This Librarian's Quick Picks: Egg -- Nature's Perfect Package

Egg: Nature's Perfect Package
by Steve Jenkins
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (March 3, 2015)
Nonfiction/Informational Picture Book

Summary:

Explore how a simple, often colorful, sometimes surprisingly shaped package, reveals nature's life cycle, unusual animal defensive strategies, parenting behavior, evolution, and more, in this illustrated non-fiction picture book.

Why You'll Love It:

•  Jenkins' signature torn paper and collage illustrations are featured against white backgrounds, really making the images pop. 
• Jenkins explores 54 creatures and why they lay eggs the way they do -- for example, the black-spotted sticky frog lays eggs in a carnivorous pitcher plant. Hello, booktalk hook!!!
• The final pages illustrate the cycles of a chicken and alligator as each creature develops over time, in five stages from embryo to hatchling, which lends itself nicely to compare and contrast lessons.

Who Should Read It:

Great for grades K-3...and here's the educator's guide (scroll down to p. 7)

What Else You Should Read:

•  Have You Heard the Nesting Bird? by Rita Gray
• Creature Features by Steve Jenkins
• The Beetle Book by Steve Jenkins 

This Librarian's Quick Picks: Buried Sunlight

Buried Sunlight: How Fossil Fuels Have Changed the Earth
by Molly Bang
Blue Sky Books (Sep. 30, 2014)
Nonfiction Picture Book

Summary:

Humans’ rapid use of fossil fuels—stored energy from plant matter that has been “squashed” underground for millions of years—has made one thing certain: Earth will change.

Why You'll Love It:

• Bang’s beautiful illustrations have a folk-art style and are saturated with deep blues and rich greens.
•  The sun's first-person voice puts readers at the center: "Yes, living things--including YOU--need energy to stay alive and grow.

Who Should Read It:

Perfect for grades 2-4...and here's the discussion guide.

What Else You Should Read:

• Ocean Sunlight by Molly Bang
• Too Hot? Too Cold? Keeping Body Temperature Just Right by Caroline Arnold