Redwoods ~ By Jason Chin (2009, Flashpoint, The Roaring Brook Press)

Summary: A boy's subway trip is changed as he reads a book about the redwood forests. He reads about the tallest trees in the world and eventually the book takes him to California, where he gets to climb into these majestic trees. This book is stuffed full of facts and interesting information about these natural marvels.

My Review: I really liked this book because of it's great pictures. It also as a lot of great information about redwoods. The story has a great progression from the subway to the forest that I think a lot of children will enjoy. 


Author and Image: Redwoods is Jason Chin’s first book. He is also an illustrator. He was trained in illustrations at Syracuse University and worked for Books of Wonder in New York City. Books he illustrated include The Day the World Exploded, The Master Spy Handbook, The Master Detective Handbook, Chinese New Year, and The Silver Sorceress of OZ. Before making the book, Jason Chin went to visit the redwood forests in California.

Genre: Non-fiction
Theme/Skill: Biology, Nature, Inquiry, Fact-finding,
Age Level: 2-7 grade

Pre-reading Activity: I would do a KWL chart about what students Know about redwoods and what they Want to learn about them. I would also ask students if they know where to find redwoods.

Post-reading Activity: I would finish the KWL chart with what students have Learned. There are a lot of fun facts about redwoods in this book and it would be easy to go back through it and find any that we may miss. I would also share the author's website with them and possibly try to write to the author. We could invite him to our school and he could share his book writing and illustrating process with us. Then, we may be able to write our own non-fiction story books.