It’s nonfiction Friday and we are featuring two new books that launched this week. Mammals by Katharine Hall and Sharks and Dolphins by Kevin Kurtz!
Written for young nature enthusiasts the Compare and Contrast Book series takes children into the wild with beautiful photographs and simple text to explain complicated concepts.
Author Katharine Hall began the series with Polar Bears and Penguins showing children that these animals live at opposite ends of the earth. Then she dove into plant life with Trees and flew to the sky with Clouds. Hall set her sights on slithering and slimy creatures comparing the similarities and differences in Amphibians and Reptiles even introducing the field of herpetology to young readers. This week Mammals joins the lineup comparing animals that live on land and in the sea along with two-legged and four-legged animals.
Teaming up with Hall, aquatic educator and expert Kevin Kurtz joined the Compare and Contrast Book series releasing Sharks and Dolphins this week. The no-nonsense facts will help young readers understand that although both of these animals live in the salty ocean each has a different way of life.
Extend the learning with great activities in our Teaching Activities Guide. This, along with author interviews and more information about the series is available on each book’s homepage. Visit Mammals or Sharks and Dolphins to learn more.
Win your very own copy of each of these books on Goodreads!
With three books under her belt in the past two years, author Katharine Hall is ready to compare and contrast again with Amphibians and Reptiles. This is the fourth book in our popular series and like the other books in the Compare and Contrast Book series young children will learn a ton of facts and get an up-close look at these slimy or scaly creatures.
Some of the most common questions we get from readers are about coming up with book ideas. Get to know Katharine and her writing…
How have you decided what topics to write about in the series?
I started with Polar Bears and Penguins because so many kids – and even adults! – think that these animals inhabit the same area. So I really wanted to pull them apart and say, no, this is where polar bears are and this is where penguins are, and they are completely different regions. So comparing/ contrasting two groups that are frequently confused is a fun topic and probably my favorite approach. But there are also things that are around us all the time that we don’t necessarily think about or examine. Those make great topics because they involve exploring something familiar and learning new things.
As an avid reader, what were some of your favorite books as a child?
How long of a list do you want? I could go on forever, but I’ll try to limit myself here. When I was little-little, I loved the “Baby Blue Cat” books and anything/everything by Jan Brett. Then by elementary school, I basically read everything and anything I could get my hands on. In terms of non-fiction, I have always enjoyed biographies. My mom stocked our bookshelves with biographies of famous women in history, famous inventors, scientists, and mathematicians – books that introduced me to important people and moments in history and helped expand my understanding of the world. For fiction, the “Harry Potter” series by JK Rowling and the “Song of the Lioness” series by Tamora Pierce were – and still are – near and dear to my heart.
Find out what author Katharine Hall has coming up next in her full author interview!
Ready to compare and contrast Amphibians and Reptiles? Leave a comment and enter to win a copy of the new book, then get started with our Venn diagram!
