Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty & Illus by David Roberts

Somehow, I had never really read any of these books. I heard all the great things about them, but I somehow never saw one in the library or bookstore to pick it up and look at it. 

They are fun little STEM related books!

In rhyming text and adorable illustrations, we learn the store of little Ada Marie, who "said not a word till the day she turned three."

I am not always a fan of rhyming text, but this text works. 

Her first word was "Why?" 

I love the brother and his tattling, pointing finger. 

Once she started asking, she didn't stop. 

Her family tried hard, but it was difficult to keep up with her questions.

Even at school Ada was always questioning and wondering.

I love this illustration!! 

Then she moved on to smell experiments

But her family had to put their foot down about something. 

She was sent to time out. 

Doesn't her mother have the grooviest fashion sense? 

When they came out to see if Ada had reconsidered her behavior, they found their hall covered in her musings, diagrams, and questions. 

I love that they support Ada in her endeavors. 

Stuff of Stars by Marion Dane Bauer & Illus by Ekua Holmes

This beautiful book is about the big bang. How that works as a topic for a picture is hard to imagine, but Bauer and Holmes make it work! 

Euka Holmes does the most amazing work. 

She layers paper collage for these super detailed and subtle images. 

Like woah!!

Seriously. This is a beautifully illustrated book about physics for kids. 

There was talk about this one for a Caldecott last year. That didn't happen, but it did win the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration. 

The ash of those dying stars gathered into planets....

So much movement and suppressed passion in these pictures!

All of the universe was preparing and waiting for YOU. 

You took a big breath 

of the same air 

once breathed 

by woolly mammoths.

 You cried tears

 that were once salty seas. 

Your hair 

once the carbon in a leaf. 

I love this spread!!

All of us, the stuff of stars. 

Kate, Who Tamed The Wind by Liz Garton Scanlon & Illus by Lee White

I was all set to fall deeply in love with this book, but it wasn't quite what I was expecting. I think I thought this disproving girl was going to tell the wind a thing or two, but really, this book is about the benefits of creating windbreaks. Granted, it is told in a charming and interesting way, but it was definitely different from what I thought I was going to get. 

We start out with a farm on the tip top of an outrageous hill. I would like to see the farmer who decided that was an ideal farm....

And here he is, doing laundry and losing laundry. 

Surprisingly at the tip top of the hill, the wind was very whippy. 

It even stole his hat. 

What to do?

Fortunately for Farmer Bad Choices, Kate lives in the town at the base of his hill. She knows a thing or two about the wind. 

So she applies her knowledge to this problem and comes up with a workable plan. 

And up she goes to the tip-top to share her plan with the farmer

Together they planted trees all around the hill.

Over time, the trees grew and grew until they were grown up. 

Kate and the farmer got older as well. 

And with the cleverly designed wind break, they could eat outside without any bother from the wind.

I should love this book more. I mean, trees, problem solving, nature, weather., ecologically responsible solutions.. but somehow I am just not crazy about it. It is a useful book that I will definitely read to school classes, but it isn't a book I am going to buy so I can treasure it on my bookshelf at home. 

Curiosity Book List--P2 Character Trait

The character trait this week in the Positivity Project calendar is curiosity. As you may have guessed from the title of this post. I like to give these little spoilers. 

For whatever reason, I had a bit of trouble with this trait. I know there are books about being curious, but I was drawing a blank. So a lot of these are ones I haven't read and others are ones that are more for inspiring curiosity than celebrating curiosity. I happen to think inspiring curiosity is almost as important as celebrating curiosity, so I am okay with that. 

A quote I came across in an Amazon review about curiosity--

"I think at a child's birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift would be curiosity." 

                                                                   --Eleanor Roosevelt

Stella, Queen of the Snow

by Marie Louise Gay

This was the first book that popped into my head for curious. Stella's little brother Sam is the most asking-est kid I ever met. He wants to know the why of everything. 

Ada Twist, Scientist 

by Andrea Beaty

Scientists are the most curious among us, and this book brings that home with our quirky, curious heroine! 

The Curious Kid's Science Book

by Asia Citro

For the curious scientists among us. 

Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover 

by Markus Motum

This one celebrates the human curiosity about our universe. What is out there? What is it like out there. Nonfiction. I really want to read this one!

Plus, the name. It demanded to be included.

The Watcher 

by Jeanette Winter

Jane Goodall was a curious child who grew up to be a curious adult. Watching, noticing, and learning. 

Little Kids First Big Book of Why

by Amy Shields 

Pretty sure I would have devoured this love song to children's curiosity as a kid. I sort of want to devour it now as an adult. The curious mind just needs to KNOW WHY.

5,000 Awesome Facts

by National Geographic Kids

Just because we were already talking about National Geographic and... if this book doesn't make you curious about something, I just don't know. 

The Way Things Work 

by David Macaulay

The original answer book for the questions of my childhood

A Most Curious Girl

by John R. Simanowitz Jr.

I am not crazy about the cover, but this looks like a great book following a curious girl and her adventures.

What Do You Do With an Idea?

by Kobi Yamada

 A book discussing how the curious mind work, particularly a timid, curious mind. You have an idea, but should you act on it? 

Atlas Ocscura Explorers Guide: The World's Most Adventurous Kid

by Dylan Thuras and Rosemary Mosco

I WANT THIS BOOK. It tells of obscure, interesting, real life places in the world.

Explorer

by DK Eyewitness Books

Going along with the Atlas Obscura, being an explorer is really the result of curiosity. If people hadn't been curious about what was over that mountain or across that ocean, we really wouldn't have covered the globe with humanity. 

Interestingly, there are no recent picture books about explorers. The picture book biography has taken off of late with an explosion of great authors and illustrators teaming up to tell us about influential people. But so far, no one has done an explorer. Maybe that is because explorers had their moment in the sun during the past century when they were often revered. Or possibly it is because of the difficult topics like imperialism, manifest destiny, etc. Anyway, explorers are a great "curious" group, but the books you will find about them are wordy, staff-author-written, books from the mid 1990's. 

Unless you know of good, recent explorer books--in that case, let me know!!

Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey

by Nick Bertozzi

I did come across a few by Nick Bertozzi though! This is a graphic novel story of Shackleton's adventure. 

And you can always count on the What was...? and Who was...? series 

What was the Lewis and Clark Expedition? 

by Judith St. George

I am Amelia Earhart 

by Brad Meltzer

Amelia Earhart was a curious person--wanting to see how far she could fly in different planes, but also, what happened to her was curious. She disappeared without trace. That has made people curious for a few decades. Although scientists seem to think they have found her remains 

John Deere, That's Who!

by Tracy Nelson Maurer

Just read this one to my kids--an easy to read book about John Deere moving west and inventing a better plow. Both the moving west and the inventing were both signs of a curious nature. 

Inky's Amazing Escape 

by Sy Montgomery

And here is the story of an exploring octopus who was curious enough about things to escape his life in a marine center and get back to his home in the ocean. Based on a true story, which makes it that much more interesting!!

Now & Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin

by Gene Baretta

Inventors--those tinker what-if-ers. Curiosity is needed in large doses to be an inventor! 

Curious George

by H.A. Rey

For little kids, this is a great intro to curiosity. "George was always curious." I read this today with Pre-K and interestingly, George smokes a pipe. And then, there is the whole, kidnapping a monkey and insinuating he would be happier/better off in a zoo than in the wild. So you might be happier with a different Curious George book. 

Explorers of the Wild

by Cale Atkinson

These two adventurers need to dig to find their bravery. Curiosity generally leads to exploration. So being curious often means you are an explorer. 0

Snowflake Bentley

by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

Bentley was so curious about snowflakes, he spent a good part of his life studying and taking pictures of them.