STEM Friday

January 4, 2019January 3, 2019

Food Fight!

Food Fight!: A Mouthwatering History of Who Ate What and Why Through the Ages
by Tanya Steel (Author)

Booktalk: Did you know that Christopher Columbus set out on his most famous voyage in search not of the new world, but cinnamon? Or that rich people in the Middle Ages served flaming peacocks and spun sugar castles to their lucky dinner party guests? Did you ever wonder why M&Ms were invented? (Hint: That candy coating isn’t just for decoration!) The quest for food has inspired all kinds of adventures and misadventures around the world, and this book explores the wildest and wackiest of them all, from prehistoric times through modern day. Stats and fast food facts are featured throughout, along with 30 original recipes, each specific to a particular time and place.

Snippet:

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

January 4, 2019December 27, 2018

Maggie, Alaska’s Last Elephant

Maggie, Alaska’s Last Elephant
by Jennifer Keats Curtis; illus. by Phyllis Saroff
32 pages; ages 4-9
Arbordale, 2018

Like us, elephants need family and friends. Otherwise they grow lonely. This award-winning book opens with Annabelle, and Asian elephant and Maggie, an African elephant who lived in a zoo in Alaska. They were good friends. When Annabelle died, Maggie seemed lost. She was so lonely that she adopted a tire. The keepers tried everything to keep her active and engaged, but Maggie seemed to fade. Eventually, they decided she needed to go somewhere else, where she could live with other elephants.

What I like about this book: Author Jennifer Keats Curtis is a wonderful storyteller. She weaves in a lot of elephant behavior as she introduces Maggie and her story. She shows zookeepers creating enrichment opportunities for Maggie, in an effort to keep her brain and senses engaged throughout her day. And when they realize it’s time for her to go, they have another problem to solve: how do you move an 8,000-pound animal thousands of miles?

I also like the back matter, which includes more information about elephant herds, how zoos keep elephants healthy and happy, and a fun Q&A with a keeper.

Head over to Archimedes Notebook for another elephant book and some Beyond-the-Book activities.

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

December 28, 2018December 27, 2018

Leaf Litter Critters

Leaf Litter Critters
by Leslie Bulion (Author) and Robert Meganck (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Nineteen poems in a variety of verse forms with accompanying science notes take readers on a decomposer safari through the “brown food web,” from bacteria through tardigrades and on to rove beetle predators with other busy recyclers in-between. Glossary, hands-on investigations, and resources are included in the back matter.

Snippet:

A 2018 Cybils Poetry nominee

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

December 28, 2018December 17, 2018

Just Like Us! Fish

Just Like Us! Fish
by Bridget Heos; illus. by David Clark
32 pages; ages 4-7
HMH Books for Young Readers, 2018

People walk on land and need air to breathe. Fish, on the other hand, have fins and spend their whole lives underwater. So how could we be anything alike?

Bridget Heos gives us the inside scoop. She reveals secrets of breathing underwater, and tricks of hunting for food. We learn how to hide from predators and how to make friends with fierce fish.

What I like about this book: It’s fun! Between Bridget’s zany section headings (Peanut Butter and Jellyfish) and David Clark’s cartoony illustrations, we learn lots of stuff about fish and their underwater neighbors. We meet clown fish, sunfish, and cleaner wrasses. What I like about David’s illustrations is the way he combines his cartoon fish with photos of real fish. And of course there’s Back Matter – a glossary, and some web articles and books for curious icthyologists-in-training.

Head over to Archimedes Notebook to check out a book on sharks, and some Beyond-the-Book activities.

STEM Friday

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

December 21, 2018December 21, 2018

The Truth About Series by Maxwell Eaton III

Some authors have all the luck. Maxwell Eaton III had not only one, but three books nominated for a 2018 Cybils award. Maybe it helps that they are a series.

In The Truth About Dolphins, readers learn how dolphins are different from fish and discover some of the different kinds of dolphins, like the spinner dolphin and the Atlantic white-sided dolphin. Did you know there are more than 40 species?

The back matter wraps up some more facts, like the differences between porpoises and dolphins and how long a dolphin can stay underwater. There are also lists of tucuxi-sized books and orca-sized books (isn’t that cute?)

Don’t know what a tucuxi or ocra are? Then you should read The Truth About Dolphins!

This book features three bears, but not the ones from Goldlilocks. Instead they are the brown bear, black bear, and polar bear.

Learn about where the bears live and what they eat (there’s a cute running joke about the fact they eat rodents). Other topics include hibernation and threats to bears.

I thought the bear safety page that explains how you should behave if you encounter a bear was a good idea. You shouldn’t run seems sensible, but I didn’t know that you shouldn’t try to climb a tree either.

Don’t know what you should do if you encounter a bear? Check out The Truth About Bears.

If I had to pick a favorite of the three, it would be this one. The text compares and contrasts the two species of hippo, common and pygmy. Because there are only two kinds, the author was able to pack in more information about them.

Do you know whether hippos can swim? Don’t guess, because the answer will surprise you. Find out by reading The Truth About Hippos.

Today the fun is over at Wrapped in Foil blog.

December 21, 2018December 21, 2018

Family Trees

My new Focus on STEM column: Family Trees is in the December Quick Tips for Schools and Libraries newsletter.

Snippet:
Talking about inherited family traits is a given whenever families gather. Traits are analyzed and compared across the generations with photos and family stories. Prepare students for text-to-self connection of their own inherited family traits during the winter break with these new animal books.

Click here to read Family Trees with eight #kidlit science books that support the Next Generation Science Standard for Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits in the classroom, the library, and at home!

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

December 14, 2018December 13, 2018

In the Past

In the Past: From Trilobites to Dinosaurs to Mammoths in More Than 500 Million Years
by David Elliott (Author) and Matthew Trueman (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Return to the prehistoric era in this poetry collection that’s organized chronologically by epoch and discover a host of creatures both novel and familiar, from the mysterious trilobite to the famed T. rex.

Snippet:

A 2018 Cybils Poetry nominee

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

December 14, 2018December 13, 2018

All Eyes on Alexandra

We are excited to be participating in a blog tour for the picture book All Eyes on Alexandra by Anna Levine and illustrated by Chiara Pasqualotto this week at Wrapped in Foil blog.

Millions and millions of birds migrate through Israel on their way to Europe, Asia, and Africa. All Eyes on Alexandra is the fictional story of one young stork who has trouble following the rest of the flock as they prepare for the big trip. Readers will soon learn, however, that those who have trouble following might have other talents instead.

All Eyes on Alexandra is a perfect example to show that STEM books don’t have to be nonfiction. It introduces children both to an amazing natural phenomena, a massive bird migration, and also to a personal story that they might be able to relate to their own lives or families. Those who love fiction are introduced to facts and those who love nonfiction are introduced to stories. It is win-win.

It is a lovely and versatile picture book. Let All Eyes on Alexandra take you on a journey today!

And, we have activity suggestions to accompany the book from author Anna Levine today at Growing with Science blog. Hope you can join us.

December 7, 2018December 7, 2018

Earth Verse

Earth Verse: Haiku from the Ground Up
by Sally M. Walker (Author) and William Grill (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Explore Earth’s many marvels — fossilized skeletons of plants and animals, terrific volcanic eruptions, the never-ending hydrologic cycle — with three-line haikus. Additional detailed explanations for the science behind each concept can be found in the back matter.

Snippet:

A 2018 Cybils Poetry nominee

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

December 7, 2018December 2, 2018

Finding a Dove for Gramps

by Lisa J. Amstutz; illus. by Maria Luisa Di Gravio

32 pages; ages 5-7. Albert Whitman & Company, 2018

Mom and I slip silently out the door. Today we’re going to count birds.

It’s just Jay and his mom this year, because Gramps has “flown south” for the winter. They’ve got everything they need: woolly caps, bird guides, binoculars, and a clipboard.

What I like about this book: Lisa Amstutz plunks us right into a bird count. You can almost hear the snow crunching underfoot, the calls of chickadees and jays, the rat-tat-tat of woodpeckers drumming on a tree. You can almost see that flash of yellow (kinglet) and a tufted titmouse “all dressed up in his suit and top hat.” You can feel your toes freeze and, at the end, the warmth of a mug of hot cocoa.

I like how she sneaks in one brief sentence connecting Jay and mom’s activities with how scientists will use the data. Most of that info is at the back where there is plenty of Back Matter! There is more information about the Christmas Bird Count, and how to join plus a bird count check list you can copy and take outside when you do your own bird walks.

And there is the search for the dove.

Head over to Archimedes Notebook for some Beyond-the-Book activities and another book about Counting Birds.

STEM Friday

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