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National Geographic Super Readers
What child isn’t curious about their world? Books about nature and science are always popular with young readers and for librarians and teachers, there is an endless demand for books about bugs,...
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Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas by Lynne Cox
Lynn: Picture books featuring adorable animals are commonplace. Picture books about a real-life elephant seal who won the hearts of an entire town? Rare! In the author’s note, Cox, a famous...
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Winnie-the-Pooh and a Soldier, Too!
Cindy: After a year on the Sibert Award I said I was taking a break from nonfiction, but when I saw the cover art, the title, and the name Sally Walker on Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who...
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Checking in on Chernobyl’s Dead Zone
Cindy: Almost 30 years ago, when I was a baby librarian—and not too many years after acquiring my college protest marching “No-Nukes” button—a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine...
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Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head: Rainy Day Books
Lynn: Here is a treasure for every classroom studying the water cycle! Raindrops Roll (2015), by April Pulley Sayre, is a visual gem that provides a close-up look at the action of raindrops. The book...
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Hippos Are Huge in Picture Books
Lynn: I love my job! Seriously—sometimes I am just awed by the amazing books being created for young readers these days. Take nonfiction for example: gorgeous, fascinating, perfectly attuned to...
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Appreciating Wildlife with Ted and Betsy Lewin
Lynn: For many of us, summer is a chance to travel. I love to travel, but if I can’t, I will happily read about someone else’s adventures. Here’s a fabulous new book that will scratch that travel itch...
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Amazing Pop-Up Books for All Ages
Cindy: Pop-up books amaze and delight and sometimes inspire challenging crafting. I have an assortment of pop-up books in my middle school in the leisure-reading area and they are looked at daily. They...
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Emulate the Emu: Hard-Working Dads of the Animal World
Cindy: Dads often don’t get enough credit, but Claire Saxby’s Emu (2015) will help their reputation. In the animal world, it is often the mother who does the lion’s share of the work, but emus...
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Grumpy Fun with Two Picture Books about Bears: Mother Bruce and The Bear Report
Lynn: We all know someone who is too grumpy for words, and it is sad but true that I “bear” more than a passing resemblance to the grumpy character, Bruce, in Ryan Higgins’ picture book, Mother Bruce...
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The Slowest Blog Post – We Mean BOOK – Ever
Cindy: If it weren’t for the subject of this book, I would feel the need to apologize for being so slow to post about April Pulley Sayre’s The Slowest Book Ever (2016). My Goodreads account tells me...
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It’s Time to Rethink Pink: Two Books about the Ugliest Animal on Earth
Cindy: Somehow, I missed the 2013 announcement that the blobfish is officially the ugliest animal on the earth, as judged by the Ugly Animal Preservation Society. Somebody was paying attention, though,...
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This Science Book Will Make Young Readers Light Up: Glow, by W. H. Beck
Lynn: Curiosity is what lies at the heart of science. Children, with their innate curiosity, are perfectly suited for science exploration. Happily, there are many excellent new children’s nonfiction...
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Take One Rhinoceros and Travel the World
Lynn: Would anyone believe a story about a man and a rhinoceros who traveled the world for years together starting in 1741? Emily Arnold McCully’s utterly charming new picture book tells the story...
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Two Authors Go Behind the Scenes at the Zoo
Lynn: “In the heart of many cities there is a jungle.” So begins renowned biologist Caitlin O’Connell’s call-to-arms for the next generation of naturalists. Jungles and zoos have never been more...
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Animal Rescue Picture Books
Lynn and Cindy: There isn’t much more moving than a wonderful animal rescue story. Today, we bring you two picture books that are guaranteed to elicit a little moisture in even the driest of...
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Calpurnia Tate for Younger Readers
Cindy: Well, I’ll be skunked! When Lynn shared a copy of the first volume in Jacqueline Kelly’s new Calpurnia Tate: Girl Vet series. I was dubious. While I adore Kelly’s original stories, I fretted...
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SEA OTTER HEROES to the Rescue
Lynn: In schools these days, we talk about science in terms of the scientific method, theories, observation, and conclusions. Pedagogically, this is excellent, but it is important not to lose sight of...
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THE PHOTO ARK: A Delightful Deluge of Animal Portraits
Lynn: We focus on youth books here at Bookends, but every so often, an adult book comes along that we think would be of special interest to kids. The Photo Ark: One Man’s Quest to Document the World’s...
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Welcome Wombat: Tales of Marsupial Rescue for Middle-Grade Readers
Lynn: “Oh, hi, tiny thing. Welcome to Sleepy Burrows Wombat Sanctuary.” And so Welcome, Wombat (2018) begins: Chance, a two-year-old wombat, greets a tiny “pinkie” whose mother was just tragically...
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