BrainJuice: Science, Fresh Squeezed! - Hardcover

Carol Diggory Shields is a poet, a humorist, and a librarian -- the perfect qualifications for reducing immense bodies of knowledge into a very few lines of extremely funny verse. Grateful teachers and students can direct fan letters to her in Salinas, Cal

Richard Thompson is a political cartoonist whose work appears regularly in the Washington Post and US News & World Report. This is the first book he has illustrated for children. He lives in Arlington, Virginia with his wife, Amy, and their two young boys.

Grade 4-7--Following up on American History, Fresh Squeezed (Handprint, 2002), Shields continues her humorous looks at school subjects. This collection of 41 poems is divided into four sections: "Earth and Space Sciences," "Life Sciences," "Chemistry," and "Physics." All of the selections are brief; some are quite clever and others are forced. Some children might find the new words to "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider and the Water Cycle" easy to remember and therefore a help with learning about this process. The same is true of "Inside of Old Smokey," which describes the ins and outs of volcanoes. Related tidbits and facts highlighted by green borders run across the tops of most pages. For example, a poem about the levels of the atmosphere is supplemented by a mnemonic device to help youngsters remember what they are called: "Trolls Seldom Take Exams" (Troposphere, Stratosphere, Thermosphere, Exosphere). Small, vigorous pen-and-ink cartoons appear throughout the book. The factual content is accurate, and the witty poetry just might draw science-phobic children into learning about these topics.--Kathryn Kosiorek, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Brooklyn, OH
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