It’s National Women’s History Month, and I have done... hold it, let me see... yes, apparently nothing, nothing at all to bring attention to women in history. I’ve certainly let down the sisterhood. At least I can heap praise on the one site that has books and resources galore, Wild Rose Reader. If March has gotten away from you too, blame the weather and head there for some great reading ideas.
Today I do have a biography about a woman to share. A woman ahead of her time. You might even say a maverick.
The title and subtitle can serve as a decent one-sentence summary: What to Do About Alice? How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove Her Father Teddy Crazy! Of course, the title can’t capture the pleasure of getting into the head of a spirited girl who was all about “eating up the world.” While other girls her age went to boarding school to become proper young ladies, Alice joined an all-boys club and used her father’s library to teach herself astronomy. As she grew up and her father became the President, she refused to settle for a supporting role in her own life. While some women were appalled at her behavior, most of the country loved her outrageous ways. With What To Do About Alice? Barbara Kerley has written a fun picture book about a fun-loving girl, while also conveying the history surrounding the Roosevelt family. The lively illustrations by Edwin Fotheringham are a perfect complement to the story of Alice — and are the most enjoyable when they are in direct opposition to the text. We can laugh at a picture of Alice and her siblings riding trays down the curving White House steps while the sentence above mentions, “She watched her younger brothers and sister so her stepmother could get some rest.” This was one woman in history who was anything but boring.
Since I’m gathering your nonfiction reviews today, I’ll update this post a few times with those links. C’mon and give me something good to read.
We have...
- Aliens from Earth: When Animals and Plants Invade Other Ecosystems at Story Force
- Machines Go to Work at Book Moot
- Fairy Cooking at In Need of Chocolate
- Animals Up Close at 100 Scope Notes
- Snake Scientist at Jean Little Library
- Michael Rosen’s Sad Book at Just One More Book
- Bubble Homes and Fish Farts at Abby (the) Librarian
- Animal Poems of the Iguazu at Wild About Nature
- Go, Go America! at Lori Calabrese Writes
Plus...
- Dinosaurs in Your Backyard at Check It Out
- Kids Knitting at Living the Good Life
- Have You Ever Seen a Duck in a Raincoat at Picture Book of the Day
- Honda: The Boy Who Dreamed of Cars at A Wrung Sponge
- Interview with Don Brown at Seven Impossible Things
Adding on...
- A Place for Birds at
A Patchwork of Books
- Nic Bishop’s Butterflies and Moths at Kids Lit
- Slither and Crawl: Eye to Eye with Reptiles at Miss Rumphius Effect
Closing out with...
- What’s Eating You? Parasites — The Inside Story at Great Kid Books reviews
- I Face the Wind at Six Boxes of Books
Posts
23 comments:
Claire Rudolf Murphy reviews "Aliens from Earth: When Animals and Plants Invade Other Ecosystems"
Written by Mary Batten
Illustrated by Beverly J. Doyle
A serious topic presented in kid-friendly way. It's the "Izaak Walton League of Conservation Book of the Year"
Oooops!
Here's the link.
http://storyforce-storyforce.blogspot.com/
BookMoot reviews Machines Go to Work by William Low
http://www.bookmoot.com/2009/03/nonfiction-monday-machines-go-to-work.html
I've reviewed Fairy Cooking at In Need of Chocolate.
http://inneedofchocolate.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/non-fiction-monday-fairy-cooking/
100 Scope Notes reviews "Animals Up Close"
http://100scopenotes.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/nonfiction-monday-animals-up-close/
Jennifer at Jean Little Library - Snake Scientist by Sy Montgomery
http://jeanlittlelibrary.blogspot.com/2009/03/snake-scientist-by-sy-montgomery.html
Thanks for rounding us up.
This week our non-fiction book chat is about Michael Rosen's Sad Book http://www.justonemorebook.com/2009/03/20/michael-rosens-sad-book/
a beautiful, heartbreaking, scary book about the author's life after the death of his son
Thanks for hosting this week!
Over at Abby (the) Librarian, I've got a review of Bubble Homes and Fish Farts by Fiona Bayrock:
http://abbylibrarian.blogspot.com/2009/03/book-review-bubble-homes-and-fish-farts.html
Heidi Bee Roemer reviews Animal Poems of the Iguazu by Francisco X. Alacron at http://wildaboutnaturewriters.blogspot.com/.
Lori Calabrese reviews Go, Go America! by Dan Yaccarino
http://loricalabrese.blogspot.com/2009/03/go-go-america.html
Loved What to Do About Alice. It was a CYBILS nominated book for nonfiction which I reviewed. Here is a new book on dinosaurs: http://maclibrary.edublogs.org/2009/03/23/nonfiction-monday-dinosaurs-in-your-backyard/
I have a post about Kids Knitting by Melanie Falick
http://notenoughacresfarm.blogspot.com/2009/03/non-fiction-monday-kids-knitting.html
Thanks for hosting! I'm in with
Have You Ever Seen a Duck in a Raincoat?
I've enjoyed reading the Alice book to second graders in the library. Great book!
I'm joining in today with Honda; The Boy Who Dreamed of Cars. Thanks for the roundup!
I'm in with an interview with the god of picture book biographies, Don Brown: http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=1609
I have a review of A Place for Birds up at A Patchwork of Books. Thanks!
http://apatchworkofbooks.blogspot.com/2009/03/non-fiction-monday-place-for-birds.html
Amanda
I reviewed Nic Bishop's Butterflies and Moths: http://kidslit.menashalibrary.org/2009/03/23/butterflies-and-moths/
Thanks!
I'm in with Jim Arnosky's new book, Slither and Crawl: Eye to Eye with Reptiles.
Thanks for hosting this shindig!
Great Kid Books reviews What's eating you? Parasites - the inside story, by Nicola Davies. It's sure to give you the creeps and crawlies!
I reviewed I Face the Wind (Cobb/Gorton) today: http://sixboxesofbooks.blogspot.com/2009/03/non-fiction-monday-i-face-wind.html
Hey, thanks for the kind words about WHAT TO DO ABOUT ALICE?
MotherReader readers might be interested to know that I have extension activities (for teachers, parents, homeschoolers, etc) posted on my web page:
barbarakerley.com
Barbara Kerley
Oh, we just returned our What to do about Alice book to the library and I must say we LOVED It. nothing to do with the fact we have an Alice who is eating up the world and she is only 3....
Great selection of non-fiction you have.
What do with Alice sounds like a good read. I am always on the look out for books about strong willed and capable girls.
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