****

Roberta from Wrapped in Foil has The Case of the Vanishing Honeybees: a Scientific Mystery. Bees are a hot topic around here, with city ordinances being changed so people can raise them in town, so I'll be sure to check this out. Roberta even includes some lesson ideas to go along with the book!

Natalie at Biblio Links brings us Break These Rules: 35 YA Authors on Speaking Up, Standing Out, and Being Yourself. A nice one to partner with Miss Moore, I think - and Natalie herself is one of the authors!

Swinging back the other direction, age-wise, Jeff from NC Teacher Stuff has Real Size Farm Animals. My younger patrons LOVE books that show animals to their 'real size', and farm animals are always a hit!

Want more on animals? Try out How to Clean a Hippopotamus: a Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships., featured at Perogies and Gyoza. We have had this one at the library for a while, and having just done a ruthless weeding of the nonfiction, I can tell you it is still quite popular.

Jennifer at Jean Little Library has a graphic novel memoir, Little Fish: a Memoir from a Different Kind of Year. I'll pass that one on to the librarian who orders graphic novels (and who may already be on top of it - thank goodness - not my area at all!)

I am seeing  a trend in today's title - books with subtitles, like The Boy Who Loved Math: the Improbable Life of Paul Erdos, at The Swimmer Writer. Talk about your ultimate Momma's boy! I don't think I'll let L. read this one just yet, although I do want to check it out myself now.

Tara at A Teaching Life has Colonial Voices: Hear Them Speak (see? subtitle!) This looks like something I would have used when I taught history, maybe a little bit each day. I wonder if it would work well as a reader's theater?

Jeanne at True Tales and a Cherry On Top reviews this beautiful book about Nelson Mandela. Anything by Kadir Nelson gets a happy sigh from me:)

(Sorry for the lull in adding posts - tree hit a power line around the corner! Back on now!)

Anastasia at Booktalking has Freedom from Want. This looks like an interesting series I want to check out tomorrow - as I mentioned, we just did a serious weeding of jnf, so I have spaces to fill!

Now, here's a blog title I can identify with - Christy's Houseful of Chaos has Pedal It: How Bicycles are Changing the World. If there was any doubt Christy is a home schooling mom, the thoughtful questions she includes make that pretty obvious. Besides checking out the book, I'll be bookmarking her blog!

Sondra at Sonderbooks reviews a title about another important invention: Pop! The Invention of Bubble Gum.  I always loved reading about 'accidental inventions' as a child.

Of course, nothing beats Legos for coolness, with many of my young patrons. We will definitely have to get Cool Creations in 35 Pieces, reviewed over at Charlotte's Library.