Breaking Taboo: Talking About Death with Children

After Life: Ways We Think About Death by Merrie-Ellen Wilcox.
Copyright 2018 by Orca Book Publishers. Ages 9-12; Lexile level 1120.

Death is one of those concepts we hope our children stay ignorant of for a long while, but life doesn’t always work out that way. It may be a pet, it may be a grandparent, or - in truly unfortunate circumstances - it may be a classmate. When death comes into a child’s life, there are bound to be questions, but in an effort to preserve as much of their innocence as possible, we may give the impression that talking about death is taboo, causing their questions to go unanswered.

For older children, After Life: Ways We Think About Death is an honest, factual look at all aspects of death. Each respective chapter examines common beliefs about the afterlife, what death scientifically means and its causes, how science and medicine have affected life and death, manners of burial and how the body decomposes after death, funerary traditions in various parts of the world, and grief/mourning. Wilcox does an excellent job of balancing central facts with relevant sidebar tidbits - everything from stories of various mythologies to how the modern Western funeral industry developed to the hospice cat that always cuddled with nursing home patients in their last few hours. A thorough glossary and index is especially helpful for readers looking for specifics, and a resource list/bibliography provides further points of research, though none of the resources are specifically for middle grade readers.

After Life may currently be the only option for educating older children on death, but even were it one of many, it would still be a solid and well-researched option that is written with respect for reader and topic alike. This book would be helpful for readers who have lost someone themselves, who have a friend who is grieving, or who are simply curious about this rarely-discussed topic.

Biometrics: Who We Are and How to Prove It

Biometrics: Your Body and the Science of Security by Maria Birmingham, illustrated by Ian Turner.

Copyright 2017 by Owlkid Books. Ages 8-12; Lexile level 1010.

Our society's current relationship with physical technology security is a complex one. On one hand, many of us unlock our phones with a fingerprint or our face without a second thought. On the other, the use of facial recognition in public areas has been in the news recently, raising concerns about security and the potential of a “big brother” state. And as much as today’s children are native technology users when it comes to entertainment and education, they probably aren’t giving much thought to securing that technology (except maybe from a pesky little sister).

Biometrics: Your Body and the Science of Security is an interesting and informative introduction to this aspect of technology. Birmingham brings a detailed, balanced approach to educating young readers about the current biometrics in use and those that are in development. These range from those that kids have probably heard of - fingerprints, retinal scans - to those that might surprise even adult readers - did you know that we’ve started using the pattern of veins in your hand as a means of identification?

At a minimum, each biometric’s profile covers how easy the biometric is to implement and how secure it is, how the biological data is gathered, where the technique currently used, and potential challenges and downsides. Some profiles are further fleshed out with the history of the biometric and improvements or related techniques that are in process. For instance, South Korean scientists are trying to create a way for machines to read the pattern of sweat pores on fingertips as an alternative to reading the traditional pattern of ridges that make up fingerprints.

The writing level is just right - not too technical, not too simplistic. Some readers may still be initially intimidated; though each page’s layout separates information into clear subsections, there’s still a lot of text, almost to the point of being cluttered. However, Turner’s playful illustration style does help break up the text blocks and adds much needed visual interest.

Biometrics would be good for kids who are particularly curious about the technology they use. It could also be a good resource for compare and contrast lessons/exercise, in which students could each pick which biometric they think is best and defend it. Or they could even try to come up with ideas for future biometrics! In any case, readers will be better informed to make real-life choices about their personal security for years to come.

The Heart of America: Great Immigrants and Their Stories

First Generation: 36 Trailblazing Immigrants and Refugees Who Make America Great by Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace, illustrated by Agata Nowicka. Copyright 2018 by Little, Brown and Company. Lexile level 1050; ages 8-12.

It is one thing to tell a child that the United States is a country of immigrants. It is another to prove that those immigrants have been and still are active contributors to and participants in all aspects of our shared culture, and that so many conveniences they benefit from and so much entertainment they enjoy would not exist without those whose home is America by choice rather than by birth. First Generation: 36 Trailblazing Immigrants and Refugees Who Make America Great is one piece of that proof. Co-written by a daughter of a refugee (Sandra) and illustrated by a Polish immigrant, this book profiles both historical and modern immigrants and refugees who made significant contributions to their fields.

First Generation’s greatest strength is its variety. The people featured come from many time periods (from Mother Jones born in 1837 to hijabi model Halima Aden born in 1997), from many regions (Africa, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, the Americas), and contributed to many fields (science, music and the arts, social activism, business, sports). Some of those included are household names - Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla, Yo-Yo Ma - but the majority are persons that even most adults wouldn’t recognize.

First Generation also includes tips for readers to support immigrants and refugees in their community and for celebrating multiple cultures, as well as recommended resources for learning more about immigrants/refugees and a bibliography sorted by person.

This book could be incorporated into just about any social studies topic, including educating middle grades children on the “melting pot”/”salad bowl” nature of our country. It could also provide a starting point for a biographical assignment, introducing children to a variety of influential persons who they could then research further - and as different as each featured immigrant is from each other, there’s a great chance one or another will click with a reader, whether because of a shared nationality or because of a shared interest.

Though intended for upper elementary, we could all benefit from a reminder like First Generation - our varied backgrounds and experiences are a strength, and that strength is what truly makes America great.

A World of Flavor: Chef Roy Choi

Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee, illustrated by Man One.
Copyright 2017 by Readers to Eaters. Ages 5-12; Lexile level 710.

Then a friend said let’s open a taco truck,
put Korean barbecue in a taco.


What? Chefs cook in kitchens, not on trucks!
But Roy said yes!
He wanted to remix the tastes he loved
on the streets that were his home.

Here’s another one that you probably shouldn’t read when hungry! Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix is a biography of the Korean-American chef as he finds his own culinary style - and underline that word style, because boy does this book have it! The writing is like freestyle poetry - no rhymes, but there’s definitely an underlying rhythm to it. It’s further flavored with the occasional Korean term, which are defined in colorful spray-paint splatters.

Street artist Man One's large, bold illustrations in their vibrant colors are as attention grabbing as Choi's food must be. They really reflect the mood of the text, especially those that contrast with the general vivaciousness of the book - dark when Choi is feeling lost and white and comparatively bland when he is employed at a formal kitchen, which isn’t really his fit. The illustrations also validate graffiti as a real art style!

Chef Roy Choi has received quite a few accolades; our copy only notes its designation as a Junior Library Guild Selection, but among its other awards are a Sibert honor, INDIES Book of the Year Finalist, and an ALA Notable Children’s Book. That’ll happen when your book is a little bit different from anything you’ve seen before, just like Choi’s cooking itself.

This book encourages kids to both explore food of other cultures and to experiment with the flavors they already know and love, and could be incorporated into units on diversity, careers, Los Angeles, or even art. But watch out - you're about to have a whole batch of little foodies on your hands!

Beyond Drawing: Learning Art

Art and How it Works: An Introduction to Art for Children by Ann Kay. Copyright 2018 by DK Children.
Ages 7-9; Lexile level 880 

Among procedural non-fiction, few categories are as popular as “how to draw” books. For aspiring artists, these instructions on how to draw people, pets, Pokémon, and everything in between help develop confidence in their skills to put the images in their head to paper. Yet there’s so much more to art than accurately reproducing the shapes of things. How will young artists learn about the different mediums available to them or the elements that shape the viewers experience of their art unless they are taught? Hopefully, these children have quality art classes available, whether at school or elsewhere in the community.

For those who do not have such lessons (or who wish to explore further), Art and How it Works: An Introduction to Art for Children is art class compressed into a book. provides curious artists with a little bit of everything, mixing art history seamlessly with elements of art, art mediums, techniques, common subjects of artwork, and color associations.

Publisher DK is well-known for their use of large, appealing photographs in a variety of expository works, and that holds true here too. About half of each two-page spread is imagery, providing plenty of practical examples to accompany the text. Also, the text is grouped into small snippets rather than a single long explanation of each idea, which helps keep the attention of young readers. And that’s important when there’s as much information per topic as there is here! Reader tools include a timeline in the back helps bring all the mentioned history into order, as well as a glossary and index.

Even though this book is expositional rather than procedural, the vast overview of art topics can provide fledgling artists with starting points for different kinds of procedural art books or online resources, whether they find interest in a new medium like watercolors or a new technique like pointillism. One great resource to consider could be Creativebug, a subscription service that provides access to video lessons made by established teachers and artists on a variety of art and crafts topics. Especially for libraries that have a makerspace, setting up a library Creativebug account could really boost opportunities for new artists - children or otherwise!

Art and How it Works could be just the push that a child needs to progress from imitating the works of others to creating their own original imagery - and who knows, maybe someday that original work will make its own appearance in an art book down the road!

What, Why, and How: Curiosity About the World

How Did That Get in my Lunchbox?: The Story of Food by Chris Butterworth, illustrated by Lucia Gaggiotti.
Copyright 2011 by Candlewick Press. Ages 5-8; Lexile level 740

If you’ve spent any time around young children, you know they ask questions. A lot. Like, every other breath. And if that’s not the perfect age to get them into the habit of consulting books for answers, I don’t know what is. How Did That Get in my Lunchbox?: The Story of Food is a great example of a book that can start kids off on that path.

As implied by the title, this charming work traces the processes that a handful of popular lunchtime foods go through to arrive at a store, from bread to cheese, from carrots to chocolate. Butterworth seems indecisive on when to use proper terminology and when to simply describe - a greenhouse is only called a “big plastic tunnel” while “combine harvester” is used without additional describing words - but otherwise the vocabulary is simple and the language natural.

What really shines here is the author’s generous use of tactile adjectives throughout each food process; chocolate is “sticky” and “gritty” before it becomes “really smooooooth,” “fat, ripe grains” are made into “soft, squishy” dough before being baked into bread, and clementines start as “sweet-smelling, waxy” flowers. Each spread is capped off with a tantalizing description of the food’s flavor - cheese is “creamy” and “tingly,” carrots “sweet” and “crunchy” - that honestly makes the book a bit dangerous to read if you’re already hungry!

With descriptions like that, illustrations almost feel unnecessary - but Gaggiotti's work here still adds much to the book’s quality. The colorful, attractive style strikes a balance between simplicity and depicting the details needed to support the text. The font choice is also appealing, combining rounded letters with crisp readability. Even the visual flow of the layout works in the reader’s favor; though numbers and arrows are occasionally used for clarity, images and text are generally arranged so that reading them in the correct order is almost intuitive.

How Did That Get in my Lunchbox? is a solid choice for introducing any sort of food topic, though its use for teaching nutrition is further supported with an illustrated plate depicting all the food groups.

In the classroom, this book could very easily be extended into an activity in which kids research the source of their own favorite food and create a poster to share with their classmates what they’ve found. (Be warned, though, that none of the foods described here include meat - there’s no help to be found here for explaining that the tasty bacon they eat for breakfast was once a pig.)

Now then, who’s ready for lunch?

Information in Images: Graphic Non-fiction

Dogs: From Predator to Protector by Andy Hirsch. Copyright 2017 by First Second. Ages 9-13; Lexile level 820.

How many of us in library work have witnessed a child pick out a graphic novel, only for a parent to tell them they need to pick out a “real book?” Thankfully, these adults seem to be the exception nowadays, and every year graphic novels are more accepted and celebrated by librarians and educators. And their popularity among readers of all ages certainly can’t be denied! Given their appeal, it’s almost surprising that non-fiction hasn’t turned to graphic novels sooner; non-fiction often relies on visual aids to support the text, so why not use a medium that is completely visual and can seamlessly integrate text and images?

Launched in 2016 by publisher First Second (the company behind Mighty Jack, Zita the Spacegirl, and The Prince and the Dressmaker), Science Comics is a series of non-fiction graphic novels that stands as an exemplary model of what can be done with the medium.

Science Comics currently has seventeen titles, with three announced for the immediate future.

One of Science Comic’s titles is Dogs: From Predator to Protector. Set in a loose narrative of a day at the park with “his person,” Dogs is an otherwise expository work in which a terrier named Rudy is the reader’s guide through the journey of the dog, from wolves at the dawn of civilization to the pets of today.

As a graphic novel, the quality of the visuals may be just as important as the information they depict - how else would it get the attention of a prospective reader? Fortunately, the graphics of Dogs are as bold, colorful, and expressive as they are informative.

And are they ever informative! Dozens of scientific concepts are touched on along the way, from Mendelian genetics to behavior modification - concepts that most adults didn’t begin learning until junior high, if not high school. Yet these concepts are absolutely explained in ways that middle grade readers can understand, and much of that is due to how the pictures are used: readers are given constant visual examples of what the text discusses, sometimes in the form of actual diagrams, such as Punnett squares. In all honesty, this may not be the right book for those who are only casually interested in the main topic - but for those who get intense about their interests, the intense amount of information here is the perfect fit.

 

Dogs: From Predator to Protector is an information-rich resource for middle grade readers (and up!) who never stopped asking “why?” If Dogs is representative of the rest of the Science Comics series, I eagerly look forward to exploring more.