If you’re looking for read-alouds that are rich on many different levels, try out our creative nonfiction picture books. Every single one has hidden depths.
Our new fall title He’s Your Daddy! is a perfect example of how deceptively simple a good creative nonfiction book can be. Children will delight in the ducklings, pups, and calves, while dads appreciate the rare bit of attention. This bouncy, rhyming text tells us, “If you were a joey, a piggyback rider,/Your daddy might be a sweet sugar glider.”
Meanwhile, the illustrations tip us off to the type of habitat these pretty fantastic creatures reside in, the differences and similarities between parents and offspring, and the behaviors that help them survive.
The playful text give us literacy features such as vocabulary words that can be explored more in the back of the book and a rhyme sequence with a surprise disruption: “If you were a hatchling peeping in a nest,/Your daddy might be a robin redbreast./Or…/a DINOSAUR!” What child doesn’t love an unexpected dinosaur?
At the recent International Literacy Association conference, we learned that teachers adore our books even more when they find out about the different levels at which our books can be used in the classroom. Not just fun stories, our creative nonfiction picture books engage children with science and literature, while the backmatter gives teachers and parents STEM activities for the home or classroom.
Check out the STEM matching game that accompanies He’s Your Daddy! here.
