Great Elementary Non-Fiction for Thanksgiving (and you can win them!)

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and it's a great time for kids to learn about Thanksgiving while building their literacy skills. Enslow Publishers' non-fiction expert authors believe that reading informational texts should  be educational and fun.  With that in mind, here are three great, Common Core correlated, Thanksgiving books to make sure that young readers have an educational and fun Thanksgiving.  As a side note: if you like any of these books, be sure to check out our Pick-A-Page giveaway (details at the end of the post).

Thanksgivng Day, by Dorothy Goeller, is a delightfully silly reader for children just beginning to read. Featuring bright illustrations and simple text with one sentence per page, Thanksgiving Day is great for kids reading alone or with an adult. Common Core Correlations for Thanksgiving Day can be found here.

Storyteller Randel McGee's Paper Crafts for Thanksgiving shows young readers how to make their own Thanksgiving crafts while learning about the holiday.  Paper Crafts for Thanksgiving contains easy step-by-step instructions as well as reproducible templates for all of the crafts shown in the book.  Common Core Correlations for Paper Crafts for Thanksgiving can be found here.

What is Thanksgiving?, by Elaine Landau, introduces early readers to the traditions of Thanksgiving with beautiful photos and carefully crafted text.  To further engage the reader, What is Thanksgiving? features an activity where the reader constructs a "Thank-You" poster to give their thanks to the community for Thanksgiving. Common Core Correlations for What is Thanksgiving? can be found here.

Our Pick-A-Page Giveaway is still going on!  To enter the giveaway, go to our e-catalog and pick a page of titles you would like to receive for free. Like us on Facebook and leave a comment on Facebook, letting us know which page you would like to receive, and how those books would benefit your school/library. For everyone who enters, they will receive one book from the page they requested. One winner will be chosen at random at the end of the week, and that person will receive a copy of every book on that page. The winner will be announced on Facebook sometime next week!

It's Dark, It's Graphic, It's Classic Fiction, and It's from Enslow

We recently visited a public library which featured a Halloween book collection for young readers. We were delighted to see one of our new graphic novels -- Dark Graphic Tales by Edgar Allan Poe -- included in their display, right next to a Robert Louis Stevenson collection that included the wonderful, YA-appropriate short story The Body Snatcher. The Enslow book stood out, thanks to its cover that's just scary enough for Halloween, but not too scary to keep off a library shelf.

The Poe title, part of Enslow's new "Dark Graphic Novels" series, includes some of the 19th Century writer's finest work, including The Gold Bug and The Fall of the House of Usher. The carefully composed text delivers the sense and style of Poe's original work. The Enslow book's illustrator, trained in a rigorous European art school, has created strong, vivid images that will attract young readers.  These elements will encourage repeat circulation, a circumstance Enslow's sturdy library-bound edition is designed to handle.

The library-bound edition of Dark Graphic Tales by Edgar Allan Poe is available from Enslow for $22.95; that price represents a 25% school/library discount from Enslow's list price for this book. The book is also available at your preferred vendor, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

Don't forget to join our Pick-A-Page Giveaway, go to our e-catalog and pick a page of titles you would like to receive for free. Like us on Facebook and leave a comment on Facebook, letting us know which page you would like to receive, and how those books would benefit your school/library. For everyone who enters, they will receive one book from the page they requested. One winner will be chosen at random at the end of the week, and that person will receive a copy of every book on that page. The winner will be announced on Facebook sometime next week!

National Book Month and the return of our Pick-A-Page Giveaway!!

It's National Book Month. How about taking a visit to one of our national parks? Yosemite is located approximately four hours from San Francisco, and just about all of California's residents live within a one-day's drive of the park.

This park has lots of trails, camping facilities, scenic views, and for the adventurous souls, the ability to climb to the top of Half Dome, one of the huge granite monoliths. Standing next to one of the giant sequoia trees is another experience in and of itself. Enslow's nonfiction title describes the park, detailing the hiking and camping facilities, as well as the different and extraordinary things to see, like Glacier Point and El Capitan.

Now for the Pick-A-Page Giveaway, go to our e-catalog and pick a page of titles you would like to receive for free. Like us on Facebook and leave a comment on Facebook, letting us know which page you would like to receive, and how those books would benefit your school/library. For everyone who enters, they will receive one book from the page they requested. One winner will be chosen at random at the end of the week, and that person will receive a copy of every book on that page. The winner will be announced on Facebook sometime next week!

Check Out Drawings From Our Friends

Our friends, Ethan and Nolan, made these great drawings from our Drawing in 4 Easy Steps series. The books in this series are now also available in paperback as well as in their original library editions. They make great gifts for those aspiring artists or for kids who just like to draw. The books also provide prompts for kids to write stories based on the pictures they draw. They can be purchased from Enslow.com or from online retailers like Amazon and Barnes and Noble

Draw Aliens and Space Objects

Draw Animals

Draw Cartoon People

Draw Pirates

Draw Princesses

Draw Superheroes

Are the Yankees Missing Derek?

Even though Derek Jeter from the New York Yankees is sidelined due to a fractured ankle he suffered in the playoffs, we still think he's a champion baseball star!

Scheduled to undergo surgery on Saturday, the Yankee's captain is expected to need several months for a full recovery.

Do you think not having this champion player in the lineup for the remainder of the playoffs has made a difference in the outcome of the games?

3 Interesting Facts About Mars

• Methane, a gas produced on Earth almost entirely by living organisms, can be found on Mars.  Since no living organisms have been found on Mars, the cause behind the Martian methane is still unknown.
• NASA's Phoenix lander found that the soil on Mars would be suitable for sustaining plant life.
• The gigantic, dead volcano on Mars, Olympus Mons, is the largest mountain on any planet in the solar system.  Olympus Mons is about 2 1/2 times as high as Mount Everest, and the area it covers is about the size of New Mexico.

All of the above facts are from Enslow Publishers' Far-Out Guide to Mars from the award winning series, "Far-Out Guide to the Solar System".  If you can't get enough facts about Mars or the Solar System, be sure to look for these books at your favorite online store or ask for them at your local library!

Cuban Missile Crisis: 50 Years Ago Today

A half-century ago today, the United States and the Soviet Union began a series of events that nearly commenced a catastrophic nuclear war. This critical episode in American history is the subject of Enslow Publishers' Cuban Missile Crisis: In the Shadow of Nuclear War.

Author R. Conrad Stein's 128-page book succinctly provides young readers with the facts and age-appropriate style to understand this dramatic incident. He provides useful background on the Cold War and key figures such as JFK, Robert Kennedy, and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev. Stein provides a clear discussion of the implications of possible American actions during the crisis, such as a naval blockade and United Nations deliberations. The author also weaves the consequences of a nuclear conflict into his narrative, a lesson young readers need to grasp and carefully consider.

Enslow's Cuban Missile Crisis: In the Shadow of Nuclear War, part of the "America's Living History" series, is available in a library-bound edition for $23.95. That price represents a 25% school/library discount from Enslow's list price for this title.

Their Eyes Were Watching God and Teen Read Week

What books are part of your middle or high school list? For today, I thought I would focus on an author who has written several classics read by many middle and high school students.  I did not read Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Did you?

Library ISBN: 978-0-7660-3164-7

This is a heated story of love and passion. Written in 1937, this story of Janie Crawford, a resourceful and independent African-American woman, who searches for herself through her relationships with men. The main characters, Janie and Tea Cake, were modeled after Zora and Percival McGuire Punter, a man whom Zora loved. Percival wanted Zora to give up her writing career, but she would not do that, and instead went to the Caribbean, and wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God.

The book on the left is a reader's guide to that particular title. A plot summary and analysis as well as character studies of some of the major and minor characters in the book are included. In addition to all of this, primary and secondary themes are also discussed.

As far as biographies of Zora Neale Hurston, this middle-school biography describes her life as an anthropologist. She studied African-American culture in the South and collected stories and folklore and gave these stories life and made them widely known as a writer.

Posted by Pam

The History of Fire Prevention Week

Each year schools around the country celebrate National Fire Prevention Week. But do you know why it's celebrated during the month of October?

On October 9, 1911, Fire Prevention Day was proclaimed. This day was chosen because it was the fortieth anniversary of the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, which killed hundreds of people and destroyed thousands of buildings. In 1992, Fire Prevention Day was extended to an entire week. Fire Prevention Week is celebrated each year during the week that includes the date of October 9.

From our "Fire Dog Heroes" book

It's Fire Prevention Week - How Many Kids Aspire to Become Firefighters?

Choosing A Community Service Career
Library Edition: 978-0-59845-147-4
Paperback: 978-1-59845-312-6

Besides teaching fire safety, do think that Fire Prevention Week also inspires children to become firefighters?

Which other events throughout the school year, besides Career Day, do you think might influence children in their career choices?

What influenced your career choice?









Choosing a Community Service Career is from our Life–A How-to-Guide series

The Holocaust Through Primary Sources: Kristallnacht

Kristallnacht: The Nazi Terror That Began the Holocaust, from Enslow Publishers' award-winning series of books, "The Holocaust Through Primary Sources", is now available as a paperback through Blue Wave Classroom.  Author James M. Deem's freshly researched, primary source-based of Kristallnacht is now readily available for use in the classroom.

Blue Wave Classroom offers a free educator's guide for Kristallnacht (available here) as well as State Standard and Common Core correlations (available here).

The original Library Edition of Kristallnacht can be found on Enslow Publishers' website here.

Enslow's Graphic Version of "Frankenstein" and Tim Burton's New Movie "Frankenweenie"

Tim Burton's comic-horror riff on the "Frankenstein" story -- Frankenweenie --  is in movie theaters now. This Disney film production delivers a charming spoof on the Frankenstein legend that children are likely to enjoy.

One intriguing aspect of the movie is that it's shot in black-and-white. Burton has effectively used b-and-w in other films, and clearly believes black, white, and gray delivers the strongest impact for this picture.

Enslow Publishers' new graphic version of the classic novel Frankenstein was also created in black and white. The book's excellent art, which resembles woodcuts in its intensity, depth, and line, draws children into the mysterious world author Mary Shelley created nearly two centuries ago. The age-appropriate text gracefully flows from frame to frame, providing young readers with an enriching, exciting experience.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is available in an attractive library-bound edition for the school/library price of $22.95. That rate represents a 25% discount from Enslow's list price for this book.

Other books in the "Dark Graphic Novels" series include vivid color versions of Chilling Tales of Horror: Dark Graphic Short Stories and Dark Graphic Tales by Edgar Allan Poe.

It's Columbus Day

This anniversary of Christopher Columbus arriving in the Americas is celebrated in the United States as well as in Latin America, the Bahamas, Spain, and other countries.

Library ISBN 978-1-59845-101-6

Columbus: Opening Up the New World, by Stephen Feinstein, is a middle school title, tells the story of Columbus' discovery of what is now the modern-day Bahamas. In search of a faster trade route to Asia, Columbus thought he had landed in the Indies. Columbus sailed the Atlantic Ocean four times and claimed several Caribbean islands for Spain. He established colonies and opened up the trade of products and ideas that would forever change the world.

Some Friday Fan Mail

Every so often we receive fan mail in our office for our authors. Here's one that continues to make us smile so we wanted to share it so you can smile too. Hey fans, keep those letters coming!

More on the Common Core

There has been a lot of talk about the Common Core State Standards and how Appendix B applies. Many educators are using the list as a primary source for text.  The Common Core State Standards states as follows, with regards to appendix B:

Selecting Text Exemplars
"The following text samples primarily serve to exemplify the level of complexity and quality that the Standards require all students in a given grade band to engage with. Additionally, they are suggestive of the breadth of texts that students should encounter in the text types required by the Standards. The choices should serve as useful guideposts in helping educators select texts of similar complexity, quality, and range for their own classrooms. They expressly do not represent a partial or complete reading list."

There are many ways for educators to choose excellent books for their reading lists. Some of them include:

Recommendations from other teachers, librarians, and even parents!

Award Winners. You can find many award winning lists on the Internet.

Review committees and booksellers post their lists on their web sites.

How are you choosing your books for your reading list to use in conjunction with the Common Core State Standards? We would like to know!

Congratulations to our latest raffle winner!

Congratulations to Long Cane Middle School in Georgia for winning our monthly raffle!

Great Holiday Jokes for Kids!

With the holiday season fast approaching, and it's time for kids to learn some jokes for the holidays!  Here are a few great jokes from Enslow Publishers' bestselling book Ha-Ha Holiday Jokes to Tickle Your Funny Bone by award-winning author Felicia Lowenstein Niven:

Halloween
Question: "What's in a ghosts's nose?"
Answer: "BOOgers!"

Thanksgiving
Question: "What's the key to a great Thanksgiving?
Answer: "A tur-key, of course!"

Hanukkah
Question: "What did one candle say to the other candle?" Answer: "Let's go out tonight!"

Kwanzaa
"Knock, Knock!"
"Who's there?"
"Mayer."
"Mayer who?"
"Mayer Kwanzaa be filled with peace and unity!"

Christmas
Question: "Which of Santa's reindeer has bad manners?" Answer: "Rude-olph!"

If you still can't get enough goofy holiday jokes, be sure to check out Ha-Ha Holiday Jokes to Tickle Your Funny Bone! It's filled with hilarious jokes, ridiculous riddles, and fascinating facts about holidays from New Year's Day to New Year's Eve, and every holiday in-between!

New Jersey Holds "Week of Respect" program in schools

Started in 2010, the second annual "Week of Respect " is part of the state's anti-bullying campaign.

New Jersey's anti-bullying law is considered to be the toughest in the country. Previously, it had been recommended that schools have anti-bullying policies, but now it is required. The law was adopted after the 2010 suicide of Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers University freshman whose roommate used a webcam to spy on Clementi and another man in the dorm room.

Library ISBN 978-0-7660-2355-0

Bullying: How to Deal With Taunting, Teasing, and Tormenting, written for the middle school reader, begins with the story of one girl who was bullied in middle school. The book then addresses what bullying is, and why it is done. There is also a section about getting more information, finding Internet addresses, as well as finding more books on the topic.