Plant Parts Smarts

April 1, 2013

Gr 1-3-In each of these thinly disguised lectures, a newly folded origami dog, robot, bee, or dinosaur has an informative conversation about a science topic with an animate item or a living creature. Each figure has a distinct personality, so the give-and-take is as entertaining as the art. Except for Magnet and Plant, the origami exercises are a flub-the folding directions at the end of the other two titles do not create the models shown in the lively collage illustrations, but rather even simpler, more abstract versions. Young readers will get to gander at three types of rocks with dinosaur Rudie, learn about soil components with dog Kitanai, get an overview of plant parts with bee Charlie, and glimpse at some of the technological uses of magnets with robot MAG-3000. This set is certainly unusual enough in presentation to have some appeal as a change of pace, and a link in each volume to more information on a dedicated publisher's website will appeal to young researchers whose curiosity has been piqued.

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