Living Things. (Starting With Science Series). Adrienne Mason. Photographs by Ray Boudreau. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 1997. 32 pp., paper and hardcover, $6.95 (pbk.), $11.95 (cl.). ISBN 1-55074-393-7 (pbk.), ISBN 1-55074-343-3 (cl.) Subject Heading: Biology-Experiments-Juvenile literature. Grades 1 - 4 / Ages 6 - 9. Review by Alison Mews. *** /4

Another title in Kids Can's series, "Starting with Science," Living Things provides "safe, simple experiments for home and school." The book contains 13 activities to exemplify the main characteristics of living things such as cells, growth, reproduction, response to environmental stimuli, and necessity for nourishment. Each activity describes the goal of the experiment, lists the supplies needed, outlines what should be transpiring and provides an explanation of the results. Also, most activities include a coloured fact box that gives further information about the topic. A separate page for parents and teachers at the end of the book provides an additional 12 activities on the topics covered.

      The eye-catching design of this slight book makes it very attractive to children. Using large photos in vibrant primary colours, each double-page spread deals with a single experiment. The "You will need," the "What to do" and the "What's happening" sections are clearly separated and consistently arranged on the pages. The book contains a table of contents, an index and corresponding pagination, and a glossary of nine terms. Where adult intervention is necessary, it is clearly stated, but otherwise children could complete the activities themselves, given the required supplies. These supplies can be found fairly readily, although not all households have access to pet shops that sell mealworms. My only quibble is that there are so few activities and that many of them are available in other science activity books for children. What is included, however, is well-done. Recommended for home use, or for classroom libraries that are weak in science experiment books.

Recommended.

Alison Mews is the Librarian at the Curriculum Materials Centre in the Faculty of Education of Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's, Newfoundland.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - NOVEMBER 13, 1998.

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