Book of Totally Irresponsible Science

Biblio Bits The Book of Totally Irresponsible Science: 64 Daring Experiments for Young Scientists by Sean Connolly, Workman Publishing, 2008 (ISBN 9780761150206)

Reading Level/Interest Age Ages 9+

Genre Nonfiction, Science

Plot Summary

The title of this book pretty much says it all: it's a book of science experiments for young scientists (and their responsible adults). The book is organized into chapters: "Core Concerns," "Harnessing the Elements," "Food for Thought," "How Moving!", "A Lot of Hot Air," "100% Natural," and "Mad Science." The titles of each experiment are clever and eye-catching, like "The Rubber Chicken Bone" which is all about acids and bases and the importance of calcium. Each experiment gives a brief introduction, a detailed list of necessary supplies, a section called "Take Care" with any safety precautions, step-by-step instructions for the experiment, and the scientific principle the experiment demonstrates. The book has a vintage look and fun photos and illustrations.

Critical Evaluation

Overall, this is a fun book that is great for browsing. Most of the ingredients are readily available, and might already be lurking in your pantry. There were many that were suitable for younger children, though the forward admonishes readers that all experiments should be attended by a responsible adult. The Viking Funeral (p.116) was the only experiment that seemed confusing in the instructions, otherwise the instructions were clear and we had good results on the few that we tried. There is a list of the experiments that is organized by the amount of time each one requires. But it would be helpful to have an index, particularly one that organized the experiments by scientific principle or even just into different branches of science (physics, botany, chemistry, etc.).

Reader's Annotation

It's weird and gross, it's an egg without its shell, it's slimey and gooey, it'll make your hair stand on end... it's science! (And if you make a mess in the house, it will make your parents crazy!)

Author Information

Sean Connolly has written over 50 books for children and adults on many nonfiction topics. He is the father of three children. (Information from this author biography is from the back of the book. Not much else was online about him!)

Challenge issues

Experiments may result in messes and some of them could be dangerous, though there are ample warnings about what to be cautious about in the text.

Booktalking Ideas

The best way to booktalk this book would be to have a nifty, quick experiment to show and tell, probably something that's not too messy! I might recommend The Bold Little Ball (p.120), where you have a funnel and a ping pong ball and you blow air out. It turns out you can show why an airplane can stay in the air using this experiment. I would feature other books that of science experiments, maybe feature a few books on inventions, kid inventors, and biographies of famous scientists. The theme could be "Crazy Ideas That Stuck!"

Curriculum Ties

Obviously there are many links to science units in this volume (duh, it's a book about science experiments!), such as Boyle's Law (Potato Gun, p.45), Volume (Air Cannon, p.35), the Bernoulli Effect (The Bold Little Ball, p.121), and Photosynthesis (Sunny Exposure p.155).

Why this book?
This is a great book to have in your home or library for those long summer vacations or rainy November days (like today!). It's easy to find something in these pages that you have the ingredients for already!

Awards
None.

Rockport Public Library owns?

Yes.

Ripley's Believe It or Not Special Edition 2010

Biblio Bits Ripley's Believe It or Not! Special Edition 2010, Ripley Entertainment Inc. , 2009 (ISBN 9780545143455)

Reading Level/Interest Age Ages 9-12

Genre Nonfiction

Plot Summary

Everything you ever wanted to know about what's wacky, weird, and wonderful in the world. Chapter headings include "On the Road," "Take Off," "Way to Live," "Art and Minds," "All Shapes and Sizes," and "Call of the Wild." Ever wonder about great triumphs of toothpick-sculpting? A LEGO tower that is almost 100 feet tall? How about a ten-mile-long gum-wrapper chain that took 40 years to make? Glow-in-the-dark tattoos? The Human Jigsaw Puzzle who is covered with tattoos, has horn implants, body piercings, and reshaped ears? All of this plus many more weird facts, people, and strange things---believe it or not!

Critical Evaluation

This title, like The Guinness Book of World Records, has great appeal for tweens. There is lots of potential for gross-out and wonderment within these pages. It is a great choice for magazine-lovers, as the pages and format read like a magazine: brief "articles" and lots of sidebars and photographs. The reading level is not high, so it may also be a good selection for reluctant readers.

Reader's Annotation

The most miniature knitted gloves, the tallest LEGO tower, mosaic art made with fruit stickers, a Cooper Mini with a toupee, and a man who cured his cancer by eating sand---all this and more within these pages! A great book for browsing and flipping through.

Author Information

Robert Ripley lived from 1890-1949 and worked as an illustrator for The New York Globe. He collected and published the quirky real-life wonders in a cartoon for The Globe. The cartoon was so popular that Ripley began traveling the world in search of new stories. According to the preface in the book, he traveled to over 200 countries and covered over 464,000 miles. There are 30 Ripley's Believe It or Not! museums worldwide, it was a TV show, and it is an annual publication. (Information in this biography is from the book itself.)

Challenge issues

There are plenty of things one might object to in this book, both aesthetically and morally (see above for examples). The larger issue of spectatorship with regards to other human beings and their choices or anomalies, could raise some lively debate.

Booktalking Ideas

A perfect book to include in a booktalk that features the theme of gross, weird and wacky. Coupling this title with The Guinness Book of World Records, The Book of Totally Irresponsible Science (Connolly), and maybe featuring the magazine National Geographic Kids could make an appealing booktalk for reluctant (boy?) readers.

Curriculum Ties

A fun creative writing prompt for this title might be to choose a page at random and to create some sort of backstory for one of the entries listed. What's it like for the Chinese waitress whose feet are turned the wrong way? How did she learn to walk? How did the man who created the longest gum-wrapper chain get his idea? What was he like as a kid, when he started it? What would it have been like to be involved with making the world's largest donut sculpture, sculpted out of real donuts?
The options are endless. It could also be an opportunity for a social studies research project or teaching research skills, to examine some of the places and details of the events and locations that are mentioned.

Why this book?
I had to have some representation of the gross-out genre in this project!

Awards
None.

Rockport Public Library owns?

Yes.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk Middle School

Biblio Bits Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk Middle School compiled by Jack Canfield et al, Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, 2008 (ISBN 9781935096269)

Reading Level/Interest Age 10-12

Genre Nonfiction

Plot Summary

In typical Chicken Soup style, this book is a collection of stories submitted by readers and fans of the series. The essays are relatively short, typically 2-3 pages. The essays are organized by topic, with sections entitled: Embarrassing Moments, Bully Payback, Being Happy with Yourself, That's My Family, Doing What's Right, and more. Both male and female perspectives are given, though the female perspectives outnumber the male ones. Middle schoolers will relate to the candor and real-life details that are included in each essay: the infatuation of a crush, social foibles, when a teacher/coach seems to pick on you, and those most embarrassing moments that we can't help but cringe while reading. There is a brief bio of each contributor, with a longer biography of each editor.

Critical Evaluation

The writing in this volume is not going to win any prizes, but that's part of the appeal. These essays are written by regular people who have experiences and stories to share, and read almost like those back-page essays in magazines. Tweens will relate to the stories for their easy-going and accessible style. The book lends itself to browsing, thumbing through and stopping to read various essays, instead of a cover-to-cover reading. This might especially appeal to younger tweens who are eager to find out what middle school is really like, but also to tweens who are looking to find validation in their own experiences. The tone is generally positive and with a strong emphasis on overcoming the hardships that are presented.

Reader's Annotation

First crushes and being crushed by rejection, the perils of the lunchroom, and the most embarrassing moments of middle school (think catapulting out of a moving swing, losing your shorts, and landing next to a towel with some hot 16 year-olds, while now completely naked!)--- it's all here in these pages.

Author Information

Jack Canfield, editor and co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series is the CEO of Canfield Training Group in California. His author bio in the book goes on to say: "He has conducted intensive personal and professional development seminars on the principles of success for over a million people in twenty-three countries." Canfield has appeared on many TV shows, received honorary doctorates, as well as a "Guiness World Records certificate for having seven books... on the New York Times Bestseller list on May 24, 1998." Canfield resides in Santa Barbara, CA.

Challenge issues

Mostly very tame and appropriate for tweens, even young ones. Nothing too graphic and nothing too heavy (though there is mention of a teen who attempts suicide).

Booktalking Ideas

Real life stories by real people about the tween and middle school years could be a viable booktalk, including this and other titles (realistic fiction and nonfiction) on the same subject. Or you could tie a booktalk to any of the section headings, such as In Like, In Love, and Just Not Into You for a booktalk around Valentine's Day, or a Mean Girls/Boys booktalk, again with some realistic fiction titles and other memoirs that relate to the topic.

Curriculum Ties

Perfect for use in a Health Sciences unit during middle school or to stimulate creative writing in an English class on memoirs.

Why this book?
It's always gratifying to read about the painful moments of growing up because it shows that the reader is not alone and that others have had similar---or worse---experiences and have lived to tell about it. I cringed through the whole chapter on Embarrassing Moments, both fascinated and horrified, while recalling a few of my own most embarrassing moments of middle school.

Awards
None.

Series/Sequel

Yes! There are Chicken Soup for the Soul books for every time of life, mood, or crisis.

Rockport Public Library owns?

Yes

Knucklehead

Biblio Bits Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Mostly True Stories About Growing Up Scieszka by Jon Scieszka, Viking, 2008 (ISBN 9780670011384)

Reading Level/Interest Age 600/9-14

Genre Nonfiction, memoir

Plot Summary

Growing up in a family of 5 brothers (with only male pets!), Scieszka has many funny tales to share about his youth with readers. Although the subtitle alludes to some embellishment on the author's part, there are so many anecdotes that seem to ring true to life. There is a lot in this volume that has to do with living in a large family (sharing Halloween costumes and hand-me-downs) and growing up during the 1950s. Profiles of Scieszka's parents and grandparents, the disappointments of sending away for a toy from the back of a comic book, and the problems of having teachers who are also the wives of God (the nuns at his Catholic school) are sure to amuse readers of all ages. In lieu of illustrations, the book has many black and white photographs from the Scieszka family album.

Critical Evaluation

Short and funny chapters make this an obvious choice for reluctant readers, in addition to an eye-catching cover that looks like a comic book. It makes a fantastic read-aloud---if you don't mind pausing for your audience to get over their fits of giggles. A special favorite with my own family (35, 34, 10, 7) was the one where the boys were in a hurry to get out the door to church, so they decided to economize on time and encircle the toilet en masse. This meant that some of the shorter guys up front ended up getting peed on. Our second favorite was when the family cat ate a candy on a car trip and the brothers had a total barf-o-rama in the back seat. Scieszka has crafted an author autobiography, with all the right details, that kids will actually read. It seems like one that will be recommended by word of mouth!

Reader's Annotation

A kaPOW! of an author autobiography that gives the real scoop on what life is like in a family of six boys---smelly, funny, loud, and potentially hazardous!

Author Information

Appointed as the first National Ambassador for Young People's Literature in 2008, Scieszka is the popular author many children's books, including the Time Warp Trio series. He studied creative writing at Columbia University in New York and was employed as a teacher at Trevor Day School, a private elementary school. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children. Information about his family and growing up in Flint, Michigan can be found within the pages of Knucklehead. (Author information in this biography was obtained at the author's website here and here.)

Challenge issues

There's bathroom humor here and no mistake! There are questions about God and religion that kids think about, told in a humorous way, which might offend the religious reader. There are also descriptions of the dumb things kids do (with warnings not to try these at home), like letting their younger brother eat a cigarette butt.

Booktalking Ideas

Author memoirs and autobiographies, stories about childhood, and funny stories are all natural themes for booktalks in which this title might be included.

Curriculum Ties

Again, not to be repetitive, but the obvious tie is to autobiography, mainly because it shows that even the smallest anecdotes can feature in an autobiography and be funny and poignant, adding to a portrait of a subject, time, and place.

Why this book?
In addition to being a great book for a reluctant (probably boy) reader and an excellent family read-aloud, this book might appeal to a reader from a small family to see how the big families get along. Funny, funny, and funny, with the family photos to prove it (like the sweater that is passed through the brothers and featured in several school pictures of different brothers).

Awards
ALA Notable book 2009, Maine Student Book Award reading list 2009-2010

Rockport Public Library owns?

Yes

The Pocket Guide to Mischief

Biblio Bits The Pocket Guide to Mischief by Bart King, Gibbs Smith, 2008 (ISBN 9781423603665)

Reading Level/Interest Age 9-14

Genre Nonfiction

Plot Summary
This small volume is full of all sorts of fun, with chapter headings such as "Practical jokes inspired by ancient Rome," "Mischief of the Rich and Famous," and "Mischievous foods." The content is diverse, with information about why bellyflops hurt, the best comebacks for various situations, how to interact with your elders, some good insult-worthy vocabulary ("flocculent," "lurdane," and "mucopurulent," to name a few), and practical jokes. The tone is breezy and conversational, and even somewhat snarky. There's a bibliography of mischief-worthy titles at the back for further reading.

Critical Evaluation

This title will be thoroughly appealing to a broad age range (into adult!) for its value on the playground or by the watercooler. The vocabulary and miscellanea are cleverly aimed at the tween audience who may have also enjoyed The Dangerous Book for Boys and the Daring Book for Girls. The layout is accesible, with frequent sidebars and lists that relate to the chapter. Local tweens describe this book as a page-turner and one in which they didn't want to miss any of the tidbits included. Adults should be wary of readers of this title, as some of the skills they may acquire through reading it are not necessarily ones we might want them to have!

Reader's Annotation

All the tricks, insults, and comebacks you'll ever need in one handy, pocket-sized book! Fun for all ages.

Author Information

Wow. You can read more about Bart King and his family (eight siblings), his wife, in-laws and spouse-in-laws at his author website than you probably want to know. It's funny reading, just like the book. King grew up in Sebastopol, CA but now resides in Portland, OR with his wife, Lynn. He has written several other books in the Pocket Guide series, including The Pocket Guide to Magic, The Pocket Guide to Games, and more.

Challenge issues

Some might react negatively to the tone of this book (which is not always respectful), as well as to some of the tricks and mischief inside its covers. There shouldn't be any unpleasant surprises, however, given the title of the book.

Booktalking Ideas

So many potentials, but I would select it for a booktalk in which I highlighted books I would like to have along with me if I were to be stranded in a boring airport, a desert island, or an elevator. Great miscellany, like the Guinness Book of World Records, but funnier. It would also be a perfect selection to have in an April Fool's Day themed booktalk, or just jokes and humor in general.

Curriculum Ties

As mentioned previously, this title has bits of history, biography, vocabulary, and cross-cultural connections sprinkled liberally throughout the text. But mainly, it's for fun and quirky edification.

Why this book?
An adorable size and vintage look drew my eye immediately. It seemed like the perfect sort of book to browse or thumb through, though others who have enjoyed it tell me that have read it cover-to-cover. A terrific selection for a reluctant reader who might not have found a niche with non-fiction yet, because the tone is so captivating and the information is delivered so well. I recommended it today to a reader who was looking to purchase a gift for a 9 year-old boy; when I described this book to her, she told me I'd nailed the perfect gift for him.

Awards
None.

Rockport Public Library owns?

No