Informational Books and Biographies

Informational Books and Biographies

Author: Peggy Gifford
Title: Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little
Publisher: Yearling
Date: 2007

Age Level: Elementary (3-4)

Summary:
With summer coming to an end, about-to-be-fourth-grader Moxy Maxwell does a hundred different things to avoid reading her assigned summer reading book.
Strengths:
· This book was humorous and on a topic which students could relate to (not wanting to do summer reading).
· This book was written from the point of view of a child. There were not long sentences, or confusing words, but instead it was very age appropriate. I think this would help students, especially struggling readers, to get through and enjoy the book.
· Moxy learns her lesson, and by the end of the book has actually discovered that her mother was right all along and she does enjoy “Stuart Little.” This may help students to realize that their parents really do know what they are talking about, the majority of the time.
· The book includes real life photographs interspersed throughout the book, which adds to the story and are intertwined with the plot.

Concerns:
· This book shows many habits of procrastination, which may encourage students to try to be like Moxy and put off their work until the last minute.
· This book may not be considered, specifically, a biography, but was the closest thing that I could find on our Capital Choices list, from which we were required to have a book for each category.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book would likely be read by students individually, on their own time. It would be a great addition to the classroom library.


Author: Kathryn Lasky
Title: The Librarian who Measured the Earth
Publisher: Little, Brown, and Company
Date: 1994

Age Level: Elementary (3-4)

Summary:
Describes the life and work of Eratosthenes, the Greek geographer and astronomer who accurately measured the circumference of the earth.
Strengths:
· This book gives pronunciation guides for words that are hard to pronounce, such as Eratosthenes and Cyrene.
· This book puts a difficult concept into simple terms so that children can read and comprehend it.
· This book discusses important ancient scientific discoveries, that students may not have prior knowledge of.
· This book encourages students to ask questions, and try to figure out the answers to them, one way or another.

Concerns:
· This book discusses slavery in ancient Greece, which may be a problem in some school districts.
· The subject matter, though greatly broken down, is still rather complex for elementary students. This book would likely need supplemental information, and a great deal of teacher explanation.
Classroom use/Other comments:
· Many topics of conversation could stem from this book. For example, the reason why there were slaves back then, but are not now, or why girls were not allowed to go to school in ancient Greece.


Author: Judith St. George
Title: So you Want to be President?
Publisher: Philomel Books
Date: 2000
Age Level: Elementary (3-4)
Summary:
Presents an assortment of facts about the qualifications and characteristics of U.S. presidents, from George Washington to Bill Clinton.

Strengths:
· This book frames being president in terms of things that will make sense to students – for instance, discussing that one of the positive things about being president is that you don’t have to eat “yucky vegetables”.
· This book breaks the former presidents into interesting categories to look at, such as 6 presidents named James. These unique categories will help students remember the presidents better than if they were just told them straight out.
· This book teaches that anyone can be president, no matter how tall or wide or attractive or shy a person may be, and that we’ve had all sorts of different presidents.
Concerns:
· This book discusses President John Quincy Adams skinny-dipping, which is not really appropriate for students to read.
· This book only goes as far as Bill Clinton – when reading this book to the students, it would be necessary to discuss the more recent presidents as well.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book would be neat to use around President’s Day, or near the inauguration of a new president.


Author: Jim Murphy
Title: Across America on an Emigrant Train Publisher: Clarion Books
Date: 1993

Age Level: Upper (5-6)

Summary:
Combines an account of Robert Louis Stevenson’s experiences as he traveled from New York to California by train in 1879 and a description of the building and operation of railroads in nineteenth-century America.
Strengths:
· This book provides a number of great historical facts for students.
· The pictures in this book combine drawings with actual photographs, which helps make the book seem more real to students.

Concerns:
· I would not use this book to read straight through with the students. I would use pieces of it, or have them read a piece at a time, but I think it is too dull to have them read the whole thing at one time.
· Though this is meant to be an informational book, I think it contains a lot of facts jam packed into one book with not enough to keep students engaged in the story line. I think this would be a difficult book for students to read without becoming bored.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· This book, or parts of it, could be used in history class when studying immigration or railroads.


Author: Patricia Lauber
Title: The News About Dinosaurs
Publisher: Bradbury Press
Date: 1989
Age Level: Elementary (3-4)

Summary:
Discusses all of the latest scientific thinking about dinosaurs, with illustrations keyed to major topics.
Strengths:
· This book is informative, but not so overly crowded with facts so as not to appeal to younger students.
· The illustrations in this book are spectacular. They really show the expansive size of dinosaurs, even with such a small space on pages of a book to work with.
· This book not only gives names of dinosaurs, but tells how to say them, and gives interesting facts about them as well.
· This book ties facts about today’s animals to facts about the dinosaurs, and compares and contrasts the two.
Concerns:
· This book is a bit outdated. Although the information is good, I think there are other books out there that could provide more up to date information for students.
· This book may be a bit difficult, vocabulary wise for younger students.

Classroom use/Other comments:
· I would use this book to recommend to students who are particularly interested in dinosaurs. I do not think it would be a good book to simply read aloud to the whole class, but for students who show interest, this book can be informative and fun.