Science/Nature

“Toe bone connected to da foot bone . . .” Children have been singing this popular African-American spiritual for ages. As it bounces from page to page, Barner relates some amazing facts about the bones in the human body. For example, did you and your students know that the 22 bones in the foot can support the entire weight of your body? Your students will enjoy Barner’s colorful illustrations of skeletons as they dance through this anatomy book for youngsters.

This is a book about transformations…from egg to chicken, seed to flower, and caterpillar to butterfly. But it’s also a book about creativity as paint becomes picture, word becomes story…and commonplace becomes extraordinary.

Lola is a fussy eater. A very fussy eater. She won’t eat her carrots (until big brother Charlie reveals that they are really orange twiglets from Jupiter). She won’t eat her mashed potatoes (until Charlie explains that they are cloud fluff from the pointiest peak of Mount Fuji). There are many, many things Lola absolutely will not eat, including — and especially — tomatoes. Or will she? Kate Greenaway Medalist Lauren Child cooks up a witty treat for picky eaters and the people who love them.

Little Critter and his grandmother spend the day at the beach in this funny-and-true picture book about Mercer Mayer’s popular character. Little Critter is a good helper, even at the beach. When his grandmother’s hot dog falls in the sand, he washes it off in the ocean. He promises to blow up the inflatable seahorse but needs a little help in the end. The joys and mishaps of a special summer day with Grandma are all brightened by Little Critter’s sunny disposition.

Tooth school is in session and 32 raucous students — including eight incisors, four canines, eight premolars, and twelve molars — get lessons on preventing tooth decay from Dr. Flossman. Your students will love the book’s wacky illustrations (wisdom teeth sport glasses, a vampire wears braces) and hilarious puns (”Buses . . . might be a little late because of some bridgework being done”). And they will also learn how to properly take care of their teeth.

“I felt the strike. There was stunning pain from the instant the twin fangs pierced the soft, fleshy side of my hand,” writes the author in this gripping account of how she was bitten by a rattle-snake at age nine. Fortunately, her history with snakes does not end badly. She was treated successfully for the bite, and a year later, she observed Hopi Indian “snake dancers” handling dangerous live rattlers.

In Antarctica, the coldest spot on the planet, male Emperor penguins perform one of the most difficult tasks in the natural world. For two months, in the middle of winter, they take care of the eggs laid by females who are out at sea hunting for food. This book explains this phenomenon with simple, fact-filled text and beautiful blue-tinged illustrations. It is a wonderful study in natural history as well as an eye-opening lesson for students about male and female parenting roles in nature.

In this award-winning book, a traveling woolly mammoth helps demonstrate how things work, from levers and plows to zippers and microchips. With colorful, kid-friendly illustrations on almost every one of its 400 pages, this engaging reference covers electricity, computers, machines, motors, magnetism, and more!

One Sunday a very hungry caterpillar hatched. He eats his way through a variety of foods that are boldly and colorfully illustrated. The story progresses with the caterpillar spinning a cocoon and waking up into a butterfly, illustrating one of nature’s common but lovely marvels.

Borden Watson’s father is a logger in Northern California and he has lost his job because logging in that region has been halted to protect the endangered spotted owl. When Borden brings home an abandoned baby owl, his father yells, “Shoot him!” But calmer heads prevail and the owl is allowed to remain in the house. Before long, the presence of the owl causes a turn-around in the lives and attitudes of the people who live there.