Education | Page 14 of 39

Yellow Kayak, great art plus some poetry is all beautiful

When I saw that Yellow Kayak was a book that could be described as poetry my inner Fred Savage voice went off. “This isn’t a kissing book, is it?” questioned a young Savage in The Princess Bride. I have that same guarded line of questioning about books too, except ours warns us about poetry and unicorns. Yellow Kayak is a children’s illustrated book that does have rhyming words, but I wouldn’t call it poetry-if only to hold onto our stance of not liking poetry.

Continue reading Yellow Kayak, great art plus some poetry is all beautiful

All That Trash is a solid, fun, educational children’s book

Waste. Rubbish. An entertaining book about trash, much less a children’s illustrated book about the subject; without being preachy is an almost impossible task. All That Trash by Meghan McCarthy is about a trash barge and a business plan that started with earnest intentions; but wound up drifting for months while politicians, the media and the public debated the fate of 3,186 tons of garbage from New York.

The year is 1987 and why didn’t garbage from New York simply stay in that area is due to a businessman in Alabama who had a novel and forward thinking idea. Lowell Harrelson owned National Waste Contractors in Alabama and heard about a landfill in New York that was about to run out of space. His idea was to purchase the garbage, put it on a barge (called the Mabro 4000) and then ship it to North Carolina. There the garbage would be buried in a landfill and then have the methane gas that the decomposing garbage collected. The gas would then be converted through a generator into electricity that could be used anywhere along the power grid. Continue reading All That Trash is a solid, fun, educational children’s book

Star Wars Workbooks helps eliminate the summer slide

The summer slide can happen anytime. As a greater definition the summer slide is that period when the kids aren’t in school and the things that they learned the previous year start to slip away from their mind. “I can spell cat!”, I remember telling my parents at the end of first grade*. It’s obvious my parents never did after school or summer work books to reinforce my studies. My response to said 7 year old would’ve been, “That is great, but what else can you spell?” As a family we do workbooks almost every day. The Star Wars Workbooks are some of the best out there for introducing or reinforcing math, reading or writing to reluctant kids who need a little Force fun with their education. Continue reading Star Wars Workbooks helps eliminate the summer slide

March Madness will end, Giant Microbes do not

March Madness is almost over. It’s almost over for the basketball games. For the microbes that exist around us, try to make us sick or are otherwise disgusting it’s just another day. Giant Microbes is having their own Final 4 that puts bad against worse in a fun, educational and health conscious way for any age to learn.

Continue reading March Madness will end, Giant Microbes do not

They Lost Their Heads, middle school non-fiction fun with humor

When I was a kid I loved reading books like this. Now that I’m an adult I still enjoy reading books like They Lost Their Head, What Happened to Washington’s Teeth, Einstein’s Brain and other Famous Body Parts. Author Carlyn Beccia blends a surprising amount of wit and humor into a book that alternately entertains and educates at every turn. It does this all while respecting, as much as one can, the fact that every story in the book revolves around someone’s death.

Continue reading They Lost Their Heads, middle school non-fiction fun with humor

Quantum Physics for Babies, one of four simple STEM board books

“Those books bring back lots of memories”, said the man in his late 80’s, as he looked over at me. He saw the title, Quantum Physics and proceeded to tell me how he graduated from Georgia Tech and used physics in his daily work before he retired. I politely told him that this was a physics book, but its title is Quantum Physics for Babies. In his defense, he was sitting about eight feet away from me and the “for babies” part of the title is in smaller font.

Continue reading Quantum Physics for Babies, one of four simple STEM board books

Science Comics: Dogs, a smart, fun graphic novel for middle school and up

Science Comics is a series of books from :01 First Second that have previously covered a wide range of topics including Coral Reefs, Bats and Volcanoes, just to name a few. The amazing thing that all of these books have in common is that they manage to make readers interested in things that we wouldn’t otherwise be interested in. They also manage to do it in a way that educates as much as they entertain. Science Comics, Dogs by Andy Hirsch, is another beautiful example in this series as we learn all about man’s best friend.

Continue reading Science Comics: Dogs, a smart, fun graphic novel for middle school and up

The World is Not a Rectangle, builds on a great life by Zaha hadid

When I was a kid I wanted to be an architect. More precisely, my father wanted me to be an architect. I remember taking drawing classes and being semi-dedicated to it until I realized that math was required. Had I continued down that path Zaha Hadid is a name that I would’ve known and studied. She was an architect who designed some iconic, world famous buildings and blazed a trail while doing it. The World is Not a Rectangle, a Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid by Jenette Winter is about Zaha’s inspiration as a child, how they weaved themselves into her creations and the struggles she faced professionally.

Continue reading The World is Not a Rectangle, builds on a great life by Zaha hadid