Category: Children’s Nonfiction Review

Birdlore

The Iridescent Life of Florence Merriam Bailey

written by Jess Keating
illustrated by Devon Holzwarth

Alfred A. Knopf, 2025. 40 pages.
Review written July 21, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

I love it when picture book biographies tell me about a person who lived a remarkable life and changed the world – but whom I’d never heard of before. This is one such book.

In 1889, Florence Merriam Bailey wrote the first field guide to American birds ever published. She talked about the wonders of birdwatching and popularized it for everyone.

This picture book tells her story with gorgeous art – as befitting a book about beautiful birds. (As a bonus, at the back, there’s a spread showing Florence’s favorite bird species and asking if you can find all these birds in the pages of the book.) It begins with her childhood in the countryside, when she would delight in finding them. When she got old enough to study birds as a scientist, she didn’t like the normal method at the time of examining dead birds and making them into specimens. So she would take notes on living birds in the outdoors.

When she went to university, Florence made friends with other women interested in birds and showed them her method of taking notes on birds in the wild. The women were scandalized together at the common fashion choice of the time – wearing dead birds on ladies’ hats.

It began a quest to share with people the wonder of birds in the wild – and helped pass the Lacey Act in 1900 that protected birds from illegal trade.

The way the story is told lifts your hearts with the birds and will add to your own appreciation. A lovely book about a woman who helped protect these lovely creatures.

jesskeating.com
devonholzwarth.com
rhcbooks.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/birdlore.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Subscribe for more reviews and talk about books.

Join the conversation: What did you think of this book?

Firefly Song

Lynn Frierson Faust and the Great Smoky Mountain Discovery

by Colleen Paeff
illustrated by Ji-Hyuk Kim

Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2025. 40 pages.
Review written September 16, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

Firefly Song stands out among picture book biographies for several reasons, the first being that it’s got gorgeous art. I love the picture of the twilight forest dotted with fireflies and the picture of young Lynn Faust jumping into a Great Smoky Mountains swimming hole.

But it’s also wonderful because of the story it tells. Lynn Frierson Faust essentially trained herself as a scientist. As a child, she enjoyed the dazzling display of the synchronous fireflies at her family’s summer cabin.

When she tried to find out more about fireflies (because those were so wonderful), she discovered that scientists believed there were no synchronous fireflies in North America.

But how to let the scientists know they are wrong? She was met with plenty of skepticism.

It took her years of work and plenty of research to get other scientists to come and confirm what she’d realized all along – that a species of synchronous fireflies lives in the Great Smoky Mountains.

The fireflies of Elkmont and their light show are famous now. Each summer, thousands of visitors travel from clear across the world to witness the silent serenade of Photinus carolinus.

There’s nice back matter for those who are intrigued as I was and want to find out more.

colleenpaeff.com
hanuol.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/firefly_song.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Subscribe for more reviews and talk about books.

Join the conversation: What did you think of this book?

Jim!

Six True Stories about One Great Artist: James Marshall

by Jerrold Connors

Dial Books for Young Readers, 2025. 72 pages.
Review written September 3, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

The perfect picture book biography exists, and I have just read it!

Jerrold Connors takes six stories that give us the essence of James Marshall’s life, and he relates them with words and art that perfectly mimic James Marshall’s style. The stories even have the punch of a George and Martha story!

I adore the George and Martha books, and this book borrows their format in a brilliant homage to their creator. The stories are numbered, as in George and Martha. They are: “The Book,” about creating Miss Nelson Is Missing with his friend Harry; “How Cute!” about how annoying it was to have his work called cute and his history as a classical musician; “Friendly Competition,” about his friends Maurice (Maurice wears a “Wild Thing” shirt.) and Arnold, who were also writers; “The Award” about how he would have liked to win an award but how his partner Billy reminded him that great art is about putting yourself in your work; “The School Visit” about his second-grade teacher who told him he’d never be an artist and served as the inspiration for Viola Swamp; and “The Hospital,” about how kids will remember him, because kids are really smart.

An Author’s Note ties it all together with more details about James Marshall’s life, but please be aware that my summary doesn’t begin to convey the charm of this book. Anyone who loves George and Martha (and who could possibly not?) will be absolutely delighted with this book.

jerroldconnors.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/jim.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Subscribe for more reviews and talk about books.

Join the conversation: What did you think of this book?

Whale Eyes

A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen

by James Robinson
with illustrations by Brian Rea

Penguin Workshop, 2025. 298 pages.
Review written August 11, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

This book will literally change your perspective.

It’s not often that I have to order additional copies of a memoir published for kids because of so many holds, but that happened with Whale Eyes. What a creative and fascinating book! Written by a documentary filmmaker about his own childhood, Whale Eyes shows you what it’s like to have strabismus and exotropia – by playing with the format and illustrations in this book. You’ll be turning the book upside-down and even folding a page. (Do it gently if you’re using a library copy!) And you’ll begin to understand what it’s like to see things through Whale Eyes.

Most people’s brains fuse images from our two eyes. But James was born with eyes that don’t track together – so his brain compensates by alternating which eye he sees out of. And when his brain switches between eyes, that makes the image jump. Which makes reading extremely difficult. Or playing tee-ball – He tells the story of being the first kid the adults had ever seen strike out at tee-ball.

And when people see his misaligned eyes – they don’t know where to look. So they look away. Or they stare, trying to figure out what’s wrong with him. Neither one is good for connecting with people.

So this book is about helping people understand, and telling people where to look – at the eye that’s looking at them – so that we can make connections. He coined the term “Whale eyes” because we can only look at one of a whale’s eyes at a time – yet that doesn’t bother anyone.

There’s a point in the book where he asks the reader to take an intermission and watch a documentary about his condition that he made for the New York Times. I’d provide a link to that video – except watch it as an intermission, after you’ve been prepared, and I think it will hit all the harder.

He finishes up the book with some things he’s learned from making documentaries – things about making connections and catching people’s interests. He brings people together instead of pushing them apart.

This book is written for middle grade kids – but there is no age limit for liking and being fascinated by this book. I pushed a couple of my coworkers to check it out, and I hope this review will get it more readers. It will open your eyes to another way of looking at the world. Literally.

byjamesrobinson.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Children_Nonfiction/whale_eyes.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Subscribe for more reviews and talk about books.

Join the conversation: What did you think of this book?

Jella Lepman and Her Library of Dreams

The Woman Who Rescued a Generation of Children and Founded the World’s Largest Children’s Library

by Katherine Paterson
illustrated by Sally Deng

Handprint Books (Chronicle), 2025. 104 pages.
Review written June 9, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

This book has the large shape of an ordinary picture book biography, but there are more words on each page and many more pages, so this is suitable for older children than the usual picture book biography crowd, kids who can read more in-depth information. The book does have all the beauty and added interest of illustrations on every page.

I hadn’t heard of Jella Lepman before reading this book – but I had heard of the International Youth Library when I lived in Germany, and had long meant to go visit. I’m now all the more disappointed that I never did manage it – will have to visit Germany again to do so!

I’ve also heard of IBBY, the International Board of Books for Young People, which always has events at ALA Annual Conference – and was very happy to read a book about one of the founders.

So I knew about some of the things Jella Lepman established, but hearing her story helped me learn her wonderful motivation – helping children after war.

Jella was a German Jew who had fled Germany after Hitler rose to power. But she came back after the war, working for the U.S. Army. Her job was to be an “adviser on the cultural and educational needs of women and children” in the part of Germany under American occupation. She agonized about whether to accept the assignment.

Even if Jella could not help the adults, couldn’t she do something for suffering children? “I found it easy to believe that the children all to soon would fall into the wrong hands if no help came from the world outside,” she wrote. “Were not Germany’s children just as innocent as children all over the world, helpless victims of monstrous events?”

She had made up her mind. The fate of these children was too important. She would accept the military assignment.

After she arrived in Germany, I love the part where she decided to promote world peace through children’s books. She solicited books from countries across the world. It started with an International Exhibition of Children’s Books. The books were sent to the children of Germany as messengers of peace.

At first the show traveled around the country, but eventually Jella worked to give it a permanent home in the International Youth Library.

And that was only the beginning of her efforts toward peace through children’s books. To this librarian reading this, her story was uplifting and gratifying and beautiful.

katherinepaterson.com
chroniclekids.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/jella_lepman.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Mr. Pei’s Perfect Shapes

The Story of Architect I. M. Pei

written by Julie Leung
illustrated by Yifan Wu

Quill Tree Books, 2024. 40 pages.
Review written February 19, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

This is a picture book biography of I. M. Pei, the international architect. It shows him as a boy, Ioeh Ming Pei, before he officially changed his name to his initials. He spent his summers and Suzhou and admired the rock gardens, with rocks sculpted to be further formed by the water.

The book talks about his career as an architect and how he wanted to make beautiful shapes that would last generations. His first big project was the Kennedy Presidential Library. He went on to do striking work in many countries – including the glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris and the modern wing of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C.

What I love most about this biography is the many pictures showing his work. The art is bright and colorful, and I didn’t realize until I looked at it how familiar so many of I. M. Pei’s buildings would be. Now I know something about their creator.

jleungbooks.com
yifanwuart.com
harpercollinschildrens.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/mr_peis_perfect_shapes.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?