This week the backyard is full of tiny holes, which I can only surmise were made by our resident squirrels digging up the nuts they hid last fall. It makes the yard look like a miniature battle zone. Guess it’s time to go refill the feeders.
Books & Such
My favorite genre to write is narrative nonfiction—usually picture books. Typically, these books have some kind of narrative arc throughout, with additional facts and fascinating details in sidebars on each page.
The book I’m highlighting today is just such a book. Behold the Beautiful Dung Beetle, by Cheryl Bardoe, illustrated by Alan Marks, celebrates an often-overlooked creature with an important job. There is just a hint of poop humor and a big pinch of respect in this lovely book that covers why the dung beetle is a “dung” beetle and how its life cycle works.
Sidebars explore the body parts of a beetle, the different kinds of dung beetles, and even the dung beetle’s honored place in Egyptian culture.
Image credit: IndieBound. Click to view at IndieBound. Please support your local, independent bookseller.
Behold the Beautiful Dung Beetle was published by Charlesbridge in 2014.
I Can’t Wait to Read . . .
. . . The Slowest Book Ever, by April Pulley Sayre
April Pulley Sayre is one of my favorite nonfiction authors. If you don’t already know her work, I encourage you to go to the library and check out a stack of her books. I especially love Raindrops Roll and Vulture View.
Sayre’s new book, The Slowest Book Ever is a 176 page middle grade book, which is a departure from her usual picture book format. School Library Journal says, “Science and nature rub shoulders with pop culture and history in Sayre’s ode to slowness . . . The tone is humorous but never silly, and the facts are backed up with sources and more details in the endnotes. The light tone and engaging writing are perfectly complemented by the pen-and-ink drawings that accompany every entry, and the design invites lingering and sharing.”
There is a sloth on the cover, which makes me happy, and Kelly Murphy’s illustrations look great. Definitely looking forward to this one. It releases on April 5, 2016, from Boyd’s Mill Press.