Gathering in one place the physical-science concepts typically presented to primary children, this is ideal for the youngest...
Mason has crafted what could easily be adopted by primary classrooms as their sole physical-science textbook.
It is divided into four chapters that start readers off with the easy and familiar and work up to some larger science concepts, introducing and defining proper vocabulary along the way. "Touch It!" has readers exploring the materials that surround them—their composition, texture, mass and properties. In "Build It!," readers learn about various structures: their uses, how they are joined and how they can be strengthened. "Change It!" teaches children about matter and its states, while the final chapter, "Move It!," focuses on forces, motion, gravity and friction. Short sentences, simple vocabulary and only a few paragraphs per page make this accessible for even the youngest of science explorers, while the 19 activities scattered throughout will deepen their understanding and hold their focus. Backmatter is aimed at parents and teachers and features a paragraph of ideas corresponding to each spread of text so that the knowledge can be extended. A table of contents and index are also included. Dávila’s charming digital illustrations depict rosy, round-faced multiethnic children in a variety of settings exploring the world around them. Bright colors and the amusing asides of anthropomorphic animals are sure to keep readers’ interest.
Gathering in one place the physical-science concepts typically presented to primary children, this is ideal for the youngest scientists and explorers, a worthy addition to school and library collections. (Nonfiction. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-55453-707-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2011
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer.
Rotner follows up her celebrations of spring and autumn with this look at all things winter.
Beginning with the signs that winter is coming—bare trees, shorter days, colder temperatures—Rotner eases readers into the season. People light fires and sing songs on the solstice, trees and plants stop growing, and shadows grow long. Ice starts to form on bodies of water and windows. When the snow flies, the fun begins—bundle up and then build forts, make snowballs and snowmen (with eyebrows!), sled, ski (nordic is pictured), skate, snowshoe, snowboard, drink hot chocolate. Animals adapt to the cold as well. “Birds grow more feathers” (there’s nothing about fluffing and air insulation) and mammals, more hair. They have to search for food, and Rotner discusses how many make or find shelter, slow down, hibernate, or go underground or underwater to stay warm. One page talks about celebrating holidays with lights and decorations. The photos show a lit menorah, an outdoor deciduous tree covered in huge Christmas bulbs, a girl next to a Chinese dragon head, a boy with lit luminarias, and some fireworks. The final spread shows signs of the season’s shift to spring. Rotner’s photos, as always, are a big draw. The children are a marvelous mix of cultures and races, and all show their clear delight with winter.
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3976-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
Enticing and eco-friendly.
Why and how to make a rain garden.
Having watched through their classroom window as a “rooftop-rushing, gutter-gushing” downpour sloppily flooded their streets and playground, several racially diverse young children follow their tan-skinned teacher outside to lay out a shallow drainage ditch beneath their school’s downspout, which leads to a patch of ground, where they plant flowers (“native ones with tough, thick roots,” Schaub specifies) to absorb the “mucky runoff” and, in time, draw butterflies and other wildlife. The author follows up her lilting rhyme with more detailed explanations of a rain garden’s function and construction, including a chart to help determine how deep to make the rain garden and a properly cautionary note about locating a site’s buried utility lines before starting to dig; she concludes with a set of leads to online information sources. Gómez goes more for visual appeal than realism. In her scenes, a group of smiling, round-headed, very small children in rain gear industriously lay large stones along a winding border with little apparent effort; nevertheless, her images of the little ones planting generic flowers that are tall and lush just a page turn later do make the outdoorsy project look like fun.
Enticing and eco-friendly. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781324052357
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
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