science – Page 2 – One Chapter

Global by Eoin Colfer

5 stars YA Graphic Novel

Two different stories told from opposite ends of the world grip the reader as they learn that the connecting factor linking them together is global warming. While some individuals claim that global change and global warming are just fictious, Yuki and Sami lives are living proof that it’s happening, and its effect is very real.

From “here” Sami is a fisherman, like his grandfather in the Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean. The sea is once again pushing its way onto the banks of his village. The seawall is crumbling, and the houses will once again have to be moved more inland. Land is becoming scarce as the ocean claims everything around them. Fishing is their livelihood, their means of existence. The water that was once their friend has now become their enemy as a constant struggle occurs as they struggle to bring home enough fish to earn a paycheck and the ocean tries to claim their home. Just when Sami and his grandfather thought that they had caught the “big one” and their luck had changed, they realized that the water was not their only problem.

From “there” Yuki, his dog Lockjaw live with her parents inside the Arctic Circle in Northern Canada. With the warmer winters, the snow and sea ice are melting rapidly creating issues for the residents and the bears who rely on it. With less ice, the bears are moving into the residential areas to forge for their food. Yuki doesn’t like how the town addresses this issue, so she takes it upon herself to find a better solution. Bundled against the cold winter landscape, fourteen-year-old Yuki sets off with Lockjaw for the answer.

As Sami and Yuki shared their stories, their stories felt real. The details and the emotions that were expressed felt heartfelt and sincere. The illustrations in this graphic novel were terrific! You could feel the tension, frustration, and excitement within each text box. The colors used helped create this dramatic storyline and it was hard book to put down.

I enjoyed the extra text pages at the back of the book as they helped explain the idea behind the book and about global warming. I really enjoyed reading this graphic novel. 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Kids for an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion of this book.

I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005: The Graphic Novel

5 stars Graphic Novel

They were headed out, that was their intention but sometimes things don’t always go as planned. It was a mandatory evacuation, and they were going. If they could make it.

Barry had just finished creating a comic adventure with Jay. This piece was going to win them first prize in a contest, they were sure of that. They had plans to split the cash prize but now with the storm coming, Barry had Akivo, their winning piece, in his possession until he could drop it off in the mail. Most individuals were taking this storm seriously. Jay’s family was headed to Birmingham while Barry’s family would head towards Houston. Their neighbor Abe was told to head out with his grandma to a safe spot but lately, Abe did what he wanted. Since his dad left, Abe had changed. He claimed his new dog Cruz was a killer dog and by the time this storm was over, Barry would know firsthand if Abe was correct about his dog.

Barry’s family headed out along with hundreds and thousands of other individuals. Bumper to bumper traffic on the road and then, Barry’s sister Cleo gets sick and the family heads back home. They’ll ride the storm out at home, they decide. Overnight the storm pounds the house. By morning, the water rushes into their home, flooding everything. The family moves upstairs but so does the water. The family moves into the attic and soon, the water is lapping at their feet. The intensity and urgency can be felt as the family moves quickly and must think on their feet to keep themselves safe.

Holding onto their roof, the family feels somewhat relieved until Barry falls into the swirling water around them. He’s immediately swept away as his family calls for him. Panic and desperation mounds! Barry’s trying to grab onto anything that’s floating nearby but he’s coming up with nothing substantial. As he finds a tree and gets comfortable, he looks around and sees a large building headed towards him! Stay in the tree or jump back into the water? Both options can be deadly but what else can he do?

There are times when the story relaxes a bit, but the intensity of the situation was still there. I liked how the ending centered on the characters and when Barry reflected on himself. The ending answered many of the questions I had as I read this story. The graphics in this story followed the story and the illustrations provided enough detail without overdoing it. It was a great graphic novel. At the back of the book there was more information discussing Hurricane Katrina that should be looked at too. 5 stars

What’s Inside a Bird’s Nest by Rachel Ignotofsky

5 stars Children’s Nonfiction

Wowza! This is a fantastic resource. Packed with lots of interesting and educational information, this book is a true gem. If you’re looking for specific information or just want to read about birds, this book is one that you should definitely pick up. A reader-friendly treasure, this nonfiction book speaks to the reader, pumping out information about these feathered friends from many different topics including but not limited to: their relationships, habitats, their anatomy, and it even covers all the different names of the feathers on their bodies.

I liked how the book laid out the information on the pages and how they used different fonts within the pages. There is a large selection of realistic birds drawn on the pages (with the bird’s name written beside it) and the book has a great flow to it. What might you learn:

How important the chalaza is to an egg.

The difference between an altricial and a precocial.

How do birds stay safe and communicate.

What are contour and flight feathers and their purpose.

Migration patterns for 6 different birds – did you know that 40% of birds migrate?

That birds have a special sense within them that helps them navigate.

What you can do to help birds.

I really enjoyed this book and think this is a fantastic book. This is one book that will be read repeatedly as there’s lots of information inside it. 5 stars

One Little Leaf by Molly Littleboy

5 stars Children’s Board Book – Nonfiction

There’s lots to explore and learn in this book for children and adults. Each two-page spread carries a theme from leaves to senses, to seeds and lots more. The pages are packed with information relating to those individual themes but also on these pages are many tabs on cutout items, that are to be lifted which contain more information to read.

On the Magic of Leaves pages, there are 15 different leaves featured from cedar, yew, horse chestnut, redwood, elder, oak, aspen and many others. On the fir, sycamore, and linden leaves, there are cut-outs for fingers to hook the cut-outs of these leaves so that you can lift them open to read more about how special leaves are. I liked that most of the two-page spreads have 4 or more tabs to open.

Did you know:

“Just one tree trunk can make 10,000 sheets of paper. Tiny pieces of wood are mixed with water to create pulp, which is pressed through a paper machine. We also use these tiny pieces of wood to make toilet paper.”

“Leaves have skeletons, just like humans!”

“Sap is a sticky liquid that helps carry water and nutrients from the soil to every part of the tree- just like blood does in our bodies.”

Great illustrations make this a great resource. I liked the variety of text fonts used in the book and I enjoyed all the different varieties of species that they included and how they also identified them in the book. The use of color and the attention to detail in the illustrations was wonderful. This is a great book for young children interested in nature and for those who are just learning about it. 5 stars

Tell Me About Space by Lisa Varchol Perron

5 stars Children’s Nonfiction Picture Book

SO much information! This is definitely a book for school age children and not one for toddlers unless your toddler is well-advanced for their age. This book briefly explains gravity, earth’s rotation, the solar system, the moons, and the galaxies.

As a boy talks with his mother and asks her questions about space, the book expands on his questions and answers them in a direct manner. I like the one-one dialogue they have and how the book gives a brief, direct answer without giving a too complex and overwhelming answer. The text is easy to read, and I like the different fonts that were used in the book.

The illustrations are soft, and I liked the different color schemes that they used within the book.

It really is an educational book without being too wordy and overwhelming for a child. It’s a book that will answer their questions about space and could lead them to seek more information, if they so desire. It’s a book that could be read repeatedly and one with great illustrations and pictures that children can understand. 5 stars

“Tell me why I’m standing still if Earth is spinning around.”

“Everything is moving – you and me, the air, the ground!”

“Although we feel like we are staying in one place, we are always spinning along with Earth – about a thousand miles an hour! We don’t perceive the movement because it is constant.”

Worm and Caterpillar Are Friends by Kaz Windness

5 stars Children’s Graphic Novel

We’re alike yet we’re different. This is a fun book as these two best friends discover how much they have in common and how much their differences really matter. Told in text boxes, this story is about a caterpillar and a worm. Worm thinks they are alike, but caterpillar tells worm they’re not completely alike. As worm tells caterpillar things that he thinks they’re similar on, caterpillar corrects worm. No caterpillar does not eat dirt and he doesn’t crawl on his belly.

I think it’s funny that worm hasn’t noticed this before but perhaps it really didn’t matter. They can still be best friends even though they have some differences. Caterpillar points out some similarities that they have which is sweet.

When caterpillar starts eating and he continues to eat and eat, worm notices that his friend is acting rather strangely. Ha!

It’s really cute as caterpillar starts to really change. Worm stays by his friend day and night as he undergoes some strange transition, right before his eyes. I love how worm cares for his friend and his love for his friend really shines.

Fantastic book. I liked how it talks about friendship and how you don’t have to be exactly like another person to be best friends. You can have similarities and differences and still be friends. I like how the caterpillar changes in the book and how he’s accepted by worm. The illustrations are colorful, fun, and do a great job telling the story. I liked how this book starts off by explaining to the reader how to read this book. Written like a graphic novel, this book tells the reader about each of the text boxes or panels and to read the page, left to right. They explain text bubbles and how to follow them to understand who exactly is talking in the story. They also explain about the little text words that are written outside the text bubbles and what they mean. 5 stars

Whose Prints? by Kari Allen

5 stars Children’s Board Book

This is a great board book that has cut-outs of animal tracks that help children identify which track belongs to which animal. Follow along with a father and his child as they take a walk in the woods and notice the footprints in the newly fallen snow. There are about 4-6 tracks on each page which are cut-out on the page for the reader to identify. One page per animal and the reader is also given a short question about the animal before the reader turns the page to see the answer and an illustration of the animal. This is a super book for children and adults alike as it covers 7 different animals (including humans).

I like the beautiful peaceful illustrations. The text is simple and fun to read. This is a book that can be read repeatedly as the child examines the footprints and makes their guesses. They can apply this knowledge to their own world as they explore the great outdoors too. A gem of a book! 5 stars.

“Quick! Who scurried, then skittered around, over, and up?” There is a set of 5 small tracks on the page whose prints vary in length between them. Turning the page, you’ll see three squirrels up in the tree and the following answer printed on the page. (Answer: “Scurry, skitter. Up, up, up. A Squirrel!”)

Invent-a-Pet by Vicky Fang

4.5 stars Children’s Picture Book

Is it extraordinary? Katie wants a pet that is unique: something extraordinary. When they can’t find something at a pet store, her mother brings her a pet-making machine so Katie can make her own pet. The only problem is, Katie has to figure out how the machine works. There are three (3) input slots but what do they mean?

Katie tries all kinds of combinations to figure out what they mean as she creates all different kinds of pets.

Finally, Katie begins to understand what each of the different input slots mean and she can then put in the right item to get the correct pet that she wants.

What Katie ends up getting will put a smile on your face after you see everything that she has created.

Our grandson liked this book, he kept reaching for it when we’d read together. He’s 4 years old and I had to explain some of the book to him as I think some of the concepts were difficult for him to understand at first. Katie does the trial-and-error concept as she tries to figure out the different input slots so that part of the book gets a bit confusing as she tests each slot. After a few readings, he understood it and would point to the different input slots on the pages as I was reading it as each animal would come out a bit different. When an incident occurs at Katie’s house, we had to investigate that on our own as the book doesn’t mention what happened and I liked that as we flipped through the book to see what had changed on the pages to cause the incident to occur. It’s a cute book and the illustrations are busy, but they do tell the story. My grandson loved the book 5 stars from him and 4 stars from me – 4.5 stars

Every Body by Megan Madison

3.5 stars Children’s Board Book

Great information but I’m not sure a board book was the right avenue for it. I realize board books have expanded but this book is deeper than I anticipated. I hope that because it’s a board book individuals will not skip over it because the subject matter is well established in this book, where a variety of topics surrounding an individual’s body image is discussed. There is a picture book by the same title available and I guess I thought the information presented in a board book would be toned down compared to the same picture book, so now I’m curious as to what the picture book looks like.

At first glance, the illustrations inside this book are amazing. They’re bright, colorful detailed drawings that include a wide variety of individuals doing everyday activities. Every two-page spread also features an assortment of diversity: age, physical, ethnic, cultural, racial, etc. I liked the black text font as it’s bold and easy to read. I like how the book asks questions for the reader to answer based on their own experience. There are a lot of words to read in this book and the concepts discussed in this book are deeper than a beginning board book.

I like how the book addresses all the concepts surrounding body image. The book begins by addressing all the different types of bodies there are in the world and how they’re all special and healthy. From there, they address energy, fat, body needs, feelings, changes, body abilities, self-care, body image, being healthy, and it ends with every body is good. I liked how this book began with giving children a positive feeling about their bodies and accepting who they were, no matter what they looked like. I thought that the tone of the book started to get negative when it talked about BMI as they spent too many pages on this information.

Perhaps they should have just stated that they thought this concept was wrong (as individuals tried to change to fit this standard) and moved back into a more positive tone with “every body is a good body.” “Every body can be healthy.” I also never saw any mention of exercise or being active. The book talked about your body’s energy and listening to your body needs but it never addresses how your body needs exercise.

I think this book has great potential for lots of uses. To share the illustrations (without reading the words) and talk about what they see, would be a great conversational starter about diversity and bodies. Sharing the whole book with a child who would understand the words could lead to some interesting conversations. I hope individuals pick up this book up for its content and don’t overlook it because it is a board book. There is also a picture book with the same title. 3.5 stars

History Smashers: Plagues and Pandemics by Kate Messner

5 stars Middle School/Children’s Chapter History/Science

I love this series! I find the information inside these books interesting, fun, and entertaining. Even the smallest detail or fact, the author presents the information in such a way that makes it engaging and gives me the, “well, isn’t that interesting” feeling. I just wish my brain could absorb all this information so I could retrieve it later.

Using a variety of illustrations including comics, realistic photos, graphs and charts, the author presents a variety of material in this book. I think this helps the reader absorb everything that this book has to offer. The pages are splashed with a variety of different types of fonts, ranging in different sizes to grab the reader and pull them in. There is something in this book for everyone. This book was not geared for me (50+ years old), but I really enjoyed this book. I mean I really enjoy this whole series.

Do you know:

Where the image of the AMA/WHO arrived from? Do you know what an asclepeion is? Perhaps the cures of the past are not all that different than the ones used today.

The ancient Chinese people created their own immunization for smallpox? It didn’t involve getting a shot, but it sure helped them with this disease.

It was the discovery of germs that created a huge scientific breakthrough? Two diseases helped scientists discover what germs were.

How the March of Dimes got their name? This I found was very interesting.

From the earliest discoveries to what our world is facing now with Covid, this book covers it. There is quite a bit of information about Covid as this discovery and its path will shape our future and it’s fresh on everyone’s mind. This is an excellent book with lots of information and one to check out. Well, you should check out other books in this series also. 5 stars