Kids Will Love the New Chapter Book STEM Series, "Acadia Files" -- These Books Explore Science Through Adventure! (Review)

Disclosure:  I was sent review copies from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All views shared are mine and mine alone.

Buy now in hardcover from Amazon for only $11.79

"The Acadia Files: Book One, Summer Science presents five summer stories, each one followed by Acadia’s science notebook pages with her simple explanations and lively, whimsical drawings of natural phenomena. The Acadia Files is a fun introduction to the wonders of science, using real-world scenarios to make scientific inquiry relatable and understandable. Parents and educators can use The Acadia Files to let kids discover for themselves what it’s like to be curious about the world and to satisfy that curiosity with scientific thinking.  

The Acadia Files: Book One, Summer Science offers an engaging new way to apply the scientific method to real-world scenarios.

Topics included:

• The Missing Blueberries -- introduces the scientific method
• It's all About the Genes
• Where Sand Comes From
• Why the Sun Rises Early in Summer
• Tides and Gravity

Great for teaching STEAM

Acadia Greene wants answers. Who keeps stealing her blueberries just as they ripen on the bushes? Why is her hair curly? Why does the sun wake her up so early in the summer? Why does the tide submerge her sandcastles? How do rocks become sand? Acadia doesn’t set out to do science, but she has these important questions and her scientist parents refuse to simply feed her the answers. “Conduct an experiment,” they tell her. “Use the scientific method.” So Acadia gathers evidence, makes hypotheses, designs experiments, uses the results to test her hypotheses, and draws conclusions. Acadia does science.

Acadia Files for autumn, winter, and spring will follow on future lists."

--

Buy now in hardcover from Amazon for only $6.22

(Also available in Kindle Format)

"The Acadia Files: Book Two, Autumn Science presents five stories of fall, each one followed by Acadia’s science notebook pages with her simple explanations and lively, whimsical drawings of natural phenomena.

Topics Included:

• The Frog Pond
• Why Leaves Changes Color
• Drinking Dinosaur Pee
• What Time is It?
• The Germ War

----

My Thoughts:

My girls recently finished reading Book One and Book Two in the Acadia Files series, which is a STEM-Inspired chapter book series from Katie Coppens. These books read like a chapter book and lab notebook, which makes it not only fun for kids to read, but also educational.  I first learned about these books from fellow homeschool friends who stumbled upon them when shopping Amazon.  They loved how the author was a teacher, and how she shared science topics in an easy to understand and follow along format. And, at the end of each chapter, there are a few pages filled with illustrations and notes, that will read like a lab notebook.  This is the part that I really liked.  

In addition to each chapter (about a different science topic) and the laboratory pages that follow. there is a also a glossary page featuring new scientific terms shared in the text for review.  There are also questions posed at the end of each chapter that Acadia wonders about.  I really like these questions as it had my girls thinking about the questions and coming up with a hypothesis for each, and ways to test their hypothesis in order to help Acadia answer these questions posed.

Like I said, my girls recently finished reading the first two books in the Acadia Files series, and they loved both of them.  Even though my girls love science and STEM learning, I know many kids who struggle to get about science.  After reading these books with my girls, I could see why homeschooling friends loved and  recommended these new chapter books.  They said their children found themselves getting excited about science and things like water cycle, time zones, immune system, genetics and tides and gravity -- all of which are covered in the first two books in The Acadia Files series.  

With summer fast approaching, now would be a great time to pick up The Acadia Files to share with your kids as part of their summer reading.  I can't wait to  check out the different links shared at the end of each book in the "Further Exploration" section. This includes links about useful websites for readers to remain active in learning about science topics in the book.  They are also great for educators and homeschool parents to review and share with students for those looking to dive deeper into each science topic covered.

I could go on and on about how great The Acadia Files Book One and Book Two are, but instead, why not pick up these books and share them with your kids, and see for yourself why we love them, and so many other families are fans of Katie Coppens new science-based chapter series for kids.  And, be on the lookout for Book Three and Book Four, both of which will are available now for pre-order.  

Book 3 and 4 are already in the pipeline and will be releasing in November for Book 3, and Feb. 2020 for Book 4. You can pre-order these books now through Amazon, as well as through other book sellers like Barnes and Noble.

----

About the Author: 

Katie Coppens is a middle school English and science teacher. She lives in Maine with her husband and two children. Go to www.katiecoppens.com to learn more about her publications.

The author, Katie Coppens writes a recurring column for NSTA's middle school magazine Science Scope on science and literacy called "The Integrated Classroom."

color

Disclosure:  I was sent review copies from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All views shared are mine and mine alone.

Read more »

Baby University Books are the Best and Easiest Way to Introduce Kids of All Ages (and Even Grownups) to Big Ideas and #STEM Learning (Review) @Sourcebooks

Disclosure: I was sent review copies from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All views shared are mine and mine alone.

If you follow my blog then you know that I homeschool my two girls.  Right now they are doing third and forth grade work.  One of their favorite subjects is science, so I am always looking for books to pick up and read to them as part of our schooling to get them even more excited about science, as we all know the field of science is populated by a lot of women.  My hope is to show them that if they want to pursue a job in the science field, that they can do it, even if they are a girl.

I am always scouring the Internet and bookstore shelves looking for books for kids about science.  And, sometimes I am sent emails from publishers sharing new book releases for kids that fit the bill.  A couple of months ago, the folks at Source Books reached out and asked if I wanted to check out their  Baby University books.  At first, I thought these books would be too young for my girls based on the name of the series. But, after researching them further online I saw that these books, written by Chris Ferrie, who is also an award-wining physicist with a PhD in Applied Mathematics, were written with three levels of learning in mind.  Level 1 was for baby basics, level 2 was for toddler time and level 3 was for older kids who wanted to learn more.  After learning this, I jumped at the opportunity to review and share a sampling of the books with my girls.

I was sent the following books all about science by Chris Ferrie:

My girls first noticed the Baby University logo on the back of the books and were wondering why I was sharing baby board books with them. But, then when we sat to read them together, they could see that they were advanced in the content, and depending on the child's age, they can take in and comprehend the scientific content differently.   I had saved these books for last month as we were doing a whole month about rocket science, quantum physics and the ABC's of Science, and I knew that they books would be perfect to share at the end of each week to review and discuss what we had learned earlier in the week.

My girls really enjoyed these books.  They loved how the content was written so that they could understand it, and loved how their were illustrations to go along with the text, to help them better understand everything.  On the back of the book there is a phrase, "It only takes a spark to ignite a child's mind," and these books do a great job in getting kids of all ages excited about science.

"Ferrie says, "These books are breaking the rules of age-appropriate learning. For decades, we have taught our children about farm animals and construction equipment―things some children may never see in real life. Meanwhile, children are holding supercomputers in their hands and we are not teaching them about science or technology. We teach our children to say lengthy words like hippopotamus—why not teach them to say proton, neutron, or electron?""

I joked with my girls that they were rocket scientists after what we learned in our homeschooling and after reading Chris Ferrie's books.  They looked at me, and said that they needed to study further to be as good as the author and the rocket scientists of the world.  But, thanks to what they learned thus far, they are excited about science and want to learn more. Kids' brains really are like sponges, and they are always eager to learn and absorb all the information you are willing to share with them.  That is one reason why reading to your children, especially at bed time is a must, as they will develop a lifelong long for reading, get to enjoy quiet quality time with you, and will usually learn something new based on a book you share with them, or have their imaginations sparked because of the story line.

I will definitely be keeping an eye out for future Chris Ferrie releases, and have since picked up his other books in the Baby University series to share with my girls.  We recently finished reading the Quantum Computing book, which my girls loved, as my husband is teaching them coding.  He is a computer programming, so he gets excited when the girls want to learn about computers, and show an interest in coding and programming, which are two passions of his.

If you love sharing fun educational books with your children -- babies through young readers -- and they show an interest in STEM, then you want to check out Chris Ferrie's Baby University science books for kids.  Once you read them with your children, you will see why we were instant fans, and can't wait to grow our book collection.

Check out these recent April/May releases in the series

MORE TO COME:

ABCs of Biology (June 2018)

Evolution for Babies (June 2018)

Astrophysics for Babies (July 2018)

8 Little Planets (October 2018)

---

About the Author:

Chris Ferrie, the author of the series, is an award-wining physicist with a PhD in Applied Mathematics. He is also the father of four budding young scientists. Chris originally wrote and self-published Quantum Physics for Babies and Rocket Science for Babies as a way to each his children science and technology concepts early. Ferrie believes introducing babies & toddlers to math and science promotes literacy in these subjects when they encounter them in school. 

Disclosure: I was sent review copies from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All views shared are mine and mine alone.

Read more »

Holiday Gift Guide 2017 -- Kids Will Love "The Super Duper Book of 101 Extraordinary, Exciting, and (Occasionally) Explosive Science Experiments" (Review)

Disclosure: I was sent a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  All views shared are mine and mine alone.

My girls can't get enough of science and science experiments. They love when I say we are doing experiments.  And, the bigger the explosion or reaction the happier they get.  Do you kids love doing science experiments at home? If so, then you will want to check out this book chock full of fun, mind blowing experiments kids (and adults) of all ages will enjoying doing.  Like the title says, there are 101 experiments to do, so this book will keep kids busy for some time to come.  We have been doing a couple experiments a week from this book as part of school, and while there have been a few duds that didn't impress the girls that much, all the others were a hit.  

Having been homeschooling my girls for 4 years now, I have tried out dozens of at-home science experiment books.  Out of all the books I have used over the years, I have to say that this book is my favorite by far.  I love how the book includes experiments that are not only safe and fun, but that the supplies needed are easy to find, with most stuff you have laying around the house or available at the local market or retail store.  Other books  I have used, I had to go and look up supplies to find out just what they were and then special order chemicals and liquids as you can't find them locally.

Last week was a hit with this book as the girls helped make homemade ice cream and are currently growing their own rock crystal candy.  Prior to doing the experiments, I referenced the scientific method and safety measures that is included in this book, as a refresher for the girls.  After we did each experiment we talked about what had happened and how the reactions occurred. This book is well written and include wording and explanations that young children can understand.

We can't wait to try out all the other experiments in this book, and look forward to more science fun books by this author.  If you have a budding scientist in your life, or just love doing fun science experiments on rainy days with the kids, then you will want to check out "The Super Duper Book of 101 Extraordinary, Exciting, and (Occasionally) Explosive Science Experiments". You will be amazed at how easy these experiments are to set up and do.  My personal favorites are the tasty treat experiments like the ice cream one we did the other day.  We may just have to do this experiment again soon. :-)

More about this book:

"Encourage your little scientist with great experiments and activities even adults won't know the science behind! Great at-home experiments are simple, safe, and guaranteed endless fun for the whole family. This super duper book even includes delicious recipes for amazing treats! Watch ice cream and sugar rock crystals form before your very eyes. This book also includes interviews with contemporary scientists and features on historical ones to inspire the future scientist!"

978-1-60433-750-1
​Paperback, 6.8" x 8.6", 208 pages
$16.95 | $22.95 CAN

Disclosure: I was sent a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  All views shared are mine and mine alone.

Read more »