This year I have started using Jay Wile’s General Science book. However, I continue to read together other ‘living’ books on science and scientists, as I had done for the past few years.
Susan Schaeffer Macaulay says in her book For the Children’s Sake that a living book is “imaginative mind-food” for a child, that is “interesting, substantial material”, unlike the “twaddle” of some textbooks that Charlotte Mason referred to. I try to find books that will be enjoyable to read aloud together, or for the children to read on their own, that will fit these descriptions. Often I will see a recommendation on a homeschooling blog, in Homeschool Enrichment Magazine, or a friend will mention a book that has been really appreciated, and I will make a note of it.
Here are 10 living books for science that I have enjoyed:
- Michael Faraday: Father of Electronics, by Charles Ludwig paints Michael Faraday as a likeable character, and our children still talk about this book when something related comes up.
- Johannes Kepler: Giant of Faith and Science (Sowers), by John Tiner was really interesting for both me and the children, and we also own the books on Samuel Morse and Robert Boyle in the same series.
- The Fight Against Microbes: Pasteur’s Story (Science Stories), by C Birmingham is a hardback picture book which tells the story of why Louis Pasteur introduced pasteurisation.
- Sticky Jam: The Story of Sugar, by Meredith Hooper is another picture book, about a little boy in Australia who discovers how cane sugar is processed. My youngest two love this as it is a rhyming story.
- Peter’s Railway series, by Christopher Vine. These stories about Peter’s adventures on the railways (both miniature and real ones) with his Grandpa are fun and interesting, and also show how things work or are made. We have several of the smaller story books, and have given the larger hardback ones to a train-loving relative as presents.
- Wilbur and Orville Wright, Young Fliers, from the Childhood of Famous Americans series has been enjoyed by our 11 and 9 year olds. We also have the book on Benjamin Franklin from this series.
- Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, by Jean Lee Latham. Our son and oldest daughter enjoyed this book, which covers the science (and maths!) of navigation, and how he proved other scholars wrong.
- Ten Boys Who Used Their Talents, by Irene Howat. This selection of biographical stories includes some scientists- James Clerk Maxwell, Samuel Morse and George Washington Carver- along with non-scientists. We have also appreciated the other Ten Boys Who… and Ten Girls Who… books by Irene Howat.
- The Story Book of Science, by Jean Henri Fabre. This is our current read-aloud book, which we are all enjoying. It tells the story of Claire, Jules and Emile, who are staying with their Uncle Paul, although the real stories are actually the ones Uncle Paul tells them about the science of nature and how everyday items are made or work.
- Why Do Leaves Change Colour?, from the Let’s Read and Find Out Science series. This last book is maybe slightly more ‘twaddle-ish’ than the others, in that the facts about autumn and the science of leaf changes are only very thinly veiled in a story, but we have found it helpful, as with it’s spring counterpart How a Seed Grows.
Do you have any other recommendations for enjoyable science-related books? Please share them in a comment.