Children's books: Science: "Forest", "Sharks! Sharks! Sharks!", and "Human Body"

Forest by Christie Matheson (Princeton Architectural Press)
Sharks! Sharks! Sharks! by Susan Martineau, illustrated by Vicky Barker (Happy Fox Books)
Human Body by Isabel Thomas, illustrated by Damien Weighill (Wide Eyed Editions)

Into the world of children's books...this time, with science!

Into the woods! Forest is a quiet introduction to the wonders of the forest for young readers. With minimalist prose and watercolor illustrations, children are introduced to some of the creatures they might see in the forest, and some of the purposes those trees serve.

The forest (broadly speaking!) is just about my favorite place, so I'm always delighted to see books encouraging young kids to explore in nature. Forest places an emphasis on treading softly and leaving space in nature for the animals that call it home, and I could see it either as a general book in a kindergarten library (probably not older than kindergarten; it's definitely a book for early readers) or something to read with city kids who are going to get their first exposure to real nature soon. And if it makes kids excited about the woods...I'm all for it.

Shark attack!

...but no, Sharks! Sharks! Sharks! is not about shark attacks; rather, it's about the diversity of sharks, and how their bodies are built, and why they're fascinating creatures. I find sharks kind of terrifying (in the same category as zombies—dead behind the eyes, cannot be reasoned with), but I love the enthusiasm with which sharks are approached here, and the fact that the book calls out some misconceptions about sharks. (They don't generally want to attack humans—most shark "attacks" are really a shark trying to figure out if a human is food.) There's a wide, wide variety of sharks under discussion here, and my favorite is definitely the Greenland shark, which I'd never heard of—did you know that a Greenland shark is estimated to live hundreds of years, and they don't procreate until they're 150 or so? (And—this per Wikipedia—when they do procreate, the gestational period is 8–18 years long? Jeepers creepers.)

This is not the sort of children's book with a lot of story or plot, and it's probably best suited to more advanced readers who have recently come home with a lot of questions about sharks, or about the ocean in general. But if you have one of those kids in your life...? This is definitely a book for them.

Human Body is an in-depth exploration of (you guessed it!) the human body for young readers. Think a more science-focused version of Where's Waldo?—the book asks kids to peer closely at each illustration to find pictures-within-pictures and better understand how different processes work.

I'm all for books that make science more accessible to kids, and this has plenty of information and interest to keep a kid busy for a while! This is probably best given to kids with an accompanying magnifying glass, both to look more closely at the illustrations and because the text is quite small. (I read an ebook version on my computer—physical copies will likely be a bit bigger and thus easier to read.) It's a good book to jump around in, though, especially if a child is expressing interest in a certain bodily part (e.g., the ear or mouth following an ear appointment or dentist visit). Another good one for elementary-school bookshelves!

Thanks to the authors and publishers for providing review copies through NetGalley.