elementary school | Page 6 of 8

A Day In The Life of A Poo, A Gnu and You is a go-to STEM reference

Everything old is new again. That phrase comes to mind when realizing some of the great books that came out during the pandemic that didn’t receive the attention that they deserve. A Day In The Life Of A Poo, A Gnu, and You, a Laugh-Out-Loud Guide to Life on Earth is one of those books. It’s as big as an illustrated book, yet has the depth and weight of a reference book, but has more colors and graphics than some comic books or graphic novels. As if the book is attempting to pile on its brownie points, it’s educational, funny, ridiculously entertaining, and wait for it….one that kids will really want to read.

A Day In The Life of A Pooh is at the intersection of comic book, reference material, large-form graphic novel, and humor mag that’s been given a STEM jacket to wear.

The intersection of comic/graphic novel/reference, funny book

Inside In, is hypnotic photo-oriented STEM for six and up

Kids are inherently curious and that’s a fact that applies to every child regardless of age. Rare is the book that makes middle school and elementary school students equally curious. Either the book is too simple for older readers, too advanced for younger readers, has content that’s in-between the two demographics or simply just is not interesting. Inside In is a book that immediately grabs the attention of kids aged six through 14 and even north of that. It’s a coffee table book for STEM-minded folks, as well as, those who simply like to take their mind on a trip. The subtitle of the book, X-Rays of Nature’s Hidden World, gives you the immediate reason as to why kids will be engrossed in it.

Inside In sounds like a typo, instead, it’s a photo-centric book on X-Rays and how they can show the art of things hidden in plain sight.

Art by another nam is just an x-Ray

Cat Ninja: Time Heist, a graphic novel purrfect for elementary ages

How elementary schools receive their books is a fascinating world. I’m in a different elementary school library almost every school day and the fact that I don’t see some series is quite surprising. One of them that is top of mind is the Investigators series. That series of graphic novels is one that every kid aged eight and up would love. In other cat-egories, Cat Ninja is a graphic novel series that elementary schools (and their readers) would laugh at, share, talk about, and would be constantly checked out by an eager queue of boys and girls alike. The second book in the series, Cat Ninja: Time Heist rips through the psyche of a typical nine-year-old-like catnip that’s been teasing placed on the back of a tiny revolving toy mouse.

Cat Ninja: Time Heist is the second of three graphic novels that needs to be in any elementary school library.

This book, and this series is peferct for ages 8 and up

A Tale As Tall As Jacob, family, life and entertaining

Here, read this all-age graphic novel about ADHD. Here, read this all-age graphic novel about a funny, real, and sometimes contentious relationship about a pair of siblings. As a written description it’s possible that neither one of those sentences might attract the elementary-aged reader to A Tale As Tall As Jacob. However, the benefit of an effective all-age graphic novel is that the images in the can bring in readers who otherwise might not have been interested in it. On the cover, we see a giant youth who is wreaking havoc in the house as his family runs for cover. Is this a Paul Bunyon tale, the story of a child with an active imagination, or something entirely different?

A Tale As Tall As Jacob is an all age graphic novel that sneaks in with wit, charm and family about a topic you might otherwise avoid, ADHD.

An engaging all age graphic novel on family you say?

Invented by Animals, a fabulously illustrated biomimicry STEM jam for 7+

In a middle-elementary class recently I went over the fascinating story about wall crawlers. It’s an amazing and true tale about entrepreneurship, luck, and not giving up. The technology might not be directly created from animals, but its hypnotic appeal sure was inspired by them. The closest parallel to that toy in Invented By Animals are the pages on the tree frog. The presentation in the book will immediately appeal to those middle-elementary readers. The vocabulary might be a bit much for them, but those fourth, and especially those fifth-grade readers will have a field day with this book. Invented By Animals will also introduce the fabulous new word, biomimicry, a term that they’ll learn a lot more about in their STEM classes in the coming years.

Invented By Animals, a very intelligent illustrated book on biomimicry, animal adaptations and STEM that 7 and up will want to read.

The nexus of smart and simple, in a biomimicry blanket

Space Adventures, Let’s Tell A Story free-range, yet controlled stories

You get what you deserve when you as an open-ended question to a class of elementary school students. I have a cat. We went to the beach. My sister threw up last night. As a teacher, you will get any response under the sun, most likely not at all related to what your initial query was about. The Let’s Tell A Story series of books on Wide Eyed Editions provides the framework for kids to build their own stories, without going entirely off the rails. Space Adventure lets kids choose from one of over a dozen characters, and then guides them with locations, plot devices, and more so that they can verbally tell their story.

Let’s Tell A Story! Space Adventure sets kids up for storytelling success providing all the elements to tell a fun, engaging story from start to finish.

This is the way to have kids tell wacky, creative stories

The Story of Climate Change, a first eco primer for Mother Jones kids

The Story of Climate Change, A First Book About How We Can Help Save the Planet is the fifth book in the series by Catherine Barr and Steve Williams. It’s an engaging book that introduces second through fourth graders to the history of climate change. The illustrations by Amy Husband and Mike Love are playful, have lots of movement, and certainly keep the eyes of those young readers busy in the best of all possible ways. Most of the target audience will enjoy the book and its approach to global warming is unique in its visual presentation.

The illustrations are great, the text casts a wide net with mixed results

Everything You Need to Know When You Are 10 is apt, effective and fun

What better place to ask kids about Everything You Need to Know When You Are 10 then to a fourth-grade-class? I looked over the book and enjoyed its approach towards dealing with this age. It balances a wide variety of topics and interests, some of which are quite silly, while others let themselves be known that it’s a serious subject. The book deftly weaves between them all in a manner that’s entertaining and educational. But is the book as on point with that elusive 10-year-old audience as I think it is?

Turning 10? This is a book you need to see