Science

Seeing an Aurora by Elizabeth Pulford, illustrated by Anne Bannock

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Published by Blue Dot Press

Image result for seeing an aurora bannock amazon

Summary:  A father wakes his child in the middle of the night.  “We’re off to find an aurora.”  They go out into a cold, snowy night.  The child is full of questions: is it scary? Are stars in the aurora? The moon?  Finally, they reach the top of a high hill, and the colors of the aurora explode all around them.  Neither speaks, but on the walk back home, Dad tells all he knows about auroras.  Includes a note entitled “Everything Dad Knew About the Aurora”.  32 pages; ages 3-8.

Pros:  This beautiful book, originally published in New Zealand, captures the feel of being out on a winter’s night, and the magic of the aurora.  The colors in the illustration are gorgeous, and the information is just right for a young child.

Cons:  Although the final note mentions that auroras occur at the North Pole and South Pole, it doesn’t specify where on Earth they can be seen.  Also, a photo or two and a list of additional resources wouldn’t have been amiss.


Zonia’s Rain Forest by Juana Martinez-Neal (released March 30)

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Published by Candlewick

Zonia's Rain Forest: Martinez-Neal, Juana, Martinez-Neal, Juana: 9781536208450: Amazon.com: Books
Zonia's Rain Forest: Martinez-Neal, Juana, Martinez-Neal, Juana: 9781536208450: Amazon.com: Books

Summary:  “Every morning the rain forest calls to Zonia.”  Off she goes with her animal friends: playing hide-and-seek, running races, and lying quiet and still.  After a day with the animals, she’s ready to return to her parents and baby brother.  On the way home, though, she stumbles upon something she’s never seen before: the severed stumps of trees that have been cut down.  She tells her mother that the forest needs help, and her mother says it is calling to her.  “‘Then I will answer,’ says Zonia, ‘as I always do.’”  Includes additional information about the Asháninka, the largest indigenous group living in the Peruvian rain forest; a few facts about the Amazon; threats to the Amazon; and Zonia’s animal friends in order of appearance.  Spanish version also available: La Selva de Zonia. 40 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  This is sure to be a hit with any child who loves animals.  Zonia’s life in the rain forest looks like a lot of fun, and the animals are beautifully rendered.  The environmental message is delivered delicately, then reinforced with the excellent back matter.  Another Caldecott contender!

Cons:  I hate to mention it with all the excellent back matter, but I would have liked to have seen a map.

The Boy Whose Head Was Filled With Stars: A Life of Edwin Hubble by Isabelle Marinov, illustrated by Deborah Marcero

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Published by Enchanted Lion Books

The Boy Whose Head Was Filled with Stars: A Life of Edwin Hubble: Marinov, Isabelle, Marcero, Deborah: 9781592703173: Amazon.com: Books
The Boy Whose Head Was Filled With Stars, A Life of Edwin Hubble — Enchanted Lion Books

Summary:  As a young boy growing up in Missouri, Edwin Hubble was fascinated by the stars.  When his grandfather gave him a telescope for his eighth birthday, he eschewed birthday cake in favor of looking at the stars.  His strict father prohibited him from studying astronomy in college, but happily for the history of science, said father died in 1914, and Edwin was able to quit teaching high school and go back to school.  He set himself to work on the problem of nebulae like Andromeda: were they within the Milky Way galaxy, or separate galaxies themselves? His discovery, which built on the research of Harvard astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt, showed that they were separate galaxies, revealing that the universe was bigger than previously thought, and that it was expanding.  Edwin helped to create the Hale telescope and was the first to use it in 1949; he was honored with the Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990.  Includes an author’s note, an illustrator’s note, additional information about Hubble’s research, and a bibliography listing three sources.  52 pages; grades 2-5.

Pros:  There don’t seem to be other picture book biographies of Hubble, and this one does a nice job, emphasizing Edwin’s inquisitive mind, clearly explaining the difficult concepts he was researching, and showing the wonders of the universe through the black-sky illustrations.

Cons:  A timeline would have made this a more useful research book.

Another list of six: favorite nonfiction books

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Your Place in the Universe by Jason Chin

Published by Neal Porter Books

Your Place in the Universe: Chin, Jason: 9780823446230: Amazon.com: Books

I notice that Jason Chin has made it onto three of my last five favorite nonfiction book lists, so guess I’m a bit of a fan. His illustrations are awe-inspiring, and I loved the comparisons in this book that made enormous numbers and sizes a little more understandable.

Grow: Secrets of Our DNA by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Emily Sutton

Published by Candlewick

Grow: Secrets of Our DNA: Davies, Nicola, Sutton, Emily: 9781536212723: Amazon.com: Books

Explaining DNA and genetics in a way that’s accessible to readers as young as kindergarten is no easy feat, but Nicola Davies and Emily Sutton pulled it off. Watson and Crick would be proud.

We Are Power: How Nonviolent Activism Changes the World by Todd Hasak-Lowy

Published by Abrams Books for Young Readers

We Are Power: How Nonviolent Activism Changes the World: Hasak-Lowy, Todd: 9781419741111: Amazon.com: Books

I thought I knew a fair amount about nonviolent activism–I’m a Quaker, for Pete’s sake–but I learned so much from reading this book. 2020 had its share of activism and books about activism, but this was the one I found most inspiring.

The Fabled Life of Aesop by Ian Lendler, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski

Published by HMH Books for Young Readers

The Fabled Life of Aesop: The extraordinary journey and collected tales of the world's greatest storyteller: Lendler, Ian, Zagarenski, Pamela: 9781328585523: Amazon.com: Books

I’m sure Aesop never imagined he’d be part of the Common Core, but there he is. As a school librarian, I am grateful for this comprehensive introduction to his life and fables, and I also appreciated the sly observations on what it means to have power. Pamela Zagarenski has a couple of Caldecott honors to her name, so don’t count her out this year.

Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots by Michael Rex

Published by Nancy Paulsen Books

Amazon.com: Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots (9781984816269): Rex, Michael, Rex, Michael: Books

Who knew that when I was playing Kick the Can with Michael Rex and the rest of our neighbors in 1970’s suburban New Jersey that in 2020 I’d be reviewing his book? Well done, Michael, I loved your take on facts vs. opinions. Librarians everywhere should thank you for this book.

All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat

Published by Candlewick Press

All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team - Kindle edition by Soontornvat, Christina. Children Kindle eBooks @ Amazon .com.

I guess none of us should be surprised that this drama we watched unfold a couple of years ago would be made into a gripping nonfiction tale. Christina Soontornvat added so much context with her sidebars on Thailand, caves, and Buddhism, as well as her personal connection to the story that readers get much more than just a survival story.

Curious Comparisons: A Life-Size Look at the World Around You by Jorge Doneiger, translated from the Spanish by Iraida Iturralde and The Screaming Hairy Armadillo and 76 Other Animals with Weird, Wild Names by Matthew Murrie and Steve Murrie, illustrated by Julie Benbassat

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Published by Candlewick

Curious Comparisons: A Life-Size Look at the World Around You: Doneiger, Jorge, Chouela, Guido, Sisso, David, Setton, Marcelo: 9781536200218: Amazon.com: Books
Curious Comparisons: A Life-Size Look at the World Around You by Jorge Doneiger, Guido Chouela, David Sisso, Marcelo Setton, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble®

Published by Workman Publishing Co.

The Screaming Hairy Armadillo and 76 Other Animals with Weird, Wild Names: Murrie, Matthew, Murrie, Steve, Benbassat, Julie: 9781523508112: Amazon.com: Books
The Screaming Hairy Armadillo and 76 Other Animals with Weird, Wild Names: Murrie, Matthew, Murrie, Steve, Benbassat, Julie: 9781523508112: Amazon.com: Books

Summary:  For those kids who enjoy books filled with quirky facts, here’s a double dose.  Curious Comparisons is an import from Argentina showing true-to-size photos of an eclectic mix of animals and objects.  A pound of feathers and a pound of lead; the amount of water a lion can drink at once shown in empty water bottles; a pile of thread representing an unraveled shirt: each item is shown on a white page with a fact or two and often a question.  There are a few fold out pages: glasses filled with the amount of milk a cow produces and the flowers needed for a bee to make a pound of honey.  Includes 4 pages of additional facts about each page.  64 pages; grades K-5.

Screaming Hairy Armadillo starts off with several pages explaining how animals are named, including a description of scientific classification.  From there, the 77 animals are profiled, everything from the monkeyface prickleback to the bone-eating snot flower worm.  The animals are grouped by name: funny names, fierce names, magical names, delicious names, and just plain weird names (looking at you, headless chicken monster).  Each animal gets a page of information; a sidebar telling its species, habitat, and a fun fact; an illustration; and sometimes a photo.  Includes a couple pages of awards (for different name-related categories); how to discover and name an organism; a weird and wild name generator; a glossary; a list of websites for further research; and information on conservation organizations.  176 pages; grades 2-5.

Pros:  Books like these are almost too easy to book talk.  Just show a page or two, maybe read a fact or share a couple of weird names, and boom, kids are clamoring for them.  The photos and simple text in Curious Comparisons makes it a great choice for any elementary grade.  Screaming Hairy Armadillo will appeal to older kids, and contains a lot of great information in addition to the animal profiles.

Cons:  Curious Comparisons seemed a bit random to my well-ordered, Dewey-Decimal-trained brain.

One of a Kind: A Story About Sorting and Classifying by Neil Packer

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Published by Candlewick

One of a Kind: A Story About Sorting and Classifying: Packer, Neil, Packer, Neil: 9781536211214: Amazon.com: Books
One of a Kind: A Story About Sorting and Classifying by Neil Packer, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble®

Summary:  On page 1, we meet Arvo.  On page 2, we meet Arvo’s family: a family tree going back to his great grandparents and to third cousins once removed, including the percentage of DNA each shares with Arvo.  Page 3 is Arvo’s cat Malcolm–and the family of cats, a.k.a. Felidae.  And so it goes throughout Arvo’s day.  His violin lesson is accompanied by an illustration of musical instrument classification; the car ride to the violin lesson includes vehicles and how they are grouped.  There are pages for clouds, foods, the library, and more.  When Arvo’s dad picks him up at the end of the day, though, he’s able to pick his son out of a crowd.  When Arvo asks him how, his dad tells him, “There is only one YOU!”  Includes an additional four pages giving more information on each of the classification systems.  48 pages; grades 2-5.

Pros:  Many years ago, when I worked at the Boston Museum of Science, I looked in vain for good children’s books on classification (my co-worker and I actually tried writing one).  I wish we had had this excellent oversized book to show kids how all kinds of objects in the world are sorted and classified into groups.  Readers will want to spend a lot of time with the detailed illustrations on every page.

Cons:  This is another large book that librarians may struggle to find space for.

Tiny Monsters: The Strange Creatures That Live On Us, In Us, and Around Us by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

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HMH Books for Young Readers

Tiny Monsters: The Strange Creatures That Live On Us, In Us, and Around Us: Jenkins, Steve, Page, Robin: 9780358307112: Amazon.com: Books

Summary:  Maybe you don’t want to think about the tiny eyelash mites that are living on, not surprisingly, your eyelashes, but you can bet there’s some 9-year-old kid out there who does.  And that kid will also enjoy learning about bedbugs, chiggers, dust mites, and a whole host of other small creatures who live on humans, in houses, and outside.  Each spread features Jenkins’ trademark cut paper illustrations, with the actual size shown as a black silhouette (some are just a dot), the magnification of the illustration, and a paragraph of information.  The last two pages give additional information about each critter, and there is also a short bibliography.  32 pages; grades 1-4.

Pros:  I’m always delighted to learn that Steve Jenkins has a new book; even more so when he teams up with his wife Robin Page.  Personally, I did not find the subject of this one particularly engaging, but I just know it will be a huge hit in any elementary library.

Cons:  I feel itchy.

The Challenger Disaster: Tragedy in the Skies by Pranas T. Naujokaitis

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Published by First Second

Amazon.com: History Comics: The Challenger Disaster: Tragedy in the Skies (9781250174307): Naujokaitis, Pranas T.: Books
History Comics: The Challenger Disaster | Pranas T. Naujokaitis | Macmillan

Summary:  A group of kids going to school on board a 24th century spacecraft has an assignment to research the Challenger disaster.  Each presents one aspect of the event, including the history of the space shuttle, the crew, the launch, and the investigation of what went wrong.  The kids are all certain that Carmen, the slacker among them, hasn’t done her research, and when it comes time for her to present, it turns out they’re right.  But she’s been so moved by what she’s learned that she makes an emotional case for continuing to explore the universe, even though tragedies sometimes happen as part of those explorations.  The day ends with A plus grades for everyone, and the teacher musing to herself that she believes the future is in good hands.  Includes an author’s afterword and a list of additional Challenger facts.  128 pages; grades 4-6.

Pros:  A moving look at many different aspects of the Challenger explosion that includes holographic images of each crew member giving an introduction to his or her life and career.  This is part of a new series called History Comics that will undoubtedly have wide appeal, particularly for fans of books like Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales.

Cons:  The detailed descriptions of the space shuttle in the first third of the book may lose a few readers.

If you would like to buy this book on Amazon, click here.

Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier by Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Published by First Second

Interior Image

Summary:  Real-life astronaut Mary Cleave narrates the story of how women clawed their way into the space program, beginning with a group of women called the Mercury 13 who tried to be part of the first group of astronauts.  Although they were qualified, and their smaller size would have been a plus on early space missions, they were eventually passed over for the all-male Mercury 7.  Meanwhile, in the Soviet Union, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel to space.  It wasn’t until 1983 that Sally Ride broke the barriers at NASA, and many other women have succeeded there in the decades since.  The final section of the book is a detailed narrative of Cleave’s own journey aboard the space shuttle in 1985.  Includes photos of a diverse group of astronauts, an author’s note, and a lengthy bibliography.  176 pages; grades 5-8.

Pros:  As I’m writing this review, my daughter is sitting at the dining room table taking an orbital mechanics final for her graduate program in astronautics at Stanford, so I can’t help but be grateful for how far women have come since Sally Ride burst on the scene during my own college days.  This book gives a humorous but honest account of the hard work those early women had to do, and the ridiculous sexism that made it so difficult for them to become part of the space program.  The artwork is appealing, and the detailed illustrations of life aboard the space shuttle are truly remarkable. 

Cons:  The beginning, with its whirlwind history of the early days of the space program in both the U.S. and USSR, is a bit confusing, with a big cast of characters, and a lot of switching back and forth between the two countries (the Russian scenes are cleverly shown with a font resembling Cyrillic script).

If you would like to buy this book on Amazon, click here.

Letters from Space by Clayton Anderson, illustrated by Susan Batori

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Sleeping Bear Press

Letters from Space: Anderson, Clayton, Batori, Susan: 9781534110748: Amazon.com: Books

Summary: Former astronaut Clayton Anderson drew on his experience living aboard the International Space Station to create these fictional letters about life in space.  From Day 1 (“Dear Mom, I did it I made it into outer space! LAUNCH WAS SO COOL!”) to Day 152 (“Dear Mission Control: I’m home–safely back on Earth. And boy, am I glad about that!”), his letters brim with enthusiasm for sharing his experiences and scientific information about space.  The science is very kid-friendly, describing why the crews’ heads look bigger when the first few days of a mission, animals who have traveled into space, and how astronauts take pictures. Living in a weightless environment, conducting experiments, and going for a space walk are all explained with an air of excitement, and a P.S. from the astronaut at the end gives a bit more information about each topic.  32 pages; grades K-3.

Pros:  Anderson’s enthusiasm is infectious, and is sure to lead some readers to consider a career in space.  The letters format is engaging, and could serve as a writing prompt.  Batori’s humorous cartoon-inspired illustrations add to the fun.

Cons:  I wished the letters had clarified who each recipient was.  Some (Mom, Brother, Mission Control) are obvious, while others (Cole, Sofia, Ana) are more ambiguous.

If you would like to buy this book on Amazon, click here.