Hottest, Coldest, Highest Deepest

Title: Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest     
Author: Steve Jenkins   
Illustrator: Steve Jenkins  
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Publication Date: 1998   
Genre/Format: Nonfiction-Geography/Picture Book  
Summary: This book uses artwork, maps, and diagrams to bring to life the hottest, coldest, highest, and deepest places on Earth among others.   
What I Think: I'm still exploring nonfiction text for students...when it comes to reading, I like to stick to fiction or historical fiction unless I'm reading a professional educational book.  I'm not used to reading nonfiction with pictures and all the great nonfiction text features.  I have some students who really love this kind of reading, I think those that struggle with reading and understanding stories seem to prefer nonfiction texts.  This book has definitely made me want to look for great nonfiction for my students.  I love the artwork in this book and I love the premise of looking at the -est places all around the world.  In my mind, there is just enough information about each place.  I love the diagram that puts the height, length, degree of coldness into perspective and the map that shows just were the -est might be.
     Speaking of -est, I think this book is great for teaching superlatives.  The combination of nonfiction text and the repetition of the use of superlatives make this a great way to look at comparative and superlative forms.  
Read Together: 3 - 12 
Read Alone: 3 - 12  
Read With: What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? (Caldecott Honor Book) also by Steven Jenkins; Nonfiction about any of the places in the book  
Snatch of Text: "Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world.  Its peak is 29,028 feet above sea level."
"The highest mounts in North American is Mount McKinley (also called Denali), in Alaska, at 20,320 feet.  Mount Whitney, in California, is the highest peak in the continental United States.  Its summit is 14.491 feet above sea level."
Reading Strategies to Practice: Using Nonfiction Text Features; Activating Background Knowledge; Making Connections
Writing Strategies to Practice: Writing Expository Text 
Writing Prompts: Choose one of the places from the book, then research more information about that place and write a paragraph/essay that develops the main idea you chose using supporting details.    
Topics Covered: Geography, Maps, Adverbs - Superlatives 
Translated to Spanish: No