Hands-On Science: Matter
Lola M. Schaefer, author
Lola M. Schaefer was a classroom teacher in grades K-7 for eighteen years. She began writing books for children because she saw how important a good book was to each of her students. Lola is now a writing consultant and the author of more than 275 children's books, including picture books and easy readers. She and her husband live in the mountains of north Georgia.
Read more about Lola.
Druscilla Santiago, illustrator
Druscilla Santiago is an O‘ahu-based illustrator with a background in art direction and graphic design. When not at the drawing board, she can be found with her family enjoying a good laugh and a sweet treat. This is her debut book.
Read more about Druscilla.
- A 2023 Junior Library Guild selection
- A National Public Radio 2023 Best Science Book for Kids
Kirkus Reviews
An imaginary lab and a real experiment introduce matter.
An experienced writer of science books for young readers invites her audience to explore matter in a chemistry lab. She focuses on two concepts: mass and three of the states of matter—solid, liquid, and gas. These are intriguingly presented in a manner reminiscent of Hervé Tullet’s Press Here (2011). Readers are invited to tilt, jiggle, and tap on the book to see how matter can change shape or form without changing mass. Using first a blob of clay and then a bunch of cherries for her imagined experiments, Schaefer concludes with directions for a real demonstration of making gas with baking soda (a solid) and lemon juice (a liquid) to create bubbles of carbon dioxide (a gas). (She reminds readers to do their experiments with a grown-up.) She draws connections between these concepts and readers themselves as she points out that we all have solids, liquids, and gases in our bodies. The science is solid and the teaching appropriate for the age. Clean illustrations set on plentiful white space aid understanding. Rereaders will notice that all the materials and equipment depicted throughout, even the white coats, can be found on the first spread. Human characters are racially diverse.
A simple and clear interactive scientific exploration.
Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-62354-243-6
Ages:4-8
Page count: 40
9 x 9