Customer Reviews

What's Smaller Than a Pygmy Shrew? (Robert E. Wells Science)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

From a pygmy shrew, the smallest mammal, to a ladybug, to an amoeba, to an atom, and even smaller (protons and neutrons, quarks...) this book takes a look at the miniature universe. It is a great book for kids with boundless curiosity, and it does not talk down to kids. The concepts are illustrated through comparisons; how small each thing is compared with something else. The illustrations are breezy and cartoon-ish.

I have had a very hard time finding high-quality children's books in the area of the sciences. (You know... books that are interesting and beautiful in addition to being educational). Thus, when I found this book I was so excited! My 8 yr old and 5 yr old boys were mesmerized by the story line... the author introduces a pygmy shrew that thinks he's small (at three inches long) and then progressively introduces smaller and smaller things (you're not so small, pygmy shrew!) until he delves into the world of one-celled animals and then molecules, atoms, and finally protons, neutrons, electrons and quarks!

Needless to say, this is an amazing introduction into one-celled animals, elements, molecules, protons/neutrons/electrons/quarks (and even the use of microscopes, both optical and electron)... and all delivered at the level of 5 yr old and 8 yr old boys (with very interesting and beautiful illustrations!) and above. I usually try to raid our library for books, but this book is very much worth owning, so as to be able to refresh your child's recollection of the material. I wish I could give it more than five stars!

I found this book when looking for supplemental materials for elementary school science units. This book is a good introduction to the concept of atoms. My sons (7 & 9) enjoyed it immensely; and it provided a good basis for a further discussion of what atoms and elements are.

The book opens describing the size of a pygmy shrew relative to an elephant, then relative to a ladybug, and proceeds smaller and smaller, each smaller item compared to a new even smaller item down to atoms, quarks and electrons. The book wraps up by describing how everything in the entire universe is made up of atoms. This book dovetails nicely, by the way, with another of this author's books, Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There Is?.

Suggested age range for this book is 4-8 yrs. I used this with boys ages 8 and 5. The 5yo grasped some of the concepts, but really a lot of it was over his head as he could just not grasp it totally. The 8yo was much more enthralled with the whole idea, having used a microscope before and really understanding it better. It is one of the most user friendly books I have found though to put it in a true real world perspective, as most science texts simply start with what an atom is without really trying to explain how incredibly tiny that is.

We thoroughly enjoyed this book, even mom as a refresher, before starting in on our basic chemistry textbook for my 3rd grader. :) My kindergartener will stop here with this brief intro, and is enjoying paging through the pictures again and again.

This book is great for integrating literacy and math. It gets kids comparing and contrasting as well as using size to practice math concepts.