Celebrate Nonfiction

Exploring the Joy of Nonfiction Reading and Writing

5 Faves: Expository Nonfiction Recommended by Kathie MacIsaac

When
I was asked to share five expository nonfiction titles, I did what comes
naturally…I started doing research. I looked at what I had recently read and
what other readers had suggested. I browsed lists of nonfiction
recommendations. Once I was satisfied, I headed to the library shelves with my
list of titles and brought home a huge stack of books to explore. These are the
five books I want to share with you.

Creature Features: 25 Animals Explain Why They Look The Way They Do by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014)

I’m
a big fan of books written by Steve Jenkins, but I particularly love the way
this book is presented as conversations between interviewers and animals. The
illustrations are big and bold, and the short text will appeal to younger
readers.

Frozen Wild: How Animals Survive in the Coldest Places on Earth by Jim Arnosky
(Sterling, 2015)
I love reading about the polar regions, and this book does an excellent job
describing the differences between the Arctic and Antarctica and how the
animals that live there survive the harsh climate.

Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons by Sara Levine (Millbrook, 2014)
There’s a great deal of humor in this book, and the illustrations will make you
laugh while you learn how animal skeletons differ from our own and the purpose
of those differences.

It’s Spit-acular!: The Secrets of Saliva
by Melissa Stewart (Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2010)
When you mix together a topic that many kids find gross, a wealth of
interesting facts about saliva, and the excellent writing of Melissa Stewart,
you have a winning combination for a book that is sure to appeal to many kids
(and adults too)!

Best Foot Forward: Exploring Feet, Flippers, and Claws by Ingo Arndt (Holiday House, 2013)

The
photographs in this book are fascinating! Feet have so many different functions
that are explored in these pages. I would also guess that many of us have never
seen the bottom of an elephant’s foot or the ribbed toes of a gecko, and so
there is much to learn here.

Kathie MacIsaac works in the
children’s department of a public library in Manitoba, Canada, where she lives
with her husband and daughter. She is a member of the Manitoba Young Readers’
Choice Awards (MYRCA) Committee, part of the team that operates the MG Book
Village website, and is passionate about sharing her love for middle grade
literature.

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