The Woolly Monkey Mysteries: The Quest to Save a Rain Forest Species
by Sandra Markle
Millbrook Press, 2019
Grades 3-6

Sandra Markle takes readers deep in the rainforests of Peru where the woolly monkeys make their homes. The elusive woolly monkeys act as gardeners in the rain forest where they eat fruit and spread seeds in their waste along the floor of the forest.

The book focuses on the work of scientists studying the impact of woolly monkeys on the rainforest as well as the effects of deforestation on the monkeys.

Scientist Andrew Whitmorth started a project using camera traps, cameras with infrared sensors, to observe the woolly monkeys. Whitmorth and his team use harnesses and gear to climb high into the rainforest canopy to install the camera traps. The layout of the book is a strength. A combination of photographs, diagrams and maps provide readers with information about the woolly monkeys, the rainforest and the work of scientists. Text is accessible and is chunked into sections for to elementary readers. The back matter encourages readers to become "science detectives" by going into nature to observe squirrels in trees.

Other science mystery books by Markle include:
Snowy Owl Invasion
The Search for Olinguito
The Case of the Vanishing Little Brown Bats

Just Right: Searching for the Goldilocks Planet

Just Right: Searching for the Goldilocks Planet
by Curtis Manley
illustrated by Jessica Lanan
Roaring Brook Press, 2018

Grades 2-6

The reviewer received a copy of the book from the publisher.

Curtis Manley engages young readers with the narrative of Just Right by posing questions about the solar system and beyond.

"And if there are Earth-like exoplanets, do any of them have life?

And if there is other life, is it like us?"

The informational science picture book then introduces readers to the idea of a "Goldilocks Planet" that is not too hot or cold, not too big or small, and not too soft or hard.

Manley clearly explains to young readers what a planet would need to sustain life as well as how astronomers study exoplanets. The book is just the right amount of science combined with wonder. Lanan's watercolor illustrations capture the story from a young girl's point of view. Don't miss the detailed timelines on the endpapers.

Just Right is the kind of book that will inspire learners to read more about the topic and dream of someday studying the planets or traveling into space. Add it to your elementary school and public library collections.

Visit the publisher's site to view pages from the book.

A few short reviews on some new titles…

Astronaut/Aquanaut: How Space Science and Sea Science Interact

By Jennifer Swanson

National Geographic Kids. 2018

Swanson takes readers on an amazing adventure to show the similarities between outer space and our oceans. The book explains the training one needs for both environments. In addition to the engaging narrative, there are sidebars with tips on the different expertise needed for each location and some fun, hands-on science experiments that augment the text.  Color photos are plentiful, enhancing the text. Back matter includes a glossary and index.

“Astronauts and Aquanauts share the same passion – to set off on a quest to learn more and to better ourselves.” Fabien Cousteau 

Plantopedia: a Celebration of Nature’s Greatest Show-Offs

By Adrienne Barman

Wide Eyed Editions, an imprint of The Quarto Group. 2018

This visual encyclopedia celebrates the plants that grow here on Earth. The author states, “Without plants, people wouldn’t exist - they provide us with food, and the materials we need to make things like plastic, clothes, and houses. They even clean the air, giving us the oxygen we need to breathe. Sadly, many plants are under threat from farming, road building, pollution, and climate change.”

The book is divided into fifty short chapters with headings like: The air fresheners; The big eaters; The prickly; The healers; and The imposters, to name a few. Being a visual learner, this book hits a high note with me. The illustrations, created digitally, are colorful with a comical tone. Each plant is well-captioned and includes a brief explanation on the characteristic that puts it in that category. In the chapter on ‘The Giants’, we learn that the “Kapok tree can grow to 200 feet tall – the height of a 20 story building, and, that the Oregon Maple leaves can be as big as 12 inches – the length of a ruler.”

Back matter includes an appendix of leaf shapes, glossary, and index.

The Girl with a Mind for Math: the story of Raye Montague

Written by Julia Finley Mosca; Illustrated by Daniel Rieley

Innovation Press. 2018

Told in verse, this picture book biography tells the story of Raye Montague (1935-), an African American engineer who designed the first ship by computer. Another hidden figure, Montague was a brilliant mathematician who, for many years, did not receive credit for her many accomplishments.

“Life should’ve been swell,/yet that wasn’t the case./Her boss treated her poorly/because of her race./ MANY people, like him,/tried to make her feel small./Raye just held her head high,/and she OUTWORKED them all.

Back matter includes an author’s note with more information on the life and accomplishments of Raye Montague, bibliography of articles, books, videos/film, and websites. In the acknowledgment, Mosca shares that she interviewed Montague and many of the photos came from Montague’s personal collection.  

To write this post, the books were borrowed from my local public library.

Impact by Elizabeth Rusch

Impact! Asteroids and the Science of Saving the World

Scientists in the Field series

by Elizabeth Rusch; Photos by Karin Anderson

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2017

ISBN: 9780544671591

Grades 4 and up

Note: Cathy is still on Sabbatical and will return March 2018. Until her return, Louise is managing the blog. 

Approximately sixty-five million years ago, a massive asteroid, “roughly six miles wide, smashed into Earth, sending iridium around the globe and the dinosaurs to their death.” Is it possible another asteroid is headed towards Earth and could end life as we know it? 

In this latest entry in the very popular Scientists in the Field series, award-winner nonfiction writer, Elizabeth Rusch investigates the probability of an asteroid colliding with Earth and what can be done to prevent it by interviewing scientists who study them.

Meteorite hunters are individuals who travel around the globe to areas where meteors have fallen to collect these important space rocks before they start to break down. Studying the actual fragments from an asteroid helps scientists get a more accurate picture of the meteor’s composition and where it might have come from. David Kring, a senior scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas has spent more than a decade studying an area in Arizona named, Meteor Crater. This “550 foot crater, 2.3 miles around, is believed to have been blasted out by an asteroid impact roughly fifty thousand years ago.” 

There are also scientists, and amateurs, who spend their evenings scanning the night skies, looking for moving objects that could be potential asteroids. The key is discovering whether its orbit is on a collision course with Earth. With this knowledge, scientists are making plans to destroy any asteroid on that trajectory. 

As with all books in this series, the writing is engaging and loaded with side bars giving more information on topics discussed within the text. Each page is illustrated with well-captioned, color photographs by Karin Anderson that mirror the text. Back matter includes a bibliography, glossary, source notes, and index.

What I liked is the What You Can Do! section that encourages readers to get involved in discovering, tracking, spotting an asteroid as a flash in the sky, tips for collecting meteorite fragments, and also helping NASA come up with ideas on how to search and destroy (or Deflect) an asteroid.

For science lovers of all grades, because of the chapter on how dinosaurs became extinct would make this book an easy sell to those who love anything about dinosaurs.

To write this review, I borrowed a copy of the book from my local public library.

Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions

Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions
by Chris Barton
illustrated by Don Tate
Charlesbridge, 2016
Grades K-5

Chris Barton and Don Tate collaborated on last year's successful picture book biography, The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch. I'm pleased that the duo is back with the engaging picture book about engineer, Lonnie Johnson. Johnson was a creative and inventive child who tinkered on projects and built rockets at home in Alabama. He went on to build a robot for a science fair in 1968. Later, Johnson had an important role in NASA's Galileo probe to Jupiter. He was tasked with creating a "lightweight backup system able to keep essential functions going" if power was lost.

Young readers will be especially interested in how Johnson used his knowledge of science to invent the Super-Soaker water gun while working on a new cooling system for air conditioners and refrigerators. Barton's narrative captures the essence of the determined Johnson. Tate's digital, cartoon-style illustrations have lots of kid appeal. The word "WHOOSH!" is effectively placed on several pages adding a sense of excitement and joy.

Whoosh! is an inspiring story that will make children delight in what is possible. Put Whoosh! into the hands of students who are assigned to read a biography for class. They will thank you! Be sure to read the author's note explaining how Barton came up with the idea for the book (hint: librarians are involved).


Read Don Tate's blog post about interviewing Johnson and doing research for the illustrations. 

Check out Chris Barton's blog post about NASA's Juno spacecraft.

Sally Ride: a photography of America’s pioneering woman in space by Tam O’Shaughnessy

Sally Ride: a photography of America’s pioneering woman in space

Tam O’Shaughnessy

Roaring Brook Press. 2015

ISBN: 9781596439948

Grades 6-12

I received a copy of this book from the publisher

This review reflects my own opinion and not that of the 2015 Cybils Committee.

The story of Sally Ride is lovingly shared by her friend and life partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy. The two met when Sally was thirteen and Tam was twelve. Tam and Sally would remain friends until they became a couple in 1985.

O’Shaughnessy fills the book with personal stories about Sally’s youth, her time as a tennis player, her college years, being the first woman in space, and her life after NASA.

While working on her dissertation on free-electron lasers while at Stanford, Ride got astronaut fever when she saw an add in the student newspaper. For the first time NASA was recruiting women to join the astronaut training program; Sally, someone loved physics because it explains everything. In August of 1977, Sally received e a phone call from George Abbey, director of sight operations at Johnson Space Center. 

““We’ve got a job here for you, if you’re still interested in taking it.” Sally had made the cut. She was going to be an astronaut!”

With the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, Ride knew it would be a long time before she could go on another space mission. She retired from NAS to begin a quiet life as a college professor. 

In 2001, Sally and Tam started the  company, Sally Ride Science. Our goal was to bring science to life through science events and books. We wanted to show young people that science is fascinating, creative, and fun; and that the women and men working in science are regular people who come from all walks of life.

Sadly, Sally Ride passed away from pancreatic cancer on Monday, July 23, 2012. She will forever be remembered as the woman who broke gender barriers to be the first American woman in space; was confident and hardworking with a great sense of humor; an inspiration for girls and boys to be themselves, to be courageous, and to reach for their dreams. 

This is a photobiography. O'Shaughnessy packs the book with lots of photographs and personal memorabilia, all well-captioned, that enhances the reading experience. There is only one very minor design flaw; when the type is placed against a red background the narrative difficult to read. Back matter includes a cast of characters, timeline of Sally’s life, and index. 

Highly recommended.

Watch a short video by National Geographic on Sally Ride.

Star Stuff: Carl Sagan and the Mysteries of the Cosmos

Star Stuff: Carl Sagan and the Mysteries of the Cosmos 
by Stephanie Roth Sisson
Roaring Brook Press, 2014
ISBN: 9781596439603
Grades K-4

The reviewer borrowed a copy of the book from her local library.

Star Stuff: Carl Sagan and the Mysteries of the Cosmos is an engaging picture book biography that will inspire young readers to ask "why" and "how" as they wonder about the universe. Stephanie Roth Sisson writes in a narrative style and uses comic-style illustrations and speech bubbles to describe the life and accomplishments of astronomer, Sagan.

As a child, Carl Sagan visited the 1939 World's Fair where he saw time capsules and mechanical men. His inquisitive nature and passion for learning led him to the library where he read books about stars, planets and the solar system. As young Carl Sagan reads about the solar system in the library, the layout of the picture book changes from horizontal to vertical with a fold-out page depicting the sun.

The book's title refers to Sagan's theory that "stars made the ingredients of life." Sisson explains Sagan's theories and work in a clear and concise manner that young readers will understand. Children with an interest in science will be interested in learning about the messages Sagan sent into space on the Voyager mission in an attempt to communicate with other life forms.

Two pages of back matter are chock full of source notes, an author's note, bibliography and other notes. In the author's note, Sisson explains that the hardest part of writing the book was figuring out how capture Carl Sagan's many accomplishments. Sisson decided to focus on "how a boy from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York became one of the world's most beloved and recognized scientists."  Pair Star Stuff with On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein and Look Up!: Henrietta Leavitt, Pioneering Woman Astronomer.

Scholastic Discover More: Planets

Scholastic Discover More: Planets 

by Penelope Arlon and Tory Gordon-Harris
Scholastic Inc., 2012
ISBN: 9780545330282
Grades 2 and up

The reviewer received a copy of the book from the publisher.

A few months ago, Louise and I posted a piece about how to evaluate nonfiction for children. In that post we described the different types of nonfiction texts (browser, specialized, concept, biography, and how-to).

Some nonfiction texts delve deeply into one topic. You can usually tell those books by the pages of back matter including source notes, extensive bibliography and notes from the author. Bomb: The Race to Build- and Steal- the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin fits into the "specialized" category.

Another type of nonfiction text is the "browser." Children in my library check out a lot of browsers. They love to share interesting facts and stats with their friends as they pore over the photos and information in "browsers" such as world record books. Scholastic Discover More: Planets falls into the browser category.

This book will appeal to children as soon as they open the cover. Colorful photographs and illustrations will capture their attention, and the information is presented in a manner that children who are beginning to read independently will find easy to comprehend. Scholastic offers three levels of books in the Discover More series: emergent reader, confident reader, and expert reader. Discover More: Planets is categorized as a book for confident readers.

Fans of mythology will enjoy the section that shows how each planet is named for a Roman god. A two-page timeline provides readers with important dates in space exploration. Each planet is presented on a two-page spread. The information is presented in small chunks and in the form of fact boxes and captions. The book is designed so that readers may open to any page and begin reading, which many developing readers find less daunting than reading an entire nonfiction text from cover to cover. Students in need of in-depth information for research projects may find this series limiting. However, the books will please readers who want to sit back, relax and learn about science.

Each book in the series comes with access to a free digital book. The e-book companion for Discover More: Planets was impressive. The digital text focused on space machines and included close-up photographs of the Mars rovers along with photos and illustrations of space probes and satellites. Readers will enjoy testing their space knowledge with the "Quick Quiz." Scholastic Discover More: Planets has the potential to inspire young readers to check out more nonfiction books about the solar system and outer space.

To see the complete list of books in the Scholastic Discover More series, visit the site: http://www.scholastic.com/discovermore/

The Mighty Mars Rovers by Elizabeth Rusch

The Mighty Mars Rovers: the incredible adventures of Spirit and Opportunity

(Scientists in the Field)

By Elizabeth Rusch

Houghton Mifflin. 2012.

ISBN: 9780547478814

Grades 4 and up

I checked out a copy of this book from my local public library.

While everyone is caught up in Olympic fever, Curiosity, NASA’s Mars Rover, is quietly making its way to the red planet. The super-sized rover, Curiosity, is scheduled to land on Mars on August 6 at 1:31 a.m. EDT (0531 GMT). This is not the first time NASA has sent a robot to Mars with the purpose of assessing conditions for life. The Mighty Mars Rovers: the Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity by Elizabeth Rusch, another entry in the acclaimed Scientists in the Field series, tells the greatest robot adventure of all times through the eyes of Steven Squyres, lead scientist on the mission.

On June 10, 2003, NASA sent a go cart size robot named Spirit to Mars. Less than a month later, on July 7, 2003, its twin, Opportunity, also was blasted into space. Scientists thought these robots would only survive for three months in the hostile conditions found on Mars. Frigid winters, dust storms, and blazing hot summers, yet Spirit and Opportunity, exploring halfway across the planet from each other, amazed their creators. These little dynamos surpassed all expectations to last six years. Six Years! Together, the little machines explored 25 miles (44 km) of Mars’s surface and took more than a quarter of a million photos including 360-degree views of hills, plains, and craters.

As with all the books in this series, you can depend on exciting prose, wonderful color photographs, and understandable details about the topic. The books are well documented with sources, chapter notes, further reading, a glossary, and index.

The Mighty Mars Rover is an excellent book that will give children a backstory on the development of these amazing robots and their importance in discovering if life exists on other planets. The book is timely, especially since the landing of the newest Mars Rover, Curiosity is just a few days away. (You can track Curiosity's progress by visiting the official NASA web site)

In the classroom, pair Mighty Mars Rover with SkippyJon Jones Lost in Spice for hilarious reading adventure.