Author: Sharon Tyler

Quell the Science Fair Fear with Books for Inspiration!

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Is it Science Fair season or do you have a child in the house that simply loves science and conducting experiments? Regardless of whether the science project is assigned or done for fun, it can be scary supervising a science experiment! It can be even worse if you never enjoyed science. However, it is important to help encourage the curiosity and interest of our children in all sorts of subjects, so we all keep trying to quell the fear and support their work. Here are some great books to help pick a project and that offer instructions that make the whole process much more enjoyable, and less stressful, for everyone involved.

1. Last-Minute Science Fair Projects: When your Bunsen’s not Burning but the Clock’s Really Ticking by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen

2. Weather Projects for Young Scientists: Experiments and Science Fair Ideas by Mary Kay Carson

3. The Kid’s Book of Simple Everyday Science by Kelly Doudna

4. First Place Science Fair Projects for Inquisitive Kids by Elizabeth Snoke Harris

5. Water: Green Science Projects for a Sustainable Planet by Robert Gardner

6. Electricity and Magnetism Science Fair Projects: Using Batteries, Balloons, and other Hair-Raising Stuff by Robert Gardner

7. MythBusters Science Fair Book by Samantha Margles

8. Championship Science Fair Projects: 100 Sure-to-Win Experiments by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen

9. Goal!: Science Projects with Soccer by Madeline Goodstein

10. Super Sensational Science Fair Projects by Michael A. Dispezio; illustrated by Derek Toye

Did you think I could really stop there? There are plenty of great books to help students, parents, and everyone involved, pick a science experiment or project and get started. Here are some more of the best books on the topic in our collection.

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You might want to check out: Star Wars: Science Fair Book by Samantha Margles, Energy: Green Science Projects About Solar, Wind, and Water Power by Robert Gardner, Science Fair Winners: Crime Scene Science: 20 Projects and Experiments about Clues, Crimes, Criminals, and other Mysterious Things by Karen Romano Young; illustrations by David Goldin, Janice VanCleave’s Machines: Mind-Boggling Experiments You Can Turn into Science Fair Projects, The Complete Handbook of Science Fair Projects by Julianne Blair Bochinski; illustrations by Judy J. Bochinski-DiBiase, Super Science Projects about Earth’s Soil and Water by Robert Gardner; illustrations by Tom Labaff, Bug Science: 20 Projects and Experiments about Arthropods: Insects, Arachnids, Algae, Worms, and Other Small Creatures by Karen Romano Young, Far-Out Science Projects about Earth’s Sun and Moon by Robert Gardner; illustrations by Tom LaBaff, Ace Your Ecology and Environmental Science Project: Great Science Fair Ideas by Robert Gardner, Phyllis J. Perry, and Salvatore Tocci, Yikes! Wow! Yuck!: Fun Experiments for your First Science Fair by Elizabeth Snoke Harris; illustrated by Nora Thompson, Sure-to-Win Science Fair Projects by Joe Rhatigan with Heather Smith, The Everything Kids’ Science Experiments Book: Boil Ice, Float Water, Measure Gravity- Challenge the World Around You! by Tom Robinson, and 100 First-Prize Make-it-Yourself Science Fair Projects by Glen Vecchione.

Want to Try A Greener Spring Cleaning?

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Are you suffering from Spring Fever? Looking to clean house and purge your closets and cupboards while opening windows and letting the fresh air in? While the cleaning part might not be my favorite, I certainly enjoy the fresh, clean feel of my house when everything is spic and span. I feel even better when I get all that cleaning done without the use of the chemicals found in many commercial cleaners, which can also cost a small fortune.

The smell of a clean house that smells more like citrus and lavender is much more fun than one that smells like chemicals. It also feels a little safer to me when I know I am not using toxic chemicals around my children or pets, or on the things we all touch on a regular basis. If you are getting set to start your spring cleaning marathon, and want to do so a bit greener this year, here are some books that can offer ideas, recipes, and solutions for a greener clean this Spring.

1. Green-Up Your Cleanup by Jill Potvin Schoff

2. Greening Your Cleaning by Deirdre Imus

3. Green Clean: the Environmentally Sound Guide to Cleaning your Home by Linda Mason Hunter & Mikki Halpin

4. Green Housekeeping: in Which the Nontoxic Avenger Shows you how to Improve your Health and that of your Family While you Save Time, Money, and Perhaps your Sanity by Ellen Sandbeck

5. A Guide to Green Housekeeping: Live a Calmer, Healthier Life, Recycle and Reuse, Clean Naturally, Garden Organically by Christina Strutt

6. Sara Snow’s Fresh Living: the Essential Room-by-Room Guide to a Greener, Healthier Family and Home by Sara Snow

7. The Naturally Clean Home: Over 100 Safe and Easy Herbal Formulas for Nontoxic Cleansers by Karyn Siegel-Maier

8. Easy Green Living: the Ultimate Guide to Simple, Eco-Friendly Choices for you and your Home by Renée Loux

9. The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget: Save Money, Save Time, Save the Planet by Josh Dorfman

10. The Eco-Living Handbook: a Complete Green Guide for your Home and Life by Sarah Callard and Diane Millis

Middle and Upper Grade Books About Kids Doing Good

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Are you trying to encourage volunteer work and the idea of paying it forward with your older children and teens? One of the best ways to do this is to offer role models that behave in the manner you would like them to. Sometimes reading a great book about someone else in a similar situation, or with similar interests, doing good things can inspire those that read the book to follow suit. Here are some novels that might inspire some good deeds.

The Adventures of Blue Avenger by Norma Howe (YA)
On his sixteenth birthday, still trying to cope with the unexpected death of his father, David Schumacher decides–or does he–to change his name to Blue Avenger, hoping to find a way to make a difference in his Oakland neighborhood and in the world.

Regarding the Fountain: a Tale, in Letters, of Liars and Leaks by Kate Klise, with illustrations by M. Sarah Klise (J)
When the principal asks a fifth-grader to write a letter regarding the purchase of a new drinking fountain for their school, he finds that all sorts of chaos results.

Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors (YA)
Sixteen-year-old Katrina’s kindness to a man she finds sleeping behind her grandmother’s coffeehouse leads to a strange reward as Malcolm, who is actually a teenage guardian angel, insists on rewarding her by granting her deepest wish.

Loser by Jerry Spinelli (J)
Even though his classmates from first grade on have considered him strange and a loser, Daniel Zinkoff’s optimism and exuberance and the support of his loving family do not allow him to feel that way about himself.

Gracie’s Girl by Ellen Wittlinger (J)
As she starts middle school, Bess volunteers to work on the school musical in hopes of fitting in, but when she and a friend get to know an elderly homeless woman, Bess changes her mind about what is really important.

Again, this list barely scratches the surface of great books about older children and teens doing good things and just being great people. Here are a few more from our collection; Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (YA), Why Did the Underwear Cross the Road? by Gordon Korman (J), Three Good Deeds by Vande Velde, Vivian (J), and Daddy’s Little Angel by Shani Petroff (YA).

Please mention any titles that we missed in the comment section so that others can enjoy them as well!

 

Wacky Weather Picture Books to Share

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Even without the snow filled and freezing cold winter we have just had weather is always an interesting topic to discuss with your children. From snow storms and the school free days they often bring to sunny days at the beach weather is always with us and affects our daily lives and activities. Here are some picturebooks about wacky weather than can make children of all ages laugh and start a discussion about nature and weather in your house.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett; drawn by Ron Barrett. Life is delicious in the town of Chewandswallow where it rains soup and juice, snows mashed potatoes, and blows storms of hamburgers–until the weather takes a turn for the worse.

Hello, Sun! by Dayle Ann Dodds; pictures by Sachiko Yoshikawa. A young girl and her cat must change clothes many times as the weather goes from sunny to cloudy to rainy to snowy.

Aunt Minnie and the Twister by Mary Skillings Prigger; illustrated by Betsy Lewin. After a tornado rearranges their Kansas house, Aunt Minnie and the nine nieces and nephews living with her add on a much-needed new room.

Un-brella by Scott E. Franson. In this wordless book, a little girl uses her magic umbrella to give her the weather she wants, regardless of what the conditions really are outside.

Bartholomew and the Oobleck written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss. The King, tired of rain, snow, sun and fog, commands his magicians to make something else come down from the sky, but when oobleck falls, in sticky greenish droplets, Bartholomew Cubbins shames the King and saves the kingdom.

As usual, there are too many great books to limit myself to the size allotted here, so I will offer a few more and invite you to offer more suggestions in the comments. My other suggestions include; Sector 7 by David Wiesner, Miss Mingo Weathers the Storm by Jamie Harper, Sun, Snow, Stars, Sky by Catherine and Laurence Anholt, Mouse & Mole and the All-Weather Train Ride by Doug Cushman, and The Magic School Bus Kicks up a Storm adaptation by Nancy White and illustrated by Art Ruiz.

Honoring Hans Christian Andersen and International Children’s Book Day

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Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday, April 2, is celebrated as International Children’s Book Day. While he was wrote plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, Andersen is most remembered for his fairy tales. Andersen’s stories explore ideas and themes that transcend age and nationality. In fact, his stories  have been translated into more than 125 languages, become embedded in the West’s collective consciousness. They have inspired plays, ballets, and a number of films.

In honor of International Children’s Book Day and Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday, I would like to offer up a selection of the best fairy tale collections including Andersen and then some great books inspired by his work.

From Andersen:
1.Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen

2. Little Mermaids and Ugly Ducklings: Favorite Fairytales

3. Tales of Hans Christian Andersen

4. The Snow Queen 

5. Eric Carle’s Treasury of Classic Stories for Children by Aesop, Hans Christian Andersen, and the Brothers Grimm

Tales retold or inspired by Andersen:
1. The Steadfast Tin Soldier retold by Cynthia Rylant

2. The Ugly Duckling retold by Jerry Pinkney

3. The Pea Blossom  by Amy Lowry

4. The Tinderbox by Stephen Mitchell

5. King Long Shanks by Jane Yolen

6. The Uglified Ducky by Willy Claflin

7. The Princess and the Peas and Carrots by Harriet Ziefert

8. The Red Shoes by Gloria Fowler

Do you have a favorite story from Andersen’s collections, or perhaps a favorite version or a classic tale? Share it in the comments and it might just becomes someone else’s new favorite!