non fiction

Book Review: Secret Factopia

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Secret FACTopia! by Paige Towler

Secret FACTopia!: Follow the trail of 400 hidden facts (FACTopia!, 7)
by Paige Towler

4 out of 5 stars

This book gives random facts about science, the earth, the universe, animals, trees, and the ocean. We can learn about astronauts, weird plants, and new technology. The illustrations and photos are eye-catching and colorful. Each factoid is short; just one sentence that tantalizes your brain to learn more! The factoids are arranged so that each fact leads into the next with one small thing in common.

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Picture Book Review: Follow the Flyway

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Follow the Flyway by Sarah Nelson

Follow the Flyway: The Marvel of Bird Migration
by Sarah Nelson (Goodreads Author), Maya Hanisch (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

In this picture book, we see different birds creating their nests, hatching their young, and teaching them to swim and fly. Then they all migrate south for the winter. Along the way, they hunt for food, rest by rivers or ponds, and instinctively follow the southern route their ancestors have taken for thousands of years.

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Non Fiction Book Review: How To Write Your Life Story

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How To Write Your Life Story by Karen Ulrich

How To Write Your Life Story
by Karen Ulrich

4 out of 5 stars

This book gives a step-by-step guide to writing your memoir, including different styles of writing and organizing your memories. You could write a journal style, epistolary, narrative, or even a scrapbook. There is a whole section dedicated to just researching and remembering your past. There are different things you can do to jog your memory and bring the details into your memoir.

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Book Review: The Souls of Flowers

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The Souls of Flowers by Pavlína Kourková

The Souls of Flowers (Large Encyclopedias)
by Pavlína Kourková

5 out of 5 stars

These beautiful portraits of flowers make you really stop to appreciate the delicate beauty of each petal. You can see the details of the stem and pollen and blossoms in a new way. This whole book is so enchanting! Each lovely page is a reminder of how precious creation is. I love that each flower looks both vulnerable and soft, but also strong in its own delicate way.

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Non Fiction Review: Transported

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Transported by Matt Ralphs

Transported: 50 Vehicles That Changed the World
by Matt Ralphs, Rui Ricardo (Illustrations)

4 out of 5 stars

This book gives information about 50 amazing vehicles, including boats, cars, planes, motorcycles, chariots, wagons, rockets, and bicycles. It’s really amazing to see how history has changed over the centuries and especially in the last one hundred years just because of mankind’s ability to travel.

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Non Fiction Book: A History of the World in 25 Cities

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A History of the World in 25 Cities by Tracey Turner

A History of the World in 25 Cities (British Museum)
by Tracey Turner, Andrew Donkin, Libby VanderPloeg (Illustrator)

4 out of 5 stars

This book goes through history, giving information about different cities around the world at their height. We start with Jericho and end with Tokyo. There are ancient cities that now lie in ruins, old cities that kept getting renewed and rebuilt through the centuries, and modern cities that are comparatively young.

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Non Fiction Book Review: Bandersnatch

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Bandersnatch by Diana Pavlac Glyer

Bandersnatch: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings
by Diana Pavlac Glyer (Goodreads Author), James A. Owen  (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

This book analyzes the inner workings of the writing group, The Inklings, showing specific examples of how they encouraged and influenced each other’s writing. We learn about Lewis’ and Tolkien’s individual writing styles, and how their group read aloud portions of their writing. The process of writing, revising, and editing was intimately connected with the influence of the Inklings, despite Lewis famously saying that it was impossible to influence Tolkien: “…you might as well try to influence a bandersnatch.” This book proves Lewis wrong, giving specific examples of times when Tolkien took criticism from the Inklings very seriously and altered major sections of his writing accordingly.

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Non Fiction Review: Gazing at the Night Sky

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Gazing at the Night Sky by Bruce Wilson Jr.

Gazing at the Night Sky: 5,000 Year of Humanity’s Quest to Find Our Place in the Universe
by Bruce Wilson Jr.

4 out of 5 stars

People have been staring at the stars for millennia, marveling at the beauties of the night sky. This book explores how ancient peoples attached meaning to the stars, developed superstitions around horoscopes to gain a sense of control in their world, and studied science and mathematics to understand how the solar system works. The stars have influenced artists and photographers. Today we have a vast amount of information from space probes that tell us about our solar system. From Aristotle to Armstrong, the stars inspire us to keep looking up.

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Non Fiction Review: The Ocean Blue

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The Ocean Blue by Bruce Wilson Jr.

The Ocean Blue: A History of Maritime Trade, Naval Warfare, and Exploration
by Bruce Wilson Jr.

4 out of 5 stars

The oceans of the globe both connect and separate the world. Seafaring cultures have shaped the landscape of history. Battles at sea have defined warfare for millennia. The ocean influences art, music, literature, and architecture. This book explores all the ways that the ocean has shaped our history from the ancient Greeks and Egyptians to the modern day.

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Book Review: One Day at a Time

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One Day at a Time by Bruce Wilson Jr.

One Day at a Time: 365 Innovations, Discoveries, and Triumphs in World History
by Bruce Wilson Jr.

4 out of 5 stars

History is a deep well of wild facts and weird stories. This book presents 365 amazing events in history that still shape our world today. We begin with the first known writing from 3100 BC and travel through history all the way to 2019 when scientists were able to take the first photograph of a black hole. This book includes artists, scientists, royals, politicians, engineers, musicians, doctors, and ordinary people who did extraordinary things.

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