Book Finder

Some people collect stamps. Other people collect coins. Carol Otis Hurst’s father collected rocks. Nobody ever thought his obsession would amount to anything. They said, “You’ve got rocks in your head” and “There’s no money in rocks.” But year after year he kept on collecting, trading, displaying, and labeling his rocks. The Depression forced the family to sell their gas station and their house, but his interest in rocks never wavered. And in the end the science museum he had visited so often realized that a person with rocks in his head was just what was needed.

When the great emperor of China demands that Chan Lo carve him a dragon of wind and fire, Chan Lo is overwhelmed. No matter how hard he listens to the perfect jade stone, he does not hear dragons. This Chinese folktale is warmly illustrated, evoking the majesty of ancient China and the gentle message of artistic truth.

What do you smell with? How can you see? What’s that you hear? Me and My Senses introduces children to the five senses and teaches the basics of how they work.

A gentle, poetic good-night book, with diverse parents and children — plus 16 different, slightly anthropomorphic animals- — settling down to sleep. The book that shows the ways different types of animals sleep, depicting Chinese golden monkeys, deer, sea otters, elephants, hummingbirds, and other creatures.

A chill is in the air and Bear knows it is time for her winter nap. But first, she must tell Snail. And Snail must tell Skunk. And Skunk must tell Turtle. Each animal who tries to put off going to sleep just a little longer sees, smells, hears, or tastes the signs of the impending season. Finally, Ladybug rushes off to tell Bear — already asleep in her cave — the exciting news. A warm-hearted story about animals of the forest settling down for their winter nap. But, like children who must go to bed for the night, they each find a way to put it off just a little bit longer.

Learn about various nocturnal animals and their nighttime activities, including the opossum, brown bat, and tree frog.

Danny loves dinosaurs! When he sees one at the museum and says, “It would be nice to play with a dinosaur,” a voice answers, “And I think it would be nice to play with you.” So begins Danny and the Dinosaur’s wonderful adventures together. For Danny and his prehistoric playmate, even the most everyday activities become extraordinary, like finding a big-enough place to hide a dinosaur in a game of hide-and-seek. But Danny can teach an old dinosaur new tricks. It’s the most fun this dinosaur has had in a hundred million years!

A giant meteor blasts an enormous crater into Earth’s surface, causing the end of what scientists call the Age of Dinosaurs. Gail Gibbons presents the most recent and up-to-date theories about the history of dinosaurs and dinosaur discoveries. She discusses the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods and the non-bird dinosaurs that lived during each time. Each dinosaur is explored in just the right amount of detail for young paleontologists, as this book brings these magnificent creatures to life again.

Telling time becomes clear and easy for young readers in this bright and lively introduction to measurements of time. From seconds to minutes, hours to days, exploring what time is and discovering why we need to tell time, helps young readers understand more than ‘the big hand is on the one and the little hand is on the two’. Megan Halsey’s playful illustrations depict imaginative digital and analog clocks that range in design.

This DK Level 1 Reader describes the daily life of a musician through the eyes of a violinist and her daughter.

Saxophone-playing Miles and his Swamp Band find a bevy of sharp-toothed, long-tailed alligators who love to listen to their music. But little do Miles and his band know what the alligators plan for them at the close of their jubilant all-night ball! Inspired by a traditional song, this vibrant picture book is “ebullient, fast-paced, and funny.”

Shining light on all kinds of fascinating facts about our moon, this simple, introductory book includes information on how the moon affects the oceans’ tides, why the same side of the moon always faces earth, why we have eclipses, and more.

Clever soldiers outwit greedy townspeople with the creation of a special soup in this cherished classic. Three soldiers come marching down the road towards a French village. The peasants, seeing them coming, suddenly become very busy, for soldiers are often hungry. All their food is hidden under mattresses or in barns. Then follows a battle of wits, with the soldiers equal to the occasion. Why, of course—even with no food, they can still make a wonderful soup! All they will need is three round stones. But to make a truly perfect stone soup, they will of course also need a carrot or two…a cabbage…and so it goes.

This nonfiction book explains the origins of many foods, including chocolate, french fries, bread, and salt.

The story of a little dormouse and his frantic search for a safe place to hibernate.

This book provides a good introduction to basic science concepts like photosynthesis, gravity, and the sun’s effect on weather in an easy-to-understand format. Science vocabulary such as “nuclear fusion,” “electromagnetic energy,” “photosphere,” are explained in both text and illustrations. The book includes 10 comic-strip-style panels of “Did You Know?” interesting facts.

Plants provide people and animals with food, shelter, and even the air we breathe. Plants help us live and grow, but how does a plant grow? This picture book introduces young readers to a variety of plant types, including ferns, carnivorous plants, mosses, and trees. This fact-filled book explains photosynthesis, different ways that plants reproduce, how seeds germinate and grow, which plants grow in different climates, and much more. 

A primer of essential STEAM words for very young children. From physics to biology, from astronomy to geography, from medicine to thermodynamics and beyond, this is the bright and simple introduction to 100 key words.

When 14-year-old William Kamkwamba’s Malawi village was hit by a drought, everyone’s crops began to fail. Without enough money for food, let alone school, William spent his days in the library … and figured out how to bring electricity to his village. Persevering against the odds, William built a functioning windmill out of junkyard scraps, and thus became the local hero who harnessed the wind.

Each book in this new series for younger readers contains spreads featuring fun, kid-friendly experiments with lift-the-flap conclusions. I’m a Scientist: Backyard introduces kids to the world of botany with a wealth of plant-based experiments.

A basic introduction to levers, wheels, and pulleys. As two children lift a lion, pull a panda, and deliver a basket of bananas to a baboon party, kids find out how these simple machines work. 

When the thing from outer space visits earth, it is taken first for a trick-or-treater and then for a robot. Buddy McGee takes the thing home — only to discover it is from outer space.

Created by a naturalist, this colorful explorer journal is loaded with fun, simple ways to use their senses to observe and discover nature’s secrets outside. Dozens of outdoor activities plus a guided Journal for drawings, stories, memories and recording discoveries.

A young girl explores Arizona’s Sonoran Desert, recording her thoughts, scientific facts, questions, and experiences in a nature journal decorated by her paintings of the native plants and animals. This book is a great way to introduce kids to scientific journals and the importance of close observation.