Suggestions?

I'm taking Children's Lit. this summer and I need some suggestions on Non-fiction works from a 1st-2nd grade level and 5th-6th grade level. Anything would help. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Madeleine L'Engle is wonderful for the older kids.

You might look for titles by Joy Berry, or Isaac Asimov. And the Magic Schoolbus books are wonderful - full of magic of course, but also crammed with tons of scientific information on lots of different topics.

Edited to add: Using the Magic School Bus books might spark some interesting debate in class about the propriety of using fantasy elements to teach nonfiction subjects. This point might be moot now, but I remember quite a controversy when the books first appeared.

for first or second graders I'd recommend

Biggest, Strongest, Fastest
Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest
Actual Size
What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?
On This Spot
How Much Is a Million?
The Glorious Flight
Snowflake Bentley

Our family loves The Year at Maple Hill Farm and especially Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm by Alice and Martin Provensen. Also James Herriot's Treasury for Children. All of those would be appropriate for grades 1-2.

Do try the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series (Honey in a Hive; The International Space Station; Switch On, Switch Off; What Makes a Magnet?; Ant Cities etc.) and also the fabulous books of Robert E. Wells which include Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There Is?; How Do You Know What Time It Is?; Did a Dinosaur Drink This Water?; Is There Anything Smaller than a Pygmy Shrew? amongst others. For the very young I also love the Wonderwise series published by Franklin Watts like What's Up?; What's Under the Bed?; Stone Age, Bone Age; Yum, yum (about food chains); Hiding (about camouflage) etc.. 1st and 2nd graders would enjoy them for sure.

I just found The Stars : A New Way To See Them by H.A. Rey. It is a warm hug in the textbook world of astronomy. It is as good for adults and kids. I just love everything this husband/wife team wrote, so I may be called biased. heehee

Ok...I'll have to search for the title, but there's a fairly new picture book (appropriate for 2nd - 5th, I'd say) about seahorses. Very cool. I'll have to get back to you on the title.

By Chris Butterworth - Seahorse: the Shyest Fish in the Sea. Very good. Could be read aloud in 15- 20 minutes. So much nonfiction for kids is in series. Not bad, but it is nice when a good stand alone title comes out.

The DK Eyewitness books are GREAT! Fun to look through and lots of pictures with captions.

Also I just ran across some books I think are hilarious! They are non-fiction books in Dr. Seuss rhymning verse. If I Ran the Rain Forest is one.

A River Ran Wild: An Evironmental History by Lynne Cherry is a good book with lots of detailed pictures.

(for some reason I can't get the right touchstone to work- sorry!)