Author: Sue Heavenrich

Like a Lizard
by April Pulley Sayre; illus. by Stephanie Laberis
32 Pages; ages 4-8
Boyds Mills Press, 2019

Can you run like a lizard? Sun like a lizard?

What about doing pushups? Or dashing across water like a lizard? If you could live like a lizard, you’d have lots of choices about how to behave. That’s because there are about 6300 kinds of lizards living on Earth, and each of them is adapted to its habitat in certain ways. April Pulley Sayre presents an inside look at how 28 lizards make their living.

What I like about this book: I love that each page asks the reader to compare their life with that of a lizard – and each page features specific lizards doing their thing. Like frill-necked lizards showing off their collars, and geckos climbing twigs. I like the bright and realistic illustrations – I never knew about some of these lizards! And I like the back matter, where lizard secrets are revealed. Most of all, I like April’s message that lizards and people can live together in harmony.

Head over to Archimedes Notebook for a book about crocodiles and some beyond-the-books activities.

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

Copyright © 2019 Sue Heavenrich All Rights Reserved.

Do flowers talk? And if they do, can we hear them? Sara Levine addresses these – and more questions – in her new book.

Flower Talk: How plants use color to communicate
by Sara Levine; illus. by Masha D’yans
32 pages; ages 7-11
Millbrook, 2019

Hey, You! PSSST! Down here! That’s right – I’m a plant, and I’m talking to you!

Plants don’t make a habit of talking to humans, but they do in this book because the plants want to clear up some crazy human ideas about what their colors mean. Red roses do not – at least according to the plants – stand for love. That is, our plant-land guide says, “a load of fertilizer!”

Plants use their flowers to talk to animals. They need bees or birds or bats to carry their pollen from one plant to another so they can make seeds. In exchange, they offer sweet rewards – nectar.

What I like about this book: I love the conversational way it’s written, with the plants speaking directly to the reader. Who knew plants could talk? I mean, with words, not color or scent.

I like that pages are color-coordinated: yellow pages for discussing yellow plants.

I like how the plant, at the end, tells the reader to go take a hike. “I’m pretty busy,” says the plant. “I’m making a new flower.”

And I like the back matter: more details about pollination, things kids can do to protect pollinators, and suggested reading.

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.

Soar High, Dragonfly
by Sheri M. Bestor; illus. by Jonny Lambert
32 pages; ages 5 – 8
Sleeping Bear Press, 2019

Spring sun warms the earth. Seeds sprout. Birds build nests. High above, tiny wings hum like wind through the leaves.

This book introduces readers to the life of a green darner dragonfly. Green darners are one of the species that migrate, flying north in spring and south in fall.

What I like about this book: There are three layers of text. Large text tells the story of a dragonfly’s life, from egg to adult. Even larger text provides sound effects, such as the “Pop. Pop. Pop” of eggs landing on the surface of the pond – or the exclamations of “Oh my, dragonfly!” Sidebars, in smaller text, add more details about the natural history of these amazing insects. The illustrations, bright and marbled and reminiscent of Eric Carle, invite you to explore the scenes spread across the pages. Even the end papers offer plenty to see. I would have liked some back matter offering more information, such as how the nymphs breathe underwater and whether climate change is affecting their migration.

Head over to Archimedes Notebook for some beyond-the-book activities and a review of The Bug Girl.

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

Copyright © 2019 Sue Heavenrich All Rights Reserved.

Hidden City: Poems of Urban Wildlife
by Sarah Grace Tuttle; illus. by Amy Schimler-Safford
48 pages; ages 4-8
Eerdman’s Books for Young Readers, 2018

In the night
under the table
a mother mouse
scurries back and forth…

From the mouse in the house to weeds in sidewalk cracks, Sarah Tuttle offers a close look at the wildlife sharing our cities. There are birds – lots of birds, snails, and insects galore. Bats, cats, and sign of skunk. All shown through the lens of poetry.

What I like about this book: I like that Sarah uses poetry to give us a way into observing the lives of our wild urban neighbors. There’s a fun poem about the courtship dance of pigeons – I can almost see them strut, turn, and dip as they try to gain the attention of the ladies. I like that the poems take us through the seasons of city living. And I really like that Sarah has included back matter – more facts about the wildlife that she’s introduced in the poems. I also like the artwork: collage landscapes and garden scenes.

Head over to Archimedes Notebook for some more books about our wild neighbors and a handful of Beyond-the-Books activities.

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

Copyright © 2019 Sue Heavenrich All Rights Reserved.

Dogs in Space
by Vix Southgate; illus. by Iris Deppe
32 pages; ages 5-7
Kane Miller, 2019

It was a cold, gloomy night in the backstreets of Moscow.

The year is 1951. Belka and Strelka are among the strays living on the streets. They rummage through trash cans, scrounging for any food they can find. One night they smell fresh meat. While other strays cower in the shadows, Belka and Strelka approach the man, begging for more food.

That man was Oleg, a scientist, and he was searching for two dogs brave enough for an important space mission.

What I like about this book: We learn about the space race through the story of Oleg and these dogs. Even though their mission is simple – orbit the earth – these canine cosmonauts need special training. They need to be able to stay calm when loud noises happen around them. They need to be able to stand on a vibrating platform.

Belka and Strelka pass the tests and earn their very own space suits. In 1960 they launch into space, blazing a trail for human astronauts to follow.

Of course there’s back matter! One spread explains the space race, and another gives a timeline of space exploration from 1960 to 1998. What’s next? Possibly a trip to Mars.

Head over to Archimedes Notebook for another review and some beyond-the-book activities.

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

Copyright © 2019 Sue Heavenrich All Rights Reserved.

You can be an Entomologist
by Dino Martins, PhD
32 Pages; ages 4-8
National Geographic Children’s Books, 2019

Dino grew up loving insects, so he became a scientist who studies insects. All you need to be an insect water is curiosity and patience. Curiosity because once you start watching insects you’ll be asking tons of questions about what they’re doing, why they look the way they look, and how can they fly backwards? Patience because you have to watch quietly and wait for insects to arrive.

What I like about this book: Dino explains why scientists study insects and how the research he and other entomologists do helps farmers and other people. Some insects pollinate food crops; others eat leaves or fruits. In one chapter he describes how entomologists do their research. If you guessed that they use insect nets and record observations in notebooks, you are correct!

I especially like that Dino includes a section on how insects help people – and that he thinks there are plenty more insects waiting to be discovered.

Head over to Archimedes Notebook for some entomology activities.

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

Copyright © 2019 Sue Heavenrich 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.

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.

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.

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.