STEM | Page 6 of 7 | Daddy Mojo

Octopuses Have Zero Bones, an instant classic and ‘best of’ any year

Octopuses Have Zero Bones is one of the best books of the year. Granted, it is very early in 2023, but that’s OK because it was technically released in September of 2022. We’re not going to let a little technicality like that get in the way of calling this book an instant classic and a ‘best of’, whichever year you want to put it in. One thing that we ascribe to is treating kids as smart as you want them to be. When our own children were younger we did it that way and it’s the way that I teach my classes, regardless of the grade. Octopuses Have Zero Bones is a counting book, but it’s so much more than just a book that’ll teach counting to toddlers.

Octopuses Have Zero Bones is a counting book like no other. It is that, but it’s so much more, great for ages 5 and way up.

Pick that jaw up off of the floor and jump into this fabulous book

5-Minute Ada Twist, Scientist Stories, nuggets of STEM fun for ages 5-7

As we’ve said before, it’s an Ada Twist world, we’re just living in it. For kids of a certain age, see those kids who are between five and seven years old, Ada Twist has been tickling their STEM fancy since 2016. She started out in illustrated books, has branched out into chapter books, a Netflix show, and now 5-Minute Ada Twist, Scientist Stories takes the series to bed. The book doesn’t overtly say bedtime stories with Ada Twist. However, the five-minute timeline in the book’s title lets parents know that this is a safe place to read when it’s already ten minutes past where they should’ve been.

5-Minute Ada Twist, Scientist Stories is 12 short STEM stories with characters that pre-k and early elementary know and love.

Those pre-k kids know the deal on this one

Digestion! The Musical, a madcap illustrated opus on food’s destiny for ages five and up

Upend expectations. Take what is normally expected from a thing and completely subvert it in a much more excellent manner than you are used to. Digestion! The Musical is an illustrated book that takes the normally short presentation of those books and makes it longer. It takes a subject that every elementary-aged child is curious about and turns it into a theme park of a book. There are three distinct areas of the book that looks at how the body digests food. Digestion! The Musical works as an illustrated book for young elementary ages, as well as, a primer on the human body for ages six and up. It’s also worth noting that it does this with style, STEM, humor, and poop, just in case your audiences are curious about the end results.

Digestion! The Musical is an uproarious illustrated book for ages five and up that looks at food’s journey in a way that kids will swallow.

STEM, fun and dancing poop for ages 5 and up

Human Heart Floor Puzzle for kids from Dr. Livingston puts it together

Kids love to have fun. Kids learn in different ways. Everyone knows the first statement, but not enough people acknowledge, pivot, or have the ability to pivot when the learning process might need a different mode of entry. The human body is a naturally curious topic for upper elementary and middle school students. However, there aren’t exactly internal organs that those ages have access to for ‘hands-on’ learning and books can only go so far in motivating them. Genius Games Junior has the Doctor Livingston Jr. line of puzzles that introduces the rabbit hole of our human body that fit like a glove for fifth grade and up.

Just enough education that’s partnered with puzzle fun

Anglerfish The Seadevil of the Deep, fun STEM for one and all

Fish aren’t inherently evil or bad. However, if you were to pose the question of what’s the evilest fish of them all then the Anglerfish would surely be in that mix. If nothing else, then that glowing light that’s on the end of the fishing rod on their head would qualify them by some people’s classification. If you didn’t know what an Anglerfish was before, then that description certainly painted exactly which fish we’re talking about. Anglerfish, The Seadevil of the Deep is an illustrated book by Elaine M. Alexander with illustrations by Fiona Fogg. This is on the STEM side of illustrated books and presents this mysterious fish in a way that will entertain, make kids curious, and drop little nuggets of knowledge that they’ll gleefully share with their friends.

Anglerfish: The Seadevil of the Deep is an illustrated book that examines a mysterious creature and makes it an unlikely hero.

C’mon in, the water’s fine

Bodies, Brains & Boogers, makes human health fun for ages 8 and up

Pick a page, any page from Bodies, Brains & Boogers and it’s something that will interest or intrigue ages eight and up. And, while you may not want to tell those ages this, they’ll also learn something from every page, yes, even you older middle school readers. Do you have Demodex, how much collagen is in your brain, how fast are synapses and so many more are questions that will be posed to elementary school students. The takeaway and question for parents, educators, and that wily eight-year-old audience is this, is Bodies, Brains & Boogers a book that they’ll want to read?

Bodies, Brains & Boogers is the approachable, fun way that ages 8 and up can learn about their bodies with humor and gross, interesting facts.

Science made fun, and slightly disgusting for ages 8 and up

Neurocomic, a graphic novel on the brain for middle school and up

The other day in the podcast and over on Youtube I mentioned that I read a graphic novel and had no idea of how to accurately describe its content. It’s not that it was bad or poorly presented; it’s just that the subject matter was high level and required a second reading. Having said that, even after reading Neurocomic twice I’m still unable to tell you the details from memory, despite the fact that I enjoyed reading it both times. That is also quite ironic or appropriate, given the fact that Neurocomic is about the brain, memories, and how they’re made, or in my case, forgotten.

Neurocomic has the seemingly impossible task of making a graphic novel on the brain approachable and entertaining and nails it to the cerebellum, in a good way.

A graphic novel that makes the brain understandable? Yup.

Dragon Con is science, STEM, robotics and more for middle schoolers

It’s great to be able to attend cons again. Think of a pop culture interest and there’s a convention geared just for that. Dragon Con is a con that’s really unlike others. It’s held in Atlanta, Georgia every Labor Day weekend and every pop culture franchise that you can think of is there. Superheroes, middle earth, anime shows, television shows, and more are all represented by their fans or cast members of the shows. What about the science? The STEM, the brains behind the manufacturing of those costumes, real-world technology that goes into science-fiction, and those people who might be exploring space or the ancient history of Earth are not forgotten at Dragon Con.

A presentation on Mars at Dragon Con 2022 — Here’s a photo from Mars that you haven’t seen, unless you were at Dragon Con.

STEM, science, mars, dinosaurs, cosplay and more at Dragon Con