Children's Books discussion

Mimi wrote: "Unser Weg ins Weltall
An early reader only available in German, I do feel the need to post about this, and adding my full review....

Excellent early reader, covering in short the t..."

I want a copy of this (and it sure is a book that I would like to see translated). I wonder if there is something similar in the USA and Canada, with male astronauts being sponsored by the state and female astronauts having to rely on private funding (something to check out).

Next Stop, Neptune

Not bad, but I was actually looking for Alvin Jenkins' picture book Next Stop Neptune: Experiencing the Solar System (and my partner ordered Next Stop, Neptune by Rebecca Lake Pool by mistake). The general information presented is scientifically sound, but once again, nothing on Pluto (and nothing on the sun, the asteroid belt and comets either), so that is definitely frustrating and annoying, as is the concept of a dog flying a spaceship to the eight planets (and all without taking too much time, which makes no sense at all scientifically speaking).

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Well, I agree with most of the main points of Chris Ferrie's 2018 board book Climate Change for Babies, but frankly, Ferrie's text is not all that balanced and the suggestions on how to fight against climate change are too optimistic and hopeful even for a board books.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Well, NONE of the Baby University board books appear to have bibliographies, and while bibliographies would of course not generally matter for the intended audience, I do think that the series books should contain bibliographies and perhaps also some supplemental scientific information (for if I am introducing a physics concept I know nothing about to a toddler, I would want some information on this I could read beforehand, and I also think that for potentially controversial topics like evolution, climate change and even germ theory and pandemics, a bibliography should definitely be included).

And I do have to admit that for me personally, solidly scientific STEM books (even if they are board books) should have bibliographies (it does not bother me enough to be seriously annoyed, but I do think it is a bit of an oversight).

The Blanket Where Violet Sits gets four stars from me, and I strong recommendation to the target audience of littles and their families:

Good to know I wasn't the only child who thought about my identity and place as I positioned myself in expanding locations (room, house, neighborhood, town, county, state, etc.).

I love that Violet and her family are exploring, gently (not didactically), the idea of the power of family, the communities of people, the fact that our planet is the only one we've got so we better not kill it, and the incomprehensible vastness of the universe. Those are all important Big Ideas, and this is a very well-done easy introduction to prompt littles to think big. The art is appealing, too.

I myself have found Chris Ferrie's board book Pythagorean Theorem for Babies: A Simple and Colorful Introduction to Math and Geometry Concepts a great introduction to the basics of the Pythagorean theorem, and a much better explanation than what we got at school. But I do wonder if as a board book, Pythagorean Theorem for Babies: A Simple and Colorful Introduction to Math and Geometry Concepts might be a bit too advanced for a board book audience (in particular the end of the book, which gets a bit more complicated).

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

For a board book dealing with science facts, Chris Ferrie's 2012 Germ Theory for Babies is timely (coronavirus pandemic and coronavirus is also mentioned in the book) and does a really good job simply explaining what germs are and how we can protect ourselves (and in a way that a board book audience can easily understand). However, I cannot really understand and I also cannot accept that Chris Ferrie never mentions vaccines in his suggestions on how to fight against germs and this is why for me Germ Theory for Babies is only a two star book and only recommended with some major caveats.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I have just reread Next Stop Neptune: Experiencing the Solar System (2004, by Alvin Jenkins, who is the father of illustrator and children's non fiction author Steve Jenkins), and honestly, I like this book a lot more than most of the other children's books on the solar system I have read (and I actually appreciate that Pluto is still included, since I do have issues with those books that not even bother to mention Pluto, since at the very least, it should be mentioned that Pluto is now considered an dwarf planet and not simply being ignored).

So yes, Next Stop Neptune: Experiencing the Solar System is definitely better than Next Stop, Neptune by Rebecca Lake Pool and Chris Ferrie's 8 Little Planets: A Solar System Book for Kids with Unique Planet Cutouts (which do not include even one word about Pluto).

11 Experiments That Failed by Jenny Offill

Definitely a book of suggestions to not try this at home! But once kids know that stipulation, I could see this as a fun way to approach do's and don't's in an elementary science classroom.

I like that all of the experiments in this book include questions and hypotheses. This is a fun way to approach science vocabulary. I could also see this used in a controlled environment, such as a classroom, to try out a ridiculous experiment just to see what would happen.

However, I would be wary of kids reading this one without adult supervision, especially those who, like our narrator, are inclined to take experiments into their own hands. But with the proper supervision, this could be a good introduction to a science classroom for elementary students, or even a review of classroom safety for middle school students.

Better than Germ Theory for Babies is Pandemics for Babies (since vaccinations are mentioned). But I still do not like the illustrations and also think that it is a bit strange how in 2020 when Pandemics for Babies was published, Chris Ferrie mentions vaccinations but in 2021 when Germ Theory for Babies was published, he totally ignores vaccinations.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I am beginning to think that for Chris Ferrie's Baby University board books, the ones not dealing with biological (and potentially controversial scenarios) are definitely better (as in particular Evolution for Babies and Germ Theory for Babies have some problematic aspects and gaps).

One thing that I have noticed with the illustrations for the physics board books, is that Chris Ferrie tends to have his protons, neutrons and electrons depicted with the same colour, and that frankly, I find that confusing and that it would be much easier to keep these particles apart if different colours were used for each of them (at least in my opinion).

So far, the best of the physics board books from the Baby University series has for me been Newtonian Physics for Babies. Chris Ferrie presents simple explanations, fun and colourful picture (I did laugh at the picture of Sir Isaac Newton getting bonked on his head by an apple) and the three Newtonian laws are also presented (which I for one majorly appreciate). Will be writing and posting a link for my review once I have written it (but I do recommend Newtonian Physics for Babies for introducing Isaac Newton and the concept of gravity for a board book audience).

Newtonian Physics for Babies is the first book of the series (Baby University) and thus far the best I have encountered. I think it is kind of cool that the first of the Baby University board books so far is the one I have found the best and the most scientifically useful.

Here is a link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I do recommend Chris Ferrie's Astrophysics for Babies, but ONLY if you can obtain the 2021 edition (which has removed an element labelling error), and yes, in particular if you actually want to use Astrophysics for Babies for educational, for teaching purposes with the intended age group (young children from two to about six years of age). Here a link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

So Chris Ferrie actually attended the University of Waterloo like I did (which is kind of cool, although Ferrie got his PhD in applied mathematics on Theory and Applications of Probability in Quantum Mechanics and I got mine in German language/literature).

Bur yes, I do very strongly agree with Chris Ferrie's assertion that people stay away and are afraid of science and of math because of the educational system, because how math and science are taught (and that teachers often make STEM unnecessarily and prohibitively difficult).

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitche...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_F...

I like Chris Ferrie's attitude regarding STEM and that he as a fellow Canadian basically says the same thing I have always said that how STEM is taught often almost guarantees that only some students succeed but many of us fail and become frustrated.

Now I do admit that some of Chris Ferrie's Baby University board books are a bit lacking, sometimes a bit confusing, maybe even scientifically not always totally up to date either. But seriously, some of the negative reviews on Amazon are so ranting, so raving and so into "these books should not be read and not have been published" that I am wondering if any of the Baby University board books have been banned.

Organic Chemistry for Babies is nicely simple at the beginning but then becomes something entirely (in my opinion) too complex with the kinds of chemistry diagrams I found confusing in high school chemistry. Not a bad STEM board book from Chris Ferrie's pen, but yeah, and like with Pythagorean Theorem for Babies: A Simple and Colorful Introduction to Math and Geometry Concepts what starts out as nicely basic and appropriate in Organic Chemistry for Babies for a board book audience gets increasingly and annoyingly more and more complex.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Definitely am thinking that with Chris Ferrie's Baby University board books, his physics ones are definitely a better fit for the intended audience of young children from the ages of two to five or six, as he and his coauthors keep things simple throughout and do not like for example in the book about organic chemistry suddenly become much more complex. And thus far, my favourites of the series have been Newtonian Physics for Babies and Nuclear Physics for Babies, with my link to my review for Nuclear Physics for Babies appearing below

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

This weekend there is a huge Star Wars marathon on TV (glad to stay inside with all the air quality warnings and excessive heat). And while in particular episode IV (the original 1977 movie) is really enjoyable and brings back a lot of nostalgia (and was also the very first film I ever saw at the theatre), wow, is there ever a lot of scientific improbability and inauthenticity encountered (for example, a planet with a sunset of twin, of binary stars as close as how our sun looks on Luke Skywalker's home world obviously and realistically speaking would be much too hot for life and likely not even in existence at all and there would also not be any sounds of explosions in outer and devoid of air space), but well, it was sure fun to watch, but children watching Star Wars and other similar series might need a bit of guidance, as when I watched Star Wars at the age of eleven, I did kind of believe everything as potentially being realistic (I knew the stories were science fiction but that they made sense and could happen).

Going to post my review for Quantum Physics for Babies a bit later on (when I have actually reviewed it, and probably both here and in the board thread), but I just want to say that tQuantum Physics for Babies is again one of these Chris Ferrie Baby University board books that starts nicely simple and then becomes in my opinion rather too complicated for an intended board book age group (and you know, some of the information actually I found confusing myself and Ferrie certainly does not explain what quantised means).

For authors, please note that according to the group rules, your own work is only allowed to be presented in the author/promotional section and nowhere else (and with no exemptions either, including if your book might work for a thematic topic like this STEM theme of the fiction club).

I just had to delete two promotional posts by the same individual, and sorry, if he or she wants to feature his/her book, the author/promotional section is the only area where this is allowed.

Quantum Physics for Babies is at the beginning of Chris Ferrie's text nicely simple and with bright illustrations (although I do wish that for a board book published within the past decade, I do wish that Ferrie would use not the rather out of date Bohr model and would at least point out that there are other particles in the atom aside from protons, neutrons and electrons). And yes, the information on how energy is quantised and what a quantum actually does (basically the second part of Quantum Physics for Babies, it gets a bit too confusing for the intended age group, for young children, and I myself as an older adult even found this part confusing.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I definitely do not recommend ABCs of Physics. The book has illustrations that I do not aesthetically like and the information is too complicated for young children and there are some annoying errors and lacks encountered.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Not sure I want to read any more of Chris Ferrie's STEM alphabet board books (at least anytime soon).

Manybooks wrote: "This weekend there is a huge Star Wars marathon on TV (glad to stay inside with all the air quality warnings and excessive heat). And while in particular episode IV (the original 1977 movie) is rea..."

Yes, the makers of Star Wars took a LOT of scientific liberties with the movies!

Beverly wrote: "Manybooks wrote: "This weekend there is a huge Star Wars marathon on TV (glad to stay inside with all the air quality warnings and excessive heat). And while in particular episode IV (the original ..."

Which did not bother me in 1977 when I was eleven but later, it became annoying and in particular since even the more recent movies are kind of unbelievable.

And I will say that Chris Ferrie's Newtonian Physics for Babies et al board books (even the ones that I have found issues with, even the ones that are too confusing for the target audience) definitely teach something, which I do not think his STEM alphabet board books do, as these are just info dropping.

I absolutely do not recommend Quantum Entanglement for Babies, as I find it confusing (and not just for a board book audience of young children either, as I was myself majorly befuddled) and the illustrations really ugly

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Well, for me, Chris Ferrie and his co-author Sarah Kaiser's board book Neural Networks for Babies is truly a major dud, as it is in my opinion both textually and also visually much too confusing for very young children (and even for me to a large point) and also feels a bit fantastical as neurons are being described as talking to one another (and the illustrations are sometimes even more confusing than the text), so this indeed is a board book I would definitely not recommend (and one that really only caters to young geniuses but not to a general board book audience, although I do think that a huge part of the problem is how the concept of neural networks is being described and visually depicted).

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

General Relativity for Babies is another Chris Ferrie board book I have enjoyed and where text and images are age appropriately simple and nicely geared towards a board book audience of children from two to around five years of age

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The more I am reading the Baby University board books, the more I do wish that Chris Ferrie would add a list of books for further reading to these books, not so much for the kids themselves but instead for the parents (so that when children get beyond the board book phase there could be a list of topic specific books for parents to choose from). Now because most board books do not tend to have bibliographical sections, I am not faulting the non inclusion of a list for further reading in Ferrie's Baby University books in my reviews, but yes, I do think that parents could find such lists useful for further reading choices for their children regarding the STEM topics covered by Chris Ferrie in the Baby University series.

The best and the most suitable for a board book audience (children from two to five years of age) of Chris Ferrie's Baby University board books I have read thus far has been Optical Physics for Babies. It does a wonderfully simple but informative job both textually and also illustratively showing how light works and how rainbows are formed (and I love how Ferrie makes refraction and reflection simple with easy and brightly coloured pictures). Nicely STEM and also nicely basic!!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The best and the most suitable for a board book audience (children from two to five years of age) of Chris Ferrie's Baby University board books I have read thus far has been Optical Physics for Babies. It does a wonderfully simple but informative job both textually and also illustratively showing how light works and how rainbows are formed (and I love how Ferrie makes refraction and reflection simple with easy and brightly coloured pictures). Nicely STEM and also nicely basic!!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I am finally getting a long list of STEM themed fiction books that somehow got stalled. Hope to get to them soon as I am getting a bit tired of reading only or at least mostly non fiction and want to have a bit more of a balance.

Manybooks wrote: "I am finally getting a long list of STEM themed fiction books that somehow got stalled. Hope to get to them soon as I am getting a bit tired of reading only or at least mostly non fiction and want ..."

Will be picking up those books today hopefully they will be fun and engaging once I get to reading.

Will be starting with Jennifer L. Holm's The Fourteenth Goldfish and its sequel The Third Mushroom (but am already a bit ticked off how the main protagonist STEM grandfather seems to be a typical mad and curmudgeonly scientist).

Chris Ferrie's Baby University Blockchain for Babies is another huge disappointment both as a board book and also as a STEM thematic for young children, with ugly pictures (at least I find them rather ugly) and a text that I myself with no knowledge of what blockchains are have found massively confusing, and to the point that I would never use Blockchain for Babies with ANY children (both toddlers and older children), as I do not feel comfortable using a STEM themed book with children where I have had trouble understanding the themes. And while my partner understood the concept much better when he read Blockchain for Babies (as he has an affinity for math and computers), he also pointed out that the text was for one too advanced for most board book age kiddies (except for budding geniuses) and that for two, there should also be included within the text of Blockchain for Babies some warnings regarding the lack of privacy and that there needs to be security features in place to protect transactions and private data.

Here a link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Yes, I do generally speaking warmly recommend Chris Ferrie and Sarah Kaiser's board book (and of course part of Ferrie's Baby University series) Robotics for Babies. it is simple and informative, with Ferrie's artwork also being an integral part, although yes, when you read my review, you will notice that I find the in my opinion pro machine and anti human attitude a bit problematic (click on the link below)

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I ended up liking but also not totally loving The Fourteenth Goldfish, as I have found the STEM parts of the story a bit unbelievable, the grandfather too much a curmudgeon and know it all almost mad type scientist and the message regarding how some science discoveries are supposedly not good rather problematic, as for me, with science discoveries and inventions, even those that might be potentially problematic and can be and have been misused, this is on us and is not the fault of the discoveries themselves.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

A three star read with some reservations, but I am still going to be reading (sometime soon I hope) the sequel, The Third Mushroom.

I am becoming more and more unimpressed with and by Chris Ferrie's Baby University board books in general and in particular regarding their STEM themes and contents. Yes, a few of the books have been excellent (and Optical Physics for Babies I even rated with five stars), but sorry, a sizeable majority of the books I have read to date I have not really enjoyed and do not really consider as good beginning science board books for young children (and Rocket Science for Babies is definitely one of the lesser books I have read so far, with a decent introduction to aerodynamics at the beginning but that the information on rockets is misleading and also feels wrong in places).

And here is a link to my review,

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Have just started with the sequel to Jennifer L. Holm's The Fourteenth Goldfish and am feeling rather annoyed that in The Third Mushroom, a fresh water salamander is described as having been caught by a jellyfish, when in fact freshwater jellyfish are rare, are very small, only catch and consume zooplankton and would never be able to catch and to kill a salamander. More later, but I am definitely not pleased.

Encyclopedia of Plants, Fungi, and Lichens for Young Readers

A very nice (but with no bibliography) picture book introduction to plants, fungi and lichens, which my inner child totally loves (and as such solidly four stars). If you want more information, the link to my review appears below:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

And there are also picture books by the same publisher about birds and animals which I have not yet read (kind of weird though that birds get their own book as they are of course also animals, and I sure hope that in the bird book, birds are described as being animals)

Encyclopedia of Birds for Young Readers
Encyclopedia of Animals for Young Readers

Manybooks wrote: "Have just started with the sequel to Jennifer L. Holm's The Fourteenth Goldfish and am feeling rather annoyed that in The Third Mushroom, a fresh water salamander is..."

I actually ended up enjoying The Third Mushroom a bit more than The Fourteenth Goldfish, mostly because in my opinion the attitude towards science is a bit more positive (although I do wonder how Jennifer L. Holm can consider a large freshwater salamander like axolotl having been killed by a jellyfish when all fresh water jellyfish are very small and consume only zooplankton)

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I am enjoying the STEM themed middle grade novels I have been reading but personally I think I do prefer STEM non fiction to STEM fiction.

Not specifically written with a young reader audience in mind, but in particular the conservation and ecological botanical information contained in Lorraine Johnson and Sheila Colla's 2023 A Garden for the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee: Creating Habitat for Native Pollinators: Ontario and Great Lakes Edition would in my opinion work very well with and for readers from about the age of twelve onwards (and in particular they live in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the USA). But I do wish the Johnson and Colla would be more actively critical of pesticide use and bylaws mandating manicured lawns and tidy gardens and would also list those Ontario cities that are the most anally retentive regarding enforcing those silly bylaws.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Am I the only one who sometimes finds it annoying how often STEM individuals (parents, students, teachers etc.) in both fiction and also on TV are portrayed as nerdy, as weird and often as know it all?

And with my previous comment in mind, I in fact did not bother finishing up with The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl, as I found how Tarcy McAnulty has shown Lucy Callahn's mathematical talents (happening upon Lucy being struck by lightning) and how her mathematical genius also seems to make Lucy weird and nerdy rather majorly annoying and frustrating.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

A Log's Life

(view spoiler)[Wendy Pfeffer's A Log's Life, which can basically be described as the biography of a log, is informative and engaging, with a text that, while detailed and involved, also manages to be both fascinating and compelling. Although the narrative flows well and generally reads easily, I would still and nevertheless consider A Log's Life as more suitable for older children (perhaps above the age of seven or so), primarily due to its length and the fact that some of the vocabulary used is rather advanced (a bit of a glossary or an author's note with additional ecological data and information would also have been a great added bonus and would definitely have increased the educational potential of A Log's Life). I especially love and appreciate how Pfeffer features and describes the never-ending, always repeating, constantly turning and moving circle of nature and life, how forest ecology is never stagnant. And therefore, a massive and imposing oak tree felled and destroyed by a lightning strike becomes a log on the forest floor and home/nourishment to and for many different plant and animal species. An about ten or so years later, the erstwhile rotting log has again become earth; the cycle of life begins anew, with an acorn from another oak tree falling into the humus heavy rich soil to become, to germinate into another oak tree (which might well have the same life story).

The accompanying illustrations by Robin Brickman are both amazing and are actually and truly quite special. When I first perused A Log's Life, I was with a bit of personal discomfort wondering wether they were either photographs, or photographed displays of found natural objects and preserved animal and plant specimens (which would have been quite a no-no for me). However, in the note from the illustrator, Brickman states that he/she made all of the collage illustrations by cutting, painting, sculpting and gluing together pieces of watercolour paper; the illustrations thus consist only of painted paper and glue. And while, of course, paper does come from trees, I think that it was and is both environmentally and ecologically sensitive and responsible that no found objects, no preserved and/or mounted animal or plant specimens have been used in Robin Brickman's colourful and descriptive collages. (hide spoiler)]

What I really appreciate is that the illustrations look like leaves etc. but that Robin Brickman has only used coloured paper, has not plundered nature for her pictures.

Manybooks wrote: "And with my previous comment in mind, I in fact did not bother finishing up with The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl, as I found how Tarcy McAnulty has shown Lucy Callahn's mathem..."

I was actually more annoyed by what I perceived to be the message of the book ("just try to be "normal" and everyone will be happier") than by her initial weirdness, but I agree the stereotype is rather over-written.

Mir wrote: "Manybooks wrote: "And with my previous comment in mind, I in fact did not bother finishing up with The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl, as I found how Tarcy McAnulty has shown Luc..."

Oh yeah, that bothers me as well, but I am so so so sick and tired of encountering science (and other academically talented individuals) in children's literature who automatically must be depicted as both nerdy and having obtained their know how in some strange and uncanny manner.

Honestly, if Chris Ferrie wants to introduce something like bayesian probability to board book audiences, he should be making his text and his illustrations simple enough for general and basic comprehensibility, and no, Bayesian Probability for Babies in my opinion does not do that at all (and indeed, even I could not really understand the book and find the formulae totally confusing and not at all well explained). One star and definitely not recommend for a basic and simple introduction.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...