by Wendy Pfeffer (Author) Paul Meisel (Illustrator)
Light is all around you! It comes in many forms: Light from the sun brightens our day, firelight flickers in the night, electric lights fill our homes--and some animals even make the sea glow! This nonfiction picture book is an excellent choice to share during homeschooling, in particular for children ages 4 to 6. It's a fun way to learn to read and as a supplement for activity books for children.
With lively illustrations and fun diagrams from Paul Meisel, Light Is All Around Us by Wendy Pfeffer is a fascinating look into the many ways that light brightens our world. This is a Stage 2 Let's-Read-and-Find-Out, which means the book explores more challenging concepts for children in the primary grades and supports the Common Core Learning Standards and Next Generation Science Standards.
Let's-Read-And-Find-Out is the winner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru Science Books & Films Prize for Outstanding Science Series.
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Inquiring minds in primary grades can gain understanding about a seemingly ever-present subject in this title about light in the Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science series.
Pfeffer begins her straightforward text by discussing sources of light from the sun and stars, as well as those powered by electricity. Soon readers are discovering how light travels to Earth from the sun 93 million miles away. The challenging concept of how fast light travels is made clear by Meisel’s appealing spreads comparing the speeds of various vehicles (car, plane, etc.) to light. The notion of measuring a particular light’s brightness in lumens unfolds alongside a series of spot illustrations showing how length, time, temperature and weight are measured. Bioluminescent creatures, such as common fireflies and the more exotic glowing octopus, get a quick mention before an accessible and informative explanation of how the eye works is impressively executed by both author and illustrator. Simple experiments proving how necessary light is to living things and suggested activities about shadows are provided at the title’s conclusion. A note states that this book “meets the Common Core State Standards for Science and Technical Subjects.” Newly independent readers will appreciate how closely the pictures reflect and extend the text, while younger students will gain much from listening to the book read aloud and poring over the details on each page.
An illuminating choice for the science shelf. (notes on experiments) (Informational picture book. 5-8)K-Gr 2--Light is not an easy concept to convey on a beginning-to-read level, but Pfeffer does a credible job of incorporating just the right amount of detail for these readers. She relates the science concepts she's introducing to scenarios that are in the everyday experience of young children; for example, when explaining lumens, or the units used to quantify brightness, she first discusses how temperature and length are measured. Readers will also enjoy the two easy experiments appended at the end. The colorful illustrations, created with pen and ink, watercolor, liquid acrylic, pencils, and pastels and which include children of diverse races, extend the text well and are marked by several appealing details, such as costumed children carrying glow sticks at Halloween and a glowing octopus. Another book in this series, Franklyn M. Branley's Day Light, Night Light: Where Light Comes From (HarperCollins, 1998), presents the concept of reflective light even more clearly than this title, but Pfeffer's text is shorter and features much more white space on each page, making it especially attractive for beginning readers.--Maralita L. Freeny, District of Columbia Public Library
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