Education | Page 2 of 42

Rebels, Robbers, and Radicals makes the Bill of Rights interesting, for real

I just had an Arsenio Hall moment. During his talk show, he had a catch phrase where he’d say “Things that make you go hmmmm.” As best I can remember, Hall would pause his monologue or joke and say his phrase. He wouldn’t directly state the implication that he was going for, because that’s to be determined by the audience. In my “hmmm” moment, I was reading about the Dred Scott decision. It’s just one of the multiple dozens of court decisions that are discussed in a common-sense manner in Rebels, Robbers, and Radicals: The Story of the Bill of Rights.

Rebels, Robbers, and Radicals looks at one of the simplest, yet confusing documents in United States history and makes in interesting for ages ten and up.

The nat geo effect, but with government for middle school

Our Cosmos, an approachable big-picture space book for elementary ages

A reference book is too wonky. A book with illustrations can be too kid-ish. If it looks too much like a Nat Geo books those who are immune to its charms will run like a vampire nearing daylight. Is there a cartoon in it? The middle school kids who see anything remotely associated with elementary school will tune out. Our Cosmos: The Complete Guide to Space for Kids is built for some of those upper-elementary ages. Those who will get the most out of the book are middle school kids who are curious about space, but might just be a little reluctant in learning about it.

Our Cosmos: The Complete Guide for Space to Kids is big-picture thinking presented in nuggets of information for elementary ages.

Space, the cosmos by another name, can be fun to learn about

A Kid’s Guide to the Night Sky is (somewhat) easy astronomy

Even before this generation became addicted to Youtube Shorts they were becoming a less intelligent demographic than the one that preceded them. If our students or children were watching possibly anything other than the lowest common denominator nonsense I see them on I’d think otherwise. Don’t get me wrong my generation rotted their brains with I Love New York, Rock of Love and Cheaters, but at least that was long-form stupid entertainment. It’s possible that the de-evolution of mankind started when the average person could no longer navigate by the stars or point out the constellations. I never truly understood the constellations. I can see the great shapes that they purport to be (once they’re pointed out..), but they also look like a Rorschach Test of random dots. A Kid’s Guide to the Night Sky is by John A. Read, who lives in the smart side of YouTube. His channel, Learn to Stargaze, is smart, presented from a common sense perspective and gives off the vibe that anyone is able to stargaze regardless of their age or equipment level.

A Kid’s Guide to the Night Sky: Simple Ways to Explore the Universe makes the cosmos approachable for elementary school ages.

Don’t be intimidated, it’s just a bunch of space rocks

Dying to Ask: 38 Questions From Kids About Death delivers the dead goods

Death happens. It’s a scary, unknown thing that is an absolute final, unless you see a ghost, then that’s scarier. Kids have many questions about death and that can be frustrating because nobody really has the answers. Adults try to avoid the topic. Kids can become frustrated because they’ve had contact with it through a family member. Dying to Ask: 38 Questions From Kids About Death is exactly what its name entails and is so much more than you think it is. It accomplishes this through a combination of the questions, the illustrations that accompany each question, and the tone in which they’re answered.

Dying to Ask: 38 Questions About Death From Kids manages to be respectful, funny, insightful and heartfelt on this sometimes taboo subject that touches everyone.

Let’s talk about death, no really

It’s About Time!: A Fun Dive into Concepts of Time

Time is a tricky concept because it’s abstract, can be a noun or a verb, and is countable or uncountable. It’s About Time!: Big Ideas That Changed the World is the sixth in this graphic novel series and is almost as audacious as that Egyptian who suggested dividing a day into 12 parts. The ancient Egyptians counted on their three mid-fingers, as well as, their pinky, plus two of the knuckles on their pinky. But time and people needing to record it for one reason or another didn’t start with them. It’s About Time takes the 500-pound confusing gorilla and tackles it head-on. The graphic novel makes an esoteric topic like ‘time’ interesting, makes young readers think and doesn’t pretend to know all of the answers.

It’s About Time!: Big Ideas That Changed the World is the sixth in this fabulous non-fiction graphic novel series that threads the needle between fun and education.

IT’s a graphic novel that’s smarter than you and it’s OK.

Waiting for the Dawn, gorgeous art and presentation via a fire lens

I love contrasting colors. The visual train wreck of colors that exist in negative space. It’s the canvas that’s blacker than a thousand midnights, with only the occasional blinking of some of the thousands, out of the millions, of stars and planets that you’re able to see. Waiting for the Dawn is a book that’s built for kids who think like that, but have a more Earth-centric perspective. It’s a question or thought that every elementary age kid has, and that’s what happens to the animals who live in the forest when there’s a fire?

Waiting for the Dawn is a gorgeous illustrated book that uses (mainly) duo-chromatic colors to tell the story of a fire, the forest and its rebirth.

Fire, let me stand next to your fire

STEMville: The Fast Lane, easy to look at, with a big kid brain

My son’s high school marching band chose F1 as the musical theme for next school year. There will be some Formula 1 props that move around, lots of trumpets, drummers doing their thing and kids with oodles of musical talent. The only thing I know about Formula 1 is that I regret not going to Monaco Gran Prix when I lived outside of Monte Carlo. Wait, I also know that F1 is coming to theaters in 2025 and that the cars are shaped very differently than stock cars. STEMville: The Fast Lane is the latest in the STEMville book series. It manages to entertain ages seven and (way) up, without making it too babyish for the younger readers, while not insulting the older readers who are learning something new.

STEMville: The Fast Lane, a timeless look at F1, Formula One racing in a busy, anthropomorphic town. It makes you curious about it via sharp illustrations and perfectly truncated text.

Resistance is futile

All About Brains: Engaging Kids with Neurodiversity

It would be glib to talk about this book around Halloween and have a zombie doing the narrating. Granted that could certainly draw in more curious readers than the actual topic about All About Brains. It’s an illustrated book that looks at brains the way that early to upper-elementary can relate to, if they wanted to read a book about neurodivergence. Woah, easy there elementary school reader, do you mean that this is a fun book about the very broad field of neurodiverse kids? In a way, that is correct, All About Brains takes a macro look at some of the differences in that field. It starts with a young girl as she starts her day with medicine and her younger sibling asking to have some of her medicine that helps ease her ‘brain sparkles’.

All About Brains: A Book About People, an illustrated book that lives in the world of edutainment on pediatric neurodiversity. It’s more fun than the name sounds.

Educating AND entertaining