I’ve been inspired once again by Alyson Beecher at KidLit Frenzy to participate in the 2014 Nonfiction picture book challenge! Link up here to join in!
According to Goodreads, last year I read 66 nonfiction picture books – my goal had been 60 titles. I read 44 nonfiction picture books in 2012 so it was wonderful that participating in this challenge allowed me to increase the titles I read by a third! Wonderful for me and wonderful for my students as my passion for these titles has spilled over into some amazing read aloud experiences! And the learning . . . Wow!
This year when I selected my favourite titles of the year, including nonfiction picture books was a priority – I credit this challenge with my new absolute love for this genre. Thank you Alyson and all of the fantastic bloggers sharing favourite reads all year!
I would like to keep reading at the nonfiction pace I read last year – so I am choosing 65 titles as my goal. Again, I will try and read many recently published books, but there are many 2013 (and even older) titles that I really want to get to so I will be reading both new and older titles. When I can, I will include favourites and link to Alyson’s Wednesday nonfiction posts.
One of my most popular posts of the year was for this challenge: Wonder Inducing Nonfiction Read Alouds. I have been using this list to guide which books I share with my students. In my timetable, I have set aside two guaranteed nonfiction read aloud times each week. Often, it is more. We read a lot of nonfiction in my room!
Like last year, I am excited to learn about a variety of nonfiction titles shared via the bloggers participating in this challenge! Reading passion is wonderfully contagious!
My ten nonfiction favourites read in 2013 (not just published in 2013) included:
The final 3 titles on this list were on my Favourites of 2013 list and four of these books were on my Gift Books 2013 list. Testament to the nonfiction love!
The Tree Lady by H. Joseph Hopkins and illustrated by Jill McElmurry
Is This Panama? A Migration Story written by Jan Thornhill and illustrated by Soyeon Kim
No Monkeys, No Chocolate written by Melissa Stewart and Allen Young with illustrations by Nicole Wong
The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frog: A Scientific Mystery by Sandra Markle
My First Day by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
A Little Book of Sloth by Lucy Cooke
Even an Octopus Needs a Home by Irene Kelly
Lifetime: The Amazing Numbers in Animals’ Lives written by Lola Schaefer and illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal
On A Beam of Light- A Story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne and illustrated by Vladimir Radunsky
The Boy who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdos written by Deborah Heiligman and illustrated by LeUyen Pham
I feel compelled to share this post to highlight all of the love this book had in my classroom: For the Love of Math
There's a Book for That 
Just linked up to the challenge! Thank you for your encouragement! I’m looking forward to sharing and discovering lots of Nonfiction books this year! xo
So pleased you are going to participate! I learned about so many fantastic titles last year by being part of this challenge! So many great books out there to discover!
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