Holiday Reading November 1999: Information books, including poetry and folktales - Kids

Information books, including poetry and folktales

Ajmera, Maya To be a kid: Text and photographs from countries around the world illustrate some of the activities children have in common.
Adler, David Shape up!: Uses cheese slices, pretzel sticks, a slice of bread, graph paper, a pencil and more, to introduce various polygons.
Anholt, Laurence Stone girl, bone girl: the story of Mary Anning: A biography of the English girl whose discovery of an Ichthyosaurus skeleton in 1811 when she was 12 led to a life-long interest in fossils and other important discoveries.
Bateman, Robert Safari: Magnificent photo-realistic paintings and brief text vividly present some of the animals found in Africa, including elephants, giraffes, cheetahs, wildebeests, lions and zebras.
Classic poetry: an illustrated edition selected by Michael Rosen.: Excellent choice of poems in a stylish edition.
Cave, Kathryn W is for world: a round-the-world ABC: Text and photographs depict different parts of the world exploring what the land is like and how people live in each place.
Cole, Joanna The magic school bus: explores the senses Ms Frizzle and her class explore the senses.
Dear Genius: the letters of Ursula Nordstrom collected and edited by Leonard S Marcus.: Nordstrom was a noted publisher of children's literature, including Sendak's Where the wild things are.
Edwards, Yvonne Going for Kalta: hunting for sleepy lizards at Yalata: Winner of the Australian Eve Pownall Award for Information Books.
Gerstein, Mordicai The wild boy: An information book covering the same topic as Gerstein's novel Victor, noted in the Young Adults' section, above.
Granfield, Linda Circus: an album Traces the history of circuses from the time of ancient Egypt and Greece, through their evolution in eighteenth-century Europe, to the spectacles created by P T Barnum and others.: Guinness world records 2000: millennium edition.
Gurney, James The world of dinosaurs: a North American selection: Designed around the stamps Gurney designed for the US postal service. A fascinating overview.
Hoyt-Goldsmith, Diane Buffalo days: The importance of buffalo to the Crow Indian nation.
Jones, Bill T. Dance: Stunning photographs by Susan Kuklin.
Lear, Edward The owl and the pussycat: Illustrated by the magnificent James Marshall. His last book.
Lowry, Lois Looking back: a book of memories: Superb autobiography, combining photos with text.
McDermott, Gerald Musicians of the sun: Aztec tale of how music, laughter, dance and song came to the world. Powerful illustrations, "a metaphor for the artistic journey" as McDermott says.
McNaughton, Colin Wish you were here (and I wasn't): a book of poems and pictures for globe trotters: Humorous poems on a travel theme.
Marrin, Albert Terror of the Spanish Main: Sir Henry Morgan and his buccaneers
Marvelous math: a book of poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Meltzer, Milton Ten Queens: Portraits of women of power Esther, Cleopatra, Boudicca, Zenobia, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabel of Spain, Elizabeth I, Christina of Sweden, Maria Theresa and Catherine the Great.
Mitton, Tony Plum Poems.
Mollel, Tolowa M Song bird: An adaptation of a folktale from southern Africa, in which a magical bird helps a girl get back her people's stolen cattle from Makucha the monster.
Murphy, Jim Gone a-whaling: the lure of the sea and the hunt for the great whale: Surveys the history of the whaling industry from its earliest days to the present.
Myers, Walter Dean At her Majesty's request: an African princess in Victorian England: Biography of "Sarah Forbes Bonetta", saved from execution and taken to England where Queen Victoria oversaw her upbringing.
Nhuong, Huynh Quang Water buffalo days: growing up in Vietnam
Parker, David L. Stolen dreams: portraits of working children: Photographs and text document lives of working children especially in Nepal, India, Bangladesh, and Mexico. Includes a chapter on Iqbal Masih, the child labour activist from Pakistan.
Settel, Joanne Exploding ants: amazing facts about how animals adapt
Staub, Frank Children of Belize: One of a series about children in different parts of the world.
Sturges, Philemon Bridges are to cross: Magnificent cut paper illustrations by Giles Laroche show bridges big and small, the world over.
Tolstoy, Aleksei The gigantic turnip: An old tale freshly illustrated by Mother Goose Award winner Niamh Sharkey.
Tseng, Grace White tiger, blue serpent: Based on a tale from the Drung tribe of the Yunnan province in southwest China.
Van Laan, Nancy So say the little monkeys: A rhyming retelling of an Indian folktale from Brazil about tiny, playful monkeys and why they have no place to call home.
Weate, Jeremy A young person's guide to philosophy
Wilbur, Richard The disappearing alphabet.: Illustrated by Caldecott Award winner David Diaz. A collection of 26 short poems pondering what the world would be like if any letters of the alphabet should disappear.