Simplify the tough stuff AND make it fun to learn with these four series or books.
Basher Basics and Science, created by Basher, written by Dan Green or Mary Budzik,
Kingfisher, $12.99-14.99 (hardbacks), $7.99-8.99 (paperbacks), ages 9-12, 64 pages. Get the scoop on algebra, grammar and more right from the source in Basher's hip reference series. In every book, terms speak on their own behalf, defining who they are and what they do. Take Function: "I'm an operator, a hustler, and a mathematical string puller. I work the numbers, taking one value and chaining it into another." Each has its own unique way of getting its message across. Listen to Square Root, a self-proclaimed scamp, the mathematical opposite of square. "I swing from my tail over a number to undo a Square's multiplication." Then with every definition comes a playful graphic: a plump, happy figure that acts out what a given term is. For instance, Heart loves a good workout (he pumps nonstop), so he wears a sweat band. He's also at the center of things, so in either hand, he holds arrow flags. One directs blood to the lungs to get more oxygen, the other sends it into the body for cells to lap it up. This is one of those series that can turn things around for a child and make it all make sense. There's even a folded poster in the back cover to pull a subject together. The series is now up to 9 books. Here are the latest:
Grammar:The Bill of Rights, Algebra & Geometry: Anything But Square!, Music: Hit the Right Note, and
Human Body: A Book With Guts. Then check out Basher's website
here for free games.
Feel the Force! (Super Science), written by Tom Adams, illustrations by Thomas Flintham,
Templar, $18.99, ages 7-11, 20 pages.
Released Sept. 13! Kids use forces of their own making to learn about the forces of physics in this wonderful interactive pop-up book. Readers pull, push, flip, turn and lift tabs to learn about air resistance, upthrust, pressure and more, and get to watch 3-D paper models rise off the page as they explore the roles of gravity, shadows and electricity. On a two-page spread about pressure, a mustachioed illusionist rises from the page on a bed on paper nails; then with the pull of a tab, readers re
By:
Aline Pereira,
on 11/15/2007
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Next week is Anti-Bullying Week in the UK, when school-children throughout the country will take part in activities to help them:
“grow up with their respect of self and others intact, be fine participant citizens and, perhaps most importantly, become peacemakers in their hearts.”
This quotation comes from Peter Yarrow’s afterword of a remarkable picture book of Steve Seskin and Allen Shamblin’s deeply incisive but simple song Don’t Laugh at Me. The words of the song have become increasingly familiar since first being written just over ten years ago: but set here with Glin Dibley’s hauntingly expressive illustrations, and with certain words in the text highlighted in red, even young children will be able to respond to it, using their innate sense of justice to pull out the essence of the song’s message.
Be prepared for taking your time over it: each line triggers all sorts of questions and discussion. Reading this book to your own children or to a class of young children is a beautiful way to introduce them to the notion that “difference” should make no difference. They will appreciate the juxtapositions in the illustrations, like the one of the boy in a helmet in a wheelchair – in that order: the wheelchair is actually the last thing you notice.
There’s also a cd at the back and kids of all ages will enjoy listening to the song, performed so gently and meditatively by the song-writers themselves.
Peter Yarrow, quoted above, founded Operation Respect and a percentage of the sales of the book goes to their “Don’t Laugh at Me” project… And there’s also a Spanish edition. Reading Zone has just placed it in in its Top Ten Picture Books. So what are you waiting for?
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Next week is Anti-Bullying Week in the UK, when school-children throughout the country will take part in activities to help them: