Plagued by Nonfiction?

Take an interesting look into history with Jim Murphy's An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793.  Told day by day, Murphy writes about Philadelphia's first signs of the sickness, unexpected effects on the city, and reactions in the aftermath.  An American Plague uses primary sources such as drawings, maps, articles, poetry, comics, and government documents to tell the story of what happened to the nation's largest city and capital, as Philadelphia was home to George and Martha Washington at the time.  Murphy's book shows readers the details that make history interesting.  Rather than rattling off fact after fact, An American Plague reads somewhat like a novel with actual Philadelphians used to tell the history.  Famous and historical people are included and a special section discusses the role of African Americans in helping to overcome the plague.  A great source for historical information, this book takes learning about the plague to another level.

An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793
written by Jim Murphy
Scholastic, 2003
nonfiction book, ages 10 to 14
lexile measure: 1130

Awards/Recognition:
2004 The Rober Sibert Medal
2004 Newbery Honor
National Book Award Finalist
NCTE Orbis Pictus Award

SUGGESTIONS

READERS

This book is great for people who do or don't love nonfiction.  For the teen who loves nonfiction, it gets all the points for being accurate and having all the required information.  For the teen who prefers fiction, it reads more like a novel and makes them feel "more at home."  An American Plague would be a great resource for research projects or supplements to history lessons.

Cartoon shows Uncle Sam upset and wanting to "charge" the virus with crimes against humanity.

Murphy uses handwritten notes to show the desperation of Philadelphians.

Drawings from the time period are included to showcase different aspects of their daily lives.

WEB RESOURCES
American Memory
The Library of Congress provides a website of primary sources from America's history.  Readers can use this website to look for additional research about the plague.

The History Channel
The History Channel website is searchable and has videos, articles, and other resources for people wanting to learn more about Yellow Fever.

PBS Website
PBS offers a resource for The Great Fever and has articles, pictures, maps, a timeline, and more.

ACTIVITY

Because much of the book relies on primary sources, a lesson on how to read and use primary sources would be a great companion piece.  Many students haven't been taught to use the graphics in a nonfiction title as a source of information.  Teaching a lesson on using them would help them greatly in their future academics.  You can create your own lesson or use the ALA website lesson plan on understanding primary sources.

SIMILAR READING
I chose the books below because they show different sides of the sickness.  The first shows the medical side, the second looks at the sickness as a weapon, and the third tells the story of a girl living in Philadelphia in 1793.

The Secret of the Yellow Death: A True Story of Medial Sleuthing by Suzanne Jurmain
Age Range: Ages 10 and 14

This book shows a very cool yet gory way to see Yellow Fever from the medial side of the sickness.

Yellow Fever: A Deadly Disease Poised to Kill Again by James L. Dickerson

Age Range: Young Adult to Adult

This nonfiction book not only looks at the history of Yellow Fever, but also shows the impact such a disease could have on modern society.

Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
Age Range: Ages 10 and 14

Although not technically nonfiction, the amount of research Anderson did and historical documents used in the novel, paint an accurate picture of a child's life during the plague.

See, Touch, Taste, Hear, and Smell a Book

The book You Can't Taste a Pickle With Your Ear gives readers a fun way to learn about their five senses.  Definitely for early learners, this book allows an adult reader to show how the senses work through rhyming examples, funny drawings, and questions for children to use their senses.  Author Harriet Ziefert and illustrator Amanda Haley create a unique way to learn about your body.  Information is introduced in different ways to appeal to all different types of learners.  The pictures are great for visual learners, the rhyming sections appeal to auditory learners, and the do-it-yourself questions benefit kinesthetic learners.

You Can't Taste a Pickle With Your Ear
written by Harriet Ziefert
illustrated by Amanda Haley
Scholastic, 2002
nonfiction book, ages 4 to 6
lexile measure: not available

SUGGESTIONS

READERS

This book is great for parents or teachers to use with young children.  Ziefert had the book reviewed by a science educator to check for accuracies.  The content is not only scientifically correct but also engaging because of Ziefert's writing style and Haley's drawings.  Readers and listeners will have fun learning about the five senses.

Ziefert starts with a basic explanation of the senses but through experiences the reader and children can share.

The next section of the text has rhyming examples for further explanation.

The last part of each sense has the children apply the sense to their own lives.  They can think about the questions and discuss what the sense means to them.

WEB RESOURCES
Sid the Science Kid
This website has an interactive game that allows kids to learn about the senses and choose objects based on the sense Sid gives.

Neuroscience for Kids
A University of Washington neuroscientist created a site with different activities to stimulate the different senses.  Children can learn about the senses and then complete interactive indoor/outdoor lessons to showcase how each sense works.

Five Senses Song
Sockhead Smith and Freddy Shoehorn sing a song to teach children about the senses.  The link above is to the YouTube video.

ACTIVITY

A great activity would include all different types of sensory stimuli.  Play different sounds and have the children identify what the sounds are.  Put different flavored candy in a bag and have them blindly choose and put it in their mouth then try to guess the flavor.   For touch, you could do a Halloween Party type of "reach in and feel" activity.  If this is for a class, you could set them up as stations.  Be careful of allergies when doing these activities!

SIMILAR READING
I chose the books below because they connect to and elaborate on the five senses.  I tried to choose book that use different ways of teaching the senses - through stories, pull tabs, and activities.

You Smell and Taste and Feel and See and Hear by Mary Murphy
Age Range: Ages 2 and up

Told through simple stories about Little Dog and Mother Dog, Mary Murphy teaches children the different senses.

Sense-Abilities by Michelle O-Brien-Palmer
Age Range: Ages 4 to 8

This book would be great for parents or teachers to use.  It provides lessons and activities to activate children's five senses.

The Five Senses by Keith Faulkner
Age Range: Ages 3 and up

This book would be great in the hands of the children.  It has simple text that could be read out loud and then interactive tabs that show the animals using their senses.

OMG: Myths!

This book review is about a reference guide for the junior high crowd.  Oh My Gods!: A Look-It-Up Guide to the Gods of Mythology is a fun way for tweens to learns about the man, the myth, and the gods.  Megan E. Bryant takes the "same old" information about the Greek gods and compiles it into a creative, humorous, and visually stunning reference text.  Entries for each god include pronunciation, aliases, powers, attributes, top ten things to know, and connections to other gods.  After the basic information about the god, Bryant expands and tells his/her life story.  Key words are bold, sections have headings, and pictures show the content in more detail.  Bryant's combination of information and humor definitely makes for a good mix of myths.

Oh My Gods!: A Look-It-Up Guide to the Gods of Mythology
written by Megan E. Bryant
Scholastic, 2010
reference book, ages 10 to adult
lexile measure: 820

Awards/Recognition:
Editor's Choice Award, Library Media Connection

SUGGESTIONS

READERS

What better way to attract the reluctant reader than through funny comics, tweets from the gods, and hot spots around their world?  Bryant's clever connection to the modern world and social media will definitely appeal to readers everywhere.  Because of the reference-style text structure, this book would also work well in a classroom as a lesson on structure.  Whether for leisure reading or classroom reading, Oh My Gods! is a great source of information.

Bryant uses tweets/Facebook posts to show the personalities of the gods.  Readers can easily see the relationships between gods based on their "posts."

Bryant also gives additional information about who does what in the mythology world.

The entries for the gods are colorful, humorous, and informative.

WEB RESOURCES
Encyclopedia Mythica
An award-winning internet encyclopedia of mythology, folklore, and religion.

Theoi Greek Mythology
This is an online reference guide to mythology in classical literature and art.

Rick Riordan's Greek Mythology
Rick Riordan's website let's visitors explore the world of Greek mythology through online maps and games.

ACTIVITY

This reference book would work great in conjunction with a mythology lesson.  One of my favorite activities was in 6th grade when we dressed up as the different gods and had to stay in character for the entire class party.  I think with today's students, you could take it a step further and have them "tweet" throughout the unit as their gods.  Have templates of a paper tweet for students to use.  They can pick them up at the beginning of the class, and then you could use their tweets as exit slips for the lesson.  You could post the tweets on the front board for all students to read.

SIMILAR READING
I chose the books below because they would work well in a mythology unit or with people who enjoy reading myths.  Students and teachers could use a variety of books to supplement the lessons and projects.

The Everything Classical Mythology Book by Lesley Bolton
Age Range: Grades 6 to 10

This book gives additional information about the Greek and Roman gods.  It is very similar to Oh My Gods! but isn't quite as connected to the modern world.

Hades: Lord of the Dead by George O'Connor
Age Range: Grades 4 to 9

This book is part of a graphic novel series about the Olympians.  Any of these books would work in conjunction with teaching myths.  Students who are interested in myths but may not love reading would like the graphic version of the stories.

Mythology for Teens: Classic Myths for Today's World by Zachary Hamby, Ph.D.
Age Range: Grades 6 to 10

This book is written for teachers to use with students.  It includes information about the myths and reader theater lessons to do with a class.