Quite a Few Nature Books for Kids, or Spying at the New York Botanical Garden
December 06, 2010
Loyal Chicken Spaghetti readers know that I like to take pictures of book displays. (On a similar post last summer, a few others confessed to doing this, too. My people!) Yesterday's family outing to the charming holiday train show at the New York Botanical Garden gave me an excuse to hang around its gift shop, acting like a spy and taking pictures with my shoe phone.
Store displays are great ways to get recommendations. I spotted a mix of fiction and nonfiction, including Big Yellow Sunflower, by Frances Barry; Bugs in a Blanket, by Beatrice Alemagna; The Grouchy Ladybug and The Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle; I Love Dirt: 52 Ways to Help Your and Your Kids Discover the Wonders of Nature, by Jennifer Ward; Snow Is Falling, by Franklyn M. Branley; The Carrot Seed, by Ruth Krauss; a new edition of The Secret Garden, illustrated by Inga Moore; The Practical Naturalist, by Chris Packham; Blue Potatoes, Orange Tomatoes: How to Grow a Rainbow Garden, by Rosalind Creasy; and NYC books like Old Penn Station, by William Low, and I Love N.Y., by Christoph Niemann.
Speaking of snowflakes, while I did not see The Secret Life of a Snowflake (Voyageur Press, 2009) at the NYBG, this 48-page Cybils nominee is well worth seeking out. Author Kenneth Libbrecht, a physics professor at Caltech, studies crystal formation and takes stunning photographs. Subtitled "An Up-Close Look at the Art & Science of Snowflakes," the picture book for older readers (about nine and up) offers just what it promises.
More nonfiction recommendations for children can be found at Scrub-a-Dub-Tub, today's Nonfiction Monday host.
I borrowed the cover image at the right from WorldCat.
An Up-Close Look at the Art and Science of Snowflakes would be right up my alley. THAT is a book I could page through for hours! Thanks for such a great collection of ideas, Susan
Posted by: Terry Doherty | December 06, 2010 at 12:39 PM
You're welcome, Terry. Thank you for hosting the round-up; I always get good ideas from everyone's Nonfiction Monday posts.
Posted by: Susan (Chicken Spaghetti) | December 06, 2010 at 01:20 PM
We cannot get enough of the NYBG's train show. My sons are obsessed with trains and I am obsessed with the miniature, so it works out well for everyone. --Erica
Posted by: Storied Cities | December 06, 2010 at 01:38 PM
Erica, isn't it great. That was my NYBG first train show ever! My husband and son had been before. I loved the whole thing; just wished it had been a little warmer outside so we could have strolled around more.
Posted by: Susan (Chicken Spaghetti) | December 06, 2010 at 02:16 PM
Ooh, that's gorgeous. It actually reminds me of that French cartoon about the Tour de France... um...The Triplets of Belleville - the guy lived in a little house by a train track just like that.
Posted by: tanita | December 07, 2010 at 05:09 AM
I'll have to look for that! You can just imagine all the little people living in these houses and buildings. I particularly loved the Poe Cottage (a house in the Bronx where Poe lived for a time), but the picture came out all blurry.
Posted by: Susan (Chicken Spaghetti) | December 07, 2010 at 10:43 AM
Oh wow, look at the miniatures! I LOVE THEM. I am so jealous. I wonder if the Botanical Gardens has a site with more photos. (And the books are great, too.)
Posted by: Steph | December 07, 2010 at 09:03 PM
Steph, check the New York Botanical Garden site; I'll also try to put up some more photos on Flickr. Will tell you when I do.
Posted by: Susan (Chicken Spaghetti) | December 08, 2010 at 02:29 PM
I read that Inga-Moore illustrated version of THE SECRET GARDEN to my girls last year. Lovely.
Posted by: jules | December 09, 2010 at 09:03 AM
Did they like it, Jules? That version does indeed look lovely.
Posted by: Susan (Chicken Spaghetti) | December 09, 2010 at 02:21 PM