Recs for simple science fact books?

[BeachBum]

My son is 2.75 and is just very interested (as I'm sure they all are) in simple science. A zillion times a day I find myself explaining stuff like
that those are fins to help fish swim, they don't breath air, they use gills. Yes, some turtles can swim, no they don't have gills, they hold their breath like you do. Yes, that lizards tail is broken, it will grow back. That is a caterpillar, it will grow and turn into a butterfly.

We have a lot of books that show pictures of animals, but none that have good "facts" that are easy to grasp about the animals. Plus, I don't always know the answers to his questions.
Any suggestions?

[Meatball Mommie]

I'd be interested in replies to this as well. I have a 3 yr old as well as an almost 5 yr old. We have read science books that are appropriate comprehension wise for my 5 yr old, but they are a bit over my 3 yr old's head ;) They were books in the "Let's Read and Find Out" series (e.g. What Will the Weather Be?; "What Makes Day and Night"; "Air is All Around You"). I found them on Amazon and there are a ton in that series at 2 levels. I then requested them at my local library. Both my kids loved the one about chickens hatching from eggs ("Where Do Chicks Come From"). I just skipped the parts that were a bit too technical to make it flow better for my 3 yr old.

My 5 yr old is VERY interested in science. His favorite bedtime story is just us talking about his bones and how they connect together and the muscles that make his body move! I'd love something about tadpoles/frogs and caterpillars/butterflies too. I think we can find stuff just by searching Amazon and reading reviews but someones recommendations are appreciated.

Karen

[Meatball Mommie]

oops double post

Karen

[LBW]

We loved the Magic Schoolbus series at that age - and actually still do. When DS1 was younger, I skipped a lot of the extra facts and side stories that appear on all of the pages and just read the main narrative. We also like the Let's Read and Find Out books.

[BeachBum]

I just wanted to thank you guys for suggesting the "Let's read and Find out" series. We have since purchased a ton of the level 1 books and they are just what we were looking for. My son really loves them.

I haven't found any of the Magic school bus series, but will be on the look out for those too.

[bubbaray]

Have you checked out Usborne books? Amazon sells them, but they also do parties. I find they have a lot of non-fiction books that are good.

[brittone2]

Usborne, and the Magic School Bus (these drive me a bit batty but they are definitely educational and DS enjoys them. They might be a little much for under 3s though. DS is 4.5).

I hit a lot of library book sales and get nonfiction there.

eta: DH's great aunt was a children's librarian and we still have a bunch of great books that she bought for him. We have a lot from National Geographic that pertain to certain animals. There's one book on elephants, one on chimps, etc. etc. and my kids enjoy them. I'm not sure if they are still around, but we have a lot and they get read pretty often.

[Twoboos]

THanks for posting about the "Let's read and find out" series. Hopefully the one about bones will fill DD2's wish to see her bones!!

[brittone2]

I thought of you tonight. I went to drop off some donations to Goodwill, and I hit their book section (my local store always has a freakishly good selection of books).

I found The Egg (a Scholastic book) for the kids. It was really neat and would be appropriate for a young child. It shows the inner anatomy of a chicken, where the egg forms, what the chick looks like inside the egg, other animals that lay eggs, etc.

[kayte]

I have a few series to suggest..

A First Discovery Books series from Scholastic -- This is the series that Beth's Egg book belongs to. These have several pages in each one that are printed on clear acetate so you can see how some things grow or what they look like inside easier. My 2.5 DD (who sounds very similar to your dc) loves these books.
http://tinyurl.com/6joaye
(amazon search results)
We bought a bunch of these from eBay very inexpensively.


'First Step Nonfiction' series from Lerner Publication (we have several of these and I think it's the best of the bunch for the caterpillar to butterfly catergory
http://tinyurl.com/67guwf
(search results from Amazon for "First Step Non-Fiction)
or http://www.lernerbooks.com (the publisher)

Rookie Readers - Science series also from Scholastic
Here is a link to the Life Science titles
http://www.scholastic.ca/education/library/rookiereaders/lifescience.html
And the Physical Sciences titles
http://www.scholastic.ca/education/library/rookiereaders/physicalsci-physci.html
Here is a link to the Amazon Search Results--but iit is clearly not a comprehensive list like the previous links
http://tinyurl.com/58bxe4

I might also mention the Science Emergent Readers (also from Scholastic) though the content may be a little short for what you are asking for--but they do have great pictures and would be extra helpful to encourage reading (when the time comes) from a kiddo who interested in science.
http://tinyurl.com/5lnawf
(Amazon search results)
The step up in details but still designed as a reader are the Scholastic Science Vocabulary Readers
http://tinyurl.com/6lqmq5

Do you have a Half Price Books in your area? I have great luck finding lots of these series there used and for a great price(all under a $1). Or if you have a Mardel near you they carry several of the series new.

HTH

[ett]

I second the recommendation for Usborne for their non-fiction books. They have nonfiction books that are good for preschoolers. There are also some good preschool non-fiction magazies like Your Big Backyard, Click, Zootles.

[ellies mom]

Thank you so much for asking this. Ellie is super into science. She has been asking to go to "science school" instead of her "play school" so I've been looking for some good ideas on the topic. I find lots of activities that she might enjoy but she doesn't "see" the science and I'm not sure how to explain it on her level (4.5)

We have the Fruit and Bird books from the same series as the Egg book. They are really cool and I'll have to get a few more. I'm also going to have to check out the "let's read about it" books.

One thing I do though is buy books that are way beyond her sometimes if they have cool pictures. She loves to just carry them around and ask about the pictures and I'll read her a page or two and we talk about it. We bought her a Human Body book at Costco today that is really cool.