Dinos Galore!

HOW BIG WERE DINOSAURS? by Lita Judge. Roaring Brook Press, August 2013.

THE GREATEST DINOSAUR EVER by Brenda Z. Guiberson with illustrations by Gennady Spirin. Holt, October 2013.

THE BIG GOLDEN BOOK OF DINOSAURS by Robert Bakker with illustrations by Luis Rey. Golden Book, 2013.


So, all you looking for books for meeting CCSS standards, here I a trio that, used together, will provide for some interesting material for classroom lessons. Compare and contrast illustrations in terms of media and style. Examine how the texts are different from one book to another. From informational text to narrative nonfiction to books that use a more fanciful blend of fiction and fact: this demonstrates that simply using the term nonfiction will never suffice.

Animals fact and fiction

SQUIRRELS ON SKIS by J. Hamilton Ray with illustrations by Pascal Lemaitre. Random House 2013.

THUMPY FEET by Betsy Lewin. Holiday House, 2013.

OFF WE GO: A BEAR AND MOLE STORY by Will Hillebrand. Holiday House, 2013.

TURKEY TOT by George Shannon with illustrations by Jennifer Mann. Holiday House 2013.

BEST FOOT FORWARD: EXPLORING FEET, SLIPPERS, AND CLAWS by Ingo Arndt. Holiday House 2013.


BEAVERS by Gail Gibbons. Holiday House 2013.

Fins, flippers, claws, toes, teeth, tails: all these books present animals in action. Pairing the fiction (Lewin, Hillebrand, Ray, Shannon) with the nonfiction (Arndt, Gibbons) during story time or bedtime reading shows kids that books can inform or entertain and sometimes accomplish BOTH tasks.