A Brief History of Life on Earth
by Clémence Dupont (Author / Illustrator)
Booktalk: The story of life on earth unfolds era by era in this concertina book that takes readers from 4.6 billion years ago to the present day. When the book is fully open, the timeline is as long as a triceratops! (That’s 26 feet / 8 meters.)
Snippet:
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2019 Anastasia Suen 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.
Otters, Snails and Tadpole Tails: Poems from the Wetlands
by Eric Ode (Author) and Ruth Harper (Illustrator)
Booktalk: An homage to all things wetland. From raccoons to muskrats, frogs to heron, it’s a celebration of biodiversity, art, poetry, and healthy ecosystems.
Snippet:
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2019 Anastasia Suen 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.
Soar High, Dragonfly
by Sheri M. Bestor (Author) and Jonny Lambert (Illustrator)
Booktalk: Dragonflies are some the world’s most beautiful (and fascinating!) insects — and one many children can find right in their backyards! This scientific look at a dragonfly’s life-cycle includes informative sidebars that let children learn even more about these amazing insects.
Snippet:
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2019 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
I love frogs almost as much as I love bugs. One time I even tried to learn the languages of our local frogs. Peeper, American toad, Wood frog – I got the basics. But never enough to ask them the important questions. So I had to get my hands on Steve and Robin’s newest book – which will be released Feb. 26th.
The Frog Book
by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
40 pages; ages 6-9
HMH, 2019
Frogs are creatures of two worlds – they spend part of their lives in the water and part on land.
Spread by spread we meet frogs that hop, frogs that fly, frogs bigger than your hand, and frogs smaller than your thumb. Frogs have lived on earth for millions of year. “In fact,” the authors write,” a frog could have been stepped on by one of the first dinosaurs.”
What I like love about this book: I love that each page features a particular froggy feature, from “what is a frog?” to frog adaptations. We discover what frogs eat (and it’s not all flies), frog defenses, and life in the trees. Unfortunately, one-third of all frog species are in danger of extinction due to habitat loss, climate change, pollution, and disease. Back matter includes quick facts about every frog featured in the book: size, diet, home range.
I also love the torn- and cut-paper illustrations. The detail is amazing! And I really love the end papers! They are a luscious mix of bubbly pond shades of blues and greens. If you can’t wait for spring to bring frogs, this book may tide you over the next few weeks.
Head over to Archimedes Notebook for more books that include frogs, and some froggy Beyond-the-Book activities.
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2019 Sue Heavenrich All Rights Reserved.
The Everyday Journeys of Ordinary Things
by Libby Deutsch (Author) and Valpuri Kerttula (Illustrator)
Booktalk: Young children are full of questions about how the world works; the processes and machinations behind the scenes. Why does a light come on when you flick a switch? How can cheese from the supermarket have come out of a cow? What happens when you send a text? Where does your poo go when you flush?(!) All very good questions, and all explained–along with many more–with flowing illustrations and chunks of text from the early beginnings to the very end.
Snippet:
See the book trailer.
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2019 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Too many people, including some elected leaders, seem not to understand the difference between weather and climate. So I am relieved to find books for kids that are grounded in climate science. Searchlight Books (Lerner) recently published a series on climate change. The books are each 32 pages long, and aimed for students in 3rd -5th grade.
Climate Change and Energy Technology, written by Rebecca E. Hirsch, is divided into four chapters. In the first she clarifies what climate change is. It is not the weather, which changes from day to day. Climate is the “usual weather for a place”, but as we have been learning, what is “usual” has been changing over the past decade. And the warming climate has contributes to more extreme storms, including blizzards.
Hirsch devotes a chapter to energy: fossil fuels, wind, sun, geothermal, and hydro. She examines inventions that increase energy efficiency as well as create new ways to capture, store, and use energy. Think about the increasing number of electric vehicles on the road and the emerging need for quick-charging stations.
Her last chapter explores how we will energize out future. How can we build better batteries? Are there untapped renewable energy sources that we could harness?
“STEM in Depth” sidebars explain how solar panels work and how tidal power is captured. The book ends with four things anyone of any age can do to help reduce their carbon footprint. There’s also a glossary and resources for further investigation.
There are five more books in the series:
Climate Change and Air Quality
Climate Change and Extreme Storms
Climate Change and Life on Earth
Climate Change and Rising Sea Levels
Climate Change and Rising Temperatures
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2019 Sue Heavenrich All Rights Reserved.
This week we’re highlighting the newly-emerged picture book, Butterflies in Room 6: See How They Grow by Caroline Arnold.
Follow along with the children in Mrs. Best’s kindergarten class as they hatch painted lady caterpillars from eggs, feed the caterpillars a special diet, and wait patiently for the butterflies to emerge from their chrysalids. As you can see from the book cover, nothing is as mesmerizing as a freshly-eclosed live butterfly!
Caroline Arnold is both the author and photographer for the book and she has captured some fun and incredible images of both the insects and the children. Her 2017 book with a similar format, Hatching Chicks in Room 6, was a winner of the Cybils Award for Elementary Nonfiction.
Back matter includes answers to questions about butterflies, a vocabulary list, links to butterfly information online and suggestions for further reading about butterflies.
Butterflies in Room 6 is a must have to accompany a unit on insect life cycles or project raising painted lady butterflies. Fly out and get a copy today!
Visit Growing with Science blog for more information and activity suggestions.
Copyright © 2019 Roberta Gibson All Rights Reserved.
Explorer Academy: The Nebula Secret
by Trudi Trueit (Author)
Booktalk: Cruz leaves his tranquil home in Hawaii to join 23 talented kids from around the globe to train at the Explorer Academy with the world’s leading scientists to become the next generation of great explorers. But for Cruz, there’s more at stake. No sooner has he arrived at the Academy than he discovers that his family has a mysterious past with the organization that could jeopardize his future. In the midst of codebreaking and cool classes, new friends and augmented reality expeditions, Cruz must tackle the biggest question of all: Who is out to get him, and why?
Snippet: It wasn’t a swish, like a fish or turtle passing. It was a good pull. And it could mean only one thing: shark! Cruz tried to slide to the left side of his board, away from the shark, but it had a firm hold on his ankle. He was being dragged down, away from the surface.
Don’t panic! KICK!
Cruz clung to his surfboard, the only thing that would keep him afloat, and kicked with all his might. If he could manage to turn around, he could use the board to bop the shark on the nose and break loose. As he struggled, a million thoughts raced through his head.
Stupid! Sharks feed at dusk. You should have gone in when Dad called. You’re not supposed to drown. Stupid!
He was swallowing water. He couldn’t breathe.
No. No! NO!
The words pounded in rhythm to his heart.
He would not die this way.
With his lungs burning and his energy waning, Cruz twisted his body in one last effort to strike a blow. He lashed out and his fist hit something smooth and hard. Bubbles swarmed around him. He saw a yellow snake. No! A tube. This was no shark. It was a person!
See the book trailer.
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2019 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
