The Twenty-One Balloons is one of those books that I'm glad to have read, but wish I had read when I was younger -- sometimes the magic and mystery is a bit stronger at younger ages.

I did enjoy this story that features a fair amount of absurdity, but it balanced that out by anchoring itself in an actual historical event -- the violent explosion of the volcano Krakatoa in 1883. After a ballooning accident maroons him on a seemingly deserted island, Professor Sherman is introduced to a secret society built around the volcano -- made possible due to the abundance of diamond mines about the place (also secret).

This brought back memories of Gulliver's Travels though easier to read and not nearly so strange or complicated, and also reminded me a lot of the science fiction and mystery of some Jules Verne stories. In modern times, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the movie Up was inspired by this book.

Scrounged From: A homeschool book sale

Format: Paperback
Author: William Pene du Bois
Pages: 180
Content Advisory: There is a violent explosion and a bit of peril, but nothing too scary.

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I would probably never have heard of Randall Munroe if Professor Puzzler were not such a fan of the xkcd comic strip. Munroe is a former NASA scientist, and apparently after writing the strip for a while he began serving as a "Dear Abby for mad scientists," as he puts it. So What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions is a collection of some of the most interesting (as well as bizarre) questions he has received, and his scientific answers to them, complete with his trademark stick-figure comics here and there to throw in some snappy comments.

I enjoyed reading it, despite not being really all that mathematically inclined. There are a few questions that got a bit over my head, but the majority of it should be fairly accessible to those who paid attention in high school science classes. His dry sense of humor really adds to the explanations, and many of the questions are so over-the-top that it's fun to see how he lays out his answers. 

One example of the ridiculous questions is: "How quickly would the oceans drain if a circular portal 10 meters in radius leading into space were created at the bottom of Challenger Deep, the deepest spot in the ocean? How would the Earth change as the water was being drained?"

Which leads to not only an answer, but a full illustration of an altered map of the world on the inside of the book's dust jacket, complete with new names for the resulting new land masses and bodies of water. Another question/answer involves the logistics of building a bridge across the Atlantic Ocean made entirely out of Legos.

Even if you're usually an ebook or audiobook person, this is one case where you really can't beat the real thing. 

Scrounged From: Amazon

Format: Hardcover
Author: Randall Munroe
Pages: 303
Content Advisory: Some questions involve things like explosions and death, but it's all treated very hypothetically and impersonally. At least one question deals with blood, which might make some readers queasy.

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With vibrant photos and cute, colorful illustrations STEAM Play & Learn provides a bunch of fun activities for preschool or early-elementary-age children. Whether it's making a colorful volcano out of a lemon, a battery out of a lime, or giant building blocks from lunch bags and crumpled newspaper, this book includes activities that encourage problem-solving and engineering, but many also involve creative and artistic elements too.

The activities are grouped based on difficulty: easy, medium, and difficult. Some involve a lot of adult prep including hot-gluing and using tools (though the "Newton's Cradle" out of popsicle sticks does seem pretty cool!), but fortunately most fall into the "easy" category, and some can even be done with common household items. Food coloring is a common ingredient, as well as marbles, clay, baking soda, etc.

I've already gathered some inspiration on making building materials out of cardboard tubes with holes punched in them and straws (though we used pipe cleaners instead), and the "goop" recipe looks like it will be a fun thing to do outside in the summer.

It looks like there will be something here for everyone with young kids, whether you just want something quick and easy for preschoolers, or feel like tackling a multi-step activity for older kids, and each one includes some information about the particular scientific principles that are at work, plus each one looks like it would be a lot of fun.

(Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)

Scrounged From: NetGalley

Format: Kindle
Author: Ana Dziengel
Pages: 80
Content Advisory: None

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I've already made a list about books geared toward art in general, but this one is specifically about colors. Of course, there are many many picture books that introduce colors to children, some based on particular themes that may be more exciting to some children than others. These are just some of our personal favorites out of the many fun and useful books out there.

Even though I grew up with Dr. Seuss books, it wasn't until I was an adult that I realized he had produced a "colors book" as well. However, My Many Colored Days does not contain his trademark Seussical illustrations -- instead, the manuscript of this poem was illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher, and not published until after Seuss's death. What results is a vibrant celebration of color and emotion, as each color has a particular feeling paired with it -- from happy and energetic to low and upset, the colors help to visualize an animal embodying something about each emotion. But in the end, the book emphasizes that "I'm still me" through all of it.

From another well-known children's book author, The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse is Eric Carle's tribute to German painter Franz Marc. While nothing is said of Marc in the text, there is a short informational paragraph about him at the end. Carle encountered Marc's work while growing up in Germany -- Marc was one of many "degenerate" artists whose work was banned by the Nazis, and one of his more famous paintings is of a blue horse. This book includes animals drawn in all the "wrong" colors -- a purple fox, an orange elephant, etc. It is a way of encouraging children to not let conventional expectations limit their art. For another colorful book of animals illustrated by Carle (mostly conventionally), see also Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?. Also, while it's not a "colors book," Carle's Animals Animals pairs his vibrant illustrations with sayings and poems about many different animals (most conventionally depicted, this time).

While Green is not a regular colors book that depicts every major color, it also doesn't limit itself entirely to green either. Many shades are explored here -- from jungle green to "shaded" green (trees). Also, each page includes clever cut-outs that become very different things on each side of the page. Not only that, but the paintings are lovely, full of textured detail. See my full review here.

For those who are fans of L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series, Anne's Colors is a beautiful celebration of major scenes from the first book, as a means of introducing colors. The illustrations were created with fabric and embroidery, which adds some texture and life to Anne's world. We get to see a brown dress (with puffed sleeves, of course), red cordial, blue sky, etc. See my full review here.

For children who enjoy monsters, Monsters Love Colors, by Mike Austin, is an exuberant (and of course colorful) celebration of colors and how fun it can be to color with them and mix them up. This book uses monsters to show how the primary colors can be mixed to create the secondary colors, and that when they're all together, they make a beautiful rainbow. For kids who don't like monsters (or just for a more subdued book with a similar premise), see Mouse Paint, which demonstrates the same mixing of colors.

We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movement That Defied Adolf Hitler is the story of brother and sister Hans and Sophie Scholl, as well as some of their friends, who were beheaded by the Nazis for leading the White Rose resistance movement which involved sending out leaflets in many places in Germany, especially at the University of Munich where they were students. Though they were brought up in the Hitler youth, they came to see that their government was evil and that they had a responsibility to resist it in whatever ways they could.

I had never heard of this story before hearing of the book, so I'm glad to have discovered it and thought it was timely to read about the actions of citizens who had the courage to resist what they knew was wrong, knowing what it could cost them. The Scholls gave their lives for something that they had decided was more important than they were, and by the time the war was ending, their leaflets continued to be distributed far and wide -- their actions have truly outlived them and that is a powerful legacy to leave.

This book is geared toward middle school/high school ages, and so is not a long read but includes plenty of detail, not only about the primary events, but also the timeline and context of World War 2. There are also many photos, though mostly of the period in general rather than of the Scholls themselves. One of my favorite photos was of a memorial to the White Rose Resistance Movement in Germany which is built to look like a bunch of leaflets spread out on the ground. 

Scrounged From: Our local library

Format: Hardcover
Author: Russell Freedman
Pages: 112
Content Advisory: Since this is a war story, it references acts of war, and also describes the beheading at the end, though not in gratuitous detail.

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