Nonfiction Book Reviews
240 book reviews found, page 26 of 48. Narrow results by selecting age range:
Mary Anning: Fossil Hunter
Sally M. Walker (2000), 48 pages
Illustrated by Phyllis V. Saroff
Audience: 1st Grade - 4th Grade
Mary Anning lived during the early 1800's. Women were seldom allowed to go to University. Mary learned the technique of fossil hunting from her father and continued to look for them with her brother after her father died. Joseph, her brother, finally decided to follow another path. Mary continued her interest in fossils by asking questions, reading, and studying fossils. She was very poor and sold her fossils to help pay the rent and buy food. Mary received little credit for her work at the time, but letters, journals and scientific articles from her time have helped us know about her.
Book Series: On My Own Biography
Reviewed by: cj
Date read: 2/8/2010
ISBN-10: 1575054256
ISBN-13: 9781575054254
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Reader Comments
Ivy and Bean Fans May Like This One!Commenter: Emily, grade 18
Fans of Ivy and Bean may know of Mary Anning from the book Ivy and Bean Break the Fossil Record. There, she is introduced as the first person in the world to find an entire ichthyosaur fossil when she was only twelve years old (her brother actually discovered the skull, and she found the rest of the fossil). She went on to find many other important fossils, including several plesiosaurs, a pterosaur, and a chimaera. The information in Ivy and Bean varies somewhat from the information about Mary Anning in the biography. This may be because, as the biography notes, it has been difficult to piece together an accurate picture of Mary's life from historical information about her, since she didn't receive much recognition for the work she did in her lifetime. As a woman in the 1800s, it was hard to earn respect from the scientific community. This account, which has many helpful illustrations, tells us how Mary came to be a fossil hunter and about the many important fossils she discovered in her lifetime.
Mary Todd was born in Kentucky on December 13, 1818. She met Abraham Lincoln in 1840. They had very different backgrounds, but their love of politics brought them together. In 1861, Abraham became president. The country was at war, and divided over slavery. She was from the South, but favored the North's view. The South considered her a traitor, and the North considered her a spy. People disliked her, and the expensive social gatherings that she hosted. A little known fact is that she was the first president's wife to be called 'First Lady' by the newspapers, in 1863.
Mary did not have an easy life. Three of her sons died while they were still children, and on April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre. Mary was overcome with grief. Following the death of her youngest son, she acted strangely and her son, Robert, tried to declare her insane. On July 16, 1882, she died of a stroke.
Book Series: First Ladies
Reviewed by: sc
Date read: 4/13/2009
ISBN-10: 1599287978
ISBN-13: 9781599287973
Master George's People: George Washington, His Slaves, and His Revolutionary Transformation
Marfe Ferguson Delano (2013), 64 pages
Illustrated by Lori Vernon
Audience: 4th Grade - 8th Grade
Category: Nonfiction
Before George Washington was the leader of the Revolutionary Army, he was the son of a plantation owner in Virginia. As such, he grew up with the reality that most of the work on his families plantation was accomplished by enslaved people. He viewed these slaves as property just like the livestock on his farm. When George went north for the Revolutionary War, he got a different view of African Americans. He started to question the views he grew up with his entire life. With the help of the historical interpreters that work at Mount Vernon today, Marfe Delano shows us what life was like if you were a slave on George Washington's plantation. She also traces how this founding father's views on slavery changed over his lifetime.
Reviewed by: caroll
Date read: 3/1/2013
ISBN-10: 1426307594
ISBN-13: 9781426307591
'Matisse, the King of Color' is a beautifully presented biography of the artist Matisse during one of the most significant times in his life. With it's simple prose and dynamic illustrations, this book tells about an amazing friendship that developed between Matisse and Monique which led to some of Matisse's most amazing work. When Matisse was recovering from a serious operation, Monique was employed as his night nurse to keep the artist company during the long evening hours. She became his friend and a source of great inspiration. Later when Monique became a nun(Sister Jacques-Marie,) she encountered Matisse again. In appreciation to Monique and all the nuns in Vence who took good care of him, Matisse created the exquisite Chapelle du Rosaire in France. This remarkable friendship between Matisse and Monique led to a period of his work known as the 'Second Life'. In his books, the author Laurence Anholt, creates a method of introducing young children to the very essence of an artist's style.
Similar authors: Bob Raczka; Mary Ann F. Kohl; Jennifer Tarr Coyne
Similar books: Cezanne and the Apple Boy by Laurence Anholt;
Camille and the Sunflowers: A Story about Vincent Van Gogh by Laurence Anholt;
Degas and the Little Dancer by
Laurence Anholt;
Leonardo and the Flying Boy by
by Laurence Anholt;
The Magical Garden of Claude Monet by Laurence Anholt;
Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail: A Story about Pablo Picasso by Laurence Anholt
Reviewed by: mb
Date read: 7/7/2010
ISBN-10: 0764160478
ISBN-13: 9780764160479
In this book, Michelle Obama remembers her ancestors fondly and discusses how she uses them as role models. (Her great-great-grandfather was a slave on a rice plantation in South Carolina.) Growing up, she excelled at every school she went to, including Princeton and Harvard Law School. While working at a Chicago law firm, she met Barrack. Her family felt they were a perfect match in strength and character. But being a lawyer was not fulfilling. Her goal was to improve the world she lived in. She took on several other positions with various institutions to find her calling. After she married, she kept true to her heart and made sure family came first. She and Barrack are proof that if you work hard for your dreams, you can achieve them.
Reviewed by: rn
Date read: 2/25/2011
ISBN-10: 0547249411
ISBN-13: 9780547249414
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