and me, Jennifer Swanson would like to wish you all a very HAPPY 2019! We hope your year is filled with lots GREAT STEM books. Here’s a few of our own new titles that we’d like to share with you.
Coming soon!
Little Monsters of the Ocean: Metamorphosis Under the Waves by Heather L. Montgomery
Lerner Publishing, January 1, 2019
THE TORNADO SCIENTIST: Seeing Inside Severe Storms by Mary Kay Carson
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, March 19, 2019
Cat Science Unleashed: Fun Activities to do with your Feline Friend by Jodi Wheeler- Toppen(National Geographic Kids, August 2019)
Breakthroughs in Planet and Comet Research by Karen Latchana Kenney (Lerner Publishing, Feb 2019)
Breakthroughs in Mars Exploration by Karen Kenney (Lerner Publishing, Feb 2019)
Also look for:
This is a Book to Read with a Worm by Jodi Wheeler-Toppen (Charlesbridge)
Save the Crash-Test Dummies by Jennifer Swanson (Peachtree Publishing, October 2019)
Have a FABULOUS 2019 and may your year be filled the excitement of STEM Books!
*****
Jennifer Swanson is the founder and administrator of STEM Tuesday. A self-professed science geek, Jennifer discovered her love of science when she started a science club in her garage at the age of 7. While no longer working from the garage, Jennifer can be found exploring, learning, and writing about exciting STEM topics in her books. You can find her at www.JenniferSwansonBooks.com
Welcome to STEM Tuesday: Author Interview & Book Giveaway, a repeating feature for the fourth Tuesday of every month.Go Science-Tech-Engineering-Math!
Today we’re interviewing Don Brown, the author and illustrator of OLDER THAN DIRT: A Wild but True History of Earth. This fun, graphics illustrated whirlwind tour of the origin and workings of our home planet is guided by a geology-savvy groundhog. School Library Journal has called Brown “a current pacesetter who has put the finishing touches on the standards for storyographies.”
Mary Kay Carson: Do the words or illustrated characters come first in a book like this?
Don Brown: The words always come first…otherwise it’s like the tail wagging the dog!
We wanted the book to accessible and funny while still offering solid information. I can’t remember exactly how we hit upon the ground hog and earthworm dynamic…perhaps it’s an exaggerated reflection of my and Perf’s relationship in which I ask (clueless) questions and he (patiently) answers them. (Also: the Groundhog was originally an Aardvark until we realized Ground-hog had the more appropriate name.)
We had a lot of fun with the characters and came to see them as Abbot and Costello meets the Socratic Method.
MKC: How did you end up collaborating with Dr. Mike Perfit?
Don: Dr. Perfit – “Perf” – and I have been friends since the world was young. We met in college where he dragged me over the finish line in freshman calculus. (Of which, I remember nearly nothing.) His passion for geology is infectious and I had for a long time noodled around with collaborative ideas. Finally, we struck on Older Than Dirt and went to work. Partnering with Perf is a joy; he is generous, smart, and funny. I’m trying to figure out how we might collaborate again.
Don Brown is the award-winning author and illustrator of many picture book biographies. He has been widely praised for his resonant storytelling and his delicate watercolor paintings that evoke the excitement, humor, pain, and joy of lives lived with passion. He lives in New York with his family. www.booksbybrown.com Instagram: @donsart
MKC: Do you have a STEM background? Are STEM subjects difficult to illustrate?
Don: Illustrating a book about geology was not difficult. Many geologic processes are wildly dramatic: Earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, cosmic collisions, lava floods…they’re great fun to illustrate!
Older Than Dirt is my only STEM book to date. I had a brief connection to STEM in college when I studied engineering. After one semester of physics and calculus, I discovered I had no aptitude for math or science and became a history major.
A scientist I am not, yet I’m still drawn to science history, especially the human stories connected to it. And I’ve learned that if I bear down, I can understand the STEM details within science history. For example, I have finished making a book about the 1918 Spanish Influenza and along the way explored the ins and out of infectious disease, RNA, and microbiology…it was fascinating!
MKC: What’s next for you?
Don: My Spanish Flu book – Fever Year – will be published next Fall. Also publishing next year is my Rocket to the Moon, a history of rockets and the first manned moon-landing in 1969. Both books touch on STEM subjects.
Win a FREE copy of Older Than Dirt!
Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment below. The randomly-chosen winner will be contacted via email and asked to provide a mailing address (within the U.S. only) to receive the book.
Good luck!
Your host this week is woodchuck fan Mary Kay Carson, author of Mission to Pluto and other nonfiction books for kids. @marykaycarson
Bah-humbug! We didn’t have STEM books like that when I was a kid. Textbooks were perfectly fine for us.
No, my name is not STEMbeneezer Scrooge. Now, get off my lawn and leave me be. It’s time for my nap.
Who’s there? I thought I told you to skedaddle.
Aye! It’s a spirit.
Leave me be! I’m just an old STEM guy stuck in my ways. I’m going back to sleep before Wheel of Fortune comes on.
“STEMbeneezer, log on and follow me!”
What in the world? Another STEM spirit!
Smooth, Ghost of STEM Present. Real smooth. But I’m not going to get on the internet to scour bookstores.
Haven’t you heard of online identity theft and spyware?
Jeez, leave me be, I’m going back to sleep. And where do you come up with these “original” names, anyway?
What are you? You must be the Spirit of STEM Future.
Aack! Don’t beam me up, Scotty! I don’t want to go!
NOOOooo!!!
A hint? For what?
Help meeeeeeee!
Holy bad dreams. What happened? How long have I been asleep?
I know that answer!
Come, on! The answer’s easy.
Graphic storytelling isa great format for STEM books.
I’m a changed man. Textbooks have their place but the graphic novel format really does work well with STEM storytelling.
Graphic storytelling + STEM = Natural match
Using graphics to define a STEM concept has been a natural partnership for ages. I present the evidence.
DaVinci designs are a graphical how-to manual
DaVinci’s water lifting device proposal
A canon design
Galileo’s graphic notes on his observations of Jupiter’s moons
Sir Issac Newton’s Graphic Notes
Illustrated concept from NEWTON’S PRINCIPIA
From Newton’s Notes on Alchemy
A young Isaac Newton’s graphical code listing his sins committed
Chemistry
If you have the reagents, you could probably make your own Vitamin A from this graphical reaction.
Maps of biological pathways
The Krebs Cycle, aka The “I wish I had a dollar for every time I memorized & forgot this pathway in my school days” Cycle.
TNF pathway from one of our lab’s publications. It tells the visual story of an E. Coli effector subverting the TNF inflammatory pathway.
Let the evidence show using graphics has worked in STEM since the STEM fields were born.
It’s only natural they work in the field of STEM storytelling, right?
Visual Storytelling
A picture is worth a thousand words.
UNDERSTANDiNG COMICS: THE INVISIBLE ART by Scott McCloud
This a book you must read whether you are interested in straight graphic storytelling or storytelling in general. It doesn’t matter if the storytelling is fiction or nonfiction, graphic storytelling can be a powerful option for a writer.
Sketchnotes
Sketchnoting is a great way to take notes for the visual-minded individuals. I follow Eva-Lotta Lamm and her work with sketchnotes. She offers a free, downloadable Mini Visual Starter Kit at her website to help you get started with sketchnotes.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you are now convinced that images and STEM go together. The graphic novel format for nonfiction and STEM books not only works, but it fits. Just as architects and engineers use a blueprint drawing to relay information to the contractor and specialists, STEM writers can use graphic storytelling to relay information to the reader.
Still not a believer? Go to the STEM Tuesday book list and give those titles a try. It’s a much less harrowing path than visits from a trio of STEM spirits.
Take it from me. STEM graphic novels and comics are the real deal!
Mike Hays has worked hard from a young age to be a well-rounded individual. A well-rounded, equal opportunity sports enthusiasts, that is. If they keep a score, he’ll either watch it, play it, or coach it. A molecular microbiologist by day, middle-grade author, sports coach, and general good citizen by night, he blogs about sports/training related topics at www.coachhays.comand writer stuff atwww.mikehaysbooks.com. Two of his science essays, The Science of Jurassic Park and Zombie Microbiology 101, are included in the Putting the Science in Fiction collection from Writer’s Digest Books. He can be found roaming around the Twitter-sphere under the guise of @coachhays64.
The O.O.L.F Files
The O.O.L.F. Files this month emphasizes the power of visual storytelling in STEM and to celebrate the season, a few links to STEM activities for the holidays. Enjoy!
Welcome to the Mixed-Up Files, Amie and Shannon. We’re thrilled to have you here. Congrats on the launch of Dancing in the Storm. It’s so inspiring and powerful. I had...
From the Mixed-Up Files is the group blog of middle-grade authors celebrating books for middle-grade readers. For anyone with a passion for children’s literature—teachers, librarians, parents, kids, writers, industry professionals— we offer regularly updated book lists organized by unique categories, author interviews, market news, and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a children's book from writing to publishing to promoting.
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Breakthroughs in Planet and Comet Research by Karen Latchana Kenney (Lerner Publishing, Feb 2019)
Jennifer Swanson is the founder and administrator of STEM Tuesday. A self-professed science geek, Jennifer discovered her love of science when she started a science club in her garage at the age of 7. While no longer working from the garage, Jennifer can be found exploring, learning, and writing about exciting STEM topics in her books. You can find her at www.JenniferSwansonBooks.com
