STEM for Kids: Preschool Science

Learning becomes fun with this book about the animals of the ocean! In Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef, amazing artwork will inspire kids in classrooms and at home to appreciate the beauty and biology of coral reefs and world around us! Brilliant artwork is the star of this oceanic counting book, based on the classic children's song "Over in the Meadow". Kids will sing, clap, and count their way among pufferfish that "puff," gruntfish that "grunt" and seahorses that "flutter," and begin to appreciate the animals in the ocean. And the clay art will inspire many a project. Parents, teachers, giftgivers, and many others will find: captivating illustrations of sculptures fashioned from polymer clay. backmatter that includes further information about the coral reef and the animals of the ocean. music and song lyrics to "Over in the Ocean" sung to the tune "Over in the Meadow"! a book for young readers learning to count!

Hooray! We're going to the beach! Do you know what kind of animals live in the ocean? You'll see fish swim, dolphins leap, and jellyfish float by. Told in simple yet lively text built with sight words and using picture icons to aid reading, National Geographic Pre-readers will enchant kids just beginning their journey with books.

From author-illustrator Jarvis comes a buoyant underwater tale about a little blue fish who learns that being dazzling isn't what makes you special. Coral Reef City is home to the most brilliant tropical fish in the ocean. Sparkling and multicolored, they swim around and around, showing off. And then there's Terry. Small, blue, and ordinary, Terry spends his days playing hiding games with his friends and wishing the tropical fish would play with him, too. So with the help of his friends, Terry fashions a flashy, dazzling costume and transforms into Tropical Terry. But life as the center of attention isn't quite everything Terry dreamed it would be -- especially once Eddie the Eel shows up, hungry for dinner. In a bright, cheerful story, Jarvis uses his vibrant art and heartwarming wit to prove that sometimes the things you thought made you unremarkable are actually the most special qualities of all.

Have You Ever Seen a Flower? is a beautiful exploration of perception, the environment, and humanity. This enchanting picture book explores the relationship between childhood and nature. In this simple yet profound story, one child experiences a flower with all five senses--from its color to its fragrance to the entire universe it evokes--revealing how a single flower can expand one's perspective in incredible ways.

How do you make a garden grow? In this playful companion to the popular Tap the Magic Tree and Touch the Brightest Star, you will see how tiny seeds bloom into beautiful flowers. And by tapping, clapping, waving, and more, young readers can join in the action!

From a tiny seed to a huge, fold-out bloom, the transformative life cycle of a sunflower plays out in this bold read-aloud. To understand how a seed becomes a sunflower, you have to peek beneath the soil and wait patiently as winding roots grow, a stalk inches out of the earth, and new seeds emerge among blooming petals. "A seed falls, And settles into the ground, And the Sun shines, And the rain comes down, And the seed grows..." Leading up to a striking fold-out spread of a full-grown sunflower, the lively, bold illustrations in A Seed Grows offer a close-up view of each step of the growth cycle.

Within every tiny seed lies the secret of what's to come. First a shoot, then a stem, a leaf, a bud--and finally a brilliant sunflower reaching high for the sun. Join a young girl as she waters and watches, celebrating the everyday miracles of growth and life.         

Ladybug, ladybug do you know me?  My thorns are prickly, but my blossoms are soft.  I am a rose.  This is a garden of a book--filled with the scents, textures, colors, and shapes of the first flowers young children notice.  Featuring a striking design that pairs a vivid silk-screen illustration of a flower with a simple riddle. 00 Kansas Bill Martin, Jr. Picture Book Award Masterlist

In an exuberant display of color, Lucy Cousins invites little ones to imagine themselves as brilliant birds. Birds of all feathers flock together in a fun, rhyme-filled offering by the creator of Maisy. From the rooster's "cock-a-doodle-doo" at dawn to the owl's nighttime "tuwit, tuwoo," the cheeps and tweets of many bright and beautiful avian friends will have children eager to join in as honorary fledglings. This day in the life of birds will hold the attention of even the smallest bird-watchers, whether at storytime or just before settling into their cozy nests to sleep.

From award-winning author David Elliott and Ezra Jack Keats Award-winning illustrator Evan Turk comes a vibrant celebration of color, birds, and birdsong--perfect for fans of Eric Carle or Chris Raschka. Red, big / red, small / Red sits on my garden wall. / Blue, low / blue, high / Blue has taken to the sky.... This tender and stirring read aloud uses the beauty of birds to invite readers to observe primary and secondary colors. With lyrical rhyme and striking pastel artwork by rising star-illustrator Evan Turk, Color the Sky masterfully captures childlike curiosity, wonder, and joy. Not only does it beckon readers to answer the call of exploring the outdoors, it encourages children to embrace the differences within themselves and the world around them.

A follow-up to Stack the Cats, Balance the Birds is about balance and relative size. When birds spot a tree and decide to land on its branches, the readers can help them find the perfect balance. Like Stack the Cats, Balance the Birds introduces key early math skills for toddlers.

With a fine eye for detail, a girl observes and describes birds--their sizes, their colors, their shapes, the way they move and appear and disappear, and how they are most like her. She imagines what it would be like if clouds looked like birds, or if she could ask the birds questions. Though she can't fly, the girl can do one thing birds do--she can sing. Vibrant and lively paintings accompany a text pitched precisely to preschoolers in this husband-and-wife collaboration.

Some birds are big, some birds are small, and some birds are just incredibly tall. Some birds are caged, but most birds are FREE. A much better life, I'm sure you'll agree! Swooping and squawking, flapping and fluttering, there are many different kinds of birds in the world, all with their own special traits and abilities. Some Birds celebrates the colors and shapes of beaks and feathers with a rollicking, rhyming text and intricate design. The lively illustrations with a mod, retro feel are full of style and mesmerizing detail. Some Birds is a lovely gift that will have children and adults tweeting for more from a promising new talent in the design world.

In this green city, neighbors take care of all living things: people, plants and animals, too! Many people choose a bicycle, scooter or their own two feet to get where they need to go. A family collects the rain to water their garden, while solar panels capture the energy from the sun; pipes gather heat from underground, and a windmill turns to power the community. Residents keep hens and hives in their yards, and care for flower beds that feed bees, birds and butterflies. Here, people all work together to make the city green. Can we do the same where we live?

A young girl and her father spend a day in the city, her city, traveling to the places they go together: the playground, the community garden, the market, an outdoor concert. As they do, the girl describes what she senses in delightfully precise, poetic detail. Her city, she says, "rushes and stops, and waits and goes." It "pitters and patters, and drips and drains." It "echoes" and "trills," and is both "smelly" and "sweet." Her city also speaks, as it "dings and dongs, and rattles and roars." And sometimes, maybe even some of the best times, it just listens.

In this magical picture book, a young boy spends an overnight visit with his nana and is frightened to find that the city where she lives is filled with noise and crowds and scary things. But then Nana makes him a special cape to help him be brave, and soon the everyday sights, sounds, and smells of the city are not scary--but wonderful. The succinct text is paired with watercolor illustrations that capture all the vitality, energy, and beauty of the city.

A young boy discovers the excitement and unexpected delight of exploring his city--and so will readers of this vibrant picture book. Max is asked to mail a letter for his mother. As he walks through his neighborhood in search of a mailbox, he encounters all sorts of interesting things like falling leaves dancing in the wind, skyscrapers towering in the distance, and junk being piled into a garbage truck. All around him adults hurry on their various errands, too busy to appreciate these wondrous details. His walk through the city leads Max to discover that the mailbox is actually right next door to his own house.

Oliver Jeffers, arguably the most influential creator of picture books today, offers a rare personal look inside his own hopes and wishes for his child--and in doing so gifts children and parents everywhere with a gently sweet and humorous missive about our world and those who call it home. Insightfully sweet, with a gentle humor and poignancy, here is Oliver Jeffers' user's guide to life on Earth.

This interactive bedtime story proves nighttime isn't scary at all. The gentle journey from sunset to sunrise shows even the youngest children the magic of the nighttime sky--and lets them make magic happen! A companion to the popular and acclaimed Tap the Magic Tree. What happens while you're sleeping? With lush, beautiful watercolors and cut-paper collage, Christie Matheson reveals the magic of the nighttime sky, using the same kinds of toddler-perfect interactive elements as her acclaimed Tap the Magic Tree. Wave good-bye to the sun, gently press the firefly, make a wish on a star, rub the owls on their heads, and . . . shhhh. No two readings of this book will be the same. That along with the gentle, soothing rhythm, makes Touch the Brightest Star a bedtime winner--no matter how many times you and your child read it. "This exploration of the world at night should be inviting to even the very youngest children, who will also enjoy its imagination-fueled and child-powered interactivity."--The Horn Book

A spaceman, a robot, and a cheeky monkey use a most unusual method to protect Earth from hungry, googly-eyed moon aliens. Ben Joel Price's offbeat rhymes and colorful, retro-style illustrations evoke a funny little world away from ours, which will captivate readers young and old.

April Pulley Sayre, award-winning photographer and acclaimed author of more than sixty-five books, introduces concepts of science, nature, and language arts through stunning photographs and a poetic text structured as a simple thank-you note. Touching on subjects from life cycles to weather, colors, shapes, and patterns, this is an ideal resource for science and language art curriculums and a terrific book for bedtime sharing.

Size is relative, but everything is worth seeing in this concept book from the illustrator of And Tango Makes Three. Beginning with a beautiful close-up of a "big" ladybug, this book artfully depicts the concept of scale. The book zooms out from the bug, to a flower, to a cow, all the way to an expansive spread of sky. Then Henry Cole masterfully zooms back in from that sky, to a tree, to a house, to a window, all the way to the end where an adorable dog is taking a "little" nap. In this ideal introduction to the concept of scale, young readers will love the lush illustrations of the animals, objects, and scenery of a farm, and they'll delight in seeing how something "big" can suddenly seem "little" with the turn of a page!

Get the buzz on bugs in this picture book from Angela DiTerlizzi! Grab your magnifying glass! Find your field guide! And come hop, hide, swim, and glide through this buggy backyard world! Featuring insects including butterflies and moths, crickets and cicadas, bumblebees and beetles, this zippy rhyming exploration of backyard-bug behavior is sure to have insect enthusiasts of all ages bugging out with excitement!

When bees suddenly start buzzing through her classroom, Prunella must use her buggy know-how to save the day. Young readers won't be able to resist this book's intriguing bug facts, jaunty read-aloud text, and whimsical illustrations. "This plucky heroine is sure to be an inspiration to every girl with an interest that is outside the norm." - Kirkus Reviews "[A] clever introduction to entomology." - School Library Journal

From the inspired team behind Cars Galore comes a new read-aloud buzzing with nonstop rhymes and swarming with comical retro illustrations. Bugs, bugs, BUGS galore creep, slither, stink, and squirm; scurry, fly -- ewww, a worm! Dig in as a flurry of bugs of every shape, size, and color crawl across the page in a veritable infestation of whimsy and humor. Cars Galore creators Peter Stein and Bob Staake return to thrill (and gross out) bug enthusiasts of all ages, offering an in-the-dirt, high-in-the-sky critter tale sure to leave readers wiggling and stampeding for more.

Some bugs hop. Some bugs make honey. Some bugs light up the sky! Come explore the amazing world of bugs! The friendly bugs that crawl all over these pages include hungry caterpillars, busy ants, and graceful dragonflies. Which one is your favorite?

Secret cities buzz and bustle with itty-bitty hard work hustle. Crouch down low--hush. You'll see how bugs build a community!   Ready with their magnifying glass, camera, and scrapbook, two young sisters head into nature to discover all the bugs they can. And these critters are hard at work! From carpenter ants chewing up old trees (like builders clearing a construction site) to butterflies spreading pollen (like gardeners planting seeds) to crickets making beautiful sounds (like musicians playing instruments), bugs belong to a busy world just like people. With amazingly detailed photographic illustrations of realistic creatures and environments--created with coffee grounds, flower petals, foam footballs, and more--and a bouncy, rhyming text, Hustle Bustle Bugs will have young readers looking more closely at the grass, leaves, and trees around them--and appreciating the community they share!