STEM Friday

January 24, 2020January 23, 2020

Snowy Owls

Snowy Owls (Spot Arctic Animals)
by Anastasia Suen (Author)

Booktalk: Bundle up! It’s time to discover the unique animals that live at the top of the world. This search-and-find book invites young readers to look for new vocabulary words and pictures while giving simple facts about a snowy owl’s arctic habitat, body parts, and behaviors. Find out how their bodies are adapted to the frigid climate and what they do to survive.

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

January 17, 2020January 16, 2020

Extinct: An Illustrated Exploration of Animals That Have Disappeared

Extinct: An Illustrated Exploration of Animals That Have Disappeared
by Lucas Riera (Author) and Jack Tite (Illustrator)

Booktalk: This exploration of over 90 animals that we have lost over the past century, from the California grizzly to the Persian tiger, aims to create awareness and inspire children to act responsibly toward their environment. How each of these animals came to extinction is told in short snippets of text. Further scientific resources and profiles of animals that have been rediscovered or successfully reintroduced into the wild are also included in this over-sized volume.

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

January 17, 2020January 17, 2020

Book of Flight: 10 Record-Breaking Animals with Wings

Let’s take a look at a new picture book that does more than the usual, Book of Flight: 10 Record-Breaking Animals with Wings by Gabrielle Balkan and illustrated by Sam Brewster.

Why “more than the usual”?

At 10.5 x 12.8 inches, this book is larger than many picture books.

Inside, you will discover a challenging quiz format. The author sets up questions such as “Guess Who is the Fastest Flyer” and then gives plenty of details so the reader can figure it out. Included in the question spread is a blueprint-style illustration of the animal (like on the cover) with key features labelled. Turn the page and the answer is revealed in full color. To add a bit “more,” the animal has a textured overlay on the paper that begs to be felt. Take a minute and rub your fingers over it. Then read the first person point of view story of that animal.

Although you would think that a book about flight would be about birds, the author has included insects, bats and even a fish. The last spread talks about human flight. Again, more than you expect.

Finally, the reading level is Lexile Measure: 680L, but the first book in this series (see below) got glowing reviews from the parents of preschoolers. Obviously, with a bit of help from an adult reader, these books appeal to more than the suggested age range.

Book of Flight is a perfect choice for young readers interested in animals, those in flying things, and also those trivia buffs who like facts about records. It is guaranteed to fly off the shelf!

If you have a minute, hop over to Growing with Science blog for more about the previous title in the series, Book of Bones, 10 Record-Breaking Animals.

January 17, 2020January 16, 2020

Loony Little: The Ice Cap Is Melting

Loony Little: The Ice Cap Is Melting
by Dianna Hutts Aston (Author) and Kelly Murphy (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day with this climate-focused twist on the classic “Chicken Little” story.

Loony Little and her friends set off to tell the Polar Bear Queen that the polar ice cap is melting. Sly Foxy Loxy attempts to lead the animals to his lair to eat them, but Loony Little saves the day, tricking the fox into being devoured by the Polar Bear Queen. Includes information about climate change and the animal species in the book.

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

January 10, 2020January 9, 2020

The Great Shark Rescue

If you are looking for a middle grade title to inspire STEM students, look no further than The Great Shark Rescue: Saving the Whale Sharks by Sandra Markle.

Whale sharks are not only the biggest fish in the world, but also the coolest sharks because they feed by vacuuming up tons of the smallest creatures in the water (see pages 18-19). Unfortunately, along with many other fascinating creatures, their numbers are plummeting and they have recently become endangered.

Markle gives numbers and explicit reasons why the populations are in decline. Sometimes the sharks are caught is nets during legal fishing while at other times they are killed by people who fish for sharks illegally. Climate change is also a factor. Scientists want to try to help the sharks, but they know little about them. It is a race to learn about whale sharks before they disappear.

The Great Shark Rescue will thrill budding marine biologists as well as those interested in conserving endangered species. Realistically, this title could work with upper elementary readers as well as middle grade. It could be a great addition to your shelf.

Visit Wrapped in Foil Blog for the rest of the review and related links.

January 10, 2020January 9, 2020

How to Win a Nobel Prize

How to Win a Nobel Prize
by Barry Marshall (Author), Lorna Hendry (Author), and Bernard Caleo (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Mary has always wanted to win a Nobel Prize. She loves running her own science experiments at home. But how can she become a real scientist and win the greatest prize of all?

One day, Mary stumbles on a secret meeting of Nobel Prize winners. Dr. Barry Marshall agrees to travel with her through time to learn the secrets behind some of the most fascinating and important scientific discoveries. They talk time and space with Albert Einstein, radiation with Marie Curie, DNA with Crick, Watson and Wilkins – and much more.

Includes experiments that young scientists can do themselves at home.

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

January 3, 2020January 2, 2020

Life Under Ice

Life Under Ice: Exploring Antarctic Seas (2nd edition)
by Mary M. Cerullo (Author) and Bill Curtsinger (Photographer)

Booktalk: The organisms that live year-round under the ice of the Antarctic Ocean are truly amazing. Enormous jellyfish and fish with blood like antifreeze are just a few of the creatures captured in their unique habitat by underwater photographer Bill Curtsinger. This new edition is fully updated and traces the impacts of climate change and ice-shelf melt on the abundant life in the waters beneath a frozen desert.

Snippet: By New Year’s Day, when the sun is overhead twenty-four hours a day, billions of microscopic single-celled floating plants called phytoplankton will be in full bloom, forming a thick sea soup and making underwater photography impossible.

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

December 27, 2019

Titanosaur: Discovering the World’s Largest Dinosaur

Today at Growing With Science Blog we are featuring Titanosaur: Discovering the World’s Largest Dinosaur by Diego Pol, Jose Luis Carballido, and illustrated by Florencia Gigena.

Everything about this book is huge (and hugely impressive):

At 11.8 x 11.8 inches it is physically bigger than most picture books.
It is written by the actual paleontologists who dug up the dinosaur. Their excitement about the find bounds off of each and every page.
It features the biggest dinosaur ever found (so far)
It is likely to appeal to readers far outside its recommended age range

The story starts with a gaucho and his dog discovering a big bone on his ranch. What follows is an inside look at how a dinosaur skeleton is dug up and processed.

Accompanying the main text are sidebars that pull out keywords and explain them. For example, the first sidebar explains what a gaucho is, the second defines the word paleontologist, the third discusses how dinosaur bones are fossils. Although sidebars are standard in many nonfiction texts, these are particularly well done.

Florence Gigena’s illustrations are also top notch. They give continuity to the look and and expand the story. The best image by far is one of a man lying on the ground next to a femur to show how immense it really is! Another cool feature shows the placement of certain bones inside the skeleton of a transparent dinosaur. If that isn’t enough, there are many color photographs of the finds and team nestled in the artwork.

Titanosaur rises above the competition. It will enthrall youngsters already passionate about dinosaurs, but will also grab the attention of anyone interested in science or how scientists work. It is sure to be a super big hit. Dig up a copy today!

December 13, 2019December 10, 2019

Boom! Bellow! Bleat!

Boom! Bellow! Bleat!: Animal Poems for Two or More Voices
by Georgia Heard (Author) and Aaron DeWitt (Illustrator)

Booktalk: A collection of poems–peppered with an astounding variety of animal sounds–is meant to be read aloud together. The poems cover all major classes of animals: mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects, even a crustacean! End notes provide more information on the animals and how and why they make the sounds they do.

Snippet:

A 2019 Cybils Poetry nominee

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

December 13, 2019December 12, 2019

Insect Superpowers

Insect Superpowers, by Kate Messner; illus. by Jillian Nickell

80 pages; ages 8 – 12. Chronicle Books, 2019

The book’s subtitle describes what’s between the covers: 18 Real Bugs that Smash, Zap, Hypnotize, Sting, and Devour! So I could not wait to get my hands on a copy (it was released just a few weeks ago).

In six chapters, Messner presents a diversity of insect superpowers that rival any comic book hero: speed, mimicry, strength, defensive engineering, and the “Jaws of Doom”. She devotes an entire chapter to the “Masters of Chemical Weaponry” ~ featuring termites, the bombardier beetle and lubber grasshoppers. Good thing these insects are small, because their superpowers make them mighty.

“Imagine a human-size termite with a goo gun for a face,” writes Messner, “or a beetle the size of a bear that shoots a hot toxic chemical mist from its bottom!” The African bombardier beetle sprays a hot chemical mist from its rear end when threatened. It actually sprays a series of superfast pulses – about 500 per second – so it’s like a chemical machine gun, Messner points out. That’s enough to make birds back off.

What I like about this book: I like graphic-novel style. It’s filled with action: swoops! sluuurps! Chomp! Smack! Slash! Crunch! Pfffr-ffft!

I like the way Messner begins each chapter with an introduction of the insect: common name, scientific name, identification features, size, and superpower. Throughout the short chapter, she presents information in text boxes. She also includes an icon illustrating an arch-enemy for each insect. Total fun!

Head over to Archimedes Notebook for a book about animal farts and some related activities.

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