Holiday Reading 2004

Information Books, including poetry and folktales

Ackroyd, Peter The beginning: Fire, explosions, meteorites, chaos - early life on Earth included all manner of freakish, alien creatures until the arrival of the big-brained Homo sapiens. Peter Ackroyd explains the beginnings of the Earth in this title, which is part of his epic ten-volume history of the world for children - the Voyages through time series.
Al-Windawi, Thura Thura's diary ; a young girl's life in war-torn Baghdad: What would it really be like to live through the bombing of Baghdad? This poignant diary is a first-hand account of a family in a city living under attack. Written by 19-year-old Thura al-Windawi, it describes the chaos and destruction around her.
Bang, Molly My light: Examines the energy and light produced by the sun and their importance to life on Earth.
Blacklock, Dyan The Roman army: Illustrations by David Kennett
Bonner, Hannah When bugs were big, plants were strange, and tetrapods stalked the earth: a cartoon prehistory of life before dinosaurs: Takes a tour of the Earth three hundred and twenty million years ago, during the Paleozoic Era, and investigates the plants and animals found there.
Borden, Louise Sea clocks: the story of longitude: Details the life and times of John Harrison, 1693-1776, who devised a clock that could accurately calculate longitude.
Bredeson, Carmen After the last dog died: the true-life, hair-raising adventure of Douglas Mawson and his 1911-1914 Antarctic Expedition: Describes the life and career of the Australian explorer, Sir Doulgas Mawson, focusing on his 1912 scientific expedition to Antarctica.
Cleary, Brian P. Rainbow soup: adventures in poetry: An introduction to poetry that uses humorous poems, illustrations, and annotations to clarify terms and explain different types of poems, such as macaronic verse, concrete poems and limericks.
Crews, Nina The neighborhood Mother Goose: A collection of nursery rhymes, both familiar and lesser known, illustrated with photographs in a city setting.
Dale, Kim Bush babies: Includes 'who am I' rhymes and fauna facts.
D'Harcourt, Claire Art up close: from ancient to modern: Invites the reader to search for tiny details hidden in famous works of art, providing information about each painting, the techniques used to create them, and how the artists and movements helped art to develop through the ages.
Donaldson, Julia Wriggle and roar! rhymes to join in with
Downard, Barry The Little Red Hen: When the Little Red Hen asks the other barnyard animals who will help with the planting, reaping, and other chores they all say, 'Not I,' but when the work is done they all want a reward. A humorous retelling of the traditional tale with digital photo collage illustrations.
Filer, Joyce The mystery of the Egyptian mummy: The mummy of Hornedjitif, a real priest of ancient Egypt, is now in the British Museum. This title follows the archaeological investigation of his mummy and evidence of life and work in ancient Egypt.
Galloway, Priscilla Archers, alchemists, and 98 other medieval jobs you might have loved or loathed: Considers what life was like in the Middle Ages through looking at a range of common professions ranging from peasants and serfs to nobility and bishops.
Goodman, Susan E. The truth about poop: A compendium of fascinating, weird, and gross facts about excrement.
Gustafson, Angela Imagine a house: a journey to fascinating houses around the world
Hoberman, Mary Ann. You read to me, I'll read to you: very short fairy tales to read together: With type set in three columns and three colours for easy readability, each of the eight short fairy tales takes a new look at the old stories and invites two readers to read their own parts and then read the centre column together.
Hooper, Meredith The island that moved: the forces that shape our earth: This title tracks one very small piece of the Earth's crust through time and space, introducing the ideas of plate tectonics. It describes the various climates the island has endured and the plants and animals that have inhabited it.
Hovey, Kate Ancient voices: Twenty-three poems give voice to a variety of goddesses, gods, and mortals from Greek and Roman mythology.
Jacobs, Francine Lonesome George, the giant tortoise: Describes the life of 'Lonesome George', the last living Pinta Island giant tortoise, from his search for food on the Galapagos island to his days at the Charles Darwin Research Station, where scientists are encouraging him to mate.
Janeczko, Paul B. Top secret: a handbook of codes, ciphers, and secret writing
Jenkins, Steve Actual size: Discusses and gives examples of the size and weight of various animals and parts of animals.
Khan, Aisha Karen What you will see inside a mosque: Describes what happens inside a mosque and introduces the Muslim faith.
Krull, Kathleen The boy on Fairfield Street: how Ted Geisel grew up to become Dr. Seuss: Introduces the life of renowned children's author and illustrator Ted Geisel, popularly known as Dr. Seuss, focusing on his childhood and youth in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Lucas, Diane J. Walking with the seasons in Kakadu: Follows the seasonal calendar of the Gundjeihmi speaking people of Kakadu looking at the changes each season brings to the plants, animals, insects and birds of this Northern area of Australia.
McCaughrean, Geraldine Hercules: Could you strangle a python? Or travel to the Underworld and back? Hercules is sentenced to 12 Labours for the gods to achieve his immortality. This is one of four Greek Hero retellings by Geraldine McCaughrean.
McCutcheon, Marc The kid who named Pluto: and the stories of other extraordinary young people in science: A collection of profiles of children and young adults whose scientific inventions made an impact on the world, including Louis Braille who discovered a way for the blind to read and write.
Mann, Elizabeth Empire State Building: Discusses the history, design, and construction of New York City's Empire State Building.
Montgomery, Sy The Tarantula scientist
Pallotta, Jerry The beetle alphabet book: Uses letters of the alphabet to introduce various kinds of beetles.
Pocket poems: Provides images of paintings and new, sensory ways to experience them, such as tasting the milk in Vermeer's "The Milkmaid," hearing the music in Tanner's "The Banjo Lesson," or feeling the fur in da Vinci's "Lady with an Ermine."
Ray, Jane Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden
Romanek, Trudee Aha!: the most interesting book you'll ever read about intelligence
Rosen, Michael Michael Rosen's Sad Book: What makes Michael Rosen most sad is thinking about his son, Eddie, who died. In this book he writes about his sadness, how it affects him and some of the things he does to try to cope with it.
Rubin, Susan Goldman Art against the odds: from slave quilts to prison paintings
Scagell, Robin Night sky atlas: A skywatching guide complete with detailed maps, stunning photography, and see-through pages.
Schyffert, Bea Uusma The man who went to the far side of the moon: the story of Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins: The story of the astronaut, Michael Collins, who circled the moon in the Apollo 11 space capsule while his colleagues Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed the lunar module and walked on the moon. Translated from the Swedish.
Smith, Charles R. Hoop kings: A collection of twelve poems that celebrate contemporary basketball stars, including Shaquille O'Neal, Allen Iverson, and Kobe Bryant.
Snook, Randy Many ideas open the way: a collection of Hmong proverbs: A collection of twenty proverbs from the Hmong tradition, such as "The mouth tastes food; the heart tastes words," which represent the culture and heritage of this South Asian people.
Sobol, Richard An elephant in the backyard: Describes how special elephants are in the village of Tha Kleng in Thailand and looks at the life of one particular young elephant named Wan Pen.
Stewart, Robert Mysteries of history: Examines the evidence surrounding some of history's unsolved mysteries, from why the pyramids were built to whether or not there was a conspiracy to kill President John F. Kennedy.
Turner, Barry One small suitcase: Before World War II, thousands of European children were bundled onto trains and taken to England. This book is based on interviews with those who helped to organize the transports, the families who took the children in and above all, the young refugees.
Vander Zee, Ruth Erika's story: In 1995, the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II, Ruth Vander Zee and her husband were in Germany where they met Erika, a German Jew, and listened to her story. Between 1933 and 1945 six million Jews were killed. Erika survived.
Wenzel, Angela The mad, mad, mad world of Salvador Dali: This introduction to Dali's life and art focuses on 11 masterpieces, inviting readers to explore their imagination as they discover the works of a great artist. Throughout the book, the artist's sense of playfulness and mystery shine through, revealing the wondrous qualities of art. Translated from the German.
Willems, Mo Time to pee!: Sign-carrying mice give encouraging instructions for using the toilet.
Winston, Robert What makes me me?
Winters, Kay Voices of ancient Egypt: Individual craftsmen, artists and labourers describe the work that they do in Egypt during the time of the Old Kingdom, and the historical note places them in context.
Wulffson, Don L. Abracadabra to zombie: more than 300 wacky word origins: Provides the stories behind the meanings of such common words and phrases as Adidas, jeep, ketchup, peeping Tom, tuxedo, and Yankees.