Uh Oh....

I just discovered something REALLY dangerous.  Read on only if you think you can handle it...

Esme Raji Codell, author of the hilarious first-year teacher memoir Educating Esme and children's books like Sahara Special and Fairly Fairy Tales (one of my fav read-alouds!) has a special recent blog post announcing her Pinterest page of book recommendations.  I want them all.

I'm especially eyeing a few of her nonfiction recommendations, including (synopsis info written by Ms. Codell):

Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball by John Coy and Joe Morse. Necessity is the mother of invention, and a teacher is the father, setting up two peach baskets, a soccer ball and a place in history. The endpapers with the original basketball rules are a bonus!

Africa Is My Home: A Child of the Amistad by Monica Edinger and Robert Byrd. An illustrated book for older children based on a true story, we follow the struggles of a young girl on board a slave ship, to her hard-won freedom and the return to her homeland, where she becomes a teacher. Beautifully detailed art (and plenty of it) uses a palette that changes with the narrative mood. A very special book and a very important story. 

Maps by Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski. Stunning oversized book to pore and dream over for hours.

And I do own (and love):

Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909 by Michelle Markel, illustrated by Melissa Sweet. Girl power! Union power! History power! A winning combination.

I warned you.