The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
"Science books are always a big hit around here. During our normal read aloud time each day, it's guaranteed that at least one of them will be science-based. Given that I am reading to two first graders, a preschooler, and an 18-month-old, our choice in science books is typically picture books.
Nomad Press has some great ones to offer. We received the Physical Science for Kids Set for review. The set includes four books: Forces, Waves, Matter, and Energy. All four softcover books are 28 pages long with a one-page glossary at the end of the book. They're all fully illustrated and just plain fun to read and look at.
Each of the books gives sound scientific concepts in easy to read and understandable terms. They're relatable, funny, and get the kids thinking. The books are written for children ages 5-8, but children older would enjoy them too.
Matter begins with the basic explanation that "matter is anything that takes up space and can be weighed." As soon as I read that part in the book, I remembered being told the exact same line in middle school. After looking at different examples of matter, it goes on to explain that matter can have many different shapes, colors, and sizes.
I have only ever heard that there are three forms of matter- liquid, gas, solid. Apparently, there is a fourth form! Plasma! And did you know lightning is plasma Yeah, me neither.
Once we got through that surprising bit of information, we learned that there are some things not made of matter. Can you think of any? We couldn't either. And I'm not going to tell you. The book gives three (surprisingly obvious) answers. You'll have to look it up and find out.
The Physical Science for Kids Set has been a wonderful addition to our home library. The books are simple enough for everyone to understand yet contain enough scientific truth to be considered a science resource. They are written in a way that makes them great read alouds, and simple enough that my 7-year-old can confidently read them."
Unleashing readers.com
"Young children have so many questions about the world and how everything works. Curiousity runs wild in their brains, but more than anything they just want to learn and absorb. This series is a must get for parents, classrooms, and libraries because it addresses many of the questions that kids have."
--D.B. Johnson, author of Magritte's Marvelous Hatand Henry Hikes to Fitchburg
"With a light touch and kid-friendly questions, Andi Diehn leads the reader to a more nuanced understanding of their world and the science behind it, from being 'forced to clean your room, ' to the force gravity exerts when you jump from a tree ('Don't jump out of trees!' Ms. Diehn warns)."
--Jess Keating, author of Pink is for Blobfish: Discovering the World's Perfectly Pink Animals and Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist
"With lively illustrations and conversational, upbeat text, this series shines!"
Publishers Weekly Explore Poetry! With 25 Great Projects Over five chapters, Diehn describes poetic forms like limerick, haiku, and acrostic; explores literary techniques, such as personification and exaggeration; and finds connections between poetry, music, and math. Projects include creating a poetry journal and writing ideas on rocks to combat writer's block. Stone's cartoons, which star a fox dressed like a Beat poet and a Shakespearean bear, make for a lively layout, while helping target the book at younger readers and poets-to-be.
School Library Connection: Explore Poetry! With 25 Great Projects Students will have fun learning about the many different forms of poetry in this informational resource. . . This book would be a handy resource for teachers to have available to them in the library. Recommended
Science Books and Films +: Recommended Technology: Cool Women Who Code highlights three women that have contributed to technology in STEM and is an excellent book for young girls. The inspirational stories of these successful women in STEM are the perfect introduction to the careers and contributions in technology for young readers. Critical thinking questions are provided throughout the text to further thinking, along with inspirational quotes of females in STEM professions. The text also provides "try it out" boxes which encourages readers to engage in hands-on activities, for example providing links to websites for coding, or by following QR codes that can be accessed by a QR code reader app (additional links are provided in the resource section in the back). This is a much needed book for our time for young readers to be inspired by strong females in the world of STEM, and recommended for both boys and girls. What's the matter? Everything is matter!
Everything you can touch and hold is made up of matter--including you, your dog, and this book! Matter is stuff that you can weigh and that takes up space, which means pretty much everything in the world is made of matter!
In Matter: Physical Science for Kids, kids ages 5 to 8 explore the definition of matter and the different states of matter, plus the stuff in our world that isn't matter, such as sound and light! T By combining children's natural curiosity with prompts for keen observations and simple STEM activities, Matter provides a useful and fun introduction for kids to the physical science that rules our world!
Perfect for children who love to ask, "Why?" about the world around them, Matter satisfies curiosity while encouraging continual student-led learning.
Part of Picture Book Science, a set of books about physical science for kids ages 5 to 8.
About the Author
Andi Diehn is the author of Explore Poetry! With 25 Great Projects, Technology: Cool Women Who Code, and Shakespeare: Investigate the Bard's Influence on Today's World for Nomad Press. She lives in Enfield, NH, with her family.
Shululu (Hui Li) has always been driven by curiosity. She received a PhD in computational chemistry from the University of Chicago. Her research has been published in the world's most influential science journals, including Science and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. She is devoted to bringing joy and science to young readers through fun illustrations! She lives with her husband in New York, NY.
