Running from 12-20 August, National Science Week is Australia’s annual celebration of science and technology. This year, the event will feature more than 1000 events around Australia, including those delivered by universities, schools, research institutions, libraries, museums and science centres. Get your little ones interested in science with the below inspiring books!
Fiction
George’s Marvellous Medicine
by Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake (Illustrator)
George is alone in the house with Grandma. The most horrid, grizzly old grunion of a grandma ever. She needs something stronger than her usual medicine to cure her grouchiness. A special grandma medicine, a remedy for everything. And George knows just what to put into it. Grandma’s in for the surprise of her life – and so is George, when he sees the results of his mixture!… Learn more.
George Kranky created his own Marvellous Medicine to deal with his grizzly old grunion of a Grandma, which you definitely can’t do at home (so don’t even try!), but here’s some amazing science that you can do! From concocting home-made slime to creating your own volcano, the fun experiments in George’s Marvellous Experiments are all easily done, with simple step-by-step instructions that use everyday household objects.
Florette
by Anna Walker
Review by Tanaya Lowden: With beautiful illustrations and rich, soft colours, Anna Walker’s Florette is sure to become a children’s classic.
When Mae and her family move to a new home, Mae is disappointed that they can’t also bring along their garden. In her new city replete with crowded roof-tops, Mae misses her apple trees and daffodils. How will she cope?
This is a picture book I wish I could have read as a child. Everything about it is beautiful – the story, the illustrations, and the messages are so compellingly conveyed. It’s a book I easily could have reread again and again, getting lost in the lush, exquisite pages. Most importantly though, this book will teach your little ones about resilience in the face of change, a lesson you can never be too young to learn!… Learn more.
Ada Twist, Scientist
by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts
Like her classmates, builder Iggy and inventor Rosie, scientist Ada, a character of color, has a boundless imagination and has always been hopelessly curious. Why are there pointy things stuck to a rose? Why are there hairs growing inside your nose? When her house fills with a horrific, toe-curling smell, Ada knows it’s up to her to find the source. Not afraid of failure, she embarks on a fact-finding mission and conducts scientific experiments, all in the name of discovery. But, this time, her experiments lead to even more stink and get her into trouble!
Inspired by real-life makers such as Ada Lovelace and Marie Curie, Ada Twist, Scientist champions… Learn more.
Non-Fiction
Women in Science
by Rachel Ignotofsky
A charmingly illustrated gift book profiling 50 famous women scientists from the ancient Greek mathematician, philosopher, and astronomer, Hypatia, to Marie Curie, a physicist and chemist.
A recent U.S. Department of Education survey found that high school girls take the same number of math and science classes as boys and earn slightly higher grades, but only 15 percent of U.S. collegiate women major in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields… Learn more.
Get Coding! Learn HTML, CSS & JavaScript & Build a Website, App & Game
Learn how to write code and then build your own website, app and game using HTML, CSS and JavaScript in this essential guide to coding for kids from expert organization Young Rewired State. Over 6 fun missions learn the basic concepts of coding or computer programming and help Professor Bairstone and Dr Day keep the Monk Diamond safe from dangerous jewel thieves. In bite-size chunks learn important real-life coding skills and become a technology star of the future. Young Rewired State is a global community that aims to get kids coding and turn them into the technology stars of the future… Learn more.
Got 30 seconds? Discover the 30-Second series
Marie Curie
by Isabel Sanchez Vegara and Frau Isa (Illustrator)
Marie Curie’s love of knowledge led her to make huge discoveries in the fight against cancer, and win the Nobel Prize for Physics.
In the Little People, Big Dreams series, discover the lives of outstanding people from designers and artists to scientists. All of them went on to achieve incredible things, yet all of them began life as a little child with a dream. The book follows Marie Curie, whose love of learning helped her to revolutionise the fight against cancer with her discovery of radium and polonium. This inspiring and informative little biography comes with extra facts about Marie’s life at the back… Learn more.
Time Machine by Adam Spence, Short Back & Science by Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki and 100 Things to Know About Science.
About the Contributor
Anastasia Hadjidemetri
Anastasia Hadjidemetri is the former editor of The Booktopian and star of Booktopia's weekly YouTube show, Booked with Anastasia. A big reader and lover of books, Anastasia relishes the opportunity to bring you all the latest news from the world of books.
Adam Spencer: “This book keeps you on your toes.”
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