LAE 4424: Non-fiction Information Books

Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix

by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

The book Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix by Jacqueline Briggs Martin tells the story of Roy Choi, a Korean- American that moved to the United States when he was two with his family. The themes of this book are determination, persistence and bravery. His parents owned a restaurant that Roy grew up in. He loved nothing more than his mother's cooking. The restaurant eventually closed and Roy’s family moved away from all he’s ever known. He got lost along the way but one day he realize what he was meant to do. Roy Choi went to school to become a chef. He cooked for very famous important people but one day he lost his job. He knew he needed some motivation but did not know where to find it. One day, his friend came up to him and said “let's bring korean barbeque to tacos” and the rest is history. Roy Choi began cooking for the community and doing what he loves the most, putting sohn-maash and love into his food. He was determined to live out his dream.

The purpose of this book is to show students that no matter what happens in life, with a little hard work and determination you can always turn it around. Students will go through hard times and lose their way just like Roy Choi did. They have to find a way to look at it from the brightside and do the best to climb out of whatever situation they are in. I would rate this book a nine overall. This is such a great story that sends such a powerful message to kids. Plus, it is very culturally relevant, teaching students different things about Korean cooking and culture.

Twelve Days in May: Freedom Ride 1961

by Larry Dane Brimner

Twelve Days in May: Freedom Ride 1961 follows a group of 13 black and white civil rights activists. This group was fighting for social justice by challenging the act of segregation on buses. The group faced many challenges on their twelve-day freedom ride.

The purpose of this book is to inform children of the history of segregation and how activists came together to put an end to it. Students should take the theme of social justice and activism away from this story. The characters in this story fought for social justice and what was right. Students should be encouraged to do so as well.

This book has very vivid photos that bring the story to life. Students can look at the photos and attempt to get a glimpse inside what was happening at this time in the United States. Since students today did not live during this time, vivid images are necessary for allowing students to comprehend the story.

I would rate this book a 10 due to the descriptive language and vivid images that allow students to have a small glimpse into this battle for social justice.

The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, & the Fall of Imperial Russia

by Candace Fleming

This book, The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, & the Fall of Imperial Russia, follows the story of the illustrious Romanovs. A family that movies and conspiracy theories has surrounded them. The author, Candace Fleming, goes into complete detail about the history of the family from beginning to the horrific end. The book begins with the ball in 1903 that contained 893 people that controlled 90 percent of the wealth in Imperial Russia. This sets the stage and goes into factual detail of the Romanovs as well as the growing political unrest growing in Russia at that time which led to the killings of the entire family.

The book is in chapter format, but includes a detailed family tree and a map of the Russian empire. There is also a detailed bibliography, notes and an index. The language in the text is written in a way that makes the text engaging and interesting. However, the book is geared toward an end of middle school, high school crowd even extends to adults. The text shows the Romanovs in depth, which includes their bias toward the Jewish population. The author does this in a way that she doesn’t use racially blaring language. She talks about the bias in the way a history professor would.

Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11

by Brian Floca

The book Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca explain the story of Apollo 11 in a kid friendly way. The theme of this book is bravery. It goes through the steps of Collins, Aldrin, and Armstrong preparing to leave for the moon and describes what the spaceship does before it takes off. It is very vivid in explaining what take off is like which would be really enjoyable for the students and easy to understand. There are some many interesting things students need to know about space. The astronauts are able to turn the floor into the ceiling and the ceiling into the floor with the help of zero gravity. It is hard to eat, sleep and move in space. Aldrin and Armstrong get on the Eagle and take off for the moon. They miss their landing spot but Armstrong is still able to land the ship. Armstrong and Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon and realize that it was not made of cheese. Everyone on earth cheered, they knew that this was a big step for the people. The astronauts landed in the water from space and made it home safely.

The purpose of the book is to inform students of one of the most historic space missions to ever take place. Ever since NASA’s space shuttle program ended, passed stories are all students have to know that men and women once roamed the uncharted territories of space, such as the moon. Students need to learn about history but most books do not make it easy for kids under the age of 10. Brian Floca does a great job of introducing this big piece of history to young readers in a way that they can easily understand. I would rate this book an eight because it could have had a little less fluff but overall, it was a great book with good supporting illustrations.

Grand Canyon

by Jason Chin

Grand Canyon by Jason Chin is a picture story book about a father and daughter who explore the Grand Canyon. The book includes a lot of vivid picture of different things such as plants and animals who live in/at the Grand Canyon, the rock layers, and photos of the father and daughter exploring. Throughout the entire book the reader learns all about the Grand Canyon such as how it was formed, the Colorado river that runs through it, and the mystery behind it. This is a great book for students to read because it provides a lot of pictures going along with the information being explained in the text.

The purpose of this book is to inform. When students first learn about the Grand Canyon or see it (or a picture of it) for the first time they often have a lot of question such as how it was formed, if animals live there or not, etc. This book educators the reader on everything they can learn about the Grand Canyon from how it was formed years ago to the plants and animal that live there today. This would be a great read aloud for a teacher to do because there are some words that may be a bit difficult for students to read such as names of planets and animals and rock layers, and the pictures offer a great visual for students as the teacher reads. The book also contains really interesting and fun facts such as the length and depth of the Grand Canyon. This book also won many awards including the 2018 Caldecott Medal Honor, 2018 Sibert Medal Honor, 2018 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award, and Booklist Editors Choice Top of the List 2017.

I rate this book a 9 on a scale from 1-10. It provides really interesting facts and information about the Grand Canyon however there is a lot of information in this book so some students may get lost or even overwhelmed. The best way to integrate this book in the classroom is over a couple days so that students have time to process and retain the information. Other than that, this book is a really cool and awesome read about an amazing place on this earth. All of the illustrations are also a really good touch.

The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdos

By Deborah Heiligman and LeUyen Pham

The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdos by Deborah Heiligman and LeUyen Pham takes the reader on a journey through Paul Erdos’s life. Paul’s life was unlike any other mathematician. At the age of four, Paul was able to ask you when and what time you were born and then calculate the number of seconds you had been alive… all in his head. Even as a child, Paul thought about math all day long. He didn’t like going to school because there were so many rules. So his mom allowed him to stay home with her and the nanny, but there was a problem. Paul never learned how to do his laundry or even butter his bread. He traveled all around the world, collaborating with many different mathematicians. Paul believed that to stop doing math was to die. So Paul left this world while he was in a math meeting.

The purpose of this book is to inform children about the life of Paul Erdos. Paul lived an unusual life. He didn’t go to elementary school like other kids, he didn’t learn how to do laundry like other kids, and he didn’t even know how to butter his bread. But Paul loved math and her pursued math like it was the only thing on earth. He became famous at the age of twenty because he was passionate and consistent. Students should take the theme of determination and hard work away from this story. Paul was determined to do math whenever he could and he didn’t let anything stop him, not even butter and bread.

This book has very vivid illustrations. The pictures really brings the book to life and allows the reader to connect with the text. The book is filled with numbers, small and large. The illustrations also showed Paul at different parts of the world and had certain colors and pictures that symbolized where he had been. Although the colors aren’t bright and vibrant like most books, students would be able to get a real sense of the life he lived and what he was doing simply by looking at the illustrations.

I would rate this book a nine overall. It’s such a great story that inspires kids all over the world to work hard, find something they love and never give it up.

Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95

By Phillip Hoose

Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose takes you on the journey through the life of a Rufa Red Knot affectionately known as B95. The theme of this book is determination. Many Rufa Red Knots have been dying since 2000. B95 was tagged in 1995 in Canada north of the Arctic Circle. He eats as many spiders and mosquitoes as he can find. His whole migration journey is 18,000 miles round trip so he must store as much food as possible for his journey. At some points, B95 flies more than 5,000 miles at a time. As much as 80% of Rufa Red Knots have died over the lifespan of B95 due to lack of food sources. As the environment changes, the animals and their lifespans change as well. Many people are trying to help these birds from going extinct by keeping the areas that these visit in prime condition for them. The best part is not all of these people as scientists, they just care about this bird and the environment it needs to survive.

The purpose of this book is to inform students of the life of B95 and the rest of the Rufa Red Knots that are still on the earth. These birds need more than just a few individuals to help them on their journey. The world needs more conservationists and this book shows students how they can help the Rufa Red Knots cause. I would rate this book a nine. It was very inspiring to read about the journey that this bird goes through every year. The pictures were awesome and helped me relate to what this bird goes through even more. I look forward to reading this book to my students some day.

Lifetime: The Amazing Numbers in Animal Lives

by Lola M. Schaefer and Christopher Silas Neal

Lifetime: The Amazing Numbers in Animal Lives by Lola M. Schaefer and Christopher Silas Neal is great book that uses traits and developmental milestones of certain species to measure animal lives. The book takes the reader on a journey through a forest to visit a woodpecker and to the ocean with 1,000 seahorse babies. This is a great book about picturing numbers and taking a look at the fascinating animal lives.

The language in this book is very informational and straight forward. This allows the students to easily understand the book without trying to analyze what is being portrayed. The illustrations in the book are very vivid and accurate. The author took the time to illustrate whatever number stated in the text. The alpaca grows twenty different fleeces in one lifetime so the illustration show twenty different piles of fleece. This is good for students who are learning how to count.

The purpose of this book is to inform students about the lives of the animals around us. Lifetime shows how many times each animal performs a certain behavior or grows a feature in a whole lifetime. I would rate this book a seven. This would be a good read for students who are interested in nature and also for students learning how to count.

Brown Girl Dreaming

by Jacqueline Woodson

Brown Girl Dreaming is an autobiographical story written by Jacqueline Woodson. Jacqueline grew up during the civil rights movement which took place from 1954-1968. This was a critical point in American History. As Jacqueline grows older and experiences more hardships and injustices including racism and discrimination, she sees that the world around her needs change and growth.

The language in this story is written beautifully and poetically. This allows for students to break down the language and analyze what the author is trying to portray. This book does not have pictures but the imagery paints a very vivid picture in the minds of the readers.

One theme in this story is activism. This story takes place during the civil rights movement. This was a time when African American people fought for social justice and took a stand for what was right. Students should see how activism can truly make a change. Another theme in this story was of family. The author was very family centered and love and compassion is a common value among the author and her family.

Overall, I would rate this book a 9 due to the beautiful poetic language that encourages students to dig deeper into the story.

References

Brimner, L. D. (2017). Twelve days in May: Freedom ride 1961. Honesdale, PA: Calkins Creek, an imprint of Highlights.

Chin, J. (2017). Grand Canyon. Macmillan.

Fleming, C. (2014). The Family Romanov : Murder, Rebellion & The Fall of Imperial Russia. New York :Schwartz & Wade Books.

Floca, B. (2009). Moonshot: The flight of Apollo 11. New York City, New York: Atheneum Books.

Heiligman, D., & Pham, L. (2013). The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdős. New York: Roaring Brook Press.

Hoose, P. (2012). Moonbird: A year on the wind. New York City, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Martin, J. B. (2017). Chef Roy Choi and the street food remix. Washington: Readers to Eaters.

Schaefer, L. M., & Neal, C. S. (2013). Lifetime: The Amazing Numbers In Animal Lives. San Francisco, CA: Chronical Books LLC.

Woodson, J. (2017). Brown girl dreaming. Waterville, ME: Thorndike Press, a part of Gale, a Cengage Company.