San Francisco: Then and Now

San Francisco: Then and Now   By Bill Yenne    Originally Published in 1998   144 Pages


This is a valuable book for any collection. It is always fascinating to see how the city has changed over time. The vintage photos span from 1850 to 1954, and they are accompanied by captions that detail their prominent features. The comparison photos' captions detail the changes that have taken place since the time that the originals were shot.

This book is divided into sections that reflect various parts of the city. However, there is a neighborhood bias at work here. For example, Japantown, the Fillmore, the Bayview, Hunters Point, and the Excelsior get no mention at all. Additionally there are other neighborhoods that do not appear in the book.

Though this book is fantastic, by no means should it be considered or treated as a comprehensive work.

I would encourage the use of supplemental sources to fill in the gaps that exist.
  

A Warmer World: Climate Change & Wildlife

A Warmer World: From Polar Bears to Butterfies, How Climate Change Affects Wildlife

By Caroline Arnold         Illustrated by Jamie Hogan    Published in 2012    32 Pages


This may be the most accessible book on global warming that I have seen. The layout is attractive, concise, and full of information.

The book provides information on how climate change impacts the earth. From there, it details specific examples of the adverse effects that global warming has already had on wildlife. The treatment is well done and presented with lots of engaging examples. There is also a glossary and reference list included.

Sina & Tinilau

           Sina & Tinilau  By Vilsoni Hereniko,    Illustrated by Jasper Schreurs  

                       Published in 1997            24 gorgeous oversized pages


Wow! What an amazing book. Shamefully, it is only available in paperback. There has never been a hardcover edition.

Samoan books are a rarity, and yet they are sorely needed in our schools. We have Samoan kids who never get to see themselves in the books that are available in the library. Additionally, it is important for all of our students to be familiar with each others' cultures.

The story recounts an origin tale that is common to the various Pacific Island cultures, and it is presented in a stunning manner. The art is simply beautiful, and each page has a border that details the flora, sea life, tools, implements, and housing styles that appear in the illustrations. There is quite a bit of information contained in the borders, and it encourages readers to study the drawings very carefully.

Additionally, there are some other possibilities for this book. This story is similar to "The Princess and the Frog", and it would make for a fantastic compare and contrast study. You can also ask students how is it possible for cultures to come up with similar stories and themes independently. What does this tell you about the commonalities we all share?

Another possibility would be to use the story to investigate and appreciate the superlative seafaring skills of the Pacific Islanders. The story touches upon this with its reference to the various islands from which visitors hailed. The artwork and the border information give more information in this regard. You see examples of stick maps of ocean currents, examples of various types of canoes, and even an illustration of how you can easily make radical changes in the direction of a symmetrically hulled canoe by changing the sail's position - in short, a canoe that has a reverse function!

As we are aware, paperbacks can be quite perishable, and the large size of this one makes it especially susceptible to damage. Nonetheless, I think it is well worth getting. You could either use it as a non circulating read aloud, circulate it with caution, or buy two copies to deconstruct and display the whole book like a Burma Shave sign sequence.

Barrio: Jose's Neighborhood

Barrio: Jose's Neighborhood     By George Ancona    Published in 1998   44 pages

Great San Francisco book that explores the Mission neighborhood. It even has pictures of Chavez Elementary when its iconic murals were new. There are other great shots of murals in the neighborhood. Carnival in the Mission is also shown in glorious photos. There are shots of 24th street as well.

The central thread that connects everything is Jose Luis, a real SF kid who was attending Chavez at the time. Through Jose Luis, we get a great glimpse of his life, and how his neighborhood is an integral part of his identity.

Great read aloud. For those who know the neighborhood, it is a celebration of the familiar. For those who don't, it is a great introduction.

Your Body Battles a Broken Bone

Your Body Battles a Broken Bone   By Vicki Cobb   Published in 2009   32 Pages

This book is another one in Vicki Cobb's series on how the body repairs itself. The format is similar to "Your Body Battles a Skinned Knee". You get a combination of cute drawn images combined with electron microscope photos of cross sections of bone, osteocytes, marrow, stem cells, and fibroblasts.

There are also some good x-ray images as well. Overall, this is a cool read aloud that would be sure to resonate with students. As with the other books in the series, students can readily connect the information to real life experiences.

Also, I am reminded that we have some great women authors of science books. It is well worth pointing that out to the students when talking about gender stereotypes.

Your Body Battles A Skinned Knee

Your Body Battles a Skinned Knee    By Vicki Cobb    Published in 2009   32 pages

Engaging book about how the body repairs itself from cuts and scrapes while fighting off infection.

The drawings are cute and they will pull in readers; however, the electron microscope photos are even more fascinating. You get great photos of cellular division, macrophages attacking bacteria, red & white blood cells, platelets, fibrin, blood vessels, and nerve cells.

Cute, engaging, and chock full of information. This book is part of a series.

Delivering Justice: W. W. Law and the Fight for Civil Rights

By Jim Haskins
Illustrated by Benny Andrews

From the publisher (courtesy of www.titlewave.com):
A respected biographer teams up with an acclaimed artist to tell the story of the mail carrier who orchestrated the Great Savannah Boycott and was instrumental in bringing equality to his community. "Grow up and be somebody," Westley Wallace Law's grandmother encouraged him as a young boy living in poverty in segregated Savannah, Georgia. Determined to make a difference in his community, W.W. Law assisted blacks in registering to vote, joined the NAACP and trained protestors in the use of nonviolent civil disobedience, and, in 1961, led the Great Savannah Boycott. In that famous protest, blacks refused to shop in downtown Savannah. When city leaders finally agreed to declare all of its citizens equal, Savannah became the first city in the south to end racial discrimination. A lifelong mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, W.W. Law saw fostering communication between blacks and whites as a fundamental part of his job. As this affecting, strikingly illustrated biography makes clear, this "unsung hero" delivered far more than the mail to the citizens of the city he loved.