Are you a non-fiction enthusiast? Or maybe after reading this column, you are looking for non-fiction books to entice your son. Here are our top non-fiction picks for all ages:
1) National Geographic Readers Series are fantastic for early readers! Books on all sorts of topics - plant, animals, transportation, rocks - you name it!
2) All About Frogs by Jim Arnosky is a beloved, fun introduction to the world of frogs.
3) Scholastic has a lovely science emergent readers series that are also good for the very early Foreign language learner, including Who lives in a Tree? Colors in the Desert, A Day in Japan, Animal Homes, Weather.
4) Snail Snaily Snails for the slightly more advanced reader. They have more books on other animals in this series.
5) Step into reading level 3 science reader has many good books for the yet more advanced, such as Space: Planets, Moons, Stars, and More! These also have Kindle versions.
6) Let's read and find out science - a series on all topic for 2nd-4th year reader.
7) Nonfiction is not only science - it can be biographies as well. For middle graders there is a wonderful series called Who is... or Who was... or What is.... Where is... What were.... I know a lot of these books are available at Wiz Kids.
Who was Amelia Earhart?
What was Hurricane Katrina?
Where is the Great Reef Barrier?
8) Adults might enjoy The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks. Truthfully, all of Oliver Sacks' books are fascinating, however, this book is probably his most famous one. Each chapter tells of a outlandish neurological disorder, such as the man with prosopagnosia, in which he is incapable of recognizing faces and mistakes his wife for a hat.
9) A Circle of Children by Mary MacCracken (and other books by Mary MacCracken)
Stories of Mary's experiences volunteering with special education children (and learning disabled in her other books). As a teacher, I truly enjoyed these books.
10) The Start-up Nation by Dan Senor and Saul Singer
A bit of patriotism with this New York Times bestseller on how the Israeli mentality has encouraged start-ups in Israel to succeed.
11) If you enjoyed the Start-up Nation, give a try to The Weapon Wizards: How Israel Became a High-Tech Military Superpower by Yaacov Katz and Amir Bohbot
A fascinating account of many developments the Israeli defense systems have undertaken. Many of them surprising, impressive and always innovative.
Gaila has almost 40 year of experience teaching and runs A.H.A.V.A., a non-profit to promote English literacy. Would you like to ask Gaila a question? Email us at ahava.org@gmail.com or send us a message. Look out for more Dear Gaila columns