Review of My Bicentennial Summer, by G. Neri, illustrated by Corban Wilkin

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

My Bicentennial Summer

True Adventures from the Most Epic Family Road Trip of All Time

by G. Neri
illustrated by Corban Wilkin

Candlewick Press, 2026. 88 pages.
Review written July 21, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

First, sorry about not getting this read before the Semiquincentennial.

As he did in My Antarctica, G. Neri makes his own travels the center of this nonfiction story, illustrated with plenty of photos, but also illustrations drawn over them. However, this time the travels happened when he was a kid. His family took six weeks and drove and camped all across America in honor of the Bicentennial in 1976.

Now, I was twelve years old in 1976. (It looks like the author is just a bit younger than me.) I remember all the hype about the Bicentennial. It makes me a little sad that not nearly as much happened for the 250th. But our family didn’t do an epic road trip like this, and it was super fun to read about and remember the hype.

I love the way the author points out the people and the cool things they saw as they drove through so many states. He talks about the history behind the Bicentennial, the ideals of democracy that we’re still striving toward, and brings it together with fun things about his own experiences in a pop-up camper with his family.

The end result is that as well as reading a fun story that’s surprising in many places – and true – you also come away proud to be part of this great big, quirky, and diverse country. We’ve come a long way in fifty years, but we’re still an incredibly diverse bunch of people with interesting local traditions in every part.

gregneri.com

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Review of Notre-Dame, by Lynn Curlee

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

Version 1.0.0
Notre-Dame

The World’s Cathedral

by Lynn Curlee

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2026. 44 pages.
Review written July 7, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

Here is another book by artist Lynn Curlee about one of the important structures of the world. Although it is illustrated with big, beautiful paintings, those accompany a full text, so this book is more for upper elementary and middle school readers than your usual picture book crowd.

Is it safe to say that most people who have seen Notre Dame de Paris love this cathedral? I don’t think it’s just me. I’ve visited it several times, and each memory of that place is precious. So my heart was broken when the cathedral burned in 2019.

This book begins with the fire, explaining how it happened and the heroic efforts to save as much as possible. Then it goes back and gives the history of the cathedral. I didn’t realize it was the first truly Gothic cathedral, and we get detailed explanations of what that means.

Gothic cathedrals are among the most complex and ambitious structures ever conceived. It is simply mind-boggling to realize that they were constructed completely by manual labor, without the aid of machines of any kind. There were obviously no computers for design work, mathematical calculations, or virtual modeling, and no electric, hydraulic, or steam-powered devices to make things easier. All they had were hand tools like chisels, mallets, handsaws, levers, winches, and pulleys. Building materials were transported by boat or by oxcart. Probably the most complicated device they used was like a big hamster wheel, large enough for several men to operate by walking inside, for hoisting heavy loads high into the air.

Notre Dame has been around for nine centuries, and was ransacked at different times and then restored and added to. The French Revolution left it in disrepair, but then Victor Hugo’s popular novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, aroused interest in restoring it. That restoration was when the gallery of chimeras was added – the wonderful gargoyles on the bell towers.

The book concludes by telling of the amazing restoration work after the fire, with paintings of workers suspended from ropes.

The catastrophe of April 15, 2019, and the campaign of reconstruction riveted the attention of people from all over the world. By almost losing it forever, we gained a new appreciation of Notre-Dame’s importance as the ultimate example of a Gothic cathedral. As a monument of three different eras – the Middle Ages, the nineteenth century, and now the twenty-first century – the newly refurbished cathedral has reclaimed its official place as the Cathedral of Paris, a symbol of France, a great milestone in the cultural heritage of humanity, and one of the most popular tourist attractions on Earth. And unofficially, more than ever before, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame may be celebrated as the World’s Cathedral.

This tribute to the World’s Cathedral makes you feel like you’re there.

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Review of What Emma Wrote, by Ann Diament Koffsky, illustrated by N. Tarcan

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

coverWhat Emma Wrote

The Woman Behind the Words on the Statue of Liberty

by Ann Diament Koffsky
illustrated by N. Tarcan

Apples & Honey Press, 2026. 44 pages.
Review written July 6, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

This picture book biography seems especially appropriate for America’s 250th birthday. It’s the story of Emma Lazarus, the author of the poem “The New Colossus” engraved on a bronze plaque on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, told simply for young readers.

Even as a child, Emma wanted to be a writer. Her family made a book of her poems and stories that they shared with friends. As she grew up, she became aware of the plight of Jewish immigrants facing hard times. Her own family had immigrated to the United States almost two hundred years before, but she remembered their history and felt a kinship.

And her work helping immigrants with practical needs also led to using her writing to rebut people who tried to name immigrants as the problem in America.

She wrote about the people she had met on Wards Island. She explained that they deserved to be welcomed and helped.

Emma didn’t stop after that. She wrote article after article and shared even more stories about immigrants.

Activism on behalf of immigrants plus writing skills made Emma Lazarus the perfect person to write a poem about the Statue of Liberty while it was being built.

I enjoyed reading the entire poem. I wish the name for the Statue of Liberty that she suggests had stuck: “Mother of Exiles.”

There are facts about the statue and about Emma Lazarus at the back of the book.

The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to commemorate the one hundredth birthday of the United States. How fitting to think back on it at our 250th birthday – but also reflect that some of the issues are still the same, that we still need to be reminded that one of our great strengths lies in welcoming people the rest of the world casts off.

Or, as Ann Diament Koffsky writes for children:

Emma’s poem is carved into a metal plate inside the statue’s base. It reminds visitors how important it is to welcome immigrants with kindness.

annkoffsky.com
nazlisillustrations.com

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Review of Airports: Behind the Scenes, illustrated by Maxim Usik

Children's Nonfiction Review, History 0

Airports

Behind the Scenes

by Anna Ridley
illustrated by Maxim Usik
consultant Laurence Hardisty

Thames and Hudson, 2026. 48 pages.
Review written June 1, 2026, from a library book.

Taking a trip with kids? Here’s a detailed and fascinating in-depth look at what goes on behind the scenes. I still recommend The Airport Book, by Lisa Brown, for very young children and preschoolers. But for kids who are reading on their own and love poring over detailed pictures, this oversized book will be ideal preparation. Okay, it’s really too big to conveniently carry with you – but kids will enjoy it so much in preparation for a trip, it’s worth it.

The book goes through the different parts of an airport – ticketing, security, baggage conveyor systems, through activity on the ground around the plane, air traffic control, and how things work inside the plane.

There are kid-centered questions throughout the book: “Do suitcases get mixed up?” “Why can’t I ride on the luggage carousel?” “Can I take snakes on a plane?” “Can a body scanner see me naked?” “Why is that airplane being towed?” “Who flies the plane when the pilot needs to go to the bathroom?” “How many planes are in the air at one time?” “Why can’t we fly with the windows open?” and “Why do I feel like farting?”

The whole book is filled with detailed pictures, answers to questions like those above and lots more, and plenty of information even I hadn’t known before I read this book. (So it wasn’t just that I ate the wrong thing before the flight!)

I like that this is a modern book, with modern scanners and security requirements, likely to match what a child will see at the airport today.

Interesting and informative, and a great way to get thinking about my upcoming trip to France!

maximusik.art

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Review of The Black Mambas, by Kelly Crull

Children's Nonfiction Review, Science, Starred Review 0

The Black Mambas

The World’s First All-Woman Anti-Poaching Unit

by Kelly Crull

Millbrook Press, 2025. 42 pages.
Review written May 11, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

The story told in this nonfiction picture book (for upper elementary school readers) is just plain cool.

The Black Mambas are a group of women park rangers who protect the wildlife of the Olifants West Nature Reserve in South Africa’s Greater Kruger National Park.

The book explains the problem of poachers and how and why animals living in the reserve were being killed. Then it talks about local young women being recruited and learning the job – and the training and physically hard work they do to detect signs of poachers and stop them. Women are empowered to protect their communities.

This book is super informative and lavishly illustrated with photographs. It’s also inviting to young readers. Right at the front, there are head shots of twenty members of the Black Mambas, with their first names and the question, “Can you find all of us in the book?” They have little quizzes like identifying animal tracks and thinking how you would patrol given a map where poacher tracks have been found. (Note: Some of the quizzes seem a little too hard. On the page asking you to find “all four snares in this area,” I couldn’t find them at all and didn’t see a place with answers. Other simpler quizzes, like the one matching tracks, did have answers on the page.)

I especially liked the page with the Code of Honor. The reader is asked to “Stand proud and say these words with us.” The Code of Honor begins:

I am a Mamba hear me clear,
Poachers be warned, I have no fear.
Fauna and flora I pledge to protect,
There is always something to detect.
Eyes and ears serve the ground,
Here and there and all around.
From dusk to dawn, this promise I keep,
Protect the voiceless while they sleep.

The book includes photos of things they recovered at a poacher camp, as well as close-ups of the animals they protect (which are still dangerous).

They also have an educational component, teaching the children of surrounding villages to protect and take pride in their animal neighbors.

This is a gorgeous book about a group of women doing powerful and valuable work.

kellycrull.com
transfrontierafrica.org/blackmambas

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Review of Growing Up Under a Red Flag, written by Ying Chang Compestine, illustrated by Xinmei Liu

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Growing Up Under a Red Flag

A Memoir of Surviving the Chinese Cultural Revolution

written by Ying Chang Compestine
illustrated by Xinmei Liu

Rocky Pond Books, 2024. 40 pages.
Review written April 17, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

Growing Up Under a Red Flag is a memoir in picture book form, which makes it easy for children to grasp what’s going on. It’s geared to upper elementary kids.

The book begins with the author a little girl in China in the 1960s. Her parents were both doctors, and her father taught her English and told her stories of America and corresponded with a doctor in San Francisco.

My mother wasn’t always pleased with me because I didn’t behave like a traditional Chinese girl – speaking in a low voice, playing piano, and learning the fan dance. But my father loved my curiosity and strong spirit. He answered my endless questions and clapped with me when I sang English folk songs at the top of my lungs.

But then the Cultural Revolution came. They couldn’t speak English inside their home and listened to Voice of America in secret. And then a soldier moved into her father’s study.

They ended up burning all their English books and notes – but it wasn’t enough, and her father was arrested anyway.

The book shows the hardships of the years that followed, the scarcity of food and necessities, and the struggles without her father.

I did love that by the end of the book, her father was released, and she finishes with the whole family gathered years later in San Francisco. That way, despite the difficulties depicted, readers are left with the way things turned out good in the end. Which makes for a cheerier picture book. Kids can grasp the injustice of the hard times that happened, but the story ends on a happy note.

Yingc.com

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Review of Omnibird, by Giselle Clarkson

Children's Nonfiction Review, Science, Starred Review 0

Omnibird

An Avian Investigator’s Handbook

by Giselle Clarkson

Gecko Press, 2025. 96 pages.
Review written May 12, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

Omnibird: An Avian Investigator’s Handbook is packed with entertaining and informative content to help kids learn about the birds all around them.

The “Omnibird” idea is reflected in spreads on bird anatomy that identify the parts of a bird, inside and out. Many are labeled “Optional,” such as caruncles (featherless fleshy bits), spurs (sharp points for fighting), and a comb. Several parts refer to a display of many options on another page – such as the aforementioned caruncles, as well as beaks and feet.

Inside, we see how birds are quite different from us, with their small hindbrain and forebrain, their gizzard, their many neck vertebrae, the syrinx (voice box), and optional crop.

All this information about birds in general takes up the front half of the book, and then we get to see spreads about specific types of birds. It’s all told with humor, speech bubbles, clever drawings, and is super interesting and engaging. There are lots of practical side cartoons, such as “How to Usher a Bird Outdoors” “How to Act Around a Scary Bird,” and “How to Pick Up a Chicken.”

Yes, this book will help kids identify particular birds, but more importantly, it will make kids want to identify them. Reading this book presents birds as fascinating creatures who live all around us and whose bodies and behaviors reflect how they live.

A possible drawback is that the book is too large for a kid to take outside with them on a whim, but all the information packed on the large pages is worth the trade-off. This book is perfect for kids who love to pore over big books of facts – and then they can apply what they’ve learned to investigate the birds in their own neighborhoods.

giselledraws.com
geckopress.com

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Review of The Sky Was My Blanket, by Uri Shulevitz

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

The Sky Was My Blanket

A Young Man’s Journey Across Wartime Europe

by Uri Shulevitz

Farrar Straus Giroux, 2025. 154 pages.
Review written April 29, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

The Sky Was My Blanket is the last book written by the brilliant Uri Shulevitz, completed months before his death in 2025. In it, he uses first person perspective to tell the incredible story of his uncle’s adventures during World War II as they were told to him.

His uncle Yehiel was born in Warsaw during World War I, so his first memories are of being hungry. I hadn’t really appreciated how little time passed between World War I and World War II (especially for people in Europe) until I read this book, because when this child who was born during World War I left home at fifteen and a half, he quickly got embroiled in war. However, he survived the experience, and the family he left behind did not.

Be aware that this book is written for kids using simple language and short chapters, but the topic is war, so it’s appropriate for upper elementary and middle school kids who can handle heavy topics. There’s nothing graphic, but Yehiel did plenty of fighting in trenches and on battlefields, and many of his friends and family died.

Yehiel originally left because he felt his father was oppressive and he wanted to see the world. He left without money or luggage or papers. At first he traveled across Europe from Jewish community to Jewish community and found work and strangers to help him. He was hoping to make his way to the Holy Land, but in Vienna, he took some wise advice and trained to become a leathersmith while also attending Hebrew school. He left Vienna in 1933 when Hitler came to power in Germany and Nazi swastikas started showing up in Austria.

Next, after a winding journey, he joined his brother in Paris, but after losing his job, joined a friend in Barcelona and learned to be a tailor. However, a year later, Franco attacked government troops and started the Spanish Civil War. Yehiel signed up to fight against him with other international soldiers.

And that’s how the rest of the story goes – he traveled from one country to another, sometimes fighting, sometimes resisting, sometimes just trying to survive. After the war, Uri and his father – Yehiel’s only surviving brother – visited him in Paris and heard his amazing story, told in this book.

I’ve read plenty of novels set during World War II, but the opportunity to hear personal true stories is quickly closing. I’m glad Uri Shulevitz wrote this one down for young readers.

urishulevitz.com
mackids.com

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Review of Goldfinches, by Mary Oliver, art by Melissa Sweet

Children's Nonfiction Review, Poetry, Starred Review 0

Goldfinches

by Mary Oliver
art by Melissa Sweet

Viking, 2026. 36 pages.
Review written April 20, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

This little book is a poem by Mary Oliver – illustrated by Caldecott Honor illustrator Melissa Sweet. The poem about goldfinches shows the author observing in fields as goldfinches fly by and make their nests. Then a note at the back explains how Mary Oliver did just that – and Melissa Sweet imitated her to make authentic pictures.

I also enjoyed how the artist put a palette of colors at the front, labeled with phrases from the poem, and you can find them later in the book.

But of course what I love most is the poem, which grew on me more each time I read it – and Melissa Sweet’s illustrations helped me appreciate it more from the start.

Here’s how the poem ends:

Is it necessary to say any more?
Have you heard them singing in the wind, above the final fields?
Have you ever been so happy in your life?

This book has the power to fill you with peace and happiness and send you out to nature to find even more.

MaryOliver.com
MelissaSweet.net
Penguin.com/kids

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Review of Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll! by Catherine Thimmesh, illustrated by Shanda McCloskey

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Science, Starred Review 0

Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll!

The Inventive Rube Goldberg

A Life in Comics, Contraptions, and Six Simple Machines

by Catherine Thimmesh
illustrated by Shanda McCloskey

Chronicle Books, 2025. 54 pages.
Review written March 24, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

This is a picture book biography of Rube Goldberg, but it’s got so much more. You know Rube Goldberg? He was the cartoonist who diagrammed crazily complicated machines to do simple tasks. As a cartoonist, he never built the machines himself, but now on the internet, you can find hundreds of videos of people who actually built machines inspired by his cartoons.

This book tells his story – he went to college and studied engineering to please his father. He didn’t last long as an engineer, but looking at patent diagrams gave him the ideas for his famous cartoons.

But the book explains the six simple machines for the reader – the lever, the wheel & axle, the inclined plane, the wedge, the screw, and the pulley. We get explanations of how they work and tips for how they can be used in your own Rube Goldberg inventions.

Back matter tells you what to search for to see modern Rube Goldberg machines in action. The first one I searched, I couldn’t help but watch twice. And the main text of the book ends with steps for building your own, one of which is “Embrace Murphy’s Law.” I foresee kids having a whole lot of fun and creating amazing things, inspired by this book.

One note is that the print is very small throughout the book, and it begins with a Rube Goldberg-like diagram, which is a little tricky to follow and also has fine print. So this book is for upper elementary and middle school kids with good reading skills. Those who persist are sure to have their imagination sparked.

shandamc.com
chroniclekids.com

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