DO YOU KNOW QUANTUM PHYSICS?

Get ready to learn about quantum physics!

Ferrie’s Brainy Science Readers endeavor to “improve reading skills while immersing children into scientific theory,” using a level system to grade text complexity and scaffold reading skills. This entry in the series is a Level 1 text aimed at beginner readers and contains simple vocabulary and content, short and repetitive sentences, and clear relationships between text and images to help foster understanding. A stern-faced Marie Curie leads readers through the concepts of energy, atoms, atomic structure, and orbitals using metaphors (balls and rings) to illustrate each point. Each concept is carefully broken down into simple, easy-to-follow parts. The book early on refers to a ball, noting that it is made up of atoms; later on, Ferrie compares electrons to a ball, which may be confusing, although savvy readers will easily pick up on the shift in meaning. Large print, a limited color scheme, and simple illustrations help make the text—and the admittedly sophisticated concepts explained therein—accessible to a very young audience. The ending is a bit abrupt, and some concepts that are more difficult to understand at such a basic level—namely electron orbitals/energy levels—are, by necessity, oversimplified in a way that detracts somewhat from forming a functional understanding of them. However, overall, the book performs its duty as an introductory work—to literacy and science—admirably. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A solid foundation of both reading skills and atomic physics.