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Several books focus on water—what you can do with it, where
it can be found, its properties, its different phases (fog, snow,
steam, etc.), the water cycle, and how water is purified so we
can drink it.
Other books focus on classification, relating to Activity 1 in
which students classify different liquids. There is one book with
a section about salad dressings that relates nicely to Activity
5.
Finally, we have included a book in which various liquids (with
various attributes) are mixed to create a mysterious liquid potion
with magical powers. This and other books with a fantasy twist
are great ways to unleash your students’ imaginations as
they use their understanding of liquids and
liquid properties to weave and follow stories.
About Water
Elliot’s Extraordinary Cookbook
Everybody Needs a Rock
Gorky Rises
Harriet’s Halloween Candy
The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks
Mystery Day
Rain Drop Splash
The Snowy Day
Splash! All About Baths
Shoes
Very Last First Time
Water’s Way
Whose Hat Is That?
About Water
by Laurent deBrunhoff
Random House, New York. 1980
Out of print
Grades: Preschool–2
Babar the elephant finds a world of water in this tiny book—water
to drink, to bathe in, to boat on, to dive in, to feed a fountain,
and even to use as a mirror.
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Elliot’s Extraordinary Cookbook
by Christina Bjork: illustrated by Lena Anderson
R&S Books/Farrar, Straus & Giroux, New York. 1990
Grades: 4–7
With the help of his upstairs neighbor, Elliot cooks wonderful
food, and investigates what’s healthy and what’s not
so healthy. He finds out about proteins, carbohydrates, and the
workings of the small intestine. He learns about the history of
chickens, how cows produce milk, and how live yeast is used in
rye bread. His friend shows him how to grow bean sprouts, and
he sews an apron. On page 26 are two recipes for salad dressing
that relate to Activity 5.
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Everybody Needs a Rock
by Byrd Baylor; illustrated by Peter Parnall
Aladdin Books, New York. 1974
Grades: K–5
What are the qualities to consider in selecting the perfect
rock for play and pleasure? The properties of color, size, shape,
texture, and smell are discussed in such an appealing way you’ll
want to rush out and find a rock of your own. This book makes
a nice introduction or follow-up to a discussion of the properties
of solids.
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Gorky Rises
by William Steig
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, New York. 1980
Grades: 2–5
When Gorky’s parents leave the house, he sets up a laboratory
at the kitchen sink and mixes up a liquid mixture with a few secret
ingredients, drops of his mother’s perfume, and his father’s
cognac! The liquid proves to have magical properties that allow
him to fly over the world. Although the format is a picture book,
the content makes it usable for older students. Nice connection
to the attributes and properties of liquids, with a fantasy twist.
Return to titles list.
Harriet’s Halloween Candy
by Nancy Carlson
Puffin/Penguin, New York. 1982
Grades: Preschool–3
Harriet learns the hard way that sharing her Halloween candy
makes her feel much better than eating it all herself. In the
process, she sorts, classifies, and counts her candy. Fun activity
to do at Halloween or with any food items. A good connection to
the sorting and classifying game in Activity 1.
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The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks
by Joanna Cole; illustrated by Bruce Degen
Scholastic, New York. 1986
Grades: K–6
Ms. Frizzle, the “strangest teacher in school,”
takes her class on a field trip to the waterworks. First, they
journey to the clouds where the class rains, each kid inside his
own raindrop. Then they end up experiencing the water purification
system from the inside, traveling through the mixing basin, settling
basin, filter, and through the pipes to emerge from a faucet.
Evaporation, the water cycle, and filtration are just a few of
the concepts explored in this whimsical fantasy field trip.
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Mystery Day
by Harriet Ziefert; illustrated by Richard Brown
Little, Brown & Co., Boston. 1988
Grades: 1–4
Mystery Day is a school day full of surprises for Mr. Rose’s
students. They have to guess the identity of five mystery powders.
The students test their guesses with simple experiments as they
look at the powders, touch them, taste them, and mix them with
various liquids to see what happens. Once they are correctly guessed,
several powders are mixed together and the investigation process
starts all over again.
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Rain Drop Splash
by Alvin Tresselt; illustrated by Leonard Weisgard
Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, New York. 1946
Mulberry Books/William Morrow, New York. 1990
Grades: K–3
Raindrops fall to make puddles. Puddles become larger and
larger to form ponds. Ponds overflow into brooks that lead to
lakes. The rainstorm continues, falling on plants and animals,
making mud, flooding a road. The last scene leads to the ocean,
when at last the rain stops and the sun emerges.
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Shoes
by Elizabeth Winthrop; illustrated by William Joyce
Harper & Row, New York. 1986
Grades: K–2
A survey of the many kinds of shoes in the world concludes
that the best of all are the perfect natural shoes that are your
feet. Great to read before doing a survey of shoes or sorting
and classifying a group of real shoes.
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The Snowy Day
by Ezra Jack Keats
Viking, New York. 1962
Grades: Preschool–2
Peter goes for a walk on a snowy day. He makes different patterns
in the snow with his feet, a stick, and then his whole body. He
tries to save a snowball in his pocket but is disappointed when
it melts. That night Peter dreams that the sun melted all the
snow outside, but when he wakes up, it’s snowing again!
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Splash! All About Baths
by Susan K. Buxbaum and Rita G. Gelman; illustrated by Maryann
Cocca-Leffler
Little, Brown & Co., Boston. 1987
Grades: K–6
Before he bathes, Penguin answers his animal friends’
questions about baths. “What shape is water?” “Why
do soap and water make you clean?” “What is a bubble?”
“Why does the water go up when you get in?” “Why
do some things float and others sink?” and other questions.
Answers to questions are both clear and simple. Received the American
Institute of Physics Science Writing Award.
Return to titles list.
Very Last First Time
by Jan Andrews; illustrated by Ian Wallace
Atheneum/Macmillan, New York. 1985
Grades: 2–4
This entrancing book tells the story of the Inuit girl Eva
who walks for the first time in a sea-floor cavern under the frozen
ocean ice. When the tide is out she and her mother come to gather
mussels and Eva goes below the ice. When she stumbles, her candle
goes out and the tide starts to come in, roaring louder, while
the ice shrieks and creaks. Terrified at first, Eva recovers,
and eventually finds her way to the surface and her waiting mother
and the moonlight. Although the book does not scientifically explain
the freezing of the top of the sea or the action of the tides,
you and your class may want to discuss these questions: “Why
does only the top part of the water freeze?” “Why does
the ice stay intact even when the water underneath it goes out
with the tide?” The images of Eva on the sea floor beneath
the ice are unique and fascinating, enhanced by the eerie purple
tones of the illustrations. The descriptive language and Eva’s
intense interest in nature exemplify excellent scientific observation
skills.
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Water’s Way
by Lisa W. Peters; illustrated by Ted Rand
Arcade Publishing/Little, Brown & Co., New York. 1991
Grades: K–3
“Water has a way of changing” inside and outside
Tony’s house, from clouds to steam to fog and other forms.
Innovative illustrations show the changes in the weather outside
while highlighting water changes inside the house.
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Whose Hat Is That?
by Ron Roy; photographs by Rosemarie Hausherr
Clarion Books/Ticknor and Fields, New York. 1987
Grades: Preschool–3
Text and photographs portray the appearance and function of
eighteen types of hats including a top hat, a jockey’s cap,
and a football helmet. The children and adults modeling the hats
represent a rainbow of peoples. Makes a nice connection to classification
activities in Session 1 of the GEMS guide.
Return to titles list.
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