Tag: physics

My First Book Of Relativity (Sheddad Kaid-Sala Ferrón)

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Hello, friends! Our book today is My First Book Of Relativity, written by Sheddad Kaid-Sala Ferrón and illustrated by Eduard Altarriba, second in the pair’s picture book science guide series.

In the introduction, the reader is acquainted with Albert Einstein, who famously proposed theories on the relation between time and space that would change the way we thought about the universe. His theories of special relativity and general relativity – which applied to physical phenomena in the absence and presence of gravity respectively – may seem confusing, but they are applicable to any number of things in our everyday lives, and to the entire universe that surrounds us. Breaking down these big ideas into smaller, more easily-understood concepts for young readers, this guide shows how time, space, and the forces of each can relate to each other in fascinating and incredible ways.

Very cool! A companion to the pair’s previous My First Book Of Quantum Physics, this illustrated nonfiction book is simply packed with big scientific concepts broken down into more digestible facts, and in plain language. Einstein himself appears often, along with his child companion Alice and a diverse cast of extras, to help explain things like time dilation, the history of clocks, how frames of reference help measure speed and direction, and much more. The cartoonish art style is adorable yet occasionally stunning, such as the spread the features an astronaut adrift in the void of space. Improvements have been made to the layout of the informational text since the last book, and the page design is engaging yet organized and easy to read. This book is definitely for middle-grade and older readers, but JJ loved the illustrations, and we look forward to revisiting this as she gets older to learn together. A wonderful guide that invites young readers to grasp advanced science, and we love it. Baby Bookworm approved!

(Note: A copy of this book was provided to The Baby Bookworm by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)

My First Book Of Quantum Physics (Sheddad Kaid-Sala Ferrón & Eduard Altarriba)

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Hello, friends! Our book today is My First Book Of Quantum Physics by Sheddad Kaid-Sala Ferrón & Eduard Altarriba, a crash course in the science of the universe for little bookworms.

Starting with Newton and working its way through the history and notable discoveries of quantum physics, this exceedingly informational tome introduces young readers to the science of understanding our reality. Exploring historical findings such as Planck and the quanta, basics such a molecules and subatomic particles, and concepts and ideas like Schrödinger’s cat, the manically energetic and colorful illustrations act like a combination of idea maps and infographics, always tucking in a fun fact or necessary definition along with the meat of the page’s subject. By the final page, young scientists with have learned about the Higgs boson, Marie Curie, the mystery of light’s wave-particle duality, and more.

Wow. This was EDUCATIONAL, not only for little ones but for readers of any age – I have a rudimentary understanding of science, and I learned at least a dozen new things in just the first few pages. There is SO MUCH information here, which is amazing, but it also feels a bit overwhelming on some of the busier pages. The illustrations have a wonderful retro vibe that perfectly compliments, rather than competes, with the information. But this is definitely not a book for younger bookworms – there’s no linear story, complicated technical language, and the length and density of the text makes it impossible to get through in a single sitting. That being said, for readers of any age over eight hoping to learn more about science, especially visual learners, this is a treasure. Baby Bookworm approved!

(Note: A copy of this book was provided to The Baby Bookworm by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)

Baby University ABCs Series (Chris Ferrie)

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Hello, friends! We have a special 3-for-1 review today, taking a look at three board books from the Baby University series by Chris Ferrie: ABCs of Science, ABCs of Physics, and ABCs of Mathematics.

On each page of this set of ABC STEM books for little ones, readers are introduced to a letter and a corresponding scientific concept, element, reaction, idea, particle, etc. Each page is then broken into three levels of information: for babies, the just the letter, concept and illustration; for toddlers, a short sentence describing the subject; for older children, a two- to three-sentence paragraph that describes the idea in more detail.

These were great! It’s a clever, highly-informative and very accessible way to teach scientific and mathematical principles and concepts to little bookworms AND their caregivers. I especially liked the idea of breaking each page into three levels of informational chunks – it gives the books a lot of mileage as children grow and can comprehend more advanced ideas, and works perfectly for this kind of complex subject matter. The illustrations are a little plain, and there’s a lot of white space for this kind of book – I might have liked to see more engaging and/or colorful illustrations that could grow with kids as well as the text did. For the most part, however, this is a wonderful way to encourage little scientists, mathematicians and engineers to learn about the building blocks of STEM. Baby Bookworm approved!

Quantum Entanglement For Babies (Chris Ferrie)

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Hello, friends! Today’s book is Quantum Entanglement For Babies by Chris Ferrie, a introduction to the titular physics phenomenon for little ones.

Using a series of visual metaphors, the book attempts to simplify the phenomenon of quantum entanglement down to its core concepts. It introduces four balls, two red and two blue. Two of the balls are put into boxes and given to two people, Alice and Bob. Neither person knows what color ball is in their box, but because the balls are like quantum-entangled particles, we know that they will the same.

If that summary is a bit confusing, well, you’re not alone. Quantum entanglement is a pretty advanced concept for little readers to grasp, and I just don’t think this book hits the mark. To be frank, I’m not even sure I understood the subject any better after reading the book, much less JJ. One of the problems seems to be the illustrations which, while simple and boldly-colored to lay out the science neatly, are a bit flat and lifeless. The length was fine, and the language was easily digestible for readers JJ’s age, but the message never felt very clear, which is ostensibly the book’s intent. It’s hard not to compare this to the books from the excellent Baby Loves Science series by Ruth Spiro, which manages to impart complex scientific concepts in a far more approachable and colorful way. Overall, this was not a bad book; any book that encourages an interest in STEM in young children is okay by me, and other readers might find it more engaging. But for us, it didn’t quite light the spark of curiosity. So we will call it Baby Bookworm approved, with an asterisk.