science – Page 3 – One Chapter

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

The Children’s Book of Birdwatching: Nature-Friendly Tips for Spotting Birds by Dan Rouse

5 stars Nonfiction Children’s

This is marked a children’s book but I think it could be used for all ages. This nonfiction book is a great beginner’s book to learn about birds. There’s quite a bit of information included inside this book and the pictures are cute and informative. Don’t pass up this book just because it’s earmarked for children as it’s suitable for anyone who is interested in birds and someone who doesn’t want to get bogged down with too much detail.

I liked how the chapters were set up and all the different information that was included inside the chapters. You have the typical where to find birds, what do birds eat, birdfeeders, birdbaths, etc. but this book goes beyond all that. There are chapters on nest boxes, ponds, bird bills, what seeds attract which birds, and why birds need plants.

You want to get creative? There are chapters on making bird food, a bird feeder, a dust bath, seed bombs, and growing your own plants for the birds. The book doesn’t stop there as you’ll find information on caring for the outside birds, what they need to make nests, watching the birds, and how to find some unexpected nests.

Loads of fun and informative information inside this book and it’s presented in an entertaining way with pages that have a lot of illustrations with short text boxes. The book is fun to read and it’s a book that you can pick up and read a few pages and put down and return to again and again. So whatcha’ waiting for? Go pick up this book, get bird educated. Help these little winged creatures and listen to them sing in a yard near you. 5 stars

The Sky is Not the Limit by Jeremie Decalf

5 stars Nonfiction Childrens

Our universe is vast. What is out there is anyone’s guess. Can Earth actually be the only planet now with life on it? What secrets do the other planet hold and what can they tell us? I find myself glued to whatever social media platform presents me with information about life out beyond my trees. Meteorites? Another star? A Black Hole? Another Moon mission? Sometimes, I admit, I don’t understand everything that’s happening amongst the stars but I do find it fascinating. In The Sky Is Not the Limit, the book addresses NASA’s Voyager Mission. These twin spacecrafts captured some amazing photographs starting in 1977 when they were launched and they’re still taking photographs today.

I think it’s pretty amazing that these two spacecrafts are still taking pictures today, some 46 years later. When they were first launched, these twin spacecrafts were the first probes to photograph pictures of both Jupiter’s and Saturn’s moons. Splitting up, one of the spacecrafts headed towards interstellar space while the other one headed towards the rest of the planets. Flying past Uranus, this spacecraft set another record as it discovered new moons and new rings around this planet. Years later, this same spacecraft made the same discovery while flying past Neptune, where it also discovered a “Great Dark Spot.” These were just the beginning years for this mission, the first photographs, which began to open up our minds to the endless possibilities and wonders that were out there.

This picture book explores the early years. The photographs which are printed on glossy paper gave me the feeling of wonder as there are endless stars which float across most of the pages. You won’t see bright colorful pages inside this book as space is mainly black and white with a few hues of grays. There are a few pages of life on Earth which contain some color otherwise you’ll see what the Voyager Mission saw: the blue of Uranus & Neptune, the colors of Saturn’s rings, the hues of Jupiter, and I can’t forget about Earth with its shades of blue, green and white. The stars, oh the massive number of stars printed inside this book, as Voyager makes its journey, fills each page. The text is not difficult, nor is the number of words on each page. I believe that is another reason I enjoyed this book. It’s the silence you feel when you read it, the calmness, the “what’s-next” feeling as you move along with Voyager on the pages. You really don’t need a lot of words in this book to enjoy it, you need guidance but not hand-holding. Make sure you read the information pages at the end of the book.

“Learn more about the Voyager mission, view photo captured by Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, and find news update on the probes’ journey at oyager.jpl.nasa.gov.”

Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner

3.5 stars Children’s

I’m on the fence on this one. This is a sweet, slow story which might not capture the attention of some children (like my young grandchildren) but I liked that it actually shows how animals live in winter. This might be a good picture book for older readers who are looking for information on animals or a good bedtime story but my little readers didn’t care for it when I read it to them.

The story is told from the point of view of a young boy who is snow-skiing with his father out on the fresh-fallen snow. Quietly they are alone, using hand-poles and navigating around trees and up and down hillsides throughout the story. The story begins when the boy notices a squirrel scamper by and then, it vanishes. The boy asks his father, “Where did it go?” The story takes off as the father explains all the different wildlife that is hiding under and around the snowy area.

There are lots of animals included in this story: from the owls on the branches which the boy can see, to the hidden tiny shrews and voles in the chilly tunnels under his feet, and the fat bullfrogs sleeping under the snow, the duo continues on their journey through the snow. They’re thinking about all the creatures that are around them in this white landscape. You’ll need to stop and look at the illustrations in this book as many of the pages, the illustrator has layered the landscape so the reader can see the chipmunk under the snow with his nuts and leaves, the queen bee safely sleeping under the roots of an tree, and the mice cuddling up together to stay warm (just a few of the examples). While not a bright and colorful book, the book hues take on the warmth of the story and the quietness of the snowy day. 3.5 stars

Dementia in Lewy Body and Parkinson’s Disease Patients: Partnering with Your Doctor to Get the Most from Your Medications by J. Eric Ahlskog

2 stars Nonfiction

I have a family member who has been recently diagnosed with Lewy Bodies Dementia so I was pretty excited to find this book at the library. I was hoping for some good information that I could use and according to the synopsis, Eric with 30 years of experience, would provide that for me. He would “arm patients and families with crucial information that would enable them to work in tandem with their doctors.” He would, “clearly explain all aspects of these disorders, their causes, symptoms, most effective drug treatments, proper doses, and which treatments to avoid.” He’d also discuss complications from these disorders, give us choices of medications available, their side effects, and interactions. Well, I found some of this information to be correct.

If you want to read about medications, this book is for you. That is what the bulk of this book is about: medications. I thought it started out okay as it was discussing different aspects of the disease and then, the conversation switched to medication and it stayed on this forever. The book talks about medication- all aspects of medications. The author states at the beginning of the book, that you don’t need to read it like a typical book but that you can jump around. I started reading from the beginning but when it started to talk endlessly about medications, I started to skip sections. I would read a bit out of each section but it was about medications, how medications interacted with other medications, or something along this line. When there was a topic that I might be interested in, say hallucinations, I would dig in only to find, “hallucinations are primarily due to the disease itself: however, certain drugs can exacerbate this problem.” Then, that section would talk about clinical trials, drugs, and then……finally, “they may be caused by sleep deprivation or a urinary infection.” Finally, a bit of information that doesn’t talk about drugs. If I wanted more information about hallucinations, I was referred to a different chapter. That other chapter was only 4.5 pages long and it too talked about medications. Over half of its pages were about medications.

I didn’t want a book about medications, I understand that it’s part of these diseases but to spend the majority of this book discussing them, it was too much. I also realize that there’s no treatment but drugs can’t be the only answer. This book was a big disappointment to me. 2 stars

Fantastic Feet Up Close by Melissa Stewart

4.5 stars Children’s Nonfiction

What animal is the fastest digger on Earth? Using its long claws, which are shaped like shovels this animal’s feet are perfect for digging up the food that it eats. Do you know the answer? If you guessed a camel, you are wrong. If you guessed an aardvark, you are correct.

Looking at this animal in this book and then, looking up close at its feet, I can see its long, sharp claws and see how it can dig up tiny ants and termites as those toes look like super long toe nails with points on the end. What an interesting book!

I liked how this book shows its reader a variety of animals and then, shows them a close-up view of the animal’s feet so they can actually see what the focus is all about. The author explains why that specific animal has that type of foot also. The pictures inside this book are photographs so the reader is able to see the animals in their own environment. Easy-to-read text accompanies with this bright picture book.

There is a list of books and a few websites listed on the back page is the reader would like additional information. An index completes this 24-page book. 4.5 stars