Science through Literature

My approach to science, like everything else, is through good literature first; however, I also love some of the "hands on" classes we have taken at places like Riveredge, the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center and Discovery World.  We are extremely lucky to have so many places around us that offer amazing classes for kids that really get them into what they are curious about, which is really the best way to go about it.  For everything else, there are books.

Biographies are, IMHO, a really great way to learn about any subject, so I'm including a separate list of great picture book biographies of famous scientists.  It's inspiring to read about people who are passionate about science, and who changed the world by following their passion.   You may find that your kid who wasn't really interested in science is suddenly inspired by these people who made science work "in the real world."

Biographies

  • I, Galileo by Bonnie Christensen
  • Galileo's Leaning Tower Experiment by Wendy McDonald
  • Starry Messenger:  Galileo Galilei by Peter Sis
  • Nicolaus Copernicus:  The Earth is a Planet by Dennis B. Fradin
  • The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky
  • Gregor Mendel:  The Friar Who Grew Peas by Cheryl Bardoe
  • The Tree of Life:  Charles Darwin by Peter Sis
  • The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau by Dan Yaccarino
  • Manfish:  A Story of Jacques Cousteau by Jennifer Berne
  • The Boy Who Drew Birds:  A Story of John James Audubon by Jacqueline Davies
  • On a Beam of Light:  A Story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne
  • Odd Boy Out:  Young Albert Einstein by Don Brown
  • A Wizard From the Start:  The Incredible Boyhood & Amazing Inventions of Thomas Edison
  • One Giant Leap:  The Story of Neil Armstrong by Don Brown
  • Moonshot:  The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca
  • Rachel Carson and Her Book That Changed the World by Laurie Lawlor
  • Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnel
  • The Watcher:  Jane Goodall's Life With the Chimps by Jeanette Winter
  • The Boy Who Invented T.V.:  The Story of Phil Farnsworth by Kathleen Krull
  • The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer
Picture Books

  • I Fall Down by Vicki Cobb (Gravity)
  •  Let's Read and Find Out Science Series:  Flash, Crash, Rumble, and Roll, What Makes Day & Night, Sunshine Makes the Seasons, The Air is All Around You, The Moon Seems to Change, Down Comes the Rain, What Makes a Magnet?, The Planets in Our Solar System & Gravity is a Mystery by Franklyn M. Branley, What is the World Made Of?  All About Solids, Liquids, and Gases by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld, Energy Makes Things Happen & Forces Make Things Move by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, Why I Sneeze, Shiver, Hiccup and Yawn by Melvin Berger, Clouds by Anne Rockwell, and many more!!
  • Ready, Set...Wait:  What Animals Do Before a Hurricane by Pati R. Zebh
  • Out on the Prairie by Donna M. Bateman
  • Step Gently Out by Helen Frost & Rick Lieder
  • Fall by Ron Hirschi (Seasons)
  • Planet Earth, Usborne Beginner Series (www.edcpub.com)
  • Backyard Wildlife Series
  • How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? by Margaret McNamara
  • Planting the Wild Garden by Kathryn O. Galbraith (How seeds travel)


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