These recommended books received ratings of at least 4 out of 5 stars. Click here to see ALL ELEMENTARY NONFICTION reviews.
A Memoir of 1963 Written by Sharon Robinson This is a memoir of a singular year in the life of Sharon Robinson, daughter of baseball great Jackie Robinson. As a newly minted teenager in 1963, Sharon is witness to the civil unrest in the “Deep South” and feels guilty about her comfortable, if not separate, …
Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship Written by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, Illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko I think this is a very good book. It’s about two kids who are paired up for a project at school. They are not friends. They have different races. but they become friends over time. …
Written by Dan Wetzel, Illustrated by Sloane Leong Inspiring biography about Serena Williams from growing up with a dream and her road to becoming indisputably among the greatest players of all time. Maintaining the Mindset of a champion through hardship and racism on the court, Serena is a great role model. The book includes graphic …
Your Incredible, Spectacular, Supercharged Body Written by Seth Fishman, Illustrated by Isabel Greenberg This engaging book helps readers appreciate the wonders of our “incredible, spectacular, supercharged body!” It helps us understand how energy from the sun powers our bodies. The illustrator, Isabel Greenberg, does an excellent job of showing how much energy different activities require …
Written by Sara Schonfeld, Illustrated by Andrew J. Ross Celebrate a birthday on Mars? With Curiosity you can. This book is about a robot named Curiosity that was sent to Mars to explore the surface and report back to earth. To commemorate its first year being on Mars, it sang to itself “Happy Birthday” on …
Written by Dean Robbins, Illustrated by Sean Rubin This book follows the true story of Astronaut Alan Bean. He visited the moon on the Apollo 12 mission. After his time on the moon recording the things he saw, he came back to Earth and began to paint the moon the way he saw it. This …
And Other Prehistoric Critters That Roamed the Planet Written by Helaine Becker, Illustrated by John Bindon This book is both fascinating and freaky! If having a 4 inch scorpion crawl across your foot gives you shivers, imagine facing the 2 ft. 7 in. Pulmonoscorpius! Its survival strategy is referred to as the “toxic stab.” Yikes! …
Coding Is CATegorical Series Written by Brian P. Cleary, Illustrated by Martin Goneau This is a cute, easy-to-read story about the definitions and examples of algorithms,even giving examples of recipes and self-driven cars. Who knew? The illustrations are delightful and clever, but they are very helpful to further educate the reader regarding algorithms. This will …
You Can’t Dance to These Rhythms: What Are Algorithms? Read More »
How Tennis Star Billie Jean King Changed Women’s Sports Written by Mara Rockliff, Illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley This is an easy-to-read nonfiction picture book about the accomplishments of tennis star Billie Jean King. Beginning with her energetic childhood, the book shows how Billie Jean ran fast, played hard, and put everything she had into her …
A Conversation in Verse Written by Susannah Buhrman-Deever, Illustrated by Bert Kitchen I absolutely loved this book and easily gave it 5 stars! I shared it with my family and my teen children were even interested in it. Great educational poetry book that can be read with two voices. It had many fascinating animal behavior …
