Joining Together for Books

Non-fiction Picture Book Challenge 2013-Hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy!

Issue 1, Book 2/52

 

For this review, I found the book Hands Around the Library, by Susan Roth and Karen Leggett Abouraya, when I was browsing through the "New Books" section at the local library. 

 





 

The book is full of beautiful collages that were created by Susan Roth.  These collages tell the story of how the people of different ages and religions joined hands around the library to protect it during protests against the Egyptian government in 2011.  I feel bad for not knowing about how important this event was for the people at the time.  I went in search of more information about the event and found this link to the book  http://www.handsaroundthelibrary.com/, which has additional information and links to libraries around the world, more about the events that took place and other information about the story, as well as resources for classroom teachers or librarians.

 

This is a remarkable story to read about how the people joined together to protect their library (Alexandria Library) without any sort of protection other than the human hands connecting together to create an awareness that this building was off-limits.  The book shows how the people valued joining together for books!  Books do matter and this story is a reminder of how all people need to value books and not take them for granted.

 

5 of 5 stars for Hands Around the Library!

A Lively Rock?

Non-fiction Picture Book Challenge 2013-Hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy!

Issue 1, Book 1/52

  Review of A Rock Is Lively!  By Dianna Hutts Aston, Illustrated by Sylvia Long

 

To begin with, these book partners (Aston and Long) have 3 other books that I am not familiar with and now want to check-out: An Egg Is Quiet, A Seed is Sleepy and A Butterfly is Patient.

I am so glad this was my first pick for the Non-fiction Picture Book Challenge.  I really loved reading this book.  The story made knowing more about rocks seem so much lighter than something cold and hard with no life-how I thought of rocks before reading this book.

 

As I opened the book,  I loved how the end papers gave a glimpse to the rocks in the story.  The beginning end paper shows the pictures of the rocks.  The ending end paper has the pictures of the  rocks labeled.  It seemed like a way to show the reader how they learned about the names of rocks after reading the story.

 

The book took me through learning about rocks by describing things like what they were made of, where they came from, and what they were used for in the world.

 

The soft watercolor illustrations were eye-appealing and beautiful to look at and added to the enjoyment of the book.



For use in the classroom, I would pair this book with other more technical books about rocks depending on the grade level and purpose for reading text...then place it in the science learning center with a magnifying glass and rock samples to see if students could classify or sort the rocks shared in the story with real rocks.

Rocks can be full of life as the authors demonstrate in this lively book! 4 of 5 stars to A Rock is Lively!