I finally caught up on some non­fic­tion pic­ture book read­ing at the end of the month. As usual, his­tory and biog­ra­phy dom­i­nated my efforts for the Non-Fiction Pic­ture Book Chal­lenge.

Geor­gia in Hawaii: When Geor­gia O’Keeffe Painted What She Pleased by Amy Novesky and illus­trated by Yuyi Morales is a feast for the eyes. This story of O’Keeffe’s rebel­lious and inspired trip to Hawaii for the Hawai­iin Pineap­ple Com­pany (now Dole) is a great intro­duc­tion to the painter’s tem­pera­ment and artis­tic style. Be sure to share the illustrator’s note with chil­dren and then look up the paint­ings that inspired Morales’ illus­tra­tions, espe­cially Pineap­ple Bud.

A Pic­ture Book of Sam Hous­ton by David A. Adler and Michael S. Adler is a solid biog­ra­phy for intro­duc­ing the many con­tri­bu­tions Hous­ton made to Amer­i­can his­tory. Often cred­ited for the rally cry, “Remem­ber the Alamo!” while com­mand­ing the Texas Army, Hous­ton was also a teacher, attor­ney gen­eral, gov­er­nor of two states, sen­a­tor, and the pres­i­dent of Texas. An oppo­nent of slav­ery, retire­ment was forced upon him when he refused to take a loy­alty oath to the Con­fed­er­acy. Clearly a fig­ure in Amer­i­can his­tory worth get­ting to know, the Adlers’ biog­ra­phy pro­vides an apt intro­duc­tion for chil­dren and Matt Collins ably illus­trated his exploits.

See­ing Sym­me­try by Loreen Leedy is a great book intro­duc­ing sym­me­try and mak­ing it fun to look for in objects around us. The text is spare and straight­for­ward work­ing hand in hand with the many illus­tra­tions to make the con­cept clear. A wide vari­ety of exam­ples from nature, art, the alpha­bet and hol­i­days make the con­cepts of line and rota­tional sym­me­try easy to under­stand. The back mat­ter with activ­i­ties and fur­ther expla­na­tions is help­ful as well. The final page explain­ing why sym­me­try is an impor­tant math con­cept will be as help­ful for par­ents as chil­dren. An excel­lent book to share as a fam­ily before a nature walk or a game of Pac-Man.

Minette’s Feast by Suzanne Reich is based on the fic­tional premise that Julia Child went to cook­ing school to learn to cook some­thing her cat, Minette, would pre­fer over fresh mouse. A host of true facts are con­tained within the story how­ever includ­ing numer­ous quo­ta­tions from Child’s own let­ters and writ­ings. Amy Bates’ draw­ings will have you dream­ing of a vaca­tion to Paris. My favourite illus­tra­tion is Minette pounc­ing on a brus­sel sprout tied to a string. Adults famil­iar with Julia Child will prob­a­bly enjoy Minette’s Feast even more than chil­dren, but its two pro­tag­o­nists will delight both young and old.