It's Monday! What are you reading?

We can learn a lot from picture books.  And by "we", I don't just mean little ones sitting at our knees, being read to before bedtime or in the library.

Case in point:  over the last two weeks, I've read Sun: One in a Billion by Stacy McAnulty and Mary Wears What She Wants by Keith Negley.  
                         

I've learned some interesting facts as a result.  It may have something to do with the number of times I've had to read each book (we have a large campus, and I share our Armadillo Readers Choice books twenty-six times apiece).  I'm pretty sure the facts started sticking in my brain by the second or third read-aloud.

Details about the sun, such as

• the surface is hot enough to melt diamonds
• it takes eight minutes for the sun's light to reach Earth
• there are Southern Lights, like the Northern Lights
• the middle of the Sun rotates faster than its poles 
• the Sun's age--4.6 billion years down, 6 billion to go.

As for Mary wearing what she wants...I don't remember hearing about Mary Edwards Walker in my American history classes.  She broke societal taboos by insisting on wearing pants, got arrested several times for doing so, and went on to become a surgeon in the Civil War on the Union side.  She is the only woman yet to receive the military Medal of Honor.  Trailblazers like Dr. Walker provide the human interest stories that bring history to life!

It's Monday--what picture books have you learned from lately?