Summary & Quality: This book of science riddles is one that children will love and teachers will find useful for the introduction of science topics. It has a Table of Contents in the front and “Notes” in the back. The Table of Contents simply lists the titles of the riddles and would be much more helpful to teachers if it also listed which topic the poem relates to. For example, the riddle Buggety Buggety Boo!” is a riddle about germs, not insects. The “Notes” provide both teachers and students with scientific information about some of the riddles. For example, “Gee!” is about gravity and the “Notes” gives a definition of gravity.
Appeal: The words are simple and the illustrations are colorful which makes this book appealing to children. Additionally, the illustrations provide visual images of scientific concepts that might be difficult for students to understand. For example, “Push Me, Pull Me” is a riddle about magnets, describing the pushing and pulling that occurs between magnets and their polar ends. The pictures are of magnet people, one boy and one girl, who finally come together when they figure out they must attach their opposite poles.
One of my favorites is:
Shhhhhhhhhh!
I am expressible
only by decibel:
10 is a whisper,
30 is crisper,
60, in relation,
Is normal conversation.
80 is traffic and telephones.
120? The Rolling Stones
130 is a cannon Shot!
150 is … what?!
Answer: Sound
Use: The riddles in this book are all descriptive poems. This book would be a good example to students of how to write riddles about scientific topics (or any other topic). Students could write their own riddles and share them with other students. Illustrations could also be added to help explain difficult concepts.
References:
Lewis, J. Patrick. 2004. Scien-trickery. Ill. Frank Remkiewicz. Orlando, FL.: Harcourt.
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