History Smashers: Plagues and Pandemics

by Kate Messner Illustrated by Falynn Kosch 5 stars An interesting and informative read centered around various diseases and plagues throughout human history. This is the first I’ve read in the History Smashers series and absolutely love the format. The book focuses on smashing various myths and misinformation surrounding disease, pandemics, and vaccines. The text…

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The Whale Who Swam Through Time: A 200-Year Journey in the Arctic

by Alex Boersma and Nick Pyenson Illustrated by Alex Boersma 5 stars A captivating journey that shows how one whale, and the world, can change over the course of 200 years. Boersma and Pyenson beautifully capture a portion of a bowhead whale’s life, from learning from her mother, avoiding whalers, and raising her own calves,…

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Ada Lovelace: Poet of Science: The First Computer Programmer

3 stars I have loved seeing the recent flood of materials about Ada Lovelace and was excited to find a picture book among them. Hers is a fascinating story. The combination of creativity and original thinking with an interest in math and science makes for some truly remarkable accomplishments. I really enjoy learning more about…

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The Leaf Detective: How Margaret Lowman Uncovered Secrets in the Rainforest by Heather Lang, Illustrated by Jana Christy

4 stars A fascinating non-fiction picture book about the life and work of Margaret Lowman, aka “Canopy Meg”. The book gives an overview of her childhood, education, scientific discoveries, and conservation work all while providing interesting facts about the rainforest and animals/plants that live there and quotes from Canopy Meg herself. The illustrations are beautiful,…

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Before After by Anne-Margot Ramstein and Matthias Arégui

4 stars A lovely beast of a book, packed with gorgeous illustrations and complex ideas. Much more intricate than it first appears. When I checked this out from the library, I was expecting the obvious before/after relationships (caterpillar to butterfly, acorn to tree). But this book goes far beyond that. Some are before and after…

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Adventure Time: Princess Bubblegum (Adventure Time Best of)

3 stars This collection of shorts is all about Princess Bubblegum! A nice fit for those looking for more PB in their lives. As with any compilation, there are some hits or misses, but overall it was a fun read. There is great diversity in the stories and expressions of the characters. Some stay true…

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Black Women in Science by Kimberly Brown Pellum

5 stars An excellent read filled with remarkable women. Engaging, inspiring, and beautiful in its presentation. One thing I really enjoyed about this book was the range of sciences included. Aviation, nutrition, psychology, entomology, neurosurgery, and engineering are just a few of the many types of STEM fields discussed in this book. It was also…

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