Titles in red are part of the Turner Ashby High School Library collection
The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award is for most distinguished informational book for children
The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian’s Art Changed Science – Joyce Sidman - Bugs, of all kinds, were considered to be “born of mud” and to be “beasts of the devil.” Why would anyone, let alone a girl, want to study and observe them?
One of the first naturalists to observe live insects directly, Maria Sibylla Merian was also one of the first to document the metamorphosis of the butterfly. In this visual nonfiction biography, richly illustrated throughout with full-color original paintings by Merian herself, the Newbery Honor–winning author Joyce Sidman paints her own picture of one of the first female entomologists and a woman who flouted convention in the pursuit of knowledge and her passion for insects.
One of the first naturalists to observe live insects directly, Maria Sibylla Merian was also one of the first to document the metamorphosis of the butterfly. In this visual nonfiction biography, richly illustrated throughout with full-color original paintings by Merian herself, the Newbery Honor–winning author Joyce Sidman paints her own picture of one of the first female entomologists and a woman who flouted convention in the pursuit of knowledge and her passion for insects.
2019 Sibert Honor Books
 | Camp Panda: Helping Cubs Return to the Wild – Catherine Thimmesh – Thimmesh explains the work of a Giant Panda conservation project in the Wolong Nature Reserve in China, which uses a three-stage program to create a self-sustaining population in the wild. Complementing her thoughtful, engagingly written text are many arrestingly adorable, colorful photographs of pandas in training and in the wild. |
| Spooked!: How a Radio Broadcast and The War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America – Gail Jarrow – Brought to life with the immediacy of a science fiction film, Spooked! relays the development and radio production of Welles’s classic. Panicked first-person accounts record the hysteria and embarrassment of the duped public’s reactions to “fake news,” propaganda and censorship. |  |
 | The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees – Don Brown – In a graphic novel format, Brown relates Syrian refugees’ attempts to escape the horrors of their country’s civil war. Pen-and-ink digitally colored art has an informal style that vividly expresses the intense emotions, offering a window into the humanity of displaced groups as well as their resilience, tenacity and inspiring, hopeful nature. |
| We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga – Traci Sorell (Author) and Frané Lessac (Illustrator) – The word otsaliheliga (oh-jah-LEE-hay-lee-gah) is used by members of the Cherokee Nation to express gratitude. Beginning in the fall with the new year and ending in summer, follow a full Cherokee year of celebrations and experiences. Written by a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, this look at one group of Native Americans is appended with a glossary and the complete Cherokee syllabary, originally created by Sequoyah. |  |
 | When Angels Sing: The Story of Rock Legend Carlos Santana – Michael Mahin, (Author) and Jose Ramirez (Illustrator) – Carlos Santana loved to listen to his father play el violín. It was a sound that filled the world with magic and love and feeling and healing--a sound that made angels real. Carlos wanted to make angels real, too. So he started playing music. Carlos tried el clarinete and el violín, but there were no angels. Then he picked up la guitarra. He took the soul of the Blues, the brains of Jazz, and the energy of Rock and Roll, and added the slow heat of Afro-Cuban drums and the cilantro-scented sway of the music he'd grown up with in Mexico. There were a lot of bands in San Francisco but none of them sounded like this. Had Carlos finally found the music that would make his angels real? |