Tuesday, October 27, 2009

All Things Kid Lit: The Life and Times of Corn

Picture Book Pick of the Week:


The Life and Times of Corn
written and illustrated by Charles Micucci
ISBN: 9780618507511
Published October 2009
32 pages
Nonfiction







Did you know that corn leaves absorb 97 percent of the plant’s nutrition from the air? Or that corn was first popped in the year 2300 BC? How about that a single ear of corn can yield eight hundred seeds? That’s “an a-maize-ing grain!”



Kirkus Reviews

Who knew those little kernels contained so much history and lore? In a conversational and lively narrative, the author follows the growth, cultivation and shocking number of uses of this "a-maize-ing" plant. Sensitive to children's sensibilities, he delights in explaining large statistics-bushels are stacked high, each equaling 100,000,000, to represent leading corn producers. Plus, he carefully explains, if all 125,000 square miles of cultivated cornfields were put together, "corn" would be the fifth largest of the United States! In a clear, logical order, punctuated by timelines, maps and fun corn facts, the author introduces the history and life cycle of this staple. Columbus sought gold when he came to the New World; little did he know how much those yellow kernels were really worth.

Read-Alikes:
  • The Vegetables We Eat by Gail Gibbons
  • Corn by Gail Gibbons
  • Corn is Maize by Aliki

Top News in Children's Lit:

Kansas City Jewish Chronicle (KS)
October 20, 2009
Greater Kansas City, KS will be the site of a Curious George convergence over the next several weeks. An exhibit about the creators of the beloved children's book character, "Saving the Little Brown Monkey: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey," will be displayed from Oct. 21 through Dec. 1 in the art gallery at the Jewish Community Campus.

Wes Anderson's Urbane Mr. Fox is Truer to Roald Dahl Than Most
The Guardian (UK)
October 21, 2009


The vision of rural England in the new animated Fantastic Mr Fox may be Buckinghamshire channeling Berkeley, but its sensibility is unmistakably British.






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