Non-fiction Picture Book Wednesday

Alyson Beecher over at Kid Lit Frenzy hosts a Non-fiction Picture Book Challenge and has a roundup every Wednesday. I am giving it a try for the first time.

Here are some of the best non-fiction picture books I have read in the past week or two.

Grandfather Gandhi by Arun Gandhi & Bethany Hegedus and illustrated by Evan Turk is a picture book memoir. I have upper grade teachers asking for memoirs for their literature units and this is one I can certainly hand to them enthusiastically. The text has a positive and powerful message about anger and the illustrations are fabulous.

Mama Built a Little Nest by Jennifer Ward and illustrated by Steve Jenkins is another book with fantastic illustrations. Steve Jenkins always wows me. The book is set up to have a simple rhyming text as one portion paired with a paragraph or two of informational text about each of the types of birds and the varieties of their nest styles. I found it fascinating.

Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator by Sarah C. Campbell and illustrated by Sarah C. and Richard P. Campbell is exactly what narrative non-fiction for young readers should be. It is compelling and tells a story filled with facts, but not so many that it is overwhelming or boring for young readers. It won a Geisel honor and I would love more books like this.

Have a great week!