Sizzling Summer Science
July/August 2014
Explore science through reading! Science can be found all around us and studying it can be fascinating, so get started with this summer reading list.
Early Literacy
A mix of picture books, board books, and early readers just right for children who have not yet learned to read independently or who are in the process of learning.
Doug Unplugged by Dan Yaccarino
Doug is a robot. His parents want him to be smart, so each morning they plug him in and start the information download. After a morning spent learning facts about the city, Doug suspects he could learn even more about the city by going outside and exploring it. So Doug unplugs and enjoys an exciting day of adventure and discovery. He learns amazing things by doing, seeing, touching, listening, and above all, by interacting with a new friend.
Honeybee Man by Lela Nargi
Fred, a beekeeper whose hives are on the roof of his Brooklyn, New York, apartment building, tends his bees and distributes their honey to his neighbors. Includes facts about bees and beekeepers.
How the Meteorite Got to the Museum by Jessie Hartland
The amazing story of how a billion-year-old rock from outer space falls on a red Chevy Malibu in Peekskill, N.Y., and eventually ends up in the Museum of Natural History.
It's Raining! by Gail Gibbons
The author puts her signature style to work as she looks at rain from a child's perspective: What is rain? Why is it necessary? Where does it come from? She takes the reader through different components of a storm, from the smallest raindrop to the loudest claps of thunder, and includes tips on how to stay safe and dry.
Light Is All Around Us by Wendy Pfeffer
One of the Let's-read-and-find-out science series; stage 1. This book and others in this series are a great introduction to science for young children. This volume introduces the science of light and where we can find it in our everyday lives.
Maisy Grows a Garden by Lucy Cousins
What makes Maisy's garden grow? Children can pull the tabs and help Maisy plant and grow a tasty vegetable garden.
Science Verse by Jon Scieszka
When the teacher tells his class that they can hear the poetry of science in everything, a student is struck with a curse and begins hearing nothing but science verses that sound very much like some well-known poems.
A Trip into Space by Lori Haskins Houran
A look at day-to-day life on the International space station where astronauts work, sleep, and walk in space. The level of science is simple and the tone is cheerful. This is a great pick if your young reader is yearning to travel to the stars.
Elementary
Fiction and nonfiction books for independent readers
Almost Astronauts: 13 women who dared to dream by Tanya Lee Stone
When America created NASA in 1958, there was an unspoken rule in place: astronauts must be white and male. However, thirteen women challenged the U.S. government and proved their strength and valor. Their passage to space was blocked by prejudice and jealousy. In the end, though, their inspiring example empowered young women to take their rightful place in the sky, piloting jets and commanding space capsules.
An American Plague: the true and terrifying story of the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy
The author describes the illness known as yellow fever and the toll it took on Philadelphia’s residents, relating the epidemic to the major social and political events of the day and to 18th-century medical beliefs and practices. Drawing on first-hand accounts, Murphy spotlights the heroic role of Philadelphia's free blacks in combating the disease, and the Constitutional crisis that President Washington faced when he was forced to leave the city--and all his papers--while escaping the deadly contagion. The search for the fever's causes and cure, not found for more than a century afterward, provides a suspenseful counterpoint to this riveting true story of a city under siege.
Bomb: the race to build and steal the world's most dangerous weapon by Steve Sheinkin
In December of 1938, a chemist in a German laboratory made a shocking discovery: When placed next to radioactive material, a Uranium atom split in two. That simple discovery launched a scientific race that spanned 3 continents. In Great Britain and the United States, Soviet spies worked their way into the scientific community; in Norway, a commando force slipped behind enemy lines to attack German heavy-water manufacturing; and deep in the desert, one brilliant group of scientists was hidden away at a remote site at Los Alamos. This is the story of the plotting, the risk-taking, the deceit, and genius that created the world's most formidable weapon. This is the story of the atomic bomb.
Byrd & Igloo: a polar adventure by Samantha Seiple
The daring adventures of legendary polar explorer and aviator Richard Byrd and his lovable dog explorer, Igloo are told in this narrative nonfiction book. Byrd is known for being the first to fly a plane over the North and South Poles, while Igloo is famous for being the only dog to explore both the North and South Poles. The adventures of Byrd and Igloo opened the door for science and research in the Antarctic.
Earthrise: my adventures as an Apollo 14 astronaut by Edgar Mitchell
This vibrant memoir features the life story of Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell, focusing on Mitchell’s amazing journey to the Moon in 1971 and highlighting the many steps he took to get there.
George and the Big Bang by Lucy and Stephen Hawking
George tries to escape a host of problems by going to Switzerland to help his friend Annie's father, Eric, run an experiment exploring the origins of the universe, but faces saboteurs and a mysterious message from George's old nemesis, Reeper. Includes scientific essays exploring the latest theories on the origin of the universe.
Lunch Walks Among Us by Jim Benton
Franny K. Stein is a mad scientist who prefers all things spooky and creepy, but when she has trouble making friends at her new school she experiments with fitting in--which works until a monster erupts from the trashcan. (Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist series)
Honey bees: letters from the hive by Stephen Buchmann
Bee expert Stephen Buchmann takes readers on an incredible tour. Enter a beehive--one part nursery, one part honey factory, one part queen bee sanctum--then fly through backyard gardens, open fields, and deserts where wildflowers bloom. It's fascinating--and delicious!
No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart
What does a capuchin monkey have in common with a pollen-sucking midge, an aphid-munching anole lizard, and brain-eating coffin fly maggots? Chocolate! Our favorite dessert comes from cocoa beans, which grow on cocoa trees in tropical rain forests. And those trees couldn’t survive without help from a menagerie of rain forest critters. This book tells their story.
The Skull in the Rock: how a Scientist, a boy, and Google Earth opened a new window on human origins by Marc Aronson and Lee Berger
Professor Lee Berger--with the help of his curious 9-year-old son-- discovered two remarkably well preserved, two-million-year-old fossils of an adult female and young male, known as Australopithecus sediba; a previously unknown species of ape-like creatures that may have been a direct ancestor of modern humans. The discovery, in one of the most excavated and studied areas on Earth, revealed a treasure trove of human fossils where people thought no more field work might ever be necessary.
Teen and Tween
More advanced fiction and nonfiction for middle and high school readers
The Art of the Catapult : build Greek ballistae, Roman onagers, English trebuchets, and more ancient artillery by William Gurstelle
Whether playing at defending their own castle or simply chucking pumpkins over a fence, wannabe marauders and tinkerers will become fast acquainted with Ludgar, the War Wolf, Ill Neighbor, Cabulus, and the Wild Donkey-ancient artillery devices known commonly as catapults. Re-creating these simple yet sophisticated machines introduces fundamentals of math and physics using levers, force, torsion, tension, and traction.
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
A ruthless lunar people observe while a plague ravages the overcrowded Earth. Cinder, a gifted mechanic and cyborg, becomes involved with handsome Prince Kai and must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect the world in this futuristic take on the Cinderella story. (Lunar Chronicles, book 1)
Code Orange by Caroline B. Cooney
While conducting research for a school paper on smallpox, Mitty finds an envelope containing 100-year-old smallpox scabs and fears that he has infected himself and all of New York City.
Girls Get Curves: geometry takes shape by Danica McKellar
Author, actress and mathematician Danica McKellar applies her winning methods to geometry. Sizzling with her trademark sass and style, Girls Get Curves gives readers the tools they need to feel confident, get in the driver's seat, and totally "get" topics like congruent triangles, circles, proofs, theorems, and more! Girls Get Curves also includes a helpful "Proof Troubleshooting Guide" so students can get "unstuck" and conquer even the trickiest proofs!
Hot X: algebra exposed by Danica McKellar
In her first two books, Math Doesn't Suck and Kiss My Math, actress and math genius Danica McKellar shattered the "math nerd" stereotype by showing girls how to ace middle school math-and actually feel cool while doing it! Hot X tackles algebra: the most feared of all math classes. McKellar instantly puts her readers at ease, showing teenage girls-and anyone taking algebra-how to feel confident, and master topics like square roots, polynomials, quadratic equations, word problems and more.
Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
In a post-apocalyptic world where fences and border patrols guard the few people left from the zombies that have overtaken civilization, fifteen-year-old Benny Imura is finally convinced that he must follow in his older brother's footsteps and become a bounty hunter.
The Science of Harry Potter: how magic really works by Roger Highfield
Can Fluffy the three-headed dog be explained by advances in molecular biology? Could the discovery of cosmic "gravity-shielding effects" unlock the secret to the Nimbus 2000 broomstick's ability to fly? Is the griffin really none other than the dinosaur Protoceratops? The author explores the fascinating links between magic and science to reveal that much of what strikes us as supremely strange in the Potter books can actually be explained by the conjuring of the scientific mind. This is the perfect guide for parents who want to teach their children science through their favorite adventures as well as for the millions of adult fans of the series intrigued by its marvels and mysteries.
List created by:
Latricia Batchelor Markle
Children's Librarian, Tenafly Public Library