New non fiction

My students really love nonfiction.  I think it has to do with the Montessori attitude where things are based in reality, starting with concrete and moving to abstract, or maybe their parents just prefer to read nonfiction with them.  In any case, the nonfiction books in my library get a work out and I know these new ones I've been reading are going to be great additions to my library.

The first one is an easy sell in my library.  It's called "The Great Leopard Rescue" by Sandra Markle.  It's about the Amur leopards which live in Russia and are among the most endangered animals on earth.  They are big-almost twice the size of a German Shepherd and there are fewer than 1000 of them left.  The book details why they are endangered (habitat reduction) and what scientists are trying to do to help save them.  The book is full of engaging photographs of the leopards with small pieces of interesting text.  My kids are going to love this one.

The second one is a biography of a young man who is a boxer and will likely be competing in the Rio Olympics this summer.  The book is called "Next Round" by John Spray.  It's the story of Arthur Biyarslanov, who was born in Chechnya and his family fled the country during the war.  Arthur had a hard time-the trip from Chechnya was difficult and dangerous.  There was a traumatic and uncertain time in a refugee camp before finally settling in Canada, which was also difficult because of the language and cultural differences.  But Arthur is a very competitive athlete and at first, soccer or football was his sport of choice but he ended up in boxing.  He's done very well in boxing, winning a gold medal for Canada in the Pan Am games in 2015.  This book will be a great addition to the library to help kids learn about the athletes of Olympics and I'm looking forward to putting it my library.  

Here's a little video about Arthur.

This last one would be just the right thing for the summer but I think it's not coming out until the fall. No matter, it's still totally worth looking for.  It's called "Recycled Science" and it's by Tammi Enz and Jodi Wheeler-Toppen.  It's divided into four chapters, each one with a different category of materials that you might recycle.  The chapters are plastic bottle science, cardboard tube science, craft stick science, and snack pack science.  Each chapter has several different projects and have clear directions as well as pictures to help you through some of the more complicated projects.  The photos have a modern, industrial feel which lends itself well the to the topic.  There are also some sneaky little short passages that explain the scientific concept that is being applied, which the grown ups will probably really like.  The projects are very interesting and I can see my students really loving this one.  Although I'm afraid I might have to buy several copies because I'm pretty sure this one that is going to go missing almost right away!