AWESOME! Australian Art for Contemporary Kids

Cree, Laura Murray (2003) Awesome! Australian art for contemporary kids. Melbourne:Craftsman House (ISBN 1-877004-20-0)

Shortlisted by the CBCA for the Eve Pownell Award for Information Books in 2003, Awesome! is a collection of 54 contemporary Australian artworks targeted at upper primary and junior secondary students. Through an exciting and often unusual selection, the book aims to stimulate young peoples' imaginations and their appreciation of art.

Each double page spread introduces an artist and his/her work. The artwork is reproduced in colour and the accompanying text discusses the artist and his/her intentions, as well as the artwork itself. A fact box outlines essential details of the piece and occasionally the author's personal response is included. The language is very accessible and addresses the reader directly. A table at the end of the book provides information on the artists’ collections and gallery information.

Overall, this is a highly engaging text, often pored over by students during lunch time, and a valuable resource for the NSW Visual Arts Syllabus, Stages 4 and 5.

The Human Body Revealed

Written by Sue Davidson and Ben Morgan
Published by DK (Dorling Kindersley)
(2002) ISBN 0751344230

There are other "revealed" titles such as Egypt revealed. The revealing comes through the use of OHT type inserts that show things on the surface and then at a deeper level. This is perfectly suited to the topic of the human body as the reader can be shown the different systems and organs at different levels and how they interact. It is quite realistic and informative. Pictures usually take up the middle of a double spread while the outer edges are dotted with paragraphs and captions relating to parts of the pictures. Each paragraph is a self-contained topic or chunk of information which makes it possible for the reader to start at any point on the double spread. Because it is not constrained by a through composed genre, more diverse facts and information are included.

The Human Body Jigsaw Book

Waite L V 2006, The Human Body Jigsaw Book The Five Mile Press: Rowville: Vic. (ISBN 1741249899)

This is a good example of a contemporary non fiction book. It covers 5 systems of the body and the senses.

The layout is clear, easy to read and non-crowded. Each page is constructed of board to hold the puzzle on one side of the double page spread. There are 5, 48 piece puzzles looking at the different body systems: skeletal, central nervous, circulatory, muscular, and digestive. Each page explains 3 main areas of the system with clear and interesting diagrams with close ups of interesting things relating to the system.
The double page spread on the 5 senses does not have a puzzle (it's the last pages in the book) but it does have cut away diagrams of the organs involved.

While the book may be aimed at middle to upper primary students, because of the puzzles, it would still be useful in the high school library collection. It is quite engaging to read. Teachers could use it to introduce the various systems to the class (or refresh their memories).

The Race to Save the Lord God Bird

Hoose, P 2004, The Race to Save the Lord God Bird, Melanie Kroupa Books, New York.

This is an amazing book about a species of bird the majority of readers will never have seen or heard and never will. What is extraordinary is the ability of the author to draw you in and involve you emotionally from the very introduction. This is the story of the Ivory- billed Woodpecker and its ultimate demise. It is written from the heart and impeccably researched. It reveals not only the bird’s incredible beauty, but the role of many diverse players in its disappearance. The development of the south-eastern USA from the 19th century is an integral part of this book. It is a book full of fascinating anecdotes about the bird’s intelligence and tenacity against the odds. Photographs, sketches, drawings, maps and engaging prose make this a book hard to put down until you finish.

Posted on behalf of Sheila Pontifax

The Kelly Gang

Hocking, Geoff (2004) Australia In History: The Kelly Gang The Last of The Bushrangers. Harcourt Education, Melbourne, VIC.

This non-fiction book tells the story of Ned Kelly and the rest of his gang. How Ned's life began, information about his family history, how the Kelly gang took on the police even with a huge reward being offered for their capture, and eventually the end of the Kelly gang in 1880 at Glenrowan Hotel after a shoot-out and fire. Later that year Ned Kelly was hanged for his crimes.

This book is very interesting and I would recommend it to any school library collection, not only because it provides important information about some of Australia's history but because there are other books available in this Australia in History series.

Throughout the book there are words typed in bold, mainly different terms that are not commonly used in today's spoken language, for the reader to refer to the back of the book in a glossary of terms. Very handy for children who may not be widely read and to come across strange words to be able to look them up in the same book.

Jo-Anne Phillips ETL402

Egyptology

Sands, E 2004 Egyptology, The Templar Company Plc, Surrey, UK.

The author has created a ‘facsimile of a journal’ (publisher’s note) of a traveler in the 1920s. The text presents a mystery to the reader whilst demonstrating an interrelationship between the nature of thinking which encapsulated expeditions of discovery during this era, the close links between different professions such as museum curators, archeologists and geographers and information about the topic. There are many concrete features included, a game, postcards, and a book of hieroglyphs. Text type reflects the era. An online site supports the text with information about the sources and further activities.

Morecroft, R., Mackay, A., & Lloyd-Diviny, K. (2003). Zoo Album. Sydney: ABC Books.

Theme: The role zoos play in animal conservation.

Zoo Album is about ten real-life animals who have lived, or are living in Australian zoos. It would be a great resource for those interested in animals or to support curriculum units on the needs of living things and how they adapt to their environments.

The text includes a profile of each animal and a zoo keeper's blurb, which provides a real moment in the life of a real animal and its keeper. The main text is written as a narrative and is in large print. This makes the text more easily read and more appealing to children.The beautiful, vibrant and life-like watercolour illustrations, support the text and capture the attention of children. These aspects of the text would assist in engaging the reluctant reader.

The book would provide an excellent basis for a debate on whether animals should be kept in captivity.

Zoo Album is a user-friendly book that contains a thorough glossary to assist children in understanding the text. It is a great book to read aloud, to demonstrate the importance of non-fiction literature as a source of information.

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

Author: Norman Jorgensen, Illustrations: Brian Harrison-Lever

Topic: World War One
Theme: Collaboration - in the midst of ravaged lands, hearts and minds.
Context: This is a contemporary nonfiction picture book recounting a moment of quiet, beauty, and unity in song during WW1. Setting is Christmas day. The catalyst for collaboration is a bird caught on barbed wire and one soldier's resolution to free it.
Outcome: Warring sides stop firing as they witness, then allow bird to be set free and soldier to return to his own side without attack.
Literary Impact: Collaboration happens when hearts are opened.

Barbara Salamon

Mc Bride, Marc (2006) How to Draw Deltora Dragons and Other Creatures Scholastic: Australia

This book is a step by step guide to drawing the creatures and dragons from the Deltora Quest series by Emily Rodda. As with the novels this book is aimed at 9 – 12 year olds and would be fun for older drawers as well. Fans of the series and those who enjoy drawing have an easy to follow guide to bring their fantasy dragons to life. A brief description sets the scene for each drawing. The majority of the sketches are black and white allowing the drawer to create their own colour scheme. This book is a good cross curriculum resource for teachers covering such topics as mythology and design/line and pattern techniques in art.
Lisa Harris

The TRUTH About POOP by Susan E. Goodman

Goodman, SE 2004, ‘The TRUTH About POOP’, (ill.) Smith, EH, Penguin Group, New York.

This non-fiction book offers an exciting, interesting, colourful and informative way of looking at poo. It braces a topic that most people wish not to talk about. The language within the book is very reader friendly and caters for people of all ages. From the front cover to the back it has interesting, humorous pictures and comments. It mentions aspects of poo that people probably have never considered before, eg keeping poo in a life raft if stranded at sea, as poo attracts sharks from a mile away. This book is a fantastic example of the new and exciting non-fiction books that are available for people of all ages.

Long, John 2005, The Big picture book. See life on earth unfolding through time, Crows Nest, NSW, Allen&Unwin.

The subject of this non-fiction book is evolution. The book fits the criteria for postmodernism as the text is presented in a ‘story like’ manner. It offers opinion – not just facts - faction. The book invites the readers to explore further.
The colourful magazine format of the book is attractive and reader friendly. Each opening features a main statement in fairly large typeface, using short sentences with thought units matching eye spans.
Multiple constructions of meaning are possible as images of fossils are presented throughout the book but at the beginning of the book the author acknowledges “the beginning of all things is a mystery”, suggesting to the reader that other hypotheses are possible.

Google e.encyclopedia 'Animal'

Google e.encyclopedia 'Animal', 2005, Editor Sarah Larter is a Dorling Kindersley book, I found at the local public library 590.3EENC. In keeping with other DK books Google e.encyclopedia 'Animal' offers the reader concise information about animals and their habitat together with exciting pictures and informative illustrations.

This book is reader friendly in that it provides a comprehensive, but easy to interpret, colour coded table of contents. However one of the most exciting attributes of this book is that it has its own website address http://www.animal.dke-encyc.com/ created by DK and Google which enables the reader to access additional information online and from any of the 750 links. This additional information may be presented in the form of a video, picture gallery or a 'test your knowledge' activity.

Kathryn Bell

Woodford C, Collins L, Witchalls C, Morgan B, Flint J 2005, How Cool Stuff Works, Dorling Kindersley, London.

This non-fiction book offers children and adults the opportunity to examine the inner workings of everyday technological objects. The title 'How Cool Stuff Works' uses the idiom of contemporary readers and invites audiences to ‘check out’ such high tech items as MP3 players, pet translators and space probes through to non-digital items such as footballs and the humble match. Each item is identified and explained on a double page through small ‘bite size’ chunks of information, and can be appreciated as a discreet invention or linked to other items in the book. This format invites the user to dip in and out of the book at will.
The blurred, neon-like, magenta font of the title and hologram of an iPod on the cover is eye catching and alerts the reader to the content. The table of contents and introduction are user friendly. Layout is consistent throughout the book and each double page resembles a website format: subdivisions are used on each page; arrows and double arrows are used to direct the reader through the pages; historical material and projections are contained within a ‘spinning dial’; vividly coloured, labelled photographs and drawings dominate each page; inventions are presented as ‘space age’, surreal objects floating on high gloss black paper; accompanying text relates to ‘how’ the object works; and links are made to other pages in the book.
Additional features include details of the photographic techniques used in this publication, a timeline, inventors (Groundbreakers), a glossary (Techno terms), and an index.

Nadia Wheatley and Ken Searle, Going Bush, 2007, Allen & Unwin.

Going Bush is a non-fiction account of a Harmony project staged by Nadia Wheatley and Ken Searle in conjunction with eight Sydney infant and primary schools. Sixteen children come together on an excursion to explore the harmony of their own lives and that of their natural environment.

Photographs taken by the children and objects they collect along the way are used to extend the text. Drawings made by the children on the excursion enhance the photos and text with many of the drawings decorating the page boarders. Ken Searle links the real-life photographs and children's illustrations with clever artistic design. A detailed map offers a pictorial account of the children's learning experiences and itself is an excellent source of information. Plant and aboriginal glossaries are included in the book.

The children's recounts and poetry are presented in bite-sized chunks throughout the text. Nadia Wheatley's information loaded narrative compliments the children's contributions and links illustrations, photos and text beautifully.

Children love this book. They pour over the map, making discoveries and learning with the excursionists along the way. They appreciate the children's own illustrations and writings. They empathise with the children's responses and enthusiastically share their own. I think this book is able to evoke these responses because it recounts a real experience with real children, photos and informative, relevant text.

Stamenitis, C (2007). Australia Focus, Primary Industries. Echidna Books, Australia

This information book is suitable for primary and early secondary aged school children. The book is A4 size which makes it suitable for desk work and sharing.

The layout is very practical and easy to follow. The book begins with an overall definition of primary industries and is followed by double page spreads dedicated to a specific primary industry eg. grains, forestry, dairy, fossil fuels, minerals and metals. Within each double page spread a combination of maps, fast facts, graphs(pie, bar & table), photographs, bullet headings and website addresses can be found. The weblinks are to associations, federations, councils, and researchers of industry. Challenging terminology is printed in blue, definitions of which are located in the glossary. The information is current, with quoted monetary values and statistics no older than two years. All the information is specific to Australia.

One outstanding feature of this book is that it is responsible in delivering balanced information. A section is dedicated to the environment and the effects of primary industry upon it. Effects of soil erosion, land clearing, greenhouse gases, salinity etc are all mentioned, with weblinks to Landcare Australia, Australian Marine Conservation Society, and Worldwide Fund for Nature Australia. An historical perspective is also included in the introduction with a weblink to the Australian Museum Online.

Primary Industries is one title of many in the series Australia Focus.
This series is current and appropriate for students who require direct or 'straight to the point' information. It is also nice to see a publisher who incorporates links to technology. By doing this I feel that the publisher is enhancing a more flexible pathway to learning.

Jamal,N & Chandah,T (2005): The Glory Garage - Growing up Lebanese Muslim in Australia.

This biographical information book was short listed in the 2006 Children's Book of the Year Awards.
The authors are young Lebanese Australian girls whose diary style writing creates empathy and connectiveness with any reader. Their exclusion from Australian secular society and struggles to stay true to family is enlightening reading.
Many of the myths and stereotypes are demystified with candour, honesty and humour.
The authors' develop techniques for integrating the Lebanese world and the Anglo Australian world and how to live with personal aspirations at the forefront. Like all teenage girls from any background, Nadia and Taghred yearn to be independent within a constraining situation.
This challenges our misinformed opinions and analyses the significance of community, spirituality, customs and belonging.
Published by Allen & Unwin

Brian. J. (2005) Hoosh! Camels in Australia. ABC Books, Australia

Hoosh! Camels in Australia, by Janeen Brian, 2005, ABC Books, is a quality non-fiction that won the 2006 Eve Pownall Honour Book Award for Information Books, at The Children’s Book Council of Australia. It evaluates the contribution of camels in Australian history since their introduction into the country in1840 and considers their future role. Topics includecarrying early explorers, moving freight across the country, construction projects such as the Rabbit-Proof Fence, the Afghan Cameleers, World War One Camel Soldiers, Outback Camel Police and Aboriginal trackers. Readers are challenged to go beyond the facts presented about camels to question and debate whether camels are a pest or a resource in modern-day Australia. Information is presented in ‘bite size’ chunks, using accessible language and a range of writing genres - interviews with experts, narratives, real life stories, and diary extracts.Delightful colour and historical black-and-white photographs, maps and sketches complement the text, with accompanying descriptions detailing the behaviour and habitat of the camels portrayed. The content is comprehensively researched and the end of the book contains a glossary of word meanings, index and bibliography for further research . Suitable for children aged 9+.
Heather Beveridge

Tonkin, R 2006 Leaf Litter: Exploring the mysteries of a Hidden World, HarperCollinsPublishers, Australia.

BLOG C: Non-Fiction

Reference Book: Tonkin, R 2006, Leaf Litter: Exploring the Mysteries of a Hidden World, HarperCollinsPublishers, Australia.



Topic important-environment.

Large book–ideal for sharing in a group.

Beautifully illustrated–very appealing-it ‘talks’ to you-would make a child to ‘want’ to touch.

Lift up flaps- well concealed.

Informative.

Attention to detail-snake eating mouse-young mouse leaving nest about to brush against redback spider-makes you want to wait and see if mouse gets bitten(p17).

Language genre is child-friendly - ‘On a leaf nearby, a fly sucks up the huntsman’s dung….”(p25).

Includes ‘Things to Find’ section (with page numbers).

Includes ‘user-friendly’ Glossary of Terms.

A real ‘learning’ book but also enjoyment.

Sturdy book, stitch-bound, hard cover.

Disadvantage-no index (although has Glossary of Terms).

Welcome

Welcome to the non-fiction blog. Please share with us your quality example of this genre. A post of about 100 words is appropriate.