10 Great Read Aloud Science Books

The 24th of February is World Read Aloud Day. It celebrates people coming together to read books, particularly adults and children. The day was originally organised in by Pam Allyn, the founder of LitWorld, as an initiative to promote global literacy.

World Read Aloud Day was created in 2010 by LitWorld, a New York City based non-profit 501(c)3 organization working locally, nationally and globally to lead and implement transformational literacy programs. It all began when LitWorld Founder, Pam Allyn, read “Where the Wild Things Are” aloud to a group of young boys in a first grade classroom. After hearing about the adventures of Max, one of the boys said, “Mrs. Allyn, let’s make sure everyone knows how good this feels. Let’s have a holiday for the read aloud.” – Maria Sosa (AAAS, SB&F)

I’ve adapted a list of science read aloud books put together by SB&F’s (Science Books & Films, AAAS) Maria Sosa. Click here to read her entire article. Make sure you make time to read a science book with the little person in your life! Reading is a lifelong gift that you can give them.

For more information about World Read Aloud Day, go to LitWorld’s Homepage: http://www.litworld.org/wrad/

A Chicken Followed Me Home by Robin Page

Why did the chicken cross the road? To follow you home! Learn all about a not-so-basic bird in this delightful nonfiction picture book. What’s that? A chicken followed you home? Now what do you do? Celebrated author-illustrator Robin Page leads a step-by-step, question-and-answer-style journey through the world of chickens. Along the way you’ll explore different breeds, discover different types of coops, and learn everything there is to know about chicken reproduction and hatching. Gorgeous, playful, and filled with facts, this engaging nonfiction picture book shines new light on a very familiar fowl!

 

Feathers: Not Just for Flying,  by Melissa Stewart and illustrated by Sandra S. Brannan

Young naturalists meet sixteen birds in this elegant introduction to the many uses of feathers. A concise main text highlights how feathers are not just for flying. More curious readers are invited to explore informative sidebars, which underscore specific ways each bird uses its feathers for a variety of practical purposes. A scrapbook design showcases life-size feather illustrations.

 

 

High Tide for Horseshoe Crabs, by Lisa Kahn Schnell and illustrated by Alan Marks

Here come the horseshoe crabs! Each spring, millions of horseshoe crabs lurch onto the shores of Delaware Bay. In the moist sand they mate and lay their eggs. Here come the birds! Drawn by the horseshoe crab eggs, thousands of migrating shore birds descend upon the bay. They are exhausted and very, very hungry. Here come the people! Curious about the commotion, people arrive from all over the globe. For a few short weeks, they are part of one of the most extraordinary events in the animal world. Come join the frenzy!

 

One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia, by Miranda Paul and illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon

Plastic bags are cheap and easy to use. But what happens when a bag breaks or is no longer needed? In Njau, Gambia, people simply dropped the bags and went on their way. One plastic bag became two. Then ten. Then a hundred. The bags accumulated in ugly heaps alongside roads. Water pooled in them, bringing mosquitoes and disease. Some bags were burned, leaving behind a terrible smell. Some were buried, but they strangled gardens. They killed livestock that tried to eat them. Something had to change. Isatou Ceesay was that change. She found a way to recycle the bags and transform her community. This inspirational true story shows how one person’s actions really can make a difference in our world.

Raindrops Roll, by April Pulley Sayre

Discover the wonder of water in this refreshingly fun and fascinating exploration of rain, raindrops, and the water cycle from the creator of Rah, Rah, Radishes! and Go, Go Grapes! Raindrops drop. They plop. They patter. They spatter. And in the process, they make the whole world feel fresh and new and clean. In this gorgeously photo-illustrated nonfiction picture book, celebrated author April Pulley Sayre sheds new light on the wonders of rain, from the beauty of a raindrop balanced on a leaf to the amazing, never-ending water cycle that keeps our planet in perfect ecological balance.

 

 

Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes, by Nicola Davies and illustrated by Emily Sutton

Find out how the smallest things on the planet do some of the biggest jobs in this intriguing introduction to the world of microbes. All around the world — in the sea, in the soil, in the air, and in your body — there are living things so tiny that millions could fit on an ant’s antenna. They’re busy doing all sorts of things, from giving you a cold and making yogurt to eroding mountains and helping to make the air we breathe. If you could see them with your eye, you’d find that they all look different, and that they’re really good at changing things into something else and at making many more microbes like themselves! From Nicola Davies comes a first exploration for young readers of the world’s tiniest living organisms.

Tree of Wonder: The Many Marvelous Lives of a Rainforest Tree, by Kate Messner and illustrated by Simona Mulazzani

Deep in the forest, in the warm-wet green, 1 almendro tree grows, stretching its branches toward the sun. Who makes their homes here? 2 great green macaws, 4 keel-billed toucans, 8 howler monkeys, 16 fruit bats, 32 fer-de-lance vipers, 64 agoutis, 128 blue morpho butterflies, 256 poison dart frogs, 512 rusty wandering spiders, 1,024 leafcutter ants. Count each and every one as life multiplies again and again in this lush and fascinating book about the rainforest.

 

You Nest Here With Me, by Jane Yolen and Heidi Stemple and illustrated by Melissa Sweet

With rhyming text, this soothing bedtime book is an ode to baby birds everywhere and sleepy children home safe in their own beds. As a mother describes to her child how many species of birds nest, from pigeons on concrete ledges to owls in oak tree boles to swallows above barn doors. The soothing refrain of “you nest here with me” eases her little one and readers alike to slumber. Combining their poetic writing and their love of birding, mother and daughter Jane Yolen and Heidi Stemple have written what is sure to become a bedtime classic.

Waiting for Ice by Sandra Markle and illustrated by Alan Marks

Based on a true story, WAITING FOR ICE follows an orphaned polar bear cub as she struggles to find food on Wrangel Island, far north in the Arctic Ocean. Left alone at ten months old, the young female finds herself up against other bears who are bigger and stronger than she is—and just as hungry. Due to rising temperatures, the bears are trapped on the island until the ice packs reform. Only then can they venture out to hunt for seals and whales, using the ice as life rafts.

 

 

Winter Bees and Other Poems of the Cold, by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Rick Allen

In this outstanding picture book collection of poems by Newbery Honor-winning poet, Joyce Sidman (Song of the Water Boatman, Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night), discover how animals stay alive in the wintertime and learn about their secret lives happening under the snow. Paired with stunning linoleum print illustrations by Rick Allen, that celebrate nature’s beauty and power.