Rocks in His Head
10 best books like Rocks in His Head (Carol Otis Hurst): The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer's Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors, One Tiny Turtle, Bring Me Some Apples and I'll Make You a Pie: A Story About Edna Lewis, Miss Lady Bird's Wildflowers: How a First Lady Changed America, Marven of the Great North Woods, Boxes for Katje, Handel, Who Knew What He Liked, Molly Bannaky, Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein, The Bear That Heard Crying
A discovery that made the world a brighter place!
Joe and Bob Switzer were very different brothers. Bob was a studious planner who wanted to grow up to be a doctor. Joe dreamed of making his fortune in show business and loved magic tricks and problem-solving.
When an accident left Bob...
Author | Nicola Davies |
ISBN | 0763623113 |
"Simple, lyrical words and bright, acrylic doublepage pictures convey the astonishing facts about the loggerhead sea turtle. . . . A powerful nature story for a young audience." —BOOKLIST
Far, far out at sea lives one of the world's most mysterious creatures, the loggerhead turtle. For...
Author | Robbin Gourley |
ISBN | 0618158367 |
Long before the natural-food movement gained popularity, before greenmarkets sprouted across the United States, Edna Lewis championed purity of ingredients, regional cuisine, and the importance of bringing food directly from the farm to the table. She was a chef when female chefs—let alone...
Author | Kathi Appelt |
ISBN | 0060011076 |
Bluebonnets and lady's slippers, larkspurs and blazing stars, black-eyed Susans and Granny's nightcaps.
From a lonely childhood in the Piney Woods of East Texas to an exciting life in the White House, Lady Bird Johnson loved these wildflowers with all her heart. They were her companions...
This is a wonderful picture book. It is a bit long, so I'd recommend for ages 5 and up. But it succeeds in a tough genre for children's books - period non-fiction.
It's a story of a 10-year-old, Marven, who is sent away from his family during the flu epidemic of 1918. He leaves Duluth and goes to a logging...
Author | Candace Fleming |
ISBN | 0374309221 |
Simple seeds of friendship grow into something extraordinary
After World War II there is little left in Katje's town of Olst in Holland. Her family, like most Dutch families, must patch their old worn clothing and go without everyday things like soap and milk. Then one spring morning when the...
Author | M.T. Anderson |
ISBN | 0763625620 |
George Frideric Handel was not your everyday eighteenth-century composer. And in a manner befitting its subject, this witty, rigorously researched, and accessible biography captures Handel's essential spirit — from a child who smuggled a clavichord into the attic to make music against his father's...
On a cold gray morning in 1683, Molly Walsh sat on a stool tugging at the udder of an obstinate cow. When she spilled the milk, she was brought before the court for stealing. Because she could read, Molly escaped the typicalpunishment of death on the gallows. At the age of seventeen, the English dairymaid...
Author | Don Brown |
ISBN | 0618492984 |
When he was born in 1879, Albert was a peculiarly fat baby with an unusually big and misshaped head. When he was older, he hit his sister, frustrated his teachers, and had few friends. But Albert’s strange childhood also included his brilliant capacity for puzzles and problem solving: the mystery...
Author | Natalie Kinsey-Warnock |
ISBN | 0140558543 |
This is a true story set in New Hampshire. The author is a distant relative of Sarah Whitcher, the little girl whom the story is about.
Sarah is just three years old when she wanders off by herself and becomes lost in the woods. A rescue team was sent out to look for her to no avail. A man comes to town and...
Author | William Miller |
ISBN | 1880000881 |
As a young black man in the segregated South of the 1920s, Wright was hungry to explore new worlds through books, but was forbidden from borrowing them from the library. This touching account tells of his love of reading, and how his unwavering perseverance, along with the help of a co-worker, came together...
Author | Louise Borden |
ISBN | 0689845022 |
"You're a strong skater, Piet, and you have a quick mind. This is why I know you'll succeed in this important task. I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't know it could be done."
In 1941 Piet, a young Dutch boy from Sluis, gets the assignment of a lifetime: He must skate along the frozen canals of...
Author | Franklyn Mansfield Branley |
ISBN | 0064451666 |
Starts with the idea of water vapor being something that is in the air but that you can't see, or smell or feel it. It then explains evaporation by suggesting putting a teaspoon of water in a saucer in the morning and that it will have evaporated by later in the day or a boiling tea kettle. It explains that sometimes...
A Coretta Scott King Honor Award author offers a fresh look at this pioneering American innovator
Shampoo from peanuts? Wallpaper from clay? Ink from sweet potatoes? Discover Carver's imagination and inspiration in this one-of-a-kind biography.
With imagination and intellect,...
Author | Margarita Engle |
ISBN | 0805089373 |
In the Middle Ages, people believed that insects were evil, born from mud in a process called spontaneous generation. Maria Merian was only a child, but she disagreed. She watched carefully as caterpillars spun themselves cocoons, which opened to reveal summer birds, or butterflies and moths. Maria...
Author | Ingri d'Aulaire |
ISBN | 0385241062 |
It sort of pains me to only give this book 4 stars; it is really so good. (I am one of those people who either passionately loves a book or hates it. There is rarely an in between.)
These d'Aulaire books are GORGEOUSLY illustrated, and I feel like I am looking at a work of art as I flip through the pages....
Author | Roma Gans |
ISBN | 0064451704 |
Holly Keller has created vivacious new paintings for this favorite Reading Rainbow title about geology. Readers follow two enthusiastic rock hounds around the globe as they add to their collection. Along the way they will learn how sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks are formed. From the...
Author | Jan Brett |
ISBN | 0399244638 |
The African plains provide a stunning environment for Jan Brett's latest animal adventure. For as long as anyone can remember, the honeyguide bird and the African honey badger have been partners when it comes to honey:Honeyguide finds the honeycomb, Badger breaks it open, and they share the sweetness...
Author | Peggy Christian |
ISBN | 0152393390 |
Think of all the rocks there are: the skipping rocks, the splashing rocks, and the chalk rocks. Whether the found treasures are climbing rocks or wishing rocks, children can't help collecting them. With joyful text and luminous photographs, If You Find a Rock celebrates rocks everywhere--as well...
Author | Bonnie Christensen |
ISBN | 0375867538 |
Acclaimed author-illustrator Bonnie Christensen adopts the voice of Galileo and lets him tell his own tale in this outstanding picture book biography. The first person narration gives this book a friendly, personal feel that makes Galileo's remarkable achievements and ideas completely accessible...
The Boy on Fairfield Street
Author | Kathleen Krull |
ISBN | 0375822984 |
Award-winning author Kathleen Krull zeros in on the formative first 22 years of the life of Ted Geisel. This is the first picture book biography of Dr. Seuss, written especially for his young fans who want to know what made him tick. The animals in the zoo that his father ran and his fondness for drawing...
Author | Byrd Baylor |
ISBN | 0689710518 |
Well, this is a wonderful nostalgic book for adults who collected rocks when they were kids; I’m one of them. And, some kids who enjoy the natural world might appreciate it because it stresses their autonomy in the pursuit of choosing a rock of their very own. I also like how the girl stresses play with...
Author | Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld |
ISBN | 1426310390 |
From dazzling gemstones to sparkling crystals to molten lava, this brilliantly illustrated book introduces children to the exciting world of rocks and minerals, including both the building blocks and the bling. This level two reader, written in easy-to-grasp text, will help cultivate the geologists...
Boy, Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs!
Author | Kathleen V. Kudlinski |
ISBN | 0525469788 |
The ancient Chinese thought they were magical dragons. Some old-time scientists thought that because they were so big, all they could do was float in water. Boy, were they wrong! Even today, once-common notions about dinosaurs are being revised as new discoveries are made. This lively book about the...
Author | Betty Tatham |
ISBN | 0064452069 |
Penguin Chick is a great book It is written very clearly, and explains the meaning of new words, like rookery, krill, crèche, and tobagganing. It is a very thorough look at a penguin's life cycle, but is short and simple enough that a child could follow along enthusiastically all the way through. It may...