Books together is back from a blog break just in time to host Nonfiction Monday.  Now with added Barbarians!

[Barbarians include Goths, Huns, Vikings, and Mongols and are courtesy of author Steven Kroll and illustrator Robert Byrd (Dutton, 2009).  Handsome cover barbarian is Alaric, chief of the Goths and responsible for the sacking of Rome on August 24, 410 ad (ce). Look inside for more on Attila et al.!]

Who are your favorite barbarians?  Or are you loyal to Rome?  Let me know in the comments, and leave a link to your Nonfiction Monday post.  I'll add your links to this post throughout the day.

Early morning edition

Our first vote for Vikings!  Zoe at Playing by the book had a lot of fun writing about some pretty barbaric looking Creatures that glow -- a fantastic book by Anita Ganeri, illustrated by Obin, Roger Stewart and Peter Sarson.

Two posts from Redtedart's Blog this week:  Duckie's Rainbow (and rainbow cookies, yum) and three books about post (mail to US folks).  Thanks, Maggy!

Midmorning

Laura Salas put together a handy chart about nonfiction signings at ALA later this month. Authors/illustrators can add their own signing info, and attendees who want to go to some nf signings will be able to use the chart to figure out who's where at what time!

Shelf-employed is featuring award-winning nonfiction author, Jim Murphy.  Murphy is this year's winner of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for his significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.

Abby the Librarian has a review of If Stones Could Speak: Unlocking the Secrets of Stonehenge by Marc Aronson (and the first vote for the Mongols).  Be sure to check out her lovely new blog layout, too.

The Wild About Nature blog has a review of Little Black Ant on Park Street by Janet Halfmann, from the excellent Smithsonian's Backyard series.

Bookends has two great new dinosaur books this morning: Dinosaur Mountain: Digging Into the Jurassic Age by Deborah Kogan Ray and Born to Be Giants: How Baby Dinosaurs Grew to Rule the World by Lita Judge.  They do look great, and we're overdue for some new dinosaur books around here.

At Lori Calabrese Writes!, Lori reviews National Geographic Kids Almanac 2011. She says it's an amazing book filled to the brim with everything you can think of.

Jennifer is off for another day supervising the sacking of the library by hordes of children, but is in with a quick post on The Hive Detectives at her blog, Jean Little Library.

Brenda posted about a picture book biography of Ted Williams and his .400 season on her blog, proseandkahn.  Speaking of baseball, go Nats!

Jeannine Atkins wrote about the picture book Emma’s Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty by Linda Glaser with paintings by Claire A. Nivola.  It's an insightful analysis, particularly with respect to the representation of 19th century women writers, of a lovely book.

Midafternoon

Shirley wrote about Pika at SimplyScience today.  They're very cute!

Tammy wrote about Black-Canadian history at Apples with Many Seeds.  She recommends three books and is looking for suggestions.

Jeff at NC Teacher Stuff posted about a picture book biography of jazz legend Mary Lou Williams titled The Little Piano Girl, written by Ann Ingalls and Maryann Macdonald and illustrated by [books together favorite] Giselle Potter.  See his comment for a Mongol-related tongue twister that's vintage Calvin and Hobbes, too.

Anna J. chimes in this week with a review of an international picture book/artist at Full of Grace.  I'm always interested in international children's literature, and Sara Fanelli's The Map Book sounds intriguing.

BookMoot issues a "global warning" about Seymour Simon's Global Warming that emphasizes the importance of research, documentation, and sources.

Early evening

At Moms Inspire Learning, Dawn recommends If America Were a Village: A Book about the People of the United States, by David J. Smith. She says, "It's an extremely thought-provoking picture book for the 9-12 age range, and pulls in social studies, science, language arts, and math."

Three Turtles and their Pet Librarian have a "totally cheating but highly enjoyable" review of their favorite comic strip.  Hint:  It stars youth librarians.

Bedtime

Doret of TheHappyNappyBookseller is in with another review of A Little Piano Girl, a biography of jazz artist Mary Lou Williams.  I have a little piano girl of my own and will definitely add this one to our list.

Thanks to everyone who participated in Nonfiction Monday this week!