Pairing Non-Fiction And Fiction for Kids

I am loving the Share a Story-Shape a Future blog tour...so much food for thought, so much to try. Thanks to all the bloggers who post and all the comments that are leading me to more. Yesterday's focus was on non-fiction and I love, loved, loved Sara over at the Reading Zone sharing fiction and non-fiction pairings that she does with her classes. It reminded me of some of my favorite pairings (or tripletting!) of books for elementary school kids I have used when I am booktalking.

The magic of mixing and relating fiction and non-fiction is easy to do. Look for fiction; poetry; biography and fascinating non-fiction to put together to make a greater whole. And being able to lead kids to worthwhile books in all these genres is like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. It's fun mixing reading levels too! I have over 100 three-book combinations. Here are just a few of my favorites:

The lamp, the ice and a boat called Fish - Martin, Jacqueline
Antarctic journal - Hooper, Meredith
White bear, ice bear -Ryder, Joanne

The dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins - Kerley, Barbara
Stone girl, bone girl: the story of Mary Anning - Laurence Anholt
Dinosaur babies - Zoehfeld, Kathleen

Nasty, stinky sneakers - Bunting, Eve
Sneakers meet your feet - Vicki Cobb
Shoeless Joe and Black Betsy - Bildner, Phil

Seeker of knowledge: the man who deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphics - Rumford, James
The shipwrecked sailor - Bower, Tamara
The tomb of the boy king - Frank, John

Beautiful warrior: legend of the Nun's kung fu - McCully, Emily
Master swordsman and magic doorway - Provensen, Alice
The emperor's silent army - O'Connor, Jane

Runt - Bauer, Marian Dane
Wolves - Simon, Seymour
To the top of the world - Brandenberg, Jim

How my parents learned to eat - Friedman, Ina
This is the way we eat our lunch - Baer, Edith
What you never knew about fingers, forks and chopsticks - Lauber, Patricia

Image: 'Triplet wellies' http://www.flickr.com/photos/31413272@N00/1176357430