Via RSS feed.October 22nd, 2009
Book Review and Contest: Alfred Nobel: The Man Behind the Peace Prize by Kathy-Jo Wargin, Illustrated by Zachary Pullen
CONTEST CLOSED
Thanks to everyone who entered for your enthusiastic response! Our three winners are:
Susan Smoaks
jkeller
and Renee G.
I’ll be emailing you shortly! Please send me your mailing address within 72 hours – thanks!
The 2009 Nobel Prize announcements are still fresh in our memories. With this year’s surprising choice of President Obama as the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, the time is ripe to share the history of the Peace Prize with our children. Whether taught in a social studies/current events setting or around the kitchen table at dinner, Alfred Nobel’s name is now much more closely associated with his prizes than it is with the invention of dynamite.
In January of this year, Sleeping Bear Press released Alfred Nobel: The Man Behind the Peace Prize to familiarize young readers with Nobel’s life: his love for literature, poetry, the sciences, and mankind, and the bequeathal that continues to finance the prizes to this day — over 100 years later.
Multi-genre children’s author Kathy-Jo Wargin turns her accomplished pen (over 30 children’s titles) to the task of relating Nobel’s life and accomplishments to primary-aged readers. Using vivid, action filled prose; Wargin deftly sculpts the emotional contours of Nobel’s life, clearly displaying his idealism, work-ethic, and loneliness despite his great wealth.
Following Nobel through his early experiments with nitroglycerin, his blasting-cap explosive model, the loss of his brother Emil and four workers in a workshop accident, the search for a safer form of explosive, the invention of dynamite, his fame, and death, children will be equipped with a solid peg upon which to hang further knowledge about Nobel’s life and the prizes as they grow.
Zachary Pullen’s rich, detailed oil paintings straddle the divide between portrait and caricature, as Nobel’s larger-than-life facial expressions dominate many of the pages. Wide-eyed-wonder, intense concentration, studious, and reflective; Nobel fills the carefully arranged pages to bursting. Pullen’s supplementary “scientific notes” illustrate the simple operation of Nobel’s nitroglycerin explosive with blasting cap, and his safer compound — dynamite.
Intended for peaceful use in the construction industry but appropriated as weaponry, the invention he hoped would prevent wars by displaying the mighty destructive power in explosives only spurred further violence. His consequent public portrayal as a man who benefited financially from war and death grieved him, and no doubt gave rise to the establishment of the Peace Prize.
After reading Alfred Nobel through with my children, my six-year-old instantly asked for a repeat reading. She also pestered me to read the complete list of Nobel Peace Prize recipients from 1901 — 2008 aloud to her. Simply presented as a list, I was surprised that those who’d received the prize so captivated her, but she insisted, swept into Nobel’s vision of a better world.
Sleeping Bear Press’ free downloadable teaching guide for this title includes activities in geography, science, math, language arts, social studies, and more, making Alfred Nobel the base for a comprehensive unit study revolving around the Peace Prizes, and issues of social responsibility.
CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW AT AMAZON.COM OR AMAZON.CA!
CONTEST DETAILS:
Thanks to Sleeping Bear Press I have three (3) copies of Alfred Nobel: The Man Behind the Peace Prize to give away to 3 winners in the US/Canada! To enter, visit Sleeping Bear Press and let me know the name of an additional title that you’d like to read!
For additional entries:
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2. Write a post on your blog promoting and linking to this contest. Leave an additional comment with a link to your post.
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Each additional step taken counts for 1 additional entry. A total of 6 entries are available if you complete all of these steps. Please leave a separate comment for each entry!
The contest will close at 12 a.m. MST on Monday, November 02nd, 2009. Three (3) winners will be randomly drawn for Alfred Nobel: The Man Behind the Peace Prize on Tuesday, November 03rd, 2009 and notified by email. Please fill your email address in the comment form when you are completing your comment so that I can contact you. The winners must respond with a mailing address within 72 hours of my email, or new winners will be chosen. This contest is open to those living in the US/Canada.
I look forward to seeing God bless 3 readers with these lovely books to enjoy with their children! Thanks for entering.
The book “Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults” catches my eye. It looks like it would be a valuable resource. Thanks for the great giveaway.
.-= Heather @ Marine Corps Nomads´s last blog ..Word Filled Wednesday: My Rock =-.
I already subscribe to your blog in google reader.
Thanks again.
.-= Heather @ Marine Corps Nomads´s last blog ..Word Filled Wednesday: My Rock =-.
Wow.. what great books they have offered! I hadn’t heard of them before… but if I had to choose just one other title to read, it would be The Handkerchief Quilt. It just sounds likt it would be a good wholesome book. I love books like that for my children. I’ve ordered a catalog.. and I’ll keep them in mind for Christmas shopping… it’s comin’ soon!!
Blessings!
P is for Pilgrim! or Moose on the Loose.
Thanks!
I’d like P is for Pilgrim – of course they have a ton of stuff I could enjoy
Sarah
I subscribe through my email
Sarah
.-= Sarah´s last blog ..Kiss Me Again by Barbara Wilson blog tour **not for young, unmarried women** =-.
I have your button on my side bar.
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/OhioSarah
Sarah
.-= Sarah´s last blog ..Kiss Me Again by Barbara Wilson blog tour **not for young, unmarried women** =-.
I’m following you on Twitter.
Sarah
.-= Sarah´s last blog ..Kiss Me Again by Barbara Wilson blog tour **not for young, unmarried women** =-.
I posted the giveaway on FB
Sarah
I’d like to read A Wrinkle in Time.
I signed up to follow you on twitter.
Username: StuffSmart
.-= jkeller´s last blog ..National Breast Cancer Awareness Month Karen Neuburger PJ giveaway winners =-.
I shared this post on twitter.
http://twitter.com/StuffSmart/status/5089286571
.-= jkeller´s last blog ..National Breast Cancer Awareness Month Karen Neuburger PJ giveaway winners =-.
The Legend of the Cape May Diamond sounds interesting, thanks.
Hi! I just blogged about this on Win A Book. No need to enter me, though.
.-= Bridget´s last blog ..Time to Move the Party! =-.
I would also love to read Waiting for the Owl!
Moose on the Loose sounds adorable.
A is for Abraham, a Jewish Alphabet would be my pick.
I would love to read Moose on the Loose. Looks hysterical!
Thanks for the chance to win.
I subscribed via email
P is for Pilgrim looks great and perfect for this time of year.
I’d love to read The Listeners by Gloria Whelan.
I’a a new subscriber!
S is for Story looks like something the kids and I would enjoy very much. Thank you for the link to the teaching guide.
I am already a subscriber, thanks for a second entry!
I love the A is for America book at Sleeping Bear Press!
.-= blueviolet´s last blog ..One Day…. =-.
I think The Listeners will be a great book to read with my son.
Count on Us: A Tennessee Number Book looks great.
P is for Pilgrim: A Thanksgiving Alphabet sounds about right for right now!
janemaritz at yahoo dot com
.-= Winning Readings´s last blog ..Alfred Nobel =-.
We’ve posted about this at Winning Readings:
http://winningreadings.blogspot.com/2009/10/alfred-nobel_26.html
Thanks for the email!
janemaritz at yahoo dot com
.-= Winning Readings´s last blog ..Alfred Nobel =-.
And we follow on twitter (moziesme)
janemaritz at yahoo dot com
.-= Winning Readings´s last blog ..Alfred Nobel =-.
Moose on the Loose because in Northern Ontario – that is a common occurance:)!
Moose on the Loose because in Northern Ontario – that is a common occurance:)!
I signed up for the e-mail subscription.
Thank you.
P is for Pilgrim: A Thanksgiving Alphabet would be perfect for the upcoming holiday!
smchester at gmail dot com
.-= Susan C´s last blog ..Happy United Nation’s Day =-.
I would also like to readJ is for Jack-O’-Lantern: A Halloween Alphabet…it would be great for the kids!
I subscribe
I stubled your blog
I would likeThe Hidden Bestiary of Marvelous, Mysterious, and (Maybe Even) Magical Creaturese
rhondastruthers at yahoo dot ca
I subscribe
rhondastruthers at yahoo dot ca
America’s White Table , sounds like a good book.
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DONE!!!
i fallow you on twitter
Rb109972
tweeted
http://twitter.com/rb109972/status/5327022749
I would also like to have Apple Tree Christmas.
rsgrandinetti@yahoo(DOT)com
The Hidden Bestiary of Marvelous, Mysterious, and (Maybe Even) Magical Creatures
I like the P is for Pilgrim: A Thanksgiving Alphabet.
I’d love to read the Legend of the Cape Diamond, sounds like a good read!
i would read Moose on the Loose.
dreamcleavers@yahoo.com
email subscriber
dreamcleavers@yahoo.com
i follow on twitter.
dreamcleavers@yahoo.com