Zombie Makers

Zombie Makers – True Stories of Nature’s Undead      By Rebecca L. Johnson    

Millbrook Press     2013

Once again, I can not emphasize enough the sheer number of fantastic science books that are written by women. This fact is often overlooked, yet it is well worth pointing out to students in order to counter gender stereotypes.

From the back cover:

“Are there …things… that can take over the bodies and brains of innocent creatures?

Turn them into senseless slaves?

Force them to create new zombies so the zombie makers can spead?

Absolutely.

And they are closer than you think.”

As you may well have surmised, the author has a flair for dramatic presentation.

She combines this talent with stories that are truly fascinating.

The first chapter is about a fungus that feeds on houseflies’ internal organs and tissues while keeping it alive. It then takes control of the fly’s body, and once it has produced enough spores, it manuvers the fly into the optimum position to release the spores. It then it destroys the rest of the fly’s organs and releases its spores in order to infect more flies.

Another chapter discusses a parasitic protozoa that spends part of its lifecycle in cats, and another part in rats. When it infects a rat, it alters the rat’s brain in order to make it lose its fear of cats. It also makes the rat attracted to the scent of cats.

The examples are always interesting, and they are replete with fascinating photos. My favorite shows a fungus stalk growing out of a dead carpenter ant’s head.

All too often, we see attractive books on that present the “gee whiz” factor well, but stop short on explaining the underlying science. These are potential missed opportunities to convert students’ passing interest in a subject into a lifelong relationship with science.

Fortunately, the author of this book follows the description of each zombie maker with an investigation of the science that is involved.

Highly recommended!

Butterflies

Eggs, Legs, Wings: A Butterfly Life Cycle      By Shannon Knudsen      Capstone Press   2011

Once again, I am pleasantly surprised by Capstone. They are getting better.  I used to dismiss Capstone product on a wholesale basis as not worth investigating in comparison to other available materials. Now, mind you, I still feel that they offer no shortage of uninspired, pro-forma, paint by numbers product.

However, I now keep an eye peeled for standout books from this publisher.

Books that detail the butterfly lifecycle are always in demand. The concept is addressed in the standards, and you can always count on classrooms raising caterpillars into butterflies.

This book uses an engaging graphic novel format that has elements of infographics. It is engagingly drawn, and the panels and text capture the inherent drama of the process. The text and the pictures are very well integrated, and though the format is extremely accessible, a very good amount of information is presented.

The presentation is almost cinematic, and it is constantly engaging.

Strange to say, maybe it is the expression lines or the wiggle lines, but the way the caterpillar is drawn, one can emphathize with it as it faces the challenges when growing. Kudos to the artist in this regard.

The book is perfect for 2^nd graders

Nic Bishop Snakes

Nic Bishop Snakes      Scholastic     2012

Nic Bishop is a nature photographer turned author. His books always deliver stunning photography, and as consequence, they are very attractive and engaging to students. Additionally, the text is informative, engaging, and not too dense.

The approach is that of a general overview. Instead of taking a specialized approach, this book uses different types of snakes in order to illustrate the commonalities that snakes share.

Naturally, in explaining these common traits, the author makes sure to acknowledge the diversity of different types of snakes, and their divergent characteristics within the text. Similarly, the captions for the photos, as well as the photos themselves, emphasize this as well.

The areas of emphasis can be sorted into the following categories.

General characteristics

Mobility

How snakes sense the world

Ways to regulate body tempeture

Hunting and feeding

Defense

Laying Eggs

There is also a great author’s note in the back in which Nic Bishop talks about the challenges of photographing the snakes for this book.

Life on Earth: The Story of Evolution

Life on Earth: The Story of Evolution   Steve Jenkins Houghton Mifflin 2002

I always love Steve Jenkins’ work. It is always interesting, engaging, and the art is invariably striking. Jenkins is a master of paper collage (both cut and torn) illustrations.

This book features a great introduction to the topic that is extremely friendly to younger students. It starts at the basic level of distinguishing between living and non-living things, and then it builds up to a greater complexity.

There is a brief history of life on earth from single celled organisms to small invertebrates, and then to fish with backbones. Then the story progresses from the colonization of land by plants and animals to the appearance of Homo Sapiens.

From there, the author introduces some of the ideas, concepts, and questions that began to cast doubt on the idea that life forms are static. Then he explores some of the factors of Darwin’s Galapagos experience that lead him to his theory.

Jenkins’ art is put to superb use in his explanation of natural selection at work. The images make the concept easy to understand while simultaneously providing lots of detail – all in a concise and visually arresting way that takes up only two pages.

An illustration of a frog lays 3000 eggs. Only 200 of these are not eaten by other animals. Of these 200 that hatch, only 10 make it past the tadpole stage to become frogs.

Once these fortunate 10 frogs have traversed to Jenkins’ second page panel,  they must then negotiate a gauntlet of fish, fate, birds, snakes, and a fox (all lovingly illustrated by Jenkins) to survive. By the time the frogs get to the other side of the page, there are only two left, and in making the journey across the artwork, the distinctive adaptations that allowed them to survive are highlighted.

This book also excels in its presentation of the role of variation and mutation in evolution. Once again, the information is enhanced by the fact the artist has a talent for using his artistic skill to present complexity in an easy to understand manner.

Little Kids First Big Book of Animals

Little Kid’s First Big Book of Animals     By Catherine Hughes

Published by National Geographic in 2010    128 Pages

Animal books are a regular request from both teachers and students. Though there are many great books that treat individual animals, I also favor stocking single volume animal encyclopedias.

A single volume animal encyclopedia is a good match for the eclectic curiosity that often informs students’ interest. Additionally, since single volume encyclopedias cover a range of subjects, their organizational structure can identify relationships and connections between the animals.

There are several animal encyclopedias that I rate highly; however, they are typically written for upper elementary students and up. There is a real need for this type of book for younger grades.

This particular book is not an encyclopedia per se, but it has some of the features of one, and it is a good scaffold for preparing kids to use reference materials.

The layout is very attractive and full of great photos, and the book is organized by habitat. Grassland, ocean, desert, forest, and polar regions are covered. Text is interspersed with the photos in a variety of formats, which separates the information into manageable chunks. Additionally, it is written at a 1st to 2nd grade level.

National Geographic has already published several books in this series, I shall keep an eye out for them.