Science and mystery for the win!

A Generation of Vipers

by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett

To paraphrase Indiana Jones, “Why did it have to be snakes?” Nell is working overtime to complete an ecological survey on time and within budget when she stumbles over a dead body. The corpse calls to mind several cold cases that are a high priority for her ex James’ team to solve. There’s no lack of potential suspects as the new employees at Neil’s firm are all behaving suspiciously. The last thing Nell wants to do is track down a murderer–the only advantage to the job was its proximity to Rav’s hospital–but she must join forces with James to winnow the pool down before the killer strikes again! Another engaging read in this series from, Sarah Yarwood-Lovett, filled with realistic details about the work of ecologists.

Thanks to Embla Books for access to a digital ARC on NetGalley.

How To Be a Scientist

As I’ve come to expect from all books from DK, this is an engaging and useful title.

The book begins with a “Thinking like a scientist” page that highlights 7 key attributes. I was pleased to see that “scientists share their ideas”. Good science is based on discussion, argumentation, and consensus, and being able to communicate and work with others is important. I agree with all of the tips and it was nice to see a book emphasize that scientists are creative and not afraid to look for contradictions.

The book covers a range of topics in biology, chemistry, and physics with ample illustrations and instructions for inquiry. The activities use common materials and help emphasize that science is all around us everyday. This book is perfect for my first-grade daughter who loves science, and would be appreciated in any K-3 classroom.

I received a copy to review from NetGalley.