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Children's Books S.T.E.A.M Children's book

Nano’s Journey! A Little Stem Cell Visits the Heart and Lungs

The human body contains many organs, and every organ is made up of countless tiny Normal Cells with a job to do. Little Nano is different; she is a cell with an evolving story, a Stem Cell. Nano can become different kinds of Normal Cells, but she doesn’t know which kind yet, or which organ she’ll eventually call home. Big decisions! So the little Stem Cell will go exploring the organs of the human body, a wonderful journey!

“NANO’S JOURNEY! A Little Stem Cell Visits the Heart and Lungs” is a picture book written for 1st to 5th grade students. It is the first in a series that will explore the organs of the human from a Stem Cell’s point of view. Stem Cell Science is an extremely important field, central to research in Embryology, Diseases, and Aging.

Author Aldo Pourchet is a biologist, veterinarian, and biotech entrepreneur based in SanFrancisco. He spends most of his time studying biology and researching cancer and infectious diseases to create new therapies. As a research scientist, he has published articles in peer-reviewed journals, and collaborated with respected colleagues around the globe. “NANO’S JOURNEY! A Little Stem Cell Visits the Heart and Lungs” is Aldo’s first children’s book for future scientists.

Illustrator Jen Yoon (Jeongin Yoon) is an illustrator based in Seoul and New York. She enjoys mixing both traditional and digital mediums, creating complex layers. https://www.jenyoonart.com

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Children's Books Poetry S.T.E.A.M Children's book

Sticks ‘n Stones ‘n Dinosaur Bones

The first book in our Unhinged History series is a ripping yarn. Full of adventure and deceit, it brings to life the best-known spat in all of paleontology: the bitter rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh. This frenzy of discovery and one-upmanship—known today as the “Bone Wars”—was a gold rush–like scramble to find the most and “best” dinosaur fossils, and bring glory to their home-base universities. Lively and witty rhymes plus wonderfully demented illustrations reveal how the paleontologists’ feud began, and how—despite their obsession with outdoing one another—Cope and Marsh nevertheless made genuine and lasting contributions to the field.

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Children's Books S.T.E.A.M Children's book

Mr. Owliver’s Magic at the Museum

Mr. Owliver loves being night watchman at the Animaltown Art Museum; he’s an owl and up all night anyway, and proud to protect such beautiful works of art. Alone but never lonely, he has all the subjects in the paintings for company. His favorite? The lovely Ms. Wren in Auguste Wrenoir’s The Loge. Making his rounds on the night of his birthday, Mr. O. discovers that things aren’t quite as they should be, that something very odd is going on in all the galleries. And so begins a happy night full of birthday surprises. This book cleverly introduces children to famous masterpieces and art history, while entertaining parents with painful painterly puns.

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Children's Books Poetry S.T.E.A.M Children's book

Bathysphere Boys

Bathysphere Boys

THE BATHYSPHERE BOYS. The Depth-Defying Diving of Messrs. Beebe and Barton

In the 1930s, scientist and explorer William Beebe, and engineering grad student Otis Baron built the Bathysphere; a hollow steel ball designed for deep-sea exploration. After several false starts and near-calamities, this miss-matched team—in their bare-bones spherical vehicle; equipped with bad lighting, stale air, and tiny portholes—made a series of record-setting dives and became international celebrities. Beebe and Baron were able to see, for the first time, unimagined wonders of the deep, and in 1934, they set the world record for the deepest ever dive—3,028 feet! The second book in our Unhinged History series.

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Children's Books S.T.E.A.M Children's book

Mütter Museum: A Junior Guide’s Tour of America’s Coolest Medical Museum

Mutter Museum Junior Guide Book

Join A.J., the Mütter Museum’s junior-est guide, on a tour of the world’s best-known medical museum. A.J. will take you on a fun and wildly educational journey through the Mütter’s amazing collection of medical specimens and objects. Accompanied by playful illustrations, this look at medical mysteries-and-marvels will enthrall and inform science lovers of all ages. A.J. covers all of your questions; from the height of the museum’s skeleton Giant, to the length of the one-of-a-kind Megacolon. Learn all about how the human body works (or doesn’t!), and keep your eyes peeled for some of the museum’s most famous, high-spirited residents!

Reviews...

Gr 3–8—A junior guide named A.J. and his ghostly companions take readers on a museum tour that is not for the faint of heart. The Mütter Museum, part of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, has been a repository for medical oddities, specimens, wax models, and antique medical equipment since it was founded by Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter in 1863. After A.J. explains how to pronounce the umlauted in the doctor’s last name, Mütter is the first ghost to appear on the pages of this whimsically illustrated tour. Dhody, the museum’s curator, shares exhibits that will appeal to readers who have an interest in the human body, and the stomach for gross details. There is the adipocere (corpse wax) that is the substance of the “Soap Lady,” the horn made out of the skin that grew from a Frenchwoman’s head in the 1800s, a megacolon that once contained “40 pounds of poo,” and more. As each specimen is introduced, its ghost climbs out of the display to join the tour group. One of the ghosts uses the megacolon as a balloon. The playful drawings lighten the tone and add to the appeal. Back matter includes further reading and photographs from the museum collection. Older readers could be motivated to learn more about the museum and its history. VERDICT Just what the doctor ordered. This engaging picture book is an obvious choice for a book talk.—Kathleen Isaacs, Children’s Lit. Specialist, Pasadena, MD 

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL 07-01-2020