Off on Another Explorer Academy Adventure!

 

Explorer Academy: The Dragon's Blood (Book 6) 
by Trudi Trueit 
216 pages; ages 8-12
‎National Geographic Children’s Books, 2021

Cruz joins his best friends in another race-around-the-globe adventure in search of the next clue to his mom’s secret formula. This time we begin our adventures in a steamy rainforest in Borneo. Cruz Coronado and his friends are gathering information as part of a Bioblitz. They’re taking photos of animal and plant life they find, seeking the rarely seen. They find an orchid mantis that perfectly mimics the flower it’s named for, and pitcher plants that digest leaves instead of insects. 

Di Pavel Kirillov/Wikimedia commons

After they’ve had an opportunity to sharpen their observation skills, the students are sent into the Tasmanian wilderness on their real mission: searching for an animal thought to be extinct for the past hundred years. They deploy cool technology, such as the SHOT Bots (Soft Heliomorphic Observational Traveling Robots). The robots are designed to resemble stinging nettles so that the local wildlife won’t nibble on them.

But the creature they are searching for is so rare that the students wonder if they will ever see it. The book raises good questions, such as how do we protect species with small wild populations? It also highlights the importance of preserving biodiversity.

Of course, as the expedition unfolds, Cruz is drawn into searching for the missing pieces of his mother’s code. Clues point to the Terra Cotta army, an army of clay soldiers that were buried more than 2,000 years ago where the ancient capital of Xianyang once stood. Could the missing puzzle piece be there? 

Meanwhile, it becomes clear that someone in the Academy is a spy. But who? and what does it have to do with emo-glasses and weaponized goo? 

Like the other books in the series, the back matter explains the truth behind the fiction. You’ll meet an ocean explorer, an explorer who uses camera traps to document wildlife in a rainforest, and more who are involved in preserving the diversity of plant and animal life on our planet. 

You can check out reviews of previous books in the series here, here, here, and here . Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by Media Masters Publicity.

When it's Hot Enough to Fry an Egg on the Sidewalk...

 

This book was published three years ago, but because of the heat wave in the northeast, it seems like a perfect pick for today. It got so hot in Oregon that roads buckled and Portland shut off the streetcars because heat was melting the cables. Scorching temperatures soared to 116 F in some places – hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk!

Iqbal and His Ingenious Idea: How a Science Project Helps One Family and the Planet 

by Elizabeth Suneby; illus. by Rebecca Green 

32 pages; ages 5-10

‎Kids Can Press, 2018

theme: STEM, sustainability, problem-solving

Iqbal lives in Bangladesh and it’s the monsoon, when “gusts of rain whip across your face and make you squint your eyes.” At home, Iqbal’s mother cooks the meals over an indoor fire. The smoke irritates her lungs, causing her and the baby to cough.

Iqbal wants to win the prize at the science fair so he can use the prize money to buy his mother a gas cookstove. He’s got a month to come up for a project that fits with the theme of sustainability.

What I like about this book: This is a fun story to read, while broaching a serious topic at the same time. We see Iqbal trying to come up with ideas. He sketches gadgets with gears, he conceives of contraptions, he dreams of devices. Could he build a smokeless cooker? With help from his teacher, they get ideas from the internet, and Iqbal designs a solar cooker from things most people have in his village: broken umbrellas. He lines his umbrella with foil, borrows a soot-blackened cookpot, and is ready to test his stove. All he needs is a sunny day to test it.

Beyond the Books:

Can you really fry an egg on the sidewalk? Probably not. Eggs need to reach a temperature of 158 F to cook through – hard to do on a white surface. A better idea would be to fry an egg on the hood of a car sitting under the hot sun (remember: eggs will run, and car hoods are curved). One Arizona girl had a brilliant idea: put the greenhouse effect to use and fry an egg inside a car on a hot day. You can watch her video here. It’s also a good reminder of why you don’t leave pets – or people – inside cars.

Make your own solar cooker. Here’s how to turn a pizza box into a solar oven, and here’s how to turn any kind of box into a cooker.  You can also use an old umbrella and lots of shiny foil, like Iqbal. A good test is to use your oven to make s’mores.

We’ll join Perfect Picture Book Friday once they resume. It’s a wonderful gathering where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copy found on the library shelves.

Off on Another Explorer Academy Adventure

Explorer Academy: The Tiger’s Nest (book 5)

by Trudi Trueit
216 pages; ages 8-12
National Geographic Children’s Books, 2021

Cruz joins his best friends in another race-around-the-globe adventure in search of the next clue to his mom’s secret formula. This time we go along with him beneath the sea in the submersible Ridley. So many wonderful fish to see: trumpet fish, Seychelles anemonefish, moray eels, Bengal snappers… it’s hard to catch pictures of them all.

There’s robot-building and other classwork, and then there’s the secret mission: figuring out what the inscription on the back of the Aztec crown charm means. Is it a secret code? There’s a lost professor, a first kiss, and a mystery buried somewhere beneath the Taj Mahal. But the treacherous defenses protecting the next clue nearly does Cruz in. 

This time Cruz ends up in a marvelous archive where his mother’s notebook is housed. But the message is confusing and scary. If he read it correctly, his mom had an accident in the lab – an accident that will alter his destiny.

Like the other books in the series, the back matter explains the truth behind the fiction. You’ll meet a sea turtle researcher, someone who helped design Ocean Space Habitat, and some ocean explorers studying pollution and coral reefs.

You can check out reviews of previous books in the series here  and here . Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by Media Masters Publicity.

I'll be back with more books in June!

Night Lights

Welcome back to a new year filled with new books – and maybe a few old favorites. I will probably slack off a bit on reviews this spring. Not because my book basket’s empty – it’s not. But because I’m busy writing a book. With a friend. You know what they say: two heads are better than one!

Plus – I have a picture book coming out next month. It’s called 13 Ways to Eat a Fly, and I’ll be visiting some other blogs to talk about it.

But today I do have a book to share, and it’s perfect for winter. I remember seeing an aurora one night when I lived in Vermont - the sky shimmered with curtains of green... So grab a mug of cocoa and pull on a sweater because this review takes you outside into the frigid winter air.

Seeking an Aurora 
by Elizabeth Pulford; illus. by Anne Bannock 
32 pages; ages 3-7
Blue Dot Kids Press; 2021

theme: family, sky, winter

Late into the night Dad nudged me awake. “Come on,” he said.

Dad helps the child on with coat, hat, mittens – then they’re off to seek an aurora. They walk past cows in the pasture and up a hill and there above is the expanse of sky. Are the stars the aurora, the child asks. Wait, says dad. And then, silently, wings of color fly shimmer across the sky like a curtain of light.

What I like about this book: This is a nice, quiet book about a father sharing a special experience with his child. The child could be anyone – even the one reading the book – and the joy and wonder is universal. At some point in the book, dad tells the kid everything he knows about the aurora – but we never find out what he says until we flip to the back where there is a page titled, “Everything Dad Knew About the Aurora”

Pair it with Owl Moon, by Jane Yolen & illustrated by John Schoenherr.

Beyond the Books:

Learn more about the aurora. Here’s an article about what causes the Northern lights (aurora borealis) and another one. And here’s a video of northern lights from a few years ago.

If you can’t see an aurora, create your own. Make a tissue paper collage or use chalk to create an aurora light display on a piece of dark paper.

Go out on night walk when the sky is dark. What do you notice? When you get inside, write about what you saw and heard. You might write a poem or haiku or even a story.

The best way to discover an aurora display is to head outside at night when the sky is dark, and look toward the north (if you’re in the northern hemisphere and it’s winter). The lights depend on the level of geomagnetic activity: the more there is, the more chance of lights.

Today we're joining Perfect Picture Book Friday, an event where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website.  Review copy provided by the publisher.

Explorer Academy: The Star Dunes

Explorer Academy: The Star Dunes (Book 4) 
by Trudi Trueit 
216 pages; ages 8 - 12 
Under the Stars (National Geographic), 2020

In this most recent addition to the Explorer Academy series, we travel across scorching sand and through steamy jungles across Africa. Cruz Coronado and his friends are on their fourth mission (we met them previously here and here). Now the Explorer Academy students have been called upon to help deliver medication that can treat and prevent a virus from spreading through the mountain gorilla population in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda.

In the process, they discover that protecting the world’s threatened species can be a dangerous business.

Before they even begin the mission, Cruz is in trouble. While on an archaeological trip in Turkey, he decided to explore a cave by himself (breaking rule #1) and without telling the group leader (there goes rule #2). Now he’s at the bottom of a well, possibly pushed by an enemy trying to steal his journal. In Indiana Jones style, he manages to escape his predicament and get back to the group only to be tossed into yet another misadventure.

What I like about this book: In addition to mountain gorillas, the students get involved in creating a conservation plan for pangolins. There is a novel disease, requiring quarantine (this book hit the shelves days after our state began closing things and asking people to isolate). There are high-tech gadgets, nanobots, codes, puzzles, and tons of conservation science.

And no, I will not spoil the adventure. Suffice it to say this page-turner is laced with enough STEM stuff to (maybe) qualify for science class credit. Or at the very least inspire a few homeschooling kids to head out on a few explores of their own.

What’s really cool? There is a Field Journal for kids who want to be more involved in the Explorer Academy. Just sign in – there’s a Recruit Intake Form at the beginning – and pack your bags because the pages in this book take you on missions. You’ll explore your favorite spots, boldly plot future world travels, decipher a code, design a drone, and record your innermost thoughts and feelings along the way.

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copies provided by Media Masters Publicity.

A Really Rotten Halloween Story

Rotten Pumpkin 
by David Schwartz; photos by Dwight Kuhn
32 pages; ages 3-5
Creston Books, 2013

theme: Halloween, nature, STEM

Here I stand, bright with light, proud and round. 

This is a tale of the demise of a Halloween pumpkin. Jack, the pumpkin, is the first of 15 voices to tell the tale. He begins with his glory days, as a bright Jack-o-lantern. But once that flame is spent, he’s tossed unceremoniously back to the garden.

From there, various animals – and fungi – take over the tale. A mouse, squirrel, and slugs tell how they nibble, gnaw, and scrape the pumpkin shell. Insects and mold continue their cheerful tale of how they do in the rotting pumpkin.

But not everything rots away. A single seed survives and, covered with soil enriched by the rotted goo, sprouts. 

What I like about this book: The photos that document Jack’s decomposition are amazing to look at. Dwight Kuhn helps readers see beauty where others might just see a moldy mess. And David’s use of the different voices to tell the story allows us to think about nature in a different way. There’s also Back Matter! A glossary and three investigations that a curious nature lover might want to do with their past-prime Jack-o-lantern.

Beyond the Books:

If you forgot a seed or two when scooping out the gloppity gloop from the middle of your pumpkin, now’s a good time to rescue them. Rinse them off, let them dry, and then put them in an envelope. If you know what variety of pumpkin you have, write that on the envelope. Otherwise “pumpkin 2020” will do. Next spring, plant them and see what comes up.

Write a letter to – or from – your pumpkin about it’s very short life. Feel free to pull in some local animals to tell their side of the story.

Today we're joining Perfect Picture Book Friday, an event where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Izzy Gizmo and the Invention Convention

Izzy Gizmo and the Invention Convention 
by Pip Jones; illus. by Sara Ogilvie
32 pages; ages 4 - 8
Peachtree Publishing, 2020

theme: STEM, invention, problem-solving

Izzy Gizmo and Fixer were making a racket inventing a So-Sew to fix Grandpa’s jacket, when
Ding  
   Dong  
         Doink! 
went the bell on the door, and a golden note fluttered down to the floor.

That golden note is an invitation to the annual invention convention. Even though her inventions don’t always work, Izzy and Grandpa set off to Technoff Isle. Izzy has an idea, but other competitors take the best tools and supplies. When Izzy discovers a trove of cast-off broken tools that only need repair, she comes up with a new invention.

What I like about this book: Things go wrong, as they do when one is inventing something new. And Izzy ignores what her buddy, Fixer is trying to tell her until… it makes sense. Oh, and did I forget to say that Fixer is a crow whose wing Izzy repaired using her inventive ideas?

Beyond the Books:

Think of something you use and ask: How could we do this better? How could we do this faster? Write or draw your ideas.

Start with materials in your recycling bin. Think of ways you could use plastic bottles to bring light into a tree fort or shelter. Or how you could use those discards to capture the wind. Draw or write your ideas.

Make an Inventor Took Kit. Fill it with needle nose pliers, wire strippers, screwdrivers, alligator clips, wires, batteries, small motors and solar panels, rubber bands, electrical tape, maybe a hot glue gun.

In September we'll join Perfect Picture Book Friday, an event where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copy provided by the publisher.

A Basketful of Board Books

For for some reason a whole bunch arrived in my mailbox this spring, so I declare today Board Book Day! But definitely a day to not be bored.
  themes: animals, creativity

Animals in the Sky by Sara Gillingham
Phaidon Press, 2020

Did you know there are animals in the sky? If you’re a star watcher, you do. After all, the Big Dipper is part of a huge, sky-inhabiting bear! But there are so many other animals up in the sky. This book introduces young children (and their parents) to a sky-dwelling rabbit, the lion, fish, dog, an eagle, and a wolf. Like other board books, the pages are thick and durable, with a clue on the left side of the spread and the constellation on the right. But, surprise! The page folds out to reveal how the star pattern fits into the imagined animal. Can there be back matter in a board book? Sure – the last page unfolds to show even more sky animals, including one of my favorites, the Scorpion.

Who Loves Books? by Lizi Boyd
Chronicle Books, 2020

If you like to read – and who doesn’t? – you won’t be surprised to learn that animals love to read, too. At least in this book. Squirrel delivers books to fox, butterfly, and others from the Book Boat. But what makes this book fun to play with is that some pages are divided so that you can flip the flaps and create new combinations of who’s reading and who’s waiting for a book delivery. Those flippy flaps make for a book that stretches nearly twice as tall as a normal board book – a small price to pay for interactive pages to engage fidgety readers.

 ABC Dance! An Animal Alphabet 
by Sabrina Moyle; illus. by Eunice Moyle
Workman Publishing, 2020

“Aardvarks arrive with a band of baboons…” and by the time you turn the page I guarantee your toes will be tapping. This is the perfect book to encourage youngsters (and us oldsters) to shake our boots with newts, rock out with rhinos, and slide with sloths. Dust off your dancing shoes and get ready to dance your way from A to Z. Bright, cartoony illustrations will encourage you to get your silly on.

Wild Animal Sounds
National Geographic Kids, 2019

Snort like an elephant, sing like a frog… each page introduces animal sounds. Filled with wonderful photos of animals and fun facts, this book will have you talking like the animals in no time at all. It’s a great way to spend a rainy spring day – and pairs well with dancing like animals, too! The back spread features a matching game.

Your Nose! by Sandra Boynton
Workman Publishing, 2020

Of course there’s a Sandra Boynton book in my basket! How could there not be? This is a wild little love song about all types of noses, but especially the noses you know best. And yes – it IS a song… you can listen to it here.




Beyond the books:

Find animals in the sky. If you don’t have a sky map available, check out this link.

Learn some wild animal sounds. Here’s a fun video of wild animals with the sounds they make.

Put on some music and dance like an animal. Make a list of some animals from A to Z and then try moving the way you imagine they’d dance. Who knows? You might come up with some excellent dance moves!

Make your own board book. Here’s an excellent tutorial, but don’t worry if you don’t have all the “right stuff”. Be creative and improvise! I plan to use up those cereal boxes that have been accumulating behind the recycling box – and some paper bag strips to connect the boards.

Today we're joining Perfect Picture Book Friday, an event where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copies provided by the publishers.

If Sun Could Speak

If Sun Could Speak 
by Kourtney LaFavre; illus by Saki Tanaka
36 pages; ages 5 - 8
Spork, 2020

theme: sun, night & day

Allow me to introduce myself. I’m the sun – a glorious star.

Told in first person, this book introduces STEM concepts about day, night, planetary motion, and light. Kourtney LaFavre also introduces some world mythology about the sun and some scientific observations people have made from 99 BC to modern day.

What I like about this book: I like the timetable of discoveries about planets, stars, and the universe, from Lucretius and his On the Nature of Things to Stephen Hawking. So many important discoveries, such as light moves in a straight line, and Earth moves around the Sun, and how to tell what stars are made of. LaFavre includes the powerful message that readers can create their own experiments to answer questions they have about the natural world.

I caught up with Kourtney a couple weeks ago by email to ask her One Question ~

Sally: Kudos for scoring an interview with the sun. How did you decide to write using Sun's POV?

Kourtney: I think I was about five or six when I first discovered that the sun doesn’t actually rise and set. I had assumed that the sun was moving up and down in the sky, because the word RISE means to move upward. That was the definition that my five year old self understood, and five year old brains are very literal. It totally blew my mind that it was the earth’s movement that created sunrises and sunsets. And I felt mad that I was mislead to believe inaccurate information. I was frustrated whenever I heard people say anything about the sun RISING. That’s where the concept of a book told from the sun’s perspective began, to clear up any misunderstandings about the sun.

She explains more about her inspiration for the book in this blog post.

Beyond the Books:

Before clocks, people used the sun to tell the time. You can too – just build a sun dial.

Kourtney posted a bunch of activities on her blog. You can find them here.

Kourtney LaFavre is part of #STEAMTeam2020. You can find out more about her here.

Today we're joining Perfect Picture Book Friday, an event where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Stories from Miss Bunsen's School for Brilliant Girls

Light as a Feather [series: Miss Bunsen's School for Brilliant Girls]
by Erica-Jane Waters
128 pages; ages 7 - 9 years
Albert Whitman & Company, 2019

Miss Bunsen’s School for Brilliant Girls is a new chapter book series that celebrates STEM STEAM. Pearl, Millie, and Halinka are a tight trio of friends who tackle all kinds of challenges throughout the series.

In Light as a Feather they are trying to design and build a flying machine for the Annual Girls of Science Games Day. A famous astronaut has issued a challenge: to build their flying craft from environmentally-friendly materials. The winning team gets to spend a week at her space center, plus a trip into space aboard a shuttle.

I like how the three friends work as a team, and their plan to use recycled metal from drink cans and re-purpose other materials. When a fire breaks out and destroys their machine, they rebuild, making do with old tomato cans, rubber hoses, wire whisks, and a few other intriguing “found” items. But will their craft remain airborne long enough? And can they pedal it fast enough to win?

This is the second book in the series about the trio of best friends who attend a funky old school. The school is old, underfunded, and perpetually plagued by squirrels.

The first book in the series, If the Hat Fits features an invention/engineering competition. If they win, the money could help keep the school open.

And there’s a third book coming out next spring: Penny for Your Thoughts. The blurb from the publisher says that Pearl, Millie, and Halinka put their problem-solving skills to the test in a maze competition. But… they find themselves trapped in a strange maze, and Miss Bunsen has to give up her book of secrets in order to set them free. They will need to keep their wits to solve their way out of the puzzle.


Review copy provided by the publisher.

Kid + Chameleon = cool new series!

There’s a new series of early readers featuring a girl and her chameleon comrade written by  Sheri Mabry and illustrated by Joanie Stone. I had the opportunity to review two in the series, and I sure wish I had fun books like these when I was learning how to read. (Of course, growing up reading Dr. Seuss isn’t such a bad fate…) They are part of the Time to Read series, weigh in at 48 pages, and are published by Albert Whitman & Company, 2019.

Theme: friendship, STEM, early reader


 A chameleon sat on a leaf. He looked down. He saw a kid.

Tessy looks up and sees a chameleon. She is excited to “find” him – but the chameleon, named Newton, insists he is not lost. Tessy wants to turn Newton into a pet, but he will have none of that nonsense. He won’t live in a jar, and doesn’t like the sort of food she offers.

What I like about this book: I love when they hang out and try to find something to do together. Newton’s idea: let’s change color. But hard as she tries, Tessy can’t make herself turn orange. Tessy takes Newton bike riding, but that is Not His Thing. In five short chapters we learn a lot about the give-and-take of making a new friend, even if it’s not someone of your own species.

The Kid and the Chameleon Go to School  opens just like the other one, with a chameleon sitting on a leaf and seeing a kid below. It’s Tessy.

“Newton! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
“You didn’t need to look everywhere, Tessy,” said the chameleon. “Just here.”

What I like about this book: Tessy takes Newton to school. But Newton doesn’t seem to care about the things Tessy loves learning about. All he wants to do is nap. Finally, Newton’s had enough of the classroom. He heads outside where he shows Tessy about chameleon school.

I also like that each book has a section at the back called “Chameleon Facts”. In the first, it’s an explanation about how chameleons change color. In the second we learn how to catch bugs with our tongues. I am looking forward to learning more about chameleons as more of the books in the series come out.

Beyond the Books:

Despite his name, Newton is a lizard, not a newt. Learn more about chameleons here.

Chameleons don’t change color to camouflage themselves. They change for a lot of reasons. Check out this video showing chameleons changing colors.

What if you could change your color based on your mood or the weather? What color would you turn when you are happy? What about when the sky turns gray and stormy?

Draw your own chameleon companion. Need help? Check out these printable coloring pages.

Today we're joining Perfect Picture Book Friday, an event where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copies provided by the publisher.

Get Geeked Out!

Geeked Out, a Lame New World
by Obert Skye
224 Pages, Ages 9-12
Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 2018

I love a new series - especially when it contains the end of the world, the breakdown of society, and STEM connections. Plus zombies. And, as Obert Skye demonstrates, there is no better place to find all of these things than in a middle school. 

The Otto Waddle Jr. High Government Outpost, to be exact. Society may be in danger, but middle school must go on! At least that's Tip's perspective. 

Like middle schools everywhere, Otto Waddle is blessed with the usual cliques and clubs - though perhaps a bit more extreme than we're used to. There's Jocks, Sox, Goths, Loners, Freaks, Pens, and a few more. Then there's the Geeks. Tim's group of friends who are thinkers, not fighters: Owen, Xen, and Mindy. All members of the AV club who are tired of being picked on. So they plot a prank. It involves a pinata and lots of grease from the lunchroom. I won't go into the gross details; suffice it to say the prank goes horribly wrong.

Punishment is dealt. Vengeance sought. And somewhere along the line the friends decide to take a stand. They form a secret group, the League of Average Mediocre Entities (LAME). Because, seriously, who couldn't use a few heroes. What they lack in superpowers they make up for with science! All they lack are capes.

What I like about this book - besides the geek elements - is the laugh-out-loud humor and comic-style illustrations. This is the perfect book for car reading whilst driving to soccer/karate/orthodontic appointment...  You can read an excerpt of the book here. But I guarantee you're gonna want to read more.

And guess what! Volume two is coming out at the end of this month. Titled Bigger, Badder, Nerdier, it is guaranteed to be... ah. It's right there in the title! Because Otto Waddle Junior High School is worse than ever. Now that Tip and his LAME buddies finally come into their superpowers mediocre powers they have new bad guys to deal with.

You'll find an excerpt of the new book here.

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle , so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.