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Favorite science books for an independent-reader?


Sevilla
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DS is really interested in science topics and I'd like to get him some books from the library. I've found a few 'how does this work' books, but by and large they were a bit too basic (think one sentence per page). He'd like books with a paragraph or two per page and good illustrations/pictures.

 

Links? Suggestions? Thanks!

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I'm sure you'll get many great responses. My first thought: get as many of the Let's Read and Find Out series as you can afford or find at the library. Some are better than others, but these would be a great addition to any K-3 library. Usborne has many great titles for this age group as well, including lift the flap books that have great reader appeal and fairly sophisticated information. We love the brain book.

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The Basher books may be a good bet. Maybe slightly texty and the illustrations are cartoonish and silly, but some great information and presented in a fun way.

 

Richard Hammond is an author we've had a couple of books out by - Can You Feel the Force? and Car Science. Both with nice glossy pictures and a good amount of depth and text.

 

The Elements by Theodore Gray is a glossy adult book about the elements that is just amazing. I think really science motivated readers might enjoy dipping in and out of it.

 

The "Cool Stuff" series is good and many kids really like it - glossy, pretty pictures, but with some depth. Too blurby for my taste, but good for independent readers.

 

The Way Things Work and the others in that series by David Macauley - classics.

 

National Geographic has some nice longer books but I'm having trouble finding them. I know we had this one about the em spectrum, but I'm not remembering any other titles at the moment... Oh wait, found it. They have a more recent series called Science Quest that I've seen - great stuff.

 

This is one about bioluminescence that I thought was really cool.

 

On the easier end (though not quite as simple as a Let's Read and Find Out) are the Robert Wells science books - maybe too easy though. And National Geographic also has a whole series of science easy readers, as does Usborne. So if I gauged too hard - start there instead!

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The Scholastic Question and Answer Series has some gems. They are considerably more in-depth than Let's Read and Find Out. Here's one:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Scholastic-Question-Answer-Stars-Points/dp/0439085705/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320065876&sr=1-1

 

You might as well get the Periodic Table book Farrar suggested, at least form the library. You are going end up with it eventually. Even if the text is a little advanced for right now, the pictures are outstanding. YOU'LL like perusing this book with your child, and on your own. It's a great gift book.

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