Corn Is Maize (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2) (Paperback)

~ (Author, Illustrator) "This is a kernel of corn..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

What's so great about corn?

Popcorn, corn on the cob, cornbread, tacos, tamales, and tortillas. All of these and many other good things come from one amazing plant. Aliki tells the story of corn: How Native American farmers thousands of years ago found and nourished a wild grass plant and made it an important part of their lives. They learned the best ways to grow and store and use its fat yellow kernels. And then they shared this knowledge with the new settlers of America.

About the Author

Aliki grew up in Philadelphia in a very Greek family. Her talent for drawing, first recognized by her kindergarten teacher, was encouraged by her parents and other teachers she will never forget.

After graduating from the Philadelphia College of Art, she started a career in advertising art. She married Franz Brandenberg and lived in Switzerland for three years, where she wrote and illustrated her first book, The Story of William Tell.

After they moved to New York, she wrote My Five Senses, the book that changed her career and her life. Besides her own books, Aliki has illustrated many by other authors, including Franz. Their children, Jason and Alexa, who have artistic careers of their own, appear in many of Aliki's books as cats, mice, or themselves.

Aliki loves music, theater, films, museums, reading, and digging in her garden in London, where she lives. She travels frequently to the United States, Greece, Switzerland, and other countries, many of which are reflected in her books.NOTES FROM ALIKI

0nce, when I was reading one of my books to Jason, who was just learning words, I asked him, "What is my name?" He said, "Byaliki." I laughed. But in many ways I am a bi-Aliki. Greek and American. Bilingual. Author and illustrator. Writer of fiction and nonfiction-books that come from inside out (feeling books), and outside in (research books).

I had no thought of becoming a writer until it happened. But early on, I developed a lifelong habit of writing down my feelings. I realized it helped me understand my hurt, anger, bewilderment, or happiness. Words flowed out into poetry, letters, and journals. It was practice for later on.

I wrote The Two of Them when my father died. I wrote We Are Best friends when we moved from New York to London. I wrote about my childhood seaside vacations in Those Summers. In fact, it was on one such family vacation that I was born unexpectedly (in Wildwood Crest, New Jersey-but we never lived there)!

Marianthe's Story, two books in one volume, is very much my own. In one of its two parts-Painted Words-Mari is lucky to have such an understanding teacher and the ability to express herself through pictures (as was 1). In Spoken Memories, the villagers are composites of family and friends, and the voice is often my grandmother's. She cared passionately about education and passed it on to us.

All by Myself! -- snapped after watching my nephew Peter, who was just learning to dress himself We can take nothing for granted. All skills-from the simplest to the most complicated-are learned. They take patience, perseverance, and determination. With some, a little talent helps. Life is one big challenge. I'm still trying to learn to swim.

My research books come from a fascination with a subject I know only a glimmer about. It can take three years to read, delve, dig, write, and repeat the process for the illustrations. It can be torture, because Virgos dont like to make mistakes.

To write My Visit to the Aquarium, I visited eleven aquariums-the most fun research ever. But then I had to get the right fish into the right tank. My Visit to the Zoo was even harder. Nine zoos, hundreds of books, magazines, and related matter. And with all due respect to the author, the illustrator has twice the work. I call it hard fun.

All books-read or made-change lives. None more than William Shakespeare & the Globe. I was challenged by wanting to compress 40.0 years into 38 pages, to tell (in words and pictures) a story that comes full circle. It didn't help that we- know very little about Shakespeare the man. But I was enveloped by his words -- which brought him to life. When I finally finished, the pain of loss-which lasted months-was like parting from a beloved friend.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Paperback: 40 pages
• Publisher: Collins (January 10, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0064450260
• ISBN-13: 978-0064450263
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #65,417 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great informational book, April 5, 2000

By	Charlene Howard (Hulen, Ky) - See all my reviews

Corn is Maize is a great book on corn. It not only shows how corn is grown and the many uses. It teaches the children about Indian culture and how they shared their corn with the prilgrams. A book of history, science, and social development.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All About Corn -- a review of Aliki's "Corn is Maize", August 24, 2005

By	Pam Tee "Harmless" - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This is an interesting book and the second science book that we have looked at which was written and illustrated by Aliki. In this book she covers a wide variety of aspects of Corn.

She begins by explaining that a corn kernel is a seed. She then shows how sun and rain affects the planted seeds. There are drawings of developing corn with tassels and silk (boy and girl parts.) There is a smaller drawing of the route pollen takes to get to the kernel. The pollen travels down the silk to reach the kernel egg.

It is at this point that I will say that I think 4 and 5 years of age is too young for this book. (I have a 5 and a 3 and it was definitely over their heads.)

But to continue-- The book discusses how other plants scatter their seeds but how corn needs people to survive. It emphasizes that scientist have never found any 'wild' corn but only the `civilized' version we know now.

From there the book divulges how native American were instrumental in developing the corn of today. It discusses how some groups used to bury a fish under each corn `hill' and how growing beans and squash with corn made all do better.

It then proceeds to show how corn was used by native Americans, how it was stored and celebrated in religion and dance, and how Christopher Columbus took corn or maize back to Europe. The pilgrims appreciation of corn is discussed as well as the many, many ways that corn and corn products are used today.

Five stars. A comprehensive book about corn for children. The artwork is alternatively in color and grayscale, but this should not be a big drawback for those interested in the subject. The age range as mentioned before, should be fairly advanced, say first or second grade and above.

Example of text follows so you can gage reading level, etc.:

"But although scientists searched,
they had never found any wild corn.
Not long ago they found some.
It was in a cave in Mexico where people once lived.
They found scraps of plants and tiny ears of
ancient corn, more than 5,000 years old.
It was not like any the scientist had ever seen."