I was impressed how this middle school fiction story mixed in as much science as it did, without the story sounding ridiculous or too nerdy. You mix in too much information and you lose too many readers, you provide minor information and you lose readers, you do this and you lose readers, I feel that there’s this fine line of what information you can include in these types of books to be successful. I’ve read a couple of the author’s science experiment books so I thought it was only fitting that I try one of her fiction stories. My advice: if you’re thinking about this book, do it! Dr. Biberdorf mixes in science terminology, knowledge, and excitement into a fictional story of a small group of fifth grade friends who find that their fall break camp has more drama than they signed up for.
I liked Kate’s excitement about science. Her willingness to try and her great attitude even if things get out of control, she’s giving it everything that she has. She really wants others to love science and experience it like she does. I loved how the author mixed in the science terminology within the story. I found this book to be a fast read, containing short chapters with just a handful of important characters. I hope that the author includes more male characters in this series as I feel both boys and girls would enjoy reading them. This looks to be a great start to a fun, educational series!
I have already read the adult version of this book, so when our book club decided that The Radium Girls was going to be this month’s selection, I opted to read the young readers version of the story. I was anxious to read this book as I read lots of books geared towards young readers and I hoped this one was as great as the adult version. I had hoped that they hadn’t taken this incredible story, watered it down and condensed it. Had they changed the storyline and make it more reserved for these young minds? This book really surprised me as I began reading.
This was fantastic! This book was condensed but the author had not watered it down. This was as great as the adult version only; it didn’t go into as much detail as the adult’s version. It had been a few years since I have read the adult version but it all came back to me as I began reading and I fell in love with it all over again.
Filled with hope and opportunity the girls began working at the watch dial factory. They were teenage girls, working with the “wonder element,” the miracle wonder that was treating cancer and helping with other illnesses. This “liquid sunshine” was incorporated into toothpaste, butter, and skin products as everyone wanted to benefit from its greatness yet only wealthy could afford to indulge in these. Radium, the glow-in-the-dark paint, was expensive in the late 1910’s.
Working in the factory, the girls sat and they painted. Holding watch faces, the girls manually painted the watch dials onto each one. It was delicate work that relied on a steady hand and the perfect tool. With the factory suppling the brushes, the girls took their brushes and created the perfect tool.
Lip-dip-paint. The girls did lip pointing as they painted their watch dials. Since the girls were paid based on the number of dials they painted, they needed to work quickly and efficient. By wetting the end of the brush in their mouths to make a tapered end, this technique made their jobs easier. Lip-dip-paint. There would be no rinsing of the brush between each dial, there was only a minimal amount of radium on the brush at all times while she painted, and she had been told that the radium was safe. She was set to make millions, right? It sounds right but these girls were doing this every day, all day, and the number of times that her brush touched their lips each day was high, for she painted hundreds of dials each day.
It wasn’t until years later, that things started to change for the girls and they started to realize that perhaps this “liquid sunshine” wasn’t as safe as they were led to believe. I marveled at how this book didn’t shy away from the facts. The trips to the dentist had me squirming in my chair. I’m not fond of dentists but they had to go. Their pain was so bad but their diagnose was worse than cavities. The girls had enjoyed working in the factory, they’d made lots of cash and enjoyed their new lifestyle but now, was it worth it?
As more girls were getting sick, more individuals were getting involved and it irritated me that no one was working together to solve the issues. Hired individuals, doctors, lawyers, family members, everyone was a witness but what was the cause? How can they move forward?
This book is not for the weak, as the author tells it like it was. As I thought about what these girls had to endure, it made me cringe. The pain, the frustration, and the emptiness they must have felt, had to be exhausting. It’s sad and horrific that the girls had to battle this. To have to fight for their lives and also for support. That’s so frustrating. These girls are heroes for what they went through and how they shaped our future. I’m glad that this book was written for young readers so they can read how these young women fought for others and themselves. They weren’t quitters, whinners, or looking for a handout- they did it by believing in themselves and moving forward. A great book that should be read by mature young readers (middle school).
“After her jaw was gone, an important discovery was made. Knef had always hoped that by removing a tooth or a piece of infected bone, the progress of the mysterious disease would be stopped. “
“Her mouth, emoty of teeth, empty of jawbone, empty of words, filled with red, hot blood instead. It spilled over her lips and down her stricken, shaken face.”
This book is beautiful! This book says it all. If you were to buy one book to have in your library, this should be the one! It’s almost brought tears to my eyes as the author explains how we are all unite on this one big planet.
I really enjoyed the illustrations inside this book, from how much detail was included, to the color choice, to how much there was to look at, these illustrations were wonderfully done. I was impressed with how the author used an assortment of each topic to get her point across. When she addressed how individuals traveled: she included a rowboat, tugboat, skateboard, taxi, tractor, airplane, hot air balloon, camper, police car, ambulance, race car, wheelchair, pickup, bus, etc. The two pages were full. The author covers a variety of subjects in this book including families, weather, food, what people do, feelings, etc. There was this feeling of love and community that came over me as I read this book, that we all are together on this planet, breathing and hopefully working together.
This is an oversized book (11.25 x9 approx.) with 74 pages. This is not one book that will be read once and put away as the illustrations again, are interesting and many of them have lots of look at. I think this one is a keeper. I highly recommend this one and make sure you read the last page of the book as the author talks about how she arrived at writing this book.
” There are lots of things we don’t know. We don’t know where we were before we were born or where we go when we die. But right this minute, we are here together on this beautiful planet.”
“We humans define ourselves be where we are born, where we live, what we believe, by the clothes we wear, and the languages we speak. But there is no “typical” person. We are all different.”
Art is in the eye of the beholder. I remember hearing this when I was young and finally, someone explained this simple, complex statement to me. It has stuck with me ever since because it says so much with such few words. These are the words that came to mind when I read this book. Everyone makes art in their own way. A baby can make art and so can a senior citizen. It’s in its interpretation, that we label things art.
As Pine Martin watches the Human inside and outside its log nest in the woods, doing odd things, Pine Marten tries to find the meaning behind them. I enjoyed Pine Marten’s view of the human world: “plucking the string-log to make noise” and “using mud to make a water holder” to refer to the playing of a guitar and to using a clay pottery wheel. It was a refreshing way to look upon the world that we live in. When he watches the Human “putting colors on a board using a furry stick,” he’s confused.
Chickadee explains what he has heard the Human is doing and how it refers to Art and he explains what he thinks Art is. Soon, a variety of animals arrive one-by-one to give their own opinion of what Art is and how it relates to the Human’s activity. I thought this was clever and I liked how the house cat got in on the action and tried to outsmart them all. I said tried……. Is the Human the only one who can create Art?
The illustrations are beautiful and creative a peaceful feeling to the book. There are many interesting ideas that come out of this book and ways that you can engage children using this book. I think this book is good for children beginning around 6 years of age based on the concept, content, and language. I really enjoyed it.
We all should know how important our water supply is. It’s not something that we should take for granted, ask anyone who doesn’t have water or has had to go without their water for an extended amount of time and they will tell you, water is precious. I really enjoyed how the author makes us look at water and how valuable it really is.
“It nourished us inside our mother’s body.
As it nourished us her on Mother Earth.
Water is sacred, she said. (Nokomis)”
I have to tell you that I went into this book blindly. I knew that it was a popular book and that it was up for some awards but I didn’t know its subject matter. For me, going into this book blindly was ideal as I had to guess what the author was referring to as she spoke of the black snake tainting the waters. Something has to be done to stop the black snake but what? She stepped forward, hoping to rally her people together to stop the black snake, but can they? They march as many, to also carry the torch for those without a voice, to fight those who wear blinders.
You definitely have to read the 2- page section at the back of the book, as I thought these notes and information gave the book more depth and force. The illustrations were fabulous with striking colors and images. Definitely a book that you have to read more than once. 5 stars.
I am in awe! This book is breathtaking! As a nature lover, I am fascinated about the world around me and as I read about Apis, I was glued to this book. As Apis made her made into the world, her journey was just beginning. Each page of this book, brought new experiences and I was exhausted just reading about everything that she did. Only days old and she was working non-stop.
I learned a great deal about the Short Life of a bee and my mood quickly changed as the I got the end of the book. I liked how the author presented the information with facts and comments in a story-like narration. The illustrations are bright, engaging, and bigger than life. At the back of the book is a diagram of a honeybee with its different parts highlighted and there’s also a section about helping honeybees, facts about honeybees, online and books about honeybees. I highly recommend this book as I can’t stop thinking about this book!
This book got me excited for doing science experiments at home, I just need my granddaughter and we would be off! I liked how this book is set up with 4 different sections: a food section, a water and outside section, and then, experiments for around the home. By looking at the instructions, they’re not limited to those specific areas but I think it helps that they’re grouped. There are at least 6 experiments in each section and most of the items that you’ll need, are items that you should have somewhere close by.
Each experiment is laid out with numbered step-by-step instructions with illustrations for each step. But, that is not all, no…. there is an explanation on why this experiment works, which is the important thing. It’s fun to make experiments but it’s even better, if they work. There’s also a difficulty level meter and an estimated time (in minutes) on how long each experiment should take. I love how there are tidbits of information included in each experiment because it’s also fun to learn something neat and interesting while you’re being a scientist, as you never know when you might need to know this information later.
Some experiments are ones that we have done before (like the erupting volcano, sticky slime, dancing snake (although ours was a bit different)), there are some that look very interesting. Sugar lollipops, kaleidoscope, rocket car, stalactites, orbs, and a few others. There’s a glossary and an index at the back of the book to help navigate within the book. And yes, I also thought a few of the experiments, I wouldn’t even attempt. I just had no desire to do them.
From personal experience, I have to say that there are a few experiments that are geared for the younger crowd. These experiments would be ones that can be accomplished quickly, results can be seen rapidly, and they can be explained without much difficulty. That being said, there are some that look time-consuming (not necessarily difficult), the results might take a few days to accomplish, and the reasoning behind why they work, might be more involved. The majority of the experiments, I feel fall in the middle. DK produced another great book that will provide hours of fun and education and will spark the minds of our future generation. 4.5 stars
I liked how straight-forward this book was. It wasn’t busy, filled with unnecessary things or words, it stated the facts and that was it. This book counts down from ten to one and then on the final page, the author reminds us that, yes dinosaurs are extinct.
Each number is given a two-page spread and on those two pages you get a specific dinosaur, the number (1-10) and you get the number written our in words and you an adjective for that dinosaur . So, for 9: it reads 9 nine lazing deinosuchus and includes 9 of them on the page in their various shades of color. What? I don’t know what a deinosuchus is? But, I bet a few children do. There were included in this book, dinosaurs that I knew too. Now, I like dinosaurs but some of these dinosaurs have names that I haven’t heard before. At the back of the book, the author has included how to pronounce some of the dinosaur names, which does help.
It was an okay book but I think the pronunciations would have helped me more, if they were on the page with the dinosaur. I also didn’t care for the illustrations as they didn’t match the language of the book. I did like the added adjectives in the book and again, the simplicity of the book , I enjoyed. 3.5 stars
This book is a gem! Packed with 25 different experiments, I was excited to thumb my way through this beauty. I have to warn you up front, that I am not into science. I hated science as a child, as I didn’t understand any of it but now as an adult, I love experimenting and learning from it. This book fits right in with my needs.
If only as I child, I could have experimented with fun and interesting items instead of the beakers, test tubes and chemicals that we had to use, I think that I would have learned more and enjoyed science. In The Big Book of Experiments, the variety of experiments is great. Some of the experiments can be completed rather quickly and some can take some time while there are some which small children can complete with little assistance while others, you’ll need an adult or mature person watching over the whole experiment.
I liked that some of these ideas were ones that I had already completed and some were new to me. There was Dancing Raisins, Elephant’s Toothpaste, Moon Rocks, Unicorn Glue, Lava Lamp, Neon Brains, and Fake Tattoos, just to mention a few. I do like redoing experiments
Kate provides visual safety cues to each experiment. Whether that is a sink, goggles, gloves, a garbage can or adults, as these safety cues remind the reader to be safe when conducting the experiments. Along with the cues, each experiment has a small note about the experiment, a list of supplies, a messiness level, step-by-step directions with colorful illustrations, questions to ask yourself after you’re finished (science questions about what happened and what if questions) and then, the author explains to you the WHY, as to why the experiment worked. Now, that is some important stuff! This is the educational element of the book and important for you to read, you do want to become smarter, don’t you?
I liked that most of the supplies for these experiments were normal items that aren’t hard to find. Items like rubber bands, knife, dish soap, hydrogen peroxide, shaving cream, balloons, fishing line, etc. There are some that called for some more difficult items, like sodium alginate, calcium chloride, iron oxide powder, dry ice, and copper wire, for which you will have to do some planning to get these before having some fun. I I would have liked an idea where someone could locate some of these items, that would have been a big help. Some type of indexing at the back would have been great too. There is a Table of Content but I like indexes in books like these.
It’s a great colorful, fun book and I highly recommend it. If you’re homeschooling or trying to keep your child engaged, this is a great book to check out.
This book was different. I guess I expected more than what I got from this book.
I liked the color contrast between the inside of the spaceship and space. The inside of the spaceship is a light gray and space is bright and colorful. The idea behind the story is great. I liked the ideas of being out in space, the idea of aliens or unknown beings in space, making friends with other beings, and taking pictures in space.
I wasn’t a fan of the drawings of space nor of the colors of the planets. They looked too cartoonish or like bouncy balls. I thought the depth of the story could have been deeper, or the author could have elaborated on a few of the items that he touched on. I also wasn’t a fan of all the wordless pages in the middle, as I thought there were a lot of them.
This was a children’s book about Randolph taking a spacewalk. Clearing the walk with Ground Control, Randolph must do a few things before taking his walk out in space. When Randolph finally makes his way outside the spaceship, what does he see? This spacewalk is one that Randolph will remember. When he makes his way back into the spaceship, Randolph asks Ground Control if he can take another walk tomorrow.
One Chapter 