 | USE IT! REUSE IT! Published in 2011 Marshall Cavendish Benchmark Many materials make up our world. Find out where they come from, how they are processed, and how we use them...and reuse them...every day. Titles:Glass Paper Plastic Metal Wood |
 | SCIENCE EXPLORER JUNIOR Published in 2012 Cherry Lake Publishing These conversational experiment books introduce the scientific method with simple experiments you can do outside of the classroom. Meet the scientists behind each principle discussed, and learn how to observe, test, and draw conclusions from the world around us. Titles:Think Like a Scientist at the Beach Think Like a Scientist on the Playground |
 | FOR REAL? Published in 2010 Marshall Cavendish Benchmark Investigate myths of history, look for the evidence, and decide for yourself if these subjects are "for real." Titles:Aliens Dragons Mermaids Monsters Unicorns |
 | SURPRISING SCIENCE Published in 2010 Marshall Cavendish Benchmark Explore and learn the history and science concepts behind these surprising subjects. Titles:Fireworks Hot Air Balloons Mummies Robots Roller Coasters |
| BOOKWORMS Published in 2005 - 2010 Marshall Cavendish Benchmark This series, with books at emergent, early, and fluent levels, allows young readers to explore a variety of fun topics. | |
 | We Go! (emergent) Titles: Boats Buses Cars Planes Trains Trucks |
 | Safe Kids (early) Titles: Fire Safety Food Safety Safety at Home Safety on the Go School Safety Water Safety |
 | Nature’s Cycles (fluent) Titles: Animals Day and Night Food Chains Plants Seasons Water |
 | Count on It! (emergent) Titles: One Two Three Four Five Ten |
 | Guess Who (early) Titles: Guess Who Jumps (Frog) Guess Who Grunts (Pig) Guess Who Hunts (Orca Whale) Guess Who Purrs (Cat) Guess Who Swims (Penguin) Guess Who Stings (Honeybee) |
 | Earth Matters (fluent) Titles: Air Land Life Maps Oceans Space and Time |
 | Go, Critter, Go! (emergent) Titles: Buzz, Bee, Buzz! Crawl, Ladybug, Crawl! Flash, Firefly, Flash! Fly, Butterfly, Fly! Spin, Spider, Spin! Squirm, Earthworm, Squirm! |
 | Tools We Use (early) Titles: Artists Builders Chefs Doctors EMTs Librarians |
 | Wonders of Nature (fluent) Titles: Caves Coral Reefs Deserts Rainbows Volcanoes Waterfalls |
 | The Shape of the World (emergent) Titles: Circles Many-Sided Shapes Ovals Rectangles Squares Triangles |
 | Inside Story (early) Titles: Castle Igloo Log Cabin Pyramid Skyscraper Teepee AwardsTop 10 Early Literacy Series |
  | Verbs in Action (fluent) Titles: Blow Out Carry On Make a Face Move Along Play Ball Turn Into Dig In Fall Down Grow Up On the Run Spin Around Spring Out AwardsSpring Out |
 | What’s Inside Me? (fluent) Titles: My Bones and Muscles My Brain My Heart and Blood My Lungs My Skin My Stomach AwardsBest Books of 2005 |
| BENCHMARK REBUS Published in 2007-2009 Marshall Cavendish Benchmark This series helps the youngest children how to read, by offering rebus pictures in place of challenging words to help children decipher word meaning and context. | |
 | What’s Cooking? Titles: Applesauce Bread Cake Cookies Ice Cream Pizza |
 | Fun Time Titles: At a Fair At a Picnic At the Beach At the Park At the Zoo On a Farm |
 | Jobs In Town Titles: Baker Firefighter Grocer Mail Carrier Police Officer Veterinarian |
 | Nature Titles: The Butterfly in the Sky The Frog in the Pond The Lion in the Grass The Rabbit in the Garden The Robin in the Tree The Whale in the Water |
 | On the Move Titles: Climbing Driving Floating Flying Riding Rolling |
 | HOW PEOPLE LIVED IN AMERICA Published in 2007 Gareth Stevens Publishing Children did not always have blackboards, or refrigerators, or computers. Learn how the needs and wants of people through history led to change and invention, and how these innovations influenced daily life today. Titles:Clothing in American History Food and Cooking in American History Keeping in Touch in American History Schooling in American History Toys, Games, and Fun in American History Transportation in American History |
 | MONEY AND BANKS Published in 2006 Gareth Stevens Publishing What is a budget? Why is money safer in a big bank than a piggy bank? How can you save up for a new toy? Learn about the history of money, how it is made, and how to spend now and save for the future. Each book also includes a math connection activity. Titles:Coins Paper Money The History of Money Saving Money Spending Money What Is A Bank? |
 | EXPLORING THE SKY Published in 2006 Illustrated by Denise Shea Picture Window Books Look up! What do you see? In the day, sun and clouds fill the sky. At night, you see the moon, planets, stars, and other space objects zip past. The sky is truly amazing. Titles:Fluffy, Flat, and Wet: A Book About Clouds Hot and Bright: A Book About the Sun Night Light: A Book About the Moon Space Leftovers: A Book About Comets, Asteroids, and Meteoroids Spinning in Space: A Book About the Planets Spots of Light: A Book About Stars |
 | THE FIVE SENSES Published in 2005 Illustrated by Rick Peterson Picture Window Books Explore the senses and find out how your body takes in information to help you learn about your place in the world. Titles:Look! A Book About Sight Shhh…A Book About Hearing Sniff, Sniff: A Book About Smell Soft and Smooth, Rough and Bumpy: A Book About Touch Yum! A Book About Taste AwardsFinalist, Association of Educational Publishers Distinguished Achievement Awards, 2005 |
 | A STAR IN MY ORANGE Published in 2002 Lerner Publishing Group/Millbrook Press Have you ever seen a star in an orange? Or branches on a feather? Or the swirl of a wave? Or little shapes on a fish’s scales? Look closely at the shapes you’ll discover in this book. Then look closely at the world around you. You can find nature’s shapes everywhere. AwardsTop 10 Sci-Tech Books of the Year |
  | LET’S SEE LIBRARY Published in 2002 Compass Point Books Discover the story behind our nation’s monuments, the challenges the makers faced, and what these artistic feats mean to people who visit them today. Titles:Mount Rushmore The Statue of Liberty |
 | THE SOLAR SYSTEM Published in 2001 Compass Point Books Science is made simple as this book explores the basics of the planets and the sun, and Earth’s place in our space “neighborhood.” |
 | ROBIN AT HICKORY STREET Published in 1995 Illustrated by Joel Snyder Soundprints/Smithsonian’s Backyard Collection Spring arrives, and Robin heads north to find a yard to call his own. But he finds other robins have already arrived ahead of him, sending a clear message that their yards are already taken. Finally, in the backyard of a house on Hickory Street, Robin finds the perfect place to set up his new home. This book out of print, but still available at many libraries. |
Nonfiction (Grades PS to 3)
- Books
- Nonfiction (Grades PS to 3)
Reviews
Use It! Reuse It!
“Nonfiction author Dana Meachen Rau has written another notable series, this one for Bookworms Chapter Books.”
Library Media Connection, May/June, 2012
Spending Money
“Dana Meachen Rau's Spending Money is a smart choice for early readers....This is a fun and simple read, especially for transitioning readers who are new to nonfiction."
Provo City Library Children's Book Review,
Dec., 2010
Nature's Cycles Series: Food Chains, Seasons, Water
“With a graceful simplicity that conveys respect for beginning readers, these books explain the transference of energy among living things through the food chain, the shifts in weather and growth of plants and animals through four seasons, and the process of how water becomes vapor and returns to the earth as rain or snow.”
School Library Journal,
April, 2010
Boats, Cars, Trains, Trucks
“Preschool and kindergarten teachers will find the volumes useful for transportation units. Good choices for libraries looking for very basic books on a beginner-reader level.”
School Library Journal,
April, 2010
Fire Safety
“More than the typically distant fire-engine drama, this small, square early reader in the Bookworms: Safe Kids series speaks directly to young kids about the danger to them in daily life....By showing a family running over a fire plan, this scary stuff is framed in a reassuring way. The final scene of a boy blowing out his birthday candles with his dad right there reiterates this message while not playing down the danger. The exciting scenarios are sure to hook early readers.”
Booklist,
October 1, 2009
Guess Who Stings
“In a smaller format that's perfect for little hands, Dana Meachen Rau's Guess Who Stings (Marshall Cavendish, 2009) is a winning entry from the publisher's playful "Guess Who" series which piques readers' interest with a guessing-game approach.”
School Library Journal, Curriculum Connections
October 6, 2009
Wonders of Nature
“These simply written overviews have large, bold, easy-to-read texts that highlight child-friendly aspects of the topics.”
School Library Journal,
January 2008
Shape of the World
“Early success in reading hinges on pairing the learner with appropriate books. This series offers just that, a high success, a high interest nonfiction text, for the earliest readers.”
Children’s Literature, 2007
“From the more complicated hexagon to the simplest circle this series of early readers will have youngsters scrambling to find shapes in their own environment.”
Children’s Literature, 2007
“... color, clarity, small size and few words make for a nice package.”
Booklist,
November 1, 2006
The Inside Story
“… Often fascinated by what lies beneath the surface of things, young readers will discover a satisfying amount of information within the pages of these picture books. … All these features make this series useful for introducing children to nonfiction text. These books will be very popular with the younger crowd.”
Library Media Connection,
March 2007
Verbs in Action
“All are highly recommended: they stand out from the crowd.”
Children’s Bookwatch, February 2006
“These fluent readers…explore multiple uses of the word in commonly used phrases, providing children with a new perspective on language and stimulating critical thinking.”
iParenting Media Awards, 2006
What’s Inside Me?
“Dana Meachen Rau uses attention-grabbing language appropriate for the early elementary learner…The superb language brings each system to life.”
Kay Pedretti,
The American Biology Teacher,
October 2005
Jobs In Town
“…These books are just the right size for little hands and short and colorful enough to appeal to the minimal attention spans of young children.”
Melinda Piehler, Sawgrass Elementary School, Sunrise, FL, School Library Journal, December 2007
Nature
“...their use of rebuses and attractive, uncluttered formats will appeal to beginning readers”
School Library Journal,
December 2006
On the Move
“This is a high-interest series of books to be enjoyed by toddlers, preschoolers, and early readers, and used by teachers and parents who wish to help their children explore more about the world around them.”
Childrens Literature, 2007
The Statue of Liberty
“…This series would grace the shelves of any library serving the primary grades.”
Judith Beavers, Library Talk,
January 2002
A Star in My Orange
“Through one-sentence descriptions and full-color, uncluttered photographs, readers are taken on a journey of discovery in the natural world.”
School Library Journal, May 2002
“Rau goes beyond basic geometric shapes to introduce children to more sophisticated forms in nature, from star shapes in snowflakes to the spirals of a ram’s horn. A book that will encourage children to look more closely at their world, think about it, and admire the beauty and symmetry of its design.”
Booklist, December 1, 2002
“This incredibly innovative book celebrates art in nature in a truly clever manner... A wonderful resource for art teachers to show the art in the everyday world and to connect students to art more closely... A true gem of a book that children will want to look at over and over!”
Kristin Pedemonti, Upper Perkiomen Valley Library, PA, February 2002
Mount Rushmore
“This book ties social studies, fine arts and science together with problem solving. It would be a good support for a cross-curricular unit for 2nd grade.”
Instructional Media Center, San Diego City Schools,
March 2002
The Solar System
“The Solar System is a wonderfully written, highly informational treatment about our galaxy…I can hardly wait to use it with my science classes.”
Susan Iasuiolo, Clark County School District, December 2000
“…these science primers contain enough specific information to challenge young readers’ understanding without overwhelming them….”
John Peters, New York Public Library, School Library Journal, February 2001
Robin at
Hickory Street
“…Robin’s life cycle is delightfully told so that the young reader can appreciate another of nature’s creatures.”
Donna Bergen, Round Rock Independent School District, Austin, TX
About The Author
I have written more than 340 books for children from preschool to high school, including fiction, nonfiction, early readers, and biographies.
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