Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday – Countdown to the Olympics!

I’m excited to be joining Alyson Beecher from Kid Lit Frenzy in this year’s Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge 2014  I’m hoping to discover many new nonfiction books that I can share with my students at school and with other teachers at workshops.  Link up here to join in!

Here are the nonfiction books I’ve been reading this week:

Well the countdown is on!  I’m a huge fan of the Winter Olympics, and while this year will not quite the same as four years ago, living and breathing in the excitement first hand in the host city (Vancouver) I’m looking forward to the start of the Sochi Games later this week.  Today, I thought I’d feature some of the nonfiction books that I’ll be sharing with my students over the next few weeks as we cheer on our athletes,  learn a little about the host country and the discover the different winter Olympic events.

Russia ABC’s – A Book about the People and Places of Russia  – Ann Burge

Beautiful illustrations and interesting facts about Russia through every letter of the alphabet.  A perfect introduction to the country for students.

                     

Bobbie Kalman Series – Russia – The Land; The Culture; The People

Bobbie Kalman is a well known writer and publisher of nonfiction books for children.  I have used this particular series many times with intermediate students to support them researching about different countries.  They include interesting information, colorful photographs and the layout is well organized and easy for students to read.  Other countries in this series include: Japan, India and Mexico.

Spotlight on Russia – Bobbie Kalman

For those who would rather just share one book, rather than three, this “Spotlight” book includes land, culture and people all in one!  It’s another Bobbie Kalman book so you know it’s going to be good

A Look at Russia  (Our World Series) – Helen Frost

For those who may be looking for a book with a simpler text – this series is great!  Simple text, beautiful photographs with lots of text features.  A great series for Primary teachers!

The Winter Olympics – Nick Hunter

This is a very up-to date book that includes a little of the history of the Winter Olympics, how they are organized and who some of the star performers we should be looking for in the Sochi Games.

 

Winter Olympic Sports Series – Crabtree Publishers

We have the entire set of these books in our school library and even though they may be only relevant every four years – they are still so helpful when discussing the specific events in the Winter Olympics.  There is a book for every event and they are published by Crabtree – which, for me, always means informative, interesting, accessible  with simple text and great text features.

Tacky and the Winter Games – Helen Lester

I know that this last book does not quite fit into the Nonfiction category – but it does fit with my theme!  This is a wonderful book featuring Tacky the Penguin and his fellow penguin athletes as they prepare and compete in a wide range of Winter events, including bobsledding, speed skating and ski jumping to try to win a medal for Team Nice Icy Land!  A fun read-aloud to get students excited about the Olympics!  (I still think Tacky’s team should have won the bobsled race!)

Good luck to all the athletes heading to Sochi this week.   (Go Canada!)

What nonfiction books have you been reading?