Author: Anastasia Suen

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Animals in the Sky
by Sara Gillingham(Author / Illustrator)

Booktalk: With a guessing game, this board book helps younger children identify six of the most recognizable animal constellations from The Great Bear to the The Southern Fish. Each constellation is introduced as a cluster of stars with its connected-line shape; readers then guess the animal through a series of read-aloud clues. A full animal illustration gatefold reveals the answer, accompanied by extra information about the constellation and its important stars.

Snippet:

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

Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Dads
by John Coy (Author) and Wing Young Huie (Photographer)

Booktalk: Celebrate all that fathers do: building, fixing, cooking, cleaning, laughing, crying, hugging, playing and more! This book shows a wide range of fathers and children, particularly highlighting families of color and lower-income families, who often aren’t depicted in children’s books.

Snippet:
Dads share.
They teach.

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

Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

One Little Lot: The 1-2-3s of an Urban Garden
by Diane C. Mullen (Author) and Oriol Vidal (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Count all the ways (one to ten) an urban community unites to clean up an abandoned lot. From building planter boxes to pulling weeds to planting seeds, everyone works together to transform the lot into a bountiful vegetable garden. As the garden grows, strangers become friends, eventually sharing in a special feast with the harvest they grew.

Snippet:
TWO helping hands push open
the rickets, rusting fence.
A visitor imagines what could be.
Passersby stop to talk.
Maybe, just maybe, they all say.

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

Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

My new Focus on STEM column: Cats and Dogs is in the June Quick Tips for Schools and Libraries newsletter.

Booktalk: Help kids take an extra-close look at the family pet with these fun, informative books on feline and canine friends.

Snippet: Dog person or cat person? That is the question–and the answer depends on whom you ask! No matter what the answer is, these pets have been getting a lot of up close and personal time lately.

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

Copyright © 2019 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

What’s This Tail Saying?
by Carolyn Combs (Author) and Cathy Morrison (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Animal tails are talking! Every shake and shiver, rattle and splash is saying something. But what is it? Look and listen for the clues on one page. Then go to the next page to discover the message.

Snippet:
Rustle Shiver
What’s the peacock’s tail saying?

[TURN THE PAGE]

Aren’t I great!
Pick me as your mate!

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

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Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

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Yoga Animals: A Wild Introduction to Kid-Friendly Poses
by Paige Towler (Author)

Booktalk: Roar like a lion! Arch like a kitten! Stretch like a cobra! Did you know that many yoga poses were inspired by animals? Let these creatures inspire your young ones to get moving, practice mindfulness, or calm down after a long day. Simple step-by-step instructions explain the kid-friendly moves.

Snippet:
Bunnnies bounce on velvet toes,
then tuck fluffy tail to nose.

See the book trailer and learn this yoga pose.

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

The Naturally Creative Workshop is free to all June 21-July 17, 2020.
Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

I Like Animals… What Jobs are There?
by Steve Martin (Author) and Roberto Blefari (Illustrator)

Booktalk: What do you want to do when you grow up? Children who love animals can find out all about potential future careers, from veterinarian to zookeeper to pet portrait artist, as they’re taken through a “day in the life” of 25 different animal workers.

Snippet:

See the book trailer.

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

The Naturally Creative Workshop is free to all June 21-July 17, 2020.
Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Cool Math: 50 Fantastic Facts for Kids of All Ages
by Tracie Young and Katie Hewett (Authors)

Booktalk: Learn how to tip, work out the distance of a storm, create Fibonacci sequences, crack codes, and more! From simple multiplication to complex calculus, math has never been easier.

Snippet:
The Binomial Man
In algebra, a binomial is an expression that consists of two terms–“bi” meaning “two” and “nomial” meaning “number”–separated by a plus or minus sign. Multiplying two binomial expressions can be similar to the multiplication of numbers. “F-O-I-L” (First, Outside, Inside, Last) is an acronym to remember a set of rules that will help you perform this multiplication.

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

Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Flower Power: The Magic of Nature’s Healers
by Christine Paxmann (Author) and Olaf Hajek (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Take on a magical journey through the world of healing flowers. Explore cultural and medicinal aspects of 17 different flowers as well as their importance to artists, writers, and healers.

Snippet:

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

Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

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.

Snippet:

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

Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

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