Anastasia Suen

April 24, 2020April 23, 2020

Winged Wonders: Solving the Monarch Migration Mystery

Winged Wonders: Solving the Monarch Migration Mystery
by Meeg Pincus (Author) and Yas Imamura (Illustrator)

Booktalk: For decades, as the monarch butterflies swooped through every year like clockwork, people from Canada to the United States to Mexico wondered, “Where do they go?” In 1976 the world learned the answer: after migrating thousands of miles, the monarchs roost by the millions in an oyamel grove in Central Mexico’s mountains. But who solved this mystery? Was it the scientist or the American adventurer? The citizen scientists or the teacher or his students? Winged Wonders shows that the mystery could only be solved when they all worked as a team–and reminds readers that there’s another monarch mystery today, one that we all must work together to solve.

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

Know any parents teaching school at home due to the pandemic?
Share my makerspace (DIY) articles published by the American Library Association.

April 17, 2020April 16, 2020

Common Critters: The Wildlife in Your Neighborhood

Common Critters: The Wildlife in Your Neighborhood
by Pat Brisson (Author) and Dan Tavis (Illustrator)

Booktalk: A familiar cast of characters–worms, slugs, caterpillars, ladybugs, robins, mourning doves, houseflies, spiders, squirrels, skunks, and others–crawls, runs, buzzes, and flits through this celebration of neighborhood wildlife in verse. The back matter has more information about the critters in the book and advice for writing poetry.

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

Know any parents teaching school at home due to the pandemic?
Share my makerspace (DIY) articles published by the American Library Association.

April 10, 2020April 9, 2020

Play Like an Animal!

Play Like an Animal!: Why Critters Splash, Race, Twirl, and Chase
by Maria Gianferrari (Author) and Mia Powell (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Celebrate all the different ways animals play, from rhinos taking mud baths and parrots somersaulting through the air to kangaroos boxing and dolphins diving through the surf. Back matter gives more information about the featured animals in the book and how playing benefits animals — and you!

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

Know any parents teaching school at home due to the pandemic?
Share these Makerspace (DIY) projects for kids.

April 3, 2020April 2, 2020

Boats Will Float

Boats Will Float
by Andria Warmflash Rosenbaum (Author) and Brett Curzon (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Explore the many types of watercraft navigating our lakes, rivers, and oceans, including trawlers, tankers, and cruise ships. Back matter includes detailed descriptions of each type of watercraft mentioned.

Snippet:
Early morning, rise and shine,
Fishing boats with nets and line.

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

March 27, 2020March 26, 2020

Puppies (Baby Animals)

Puppies (Baby Animals)
by Jen Besel (Author)

Booktalk: From finding food to how to play, baby animals have a lot to learn. Learn about life as a newborn puppy through leveled text and simple infographics in this beginning reader.

Snippet: Puppies are playful explorers. They get hungry. At first, they drink their mother’s milk. As they grow, their teeth come in. Then they can eat solid food.

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

March 20, 2020March 21, 2020

Creating Makerspaces at Home

As you know, I write a STEM column for Booklist. When I sent in my April column idea to my editor for discussion this week, she wanted it to be published right away . . . so she asked me to write it for their blog, something I had never done before. Then she put me in touch with the Booklist blog editor and after a discussion of the idea with that editor, I wrote the article that day (not over the course of a week, as I usually do) and sent it in. She published it on the blog the next day:

Creating Makerspaces at Home

When I sent the article in, I asked the blog editor if she was interested in events that started on March 23. She said yes. I wrote another resources article for her that came out on Friday afternoon:

Creating Makerspaces at Home: Part II

Please share these resources with any parents you know who are suddenly homeschooling their kids. It takes a village.

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

March 20, 2020March 19, 2020

Kaia and the Bees

Kaia and the Bees
by Maribeth Boelts (Author) and Angela Dominguez (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Kaia is the brave type. Like hottest-hot-pepper brave. But there is one thing that scares her: BEES! And right now, thousands of bees live on her roof because Kaia’s dad is a beekeeper. Her dad says that the world needs bees and that’s why they are beekeepers. But only he goes on the roof, not Kaia — unless she can find a way to be the brave girl she always says she is.

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

March 13, 2020March 12, 2020

Changing the Equation

Changing the Equation: 50+ US Black Women in STEM
by Tonya Bolden (Author)

Booktalk: This book celebrates more than 50 women who have shattered the glass ceiling, defied racial discrimination, and pioneered in their fields, including groundbreaking computer scientists, doctors, inventors, physicists, pharmacists, mathematicians, aviators, and many more.

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

March 6, 2020March 5, 2020

Dr. Maggie’s Grand Tour of the Solar System

Dr. Maggie’s Grand Tour of the Solar System
by Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock (Author) and Chelen Écija (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Just how much would it cost to colonize Mars? Could a human survive on the blistering-hot surface of Venus? Space scientist Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock takes readers on the trip of a light-speed lifetime — from the proximity of the surface of our very own planet to the furthest sectors of the Solar System.

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

February 28, 2020February 27, 2020

Baby Loves Scientists

Baby Loves Scientists
by Ruth Spiro (Author) and Irene Chan (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Baby loves to explore the world of science! What’s next for Baby after learning about physics, engineering, computers, and the natural world? Becoming a scientist of course!

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