A sandy treat for young STEM-winders.
A day at the beach with Gran features both science fun and ice cream sundaes for young Cora.
Cora loves riddles, and no sooner has she settled down on the beach with Gran than one presents itself: Why does her bucket full of dry sand just collapse rather than make a tower when she turns it over? What if she pours in some water first? No, soggy sand just flops rather than standing up. Well, at least that leaves a lump that Cora can decorate with small shells and turn into a sandy sundae, with sea foam for whipped cream! In later chapters, Cora learns about tides, encounters a crab and small fish in a tide pool, and even (with Gran’s help) rescues a stranded sea star. And before she and Gran head home—with a stop for real ice cream sundaes—she thinks over her earlier efforts and what went wrong, then tries one last time for a bucket shaped tower using sand with just a little added water. Success! For young readers intrigued by Cora’s experiences, the author rounds off her happy tale with instructions for experimenting with their own mixes of sand and water, as well as notes on tides, sea stars, and sandcastle physics. Cora’s father presents East Asian, while her mother and grandmother present white.
A sandy treat for young STEM-winders. (Chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781536240313
Page Count: 48
Publisher: MIT Kids Press/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book.
Ada Twist’s incessant stream of questions leads to answers that help solve a neighborhood crisis.
Ada conducts experiments at home to answer questions such as, why does Mom’s coffee smell stronger than Dad’s coffee? Each answer leads to another question, another hypothesis, and another experiment, which is how she goes from collecting data on backyard birds for a citizen-science project to helping Rosie Revere figure out how to get her uncle Ned down from the sky, where his helium-filled “perilous pants” are keeping him afloat. The Questioneers—Rosie the engineer, Iggy Peck the architect, and Ada the scientist—work together, asking questions like scientists. Armed with knowledge (of molecules and air pressure, force and temperature) but more importantly, with curiosity, Ada works out a solution. Ada is a recognizable, three-dimensional girl in this delightfully silly chapter book: tirelessly curious and determined yet easily excited and still learning to express herself. If science concepts aren’t completely clear in this romp, relationships and emotions certainly are. In playful full- and half-page illustrations that break up the text, Ada is black with Afro-textured hair; Rosie and Iggy are white. A closing section on citizen science may inspire readers to get involved in science too; on the other hand, the “Ode to a Gas!” may just puzzle them. Other backmatter topics include the importance of bird study and the threat palm-oil use poses to rainforests.
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: April 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3422-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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