Informational Texts

Climate Change: A Hot Topic By Dan Green

Publisher: Kingfisher (2014)

ISBN: 9780753471760

Climate Change is a child sized book, which reminds me of a board book in size.  It discusses many aspects of climate change, but in simpler terms for a middle school child to understand.  The book begins by explaining concepts, such as the sun, land, and the ocean.  Then, they discuss why each is important to maintaining homeostasis.  Then Climate Change goes to discuss each of the green house gases and their effect on the Earth.  Finally, the last chapter gives examples of ways that people can decrease their carbon footprint to preserve our Earth.  Examples include Geoengineering (catching carbon dioxide and reducing the sun's heat to Earth) and renewable energy.

Rating:

I give Climate Change a BIG SMILE because it is a very important topic.  This book did a great job of incorporating factual material, yet making it easier to understand for a younger audience.  It is a lengthier book, but is broken down into chapters to read periodically.  There are cartoon pictures that go with each description to make it more visually appealing.  The text is not overly wordy.

Frogs By Seymour Simon

Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books (2015)

ISBN: 9780062289124

Frogs discusses the different types and lifestyle of frogs.  Their life begins as tadpoles that feed off rocks, their yolks, or plants in the water.  Their gills develop into lungs and they metamorphosis into having arms and legs.  They generally live in slow running water to stay in one area.  When it comes time to reproduce, the male attracts the female through it's croaking call.  From there the eggs are laid in the water and fertilized by sperm and the life-cycle restarts.  Frogs contains much more detailed information that is very interesting.  

Rating:

I give Frogs a BIG SMILE.  The text is easy to read and gives explanations of bigger words, such as exothermic.  This is very informative about the life and types of frogs, but I would not say it's all inclusive.   I feel that the amount of information is appropriate for a younger audience and is not overwhelming.  The font is large and has pictures on every page.  The pictures are high definition photographs that extenuate the facts given. 

Families Around the World By Margriet Ruurs

Publisher: Kids Can Press LTD. (2014)

ISBN: 9781894786577

Families Around the World is from the perspective of a child.  There are fourteen children, each from a different country,  The backgrounds are very diverse,  One example is Nkoitoi from Kenya.  In the morning he helps his family by gathering water and firewood to make food.  Their pet is a goat, unlike an American pet.  They are taught from home.  The aunt teaches how to read and count, while the mother teaches them skills like basket weaving.

Rating:

This title deserves a BIG SMILE!  I love cultural diversity, and this book exemplifies diversity through the child's perspective.  This book reads like a children wrote each story.  The stories are short yet rich with information.  At the end, the author prompts the reader to think if they identify with a story from the book.  Examples include having one parent or both of the same sex, or living in a different country than you were born, or live with extended family.  I think this book not only introduces different lifestyles to children, but shows how similar they are.