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Books are incredible tools that can build empathy, inspire travel, and even help kids get excited about science, technology, engineering, and math, also known as STEM. Sanity & Tallulah by Molly Brooks arrived at my door at just the right time, a long time reader with a middle schooler had just asked me if there were any new graphic novels that her daughter might like. I immediately suggested this specific title because;
- Graphic novels are wonderful options for readers of all levels but especially for middle-grade readers. As my eight year old told me a few days ago ” I like reading novels with no pictures with you, but graphic novels alone because the pictures help to engage me in the book right away!” Sanity and Tallulah is a complex book, the vocabulary is challenging at times, and that’s a good thing! The illustrations are a wonderful scaffold for readers and like my daughter said it helps to engage the reader right away!
- This book is the first part of a three-part series. Getting readers into series is the best way to get them reading more! Just be prepared to track down the next installments.
- The characters in this book aren’t one dimensional. They are all complex and real, and while the story is about adventure and science, there is a huge social-emotional piece that makes me as a parent feel great about my child devouring it.
Here is a little more about Sanity & Tallulah:
Sanity Jones and Tallulah Vega are best friends that live space station at the end of the galaxy. Sanity is pretty much a genius when it comes to science, and she uses her lab skills and energy allowance to create a definitely-illegal-but-impossibly-cute three-headed kitten, she names Princess, Sparkle, Destroyer of Worlds. Like any good friend Tallulah keeps this a secret even though she totally should have told her mom Dr.Vega. But Princess, Sparkle, Destroyer of Worlds (the kitten) escapes the lab and totally causes major problems! The girls will have to turn the space station upside down to find her, but not before causing the whole place to evacuate! Can they save their home before it’s too late?
Now that you know more about this great new book let me share my other STEM book pics for all age groups!
STEM Board Books
ABC of Science by Chris Ferrie
This Little Scientist by Joan Holub
Baby 101: Architecture for Babies by Jonathan Litton
Baby Loves Aerospace Engineering by Ruth Spiro
Marie Currie: My First Marie Currie by Isabel Snachez Vagera
STEM Picture Books
Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty.
Iggy Peck Architect by Andrea Beaty
Rosie Revere Engineer by Andrea Beaty
Have Fun Molly Lou Lemon by Patty Lovell
The Girl Who Thought In Pictures; The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin by Julia Finley
Awesome Dawson
Monkey with A Tool Belt and The Noisy Problem by Chris Monroe
11 Experiments That Failed by Jenny Offill
If I Built A House by Chris Van Dusen
STEM Early Chapter Books
Catstronauts by Drew Brockington
Zoey and Sassafras Series by Asia Citro
Max Einstein by James Patterson ad Chris Grabenstein
Monkey and Me; And The Golden Monkey by Timothy Roland
Digging for Dinos by Jessica Young
STEM Graphic Novels for Tweens
Sanity and Tallulah by Molly Brooks
Star Wars: Jedi Academy by Jeffery Brown
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle adapted and illustrated by Hope Larson
Space Mountain: A Graphic Novel by Bryan Q. Miller
Jane Lowry says
I like the list of books and that they cover a big age range – reading levels vary so much from kid to kid, it’s nice to have a variety for boys/girls/all ages