Growing With Science Blog

Category: Book Review (Page 10 of 63)

STEM #Kidlit Mammal Mania by @LJAmstutz

May 7, 2021 / / 1 Comment

If you’ve been a reader of our blog for any length of time, you know we love the children’s books from Chicago Review Press because they have loads of activity suggestions to extend learning.  Let’s take a look at the newest title in their Young Naturalist series, Mammal Mania: 30 Activities and Observations for Exploring the World of Mammals by Lisa J. Amstutz.

Although mammals are familiar animals, we might not always study them in a structured, scientific way. Lisa Amstutz’s text covers everything young readers will want to know:

  • What a mammal is
  • Some unique anatomical features
  • What they eat and what food webs they are part of
  • Where mammals live
  • How they communicate
  • What we can do to protect mammals

Are any mammals venomous? How long can vampire bats go without food? How many species of mammals have gone extinct in the last 50 years? You will find the answers to these questions and many more.

Each chapter features three activity suggestions. For example, in chapter ten about “How You Can Help,” readers can build a squirrel feeder or learn about their state mammal.

The back matter includes a glossary, a list of the mammal orders, online resources, and a bibliography. Also included is a “Teacher’s Guide” with two pages of additional ideas for research topics and activities.

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week. Mammal Mania would be a great gift for educators who need well-organized information and age-appropriate activity ideas for science lessons. It would also thrill budding zoologists and be a wonderful addition to any library.

Related:

It may seem redundant to offer activity suggestions for a book filled with them, but to celebrate the book:

Reading age : 7 – 9 years
Publisher : Chicago Review Press (April 20, 2021)
ISBN-10 : 1641604360
ISBN-13 : 978-1641604369

 

Disclosure: Reviewed a digital uncorrected ARC provided by the publisher. Also, I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at no extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.

Come visit the STEM Friday blog each week to find more great Science, Technology, Engineering and Math books.

STEM Friday #Kidlit A Cicada Book is Coming!

April 23, 2021 / / 0 Comments

(Public domain image from Wikimedia)

The 17-year cicadas are incredible insects that emerge in mass numbers after spending 17 years underground. In late April to early May 2021, scientists expect a large emergence (called Brood X) in the Eastern and Midwestern United States. To coincide with this amazing natural event is the emergence of a new picture book The Cicadas Are Coming!: Invasion of the Periodical Cicadas! by Doug Wechsler (releasing April 26, 2021).

Ever wonder where the periodical cicadas come from and what they are doing? Step by step, this book supplies the answers.

We have featured Doug Wechsler’s book, The Hidden Life of a Toad in a previous post, so we knew to expect fabulous photography, detailed life cycles, and accurate information.

The Cicadas Are Coming! exceeds our expectations. He has captured every detail of the cicadas’ life cycle through photographs. He must have spent many, many hours to explore each life stage — inside and out — so thoroughly. The photographs are so amazing that the text seems hardly needed.

But don’t ignore the text. Wechsler explains the life of cicadas in an engaging way.  He also includes fun fact sidebars to keep young readers turning pages. Did you know that a cicada’s ears are on its abdomen?

The back matter includes many more facts, a glossary, and resources for finding out more.

All in all The Cicadas Are Coming! is perfect for nature lovers and curious scientists of all ages. Break out a copy today!

Related Activity Suggestions:

1. Visit Doug Wechsler’s website for more fantastic nature photographs.

2. Explore how a cicada makes sounds.

Do you see the flap called the tymbal that acts sort of like a drum head? That tiny structure allows the male cicada to generate an extremely loud noise.

Make a model using a tin can and a balloon (instructions in this previous post, Activity 4)

3. Dissect a cicada exoskeleton

Have you ever seen a cicada nymph exoskeleton on a tree trunk or the side of a building?

Look at it closely and you can see many features of the insect, from the claws on the front legs — that it uses to dig with — to the silvery strands inside that are the remnants of its breathing tubes (trachea). See if you can find the poky beak of a mouth (often directed down between the legs), the eyes, and the pads on it’s back where the wings formed.

If you have one available, examine it under a microscope.

For more, check out our previous cicada posts.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

Reading age: 6 – 9 years
Publisher: Doug Wechsler (April 26, 2021)
ISBN-10: 1737021714
ISBN-13: 978-1737021711

Disclosure: This book was provided electronically by the author for review purposes. Also, I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at no extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.

Come visit the STEM Friday blog each week to find more great Science, Technology, Engineering and Math books. Note: this is a new link as of 10/2018.

#Nonfiction Monday #kidlit: Spi-ku for #NationalPoetryMonth

March 29, 2021 / / 0 Comments

 

Right in time for National Poetry Month (April), we have Spi-ku: A Clutter of Short Verse on Eight Legs by Leslie Bulion and illustrated by Robert Meganck.

Author Leslie Bulion has a subtly playful approach to spiders.

All spiders are arachnids
But some arachnids
mite not be spiders.

If you like that kind of word play, you are in for a real treat.

Illustrator Robert Meganck also has a subtle sense of humor. For example, in the front endpapers he shows a fly near a spider web. The back endpapers shows the same spider with a small webbed up package. He leaves it up to the reader to figure out what happened to the fly.

Intermingled between poems of different forms — in spite of the title, not all are haiku — is detailed information about spiders, from what they eat to how they build webs.

If the text isn’t enough, there’s extensive back matter as well:

  • Glossary
  • A Few Notes on Poetic Form
  • Spider Identification (scientific names of the spiders in the book)
  • A “Spider Hunt” activity suggestion
  • For Further Study (Books and websites)
  • A cool info-graphic of the relative sizes of all the spiders
  • Identification of the spiders on the cover.

Readers are likely to find something new every time they read the book.

Spi-ku is perfect for budding arachnologists and poets alike. Investigate a copy today!

Related Activity Suggestions:

  1. Visit Leslie Bulion’s website to download an awesome teachers guide and folding spider booklet activity.
  2. Read and discuss “Allowables” by Nikki Giovanni (MSU Poetry websitefor example).
  3. Reading Rockets has whole page about National Poetry Month, including interviews with poets and activity suggestions.
  4. Write a spider poem.
  5. See our beginners guide to identifying spiders (previous post)
  6. Check out more children’s books about spiders at Science Books for Kids.

Reading age : 8 – 12 years
Publisher : Peachtree Publishing Company; Illustrated edition (March 1, 2021)
ISBN-10 : 1682631923
ISBN-13 : 978-1682631928

Disclosure: This book is my personal copy. Also, I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at no extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.

 


Looking for more children’s nonfiction books? Try the Nonfiction Monday blog.

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2024 Growing With Science Blog

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑