Waves: Physical Science for Kids

Description

In Waves: Physical Science for Kids, children ages 5 to 8 observe lots of different kinds of waves, including those found in water, wheat, a baseball stadium, and even invisible waves! One in a set of four books in the Picture Book Science series, Waves combines children's natural curiosity with prompts for keen observations and simple STEM activities to provide a fun introduction for kids to the physical science that rules our world!

Andi Diehn is the author of Explore Poetry! With 25 Great Projects, Technology: Cool Women Who Code, and Shakespeare: Investigate the Bard's Influence on Today's World for Nomad Press. She lives in Enfield, NH, with her family. Shululu (Hui Li) has always been driven by curiosity. She received a PhD in computational chemistry from the University of Chicago. Her research has been published in the world's most influential science journals, including Science and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. She is devoted to bringing joy and science to young readers through fun illustrations! She lives with her husband in New York, NY.

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Science books are always a big hit around here. During our normal read aloud time each day, it's guaranteed that at least one of them will be science-based. Given that I am reading to two first graders, a preschooler, and an 18-month-old, our choice in science books is typically picture books. Nomad Press has some great ones to offer. We received the Physical Science for Kids Set for review. The set includes four books: Forces, Waves, Matter, and Energy. All four softcover books are 28 pages long with a one-page glossary at the end of the book. They're all fully illustrated and just plain fun to read and look at. Each of the books gives sound scientific concepts in easy to read and understandable terms. They're relatable, funny, and get the kids thinking. The books are written for children ages 5-8, but children older would enjoy them too. I was surprised by Waves. It begins by explaining the different types of waves. People waving, waves in an ocean, fans in a stadium, and then it moves to energy. "Energy is an invisible force that travels as a wave. When you see waves in water, it's the energy that's moving toward the shore, not the water" It goes on to explain that the waves are actually moving up and down, like a ball bouncing in water or a balloon bobbing in the air. Light waves, heat waves, and sound waves are also explored. The Physical Science for Kids Set has been a wonderful addition to our home library. The books are simple enough for everyone to understand yet contain enough scientific truth to be considered a science resource. They are written in a way that makes them great read alouds, and simple enough that my 7-year-old can confidently read them. --D.B. Johnson, author of Magritte's Marvelous Hatand Henry Hikes to Fitchburg "With a light touch and kid-friendly questions, Andi Diehn leads the reader to a more nuanced understanding of their world and the science behind it, from being 'forced to clean your room, ' to the force gravity exerts when you jump from a tree ('Don't jump out of trees!' Ms. Diehn warns)." --Jess Keating, author of Pink is for Blobfish: Discovering the World's Perfectly Pink Animals and Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist "With lively illustrations and conversational, upbeat text, this series shines!" Story Monsters.com Science can be fun for your children when they try the STEM activities included in this beautifully illustrated science book about waves. If you have a ball floating in a bucket of water and you move your finger around to make waves in the water, what happens to the ball? "Waves in water, waves in wheat. Waves at a game: 'Stand up! Take a seat!' Waves in your hair, waves with your hand, powerful waves under the land. Make waves in a string, then stretch it taut, Waves are everywhere, whether we see them or not!" (Ages 6-9) Unleashing readers.com Young children have so many questions about the world and how everything works. Curiousity runs wild in their brains, but more than anything they just want to learn and absorb. This series is a must get for parents, classrooms, and libraries because it addresses many of the questions that kids have. Publishers Weekly Explore Poetry! With 25 Great Projects Over five chapters, Diehn describes poetic forms like limerick, haiku, and acrostic; explores literary techniques, such as personification and exaggeration; and finds connections between poetry, music, and math. Projects include creating a poetry journal and writing ideas on rocks to combat writer's block. Stone's cartoons, which star a fox dressed like a Beat poet and a Shakespearean bear, make for a lively layout, while helping target the book at younger readers and poets-to-be. School Library Connection: Explore Poetry! With 25 Great Projects Students will have fun learning about the many different forms of poetry in this informational resource. . . This book would be a handy resource for teachers to have available to them in the library. Recommended