Chris Butterworth Trio {Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday}

Author Chris Butterworth and illustrator Lucia Gaggiotti are new to me and I am very thankful Candlewick Press sent me these copies to review.  These three books explore every day things in our lives with a fantastic pairing of blurbs, labels, and illustrations.  Each book pointed out things we use daily and fostered wondering for why or how.  They help the reader to stop and think.  They also take some complex ideas and visually offer explanation.  

One of my favorite pages in How Does My Home Work? is a two page spread showing all the different machines that need energy to make them work.  This is after a map/diagram showing wiring and pips for water in a home.  How Did That Get in my Lunchbox? shows various settings for food production; farms, dairies, and factories.  I think it's eye opening to students to think beyond going to a grocery store.  Hands down Where Did My Clothes Come From? is my favorite.  I purposefully left this book on our kitchen island one morning and both of my high school girls picked it up and kept talking to me about what they saw and read.  They each found fascinating tidbits about fabric.  My soon to be college fashion major was completely surprised to learn about silk and how it was made.  This book goes beyond sweaters and yarn.  Do you wonder where your jeans, soccer uniform, party dress, fleece jacket, and boots are made from?  I was also happy to see a blurb at the end about recycling clothes.

Each book ends with an author's note, illustrator's note, and bibliography.  I feel like Chris and Lucia are my friends because their notes help me understand why they wrote these books.  Each book has an index with specific words.  I think these will make great books to take one at a time and spend a week with.  I think it will be better to read it in smaller chunks to allow for lingering and discussion.

Thank you Alyson at Kid Lit Frenzy for hosting this weekly sharing.