Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge 2017 #nfpb2017

Kid Lit Frenzy’s Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge has long been one of my favorite annual reading challenges, but I never got my blogging act in gear in 2016 to participate in weekly posts. (Though I did do plenty of reading: check out my list of 10 favorite nonfiction picture books from 2016). I’d like to do something a little different with my blog posts this year: in addition to posting brief reviews of individual titles, I’d like to develop some lengthier posts to share with my Children’s Literature students, curating recommendation lists, profiling authors and illustrators, and creating text sets.

My reading goals:

• Read at least one nonfiction picture book each week.
• Read at least eight middle-grade and/or YA nonfiction titles.
• Read all winners and honor books for 2017’s Sibert and Orbis Pictus Awards, as well as any nonfiction titles honored by other ALA Youth Media Awards committees.
• Select one or more nonfiction children’s book awards and complete all winners and honor books (I only have about twenty books left to complete the Sibert, for example.)

Today, I’m sharing Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Invention, written by Chris Barton and illustrated by Don Tate.

I really enjoyed this book and think it would have wide appeal among K-8 readers. Lonnie Johnson was a non-stop tinkerer and inventor even as a child. From an early age he knew he wanted to be an engineer, but a school test indicated he had little aptitude for it. Far from being discouraged, Lonnie just redoubled his efforts to invent a robot, a project he and his team eventually completed and presented at their state science fair. After college, Lonnie ended up working for NASA, but he never stopped tinkering and inventing in his spare time. He eventually focuses his efforts on making a success of the super-soaker water gun he invented (mostly by accident) and continues to work hard in his home workshop, “facing challenges, solving problems, and building things.”

Don Tate’s illustrations are colorful and inviting. Barton’s text is straightforward and clearly written. There is an Author’s Note that details the fascinating story of how this book came to be written. I do wish there had been more back matter: resources, additional information, photographs, etc.

Artwork by Sarah S. Brannen