STEM Friday

April 11, 2025April 10, 2025

Nature’s Tiny Champions

Nature’s Tiny Champions: The Big Book of Little Creatures Doing Mighty Things
by Ben Lerwill (Author) and Nic Jones (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: Featuring 20 little animals, from the nocturnal dung beetle, cape dwarf chameleon, and golden poison frog to the bumblebee bat, reef starfish, and bee hummingbird, this oversized nonfiction guide reveals how even the tiniest insects, invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds can play key roles in natural phenomena such as migration, food chains, and pollination.

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It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

April 4, 2025April 3, 2025

My First Town

My First Town: A Building Block Book
by Merrill Rainey (Author / Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: Watch as young minds come alive as they pop out pieces, then fold and glue together a town filled with buildings, vehicles, and friendly faces.

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It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

March 28, 2025March 27, 2025

Blossom Origami

Blossom Origami
by Clover Robin (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: With 13 nature-inspired origami step-by-step patterns, this activity book has origami inspiration, original art, and extracts from well-loved nature poems, as well as 50 sheets of origami paper. The three difficulty levels are clearly marked and the QR code links aspiring origami artists to how-to videos that cover all pieces and steps in the book.

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It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

March 21, 2025March 20, 2025

The Six

The Six — Young Readers Edition: The Untold Story of America’s First Women Astronauts
by Loren Grush (Author) and Rebecca Stefoff (Author)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: Sally Ride may have been the first US woman in space, but did you know there were five other incredible American women who helped blaze the trail for female astronauts by her side?

When NASA sent astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s, the agency excluded women from the corps, arguing that only military test pilots—a group women were also aggressively barred from—had the right stuff. But as the 1980s dawned so did new thinking, and six elite women scientists—Sally Ride, Judith Resnik, Anna Lee Fisher, Kathy Sullivan, Shannon Lucid, and Rhea Seddon—set out to prove they had exactly the right stuff to become the first US women astronauts.

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It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

March 14, 2025March 13, 2025

Our Amazing Earth

My new Focus on STEM column, Our Amazing Earth, is in the March Quick Tips for Schools and Libraries newsletter from Booklist.

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

March 7, 2025March 6, 2025

Influential Women in Mathematics

Influential Women in Mathematics
by Shasta Clinch (Author)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: This chapter book introduces four women who have contributed to the field of mathematics. The first is Hypatia (hih-PAH-tyah) who was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in the mid-300s AD.

Snippet: Hypatia helped her father with his work. Soon she became an expert at math. She was one of the first female mathematicians.

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

February 28, 2025February 27, 2025

Let’s Learn Numbers Board Book

Let’s Learn Numbers Board Book
by Olga Utchenko (Artist)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: Little learners can practice counting one through ten with creatures and objects unique to the sea in this board book.

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It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

February 14, 2025February 13, 2025

There’s Science in Salt

There’s Science in Salt
by Cécile Jugla (Author), Jack Guichard (Author), Laurent Simon (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Try 10 easy activities and experiments to discover great scientific principles using . . . salt!

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It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

February 7, 2025February 6, 2025

Genius Ears

Genius Ears: A Curious Animal Compendium
by Lena Anlauf (Author), Vitali Konstantinov (Illustrator), Marshall Yarbrough (Translator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: Ears can do much more than just pick up sound waves. In the animal kingdom, ears are sometimes an animal’s strongest asset! For example, a fleeing black-tailed jackrabbit uses the position of its ears to help it confuse its pursuers and get away from danger. Some animals can close their ears to protect their bodies or use them to cool down or stay warm. Whether long, tuft, or goblin, ears can tell a lot about animals and their habits and habitats.

Which animal has the longest ears relative to its size? Which animal communicates through surprisingly high-pitched chirping sounds? And which animal can pinpoint the location of its prey using only its ears? Readers will find out all this and much more in this middle grade book filled with unique and unusual facts.

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It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

January 31, 2025January 30, 2025

Cryptocurrency (The World of Money)

Cryptocurrency (The World of Money)
by Hilary Margitich (Author)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: This middle grade book explains the basics of cryptocurrency and how it works, detailing the benefits and drawbacks of using cryptocurrency, as well as showing examples of how cryptocurrency is used today.

Snippet: But a new type of money has gained popularity. Cryptocurrency, or crypto, does not belong at any country. It is a digital currency that can be accessed through a person’s computer or smartphone. It is not provided by banks.

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)