This is a fun and easy-to-follow children’s guide to STEM with a precocious but likable central character.
The Salzmans’ debut picture book introduces kids—whether home-schooled or taught in the classroom—to the wonders of a STEM education.
The central character here, 8-year-old Nina, takes the reader through her daily regimen of home-school adventures. Each day, she participates in a new activity—studying nature on Monday or listening to classical music and painting on Thursday. Along with each new activity, interesting facts are dispensed alongside suggestions for reader participation. For example, Newton’s third law of motion encourages readers to throw a pillow up in the air to observe the effects of gravity, or one can burrow like a firefly under blankets to learn about hibernation. Whether she’s meeting up with fellow home-school classmates or taking a field trip to an amusement park, Nina’s excitement about learning is undeniably contagious. The bright, colorful illustrations (by 15-year-old West) help kids visualize often difficult concepts like states of matter and different forms of energy like potential and kinetic, while the text’s rhyme scheme (“On weekends, Nina camps in bed. No school today, a fort instead”) keeps the action moving. Also, the fonts of certain words are often cleverly designed to complement the word’s meaning (for example, the word erupts appears to have lava spurting out of it). As the authors suggest, this book should initially be read from beginning to end quickly in order to appreciate the rhythmic flow of the words. There are even experiments that demonstrate things like heat flow and light observation and a model weekly STEM plan so readers can set goals just like Nina.
This is a fun and easy-to-follow children’s guide to STEM with a precocious but likable central character.Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2022
ISBN: 9798985828511
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Colby Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Erupt into applause for this picture book of the first magma-tude.
A deceptively simple, visually appealing, comprehensive explanation of volcanoes.
Gibbons packs an impressive number of facts into this browsable nonfiction picture book. The text begins with the awe of a volcanic eruption: “The ground begins to rumble…ash, hot lava and rock, and gases shoot up into the air.” Diagrams of the Earth’s structural layers—inner and outer core, mantle, and crust—undergird a discussion about why volcanoes occur. Simple maps of the Earth’s seven major tectonic plates show where volcanoes are likeliest to develop. Other spreads with bright, clearly labeled illustrations cover intriguing subtopics: four types of volcanoes and how they erupt; underwater volcanoes; well-known volcanoes and historic volcanic eruptions around the world; how to be safe in the vicinity of a volcano; and the work of scientists studying volcanoes and helping to predict eruptions. A page of eight facts about volcanoes wraps things up. The straightforward, concise prose will be easy for young readers to follow. As always, Gibbons manages to present a great deal of information in a compact form.
Erupt into applause for this picture book of the first magma-tude. (Nonfiction picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4569-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
A lyrical and educational look at the water cycle.
Through many types of weather and the different seasons, water tells readers about its many forms.
“Sometimes I’m the rain cloud / and sometimes I’m the rain.” Water can make rainbows and can appear to be different colors. Water is a waterfall, a wave, an ocean swell, a frozen pond, the snow on your nose, a cloud, frost, a comet, a part of you. Throughout, Paterson’s rhyming verses evoke images of their own: “Soon the summer sun is back / and warms me with its rays. / I rise in rumbling thunderheads / like castles in the haze,” though at times word order seems to have been chosen for rhyme rather than meaning (“In fall I sink into a fog / and blanket chilly fields, / with pumpkins touched by morning frost / the harvest season yields”). Backmatter includes a diagram of the water cycle that introduces and describes each step with solid vocabulary, including “Collection” as a step in the process; “The Science Behind the Poetry,” which unpacks some of the poetic language and phrases; some water activities and explorations; conservation tips; and a list of other books from the publisher about water. Paterson’s full- and double-page–spread illustrations are just as magical as his verse, showing water in its many forms from afar and close up. Few people appear on his pages, but the vast majority of those are people of color.
A lyrical and educational look at the water cycle. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-58469-615-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dawn Publications
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
