ABCs (Writing, Problem Solving)
Oops, Pounce, Quick, Run!: an Alphabet Caper by Mike Twohy
With just one or two words per page, and each word or phrase starting with the next letter in the alphabet, the story of the adventures of a mouse and a dog are told. A very fun alphabet book that also manages to tell a story (not always a given with alphabet books). Creative writing teachers exercise your students brains and challenge them to write a 26 word story in the same style.
Art (Problem Solving)
Sky Color by Peter H. Reynolds
Marisol is super excited about her class painting a mural for the library. She's going to be in charge of painting the sky. But…there's no blue! How can she paint the sky without blue? It'll take some pondering and sky watching to figure out how to make things work. This is another fantastic book from Reynolds about thinking outside the box. A great one for art classes or any class that needs to challenge students to think outside the box.
Computer (Social Studies)
Tetris: the Games People Play by Box Brown
This history of the evolution of the Nintendo company, the development of video games in general, and the history of Tetris and all the people involved in it getting out to the world (and all the hiccups involved) is told in graphic novel form, which makes it a quick read. It's a fascinating story. I'm not a huge gamer, but I did enjoy Tetris in the early 90s on computer quite a bit. I had no idea there were so many issues in getting Tetris from its development in Russia in the 1980s out to the broader world. It was a mess! (And even though the author does his best, all the people involved got a teensy bit confusing after a while...but I think that just shows what a mess it was.) It was also interesting to learn how the developer didn't see a cent from his creation till he immigrated to the USA. So it also gives a peek into what life was like inside Russia before the Iron Curtain fell. I knew nothing about the origins of the Nintendo company and how it evolved, so that was also fascinating. In all, this provides a captivating history of video games and Tetris specifically.
Language Arts (Research Skills, History, Science, Literature)
The Griffin and the Dinosaur: How Adrienne Mayor Discovered a Fascinating Link Between Myth and Science by Marc Aronson and Adrienne Mayor, illustrated by Chris Muller
Adrienne Mayor grew up in a family of storytellers. Often those stories were inspired by artifacts or things found in nature. When she eventually went to spend some time studying ancient art in Greece, Adrienne realized that the stories of griffins weren't like fantasy stories, they were more like something inspired by a real object, like the stories her family used to tell. So she started to do more extensive research into griffins in art and what things ancients might have seen that would inspire stories about such creatures. Her research led her to fossils, and tracing down the griffin lore to match with a fossil that matched the first griffin mythology quite well. This is a fascinating read. It looks longer than it is because it has so many photographs and illustrations included. Mayor's research took a long time but provides an excellent example of really digging to the roots of sources and checking those sources. The process of peer editing through journal articles is also highlighted (though it isn't called that). I think what's most inspiring about Adrienne Mayor's journey is that she didn't have any advanced degree while she pursued these studies, she was just really curious and dedicated to finding the truth. I found her theory to be quite interesting and plausible. We make up stories to explain things we see all the time, it makes sense that people 1,000s of years ago would do the same thing. A great book for those looking for a high-interest nonfiction read, classes starting a research project, or for literature classes studying folklore, legends or mythology.
Foreign Language (Logic, Reading Comprehension, Grammar)
Du Iz Tak? by Carson Ellis
Some curious insects gather around a green object sprouting from the ground and ask "Du Iz Tak?" Then proceeds a conversation over several days about various things in this foreign language. Clever readers will be able to use the context clues and figure out what the insects are talking about, and perhaps pick up even a few names and terms. This is a great book to introduce using context clues, punctuation, patterns, and logic to figure out a completely foreign language. It's basically a crash course in linguistics even without realizing it. Thanks to Ellis's illustrations, readers should have no problem figuring out what's happening in the story. Highly recommended for any foreign language class, reading comprehension class, or grammar class.
Math
Anno’s Mysterious Multiplying Jar by Masaichiro Anno & Mitsumasa Anno
Through one imaginary jar that contains a sea, in which is one island, occupied by two countries, each with three mountains, and each mountain with four kingdoms, etc. up to ten jars in each of the nine boxes in the eight cupboards in each house. After listing items found in each place up to 10 the Annos go on to explain how to use factorials to easily figure out how many total mountains, cupboards, jars, etc. there are on the island and how to apply this same math concept to areas of real life. This is a fantastic, succinct and memorable explanation of factorials. Forget the textbook explanation when you get to factorials, instead grab this book.
Music (History)
Haydn’s Farewell Symphony by Anna Harwell Celenza, illustrated by Joann Kitchel
The story of the events that led up to the composition and first performance of Haydn's Farewell Symphony. Haydn was a bit of a mastermind with his use of music to get what he and his co-workers wanted from a stubborn man. Further information is included in the back of the book. The entire Once upon a Masterpiece series is a fantastic resource for music history.
Physical Education (Social Studies)
Trudy’s Big Swim: How Gertrude Eberle Swam the English Channel and Took the World by Storm by Sue Macy, illustrated by Matt Collins
A picture book biography of Gertrude Ederle that focuses on her successful swim across the English Channel in 1926. She was the first woman to swim across the Channel, and when she completed the feat she beat all the previous male swimmer's times. An amazing sports history moment, and women's history moment, that is gorgeously illustrated and told at an exciting pace. I never knew that prior to body suits these swimmers slathered themselves in grease so they wouldn't go into hypothermia. Craziness! Hand this to swimmers or those who like exciting stories. Between the distance, jelly fish, a weather change, and the encroaching dark it is an exciting read even though you know she makes it from the title.
Psychology (World Lit, Asian History, Art)
The Last King of Angkor Wat by Graeme Base
Gibbon, Tiger, Water Buffalo and Gecko have a contest to see who can get to the distant hill first and prove their worth as king. But along the way, each one demonstrates strengths and weaknesses observed by a wise overseer. This book features Base incredible illustrations that tell a folk tale-like story with important lessons about character and leadership in a Southeast Asian setting. (And don’t forget that Base always has hidden picture element in his illustrations.)
Religion (ABCs)
Church History ABCs by Stephen J. Nichols, illustrated by Ned Bustard
An introduction to 26 people, A to Z, important in Christian Church history. Each person in this gets one paragraph about their contributions to the faith and a little bit about their life. On each page is also a list of a few other random things that start with the letter of the alphabet featured. Illustrations of the person and some other things that start with that letter are included. I liked the ABC format to introduce these people. There's further info in the back of the book on every person and this provides a pretty good worldwide intro to Christian church history between those two.
Science (Social Studies, Psychology)
The Gift of Pain: Why We Hurt & What We Can Do about It by Paul W. Brand with Philip Yancey
Dr. Paul Brand grew up in India and England, the son of British Christian missionaries to the mountainous region of India. He was sent to England for schooling, and then he went on to university eventually ending up in the medical field. He finished up his program with the military as WWII hit England, and eventually made his way back to India where he and his wife practiced medicine. Originally a hand surgeon, Brand found himself more and more working with lepers in India and went on to make some revolutionary discoveries about the disease and how to help people live without sensation in their extremities. For decades it was thought that the lost fingers, toes, and noses were just a part of the disease, but Brand discovered all these losses were due to lack of pain receptors. He became a world-renowned expert on working with people who lacked pain messages, and as a byproduct, had a unique perspective on pain and why pain is not always a bad thing. In working with patients in India and the US, he also had a unique perspective on the role of culture in pain and how we view it. I can’t recommend this book enough. Dr. Brand’s life story is fascinating to read (which is primarily the first half of the book). His perspective on pain helps you to step back and be grateful that your body does send you messages, even if it may not feel pleasant, it does have an important purpose. In our comfort and happiness oriented world, this was an important reminder that growth rarely happens without some struggle, that pain serves a purpose, and we would be in horrible shape without our pain receptors. It is a great read for the science info, medical history, psychological insights, and cultural insights.
History (Geography)
The Lost City of Z: a Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann
Most authorities on civilization agreed that the Amazon couldn't support a large civilization in ancient times, but one man disagreed. Percy Fawcett was a repeat Amazon adventurer, former British military man, who guarded secrets he believed would lead him to a huge ancient city he called Z. He set off for Z with his son and a friend of his son in 1925 and never returned. Over 100 people have gone into the Amazon jungles in search of Fawcett and many of them have also disappeared. David Grann got wind of this story, and decided he would try and find out if Fawcett's Z existed, if the new open records of the Explorer's Society would give him extra insight into where Fawcett was headed (since it was a closely guarded secret), and if the truth was out there. Part biography of the adventurer Fawcett, part history of the exploration/mapping of the world and the Amazon in particular, and part travel/research adventure of Grann's search for the truth. I know several are going to pick this up because of the movie coming out, and I think that’s a great thing. I picked it up before I realized the movie was coming. Normally a nonfiction book of this size will take at least a week for me to get through, but I couldn't put this down and finished it in just about 48 hours. It's full of fascinating true adventure stories and a look at the influence of the race to map the globe on people of the time; Grann's writing just pulls you in and won't let go. If you like history, geography, adventure stories or biographies of eccentric men, make sure you go find this. If you are a bit queasy when tropical diseases and pests are described, you may want to pass.
P.S. There’s a picture book telling of this story that just came out this summer called The Quest for Z by Greg Pizzoli. We’ll be getting a copy soon and I can't wait to read it.
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