Tag: STEM/STEAM

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Earth: We’ve only got one.

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

What do you do when you have some really cool, new, science-y stories? You put together a supercool Science Storytime!

Only One, by Deborah Hopkinson and Chuck Groenik, (Apr. 2022, Anne Schwartz Books), $17.99, ISBN: 9780399557033

Ages 4-8

A young girl talks to her friends and family about the story of the universe from the Big Bang to the development of our big blue dot, planet Earth, and how it evolved to sustain life. As the narrative progresses, we see that she’s leading her group to a tree planting event. Only One is perfect Earth Day reading, filled with interesting observations about the formation of the universe and the planets, and about our own planet’s uniqueness and ability to host a multitude of diverse life forms: “But though there are seven billion of us, / we are unique, / with bodies, brains, fingerprints, / and feelings of our own”. Arcylic, ink, and Photoshop illustrations beautifully bring the story to life, bringing the girl’s story to life through vivid word balloons and showing the group small against the giant scale of a forest, the clouds, and the atmosphere; pulling back, a spread shifts to show a diverse group of people coming together to plant trees against a forest shore. Additional resources guide readers to more information about caring for our planet and about climate change. A lovely reminder that we have one planet and to be mindful stewards, while empowering readers to take action. Miss Becca’s Classroom on TeachersPayTeachers has a free downloadable climate change activism activity that would make a good display piece or storytime handout for readers in grades K-2.

 

Posted in picture books

Happy Book Birthday to I Love Strawberries!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

I Love Strawberries!, by Shannon Anderson/Illustrated by Jaclyn Sinquett, (Apr. 2022, Feeding Minds Press), $17.99, ISBN: 9781948898065

Ages 4-8

Jo is a young girl who LOVES strawberries; so much, that she wants to grow her own. Can she convince her parents that’s she’s responsible enough for the task? Told through Jo’s journal entries and narration, this fun STEM story is perfect for springtime reading. Jo is an immediately likable and funny narrator who goes from adding red marker lines on her face in an attempt to look older in a flash to a thoughtful strawberry farmer who journals her process, from planting grass seeds for her rabbit and raising money for her strawberry plants to protecting her fledgling strawberry crop from “bird attacks” and using her newly grown fruit in recipes. She’s enterprising, growing a small business out of her flourishing strawberry plants, and she may have a new plan for the next year. A fun, informative story with a biracial main character and a step-by-step process in growing and maintaining one’s own food. Green endpapers feature burgeoning strawberry plants, and back matter includes information on growing strawberry plants and pest management. The I Love Strawberries! page on Feedings Minds’s website is loaded with free downloadable goodies, including coloring pages and an educator’s guide.

If you have the budget for it, consider a fun grab-and-go planting project – it doesn’t have to be strawberries! Include a little notebook so kids can journal their progress like Jo does!

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Apple and Magnolia: A STEM story woven into a friendship tale

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Apple and Magnolia, by Laura Gehl/Illustrated by Patricia Metola, (Feb. 2022, Flyaway Books), $18, ISBN: 9781947888357

Ages 3-7

Apple and Magnolia are two trees with a connection, witnessed by a young girl of color named Britta. She enjoys the tree’s relationship to one another; her father and sister may not believe her, but her grandmother assures her that “unusual friendships can be the most powerful of all”. When Magnolia begins to show signs of being ill, Britta does her best to stay by her friends and support them both, using the scientific method to help facilitate the trees’ connection to the other: she connects two cups to a string so they can hear each other; wrapping a scarf between the two to feel each other’s warmth; measuring the distance between the trees to see if they are growing closer together, and journaling her findings, all with the support and love of her grandmother. Britta’s father and sister are largely for comic relief, providing the devil’s advocate side of science: the nay-sayer. Cheery illustrations that look like they could be taken from Britta’s own journal make this a wonderfully playful readaloud, including endpapers that depict Britta’s sketches of the trees and their flowers and fruit. Inspired by the science of trees and how they communicate with one another, Apple and Magnolia is a great storytime readaloud and perfection for a STEM storytime or Discovery Club-type story. Author Laura Gehl’s website has a free downloadable Educator’s Guide for Apple and Magnolia, plus resources her many of her other books.

For more information about trees and their relationships to one another, visit this NPR article on an ecologist who’s studied trees; this article from Smithsonian magazine; and this article from One Tree Planted. Andy Hirsch’s Science Comics Trees: Kings of the Forest also delves into these complex and amazing relationships.

Apple and Magnolia has starred reviews from Kirkus and Foreword Reviews.

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads, Uncategorized

Self-publishing/Indie publishing spotlight!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

I’ve got some more self-published and indie publishing books to crow about today!

 

Magic Wanda (Grandma’s Closet #3), by Lois Wickstrom/Illustrated by Francie Mion, (Nov. 2020, Look Under Rocks), $12.99, ISBN: 978-0916176792

Ages 4-7

Lois Wickstrom followed up her 2019 story, Carrie’s Flight, with another fun fantasy about a little girl named Carrie, her grandmother, and some magical flowers. Carrie discovers a box with “Wandas” written on it, so she opens it: there are flowers in the box, but what’s a Wanda? She videochats Grandma, who tells her that the flowers are Magic Wandas, and can help her get ready for her mother’s party. The flowers – named Rose, Lily, and Daisy – come to life and play with Carrie, turning into anything she wishes for. Will she be ready for her mom’s party in time if she keeps playing with the Wandas? A fun little fantasy for preschoolers and kindergartners. There’s a positive, playful relationship between Carrie and her grandmother, and I like the use of videochat to show the two staying in touch. Grandma always seems to have some magical fun up her sleeve, which adds to the enjoyment and might even prompt a child or two to see their grandparents a little differently: after all, who knows what magic they have to share? Soft pastel illustrations add to the gentle magic of the story, and fonts play with words to add interest.

 

 

Dinopotamus Solves a Mystery, by Lois Wickstrom, (Dec. 2020, Look Under Rocks), $12.99, ISBN: 978-0916176884

Ages 3-7

Dinopotamus is a friendly dinosaur-hippopotamus hybrid that likes to sleep in the classroom where he spends his day. He notices that he always gets the warm spot in the room, but when he decides to let the chilly students have his spot the next day, because they’re chilly, the spot isn’t warm anymore. Why is it always warm where Dinopotamus sleeps? This fun little STEM-based mystery looks at the science behind heat and energy. Dinopotamus Solves a Mystery is one of five Dinopotamus books by Lois Wickstrom.

Education.com has a heat transfer activity that’s a good place to start when explaining heat transfer; the activity is suggested for 2nd graders, but you can demonstrate it for younger ages.

 

 

 

Hannah’s Two Homes, by Melodie Tegay, (May 2018), $7.99, ISBN: 978-1641334747

Ages 3-5

Hannah is a 5-year-old girl whose parents are divorced and remarried. In simple, easy-to-understand sentences, Hannah describes her life with her parents and her “extra daddy” and “extra mommy”, her younger siblings, pets, and family holidays. Her Christian mother and Jewish father celebrate holidays like Passover and Easter, Christmas and Hanukkah, in their homes with Hannah; the whole family come together to celebrate Hannah’s birthday. Hannah knows that she’s always loved, no matter who’s house she’s living in. A good beginning for younger readers to understand what it means when parents divorce: that there’s always a place for them, that sometimes, parents will marry other people and have other children, but that they are always loved. Addressing fears and concerns with a comforting “I’ve been there” voice in Hannah, Hannah’s Two Homes is a good additional purchase for collections.

 

 

 

 

Posted in Intermediate, Non-Fiction, picture books

Breaking Through the Clouds celebrates STEM Women!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

We often hear the word “meteorologist” and think of those nice weatherfolx on TV, right? How often do we think of meteorology as the actual science of studying the weather, though?

Breaking Through the Clouds: The Sometimes Turbulent Life of Meteorologist Joanne Simpson, by Sandra Nickel/Illustrated by Helena Perez Garcia,
(March 2022, Abrams Books for Young Readers),
$19.99, ISBN: 9781419749568

Ages 6-9

Breaking Through the Clouds is the picture book biography of Joanne Simpson, the first woman in the United States to earn her Ph.D. in meteorology, who went on to research clouds and weather. Touching on what seems to be a difficult childhood, through her work with World War II planes and her education and work with clouds and wind, Breaking Through the Clouds is an inspirational STEM story and a brilliant International Women’s Month profile. Helena Perez Garcia’s gorgeous illustrations blend realism with surrealism to show how Joanne Simpson was discounted by the men around her; the men who told her “no woman ever got a doctorate in meteorology. And no woman ever will”, and the Air Force clout that put her on a plane going through clouds to research them.

 

Factual and straightforward storytelling, using uplifting language like, “As Joanne walked through the university, the halls were filled with jarring comments and bumpy silences. She flew her last flight and sold her boat – because Joanne was stubborn” remind readers to persevere in the face of challenges. Back matter includes a timeline of Joanne Simpson’s life and notes on her weather work. Another must-add to your biography sections and your Women’s History and STEM/STEAM collections.

Joanne Simpson has an entry on NASA’s webpage with a link to a more in-depth article about her career. For more meteorology resources, visit the National Weather Service, Easy Science for Kids, and PBS Kids.

 

Sandra Nickel says that story ideas are everywhere; you just have to reach out and grab them.  She holds an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her first book, Nacho’s Nachos: The Story Behind the World’s Favorite Snack, was awarded a Christopher Award and was a Golden Kite Award finalist. Sandra lives in Chexbres, Switzerland, where she blogs about children’s book writers and illustrators at whatwason.com. To learn more, visit https://sandranickel.com/.

Twitter:  @senickel

Facebook: @sandranickelbooks

Instagram: @sandranickelbooks

Check out the trailer and other cool resources here!

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Arbordale Publishing’s Compare and Contrast books get readers thinking

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

I haven’t written about Arbordale books in about a minute, but I am remedying that right now. The folks at Arbordale were kind enough to send me some of their new books to look over, and I love the colorful artwork and photos, interesting factual writing, and the thought-provoking activities at the end of each book. They also publish in English and Spanish, which is aces for my library kids. I’m starting off with their Compare and Contrast series, which takes a topic and encourages learners to think about similarities and differences.

Natural or Man-made? A Compare and Contrast Book, by Arbordale Publishing, (Sept. 2021, Arbordale Publishing), $10.95, ISBN: 9781643518244

Ages 4-8

Opening with an explanation of natural resources, Natural or Man-made? uses straightforward writing to explain natural resources and how we use those resources to create other resources. A tree, for instance, grows food, like nuts and fruits; we also use trees to make lumber, and build homes with them. We use plants and animals for clothing and food; we use sunlight and air by converting it to energy. Thought-provoking questions and color photos encourage readers to think about the different ways we use our natural resources. The Creative Minds section has four activities to expand on reading, you can find a PDF for Natural or Man-made‘s For Creative Minds section here, with permission for non-commercial use. (Psst… great for grab-and-go programs!)

You can find a PDF preview of Natural or Man-made on the book detail page at the Arbordale website.

 

Renewable or Non-Renewable Resources: A Compare and Contrast Book, by Arbordale Publishing, (Sept. 2021, Arbordale Publishing), $10.95, ISBN: 9781643519807

Ages 5-9

Continuing on the resources theme, we have Renewable or Non-Renewable Resources. Beginning with an age-appropriate explanation about natural resources and how they replace themselves: “within a period of time usually shorter than a person’s lifetime”, versus nonrenewable resources, which “cannot be easily replaced as it takes much longer than a human lifetime to make new”, the book elaborates on how natural resources replenish themselves and how nonrenewable resources, like oil, rocks, and minerals, lead humans to create synthetic materials to replace them when they run out – and how that impacts our planet. There’s a discussion on recycling nonrenewable resources and a cautionary word on not taking our resources for granted. A smart, respectful discussion on conservation, recycling, and being environmentally aware. Color photos throughout show a variety of renewable and nonrenewable resources; this is a great book to introduce in younger STEM classes. Create scavenger hunts and games by asking readers to find renewable versus nonrenewable resources! Find a PDF preview on the book detail page on the Arbordale website.

Donald Baiter on TeachersPayTeachers has a fun card sorting game on renewable and nonrenewable resources; Karen Jordan has a very cute song that helps with sorting the two concepts, and The Magical Gallery has natural resources clip art!

 

Penguins: A Compare and Contrast Book, by Cher Vatalaro, (Nov. 2021, Arbordale Publishing), $10.95, ISBN: 9781643519876

Ages 4-8

Penguins! Kids love penguins, I love penguins, Cher Vatalaro loves penguins! Penguins: Compare and Contrast is all about the 18 different species of penguins and where they live: and most of them live in warm climates, not cold ones! Colorful photos of each type of penguin, paired with informative text, let learners learn what makes each type of penguin alike and different, from colorful feathers to differently shaped beaks. Readers will be able to tell right away that these are all penguins, and standout features like orange and yellow patches make King and Emperor penguins very similar, yet wildly different from Macaroni and Rockhopper penguins, who sport colorful feathers around their eyes. A fun activity invites readers to match different penguins with their area of the world.

There is so much fiction and nonfiction available for penguin fans: make a great display! TeachersPayTeachers has loads of free penguin clip art available, including this Penguin Life Cycle Clip Art from Sylph Creatives. Education.com has a wealth of free penguin resources: worksheets, coloring sheets, crafts, even lesson plans. Preview Penguins: A Compare and Contrast at Arbordale’s book detail page.

 

Otters: River or Sea? A Compare and Contrast Book, by Cathleen McConnell, (Nov. 2021, Arbordale Publishing), $10.95, ISBN: 9781643519784

Ages 4-8

Otters are like puppies of the water. Look at those boopable noses! Otters: River or Sea? A Compare and Contrast Book, like Penguins, is about the similarities and differences between river and sea otters: their habitats, their physiology; appearance; eating habits, and social habits. Readers will love the colorful photos of otters at play, with their babies, in groups, and in action, and fun facts and easy-to-read writing make this a fun way to learn. There are fun otter books – fiction, like Laurie Keller’s Do Unto Otters and Lisa Connor’s Oliver’s Otter Phase; nonfiction, like NatGeo Kids’s Sea Otters and Susannah Buhrman-Deever’s If You Take Away the Otter – that will form a display that features something for everyone. Education.com has free otter worksheets and coloring sheets; National Geographic has a webpage with facts and information. You can see a preview of Otters: River or Sea? A Compare and Contrast Book at Arbordale’s book detail page.

Extra shout-out: Arbordale features a free multilingual ebook every month. Check out their website and bookmark it. Find all sorts of free resources, including downloads for each Arbordale book’s For Creative Minds section, at the Arbordale website.

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Environmentally savvy storytelling: Moles Present The Natural Tolls of Digging Holes

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Moles Present The Natural Tolls of Digging Holes, by Springer Badger, (Nov. 2021, Page Street Kids), $17.99, ISBN: 9781645672876

Ages 4-8

Already updating your Earth Day collections? Take a look at this rhyming tale about the holes we dig, as a group of moles illustrate the different reasons we dig: some are for fun, like to create sandboxes; some are helpful, to use as bathrooms; some are to explore and discover, like archaeologists do. But some are to put stinky or poisonous things, and sometimes, we dig too deeply, which can cause other problems. A smart, humorous rhyme pairs with amusing artwork that lets us look at what’s going on underground, from zombie moles to a school of fish panicking as one of their own nips onto a fishing pole; signage like “Brutish Petroleum” and “Exxoff” are wink to adults who will recognize gas and oil companies. An environmental call to action that younger readers will love. Make sure to have copies of the activity kit available to hand out (print on the other side of scrap paper!)

Posted in picture books

The Girl Who Could Fix Anything – Great STEM Bio!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Girl Who Could Fix Anything: Beatrice Shilling, World War II Engineer, by Mara Rockliff/Illustrated by Daniel Duncan, (Sept. 2021, Candlewick Press), $17.99, ISBN: 9781536212525

Ages 5-9

Beatrice Shilling, a British World War II engineer, gets her time in the spotlight in this picture book biography. As a child, she “wasn’t quite like other children”, preferring tools and tinkering to usual childhood pursuits. After working for another female engineer as an apprentice, she went to school for engineering and eventually landed a position at the Royal Aircraft Establishment… to write handbooks about plane engines, not to work on them. Eventually, she did get to work on engines, and when World War II broke out, Beatrice was put in charge of a team that traveled to airfields and demonstrated winterizing planes to fighter pilots. She went on, with her team, to figure out an engine problem that fighter planes encountered during a dive, saving countless lives. Another great story about a female figure in STEM, The Girl Who Could Fix Anything tells Beatrice Shilling’s story; Daniel Duncan adds humorous reactions to Beatrice’s being “othered” as a woman in a traditionally “man’s field” and brings thrilling air fight moments to life to add some excitement. Beatrice is drawn as a determined, thoughtful woman, while men around her don’t always quite seem to know what to make of her. Endpapers show a variety of airplane parts, blueprint style. An author’s note and additional resources make up the back matter.

 

Posted in Fiction, Intermediate, picture books

The Great TBR ReadDown, 2020 Edition

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

I’ve said it before: when it comes to books, my eyes are bigger than my reading capacity. I’m attempting to read down as much as I can before the new year, so please enjoy my TBR as I whittle it down.

21 Cousins, by Diane de Anda/Illustrated by Isabel Muñoz, (Feb .2021, StarBright Books), $16.99, ISBN: 978-1-59572-915-6

Ages 4-8
Big families are big fun, and this mestizo family – a mix of Mexican people and cultures (Indian, Spanish, French) – is full of cousins! They’re all gathering for a special reason, and Alejandro and Sofia act as our narrators as they introduce us to each of their cousins. The family members are different ages, have different interests, abilities, and appearances that we learn about as we go through each colorful spread. There is some Spanish language infused into the English text, and the book is also available in Spanish. Beginning with the pages of a family photo album and closing with a family picture of all the cousins, it’s a wonderful story about how cultural diversity exists and flourishes within families: the small communities where it all begins.
Bronson Beaver Builds a Robot, by Teko Bernard/Illustrated by Howard Russell, (Apr. 2021, Tabron Publishing), $9.95, ISBN: 978-0986059360
Ages 7-11

Bronson Beaver is a 13-year-old builder, inventor, and video game fan whose family runs Beaver Valley Lodge, a hugely popular vacation resort. While Bronson just wants to spend a weekend playing video games with his best friends, his father has other plans: the big pancake festival is happening, and Bronson has a list of chores to get done for the festival! Like any brainiac inventor, Bronson decides to take the easy way out and invent a robot to do all the chores while he and his best friends can take part in the Zombie Fight video game tournament and win the cash prize that will allow them to build their dream workshop. You know the true course of video games and robots never did run smooth, though, and things go wrong in a big way: and now it’s up to Bronson and his friends to make things right. A smart chapter book about friendship, making good decisions, and with a nice STEM component, plus black and white illustrations throughout, I hope we see more of Bronson and friends in the future. Give this indie published book a shot and invite your kiddos to build robots of their own, with some after-holidays boxes and decorations you have available to repurpose.

Sharks at Your Service, by Mary Cerullo/Photos by Jeffrey Rotman, (July 2021, Tumblehome), $17.99, ISBN: 9781943431632

Ages 7-9

There are two stories at play in this story about sharks and all the jobs they do: the fictional story of a girl named Marina and her dad’s trip to the aquarium, where they see sharks and attend a talk by shark photographer (also the photographer behind the photos in this book) Jeffrey Rotman, and the nonfiction facts and photos of sharks that run parallel to the fictional narrative. Marina’s aquarium visit starts a growing fascination with sharks; on the way home, she sees sharks everywhere! This gets her thinking of all the jobs sharks have, keeping the ocean in balance and clean: sharks like tiger sharks eat just about anything they see, earning the nickname “garbage collectors of the sea”; they weed out weak and sick ocean life, keeping disease from spreading through schools of fish; their superior senses help them maintain their status as alpha predators of the sea. Manga-influenced color illustrations and incredible color photos on every page make this a book shark fans will pick up again and again.

 

Starboy : Inspired by the Life and Lyrics of David Bowie, by Jami Gigot, (May 2021, Henry Holt), $18.99, ISBN: 9781250239433

Ages 4-8

Inspired by artist, singer, actor, and icon David Bowie, Starboy is a breathtaking tribute to every kid who doesn’t feel like they fit in… until they find that they do. David is a boy who lives in a black and white world until he hears “star chatter” that brings color to his world… and then again when he hears music on the radio. Music brings color to his world, and gives him a place where he belongs: and reaches out to color other people’s worlds, too. Jami Gigot’s illustrations bring David Bowie’s magic to life through sparks of color and nods to his personas like the Starman, Major Tom the Astronaut, the chic ’80s music and fashion icon, even Labyrinth’s Goblin King. As David the Starboy comes to life through music, the spark spreads to his schoolmates and people on the street, showing readers the ability that music has to reach inside and speak to us – just like “star chatter”. An author’s note talks about the influence of David Bowie on fashion and music, an there are fun facts and further resources for readers interested in learning more. The cover is a gorgeous tribute to Bowie’s Starman persona from the 1972 Aladdin Sane album cover.

Starboy has a starred review from School Library Journal.

 

I Can Be Kind, by Rainbow Gal, (June 2021Fat Cat Publishing), $12.99, ISBN: 978-1-989767-00-9

Ages 4-7

A cute pet shop fairy tale, I Can Be Kind is the story of Oscar, a 2-year-old piranha found in the sewer after being flushed by his owner. He ends up at a pet shop in Brooklyn, where he terrorizes the fish in the tank next to him. Being a carnivorous fish, the pet shop owner fed goldfish to Oscar until one day, when Maria – a friendly goldfish who refused to be scared off by Oscar’s posturing – ends up in Oscar’s tank! Oscar can’t eat Maria – she’s his friend, and he’s got a crush on her – and the two end up sharing fish food together, living happily ever after. It’s a sweet story, illustrated in full color, with coloring sheets available with the paperback version and for free at Rainbow Gal’s website.

Posted in Non-Fiction, Teen, Tween Reads, Young Adult/New Adult

LEGO Mindstorms books? Gotta go with No Starch Press!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis
The LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor Activity Book : A Beginner’s Guide to Building and Programming LEGO Robots, by Daniele Benedettelli, (Nov. 2021, No Starch Press), $34.99, ISBN: 9781718501812
Ages 9+
I love No Starch Press for my computer and tech books. They find the best writers and illustrators to communicate tech concepts to everyone, from kids to grownups. Their manga guides to the sciences are great for my YA collection, and they move: as soon as I show a teen The Manga Guide to Calculus, I feel like I’ve done my good deed for the day. So when someone from No Starch asked me to look at the LEGO Mindstorms Robot Inventor Activity Book, I jumped! We had a robotics program at my last library, and I’m hoping to get a program going here if I can get some grant money, so a No Starch library of LEGO Mindstorms books would be a nice part of my grant.
Daniele Benedettelli delivers. He’s collaborated with LEGO Group to help develop and test LEGO MINDSTORMS, including the software for the LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3 set, has written several LEGO Mindstorms books. and has a YouTube channel with tutorials and experiments.
Written for beginners – no, honest – this book includes seven projects to get you up and running. Use the Robot Inventor set and the companion to to build bots like a magical monster that can answer written questions AND eat paper, a working electric guitar, or a remote-controlled transformer car that will have kids channeling their inner Optimus Prime. Pages are filled with color photos and step-by-step instructions on building and programming your robots using the Mindstorms app. Benedettelli communicates clearly and with helpful, informative detail, and clear color photos will help even the most confounded of learners .(That would be me. I’m the confounded learner.) Helpful tips and ideas abound in callout boxes. Fully indexed.
If you’re building a Mindstorms/robotics library, this is an essential book to have, especially if you haven’t run a robotics league before. Good luck!