Nonfiction Books

Thank the Heavens for this book! This is my ninth year teaching special education students in a self-contained middle school class and for the first time the clouds have parted and I can see my way to teach writing. The lessons are specific enough to teach skills yet easily adaptable to a teacher's own style and favorite non-fiction literature. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! A great, inexpensive resource that I will turn to again and again. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Nonfiction is such an important part of literacy, and sometimes easily overlooked. This book has practical lessons and excellent mentor text to illustrate the mini-lessons being taught. Even if you can't find the particular book they suggest, you can easily find examples from your own list of favorites. I especially liked how the book was divided so that you can efficiently find lessons appropriate for your grade level.

I bent many pages in my copy because the lessons are easy to use and effective! Another plus, these lessons are "boy friendly".

I'm a relatively new teacher, and have switched grade levels every year. Teaching writing has been one of the biggest challenges for me. I believe in a writing workshop model, and use a lot of 6 Traits ideas. I knew that both relied on the idea of the writing "mini-lesson" but I really didn't know what those should look like or what kinds of topics they should cover. This book has been a godsend. I disagree with those who say that this book is too rigid. Yes, each lesson identifies particular literature resources which can be used. If you have that book, that's awesome. If not, just adapt the lesson for use with a different book that illustrates the same concept. The point is, these are concise 15 minute mini-lessons that really help your students recognize writing craft, and give them accessible ideas which they can use to improve their own writing.

And, incidentally, if you're building up your classroom library, your school library, or your bookroom, the literature selections that ARE mentioned in this book are uniformly fabulous. I carry a copy of the list of books used in these lessons each time I go to a used book store.

This book is a wonderful tool for writing teachers. Portalupi and Fletcher are very thoughtful in the way that the book is organized so that teachers can share with students lessons dealing with the craft of nonfiction. Since so many writing books deal primarily with narrative writing, this is one of the first I've seen to deal specifically with nonfiction and its craft. This book will change nonfiction writing in all K-8 classrooms. It seems to be a great book for teachers who are comfortable with Writing Workshop as well as those who are new to writing process.

I found this book to be a wonderful resource for mini-lessons relevant to nonfiction writing. As a third grade teacher, I am constantly on the lookout for books such as this one which offer many ideas and are grade level appropriate. This book is broken into sections for grade levels and is easy to use. The mini-lessons are fully outlined and simple to follow. I found the explaination ("teacher talk") of how to implement each lesson the most useful. I recommend this book to all teachers looking for simple and useful lessons to encourage the best nonfiction writing from their students!

I read this book with my just-turned-10 year old, because she was asking me questions that indicated to me that she was ready to learn about how a baby is made, and understand more about her body. We read the first chapter, which gives a very detailed, almost scientific explanation of how a baby is made. I think the chapter was way over her head. She got the basic idea but said there were parts she didn't understand. I felt terrible because this is a difficult concept for anyone to grasp but the book just seemed too complicated for someone her age. I think it's a good book, but my daughter and I agreed to just chat after reading that chapter, and will will read future chapters when she's a little bit older.
As an aside, my husband read my 12-year-old son the boy version of this book, and he seemed to understand and appreciate the explanation. That two extra years makes a big difference.

As a 23-year old woman who read an earlier edition of this book when I was 13, I do remember it being informative and helpful. Now, as an educator, I have since revisted the book and I must agree that, although it is not suited for those under the age of 11, it is certainly more than appropriate for the 11-13 category.

Several readers mentioned the advanced content and graphics within the book and suggested waiting until girls are 16 or so before reading it. I must say, growing up in a strict, religious and well-educated family, as well as living in a fairly well-off, small town and attending private school, I was familiar with 100% of the book's content by the time I was 12 and by the time I was 16, nearly 50% of those around me were already having sex or engaging in other sexual activities. So, although I do agree that 8-10 year-olds should not be reading this book, parents do need to realize that their children will learn ALL of this info by the time they finish 6th grade- there's really no way of getting around it, regardless of what kind of environment you try to raise your children in- and I know my parents tried their best to do just that.

As parents and educators, we must try to be realistic and still strike a balance. I think that girls in the 11-13 category are perfect for this book; no younger, no older.

My mother gave this book to me when I was 10 years old and it answered ALL my questions about what my body was going through. It did not offend me, disturb me or make me run out and have sex.
If you want your child to understand the consequenses of having sex too soon or why abstinence is important, YOU should explain it to them. It's one thing to depend on a book to teach your child the anatomy of sex, but the personal feelings, values and expectation of a parent cannot be expressed by someone who doesn't even know your child.
Anyway, if you childs virginity is something you want to presereve, you should willing to talk about it yourself, not rely on a book to do it for you.

This book has been very helpful for me in explaining the changes my daughter's body is currently going through. She has also found it interesting, I thought I would not have to deal with this for another year (she is 9)or so but here it was.

I would would recommend this book to parents of girls entering adolescents.

Very Helpful

When I was about 10-11, my mom got me this book. I found it super helpful to have a book like this to answer some of my more embarrassing questions on my own. I really liked the fact that there were questions from real teenagers. I could relate to many of their concerns. If you haven't seen the pictures in the book, there are some black and white drawings of different body parts. They are not lewd in any way. At the same time, if this book is being given to a younger child, you might want to talk about what information is going to be provided in the book. This same advice goes toward the section talking about sex. In the grand scheme of the world, the sex section isn't that graphic, but for some kids (and parents) it can be a bit to handle.

In short, if you are giving this book to a child, look it over first. See if it is appropriate for your child's maturity level. With that said, I really liked this book. I felt it went over several of my concerns when I went through puberty. I also liked the fact that the book was useful for a long period of time. I found myself referring to different sections of the book for a year or two. I'll admit that some sections were over my head when I first started reading the book, but as those sections became relevant they became more understandable to me.

I purchased this coloring book for my 8 year old nephew. He loves to color but does not like the basic color books. This book is very detailed and offers children a challenge. In addition it has a lot of information about each scene, teaching children. Beautiful book.

This is an excellent coloring book for adults who like to color, it has fine detail, fine coloring detail. it is a great collectors item

the pictures are great for my little ones to color. they enjoy hearing the descriptions under the pictures as well.

If your child enjoys animals, then he/she will enjoy this coloring book. It has realistic pictures of animals in their natural habitat. Also included at the bottom of each page is a desciption of flowers, insects, etc. seen in the background or foreground.

I just purchased these Dover COloring Books for my mother and she loves them. The detail is out of this world and the variety of colors you can use are only limited by your inagination. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Ah, EMS sold these for a short stint in the early 90s (1992 or so). This was such a great book for the beginning experimenter, in fact some topics have stuck in my mind and helped me on science topics i'll tackle later in life...e.g. noone in my AP chem class knew what 'agar' was!

I am 20 years old now and I still remember when I got this book and read it for the first time. It made science so cool and was a great way to show kids how science can be cool. I actually just found this book in a big stack and decided to look it up on Amazon. GREAT to hear they still sell it. I recommend this book to every kid!

Good experiments and examples. Amazing gadgets inside. Very well written for kids. Lot of real fun and educative time. A must for kids interesting on science.

Similar to a few other reviewers, I loved this book when I was a kid. This is a book I would recommend to any parent or child. I have nothing but fond memories of this book. I hadn't seen this book in years and I still remember being introduced to many fascinating subjects from this book.

Like another reviewer, I recently found this on my shelf and was curious to see whether it was in print. I'm 22 now and must've been around 8 when I got it.

I'm in University now, studying software engineering, and I have to say that this book really spurred my interest in science. It comes with so many cool things, a magnet, agar, diffraction grating, and a fresnel lens.

Highly recommend this to parents, aunts, and uncles looking for an awesome gift for a youngster in the family. The kid won't be disappointed once they get into it after expecting an action figure or video game.

This workbook is effective in helping people who suffer from an addiction to cutting limit if not completely stop their urge to cut.

Stopping the Pain: A Workbook for Teens Who Cut & Self-Injure

As a counselor I have found this book a valuable source in helping the teens I see with SI. Easy format and the teen actually enjoy working through the book and discussing it.

I bought this book for my daughter, we are learning about self injury, unfortunately where I live, there is almost any information about SI, when my daughter opened this book, she didn't wanna stop reading it, there are a lot of interesting excercises that help teens to understand what they're going thru, and it says them what to do, to learn to live free and be happy, without having to hurt themselves, I give 5 stars to this book, it's great.

These cards were not what we expected, and expensive. They are in no particular order to match with school learning.
Very disappointing

I purchased these flash cards for my daughter to help her prepare for the AP World History exam. She did not think the cards were helpful at all. She found that they had too much info on each card, not what flash cards typically have. She had hoped that it was one quick question on the front with the answer on the back. Her plan was to study with her friends that were also taking the exam, but the cards had too much info on the back.

I know David's research reads as though it is far fetched... But I have to say as time goes on, I find too many other cooberating sources that idependently confirm his work. To name a few read "The Secret War" by Hiedi Hollis. Or simply do a web search. Some such searchs even turned up women who claim to have reptilian lovers. [...] or how about the numerous accounts of people who claim to have seen these beings. I personally know a lady who has had a near death experience and has now become extremely intuitive. She can see 4/5 dimensions and can tell who carries strong Reptillian DNA. Read the book, learn the truth, but learn to focus on the positive. That is how we can free ourselves from slavery!

THIS BOOK CONTAINS TONS OF INFO. SOME WILL JUST STRAIGHT OUT BLOW YOU AWAY. IF YOU ARE REALLY INTO MYSTERIES, WELL LOOK NO FURTHER. NOTHING IS THE MOST INTERESTING MYSTERY THAN FIGURING OUT WHERE DO WE COME FROM, ARE THE RELIGION FAITHS REAL OR MANUFACTURED?.. WELL EVER SINCE I WAS YOUNG I NOTICED ALOT OF THINGS DID NOT ADD UP. SO NOW I AM FULLY AWARE THAT I AM A CONSCIOUS PERSON THANKS TO THE SYNCHRONOCITY OF HOW ALL THIS IMPORTANT INFORMATION CAME TO MY WORLD. AT THE END WHAT MATTERS MOST IS WHAT YOU TRUTHFULLY BELIVE IN YOUR SELF TO BE RIGHT.

The most informative book I have ever read, on the subject(s) of, world-power, extraterrestials, conspiracy etc.
David Icke has to be admired for his exhaustive researches.
He not only states something, he also backs it up. This is what makes this book so very intriguing. You can't just say:' No way.. balogna.." because of the researched facts he has.
One glaring error that I can see is,his inability to see the power of the hand of the creator, in all of this. Even though he quotes the bible often, it is not done in correct perspective, or contextual.
In fact, if anything at all, this book literally drives you into the hands of your Creator, because as David so excellently shows you, there is no way out, no where.. ever !
In this context.. life would make no sense at all.. but it would be a random and meaningless existance we all live in.
As for me.. this excellently written, fascinating book.. has driven me even closer into the hands of my God and Creator !

Ok. Wow. I picked up this book by chance and must say I can never watch the news the same way again. Whether you believe what he has to say or not it's worth the thought....some of the things make sense and ring true, some I've heard from other sources, but whether you look at this as good X-files type conspiracy reading or truth it's worth the read. It isn't always well organized, and could have been made shorter.

Think about this....Mr. Icke talks about how the world is always governed by a few...a family...like when he points out-with family trees, mind you-- the familial relationship betweeen the Bushs and the British royal family.....then years later the things he says always ring true when I watch the news....things like Dick Cheney and Barack Obama being distant cousins...so is it a big secret? The Bushs seem like reptiles to me!

Or how about pointing out the obvious like who benefits and collects the interest on our National Debt? We all complain about it, but who is silently getting rich on our misery?

Just try to not get trapped in fearful or negative places as you read this...because if it's true it's pretty scary. The scary part is that alot of it makes logical sense. Yikes.

You must have an open mind in order to get anything out of this book. I did not agree with everything David Icke said, but my difference of opinion was minor. If you are closed to any possibilities, or you are so adamant about what you think you know, then don't waste your time. If you are willing to explore new possibilities, and you can see through the BS that the world has crammed down our throats, then you will enjoy this very much. This book is for the FREE THINKER.

This book looks like it will be very helpful. Can't wait to try it in the up coming year.

I have been using this book this year in first grade. The children are not only seeing, hearing and writing the words, they are also getting a mini handwriting lesson. We use the poems for shared reading and they can take them home that day and read them to their family.

I always search for poems that reinforce the sight words we introduce and this does just that. I type and put it in their homework notebooks to work with for the week. Although I have quite a collection of poems I have used, this has been a nice addition and saves time when looking for support of specific words. I have not used the pages as they are written, to have children write the word in the spaces, but I'm sure others would find it useful. I have purchased way too many teaching resource books that go unused but this one is well worth the price! Great for kindergarten and grade 1!

your kid fills the same word several times in the same page, in several different short and simple sentences. It does not feel repetitive to kids. A good product, among the best in these scholastics "poetry ...sight words" books. The others, I did not get the point, and neither did my son's teacher. This book is a safe purchase.

I am a student at Ridgewood High School in West Lafayette, OH. These books has unique words in then, but we never use them because we never heard of them before. It's just a waste of time. Most people copy off another students, only few STUDENTS learn from them.

We use this book in assisting students to improve their vocabulary skills. This book is part of a series which is an excellent aide in for teachers and a tremendous resource for students. It uses different ways of learning the vocabulary. Each unit helps a student to pronounce the word properly and shows the proper usage of the word as verb, noun or adjective. The unit helps the student to recognize the word within the sentence structure, as well as, using it in relation to synonyms, antonyms and homonyms. There is a review of the parts of a word (prefixes, suffixes and roots). There is a review of Denotation and Connotation in the literal and figurative usage. One of the most helpful aspects is the analogy section of the unit which prepares the student for standardize testing. The book is an excellent tool for both educators and students.

This book is great, but I think it is really boring and sometimes can really make you fall asleep.

I am a student and have been using Vocabulary Workshop for two years. I find it very boring doing the same thing over and over again. Most of the words I don't remember and have to look back at definitions for the tests and the review sections.

A friend (an MA in English) showed me those books recently, who homeschooled her son with them. Her son gotten nearly full scores on his entry exams in the vocabulary section!
The books are great to build up new vocabulary words and enable you to actually use them.

Maybe it's a little too long? Maybe the text (like many books of this genre, it just lists the words, nothing else) isn't captivating enough? Perhaps it's the illustrations? I just don't know.

I do like that there's a guide in the back explaining the history of every bit of produce listed in this book (this book only mentions plant foods, so it's great for veg*ns), with a pronunciation guide.

Just wish the girls liked it as much as I do. I knocked off a star for that.

This book was a terrific find and our first introduction to the world of Lois Ehlert's illustrations. She beautifully illustrates fruits and vegetables as the alphabet marches forward. I began reading the oversized boardbook version to my baby son when he could only enjoy the visual play...then I used it to help introduce new fruits and vegetables into his diet and now we use the words for practicing new syllables, and building vocabulary. In contrast to others, I love that the fruits and veggies are a less realistic, a little abstract or stylized. I get to point out the real ones in contrast and he begins to use his imagination to associate the two. He happily brings it to me to read or to point out whatever new word he wants to learn. Babies and children have preferences just like adults. I wouldn't judge a book because my son wasn't interested...it could become his favourite in another month or it might not. I do know that through this book and my son's enjoyment of it, I have been interested in more of Elhert's books and building our library for when his interests expand since she has demonstrated such a delightful way of exploring a subject.

Everywhere we turn we find Lois Ehlert books. From our local library to our boys' school book bag, Lois' books keep popping up. As I write this, our twin 4 year old boys are downstairs with their daddy getting ready for sleep while they guess away with enthusiasm at the contents of Eating for Alphabet book, all fruits and veggies. The illustrations are wonderful; the large type is perfect for children who are learning their letters and words. What is best about several of this inspired writer's books is the focus on growing the foods we eat and imparting that to our kids. Our boys' first choice is Lois' Vegetable Soup book. Eating the Alphabet is a close second. In this crazy, over-processed world, all of Lois' books are fun, inspired and offer the gift of a much easier and simple-pleasure world for our children to enjoy and cherish.

This book is great for infants on up! It is bright and introduces fruits and vegetables not always encountered in baby food. Our toddler is now learning her alphabet and it is perfect! It also has given her ideas of new things to try.

My son will read just about anything. He devours books. But not this book. This is probably the only book on our bookshelf that has never requested we look at or read. This book has no text, just watercolor paintings of the fruits and veggies. But the images are not all that easy to differeniate from one another. If, like an infant, you had not yet experienced this produce, I think that you would be unlikely to link the pictures in the book with the real thing in the grocery store or garden. I was disappointed with this book, as is my son, apparently.