|
|
|
by Kelly Herold, Big A little a
Big, glossy nonfiction titles start popping up in the Fall, competing for our holiday dollars.
This season I'd like to
recommend two books written for the young scientist guaranteed to delight long into the dark days of February.
Encyclopedia of Animals
by Karen McGhee and George McKay, Ph.D.
National Geographic's new Encyclopedia of Animals, by Karen McGhee and George McKay, is the ideal gift for the
animal-crazy child in your life. This extensive encyclopedia covers mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and
invertebrates in great detail—first with an introduction to each group and then with detailed attention to individual species.
McGhee and McKay introduce the volume with a two-page "How to Use this Book," explaining scientific names, the use of
maps and graphs in the encyclopedia, and the "conservation watch," as "almost every major animal group has a Conservation
Watch box." The authors also explain how animals are classified and how species are discovered and determined.
What I especially like about this Encyclopedia of Animals is that it is appealing to children as young as
four, while still being a useful source for junior- and senior-high school students. Complete with detailed, full-color
illustrations and National Geographic photographs, a young child will be thrilled to simply read about each marsupial
on the marsupial page or to gaze at the gorgeous parrots on the "Parrot" page. This is truly a multi-purpose book, one
every child will enjoy.
Exploratopia
by Pat Murphy, Ellen Macaulay, and the staff of the Exploratorium. Illustrations by Jason Gorski
All kids like experiments, right? They like to find out what happens when you mix shampoo, Nair, shaving cream, and
lavender perfume in plastic cups in the bathroom, for example. To save yourself from the effects of such homemade
chemistry, buy or check out Exploratopia instead.
Exploratopia, write the authors, "is dedicated to the spirit of curiosity that brings out the natural explorer
in everyone." To that end, Exploratoria is packed full of experiments for the young scientist. Some experiments
are simple, such as "feeling your cornea" (yuck!), while others are more elaborate, like "Ants Come Marching One by One"
(attracting ants in a spiral pattern towards a drop of honey). They're all great, though, and introduce children to
the human body, interesting places, and language, music, math, money, paper, optical illusions, light, color, electricity,
magnetism, and sound.
The experiments in Exploratopia are well designed and have concrete steps for children to follow. (Much preferred
to the shampoo, Nair, shaving cream, lavender concoction.) Each
experiement is broken up into three sections: "Here's what you need," "Here's what you do," and "What's going on?"
Children as young as five could conduct the experiments with some adult help, while middle schoolers will enjoy
Exploratopia on their own. (As an aside, Exploratopia would make a great teacher gift.)
Encyclopedia of Animals, by Karen McGhee and George McKay, Ph.D. National Geographic, 2006. ISBN: 0-7922-5936-X.
Exploratopia, by Pat Murphy, Ellen Macaulay, and the staff of the Exploratorium. Illustrations by
Jason Gorski. Little, Brown and Company, 2006. ISBN: 0-3166-1218-2.
|
| |
|
|