National Geographic Kids

BLOG TOUR: How to Survive in the Age of Dinosaurs!

Posted on May 22, 2023 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Hello, folks! After a morning fraught with technical difficulties, I bring you the latest and greatest Blog Tour from NatGeo Kids! Introducing…

Welcome to the blog tour for

How to Survive in the Age of Dinosaurs,

part of National Geographic Kids’ DinoMAYnia – a month-long celebration of all things prehistoric!

All week blogs are hosting fun excerpts from this handy guide so you will know just what it takes to dodge deadly dinosaurs, ride out mega monsoons and escape other perils of the prehistoric!

How To Survive the World Before Dinosaurs

Before you can try your luck at surviving the age of dinosaurs, you have to make it through what came just before: the Permian. It’s home to animals so strange they seem like fictional monsters. They dominate Earth for millions of years, until nearly all are wiped out by the biggest extinction event in the history of our planet. This catastrophe clears the world of competitors, setting the stage for dinosaurs to rise up. Can you survive it?

The Permian: 299-252 million years ago
Known For: The most catastrophic extinction in history
Best Place for Home Base: Northern Pangea…but be prepared to sweat
Your Main Food Source: Mega-size insects
Try to avoid: Going extinct along with 90 percent of the planet’s species

BIG Bugs

Your stomach rumbles. If you’re going to last another day in the Permian, you need food. You glance around—nope, not a single restaurant or grocery store in sight. That’s when you hear a buzz near your ear. The Permian is crawling with insects—some of them mega-size. Could you make a meal out of these big bugs?

During the early Permian, insects reach enormous proportions. There are dragonflies that could do aerial combat with the largest modern birds and go head-to-head with millipedes as long as a human is tall. Never again in the history of Earth would insects be so large.

What is it about the ancient world that allows these creatures to become supersize? Part of the answer is oxygen. At this time, the atmosphere contains far more oxygen than it has in the modern age—over 10 percent more. This allows Permian-era insects to fuel up more efficiently, freeing them to grow large. Then, there’s the second reason: Birds haven’t evolved yet. With no birds around, large, slow-moving insects have one fewer predator to worry about — and one fewer critter competing with them for meals. This also allows them to get big.

Those enormous insects would have made a great food source. Most insects are rich in protein, healthy fats, iron, and calcium. In modern times, about two billion people worldwide eat insects regularly. But it takes a lot to make a meal: If you were to snack on ants in modern times—say, red ants, for example—you’d need to eat more than 30 pounds (14 kg) of them a day to get the calories you’d need to stay healthy. Even if you spent all your time hunting and eating small, modern insects, you still might not gather enough to survive.

That’s not a problem in the time of giant insects. A single dragonfly-like Meganeuropsis would be enough to fuel you for several meals. Giant insects can even be dried and packed for eating on the go, like insect jerky. So big bugs would have been good eating.

Did You Know?

Spiders, scorpions, millipedes, centipedes, and some beetles survived the Permian extinction!

Buy | Buy on Bookshop.org

How to Survive in the Age of Dinosaurs:

A Handy Guide to Dodging Deadly Predators, Riding Out Mega-Monsoons and Escaping Other Perils of the Prehistoric

(ages 8-12, Paperback, National Geographic Kids Books)

Boom, boom, BOOM … Look out! That’s a T. rex coming your way!? You’ve been transported back in time to the age of the dinosaurs. What do you do?!

Test your chops and discover if you have what it takes to survive at a time when Earth looked, well, a tad different in this ultimate survival guide to the prehistoric age.

Find out how to make it through exploding volcanoes and mega monsoons—while dodging giant Permian bugs! See how to fend off an angry pterosaur and learn what to do if you’re caught in a stampede of enormous titanosaurs. Discover what you could eat (spoiler alert: You better like the taste of insects!), and find out which hungry creatures just might try to eat you!

Packed with tips, tricks, and helpful maps, this is the ultimate handbook for dinosaur fans who want to know what life on Earth was really like when dinos ruled. Could you survive in the age of dinosaurs?

About the Author

Stephanie Warren Drimmer is an award winning science writer based in Los Angeles, California. She writes books and magazine features for kids about everything from the strangest places in space, to the chemistry of cookies, to the mysteries of the human brain. She has a degree in science journalism from New York University…but she thinks she likes writing for kids because she’s secretly still one herself.

Website

About the Expert Contributor

Dr. Steve Brusatte vertebrate paleontologist and evolutionary biologist and professor at the University of Edinburgh who specializes in the anatomy, genealogy, and evolution of dinosaurs and other fossil organisms. He has written over 110 scientific papers, published six books (including the adult pop science book The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, the textbook Dinosaur Paleobiology, and the coffee table book Dinosaurs), and has described over 15 new species of fossil animals. He has done fieldwork in Brazil, Britain, China, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and the United States. His research is profiled often in the popular press and he is a “resident paleontologist” and scientific consultant for the BBC’s Walking With Dinosaurs team.

Website | Twitter

GIVEAWAY

One (1) winner will receive a copy of How to Survive in the Age of Dinosaurs!
US/Can only
Ends 6/3 at 11:59 pm ET
Enter via the form below

Visit the other stops on the tour for more chances to win

https://sweepwidget.com/w/j/w_init.js

Blog Tour Schedule:

May 22^nd— Mom Read It

May 23^rd— Ms. Yingling Reads

May 24^th – From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle Grade Authors

May 25^th— Log Cabin Library

May 26^th— Mrs. Book Dragon

Middle Grade, Non-fiction

Book Blitz & Giveaway: How to Speak Animal!

Posted on December 14, 2022December 9, 2022 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Buy | Goodreads

Learn about the secret language of wild animals in this exciting and informative guide from the experts who brought you How to Speak Cat and How to Speak Dog.

We know animals can’t speak and express themselves in the same way as humans … but even the smallest and quietest animals have incredible ways of communicating with each other. With wildlife veterinarian expert Dr. Gabby Wild as a guide, How to Speak Animal helps kids understand how animals communicate through sound, body language, and behavior. It’s full of expert insights and real-life stories of humans exploring ways to “talk” to animals, from teaching great apes sign language to speaking “dolphin.” Packed with super-engaging animal photography that helps illustrate key concepts, this fascinating bookprofiles more than 60 different creatures―from birds to mammals to reptiles and more―and their amazing ways of communicating with each other.

If you’ve ever wondered why gorillas beat their chests and make hooting noises, what it means when chameleons change color, or why some elephants twist their trunks together, this is the book for you!

About the Authors

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

DR. GABBY WILD earned her bachelor of science and doctor of veterinary medicine (DVM) degrees at Cornell University. She completed her veterinary internship training at Metropolitan Veterinary Hospital in Akron, Ohio, and received her master’s of public health (MPH) from the University of Minnesota. She is a published genetics researcher and uses her research background to screen zoonotic disease transmission among wildlife, domestic animals, and people. To help maintain a healthy planet, she monitors herd and individual health for rising epidemics. Dr. Wild balances her Western medicine practices with traditional Chinese medicine in an effort to blend both methodologies. Acclaimed for her role as “the veterinarian” on Animal Jam, the world’s largest online “playground,” with 54 million players, she creates educational videos and teaches children internationally about wildlife conservation and medicine. When not in the wild, Gabby works as a Wildlife Health Program veterinarian for the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo and is a training veterinary surgeon at the Veterinary Medical Center of Long Island. She lives in New York City.

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

AUBRE ANDRUS is an award-winning children's book author with dozens of books published by National Geographic, Lonely Planet, American Girl, Disney, Scholastic, and more. She has also ghostwritten books for young YouTube stars. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her family.

GIVEAWAY

Three (5) winners will receive a copy of How to Speak Animal
US only
Ends 12/18 at 11:59pm ET
Enter via the Rafflecopter below

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Middle Grade, Non-Fiction, Non-fiction, Tween Reads

New nonfiction for Back to School

Posted on September 22, 2022September 22, 2022 by Rosemary Kiladitis

So the kids have been back to school for a minute. My Corona Kids are back in the library in full force – where were you all Summer, my friends? – and roaming the nonfiction stacks in search of stuff that interests them. I love this time of year, because this is the time where kids come in looking for nonfiction that relates to things they may be starting to learn about, or come across in school; whether other kids are talking about things they pick up on, they’ve seen something either in the halls or the library, or just noticed on TV. They’re in a learning frame of mind, and want nonfiction that sparks their brains. I’ve got some good picks here to share.

National Geographic Kids Dinosaur Atlas, by National Geographic, (Sept. 2022, National Geographic Kids), $24.99, ISBN: 9781426372797

Ages 7-10

This is a no-fail, no-brainer purchase: it’s NatGeo Kids and it’s dinosaurs. Both are easily the rock stars of my nonfiction collection. The Dinosaur Atlas is everything my kids (my own and my Corona Kids) love: full-color artists’ renderings of dinosaurs (now with feathers!), vibrant color photos of fossils and fossil sites, and readable maps to highlight where featured dinosaurs lived. Organized into periods of time: Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous, the “Preshistoric Planet” section is further organized into habitats, dinosaurs, and life in each era. “Finding Fossils” organizes dinosaur-centric areas of the world and further breaks down into spotlights on locations and the dinosaurs who roamed them. Fast facts, paleontologist profiles, and dino timelines run throughout the book; phonetic spelling helps reader pronounce each name. Back matter includes a Dino Dictionary, glossary, and further reading resources. This oversized reference is magic for dinosaur collections and is an essential purchase.

Can’t Get Enough Space Stuff: Fun Facts, Awesome Info, Cool Games, Silly Jokes, and More!, by National Geographic Kids, (Aug. 2022, National Geographic Kids), $14.99, ISBN: 9781426372803

Ages 7-10

Nat Geo Kids’s Can’t Get Enough series has a new home run: Can’t Get Enough Space Stuff is loaded with photos, facts, games, and jokes about space. Great for trivia and STEM/STEAM groups: quiz your kids on astronaut facts or print out pictures of clocks to illustrate how long a day is on other planets; Try It Out! spreads help guide you and your readers through outer space crafts like a scale model of the solar system. Keep one in reference for yourself and put one in circulation. The Can’t Get Enough books are fun, loaded with facts, and just great purchases.

5,000 Awesome Facts About Animals, by National Geographic, (Sept. 2022, National Geographic Kids), $19.99, ISBN: 9781426372612

Ages 8-12

These facts books are a staple in my collection. My readers love fast, fun facts, accompanied by the gorgeous photos of adorable animals. This is an animal fan’s dream; a trivia fan’s delight, and a program backbone: Animal Jeopardy! Animal Question of the Day! Help, I need some extra facts for a report I’m writing on [insert animal here]! One of my Corona Kids was in last week and asked for “books with fun facts about animals”; books like this are tailor-made for those kids. Each section has a fun title to bring related facts together: “24 Burly Facts About Animal Tough Guys”; “100 Pup-ular Facts About Dogs”; “15 Facts About Animal Mascots to Cheer For”. Facts are fun and informative: Socks, the Clinton’s Presidential cat, was the first presidential pet to have a website, and the Obama’s dog, Bo, had his own trading card. Ostriches flutter their wings to create a breeze to cool themselves down. A group of mountain gorillas is called a troop. You can have endless fun with this book, and your readers will love it.

The Power of Architecture: 25 Modern Buildings from Around the World, by Annette Roeder/Illustrated by Pamela Baron (Sept. 2022, Prestel Junior), $19.95, ISBN: 9783791375144

Ages 8-12

I love finding a good architecture book for middle grade. Recent picture book biographies like Maya Lin’s picture book biography, Maya Lin: Architect of Light and Lines, and Andrea Beaty’s Questioneers picture and chapter books have led to an interest in how buildings look. Plus, you know… LEGOs. The Power of Architecture showcases 25 modern buildings from all over the world: buildings like the TWA Flight Center at New York’s JFK Airport (I can confirm, it’s a beautiful building) and the Elbe Philharmonic Hall in Hamburg Germany; the scrap metal lily pads of Dandaji Regional Market in Niger, Africa, and the sustainable, environmentally beneficial Tree House in Singapore. Beautiful illustrations give each building center stage and factual, interesting text describes the buildings and what inspired their architects. Thought-provoking questions and suggestions to inspire young architects and designers run throughout the book. The beginning spread shows each building’s location on a world map and a timeline lays out each building’s construction and a biography on each architect. Prestel Junior’s books bring together art and nonfiction in the best of ways and have quickly become stars in my collection. A good purchase if you have budding builders. Put this out during your LEGO challenges and see who it inspires.

The Power of Architecture: 25 Modern Buildings from Around the World was originally published earlier this year in Germany.

Sleuth & Solve: Science: 20+ Mind-Twisting Mysteries, by Ana Gallo/Illustrated by Victor Escandell, (Oct. 2022, Chronicle Kids), $18.99, ISBN: 9781797214559

Ages 8-12

The latest Sleuth & Solve book from Ana Gallo and Victor Escandell is all about the “why”: what are the scientific causes to these 21 mysteries? Mysteries are classified by subject, with a key to the symbols used in the book. Each mystery has a difficulty grade from Easy to Difficult, and if you were interested in making this a STEM challenge (ahem!), each mystery has a point value. Mysteries are presented across every spread, with a flap disguising the solution: NO CHEATING! Mysteries include a little girl who swears she’s too sick to go to school – but what will her doctor say? Another mystery ponders whether a group of researchers will be able to set out on their journey to the polar ice caps; what does a flock of cranes have to do with this decision? The principles behind each experiment are revealed in the back matter. If you have a strong science experiment/science fair collection, this is a good one to consider.

Middle Grade, Non-fiction, Tween Reads

Blog Tour: HOW TO SPEAK ANIMAL

Posted on September 21, 2022September 17, 2022 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Welcome to the How to Speak Animal Blog Tour!

To celebrate the release of National Geographic Kids’ How to Speak Animal on August 16th and World Animal Day on October 4th, this week blogs across the web will feature special excerpts from the book, sharing fascinating insight into the secret language of animals of all shapes and sizes. If you’ve ever wondered why ants touch antennae when they meet, what it means when a cichlid fish pees, or why turkeys gobble, this is the blog tour (and book!) for you!

How to Speak… DOLPHIN

In the 1970s, researcher Dr. Louis Herman proved that dolphins could understand hundreds of commands. He did this by creating a sign language and teaching two bottlenose dolphins, Phoenix and Akeakamai, how to respond to those gestures. But this is just one way communication, meaning the human talking to the dolphin. A command is made, the dolphin understands, and it performs an action in response. It’s similar to how a dolphin trainer might teach a dolphin to do tricks.

Scientists continued to study dolphin communication. They learned that dolphins were naturally able to associate a sound with an object and were also able to mimic sounds. For example, each dolphin has a signature whistle that acts like a name. When a dolphin wants to get another dolphin’s attention, it can mimic its signature whistle. This discovery gave scientists further hope that one day we could “talk” to these marine mammals.

Today, Dr. Denise Herzing is a leader in dolphin communication. For more than 30 years, she’s been studying wild dolphins in the Bahamas. Her first goal was to bond with the wild dolphins. Then she developed an underwater keyboard that dolphins could touch with their snouts. Each of the four keys represented a different toy, such as a ball, and soon the dolphins learned how to use it. Finally, dolphins were “talking” to humans. But now it was the humans who couldn’t talk back.

Today, Herzing and her team of researchers use an underwater device called CHAT (Cetacean Hearing and Telemetry). It can send out artificial whistle sounds that Herzog hopes the wild dolphins will learn and mimic. She will associate the whistles with an object, such as seaweed. It’s kind of like the people and the dolphins are creating a new language together. Eventually, this language would allow humans and dolphins to communicate back and forth with each other. So far, the dolphins have mimicked the whistles and then added on their own whistle afterward. Dr. Herzing is still researching what this could mean. While it is incredible progress, translating any animal’s communication will take a very long time.

Buy | Goodreads

Learn about the secret language of wild animals in this exciting and informative guide from the experts who brought you How to Speak Cat and How to Speak Dog.

About the Authors

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

AUBRE ANDRUS is an award-winning children’s book author with dozens of books published by National Geographic, Lonely Planet, American Girl, Disney, Scholastic, and more. She has also ghostwritten books for young YouTube stars. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her family.

GIVEAWAY

Five (5) winners will receive a copy of How to Speak Animal
US/Canada only
Ends 10/2 at 11:59pm ET
Enter via the Rafflecopter below
Visit the other stops on the tour for more chances to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js

Blog Tour Schedule:

September 19th — Susie’s Reviews and Giveaways
September 20th — Pragmatic Mom
September 21st — Mom Read It
September 22nd — Randomly Reading
September 23rd — YA Book Nerd

Intermediate, Non-Fiction

NatGeo Kids adds some Bling to our collections

Posted on July 19, 2022 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Bling! 100 Fun Facts About Rocks and Gems, by Emma Carlson Berne, (Jan. 2022, National Geographic Kids), $4.99, ISBN: 9781426338908

Ages 7-9

Bling!, Nat Geo’s Level 3 Reader on rocks and gems is chock-full of fun facts and incredible photos. The 100 Fun Facts series is another one of those NatGeo Kids home runs for my library shelves; the Easy Reader format is familiar to kids, and the layout that pairs photos with quick, easy-to-digest information attracts my library kids to these books. These are great for booktalking trivia, too: Did you know that silver is used in medical bandages to prevent infection? Or that you could buy a jelly bean-sized bar of gold for about $50? Little facts like that while I’m booktalking grab kids’ attention, and NatGeo Kids makes it easy for me to grab those fast facts. Bling! makes the STEM connection with facts about the Egyptian pyramids, erosion and rock formations, and a section on plate tectonics. Phonetic spelling throughout helps readers with new vocabulary words. All 100 facts get a roundup at the end of the book, and there is an index. Display this with NatGeo’s The Book of Bling (2019) and some callout facts for an eye-catching display.

Early Reader, Non-Fiction, picture books, Preschool Reads

So Cool/So Cute… So perfect for kids

Posted on June 9, 2022 by Rosemary Kiladitis

NatGeo Kids once again rocks my nonfiction section with a new series for younger readers. So Cool/So Cute is perfect for preschoolers through first graders who love animals, whether they’re cool, like dinosaurs, or cute, like puppies. Filled with facts, amusing side commentary, and color artwork and photos, they’re a great add to displays and small enough to fit inside a backpack or Mom’s bag.

So Cute! Puppies, by National Geographic Kids, (Feb. 2022, National Geographic Kids), $6.99, ISBN: 9781426339066

Ages 3-5

Readers who love puppies will love this adorable collection of puppy facts and photos. They’ll come away with fun facts: did you know that playtime is just as important for puppies as it is for kids? It is! Playtime “teaches young pooches important lessons in how to make friends – and keep them”. They’ll learn a little bit about some of the over 400 dog breeds out and about, and how some puppies look very different at birth, like the Dalmatian, born without spots. Clearly labeled photos introduce kids to different dog breeds, and fun word bubbles give the puppies a say in the dialogue-based text. A perfect Dad joke ends this volume and will give readers a giggle.

Want to pair the book with a fun puppy craft activity? Try Ms. Merry’s Build-a-Puppy craft, or some of these creative and fun crafts from The Spruce Crafts.

So Cool! Dinos, by National Geographic Kids, (Feb. 2022, National Geographic Kids), $6.99, ISBN: 9781426339042

Ages 3-5

Puppies are so cute, but dinosaurs? They are SO COOL. This little book is filled with dino facts and colorful artwork, with humorous commentary to keep kids laughing while they learn. An armored Ankylosaurus warns readers, “You wouldn’t want to mess with this”, while a peevish Pterosaur gripes that they wouldn’t “want to be a dinosaur anyway”. Readers will find out ways that scientists learn more about dinosaurs, and yes, there is a mention of dinosaur poop (coprolite), to keep them entertained. There’s information about dinosaur descendants that live in our world today, dino babies, and different-sized dinos. Clearly labeled pictures also offer phonetic pronunciation, making dino researchers out of every reader. The ever-present Dad joke closes this volume.

We Are Teachers has a great article with 20 different dinosaur activities for kids. Offer some as a companion activities or have a Dino Day.

There are more So Cool!/So Cute! books available, including Sharks (So Cool!), Koalas (So Cute!), Leopards (So Cool!), and Pandas (So Cute!).

Fiction, Middle Grade

STEM Smart: Izzy Newton and the S.M.A.R.T. Squad

Posted on June 6, 2022 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Izzy Newton and the S.M.A.R.T. Squad: Absolute Hero, by Valerie Tripp/Illustrated by Geneva Bowers, (Oct. 2021, National Geographic Kids), $7.99, ISBN: 9781426373039

Ages 8-12

Izzy Newton, Allie Einstein, and Charlie Darwin are best friends starting Atom Middle School together, when they discover that a friend of theirs who moved away is back! Marie Curie doesn’t seem as friendly as she was when the girls were besties, and she’s got a new friend, Gina Carver, who seems equally standoffish. When the air conditioner in their middle school shows no signs of letting up, the group have to put their science-loving brains to work to figure out how to keep themselves, and the rest of the school, out of deep freeze. Izzy and her friends are all named after scientific icons (you’ll learn more about them in the back matter), and each girl has an interest in an area of science similar to their namesakes. Middle-grade subjects like friendship and working out differences are familiar for readers, and the story examines how misunderstandings arise when people assume and don’t speak to one another. The air conditioning mystery is a science problem that needs to be solved; something the girls do through the scientific method, detailed throughout the story. The pace and dialogue are light and smart, and black and white illustrations run throughout. Back matter includes explanations of scientific terms and profiles of women scientists mentioned in the novel. Absolute Hero – a play on the scientific term “absolute zero” – is the first book in the Smart Squad series, with an additional novel, Newton’s Flaw, available now, and another, The Law of Cavities, coming in October. Visit the Smart Squad webpage for free, downloadable Readers and Educators Guides. Absolute Hero was originally published in hardcover in September 2020.

The S.M.A.R.T. Squad series is shaping up to be a fun STEM-related series for middle graders. Pair with Kate Biberdorf’s Kate the Chemist series.

History, Middle Grade, Non-Fiction, Non-fiction, Tween Reads, Women's History

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Speak Up, Speak Out! The Extraordinary Life of “Fighting” Shirley Chisholm

Posted on February 25, 2022February 22, 2022 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Welcome to the Speak Up, Speak Out! by Tonya Bolden Blog Tour!

To celebrate Black History Month and the release of Speak Up, Speak Out!: The Extraordinary Life of Fighting Shirley Chisholm by Tonya Bolden (January 4th), 5 blogs across the web are featuring posts from the book and author, as well as 5 chances to win!

Two Truths and a Lie about Shirley Chisholm
by Tonya Bolden

When I started on my journey with the life of Shirley Chisholm, I had a pretty good grasp of the outline of her life and the highlights. When I delved into the research I was truly surprised by a lot of what I learned about her.

I knew, for example, that while in Congress Shirley was responsible for legislation that got domestic workers included in the minimum wage law. I knew she fought for the construction of more affordable housing and funds for better public schools, but I had no idea that she fought for funds for research on autism and pushed for the federal government to use recycled paper when printing the Congressional Record. (In 1969, for example, the Congressional Record was more than 40,000 pages long!)

I also did not know that when Shirley ran for president in 1972 she spoke up and out about the need to take good care of the environment. And while I knew that Shirley was a staunch advocate for civil rights and women’s rights I did not know that she supported the gay rights movement.

When I started on my journey with Fighting Shirley Chisholm I would have struck out when it came to spotting the following two truths and the one lie about her.

1. Shirley prided herself on her dance skills. The merengue, the tango, and the rhumba were among her favorite dances. She also did a lot of dancing with her fingers—on the piano, that is.

2. When Shirley was young she toyed with the idea of becoming an actress and she later often wore some rather dramatic outfits.

3. Shirley Chisholm was a founder of the National Organization for Women formed in 1966 with the purpose of taking “action to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now, exercising all the privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men.”

So. . .
.

1. Shirley did love to dance. The merengue, the tango, and the rhumba were among her favorite dances at one point. “I come alive on a dance floor,” she told a reporter in the late 1960s. “I’m very creative. I use my hands and my body. Even now I amaze people when I dance.”And she loved playing the piano. When she was young, although here parents didn’t have a lot of money they scraped together enough for her to have piano lessons and to buy a piano on an installment plan.

2. Shirley, who had the gift of mimicry, did toy with the idea of becoming an actress. “My mother always thanked God that I had brains and got to college on scholarship,” she recalled. “Had I not been able to go to college I would have gone to the devil in the theater, [my mother] thought.” And, yes, Shirley was a stylish and at times flamboyant dresser.

3. Though she later joined NOW, she was not a founder.

Buy | Add on Goodreads

“The strength of Bolden’s skill as a researcher is evident; chapter by chapter, she provides succinct but critical context around the motivations and movements of Chisholm’s political career. An insightful and focused profile of a political trailblazer.”
– Kirkus Reviews

“This lively, detailed look at Chisholm’s personal and political life shines in its portrayal of a strong woman who never backed down…”
– Booklist

“Tonya Bolden brings Shirley Chisholm’s vibrant spirit to life…an engaging and readable style.”
– School Library Connection

From award-winning author Tonya Bolden comes a biography of the first Black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and the first Black woman to run for president with a major political party: Shirley Chisholm.

Before there was Barack Obama, before there was Kamala Harris, there was Fighting Shirley Chisholm. A daughter of Barbadian immigrants, Chisholm developed her political chops in Brooklyn in the 1950s and went on to become the first Black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. This “pepper pot,” as she was known, was not afraid to speak up for what she thought was right. While fighting for a better life for her constituents in New York’s 12th Congressional District, Chisholm routinely fought against sexism and racism in her own life and defied the norms of the time. As the first Black woman in the House and the first Black woman to seek the presidential nomination from a major political party, Shirley Chisholm laid the groundwork for those who would come after her.

Extensively researched and reviewed by experts, this inspiring biography traces Chisholm’s journey from her childhood in a small flat in Brooklyn where she read books with her sisters to Brooklyn College where she got her first taste of politics. Readers will cheer Chisholm on to victory from the campaign trail to the hallowed halls of the U.S. Capitol, where she fought for fair wages, equal rights, and an end to the Vietnam War. And while the presidential campaign trail in 1972 did not end in victory, Shirley Chisholm shows us how you can change a country when you speak up and speak out.

Website

Tonya Bolden has authored, edited and co-authored more than 40 books. Her work has garnered numerous awards, including the Coretta Scott King Honor, the James Madison Book Award, the NCSS Carter G. Woodson Honor, the Children’s Book Guild of Washington, D.C.’s Nonfiction Award, the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, the Virginia Library Association Jefferson Cup Award and the Cleveland Public Library Sugarman Award. Lauded for her skilled storytelling, impeccable research and lively text, Tonya lives New York City.

GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

One (1) winner will receive a hardcover of Speak Up, Speak Out! by Tonya Bolden
US/Can only
Ends 3/6 at 11:59pm ET
Check out the other stops on the tour for more chances to win!

Blog Tour Schedule:
February 21st – Pragmatic Mom
February 22nd – The Nonfiction Detectives
February 23rd – Ms. Yingling Reads
February 24th – Daddy Mojo
February 25th – Mom Read It

Intermediate, Middle Grade, Non-fiction, Non-Fiction

Welcome to MY World: Weird But True! New York City

Posted on January 14, 2022January 13, 2022 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Weird But True! New York City, by National Geographic Kids, (Sept. 2021, National Geographic Kids), $8.99, ISBN: 9781426372322

Ages 8-10

Finally! NatGeo Kids has put together a Weird But True! collection of facts and photos of my backyard. Welcome to New York City, all! You know the Weird But True/Weird Facts drill, so let’s get to it. I love all the New York history the editors at NatGeo Kids have put in there, including hilarious poop facts for all (when there were horse and buggies were the main mode of transportation, street cleaners cleaned about 500 tons of manure off the streets every day. Enjoy that). I LOVE all the love for my home borough, Queens! Our Queens Museum is home of the New York Panorama and we’ve got the Unisphere in Corona Flushing Meadow Park! There are a wealth of library facts in here, which makes me happy (but hey… there are more library systems than just NYPL, which, admittedly, does have the original Winnie the Pooh toys and a giant reading room). And you know what else New York has? DINOSAURS. Our American Museum of Natural History is where the first installment of the Night at the Museum movies takes place (which figures into one of the facts in Weird But True NY).

Full of fun facts and gorgeous photos, fully indexed, and just a fun read, Weird But True! New York City is the next book you want to have in your NatGeo Kids collection (and New York librarians: this BEGS for a New York Bingo kind of program, which you can totally do virtually).

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to pull some cool Queens Public Library facts together to send to the good folks at Nat Geo Kids for their updated edition…

Middle Grade, Non-fiction

Blog Tour and Giveaway: The Ultimate Book of African Animals!

Posted on September 13, 2021September 10, 2021 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Welcome to the Ultimate Book of African Animals Blog Tour!

Looking to get away? Spend the week on a virtual safari with Emmy Award-Winning Filmmakers Beverly and Dereck Joubert as your guides! Featuring exclusive excerpts from their latest title, Ultimate Book of African Animals (National Geographic Kids Books, ages 8-12), Beverly and Dereck share their intimate stories of life on safari and provide a unique, behind-the-lens perspective on their passion and mission — to save the wild places of Africa and protect the creatures that depend on them.

Journey with the Jouberts

source: imgur.com Click to enlarge

And now, for your moment of “awww”…..

source: imgur.com Credit: Beverly Joubert

*****

Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Ready for an adventure of a lifetime? With National Geographic photographer-filmmaker duo Beverly and Dereck Joubert as their guides, readers are transported to the plains of the Serengeti, the sands of the Sahara and the shaded nooks of the rainforest. Dereck and Beverly are eight-time Emmy award-winning filmmakers, National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence and wildlife conservationists who have been filming, researching and exploring Africa for over 35 years. By sharing their stories of life on safari and Beverly’s jaw-dropping photography, this dynamic duo gives the reader unique, behind-the-lens access to Africa’s wildlife, how they live, play and hunt and how they have adapted to their wild, one-of-a-kind environments. A big, beautiful guide to animals that roar, race and “totally rule,” this gift-worthy book is overflowing with facts, stats and photos of animals of all behaviors, shapes and sizes — including the tiny bombardier beetle, the sneaky desert viper, mischievous monkeys, elusive Ethiopian wolves, as well as fan favorites like lions, elephants, cheetahs, zebras, giraffes, hippos, gorillas, rhinos, and so many more.

About the Authors: Dereck and Beverly Joubert are globally recognized, award-winning filmmakers, conservationists, and National Geographic explorers-in-residence based in Botswana. Their mission for more than 35 years has been the conservation of key wildlife species, with a focus on large predators. The Jouberts have published 12 books, produced 36 films for National Geographic, and written half a dozen scientific papers as well as many articles for National Geographic magazine. Beverly is also an acclaimed photographer for National Geographic. Their efforts have one aim: to save the wild places of Africa and to protect the creatures that depend on them.