Beautiful science

Many writers/illustrators are expert at distilling non-fiction into an attractive form for juniors. Adding the element of beauty and magic necessary to awaken real interest, however, is a different matter altogether.The aptly-named Read and Wonder series used to do this very well, and three recent science books in picture book format have the same irresistable quality of magic and mystery so often lacking in factual material.

Manfish : a story of Jacques Cousteau (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2008) stresses the wonder factor.
‘From the beginning little Jacques loved water….and water made him wonder. He wondered why ships floated. Why he floated. And why rocks sank.’
We all know where this initial sense of wonder led little Jacques as he grew to adulthood. Jennifer Berne’s lyrical prose is perfectly matched by Eric Puybaret’s illustrations in this story of a boy who loved the sea so much that he inspired a whole world to share his enthusiasm. The strong conservation message speaks for itself without preaching, and, as with the other two books discussed here, there is a useful factsheet at the end. Manfish could inspire young scientists from new entrants to intermediate school level, and will delight anyone who loves a beautifully presented picture book.

Susan Stockdale’s Fabulous Fishes (Atlanta: Peachtree Publishers, 2008) is simple enough to be used as an early reader. Stockdale’s rhyming text introduces young readers to a range of exotic and familiar varieties of fish, from the sardine to the whale shark with a flotilla of shapes, sizes and colours in between. The rhyme flows well—not always the case with rhyming picture books—and has a catchy lilting rhythm to accompany the very appealing one-page-to-a-fish illustrations. Each fish is given a detailed factual description alongside the thumbnail reproductions at the back of the book. While aimed at a younger audience than Manfish, this has enough real information to make it useful well beyond the junior primary level.

The same applies to This is the Oasis, (Frances Lincoln, 2005) from the well-known writer/illustrator team of Miriam Moss and Adrienne Kennaway. Its alliterative text describes different aspects of the Sahara Desert in near-haiku form, making it as useful for encouraging writing skills as for its very informative content on the red-gold beauty of desert ecology.

Here is a selective list of recent picture books with a science theme.

Engaging the children in science activities using picture books is the aim of Science Postcards. You can get free downloads and pupil notes to help with science teaching in the classroom.

Reviewed by Cecily Fisher