Hungry for Science: Poems to Crunch On
Hungry for Science: Poems to Crunch On
The co-authors of Hungry for Math: Poems to Munch On (Vol.XXI, No. 37, May 29, 2015) now tackle some notions of general science. The genial rhyming text of the book may serve to fix some of the principles presented in the minds of young readers. For example, in “An Ode to a Flea”, readers learn about the life cycle of an insect:
Little Miss Pesky Flea
passed at last at half past three.
Started life as an egg
died last night on my leg.
Eggs to larvae to pupae *
all her siblings cocooned on me.
Emerged as adults, loved to feed,
Laid more eggs, and made me bleed.
Lived three months, and caused such strife
a doggone long and itchy life.
(*You need to read the last word here as three syllables – pew-pa-ee – to make the poem scan!)
The accompanying pictures of parts of a large woolly hound, along with insets of flea eggs and larvae, are sufficiently icky and entertaining to get the point across visually too.
Other poems deal with such things as erosion, magnetism, pollination and seasonal cycles of the earth.
As is usual in a poetry collection, some of the inclusions are fresher and more clever than others. But they all do a good job of imparting information.
Collins’ illustrations feature bright colour and some unusual perspectives, including some cropping of images that requires the user to look twice at a page. Zany, slightly off-kilter animal and human figures feature large in the lively scenes.
The last page of Hungry for Science: Poems to Crunch On consists of a number of brief definitions of the scientific principles presented (“Sound: An energy that is caused by vibrations heard by the ear, and interpreted by the brain to be noise, voices or music.”) as well as some entries under the heading ‘Glossary’ (“Photosynthesis: A process whereby, using the sun, plants create sugar and oxygen.”) These two lists could probably have been effectively combined into one.
Hungry for Science: Poems to Crunch On is a satisfactory addition to the easy science shelf.
Ellen Heaney is a retired children’s librarian living in Coquitlam, British Columbia.