Category: Book Recommendations

Title: Crafting with Nature series, specifically Rock Crafts and Stick Crafts by Betsy Rathburn and Sand Crafts by Rebecca Salbeko

Publisher: Bellwether Media

Copyright date: 2020

Age range: 3rd through 8th grade, though it depends on the level of adult assistance

This unique crafting series for kids not only offers up crafting how-tos with objects you’re likely to find in your own backyard, also included are fun facts and additional background building relating to each craft. For example, included next to the directions for building a stick owl (p. 6 in Stick Crafts), is information about owls, with key vocabulary words in bold, such as “talons” and “roost.” A glossary in the back allows for quick reference. 

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What Do You Do If You Work at the Zoo? Shares unique ways zoo staff contribute to the care of the animals, and why these actions are important. For example, you might tickle a tapir with a rake to emulate the sensation of rubbing against a tree (to remove parasites), create puzzles for meerkats to find their food (to encourage natural behavior) or brush a hippo’s teeth (to help avoid cavities, of course!). 

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Title: We Are Water Protectors

Written by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Copyright date: 2020

Age range: The publisher says ages 3-6, but the book brought tears to my eyes. This book is truly for anyone. 

A young Sioux girl recalls the story her grandmother told, featuring the dire warning that a black snake would come, contaminating the water source, thus causing harm to all the animals and land. The young girl decides to take a stand in order to protect the water sources and provide safety for all living things. 

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Title: Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice

Written by Nikki Grimes, a NY Times bestselling author

Illustrated by Laura Freeman, a Corretta Scott King Honoree

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Copyright date: 2020

Age range: 4-8

With Kamala Harris becoming the first Black and South Asian woman to be nominated for the Vice Presidency, a children’s book biography was begging to be included on shelves wherever kids search for books. Her story is told from the time her parents met through the end of her own presidential run in the Democratic primary last year, but ends open-ended in a way that leaves the reader feeling that Harris wasn’t leaving the Washington spotlight for long. This story is told from a fictional mother’s point-of-view to her young daughter, Eve, who had come home from school citing a boy who had told her that girls could never be president. It’s then that the mother tells the story of Kamala, with Eve interrupting every few pages with questions or statements. 

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