Skip to main content

How Strong Is It? A Mighty Book All About Strength


HOW STRONG IS IT? A MIGHTY BOOK ALL ABOUT STRENGTH; Ben Hillman; New York: Scholastic, 2008. 48 pages. Nonfiction

Hillman's book is just the sort of Guinness World Record kind of thing that kids love. How strong is a spiderweb?--if spun to scale, a spiderweb could stop a Boeing 747 traveling at 555 miles per hour in midflight. Most wood has a greater tensile strength than steel, and if you wanted to balance your house on a single post of black locust wood, it would hold. Three-quarter page graphics illustrate the power of nature and of man-made objects: how many horses to drive the world's most powerful sports car (the Bugatti Veyron)? How much fuel to power the Saturn V rocket? (An Olympic-size swimming pool full every three minutes). How Strong Is It? is one of those rare books that could lure a young child away from the computer and into a whole world of exploration. Highly recommended.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) by Pamela Espeland & Elizabeth Verdick

If there's one book today's kids need to read, it is Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) . The authors provide a fun format for teaching etiquette to children. They discuss proper behavior at home, at school, at other people's homes and in public places. The information is completely up-to-date with cellphone manners and netiquette included. Fun, cartoony illustrations are on practically every page giving the book great visual appeal. This book is perfect for boys and girls in the fourth grade or older. WARNING: Bodily functions are discussed.

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin Illustrated by Leslie Evans Charlesburg; 2009; unpaged Faces of the Moon is a short nonfiction book that describes the different phases of the moon and why the moon appears like it does on certain nights. This book is short and sweet so even the youngest of moon lovers will enjoy it. The layout is simplistic and easy to follow. I don’t know much about the moon so I found it very interesting.

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester 2008

J Fiction 328 pages I almost didn't finish this book. I got to Chapter 4, and was just about ready to quit (a kind of slow story about a girl, name of Piper McCloud, who discovers she can fly, parents freak out, she becomes a social outcast, yadda, yadda) but suddenly, right there in Chapter 4, the story takes a sharp turn and becomes really interesting . Piper finds herself in the company of others like her, but not "fliers", and under the care and authority of Dr. Hellion. I won't even tell you any more. Read this book. Forester does a great job of keeping you wondering who's the good guy and who's the bad? Piper is a likeable, strong, endearing character that girl readers will enjoy. But don't NOT give it to boys! The main male character is an extremely intelligent young man who is one of the ones you wonder about . . . good or bad? This is a good one, well worth your time.