STEM Stories

​Nancy Brashear and Carolyn Angus
Reading trade books is an important component of an interdisciplinary approach to developing literacy skills and learning STEM content. This column includes recently published books that are good choices for reading aloud to introduce lessons and activities on STEM topics as well as for independent reading in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

An Anthology of Exquisite Birds (Children’s Anthologies #7). Ben Hoare. Illus. by Angela Rizza & Daniel Long. (2024). DK.
Natural history enthusiast Ben Hoare’s anthology includes 97 birds from around the world organized by size from the big green peafowl, Dalmatian pelican, and emu to the tiny common tailorbird, Cuban tody, and hummingbirds. Each double spread features an interest-catching statement in italics, a narrative of fascinating facts about the bird, and a small inset noting its location complemented by a stunning full-color photograph and the artwork of Angela Rizza and Daniel Long. Inserts provide additional information on bird evolution, beaks, feathers, nests, eggs, wings, and feet. Back matter includes a tree of life of the 40 orders of birds, a glossary, and a visual index (a small portrait, common and scientific names, location, bird order, and length). An Anthology of Exquisite Birds is an exquisite classic volume with gold-edged pages and a blue ribbon page marker to be treasured and enjoyed by readers of all ages. (PreK Up)
—CA​

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Big Babies. Patrick O’Brien. (2024). Charlesbridge.
Eleven baby dinosaurs standing next to parts of their massive parents for comparison are pictured humorously with objects familiar to young readers along with brief informational statements on double-spread pages. For example, the TYRANNOSAURUS REX “tyrant lizard king” entry presents a baby tyrannosaur sitting in a crown looking up at its parent and “This tiny toddler grew up to be a might meat-eating monster. In the year that the tyrannosaurus roamed the Earth, it was a top predator.” Other dinosaurs include Anatotitan (“giant duck”) posed next to a rubber ducky to emphasize its duck-like snout; Triceratops (“three-horned face”) balancing donuts on its horns; and Velociraptor (“swift thief”) looking at a toy race car. The back matter includes more facts about the dinosaurs and a “Behold the Babies!” chart that compares the sizes of the baby dinosaurs to a four-foot-tall child, who stands higher than all of them. (PreK-Gr 2)
—NB 

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Birth of the Bicycle: A Bumpy History of the Bicycle in America. Sarah Nelson. Illus. by Iacopo Bruno. (2024). Candlewick.
“The bicycle’s great-grandpa was a heavy, clunky thing— / with wooden wheels and wooden spokes, / a wooden saddle, frame, and yoke.” Short lines of text set against expressive single- and double-page illustrations done in pencil and colored digitally describe, in both words and pictures, the history of the bicycle beginning with the invention of a wooden pedal-less two-wheeler in Germany in 1817 that became known as the velocipede. In 1819, the newfangled vehicle traveled across the Atlantic, but it proved to be too expensive and unsafe to ride on America’s poor roads. Finally, in 1890, an affordable model with a lighter frame, two smaller wheels, a comfortable seat, inflatable tires, and easy steering provided “pedal-powered freedom / for the big hustling masses.” Back matter includes an extensive “More About Bicycles” narrative providing details on innovative models and their inventors as well as improvements, such as smother roads, bike lanes, and off-street trails that made cycling a convenient and healthy means of transportation, and a bibliography. (PreK Up)
--NB

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Call the Bee Doctor!: How Science Is Saving Honey Bees (Sandra Markle’s Science Discoveries). Sandra Markle. (2024). Millbrook.
“Millions of honey bees were vanishing from beehives around the world.” In this update to The Case of the Vanishing Honeybees: A Scientific Mystery (2013), in which Sandra Markle reported on the alarming disappearance of worker bees in commercial bee colonies, she explores what apiologists, “the bee doctors,” have learned about colony collapse disorder (CCD) and the progress being made to save honey bees. Researchers have identified four possible causes of CCD: pesticides, poor nutrition, parasites, and pathogens. With an accessible text and numerous close-up captioned photographs, Markle provides details of experiments that have led to three “prescriptions” to prevent the spread of CCD, explains how they are helping to improve the health of honey bees, and identifies a new threat to honey bee colonies in the future—climate change. Back matter includes an author’s note, a “Those Amazing Honey Bees” list of facts, a glossary, source notes, resources (books and websites), and an index. (Gr 3 Up)
—CA

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Graphs! David A. Adler. Illus. by Edward Miller. (2024). Holiday House.
Graphs! invites young readers to join Janet, Ben, and their mother as they spend a day at an amusement park collecting and converting numerical data into different types of graphs. At the Ferris wheel with 14 cabins, they count the number of orange, green, and yellow cabins and convert their collected data (6 orange, 5 green, and 3 yellow) into a bar graph with cabin colors on the x-axis and number of cabins on the y-axis. They then show another way of presenting the same data with the number of cabins on the x-axis and their colors on the y-axis. Although the graphs look different, they both can be easily interpreted. The next attraction with 17 bumper cars, also orange, green, and yellow, leads to a double bar graph useful in comparing two sets of data. By day’s end, they have had fun and shown how to express numerical data in pictographs, histograms, line graphs, double line graphs, and pie charts. (PreK Up)
—CA

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Thomas Jefferson’s Battle for Science: Bias, Truth, and a Mighty Moose! Beth Anderson. Illus. by Jeremy Holmes. (2024). Calkins Creek.
Beth Anderson’s witty narrative presented in text boxes and the comic book-styled panels of Jeremy Holmes’ expressive artwork, created with woodblock prints and digital pencil, offer young readers an account of how Thomas Jefferson, a keen observer of the nature, was outraged by what French Count Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon had to say about the inferiority of the New World and its animals in comparison to the Old World in his encyclopedia of the natural world. “HOGWASH! / ABSURD! / OUTRAGEOUS! / POPPYCOCK!” How had Buffon come up with his theory when he had never been to America? Jefferson waged a “battle” against Buffon’s misinformation based on the scientific process of inquiry. Back matter includes an author’s note providing a historical context, a timeline of Thomas Jefferson’s life, and a bibliography of primary and secondary sources. (PreK Up)
—CA

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Unlocking the Universe: The Cosmic Discoveries of the Webb Space Telescope. Suzanne Slade. (2024). Charlesbridge.
With Susan Slade’s accessible text and awe-inspiring images of the vast cosmos, Unlocking the Universe introduces readers to the world’s most powerful telescope, the Webb Space Telescope. Conceived and designed as the Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) by a team of scientists beginning in 1989 and becoming a NASA project in 1996, the space telescope (renamed the Webb in 2002) was built at a cost of more than $10 billion at Northrop Grumman in California. After more testing, repairing, and redesigning, the assembled telescope, now an actual observatory, began its slow transport by cargo ship to the launch site in French Guiana in 2019. The Webb Space Telescope was successfully launched from the Guiana Space Centre on December 25, 2021, and NASA began releasing the images of the Webb’s spectacular discoveries in July 2022. Back matter includes an author’s note, a diagram of the Webb’s light-detecting instruments, information about NASA’s four earlier “great observatories,” resources, and a bibliography. (Gr 3 Up)
—CA

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Volcanoes. Nell Cross Beckerman. Illus. by Kalen Chock. (2024). Orchard.
“Plates sift. / Land tilts. / Gas seeps. // What / is / coming?” Nell Cross Beckerman’s spare text set against Kalen Chock’s striking double-spread illustration of a barren landscape with a giant fault line provides an engaging introduction to volcanoes. “When will it … // POP?!” is followed by lyrical descriptions and scientific information in smaller print on such topics as lava, volcanologists, the formation of the Hawaiian Islands, the Ring of Fire, underwater volcanoes, and the biggest volcanic explosions on Earth. Then as silhouetted individuals are pictured viewing the night sky,  “Look up! / What  do you see?” focuses attention on extraterrestrial volcanoes. Making the point that volcanoes are everywhere, Beckerman ends with questions for readers to ponder such as “How was Earth created?” and “What is coming?” and her provocative “Maybe you will find out.” Extensive back matter includes an author’s note, illustrator’s note, further reading, and additional information: “The Different Types of Volcanic Eruptions” “The Big Questions That Volcanologists Are Trying to Answer,” and “Even More Facts About Volcanoes!”  (PreK Up)
—NB

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Wildlife Crossings: Protecting Animal Pathways Around the World. Catherine Barr. Illus. by Christiane Engel. (2024) Candlewick.
“Wild creatures need room to roam.” Catherine Barr grabs readers’ interest by introducing Earth’s ancient crisscrossing paths “made by 8.7 million species searching for food, water, mates, and safe places to breed.” Animals need these links to nature, which have been disrupted by humans, for survival. In individual chapters, seven animals from around the world (elephants, hedgehogs, birds, gibbons, fish, bears, cougars) are presented on two double-spread pages: the first with top portions containing informative narratives about the specific animal, its travel habits, and its plight and lower portions featuring Christiane Engel’s detailed mixed-media illustrations and the second with additional information on the human-animal relationship and spotlighting the efforts of scientists and citizen scientists to assist the travel of the animal. In the final chapter, “Meet Seven More Species (rediscovering ancient paths),” badgers, bees, crabs, elephants, jaguars, pangolins, and tigers are identified with a country and a hope-filled description of how people are helping these animals find safe crossings (PreK Up)
—NB

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A Window into the Ocean Twilight Zone: Twenty-four Days of Science at Sea. Michelle Cusolito (2024). Charlesbridge.
Michelle Cusolito chronicles 24 days in 2021 aboard the Spanish research vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in the North Atlantic with scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Each day’s entry contains basic log information, such as Moving Onto the Ship, April 29 (Day 1), Vigo, Spain: latitude 42.2° N, longitude 8.7° W, followed by first-person entries, captioned photographs, and insets of additional information like “Research Vessel Terms” and diagrams showing, for example, how the biological carbon pump process works in the ocean. Readers will be captivated by the scope of this scientific voyage from smooth sailing to storms on the high seas and underwater robots to the return to Vigo on May 21. Back matter features more information on the research expedition, sources, acknowledgments, image credits, and an index. (Gr 6 Up)
—NB

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Nancy Brashear is Professor Emeritus of English at Azusa Pacific University, in Azusa, California. Carolyn Angus is former Director of the George G. Stone Center for Children’s Books, Claremont Graduate University, in Claremont, California.