Science

Nonfiction from two favorite authors

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Mind vs. Machine: The Chess Match That Changed the World by Steve Sheinkin and Maurice Ashley, illustrated by Thien Pham (Roaring Brook Press, 240 pages, grades 5-10). In 1997, Garry Kasparov, world chess champion for over a decade, played a series of six games against Deep Blue, an IBM supercomputer. Grandmaster Maurice Ashley was one of the commentators on the games, and he has co-authored this graphic novel with award-winning nonfiction author Sheinkin. At the time, it was shocking to think of a machine beating a human, and the games were so close that readers have to keep going almost until the end to learn the outcome. The last few pages look at how the world has changed in the nearly 30 years since that game, and how chess players today accept that AI can routinely beat them. Includes notes from both authors about their collaboration.

This book could hardly be timelier, and the graphic novel format makes it a fairly easy and exciting read. I liked that the conclusion neither glorified nor demonized AI, just looked at some of the issues and possibilities that are raised as technology continues to grow exponentially. Because of this, it would make a great classroom or book club read that would engender a lot of discussion.

The Wild Season: The Remarkable True Story of a Rabbit Rescue by Dashka Slater, illustrated by Jamey Christoph (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 272 pages, grades 3-6). When four domesticated rabbits were spotted in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Heights Park in the spring of 2023, neighbors rallied to try to rescue the bunnies before they became a hawk or coyote’s dinner. Led by professional rabbit rescuer Jessica Peters, the team soon included a kids’ club dedicated to the search, a local dog walker and her neighbors, and a teen animal lover who became known as a bunny whisperer when she caught three of the animals. Scientific information about wild versus domesticated animals in general and rabbits in particular is expertly woven into the narrative that’s divided into seven sections, each one introduced with a quote from a classic children’s book that features rabbits. Happily, all four rabbits are rescued and rehomed, although that process is not straightforward and shows some of the difficulties animal shelters face. Includes an author’s note, bibliography, and endnotes.

This heartwarming story celebrates animal lovers, neighborhood communities, and kind, determined people in general. it’s another book that would make an excellent book club selection for elementary kids or a classroom read-aloud. Dashka Slater always impresses me with her abilities to tell all kinds of nonfiction stories in a way that is fascinating and accessible. The text was greatly enhanced by Jamey Christoph’s illustrations, and I believe a grave injustice was committed by not including his name on the cover.

A couple of slippery subjects

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A Riddle of Eels by Nicholas Day, illustrated by Corey R. Tabor (Random House Studio, 48 pages, grades 1-5). In this nonfiction book about eels…or, wait a minute, is this a nonfiction book about eels? Eels are, to quote Winston Churchill (although he didn’t say it about eels), “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” For instance, did you know that no one has ever been able to figure out how eels reproduce? While scientist Johannes Schmidt discovered that eels spawn in the Sargasso Sea, to this day, no one has ever found a full-grown eel there. “We know so much about our world,” Day tells readers. “But sometimes there’s a crack in our wall of knowledge. And through it, we can catch a glimpse of the vast, wonderous world that’s still unknown to us.” So is this book about eels? Kind of. But it’s also about that world of wonder and all the unknowns that those slippery eels point to. Includes an author’s note about the disappearance of eels around the world and the importance of learning more about them to preserve them; also, a list of sources.

When you pick up a Nicholas Day book, the only certainty is that you can expect the unexpected. While readers will learn some things about eels by reading this book, they’ll also get their minds blown a little bit and their eyes opened to how much we still don’t know about the world we live in. I love that Corey R. Tabor did the illustrations, which add just the right amount of humor to complement Day’s slightly tongue-in-cheek writing style.

Goodbye, Koi by Jack Wong (Orchard Books 48 pages, ages 4-8). The narrator describes taking his koi to their new home in a pond at the park. He wonders if they’ll be happy there, just like he’s wondering about himself as he and his dad get ready to move to a new place. When he thinks about the fish getting cold in the winter, the illustrations show him shopping for a new winter jacket. When he hopes that they’ll get along with the other fish, readers see him interacting with family at a farewell party. His dad reminds him that they’ll have each other to share memories, and the boy decides that he’s ready for his new home. Includes an author’s note about his own journey from Hong Kong to Canada at the age of 6, how he learned Chinese brush painting to create this book, and how the story is really about the uncertainties that come from making big changes in life. Also includes additional information about koi fish.

As someone who recently made a transition (I’ve changed jobs from a big urban elementary school to a small, rural junior/senior high school), this story really resonated with me and reminded me that uncertainty is a part of any new journey. The illustrations are gorgeous, and I’m sure it’s only Jack Wong’s Canadian residence that will keep this from being considered for a Caldecott.

Ghosts and monsters

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Don’t Be Scared by Saadia Faruqi, illustrated by Shadia Amin (First Second, 208 pages, grades 4-7). The best part of Riz’s day is after-school film club, where he meets Amy and Max, two other film afficionados who, like Riz, are first-generation Americans, and whose parents would prefer that they become doctors or lawyers instead of filmmakers. Riz’s widowed dad, who immigrated from Pakistan, dreams of Riz going to med school and pushes him to focus more on his math and science classes. When Riz, Amy, and Max decide to make a film about the local Hollister Manor mansion before it’s razed, they embark on a ghost hunt, assisted by a local librarian with family connections to the place. Riz’s dad starts sharing Pakistani ghost stories with Riz and slowly begins to understand his son’s passion. When the three kids are able to capture the ghosts on film, it changes the way their parents see them and saves the old mansion from demolition. Includes an author’s note about ghost stories and an illustrator’s step-by-step guide to the cover design process.

Kids will love this creepy graphic novel that mixes up ghosts with family interactions and the struggles of being a child of immigrants. The ending felt a little rushed but also satisfying, tying up loose ends for Riz and his dad, librarian Miss Templeton, and the two ghostly children at the haunted house.

The Hospital for Mythological Creatures by Cathy Evans, illustrated by Ed J. Brown (Cicada Books, 48 pages, grades K-4). On Wednesday morning, a call comes in that there’s been a car crash on Shangri-La Boulevard. An ambulance rushes to the scene, where paramedics find Daisy with an arm injury, and her mom, Lisa, in need of stitches for a cut on her forehead. The other driver, elderly Mr. Von Thunderhoof, is pale and dizzy. All three are transferred to the hospital, where readers are introduced to all kinds of personnel and technology. There are x-rays, MRIs, blood and urine tests, and a new heart valve for Mr. Von Thunderhoof. By the time Daisy’s other mom picks her and Lisa up, readers have learned a lot about a busy hospital and the many ways patients are helped there all day long. Includes glossaries of hospital departments and medical terms.

What a fun way to learn about the hospital! The illustrations portray an amazing array of mythological creatures (my favorite was Vlad, the vampire, performing the blood test, and the one I found the creepiest was Phillip, the young gnome with a penchant for sticking things in his ears and nose). Sensitive readers may get a little spooked by the various creatures; on the other end of the spectrum, those who love mythological creatures may wish for a guide identifying the many unique ones portrayed here. This would make a good companion to Lisa Brown’s The Hospital Book.

The right stuff

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The Gallaudet Eleven: The Story of NASA’s Deaf Bioastronauts by Kerry O’Malley Cerra, illustrated by Kristina Gehrmann (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 48 pages, grades 1-4). As the Space Race heated up, a researcher at NASA needed to figure out how to help astronauts with motion sickness as they traveled into space. Knowing that motion sickness originates in the inner ear, he decided to study a group with vestibular systems don’t work–which is some people who are deaf. He recruited eleven men from Gallaudet University and spent the next ten years studying them in all sorts of environments that had them spinning, floating, and traveling on a ship through stormy seas. The team saw it as a way to serve their country, and the experiments led to the creation of medicines, space suits, and other devices that eased motion sickness for the hearing astronauts. Includes a note from the author (who is deaf but now hears with a cochlear implant) with additional information about the bioastronauts and the creation of the book, a timeline, and a list of selected sources.

This was such a fascinating story, and one that is sure to grab the attention of a wide range of readers. The Gallaudet’s enthusiasm and willingness to put themselves through a variety of challenging experiments really shines through, despite their isolation from scientists and hearing astronauts who didn’t know how to communicate with them.

Casting April by Wendy Lu (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 288 pages, grades 4-7). April loves the theater and secretly hopes to try out for her middle school play. Having a tracheostomy tube makes her nervous about performing onstage, and her mom’s worries don’t help her confidence. When her best friend Ruby urges her to try out, April nails her audition and eagerly awaits the cast list. Much to her surprise and disappointment, she’s given a backstage role. She decides to give it a try, hoping to unseat new girl Zahra from the lead role. After overhearing the director Ms. Rooney telling other teachers that she was afraid to give April a part because of her trach tube, April becomes more determined than ever to prove her wrong. The play turns out to be full of surprises, and April’s discoveries about Zahra and Ms. Rooney cause her to reevaluate everything. When it looks like the performance might get cancelled, April puts aside her own ambitions and works with her family and friends to prove once and for all that the show must go on.

At first glance, this may seem like another middle school theater story, but there’s a lot more packed into it, including interesting insights into living with a disability. April proves herself capable of handling just about anything related to her health, proving those around her wrong about her limitations. At the same time, she wants to be treated like other kids. She also gets a lesson about invisible disabilities with her discoveries about Ms. Rooney. An engaging and inspiring story by an author who also lives with a tracheostomy tube.

Creature features

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The Weaver and the Web by Chris Baker, illustrated by Byron Eggenschwiler (Godwin Books, 40 pages, grades K-3). As the sun sets, Weaver, a spotted orbweaver spider, wakes up hungry and starts to build an intricate web. Just as she’s caught a fly, a human walks into her web and destroys it. Disoriented, Weaver has to get her bearings and build another web, this one in a treehouse window. After filling up on the tasty moths she catches there, she returns to the ground to curl up safely inside a leaf and falls asleep as the sun rises on a new day. Includes an author’s note about overcoming his arachnophobia to write this book, along with additional information about spotted orbweaver spiders.

The close-up illustrations of the spider and her intricate webs will grab readers’ attention, and they’ll enjoy the story of her persistence in building the webs and catching food for herself. Her interactions with humans will perhaps give them a new appreciation of spiders they may run across and make them think twice about killing vs. releasing them.

A Bear Belongs: A Wildlife Rescue Story by Catherine Barr, illustrated by Harriet Hobday (Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 48 pages, grades 2-5). Tan-Tan is a young bear living in a Southeast Asian rainforest when she’s stolen away by hunters. Fortunately for her, the man who purchases her is a wildlife rescuer, and he takes her to the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center. There, she’s placed with Boboi and Kitud, two other rescued sun bears, and the three are gradually introduced back into the wild. In part two, the bears venture into the rainforest for longer periods of time until they are finally released with radio collars. Scientists are able to track them for about a month, after which time the collars fail and the bears are left on their own, hopefully finding their way in their new home. Includes additional information about the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center.

The story of the three bears is expertly woven together with information about sun bears and the scientists who help rehabilitate them. I do wonder if this book would find a wider readership if it were told with photos, although I love the beautiful illustrations of the bears and their habitat.

Indigenous wisdom

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You Are the Land by Steph Littlebird (Nancy Paulsen Books, 32 pages, ages 4-8). From the time she’s born, a Native girl is surrounded by love, both from her family members and the natural world. She compares the two: her grandmother is like a flower with petals to wrap around her and keep her safe; her grandfather is like water, nurturing her and teaching her to use her voice like a thundering waterfall. Her parents, too, take care of her and teach her about the world, lessons that she passes on when she grows older and has a little sister. At her first powwow, she comes to appreciate her community, and she carries those lessons forward as that community works together to protect their land. “My culture teaches me that I am the land,” she concludes, “and the land is me.” Includes an author’s foreword telling how her Atfalati Kalapuya and Clatsop Chinook tribal connections have taught her to take care of the land and encouraging readers to do the same.

I love the environmental message of this book, with its emphasis on family, community, and connection to the land, but it’s the illustrations that make it truly spectacular. showing the girl and her family in a variety of beautiful nature scenes filled with a rainbow of colors. Those familiar with Steph Littlebird’s illustrations in My Powerful Hair will appreciate the way she connects the girl’s hair to the natural world.

The Animals Speak: the Lakota Way by S.D. Nelson, translated by Dakota Goodhouse (Harry N. Abrams, 48 pages, ages 4-8). “If you look with your eyes and listen with your ears, our animal relatives will share their ancient wisdom with you,” the author tells readers on the first page. “This is the Lakota way.” From there, each spread introduces a different animal with both the English and Lakota names and what that animal can teach: buffalo shows how to share and be generous, raven teaches how to listen and make wise choices. There are 16 animals (actually 15 and a tree) in all, with humans being the 17th on the last page. Each animal is shown in its habitat with symbols that suggest interconnectedness. Includes an author’s note with additional information about what humans can learn from animals and the art and traditions of the Lakota that inspired this book.

Another beautifully illustrated book by an Indigenous author, this could be used as a prompt for kids to consider their favorite animals and the lessons those animals teach. Each picture invites contemplation, with its interesting symbols and various portrayals of animals.

Let’s take a look at the 2026 Boston Globe/Horn Book Awards!

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The 2026 Boston Globe/Horn Book Awards were announced on June 15, and I was thrilled that Nicholas Day won the nonfiction award for A World Without Summer, and Julie Leung and Angie Kang won the picture book category for Navigating Night. The fiction award went to Lisa Greenwald’s A Scar Like a River, which I am hoping to get to before the summer is over. I’ve read a couple of the honor books, but I hadn’t heard about these two.

The Great Frog by Katie Palazzola (Neal Porter Books, 40 pages, ages 4-8). Two siblings contemplate a blob of frog eggs; younger brother Peedie wants to stay outside and watch over them while his sister Kit knows that it’s time to go inside. “But don’t worry,” she tells him. “The Great Frog will take care of the eggs.” When they return, the eggs have hatched into tadpoles, and Kit expands on the Great Frog story. He rides a horse named Tarnation and lives in a moon castle in the sky. Still later, the tadpoles have grown legs, and Kit predicts the Great Frog will arrive to choose his successor in another week. But when the day arrives, Kit admits to Peedie that she made the whole thing up. Peedie takes it in stride, understanding the importance of stories, and the two agree to be looker-afters, just like the Great Frog. Includes information on the frog’s life cycle, a list of websites to learn more, and an author’s note encouraging readers to dream and have big ideas.

This quirky debut picture book celebrates stories and sibling relationships, mixed in with a bit of scientific information. Kit and Peedie have a warm and understanding relationship, and readers may be inspired to become looker-afters of the natural world themselves.

When Beavers Move In by Alison Pearce Stevens, illustrated by Natasha Donovan (Godwin Books, 48 pages, grades K-3). When beavers more into areas populated by humans, they can be a nuisance and cause flooding, leading humans to kill the beavers. But the Tulalip Tribes of Washington State take a different approach. When they’re called in to help, members of the tribe trap the beavers and move them to their tribal land. High up in the mountains, the beavers cut down trees and build dams, starting a chain of events that increases fish populations, creates a wetland, and ultimately, helps protect land from forest fires. Includes an author’s note with additional information about beavers and the Tulalip Tribes’ beaver project, including ways readers can help.

This excellent nonfiction picture books emphasizes ways to create balance in nature, allowing beavers to improve land in a way that doesn’t harm humans, and celebrates Indigenous methods of land management. It would make an excellent companion to Kristen Tracy’s 2024 picture book When Beavers Flew.

Fly me to the moon

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Explore the Far Side of the Moon by Jenny Jacoby with consultant Dr. Sheila Kanani, illustrated by Lea Woo (Thames and Hudson, 64 pages, grades 2-6). Readers are invited on a mission to the far side of the moon to explore the area in and around the Shackleton Crater at the lunar South Pole. Each spread covers a different aspect of the mission from Meet Your Crew to Liftoff to Stepping Onto the Moon to The Splashdown. Illustrations include diagrams and pictures that show readers many aspects of space travel that can be highly technical, like a cutaway of the moon lander, or more mundane, like directions for making a beef taco or how to go to the bathroom in space. The last few pages show moon maps and the phases of the moon, and there’s also a glossary and an index.

This is a fun look at many different aspects of space travel, with plenty of information presented in ways to make it easily accessible for elementary kids. It’s perfectly timed to show kids what the real-life NASA Artemis missions are like.

I Built a Rocket Ship by Anna Lazowski, illustrated by Jennica Lounsbury (Kids Can Press, 32 pages, ages 4-8). A grieving child tells her late mother that she’s building a rocket ship. As she creates, she shares some of her memories, like the time they went camping, and her mom showed her the constellations when she was scared of the dark. Dad is quiet when she tells him what she’s doing, but later he takes a lasagna Mom made out of the freezer and promises they’ll use the recipe to make another one together. The two of them paint the spacecraft Mom’s favorite color “so you’ll be sure to see me coming.” The last page shows the purple rocket ship flying through space next to a swan constellation.

This book will break your heart, with memories, and grief woven into the spare text. I loved the rocket as a coping mechanism, following Mom’s advice to build it, filling it with her favorite things, and using it as a springboard for memories. The dad is clearly going through his own grieving process but is there for his daughter throughout.

Life on the Moon by Matthew Swanson, illustrated by Robbi Behr (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 320 pages, grades 3-7). When Leo was given the choice between staying on Earth with his mom and living on the moon with his dad and Dad’s girlfriend, he chose the moon. Which may say something about what his life on Earth has been like recently. But no sooner has he arrived on the moon, than his dad and girlfriend go off on a top-secret mission and disappear. Leo breaks the rules and goes out in a lunar rover to try to find them. Almost immediately, he realizes that two rules he’s been told about moon life–there’s no life on the moon and there are no technical difficulties–are completely untrue. Not only are there life forms, but they are all intricately connected, so that disturbing one will potentially destroy them all. As Leo slowly learns this, he comes to realize that his own life is a web of interconnections, and that he has a purpose that he is only beginning to understand. When catastrophe threatens the lunar colony, it’s up to Leo to come up with an unconventional solution that will give the reader plenty to think about after reading the last page.

Personally, I’m not a big fan of picaresque novels, and the blurb on the cover–“A modern-day Phantom Tollbooth”–was a bit of a red flag, as I don’t particularly care for that book. However, if I’m going to read a book in which the protagonist travels from one adventure to the next meeting all kinds of unusual creatures, each with its own lesson to teach, let it be one by beloved husband-and-wife team Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr. I believe that many readers will fall in love with this book (as the have The Phantom Tollbooth, to be fair). Behr’s illustrations are imaginative and funny, and Swanson’s story is ultimately complex and affecting, raising interesting questions, some of which are nicely articulated in the afterword. This would make a very interesting read-aloud or book club choice that could lead to some good discussions.

14 animal poems

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At the Edge: Curious Creatures of Planet Earth by David Elliott, illustrated by Robin Clover (Candlewick, 40 pages, grade K-3). Fourteen unique animals from around the world are celebrated, each with a poem and a cut paper illustration of the animal in its habitat. There are insects, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and birds. The black rain frog’s poem is just two words (“Bumpy. Grumpy.”), and most of the other poems are under a dozen lines. The final two pages have notes about the animals, with a short paragraph of information about each one.

This would be a great introduction to poetry for young readers, with interesting, colorful illustrations of a host of unique creatures along with short, easy-to-read information. I do kind of wish the information appeared on each page instead of at the end to make it easier to learn more about these fascinating animals. This is part of a poetry series by Elliott called Paws, Fins, Feathers, Claws that looks like it would be an excellent addition to an elementary poetry collection.

Fourteen Ways of Looking at Jellyfish by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline (Candlewick, 32 pages, grades 1-5). How to consider jellyfish? They can be seen in the water by a child on a dock, listed by their unusual common names like fried-egg or flower hat, or looked at from the perspective of the hundreds of millions of years they have lived on earth, predating dinosaurs by millions of years. Each way of looking is described with a different type of poem and shown with a variety of illustration styles, like a page from a scientist’s notebook, or a cartoon showing the emergency of a box jellyfish’s sting, or a dreamy underwater landscape. The back matter includes a bibliography and a list of websites to dive deeper into jellyfish research.

This gorgeous poetic meditation on jellyfish is sure to be considered for awards, whether it’s Sibert for the information or Caldecott for the illustrations. It seems to have been inspired by Wallace Stevens’s “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” but I couldn’t find that cited anywhere in the book.

Science Friday

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Honeybird Blue by Taunya English, illustrated by Raissa Figueroa (HarperCollins, 40 pages, ages 4-8). Honeybird and Pop get up before the sun to head into the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Philadelphia for a day of birding. Honeybird has a list of birds by color that she hopes to see, and she’s sure today will be the day that she finally sees Blue: the great blue heron, who has skinny legs and a topknot just like her. Off they go, and as the day progresses, they see Yellow (yellowthroats), Green (mallards), Grey (woodpeckers), Black (blackbirds), Brown (geese)…but no Blue. Pop reminds Honeybird that “birding is seeing what you see,” but she’s still disappointed as they head back to the car. Right before they go, they gather in a circle with other birders, each one naming a favorite bird (“Honeybird,” says Pop). Just as they pose for a photo…there’s Blue! Flying in the sky, then landing nearby so that Honeybird gets a good look and makes the last tick on her list. Includes a birding glossary as well as pictures and additional information about all the birds in the book, including the honeybird.

This lovely book with illustrations by Coretta Scott King Honoree Figueroa is an excellent introduction to birding with an enthusiastic and knowledgeable main character. It would also make a nice Father’s Day gift and might inspire a father-child outing into nature.

Hooray for My Brain! by Paul Meisel (Holiday House, 32 pages, grades K-4). “Look at us!” two kids call from the first page. “We can run! We can read and play the drums! We can jump and draw and throw and talk!” And it’s all thanks to their brains. They then get into the details, introducing readers to the way the brain connects to the spinal cord and nerves to allow our bodies to do so many amazing things. Information on the structure of the brain shows which lobes are responsible for which bodily functions. Glands located in the brain–the pituitary and the hypothalamus–are described. “Hooray for my brain!” the narrators say in unison as they ride their bikes off the last page. Includes a glossary.

Theodor Seuss Geisel Honoree has created a science book that’s accessible for younger readers but doesn’t shy away from challenging vocabulary and complex concepts. The illustrations play a big role in providing clarity, and showing the two kids on many of the pages helps readers understand how different parts of the brain make different activities possible. Kids may want to do additional research on some of the concepts introduced, and a list of resources would have made a nice addition.