Part of the Scholastic "Voyages of Discovery" series, Wind and Weather offers children an opportunity to read and interact with a book. Turn the pages and learn about air, the atmosphere surrounding the earth, how barometers and thermometer work, how water becomes rain, snow and hail through clear simple text and illustrations. Are you confused as to the difference between a tornado and a hurricane? Do you know how weather is studied and predictions made? Answers to these and other questions are readily available. If your appetite has been whetted for more weather facts, there is a reading list, names of famous scientists who studied the weather, and words to know that can lead the inquisitive to further discoveries.
Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot
Par of the "Voyages of Discovery" series, this interactive book make use of reusable stickers, overlays, punch-outs, fold-outs, even a piece of sample 35mm film to engage readers. The story moviemaking is told in short sections of easy-to-read text, highlighting the people and inventions that advanced technology. The History of Moviemaking is packed with interesting facts about famous movie actors and directors, groundbreaking films, and about the technological development of the medium. It also includes a fascinating look at how film sound effects are produced. The book contains a glossary, timeline, lists of books for further reading, and addresses of museums with especially good exhibits on the subjects.
Children's Literature - Victoria Crenson
This broad overview of mammal life combines stunning graphics with a clear text to produce a valuable entry into Scholastic's Voyages of Discovery Series. A plethora of bookmaking techniques are employed, from pull-out pages to flaps to stickers, and for the most part, these concepts work to make the information more accessible. In some cases, however, such as the inclusion of a series of stickers designed for placement by the reader throughout the book, these "innovations" fall into the realm of gimmickry. On the whole, however, Mammals is informative and well produced, and young animal lovers especially will find themselves enthralled. Beyond the traditional glossary and index, the book's appendices offer a host of extra information, from a timeline to a "Mammals in Folklore" section. 1997 (Orig.
Children's Literature - Kathleen Kelly
Scholastic has created a book and plant press to introduce children to botany. The small format book includes illustrations detailing the anatomy of plants and their evolution. Groups of plants are then discussed by habitat including prairies, bogs, fields, woods; by the sea; ponds and mountains. There is even a chart that explains how certain flowers open at different times of the day. The press is quite simple and instructions are straightforward.
Children's Literature - Kristin Harris
Although an activity kit is included, this is no toy-it's a nicely illustrated primer for junior meteorologists that teachers and homeschooling parents could use for a science unit. The text isn't dumbed-down, and the glossary helps with definitions like "inclination" and "millibar." The kit is a small, whale-shaped weather station that lets kids measure temperature, rainfall, and wind speed and direction. Being able to use the weather station properly is a good incentive to pay attention to the book's contents. 1997 (orig.
Children's Literature - Donna Freedman
Wind and Weather is an intriguing overview of every facet of meteorology with many references to the field of earth science. It's more than a book; it's an excellent interactive publication that is fun for children, and also useful for parents and teachers. Easy to understand text and lavish illustrations (overlays, foldouts, and three-dimensional depictions) are attention grabbers, but they also impart a wealth of information about one of nature's most misunderstood phenomenon-the weather. Also included are a handy reference guide, glossary, index, and brief biographies of the more important meteorologists from the past. Part of the "Voyages of Discovery" series that also includes Paint and Painting, Musical Instruments, Taming Fire, The World of Theater, Wind and Weather and a dozen more titles.
Children's Literature - Glen Mayers
The unflappable Ms. Frizzle leads her class on a tour through the body with stops at some "innerspace" systems. When back in the classroom, the kids outline a human body and identify the key parts and organs they "visited" on a bulletin-board-size poster. Divide children into small groups, each one responsible for a different body system. Have the groups make their reports during a Body Fair produced learning-center style with charts, drawings, information packets, and simple demonstration-type experiments at each station.
Children's Literature - Beverly Kobrin
Gr 4-6A flashy, colorful set of books with numerous die-cut pages, transparencies, fold-outs, and reusable stickers. All of the titles feature short text, lots of full-color illustrations, informative captions, and sidebars. The spiral bindings are enclosed in a standard spine, making the books easy to label and attractive to shelve. Architecture begins with simple shelters, progresses to the classical world's constructions, medieval castles and cathedrals, Japanese paper houses, bridges, London's Crystal Palace, skyscrapers, and Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. Moviemaking covers the development of motion pictures from stills, the invention of talkies and technicolor, Hollywood, competition from television, special effects and animation, and notable people, such as Chaplin and Eisenstein. Flight starts with the dream of flight and flying animals and continues with kites, gliders, balloons and dirigibles, the invention of airplanes, the Wright Brothers, early flying aces, warplanes, and how navigational systems work. Wind discusses the atmosphere, clouds, different kinds of precipitation, rainbows and mirages, weather systems and storms, climates, and forecasting the weather. None of the books goes into great depth, but all have small, useful tidbits of information scattered throughout. Occasionally, simplification of the topics results in some strange wording: e.g., drag is explained by saying that "air tries to pull the plane backward," and light is compared to "millions of tiny balls," which may be misleading to beginners. Nonetheless, due to their format, style, and appealing topics, these books are sure to be popular.Jeffrey A. French, Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library
Get ready for one wild ride! Ms. Frizzle, her students, and the magic school bus are back again as they explore the human body in this picture and audio book compilation. The class field trip takes an interesting turn when the Magic School Bus shrinks to the size of a cheese puff and everyone is unwittingly ingested by their classmate, Arnold. From there "the Frizz" and her students tour the digestive, circulation, and nervous systems, learning all along the way. This newest adaptation to the "Magic School Bus" series does not disappoint. Previous fans and new readers alike will delight in the unchanged book structure—with its engaging graphic sequences and pop out student reports containing further interesting facts. Addition of an audio component only enhances the value of this book, opening it to wider audiences. The recordings are well produced with excellent narration and sound effects. While minor changes have been made to the sequence of class reports in the audio recording, they have been applied thoughtfully to aid the flow of the reading. It is highly suggested that all libraries with children's collections purchase this book and audio. Reviewer: Kathleen Monks
Children's Literature - Kathleen Monks
