Anastasia Suen

August 9, 2024August 8, 2024

Wildfire: The Culture, Science, and Future of Fire

Wildfire: The Culture, Science, and Future of Fire
by Ferin Davis Anderson (Author) and Stephanie Sammartino McPherson (Author)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: Wildfire is a natural process that takes place worldwide. In dry conditions, a single spark can transform into a megafire that sweeps across the landscape, burning everything in its path. Despite fire’s deadly reputation, ecosystems such as forests and grasslands depend on it to clear out debris and promote new plant growth.

Discover the history of large-scale fire and what its future may look like as you examine how Indigenous people, farmers, and forestry departments have used fire to manage natural resources and how human development and climate change are impacting the frequency and intensity of wildfires. By delving into how fires start and burn, fire suppression and firefighting, and the ecological importance of burns, you can explore people’s long relationship with fire and reflect on fire’s regenerative benefits and destructive capabilities alike.

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

August 2, 2024August 1, 2024

Measuring Me!

Measuring Me!
by Nicola Kent (Author / Illustrator)

Booktalk: Discover amazing facts about the human body and explore measuring in a very personal way! A double-sided pull-out height chart can be found in a pocket inside the back cover.

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

July 26, 2024July 25, 2024

Stones and Bones

Stones and Bones: Fossils and the stories they tell
by Rob Wilshaw (Author) and Sophie Williams (Illustrator)
@ Amazon* | Bookshop*

Booktalk: Explore the incredible history of life on our planet told through the fossil record! Over the past four billion years, life on Earth has evolved from microscopic single-celled organisms to today’s incredible array of flora and fauna. In the course of this time, layer upon layer of life was buried in sediment, turning into a fossilized record of the planet’s history.

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

July 19, 2024July 18, 2024

Always Beginning

Always Beginning: The Big Bang, the Universe, and You
by Candace Savage (Author) and Rachel Wada (Illustrator)
@ Amazon* | Bookshop*

Booktalk: Explore the science behind the start of our universe and how we came to be a part of it, from the Big Bang and the beginning of life on Earth all the way up until today. Backmatter explaining the science includes a timeline of the origins of the universe through the ages of fish, reptiles, mammals, and humans.

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

July 12, 2024July 11, 2024

Animals Near and Far

My new Focus on STEM column, Animals Near and Far, is in the free July Quick Tips for Schools and Libraries newsletter from Booklist.

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

July 5, 2024July 3, 2024

West Coast Wild Rainforest

West Coast Wild Rainforest
by Deborah Hodge (Author) and Karen Reczuch (Illustrator)
@ Amazon* | Bookshop*

Booktalk: Step into the majestic rainforest of the Pacific west coast and discover a unique community of creatures thriving in an interconnected web of life.

Snippet: The rainforest is cool, rainy and foggy — and one of the wettest non-tropical places on Earth! Moisture-filled air coming off the ocean showers it with more than ten feet (three meters) of rain a year.

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

June 28, 2024June 27, 2024

Tell Me About Oceans Board Book

Tell Me About Oceans Board Book
by Lisa Varchol Perron (Author) and Jennifer Falkner (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: A child gets answers to their many questions about the ocean in this rhyming nonfiction board book.

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

June 21, 2024June 20, 2024

Mushrooms Know

Mushrooms Know: Wisdom From Our Friends the Fungi
by Kallie George (Author) and Sara Gillingham (Illustrator)
@ Amazon* | Bookshop*

Booktalk: Mushrooms always wear their thinking caps. They know so many things. Discover over fifty kinds of mushrooms and the fascinating life lessons they can teach us: that small can be mighty, being unique is a reason to celebrate–and staying connected is key.

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

June 14, 2024June 13, 2024

Before the Seed: How Pollen Moves

Before the Seed: How Pollen Moves
by Susannah Buhrman-Deever (Author), Gina Triplett (Illustrator), Matt Curtius (Illustrator)
@ Amazon* | Bookshop*

Booktalk: We live in a world of green that grows from seeds, but what happens before there are seeds? From bees and bats to beetles and hummingbirds, find out how creatures from all over the world aid in flower pollination and the sophisticated mechanisms flowering plants have developed in order to reproduce. Back matter includes more information on flower anatomy, how to support local pollinators in your own backyard, and the dangers that global warming poses to pollinator species.

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

June 7, 2024June 6, 2024

Solstice: Around the World on the Longest, Shortest Day

Solstice: Around the World on the Longest, Shortest Day
by Jen Breach (Author) and 14 Global Artists
@ Amazon* | Bookshop*

Booktalk: Explore the daily lives of children around the world through through the lens of a single, special day in June, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere and the shortest in the southern hemisphere. Celebrate the solstice alongside 14 fictional characters from 14 real places around the world. You will be transported to Antarctica, Argentina, Australia, South Africa, Ecuador, Indonesia, Nigeria, Nepal, Morocco, China, Turkey, America, the United Kingdom, and Norway. Each account is both a personal story and an informational narrative with cultural insight, geographical information, and words from the native language. The illustrations in each short chapter were created by illustrators from that location and the translations were vetted by native speakers.

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