Science

Egg: Nature’s Perfect Package by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Published by HMH Books for Young Readers

Summary:  From the royal albatross, which lays one egg every two years and watches over it for almost three months, to the fish tapeworm, which lays over seven billion eggs in its 20-year life, many animals lay eggs.  This book takes a look at where and how animals lay eggs, carry and protect them, and get out of the eggs when it’s time for them to hatch.  Egg sizes are compared with pictures showing actual sizes of all kinds of eggs, and cutaway pictures show how a chicken and alligator develop over the entire incubation period.  The information is given in short snippets, several on a page, with each accompanied by a cut-paper illustration.

Pros:  This husband-and-wife team may be my favorite nonfiction author and illustrator.  They have a real knack for finding fascinating facts about the animal world and presenting them in a way that sustains interest throughout the book.  And the illustrations are phenomenal.  It’s almost incomprehensible how Steve Jenkins is able to get the level of detail into each picture using cut and torn paper.  Check out “A Look Inside How This Book Was Made” on Amazon and the short video on Jenkins’ webpage (http://www.stevejenkinsbooks.com/making_books.html) to learn more about his artistic process.

Cons:  Reading this book right before breakfast kind of put me off my scrambled eggs.

Trapped! A Whale’s Rescue by Robert Burleigh, illustrated by Wendell Minor

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Published by Charlesbridge

Summary:  A humpback whale is traveling from the Arctic along the California coast, doing all the beautiful and majestic things humpback whales do, when she gets entangled in the ropes attached to crab traps.  Divers work to rescue her, mindful of potentially deadly dangers.  Slowly and carefully, they free her tail and fins, until she is ready to swim away.  She seems to thank them before she makes one last dive and is on her way.  Recommended for preschool to grade 2, although older kids could enjoy this.

Pros:  The spare, poetic text is beautifully illuminated by Wendell Minor’s amazing paintings.  There is plenty of information about whales as well as an exciting rescue story.  The end notes tell a more complete story of the rescue, provide more information about humpback whales, and have a wealth of resources if the reader wants to learn more.

Cons:  The books in the resources section are all several years old.

Octopuses! Strange and Wonderful by Laurence Pringle, illustrated by Meryl Henderson

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Published by Boyds Mills Press

Summary:  Did you know that some scientists think octopuses may be as smart as dogs?  Or that if it’s an octopus’s beak can fit through an opening, the rest of its body can, too?  These are just a couple of the amazing facts about this unique animal you’ll learn in Laurence Pringles latest entry in his Strange and Wonderful series.  Many aspects of the octopus’s brief (usually less than a year) life are covered here, including eating, protection, different types, intelligence, and reproduction.

Pros:  Students could write a very complete report using this book.  The information is engagingly presented, illuminated by beautiful detailed illustrations on every page.

Cons:  Although the cover looks like a primary-grade picture book, this is probably more appropriate for upper elementary or possibly even middle school students.

Hippos Are Huge! By Jonathan London, illustrated by Matthew Trueman

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Published by Candlewick

Summary:  What is the most dangerous animal in Africa?  A lion? A crocodile?  No, it’s that adorable hippopotamus innocently wallowing in the mud.  Did you know a hippo can bite a crocodile in half, and run 25 miles per hour?  This book is packed with fascinating information about how hippos eat, fight, move, and reproduce.

Pros:  Kids of all ages will enjoy this excellent nonfiction book.  The brief, engaging text and large colorful illustrations make it appropriate to read aloud to preschoolers.  (They’d especially enjoy the double-page picture of males swatting balls of dung at each other with their tails.)  At the same time, there’s enough information here to write a pretty complete report.  There’s even a brief index with a note on how to use it. 

Cons:  The book starts off as a general introduction, then on page 12 introduces a specific hippo whom we follow through the rest of the book.  I didn’t quite catch on to this until the end of the book, which made for a little confusion.  I think the problem was the hippo’s name…Hippo.

Fatal Fever: Tracking Down Typhoid Mary by Gail Jarrow

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Published by Calkins Creek

Summary:  Everyone’s heard of Typhoid Mary, but who was she really?  Uncovering her identity was a medical mystery that began in the summer of 1906.  The detective was Dr. George Soper, a sanitation engineer who helped control a typhoid epidemic that swept through the town of Ithaca and Cornell University.  When a wealthy family on Long Island was sickened with typhoid, they hired Soper to figure out what had caused the outbreak.  He eventually tracked it to Mary Mellon, their former cook.  Not only that, but he was able to trace several other outbreaks to her.  The book chronicles her capture and confinement on an island off of Manhattan for most of the rest of her life. The reader will also learn about typhoid, its role in history, and how it has gradually been eliminated from most of the western world.

Pros:  I had heard of typhoid and Typhoid Mary but knew nothing about it.  The lack of sanitation in the U.S. less than a century ago was pretty appalling.  Celebrities like Abigail Adams, Wilbur Wright, and Stephen Douglas all died of typhoid.  Although this book is nonfiction, it reads like a novel.

Cons:  You may find yourself looking askance at your tap water.  And you will surely nag your children more to wash their hands.

Raindrops Roll by April Pulley Sayre

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Published by Beach Lane Books

Summary:  Gorgeous photographs illustrate simple text about the rain.  First a storm is brewing and tiny animals take cover.  Then the rain begins (“Rain plops/It drops/It patters/It spatters), and finally, it stops.  But even after the rain storm is over, the drops remain, magnifying, reflecting, revealing, until slowly they dry up in the sun.  The last two pages offer “A Splash of Science”, explaining more about some of the photographs.

Pros:  This is a fabulous introduction to rain and water.  It’s also a book that encourages the reader to slow down and observe the natural world.

Cons:  Keep a towel and umbrella handy while reading.