This year for nonfiction 10 for 10, I invite you to wander with me where questions and wondering takes us. Start with a topic and let the questions happen. How do we find out more? Usually, there’s a book for that!
Thank you to Cathy Mere from Reflect and Refine, Mandy Robek of Enjoy and Embrace Learning and Julie Balen of Write at the Edge for hosting this meme. Click here to read all of the top ten lists shared.
This is my sixth year participating in this meme!
In the first year of #nf10for10 I shared favourite nonfiction titles – many that I have used with my class over the last few years in a variety of ways.
In the second year, I chose to focus on nonfiction picture book biographies that feature inspiring women.
In my third year, I shared nonfiction titles that allow us to think about something from a completely new or different perspective.
Year four was about travelling the world through nonfiction picture books.
Last year, my list focussed on ocean life and ocean exploration.
Recently in my classroom we read a book about the moon as part of our Mock Caldecott unit. This book led us to many, many questions. As the children were busy wondering, I was busy thinking about books on my bookshelf that might help us to begin answering some of the questions and to explore some of the wonders more deeply. Some have just been published. Others have been on my shelves for years. We are still in the middle of our exploring so part of my wandering from book to book is imagined: What might we wonder when we read about . . . ? The first few books are the titles where we began.
If you read
If You Were the Moon written by Laura Purdie Salas and illustrated by Jaime Kim (2017)
you might have some questions about gravity. So you should probably read
Gravity by Jason Chin (2014)
You might also begin wondering about space and our galaxy. Reading Star Stuff: Carl Sagan and the Mysteries of the Cosmos by Stephanie Roth Sisson (2014) is a fantastic place to begin.
Maybe you have questions about how the world was made and how everything came to be. How did it all begin? How is the world put together? What is inside the earth? The questions are endless.
There are a few places you can turn
Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years written by Stacy McAnulty and illustrated by David Litchfield (2017)
The Story of Life: A First Book of Evolution by Catherine Barr and Steve Williams with illustrations by Amy Husband (2015)
Earth Verse Haiku from the Ground Up by Sally M Walker and William Grill (2018)
This might lead to questions about specific landforms. A perfect book to turn to here is
Island: A Story of the Galapagos by Jason Chin (2012)
Some of you might be more interested to learn about all things tiny and microscopic rather than huge and majestic things like islands.
Tiny Creatures: the world of Microbes by Nicola Davies with illustrations by Emily Sutton (2014) is the book for you!
But some of you might want to head back into the past and talk about early life forms. Small things that emerged from the sea? Or gigantic creatures that roamed the Earth like dinosaurs!
Born to Be Giants: How Baby Dinosaurs Grew to Rule the World by Lita Judge (2010) is the ideal title for the dinosaur enthusiast.
This book might lead us to wonder what else might become extinct? Thee are many books about endangered animals. This is one of my favourites, full of truths and hope:
Counting Lions: Portraits from the Wild is written by Katie Cotton and illustrated by Stephen Walton (2015)
What are you wondering about now? Your questions can lead us to more incredible nonfiction titles!
There's a Book for That 