Yogi Bear's Guide to Plants

I am always on the look out for books that engage kids with science concepts and vocabulary. Yogi Bear's Guide to Plantsprovides younger readers with fun characters to guide them through learning the basic language, vocabulary, and scientific concepts associated with plants.

The book begins with the introduction of seeds and how seeds turn into plants. I particurally liked the picture that shows the progression in bean plant growth. While not labeled it is a great visual that demonstrates plant growth from the hard seed to the beginnings of a leaf plant.

The book gave a very basic attempt at explaining chlorophyll and photosynthesis. I looked at this a couple of times before deciding this was actually an age appropriate explanation of the topic. Some books choose to ignore the science of plants, thus making it harder for kids to learn later. Some bombard them with so much information they can't absorb it all and it gets shut off. To pardon a pun, this planted the beginnings of the concepts in language that is accessible by younger children without teaching them inappropriate science language or ignoring the science concepts. It begins to explain photosynthesis without all the chemistry that most younger readers aren't going to absorb. However, it does it in a way that once they are ready for the chemistry of photosynthesis, nothing they have learned will need to be relearned. It will be building on knowledge already introduced.

The book goes on to discus the purpose of leaves, stems, and roots. I thought the explanations and illustrations were again age appropriate and designed to engage and entertain. While there are practical examples, there are also some very wild looking roots introduced as well.

Yogi goes on to discuss seeds and how they are spread, as well as other forms of plant reproduction. I was impressed with this section. Often in books written for younger readers you see the basic seeds discussed and the topic is left there. However, this discussed a wide range and scope of how plants reproduce. The book begins with bean seeds, continues with fruits, but then continues to conifers, ferns, moss, then flowering plants and trees. Clearly each is addressed at a basic level, but it does open the topic for further exploration and discussion.

While I've enjoyed all the books in the Yogi series, I will say this is my favorite that I've reviewed to date. I'm hoping more will be written and that they will eventually be published in something other than library binding, so I can put them on my Christmas list for my younger family members.

Yogi Bear's Guide to Bugs

Yogi Bear's Guide to Bugs (Yogi Bear's Guide to the Great Outdoors)is a great introduction for primary readers to the vocabulary associated with bugs and insects using Yogi and Boo Boo to entertain and engage the students.

As I write this I can only find the book published in a library binding. Since it is a recent series I'm hoping it will soon be available in paperback soon as I think they'd make great birthday and Christmas gifts for certain younger readers in my family.

In this volume Yogi and Boo Boo take on the challenge of bugs vs. insects. I thought the author did a good job of providing age appropriate definitions and examples to help them understand the differences between bugs and insects. The book gives a brief definition of the life cycle of an insect, explaining that bugs may have a slightly different cycle. The book also covers the eating habits of bugs and insects identifying the main types of food that insects eat.

This is clearly meant to be an introduction to the topic. However, I like the fact that the book focuses on teaching children the vocabulary, basic scientific concepts, and engaging children in a manner that will encourage them to explore more about the topic.

Yogi Bear's Guide to Rocks

As I was researching the Monster Science series I came across Yogi Bear's Guide to Rocks (Yogi Bear's Guide to the Great Outdoors)and decided to see if the author had extended his talent to a different series.

I am so excited by these new series of science books that are making science vocabulary accessible and fun for younger kids. This series is written for a younger audience than the Monster Science series. The book still uses accurate vocabulary, but there is less of it. The author focuses on the basics of the topic for younger readers. It is a great introduction to the topic for an elementary level reader who might need some motivation to read non-fiction material.

While out for a walk through Jellystone Park, Yogi teaches his friend, Boo Boo about the basics of rocks and minerals. One of the reasons I love these comic series is they provide kids with access to accurate scientific information and vocabulary in an engaging manner. If you've ever encountered a child who can recite more facts about dinosaurs then you ever realized existed, you know children can absorb quite a bit of challenging vocabulary and information if they are engaged with the topic. These books help engage children in a variety of topics.

Yogi covers the basics of the rock cycle, types of rocks, and specifics of each type of rock. It is an introduction to the topic, but I'm always excited about finding ways to engage students with material that educates and entertains.

This is one of the newer cartoon series and as of this writing is not yet available in paperback. Hopefully that will be happening soon.