Tag: nonfiction picture books

Volcanoes

~ jennifercrooksjohnson ~ Leave a comment

by Nell Cross Beckerman and Illustrated by Kalen Chock

I’m a big fan of Nell Cross Beckerman’s books. Her book CAVES makes me want to explore one ASAP (Has anyone been to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico? It’s on my bucket list).

VOLCANOES is another engaging nonfiction picture book. It starts with “Plates shirt. Land tilts. Gas seeps. What is coming? A rumble, a tremble, a grumble, growing, growling, getting hot.” Volcanoes are seismic, life-changing, and fascinating. I admit, I’ve written a couple volcano manuscripts myself. What child can resist the Beckerman’s invitation to keep reading? And Chock’s illustrations are equally engaging and inviting. They make volcanoes look as fascinating as they are! I must admit, visiting Volcanoes National Park was one of my travel highlights.

With her combination of lyrical main text and engaging sidebars and backmatter, Cross Beckerman has created a great read aloud with fascinating facts. She covers everything from kinds of volcanoes, to volcanologists, to famous eruptions, to the ring of fire, and even Martian volcanoes.

Beckerman ends with another “what is coming?” idea. Will the child be the one to someday discover answers to other remaining scientitific questions? Will volcanoes hold some of the answers?

Our planet is truly dynamic,, and so are children with their hunger for knowledge. I recommend this book.

JUMPER: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider by Jessica Lanan. Not your parents’ nonfiction

~ jennifercrooksjohnson ~ Leave a comment

Nonfiction writing is far more creative today than it was when I was a child. For example, Jessica Lanan, another Colorado author, wrote and illustrated the picture book JUMPER: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A BACKYARD JUMPING SPIDER. It came out in 2023 from Roaring Book Press and has received several awards already. Instead of using expository writing (which is still useful. I use it for my educational writing all the time), Jessica used a narrative nonfiction style to engage children on a whole new level. Jessica also writes from second-person perspective to pull children in even closer. For example, it begins with “What if you were very small? Smaller than a cat or a dog, a bar of soap, or a bottle cap. As small as a bean,” with each phrase typed smaller than the last.

Jessica’s art is also engaging, with close-ups of Jumper’s world, including extended spreads of how Jumper sees his world. We have a lot of jumping spiders in Colorado and they’re easy to take for granted, or to be annoyed by, such as when I found one on my car’s dashboard while driving recently. I had to pull over to avoid driving spider-distracted. But after reading this, jumping spiders look and sound so amazing, part of me wanted to see if I could jump as far as a jumping spider. I wouldn’t be surprised to see my grandchildren jumping from couch to couch yelling, “Look! I’m a jumping spider.” Even better, hopefully they’ll go outside and try to find one. That’s my preferred place to observe them. There’s something about being in nature with kids that creates calm and curiousity. It’s one of my favorite summertime pastimes.

I too enjoy writing narrative nonfiction. It’s so fun! So, if it’s been a while since you picked up a nonfiction picture book, maybe go check a one of the many new narrative nonfiction ones. You don’t even have to have a child to enjoy them! Jessica Lanan’s JUMPER would be a good one to start with.