Beautiful NonFiction

I stood in front of the nonfiction section in our local library looking for a good book about birds for my preschooler. And since I'm the one reading to her I wanted it to be good for me too. I pulled a stack of bird books from the shelf and sat down to read through them with my daughter. Two books stood out: "Sweep Up the Sun" and "I See a Bird."

"I See a Bird" is a simple and age appropriate book about birds for preschoolers. Young children learning to read might be able to work through the words, too. It seemed like a standard nonfiction book for kids. It was informative but dry. Good enough. But I was looking for something great.

"Sweep Up the Sun" is exactly what I was looking for. The information is told through easy-to-read poem. I felt warm and happy when I read it to my daughter. And the images were stunning.

I think the best way to depict the difference between the two books is by simply showing you their covers. Sure, sure. I know you aren't supposed to judge a book by its cover. I think that is very true for a novel. But for picture books, the image on the cover is representative of what you will find inside the pages of the book. Case in point: "I See a Bird" and "Sweep Up the Sun."

 

Now tell me: which book makes you want to read it? 

There is no reason we have to suffer through bad books. That doesn't just apply to our own grown-up reading of novels, newspapers, magazines or cookbooks. Reading with our children should be a pleasure, too. In fact, I believe there is so much we can learn in toddler-sized lessons. We merely have to be open to learning with our children...and have access to books we can enjoy with them.