Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Books
Flower Talk: How Plants Use Color to Communicate
by Sara C. Levine (Author) and Masha D’yans (Illustrator)
Booktalk: A cantankerous cactus explains the significance of different colors of flowers in terms of which pollinators (bees, bats, birds, etc.) different colors “talk” to.
Snippet:
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2019 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
We’re in the mood for a trip to the beach today at Wrapped in Foil blog, so we’re highlighting Ocean Emporium: A Compilation of Creatures by Susie Brooks and illustrated by Dawn Cooper.
What is an emporium? By definition, it is a large store that carries a diversity of items, like you would find in a well-stocked department store. In this book the word is used in the sense of a place where you can see an array of different animals.
The first spread introduces readers to an ocean food web and all the different groups that are featured in the rest of the book.
The rest of the two-page spreads are “collections” of related animals, from two different hermit crabs on pages 8-9 to eight species of sharks on pages 36-37 to ten “Creatures of the Deep” on pages 52-53. Each spread features a main paragraph which explains some unique characteristics of that group, along with another paragraph or two of interesting facts scattered within the illustrations.
Dawn Cooper’s digital illustrations capture a gorgeous assortment of actual creatures. They are both realistic and artistically rendered with brilliant color and detail, yet softened as if they are underwater. The texture of the paper adds to the illusion of looking into an aquarium or tide pool.
Ocean Emporium would be lovely to accompany a trip to the beach or an aquarium. It will entice both nature lovers and art lovers alike. Dive into a copy today!
Copyright © 2019 Roberta Gibson All Rights Reserved.
Spot, Spike, Spiral (Board book)
by Sarah Grace Tuttle; illus. by Miriam Nerlove
28 pages; ages 2-4
Creative Editions, 2019
Spot. Spike. Spiral.
This book introduces nine spotted, spiked, or spiraled creatures. The text is simple, the art vibrant and richly detailed. Pages invite you to linger and study the colors and patterns of the blue poison dart frog, the wattle cup caterpillar, the rainbow millipede.
What I like about this book: I love the vibrant watercolor illustrations. I love the way Miriam Nerlove captures texture and movement. And I like the simplicity of the text. Spot. Spike. Spiral. What I really like, though, is the last spread that shows each of the animals featured in the book.
This is a wonderful companion to their earlier book, Dot, Stripe, Squiggle, published last August. That book introduced young observers to nine sea creatures, from red-spotted blennies to zebra lionfish and sea nettles. What both books do well is to shine a light on the simple shapes and patterns that children can see in their environment. Even if they don’t remember the names of the beetles, mollusks, or fish, children will recognize spots and squiggles, spikes and spirals.
For activities and another book, head over to Archimedes Notebook.
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2019 Sue Heavenrich All Rights Reserved.
At Growing With Science blog today we are looking up at the night skies for the Lyrid Meteor Shower and also reading Just Right: Searching for the Goldilocks Planet by Curtis Manley and illustrated by Jessica Lanan.
Just Right introduces young readers to idea that planets exist outside our solar system while at the same time exploring the things that make the Earth special.
Although “Goldilocks” in the title might give you the idea that this is a work of fiction, it is actually well-researched, detailed nonfiction. Readers learn about exoplanets, telescopes, the magnetic field, and much more.
What really makes the book work is that readers are guided on their path to discovery by a young girl who is shown in most of the illustrations (see the cover). As she moves on her journey from a park through a visit to a planetarium and back home to look at the night sky, the illustrator creates a story line that children relate to and understand. This is picture book nonfiction at it finest.
Just Right is guaranteed to thrill budding astronomers. It is also perfect for units on planets or space. Look up a copy today!
Copyright © 2019 Roberta Gibson All Rights Reserved.
In Focus: Forests
by Libby Walden (Author) and 10 Illustrators
Booktalk: Ten illustrators delve into the woodlands to explore the creatures, culture, and conservation of our forested areas. Each spread of this over-sized book opens in the middle with a gatefold on both the left and the right giving each topic 6 pages of content. See all four parts of the rain forest, wind your way through the fir trees, and dive to the depths of the kelp forest to uncover the fascinating facts of these unique ecosystems.
Snippet:
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2019 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
The Moonflower is back in print, newly revised, and as gorgeous as ever.
by Peter Loewer; illus. by Jean Loewer
32 pages; ages 6-10
Peachtree, 2019
theme: flower, nature, night
When the sun has set in the West…
The Moonflower is a lyrical and accurate account of nature at night. Beginning with sunset, we meet the crickets, moths, bats, and owls that populate the night. Eventually the moonflower opens and we get an up-close look at pollination.
I grabbed a copy of the original from the library to see how the new version compares. The title page has been updated, and the pages have a crisper look to them. Sidebar material is easier to read. And new information is included. There is more information about bumble bee nests and how bees see the world around them. The original book tells how to translate cricket chirps into temperature; this new printing includes calculations for degrees Celsius. Bats get more press in this updated version, as do moths. Overall, the sidebars and back matter have more connections to math and science.
What I like about this book: I have always liked it for its language. Bats don’t just fly, they swoop and glide. The moonflowers open “like a movie in slow motion” and hawkmoth wings beat so fast they are blurred with speed.
The back matter is still there. As before, there are directions for planting and growing your own moonflower. The glossary has grown, over the years, to reflect the additional information in sidebars.
Head over to Archimedes Notebook for some Beyond-the-Book activities.
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2019 Sue Heavenrich All Rights Reserved.
A Brief History of Life on Earth
by Clémence Dupont (Author / Illustrator)
Booktalk: The story of life on earth unfolds era by era in this concertina book that takes readers from 4.6 billion years ago to the present day. When the book is fully open, the timeline is as long as a triceratops! (That’s 26 feet / 8 meters.)
Snippet:
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2019 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
The Crab Alphabet Book
by Jerry Pallotta; illus by Tom Leonard
32 pages; ages 3-7
Charlesbridge, 2019
themes: alphabet, arthropods, diversity
A is for Arrow Crab. This skinny creature with the arrow-shaped head and body is an ocean crab.
This book is filled with crabs: skinny crabs and fat crabs, red crabs and blue crabs. Some crabs are huge – measuring 13 feet from toe to toe – and others are tiny. There are fiddler crabs that don’t play the fiddle, and crabs that look like they’re wearing mittens.
They may look very different from each other, but all crabs have ten legs – even though the front two end in claws.
What I like love about this book: I like the note from the crabs at the beginning of the book: “We crabs are tired of books about cute penguins, proud tigers, colorful butterflies, and other favorite animals…”
I like the note from the crabs at the end of the book which explains that the horseshoe crab may have “crab” in its name, but it’s not a crab! “We didn’t want our own book because we’re selfish,” the crabs write. “We’re shellfish!”
And I really like the notes the crabs write throughout the book – tidbits of information about regeneration of lost limbs, molting, and blood color. Bluish-green, if you must know. Great illustrations paired with fun and breezy text makes you want to linger over each page.
Head over to Archimedes Notebook for some beyond-the-book activities.
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2019 Sue Heavenrich All Rights Reserved.
Otters, Snails and Tadpole Tails: Poems from the Wetlands
by Eric Ode (Author) and Ruth Harper (Illustrator)
Booktalk: An homage to all things wetland. From raccoons to muskrats, frogs to heron, it’s a celebration of biodiversity, art, poetry, and healthy ecosystems.
Snippet:
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2019 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Seashells: More Than A Home
by Melissa Stewart; illustrated by Sarah S. Brannen
32 pages; ages 6-9
Charlesbridge, 2019
Every day, seashells wash up on beaches all over Earth, like treasures from a secret world beneath the waves.
They come in all sizes, colors, and shapes. That’s because they have so many different jobs to do. In this book Melissa Stewart explains how some shells function to allow the mollusk to dive deeper into the water, or tunnel into the seabed to hide from a predator. Some shells blend in with their background, while others light up.
What I like LOVE about this book: I always learn something new when I read one of Melissa’s books. This time I learned about a clusterwink snail that produces light! I also like that the text is written for two reading levels. For example, large text on the second spread reads, “Seashells can rise and sink like a submarine…” The smaller text adds details to how the nautilus pumps water into the shell to sink.
I love Sarah Brannen’s watercolors. Not only does she show amazing details about the shells, but she includes children drawing shells, and journal sketches with notes. And the colors are so warm and soft I just want to take off my shoes and socks and stick my feet in a sandbox.
I love the end pages that show the mollusk habitats and ranges. And the wonderful spread at the back where you can learn more about the five largest groups of mollusks. One thing Sarah writes in her illustrator’s note sticks with me: “You never see something as clearly as when you try to draw it.” That’s why I try to sketch things I see when I head outside. Drawing what you see in nature makes you slow down and look more closely at the details.
Head over to Archimedes Notebook for some Beyond-the-Book activities.
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2019 Sue Heavenrich All Rights Reserved.