Elementary school | Page 20 of 21

Land of Giants nails the scope and size of dinosaurs for elementary

The potato chip and cat video complex is strong with this one. That’s the line of reasoning that states that it’s difficult, to near impossible to engage in just one of them. Land of Giants jumps into that fray with just as much glee as the sour cream and onion potato chips or the kittens being jerk video that was in your stream earlier. Everyone loves dinosaurs, while that may sound like a scrapped tv pilot from CBS circa the late 90s, it’s more akin to the fact that people love big lizards and the concept of how massive they actually were.

Land of Giants is an illustrated book with bite-sized facts on dinosaurs that nails the size comparison that elementary kids want.

Let the size of these giant lizard boggle your mind

The Most Haunted House in America is illustrated ghostly mayhem

A surprise in your illustrated books is OK. You comic book fans know what I’m talking about. The cover doesn’t exactly match the content inside or has text that infers something that might be direr. The Most Haunted House in America is an illustrated book that follows that comic book playbook to the letter. This is a beautifully illustrated book with art that drags you in with the skeleton hands that you’ll quickly see once you open it.

The Most Haunted House in America, an illustrated book on the most famous house in America and the residents that never left.

Come for the lead, stay for art that sucks you in

Bodies, Brains & Boogers, makes human health fun for ages 8 and up

Pick a page, any page from Bodies, Brains & Boogers and it’s something that will interest or intrigue ages eight and up. And, while you may not want to tell those ages this, they’ll also learn something from every page, yes, even you older middle school readers. Do you have Demodex, how much collagen is in your brain, how fast are synapses and so many more are questions that will be posed to elementary school students. The takeaway and question for parents, educators, and that wily eight-year-old audience is this, is Bodies, Brains & Boogers a book that they’ll want to read?

Bodies, Brains & Boogers is the approachable, fun way that ages 8 and up can learn about their bodies with humor and gross, interesting facts.

Science made fun, and slightly disgusting for ages 8 and up

Dear Wild Child adds up to more than meets the artsy eye

The cover of Dear Wild Child immediately catches your attention. It’s the silhouette of a young girl whose long hair is whishing in the wind. Inside her head’s outline are the shapes of a forest in the grip of autumn’s peak with cabin shapes that are inlaid where her eyes, nose, and mouth should be. It’s a nature person’s Picasso, with just a hint of mystery-and that’s just the cover. Once you open Dear Wild Child and start reading it you’ll find a story about nature, family, and loss. This illustrated book also has a curve that readers aren’t expecting.

Dear Wild Child is an illustrated book with gorgeous art that sublimely and optimistically teaches about loss and overcoming it.

Coping, family and destruction, but guised in a happy package

Killer Underwear Invasion!, a how to spot fake news primer for 8 and up

Confirmation bias is a big term that isn’t commonly known to most high school kids. It’s at the root of social media, the rise of fake news, and is the enemy of independent thought and critical thinking. Getting young audiences to know when something that they hear or read about online is fake news can be challenging to say the least. It becomes a near impossibility when you factor in the ‘tall tales’ stage that upper elementary students enter. And this doesn’t even consider the politicization that the term ‘fake news’ garnered when it was by President Donald Trump. Half-truths, omission of facts, distractions or simply not acknowledging situations have always existed. Killer Underwear Invasion!, How to Spot Fake News, Disinformation & Conspiracy Theories is by Elise Gravel. It’s a playful illustrated book, graphic novel that introduces the concept of not believing everything that you hear to those upper elementary students who desperately need it.

Killer Underwear Invasion! is the book that upper elementary school kids need to help them navigate fake news in today’s myriad of media.

this book nails fake News For ages 8+

The Fairy Atlas, a global look at things unseen large and small

I want to believe. We all have that Fox Mulder strain inside us for some issues; and for me, it’s a yearning to experience proof of ghosts, aliens, or mythical beings. The mythical beings are those folk legends that blur the line between the barely believable and those things that probably should exist. Fairies fall into that category and The Fairy Atlas, Fairy Folk of the World by Anna Claybourne with illustrations by Miren Asiain Lora is the illustrated guide to those creatures that just might be near you wherever you are.

The Fairy Atlas is an illustrated book that charms even the fairy reluctant with its detailed art and ‘factual’ text.

There be fairies here

Creepy Crayon! continues the instant classic illustrated magic

A magic pencil is the real-life sibling of Creepy Crayon! However, in reality, Creepy Crayon! is the third book in the Jasper Rabbit-led series by Aaron Reynolds with art by Peter Brown. Creepy Carrots! and Creepy Pair of Underwear! were the first two and have since become ubiquitous in elementary school libraries and classrooms. Moreover, these books are everywhere and kids actually want to read them. Let’s take that a step further and say that these books, in addition to the newest entry, Creepy Crayon!; straddle the line between illustrated book noir, funny and spooky like no other books those ages will read. If Rod Serling made an illustrated book it would be in league with these books.

Creepy Crayon! is the kind of illustrated book that you wished you read when you were a kid, it’s funny, smart and timeless.

The third book is this series is just as charming and timeless

Extraordinary Animals, a durable, interactive, smart book for ages five and up

If six-year-olds were in charge of bathroom books then Extraordinary Animals would be on top of every tank. The basis behind a great toilet book is that it’s fun to read and can be consumed in nuggets. Granted, in some cases, those books graduate from the water closet to mingle with the books in the general library or for leisure reading. Ultimate Spotlight Extraordinary Animals is a book that falls in that category. It also combines interactive elements from two of our favorite series of books.

Ultimate Spotlight Extraordinary Animals melds the best parts of an interactive book, board book and STEM curio into one.

Interactive, stem-oriented books for the very young you seek?