I had no trouble deciding. I grabbed Erin Soderberg's new series Puppy Pirates (that was released the day of Nerdcamp) and I grabbed Crenshaw. (I had read and loved Crenshaw and wanted a copy for my Newbery Club students.) The new Puppy Pirates book was the first thing I read when I got home form Nerdcamp.
I am a HUGE Erin Soderbergh fan so I have been anticipating this series since our last Skype visit with her. She showed us the covers and talked a bit about the series. My 3rd graders LOVE The Quirks series and having another series for 3rd graders by this author is very exciting!
Stowaway is the first book in the new Puppy Pirates series. And how adorable is the cover!? There were two books in the series released last week--Stowaway and X Marks the Spot. I read Stowaway and am anxiously awaiting the other. The book is about a soft little puppy named Wally who meets a ship full of pirates and wants to join them. He has always longed for a home and for adventure. In this first book, Wally has to prove himself to the pirates-to show that he is brave enough to be a Puppy Pirate. The book is perfect for 2nd and 3rd graders. The humor is exactly what they love--one character always says the wrong thing, there is lots of pirate language and there is a bit of word play throughout. The combination of cute sweet puppies and pirates is a brilliant one and one I know my 8 year olds will love! The length is perfect for readers newish to chapter books and the plot is easy to follow without being too simple or boring. The language is fun and engaging. I can't wait to share this new series with my students in the fall!
I was able to volunteer at Nerd Camp Junior and hear Erin Soderberg talk to a group of kids during this even She was incredible and so fun! I learned that the 4th book in The Quirks series is due out in the fall! Woooohoooo! I think Erin Soderberg is an author who understand perfectly this age group that she is writing for so the more she writes, the better!
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by National Geographic kids. It is a book filled with 300 weird facts and kids become totally immersed, wanting to share lots of things they discover. I can see the fascination with these books and I love that they get kids reading nonfiction, but I have noticed that more and more nonfiction books for kids are merely lists of disconnected facts with accompanying photos. Kids who are drawn to books like this are also drawn to books like 
isn't going to happen without some transition. I also know that our young readers don't have as much experience with nonfiction as they do with fiction. So, it's our job to put quality nonfiction--booksbthat move them as readers--in our classrooms. I have a great collection of nonfiction but as I watched my students over the last few weeks, I realized I don't have much that will help my WEIRD BUT TRUE readers transition to more complex books. The jump from WEIRD BUT TRUE to other nonfiction books in the classroom seems to be a bit too big.
by Melvin and Gilda is not a book I'd normally pick up because it looks similar to WEIRD BUT TRUE. It is a Scholastic book that looks like lots that are out there. But when I opened this one, it looked perfect for a few reasons. Each page features a baby animal with 2 photos of the animal. Accompanying each set of photos is a 9-10 line paragraph about the animal. The font is big and fun enough so as not to be alarming and the text is not so long that it will intimidate readers. Kids will find very cool facts within the text but the facts are embedded in a paragraph. And the paragraphs are all related in that they are all about animal babies. So lots of natural comparing/contrasting of facts will happen. This book does not need to be read cover to cover which is another plus for kids transitioning to longer, more complex nonfiction. I also thought this would be a great intro to the 
by Rob Colson. The cover of this book will invite readers in as lots of cool skeletons sit on an old journal-type cover. Each two-page spread in this book focuses on an animal but the pages work together in that one page focuses on a skeleton and the next page shows a similar animal (not in skeleton form) and how other similar species compare to the featured skeleton. Each page is filled with short paragraphs of text. Some pages also include photos, notes, labels, etc. A table of contents and index allow kids to jump in where they want so they don't need to read this book cover to cover. However, the introduction lets the reader know that the book is set up to see similarities and differences between animals and then moves us to the human skeleton where we can see how much we have in common with other animals. So this book has lots of ways for readers to enter--they can look for cool facts by reading the short pieces on a page or they can put info together by reading a few consecutive pages. Lots of opportunities to push a little further as nonfiction readers.
Our middle school librarian is getting ready to place an order so I emailed her to add those to the list. Thank you for sharing, Heather
Generally not a nonfiction reader, so I always appreciate new titles for our nonfiction readers.
As someone who writes nonfiction for kids, this is very, very helpful. Please do continue to share your thoughts on transitional nonfiction!
Yes, I've been ruminating on the same thing for the past few years. I think it's in part about gradually developing reading stamina with nonfiction, the way we do with fiction.
I also think its requiring choice-driven nonfiction reading in 3rd through 7th grades. So many times, these teachers switch to 'reading to learn' so they cover content standards in social studies and science with their nonfiction reading units.
I couldn't agree more. I have my classroom filled with "cool fact" books because my 5th graders simply love these books. However, it does not teach them the reading skills they need to be successful non-fiction readers. In my classroom I have started using websites like www.wonderopolis.org and www.dogonews.com. Both of these websites offer non-fiction reading articles about tons of topics. Wonderopolis is filled with interesting articles on things kids "wonder about. It has a wonder of the day that they can read daily. Dogonews.com is great for finding topics in science, social studies, or current events. My kids love these sites. I also found that when I use a theme (Ancient Egypt, Titanic, Medieval time) the kids will continue to read up on the topics throughout the year. I would love to continue to hear ideas and tips on how to transition kids to more non-fiction reading that counts.
I find sharing these titles with my students in little stolen moments helps - I use a lot of Steve Jenkins' books to do this. The Time for a Bath, Time to Eat and Time to Sleep titles are great. I can share a page at a time and then model how I can read more about what I am really interested in at the back of the book where more information is located. His book My First Day is also great for this. I then put these titles out in the classroom and children spend time with them. I am also reading 101 Animal Secrets - think it is the same series as one you have featured here - we read a page or two a day and use as a jumping off point for discussion or more research. I so hear you on the gaps in the library - always. I wrote about my nonfiction book buying and book gap areas here: http://thereisabookforthat.com/2013/07/24/wonder-inducing-nonfiction-read-alouds/
Thanks for this post! Off to look for the book about skeletons!