It can be hard to get students interested in non-fiction texts, but Jason Chin has come to save the day through his widely acclaimed books Redwoods and Coral Reefs. Chin’s books are filled with accurate, factual information on various science topics. The information he provides is brilliantly complimented by his stunning illustrations, which are the real key to Chin’s books. The words on the page talk about the science topic at hand while the pictures themselves not only illustrate the facts but also tell their own narrative story of how one can get lost in a book and learn so much in the process. Not only are his books likely to hook a variety of readers, but they can also be used to help reinforce the ideas of plant life cycles and the complexity of ecosystems.
I had heard of most of the authors chosen for this project prior to checking out the blog, but Jason Chin is new to me! I agree that it is often difficult to interest certain students in non-fiction texts and think Jason Chin would be great to remember for my classroom library. I especially love the rich illustrations and agree that his works might be a good choice for a snippet for that reason. I wish you had included some information on the reading level so I would have a better idea of whether his work would be a good fit for my second graders.
I really enjoyed your presentation on Jason Chin. I also agree that it can be hard to interest students in reading non-fiction texts. It is also hard to find non-fiction texts that follow more of a narrative format while still supplying lots of wonderful facts and information. I would have liked to have seen some pictures of the different examples you gave of his published works. I know for me personally when I am visiting the library in my neighborhood or even in the bookstore I look for book covers I recognize from class. It would have been helpful for me to see at least a few book covers to have them in mind.