Welcome to the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge that Alyson Beecher hosts at Kid Lit Frenzy each Wednesday. Visit Alyson for the link-up to lots more posts about nonfiction picture books.
I’m sharing my Goodreads review for Cheryl Bardoe and Barbara McClintock’s Nothing Stopped Sophie this week.
What a fabulous picture book biography of mathematician Sophie Germain! Here are just some of the things I love about it:
- An opening that succinctly and clearly lets me know the time and place that Sophie lived. (I hate it when I’m left hanging about where and when I’m reading about, as that gives me larger context for the story.)
- A great refrain: “Nothing stopped Sophie.”
- Simple explanations of complex topics–both mathematical ones and historical ones, like the French Revolution.
- Beautiful writing: “Telling Sophie not to think about math was like telling a bird not to soar.”
- Interesting backmatter. I especially love illustrator Barbara McClintock’s note. My visual literacy stinks, so having notes from the illustrator helps me go back and discover some of the wonderful layers added by the illustrator that I probably missed on my initial reading!
Thanks for this inspiring book, Cheryl Bardoe, Barbara McClintock, and Little, Brown!
It’s a wonderful book that shows how passion for something cannot be stopped! I loved this book! Thanks for the reminder about it, Laura!
I loved this book, too, Laura. It’s such a great story to show students about persistence and following one’s passion no matter what!
This is a great book! I gave handful of this title to kids at Kidquake this year. Really well done nonfiction!
My fourth grade class thoroughly enjoyed this book! It’s great to use when teaching mindset–persistence, resilience, etc.