Books of Information

This week we're jumping into books of information, which has quite a range in content and presentation. For my selections this week, I chose both story narratives, an infographic, and "facts and figures" type books.

Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table

Jacqueline Briggs Martin, a Caldecott Medal winner, tells the story of Will Allen, a former basketball player whose vision helped him to create and expand massive urban farming projects. Like the subject of her book, Martin has a passion for urban farming and home-grown food. Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table was the first in Martin’s Food Hero series. Martin’s collection of additional resources demonstrates thoughtful research into the topic and audience, with focus on urban gardening and gardening with children.

With a target audience of 6-10 year olds, the content focuses on the challenges that Will Allen faced with beginning urban gardening and how he was able to overcome them with new and inventive ways. The problem solving aspect encourages children and also tells the story of how Will Allen was able to accomplish his dreams. The descriptions of the gardening challenges and processes are accurate, covering basic information without getting too in depth and over the heads of the audience.

The language is simple enough for the age group and easy to follow along. The text is clear type with good contrast. Words and ideas that the author wants to emphasize are often in very large, stylized, and different color fonts to help readers to focus on that aspect of the story. Told as a story narrative, the organization of the book makes sense and the information contained within naturally flows. The book has the feel of a picture book and a fun story while still presenting a lot of information about the process of urban gardening and Will Allen specifically. The size, format, and colors of the book make it easily blend in with other pictures books for this age, making it appealing.

The illustrations are richly drawn and colored, showing the detail of the city and the gardens. People likewise are diversely represented, and the illustrations help to highlight the global vision for all people which Will Allen holds.  This book is a good introduction to the potential of what a vacant lot can hold and do to improve the world and bring people together.

Martin, Jacqueline Briggs, and Will Allen. 2016. Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table. Reprint edition. Readers to Eaters. ISBN: 978-0-9836615-8-0

Camp Panda: Helping Cubs Return to the Wild

A Robert F Sibert honor award winner, Camp Panda by Catherine Thimmesh is an in depth look at the history and current status of wild pandas and the conservation efforts to increase their population. While Thimmesh herself is not an expert on pandas, she has written numerous well researched and recognized children’s nonfiction books. This one is no different. Thimmesh researched widely and conducted 6 interviews with panda experts for the content.

Intended for late elementary grades, the book focuses on pandas and their entire history related to conservation efforts but it also covers how other animals are endangered and the importance of conservation efforts. It makes the book wide ranging on the topic with lots of text. However, it has large section titles and is clearly and predictably organized so that if there is desire to skip back to pandas instead of other animals, it is easily accomplished. The author also covers differing opinions on conservation efforts and why people might not want to save pandas. Often left out of environmental and conservation books, this is important to know and understand why there are differences of opinions.

The writing style is clear and not complex, but it is clearly geared for older children with the amount of text as Thimmesh has lots to say about the topic of pandas. The material is easy to follow and understand. The book lacks a condescending tone while still answering many questions children may have while reading the material, such as why the keepers have to stay away from baby pandas, even when the pandas are so cute.

The book is organized chronologically – first, covering the history of pandas in China and the reasons for the diminishing population, history of conservations efforts, and then the future as the scientists learned more about the challenges of panda reintroduction. Aside sections on other species are mixed into the relevant chronological order.

 There is not a table of contents to the book, reducing the navigation. However, a glossary and index are included, as well as a list of the sources consulted, and mini biographies of the individuals interviewed.

The layout is appropriate to the organizational style and structure of the book, with large color photographs on most pages that follow along with the text. In contrast, the primary text looks small in comparison. Some of the introductory paragraphs of the section are in a slightly larger, easier to read font, making the smaller size even more noticeable. Fortunately, the text is all black on white for easier reading. With the pictures all very large and primarily of adorable pandas being cute and the two kinds of font, the book can have a feel of with two separate purposes – one book for younger children who primarily want to see pandas and learn a little and one book for children who want in depth knowledge of panada conservation efforts.

Thimmesh, Catherine. 2018. Camp Panda: Helping Cubs Return to the Wild. Illustrated edition. Boston: Clarion Books. ISBN: 978-0-544-81891-0

Earth by the Numbers

The seventh in the series By the Numbers from Caldecott Honor winner Steve Jenkins is a book entirely of infographics and trivia regarding the earth and many of the natural features, such as the age, the ocean, and various natural disasters. Jenkins takes the research completed by other authors and renders it into informative, visually interesting tidbits that are easy to remember. All information is presented as factual, with no caveats or disclaimers about theories or approximations.

The scope of the book is large, covering 17 aspects of the earth. However, each topic is only 2 pages long and dominated by the graphics, with only a handful of trivia type facts each. Intended for children 4-8 years old, the book answers questions quickly but with a shorter attention span for an in-depth study of one of the topics. The scope and presentation act as quick trivia from which children can branch out to more study, as their interest dictates.

The limited amount of writing is clear and precise and is clearly linked via arrows and lines to different parts of the infographics. All information is presented in a concise factual way.

Within the contents, different conceptual aspects of the earth are loosely grouped together. For example, “Rivers and lakes” are next to “Ice and snow” and “Oceans.”

With each topic only taking up 2 pages, the table of contents is critical. In line with the concept of the book, the contents are also pictorially represented, along with the brief words. The book also includes a bibliography and glossary for some of the more difficult words and concepts.

As a book on infographics, it is really the graphics of each page that make the book. While it can be one thing to hear that the most of the earth’s water is salty, to visually see it in a bar graph really illuminates the points and helps the information to feel more tangible. Jenkins uses a variety of differing graph types to keep interest and present new and inventive ways of thinking about the earth.

Jenkins, Steve. 2019. Earth: By The Numbers. Illustrated edition. Boston: Clarion Books. ISBN: 978-1-328-85101-7

Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family's Fight for Desegregation

A Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor, Sibert Honor, and Jane Addams Children’s Book Award winner, Separate is Never Equal tells the story of Sylvia Mendez from her perspective as her family fought for the desegregation of the Orange County California schools. With the narrative takes from interviews that Tonatiuh completed with Sylvia Mendez herself and from court documents and transcripts, the story shows the historical unfolding and arguments made for segregation and the impact it had on the families and children who were victims.

While focusing on the single experience of Mendez, the book also links the experiences to the wider social desegregation movements happening around the country. Geared for children grades 1-4, the language is clear and easy to understand through the narrative, despite the complexities of the story. The author addresses the stereotypes that the children and families face head on, highlighting how the children feel when spoken of in degrading terms. Tonatiuh is careful to explain the issues and problems of segregation and the impacts it had on children without making assumptions of what the readers know and not being condescending. Presented in a story narrative, the book is easy to follow, and the story is told in a logical manner.

To help further the knowledge, the back of the book contains a glossary, bibliography, and an index. Additionally, there is an author’s note that helps to explain the significance of the Mendez case, especially in comparison to the much more well-known case of Brown v. Board of Education.

The format of the book is clear, with easy-to-read font and contrasting colors. The style of the book is consistent throughout.

Tonatiuhis also the illustrator of the book, creating a synergy between the text and illustrations that can be missing when author and illustrator are not working together. The illustrations are highly stylized and distinctive. The tilt of the heads of the characters evoke a sense of self pride. When they are insulted and called dirty, the offended gasp is nearly audible in the characters’ expressions. The illustrations fit well with the text and serve to pull the reader through the captivating story.

Tonatiuh, Duncan. 2014. Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation. Illustrated edition. New York: Harry N. Abrams. ISBN: 978-1-4197-1054-4