Book review: Living Things and Nonliving Things: A Compare and Contrast Book, by Kevin Kurtz

Kurtz, Kevin. Living Things and Nonliving Things: A Compare and Contrast Book. Arbordale Publishing, 2017. $9.95. ISBN 978-1628559866. 32 pages. Ages 4-8. P7 Q8

This book is in the Compare and Contrast series and focuses on whether something is living or nonliving. The photography is beautiful and the text is simple yet thought provoking. There is a nice balance of text and photographs which complement each other. The photographs show living and nonliving things. It helps you think about things on a deeper level. The end of the book contains a “For Creative Minds” section and includes extra quizzes and fun facts for kids. Cross-curricular teaching activities for use in the classroom and at home, interactive quizzes and more are available online.

Verdict: I highly recommend this book for libraries for elementary age children. Not only are the photographs thought provoking, the author was able to capture beauty, humor, movement and make ordinary things look extraordinary.  It uses inquiry-based learning to help build critical thinking skills in young readers. Also available in a Spanish translation, Seres vivos y no vivos, which supports ELL and dual-language programs.

October 2017 review by Tami Harris.