Makers in the Kitchen


My new Focus on STEM column: Makers in the Kitchen is in the October Quick Tips for Schools and Libraries newsletter.

Booktalk: Use these new books about food for a bundle of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry fun for makers and bakers (and eaters!) in the kitchen this fall.

Snippet: An after-school South Asian cooking club brings sixth-graders Sara and Elizabeth together as they struggle to adjust to middle school in A Place at the Table, a novel with alternating chapters from both girls written by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan.

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

Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Weird But True Halloween: 300 Spooky Facts to Scare You Silly

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Weird But True Halloween: 300 Spooky Facts to Scare You Silly
by Julie Beer (Author) and Michelle Harris (Author)

Booktalk: Discover 300 all-new spooky facts about candy, costumes, pumpkin carving, and more!

Snippet: Every Halloween approximately 600 million pounds (272 million kg) of candy are sold in the United States.

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

Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Who Will It Be?: How Evolution Connects Us All

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Who Will It Be?: How Evolution Connects Us All
by Paola Vitale (Author) and Rossana Bossù (Illustrator)

Booktalk: If gills appear, will it be a fish? From fish to frogs to humans, readers will learn about the theory of evolution and explore the connections between humans and all life on Earth.

Snippet:


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

Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Marjory Saves the Everglades

New this week is the picture book biography, Marjory Saves the Everglades: The Story of Marjory Stoneman Douglas by Sandra Neil Wallace and illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas grew up in Taunton, Massachusetts with her mother, but she fell in love with Florida. Later when she saw how all the unique plants like ghost orchids and Florida Scrub Ziziphus plus animals like roseate spoonbills, storks and even manatees were disappearing as the Everglades was being destroyed, she knew she had to act. Would she be able to make a difference?

Sandra Neil Wallace has distilled 108 year’s of Marjory’s life into 56 pages of essential reading. The back matter is so full of more facts, resources and a timeline that it has spilled into the end papers.

Rebecca Gibbon’s illustrations capture the lush green vegetation of Florida as well as Marjory’s lively disposition. Young readers will delight in finding all the hidden animals and plants in her illustrations of the Everglades.

Marjory Saves the Everglades will delight both young historians and conservationists alike. Wade into a copy today!

For the full review and ways to relate it to STEM, see Growing with Science blog.

Copyright © 2020 Roberta Gibson All Rights Reserved.

 

How Can I Help During Covid-19?

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How Can I Help During Covid-19?
by Emily Dolbear (Author)

Booktalk: In just a few short months, COVID-19 has drastically altered the world as we know it. With so much unknown about the disease and the virus that causes it, this is a scary and overwhelming time. After explaining what COVID-19 is, this short chapter book focuses on how kids can help during the pandemic.

Snippet:

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

Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Little Kids First Big Book of Pets

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Little Kids First Big Book of Pets
by Catherine Hughes (Author)

Booktalk: Learn which kinds of animals make good pets and which ones are better off staying in the wild, along with how each type of pet eats, sleeps, and plays in this chapter book with more than 200 photos.

Snippet:



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

Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Beatrix Potter, Scientist

Did you know that before author and illustrator Beatrix Potter began her career writing the famous children’s classics, she was a scientist? Find out all about it in Beatrix Potter, Scientist by Lindsay H. Metcalf and illustrated by Junyi Wu.

Like the illustration of young Beatrix Potter on the cover, this book focuses a lens on the children’s author’s lesser-known years as a mycologist (one who studies fungi). Although Potter had no formal schooling in science, she was introduced to mushrooms by a talented amateur named Charles McIntosh. He became her mentor and sent her samples to study. Beatrix made beautiful detailed drawings of each specimen. She also figured out a way to prove that new mushrooms grow from spores, something that wasn’t well known at the time. However, like other women scientists in the 1800s and early 1900s, Beatrix Potter encountered resistance when she tried to share her findings.

After finishing the book, educators and parents will likely want to discuss with young readers the pros and cons of how Beatrix ultimately dealt with the rejection.

Overall Beatrix Potter, Scientist will appeal to both young readers interested in STEM and also those interested in women’s history. Investigate a copy today!

Be sure to visit Growing with Science blog for the rest of the review and hands-on activity suggestions for studying fungi.

Copyright © 2020 Roberta Gibson All Rights Reserved.

Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood

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Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood
by Tony Hillery (Author) and Jessie Hartland (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Discover the incredible true story of Harlem Grown, a lush garden in New York City that grew out of an abandoned lot and now feeds a neighborhood.

Snippet:



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

Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

If We Were Gone: Imagining the World without People

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If We Were Gone: Imagining the World without People
by John Coy (Author) and Natalie Capannelli (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Water, air, sunlight, plants . . . we need these elements to live in this world. But does the world need us? And what would happen to the world if humans were gone? Nature would reclaim the planet!

Snippet:

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

Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.