STEM | Page 2 of 6 | Daddy Mojo

Plague-Busters! uses humor, quip-ridden text and art to make STEM fun

There is a difference between a good book and a fun book. Good books don’t necessarily have to be fun and those fun books don’t always have to be good, in a literary or personal sense. You may read some tawdry summer beach love book about teenage vampires or romantic solo vacations to the edge of the world and they are 100% your jam, and others might not view them as good, but they sure are fun. Plague-Busters! Medicine’s Battles with History’s Deadliest Diseases is a fun book that’s laden with dozens of illustrations and snappy text that makes the world’s low points accessible, without watering down their scale.

Plague-Busters! Is an entry gate, heavily illustrated, entertaining chapter book with humor and science on the planet’s deadliest diseases.

Dancing rodents among the bulbous infection, c’mon in

Sick!, an eye-catching, appropriate name for a gateway STEM graphic novel

If elementary school-age students latched onto the disgusting elements of science I’m convinced that more people would follow the STEM path. I also fully believe that in 2034, many actively working scientists will cite Phineas and Ferb as a main influence. Sick! The Twists and Turns Behind Animal Germs is a STEM book that’s disgusting in all of the right ways.

Sick! The Twists and Turns Behind Animal Germs is an engaging chapter graphic novel on how little things are a big deal to animals.

A smart chapter graphic novel, yeah that’s a thing

Beulah has a Hunch!, bygone innovations and their unlikely shepherd

Oh Beulah, you always have a hunch. When I read to younger elementary school audiences I love books like Beulah has a Hunch! Inside the Colorful Mind of Master Inventor Beulah Louise Henry, and so do those young audiences. It’s a real story and is one of the first instances of a non-fiction illustrated book that pre-k and early elementary will experience, and we do love some non-fiction. However, non-fiction is only as good as its enjoyment to those elementary ages. This is where the illustrations; combined with the zippy vibe of the book make Beulah has a Hunch! a fun time that won’t tax their time and just might inspire their imagination.

Beulah has a Hunch! is approachable, non-fiction STEM about an inventor that most people haven’t heard of who revolutionized the way kids play and how 1920’s ladies presented themselves.

Lady Edison for the win

How Old Is A Whale? soft, story-driven STEM on age for those 6 and up

Lily Murray got the memo. That’s the memo that states that the best way to get reluctant readers is to ask a question. How Old Is A Whale? Animal Life Spans From the Mayfly to the Immortal Jellyfish starts with a question that kids might never have asked, but asks it anyway. It’s the same Pavlovian instinct that kicks in when someone gently tosses a ball at you. You don’t actively want to catch or throw something, but you’ll catch the ball. How Old Is A Whale? I don’t know. I don’t care, I’ve never thought about it, but now that the book has asked me, I’m curious. A whale must have an interesting age scale because the book has thrown the question my way, so let’s see.

How Old is a Whale? asks the question that every elementary kids poses, plus dozens of other age-related ones on animals of all sizes.

Ask the question, you know that you want to

Fungi Grow, balances poetry, naturalistic STEM and entertainment

Fungi Grow is a smart illustrated book that operates like Chutes and Ladders, if it were laid over an MC Escher drawing with everything still making sense. This is the world of mushrooms. If you ever thought that it would be impossible to make a lyrical illustrated book that dances between poetry, educating kids about fungi and entertaining young readers all to the same degree, then this is just the sort of book that’ll grow on you. The fact that it’s an oversized book provides younger readers more opportunities to fill in the book at their own pace, hopefully letting them know that it’s normal to love to read. Will a cute rabbit and dozens of multi-colored mushrooms on the cover yield a new generation of mycologists?

Fungi Grow sounds like a rallying cry for a dude to get larger in the garden. In reality, it’s a STEM based poetry book that melds lyricism, nature and entertainment.

You don’t have to be a mycologist or stem-kid to love this book

The Great Mathemachicken 2 Have a Slice Day, giddy puns for young readers

Puns are an effective and short route to an emerging reader’s heart. Dog Man has been plowing that field for almost a decade and other children’s book series were most certainly doing the same thing prior to that. It’s also quite magical when a child understands a pun for the first time. The Great Mathemachicken 2: Have a Slice Day is an early reader chapter book that’s fun and educational, without being too much of the latter.

The Great Mathematchicken 2: Have a Slice Day deals with fun and math, both in equal measure so as to keep ages 5-8 engaged.

Ages 5-8 looking for a go-to, smart. early chapter book will dig it

Marie Curie and the Power of Persistence, silly + science adds up to fun

I’m currently teaching AP Literature and English. It’s fascinating because it looks at things from an entirely different angle, in addition to things that I never knew to things that I might be overthinking. For example, in my notes, there were several activities titled “MC practice”. I assumed that it was some AP or higher lever in dissecting text. In researching it I learned that there’s a musical group on Soundcloud by the same name and several consulting firms that probably help you practice things. In addition to remembering our basic abbreviations, I’m teaching lots of classes on perspective and how altering it will wildly change how the story is understood or enjoyed. This is relevant because I just read Marie Curie and the Power of Persistence. It’s an illustrated book that could’ve easily fallen into a trap of mediocrity but avoids that due to its perspective.

Marie Curie and the Power of Persistence is non-fiction illustrated book that adds elements of silly without watering down the power of her real life.

This is far from your typical illustrated book on Marie Curie

It’s Tough to be Tiny, big STEM fun for a wide age range

Treat children as smart as you want them to be. I wish I had the opportunity to dig into books like It’s Tough to be Tiny when I was in elementary school. When I was that age I was always curious about nature, specifically the tiny things that exist in certain biomes. It’s not that I’m implying books of this sort would’ve turned me into a scientist, but their fun, STEM-centered nature might’ve thwarted at least one or two seasons of my wasting time watching Rock of Love. So, let us look at a fun STEM book that provides something for audiences from elementary through middle school.

It’s Tough to be Tiny is a STEM illustrated look at small critters that make up various biomes that’ll interest kids 7-14.

Jump on in, the STEM water is fine