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September 20, 2021September 19, 2021

What’s in Your Pocket?: Collecting Nature’s Treasures

Today at Growing with Science blog we are featuring What’s in Your Pocket?: Collecting Nature’s Treasures by Heather L. Montgomery and illustrated by Maribel Lechuga, a set of mini-biographies of nine scientists.

When children collect and sort items they find in nature, they are learning important STEAM skills. In this book you will meet a boy who collected rocks and beetles, another who collected seeds and seed pods, and a girl who slept with earthworms under her pillow. Keep reading to find out which famous naturalists and scientists these curious children grew up to be.

They’ve created collections
They’ve made discoveries.
They’ve changed the world of science.

Maribel Lechuga’s vibrant illustrations perfectly capture each child’s wonder and surprise at the new things they stumble on.

The back matter gives a more complete biography of each of the people featured in the text, plus a charming note from the illustrator about how artists also appreciate and observe nature. In her author’s note, Heather Montgomery explains the need for collecting responsibly. She also gives some important rules for respecting nature, respecting your family and community, and for protecting yourself when you gather from nature.

What’s in Your Pocket? is a delightful celebration of the collections made by youngsters who became famous scientists and naturalists. It is sure to inspire the next generation to make their own discoveries. Check out a copy today.

For more information and STEAM activity suggestions, see Growing with Science.

September 13, 2021September 12, 2021

Night Creatures: Animals That Swoop, Crawl, and Creep While You Sleep

Doing a unit on nocturnal animals? You will want to take a look at Night Creatures: Animals That Swoop, Crawl, and Creep While You Sleep by Rebecca E. Hirsch and illustrated by Sonia Possentini (Millbrook Press ).

The book starts in a soft, lyrical settling-down-to-bedtime voice.

A cool night breeze
blows softly on your face
As night creatures wake…

Soon, your heart begins to race as bobcats leap, owls pounce, and rabbits run away. No worries, however, because the quiet descends again as night turns into day.

Young readers will enjoy Sonia Possentini’s marvelous illustrations. They use a pallet of blues, greens and black tree silhouettes to reflect nighttime, but also capture the warm hues of a bobcat’s coat or an owl’s feathers.

Night Creatures is a celebration of animals that are active when many people are sleeping. Slip into a copy and discover what you have been missing.

For more information and related science activity suggestions, visit Growing with Science blog.

July 26, 2021July 25, 2021

Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood

Today at Wrapped in Foil we are highlighting Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood by Tony Hillery and illustrated by Jessie Hartland.

When Mr. Tony (Tony Hillery) spotted an abandoned lot across from a school in Harlem, he had an idea. Getting help from the community, he cleaned it up and invited children to help him plant a garden. Through trial and error a farm emerged.

The colors in Jessie Hartland’s illustrations reflect the journey of the story. The first few pages capture the gray mood of the abandoned lot. As things turn around, the background colors move through shades of green to a lively and vibrant mix. Lovely!

The benefits of gardening with children are many. From getting outside for healthy exercise, to learning patience, to appreciating the taste of fresh vegetables, gardening is a win-win-win activity. Harlem Grown is about making it happen. Share a copy today and you will be glad you did.

Be sure to stop by Wrapped in Foil where we have many activity suggestions and resources to accompany the book.

July 12, 2021

Plants on the Move by Émilie Vast

At Wrapped in Foil blog today we are highlighting Plants on the Move by Émilie Vast .

There are many children’s books about plant and seed movement, but this one is certainly unique. In a lot of ways it is from a plant’s viewpoint.

As the blurb on the back says:

Have you ever bent down to take a closer look, perhaps thinking that we don’t ever go anywhere? But we plants might surprise you. We’re more adventurous than you think…

The text is well-organized and informative. Émilie Vast categorizes the ways plants disperse into broad groups, like “Fly”, “Creep”, “Fall”, etc. For each group she gives step-by-step details of an example plant’s journey and life cycle. Once the pattern is established, then she provides a cluster of images of other species that use the same dispersal method, which helps young readers apply what they’ve learned.

The Illustrations are otherworldly and mesmerizing. They are crisp and clean images against a starkly contrasting white background.

Plants on the Move is a fantastic resource. It is perfect for budding botanists, young gardeners and nature lovers. Pop open a copy today!

Be sure to visit Wrapped in Foil blog for activity suggestions and more information.

June 7, 2021June 5, 2021

Girl Warriors: How 25 Young Activists Are Saving the Earth

Are you an advocate for any causes? At Wrapped in Foil blog, we are advocates for children’s books, and more specifically the middle grade title Girl Warriors: How 25 Young Activists Are Saving the Earth by Rachel Sarah.

In this book you will meet 25 girls and young women under the age of 25 who have decided to speak up for the Earth and for themselves. Eloquent and innovative, they hope to change minds and make a difference.

Young women like:

• Daphne Frias in West Harlem, New York City describes herself as “an un-apologetically fierce Latina, who is proudly disabled,” and is currently in medical school.
• Maya Penn in Atlanta, Georgia who is an eco-fashion designer, animator, producer and TED speaker.
• Malaika Vaz in Goa, India who is a National Geographic Explorer and filmmaker.
• Vanessa Nakate in Uganda, Africa who founded the @TheRiseUpMovem1 and has been building solar-powered schools in Kampala.

Chicago Review Press books are all about getting hands on. If the stories of these girls and young women inspire you, delve into the four pages of resources in the back matter to find out where you can make a difference, too.

Rachel Sarah is trained as a journalist, which shows in her clean and unobtrusive writing. She has gleaned personal details on each of the young women, making each of them stand out as memorable individuals.

Girl Warriors is an exciting book for young readers interested in activism and making a difference. Get inspired by a copy today!

Stop by Wrapped in Foil blog for more information.

April 12, 2021April 12, 2021

Whoo-Ku Haiku: A Great Horned Owl Story

Now it is time to celebrate some wonderful picture books for National Poetry Month. Our first selection is Whoo-Ku Haiku: A Great Horned Owl Story by Maria Gianferrari and illustrated by Jonathan Voss.

Told in a series of haiku poems, the story follows a pair of great horned owls as they raise their owlets.

Pip. Pip. Pip. Poking
A hole. Cracking. Cracking. Out
Pecks the white owlet.

The life of the owls is not easy. Although great horned owls are predators, they also have enemies such as crows, raccoons, hawks, and foxes. The owlets are particularly vulnerable to danger.

Although the text is written entirely in haiku and the emphasis on haiku in the title, it flows together so effortlessly that you get lost in the story and forget about the structure. Maria Gianferrari allows the owls to shine as the main characters.

The illustrations are gorgeous. The owlets look so soft and realistic that you want to reach out and touch them. If you look more carefully, you will see they contain much information about owl habitats in a subtle way. For example, the nest is made of leaves, an abandoned squirrel nest. Without resorting to too many dark pages, you realize the birds hunt at night. The way Jonathan Voss controls the lighting is incredible.

The back matter also emphasizes the owls, giving more information about different aspects of their biology and resources for deeper research.

Whoo-Ku Haiku is a wonderful example of how to use poetry to entice readers into a nonfiction story. It is a must have for budding ornithologists, nature lovers, and poetry aficionados alike. Enjoy a copy today!

Be sure to visit Wrapped in Foil blog for more information and activity suggestions.

March 29, 2021March 28, 2021

Spi-ku: A Clutter of Short Verse on Eight Legs

Right in time for National Poetry Month (April), at Growing With Science we have Spi-ku: A Clutter of Short Verse on Eight Legs by Leslie Bulion and illustrated by Robert Meganck.

Author Leslie Bulion has a subtly playful approach to spiders.

All spiders are arachnids
But some arachnids
mite not be spiders.

If you like that kind of word play, you are in for a real treat.

Illustrator Robert Meganck also has a subtle sense of humor. For example, in the front endpapers he shows a fly near a spider web. The back endpapers shows the same spider with a small webbed up package. He leaves it up to the reader to figure out what happened to the fly.

Intermingled between poems of different forms — in spite of the title, not all are haiku — is detailed information about spiders, from what they eat to how they build webs. If the text isn’t enough, there’s extensive back matter as well.

Spi-ku is perfect for budding arachnologists and poets alike. Readers are likely to find something new every time they read the book. Investigate a copy today!

And crawl over to Growing with Science blog for more information and activity suggestions.

March 1, 2021February 28, 2021

The Stuff Between the Stars: How Vera Rubin Discovered Most of the Universe

Today at Growing with Science blog we are celebrating the new picture book biography, The Stuff Between the Stars: How Vera Rubin Discovered Most of the Universe by Sandra Nickel and illustrated by Aimée Sicuro .

Vera Rubin was an astronomer who discovered some cool and important “stuff”.

From a young age, she was captivated by stargazing.

As she got older, she began to investigate swirling clusters of stars, gases, and dust known as galaxies. She studied where galaxies were found in space and how they moved relative to each other. When the stars within galaxies move at different speeds as she thought they should, she demonstrated there was something in between the stars that we can’t see or detect, something pulling the stars. That “something” had been previously named dark matter and there is a lot of it!

Discussion:

In addition to revealing groundbreaking science, author Sandra Nickel also celebrates Vera Rubin’s passion for her work and how she kept going in spite of numerous obstacles, including others not understanding her work.

Aimée Sicuro’s illustrations are out of this world. They vacillate between concrete and abstract, capturing how grounded Vera was and yet her thoughts were in the galaxies. You can see what I mean in the page spread below.

The Stuff Between the Stars is sure to thrill budding astronomers. It would also be perfect to accompany a trip to a planetarium, as well as for Women’s History Month discussions. Gaze into a copy today!

Stop by Growing With Science for more information and activity suggestions.

January 18, 2021January 17, 2021

Ocean! Waves for All

Today we have a nonfiction picture book that caught our eye at the library, Ocean! Waves for All by Stacy McAnulty and illustrated by David Litchfield. This book is part of the Our Universe Series published by Henry Holt and Co.

As with the other books in the series, Ocean! is narrated in the first person. The tone is lighthearted and conversational, including words like ‘bro’ and ‘righteous’.

Dude, I am Ocean.

The tone might be light, but the facts are deep. For example, did you know that more people have visited space than the deepest parts of the ocean?

David Litchfield’s illustrations are as big and vibrant as the ocean itself. They are packed full of emotion and creativity. To coincide with the first person voice, the ocean has a floating face with eyes, nose, and mouth.

Overall, Ocean! represents a new “wave” of picture books that push the boundary between fiction and nonfiction in interesting ways. Get on board and check out a copy today!

And be sure to visit Wrapped in Foil blog for more information and related activity suggestions.

December 21, 2020December 20, 2020

We Are Water Protectors

Today at Wrapped in Foil Blog, we have a picture book that has been included on a number of best of 2020 lists, We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade.

Why has it landed on “best of” lists?

Important message

Living things need clean water to survive. That is a fundamental fact. We Are Water Protectors is a call to action to protect the Earth’s precious water resources while we still can.

Distinct, Individual Voice

Author Carole Lindstrom is tribally enrolled with the Turtle Mountain Band of the Ojibwe. She uses her unique, passionate voice to explain the issue and share historical perspective about the Indigenous-led protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Gorgeous Illustrations

Michaela Goade’s watercolor illustrations are exquisite. What better medium than watercolor for a book fundamentally about water? In addition, she captures the emotions of each scene with her palette and includes culturally-relevant symbols. Words can not describe how beautiful her illustrations are.

Because this book is written like a story, including having a refrain, there may be some confusion about what genre it falls in and whether it qualifies for Nonfiction Monday. After all, Google Books calls it fiction. Responsive Reads calls it historical fiction. Looking at the amount of information in the text, one could easily argue the genre might be closer to creative nonfiction or informational fiction. In fact, in an interview at Two Writing Teachers blog, Carole Lindstrom considers her work to be lyrical nonfiction. If you have read it, what do you think?

We Are Water Protectors offers a lot to consider. It is likely to challenge young readers and to stimulate discussion. Educators should download the activity guide and read the back matter to be prepared.