Nonfiction Monday: From Assembly Lines to Home Offices by Jennifer Boothroyd

I'm hosting Nonfiction Monday today.  Nonfiction Monday gives children's book bloggers a chance to share interesting nonfiction books with their readers.  If you would like to participate today, please leave a comment below and I will update the list throughout the day. Thanks.

From Assembly Lines to Home Offices: How Work has Changed
written by Jennifer Boothroyd
Lerner Publications Company, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7613-6748-2
Interest Level: K-2
Reviewed from copy received from school colleague.

BLURB:  Many people use computers to work from home and other places. And special equipment makes work safer than in the past. But long ago, computers didn't exist. Safety equipment hadn't been invented either. In what other ways has work changed over time? 

I've found that identifying nonfiction books that work well as a read-a-loud is not as easy as I once thought.  Not that there isn't a lot of great nonfiction available, just that many of them are too long for a library read-a-loud, especially for the younger grades. First graders especially have short attention spans.  That's one reason that I like Lerner's Lightning Bolt series. The other reason that I like this series is the consistently high quality of the work.  Attractive designs combined with clear photographs and large texts make these books ideal for nonfiction read-a-louds. 

This particular book is part of Lerner's Comparing Past and Present series.  The photographs and text point out some of the major changes that have occurred in the workplace over the last few decades.  I appreciated the fact that it looks at work from a variety of angles including how the jobs available for women have changed, safety changes, tools available, and the types of work that are most common now.  The table of contents, glossary, index, and further reading features are great for teaching students about nonfiction books.  Highly recommended, especially for elementary school libraries.

Check out these books for some further great reading:

Jennifer at Jean Little Books has The Thinking Girls Treasury of Dastardly Dames. These look like fascinating reading.

Lisa at Reads for Keeps highlights Charles and Emma by Deborah Heiligman.

The Wild About Nature blog continues their Year-In Review series with book news from Wild Writer Heidi Bee Roemer. Stop to catch up with Heidi and be sure to share your own book-related year-in-review in the comments.

Amy at Hope is the Word reviews An Edible Alphabet: 26 Reasons to Love the Farm.

Brenda at proseandkahn takes a look at Bones: Dead People Do Tell Tales by Sara L. Latta. 

Shelf-Employed features Mary Had a Little Lamb: The True Story of a Famous Nursery Rhyme.

Jama at Jama's Alphabet Soup offers a review of George Ancona's Come and Eat.

Jeff at NC Teacher Stuff has a review on About Hummingbirds.

Myra at Gathering Books shares The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba by Margarita Engle.

Janet at All About Books with Janet Squires tells us about Barbarians by Steven Kroll.

Margo at The Fourth Musketeer lets us know about Saga of the Sioux: An Adaptation from Dee Brown's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dwight Jon Zimmerman.

Roberta at Wrapped in Foil talks about Into the Unknown by Stewart Ross.

Anastasia at Booktalking Children's Books highlights two nonfiction books today.  First is a Picture Book of the Day called 3-D Theater: Oceans.  Second is Captain Mac: The Life of Donald Baxter Macmillian, Arctic Explorer by Mary Morton Cowan as Chapter Book of the Day.

Be sure to check out these fun and informative reviews. For more great children's nonfiction recommendations check out I.N.K. (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids). Thanks for stopping by.