Carmella Van VleetCritiques

From static electricity to circuits and beyond, a broad spectrum of everything surrounding electricity comes to light with facts and hands-on possibilities.

After beginning with a time-line of various historical highlights surrounding electricity, the book heads on into various chapters, which address an array of themes surrounding electricity. Each chapter starts out with a mini-cartoon of a boy and a robot before heading into the information. And this book is packed with information. Not only are various aspects, theories, and facts, but there are links to videos and more. Questions sprinkled here and there invite to deeper thought, while vocabulary corners reinforce important terms. Extra accounts and side-information are held in extra frames to offer a well-rounded view into the themes. And there are several experiments at the end of each chapter, which give readers a chance to get hands on and explore on their own. Add a quick glossary/vocabulary quiz at the end of the book, and it's got a bit of everything needed to really dive into the subject.

Science fans, especially those leaning toward engineering and electricity, are going to find a smorgasbord of facts and insights. It is a lot and brings in many unexpected side-directions, which actually help readers understand the topics and see the world in a broader light. This isn't a book which can or should be digested in one sitting but is one to be revisited and expanded upon. It does hit upon many themes very quickly, so those who have absolutely no understanding of science will be overwhelmed (such as a little, very basic atom knowledge).

The variety of material (videos, questions, vocabulary, photos, historical aspects, etc) does seem a bit much, at first, but it offers so many possible directions, giving something for everyone. Plus, it offers readers a chance to come back at will to learn something more, even later on. This also keeps the usual 'tunnel' concept science books offer at bay and demonstrates how broad life truly is even when looking at a certain topic such as electricity. So, it's a rich, well-thought out read.

There are about three experiments per chapter, all of which are grouped together toward the end. These rotate around mostly usual household items. The directions are well-laid out and pretty easy to follow. Some have a quick illustration for added assistance but the text is key in these. Some are more difficult than others, so that this also addresses readers of various interests and skills.

I was surprised how encompassing this book is and find it very well done. It's not for light reading or those readers, who want a quick glance but rather hits many topics and themes. It's actually very useable for homeschoolers or groups learning about electricity and will give them a very good overview at the various aspects and important themes, which will be needed during later education. I received a complimentary copy and was surprised how thorough this one is.

A picture book biography of Kathy Sullivan and the gender discrimination she overcame to become the first American woman to walk in space.

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Kathy Sullivan was the first American woman to walk in space. The book I read chose to go through her life story before she made this monumental moment possible. The book would jump back and forth between Kathy Sullivan as a child and later on as an adult as she was going through astronaut training and eventually going into space. I thought it was an interesting choice how Carmella Van Vleet chose not to identify Kathy Sullivan's accomplishment until the end of the book. Throughout the story, the constant focus was her desire to 'see the whole world', a metaphor that became a reality for Kathy Sullivan.

Biography about the first woman American woman to walk in space. Great book about following your dreams and also promoting the idea that girls can do anything they want. Pierce County Library. 2nd through 3rd grade

Kathy Sullivan was one of the woman to break molds for woman in space. This picture book is a wonderful look into Kathy's youth and her path to NASA. A young explorer, she was always curious about flying. She learned to fly at a very young age and knew it was always her true passion. Not caring about stereotypes and what girls are supposed to "like" she followed her dream and become the first American woman to walk in space.

One thing I can't decide if I liked or disliked was the way the book went back and forth between her youth and adulthood. At first I found it confusing and frustrating but once I read it a second time I started to enjoy the compare and contrast of the pages.

With increased emphasis for girls’ interest in entering STEM professions, To the Stars is an excellent addition for both a science and English Arts lesson. Growing up in the 1950s, Kathy experienced many naysayers to her adventurous dreams. Rather than a chronological pattern, the text moves back and forth from childhood to adulthood tracing Kathy Sullivan’s interest and development in science and her actual experience as a scientist and astronaut. Not only does the content of book send the author’s clear message of women’s role in science but also the structure of the book provides the opportunity to explore a way to organize information in a nonfiction text. The gentle but detailed watercolor illustrations help delineate the difference as the pictures during youth are enclosed with a line border, whereas the pictures of Sullivan’s adult life bleed off the page. Appendices include a note from the author, further biographical information, and a list of “American Women firsts in NASA History.”

"To the Stars" is about a woman dreaming about what she will be when she grows up. She loved studying airplane blueprints and loved flying. This book is about Kathy Sullivan being the first woman on the moon by following her dreams. This is an inspiration and would be good to talk to kids about when talking about what they want to be when they grow up.

This is a biography of Dr. Kathy Sullivan. She had an average childhood in which she had no idea what she wanted to be when she grew up. There were no pivotal moments or people to inspire her. She did well in school, went to college and applied to NASA.

TO THE STARS! by Carmella Van Vleet and Kathy Sullivan tells the true story of the first American woman to walk in space.

This fascinating, picture book biography features Sullivan’s childhood dream of becoming a world traveler and her teenaged ambition to become a pilot. Woven into the story are flashes to the future showing the outcome of Sullivan’s childhood aspirations.

The book concludes with a note from Sullivan and a more detailed biography. Short descriptions of other famous women involved with the space program are also provided.

Nicole Wong’s accurate and appealing illustrations add interest to the story. The large, easy-to-read font will appeal to both students and teachers.

Librarians will find this inspirational biography a welcome addition to their nonfiction, picture book collections.

To learn more about the author, go to http://www.carmellavanvleet.com/.

To learn more about Kathryn Sullivan, go to http://www.noaa.gov/sullivan.html.

Published by Charlesbridge on January 5, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

An uplifting book about a young girl, Kathy Sullivan, who dreamt of being an astronaut even as girls her age were expected to make a good marriage, have children and keep their feet firmly on the ground.
This account takes us through the highs and lows of training and finally her triumph as she blasts her way to the stars.
She has proved that if you work hard and have belief you can achieve anything.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Charlesbridge via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.

“Most people told her that girls don’t do those jobs. But Kathy knew what she liked.”

Just like the title says, To The Stars! The 1st American Woman to Walk in Space is about Dr. Kathleen Sullivan’s journey to become… the 1st American woman to walk in space. I really enjoyed this book, especially the artwork and the way the story jumped back and forth between a younger and older Kathy while making parallels between her childhood experiences and her experiences in the astronaut cadet program. I found it to be very informative and enjoyed learning about someone I barely knew anything about prior. While there is nothing wrong with nurses, mothers, and (obviously) teachers, I’m glad biographies like this exist for the little girls who want to do something a little different.

Given the pace of how we harness and utilize electricity, as well as the importance of developing new sources of energy, electricity is a timely subject for kids to explore. In Explore Electricity! With 25 Great Projects, kids ages 6-9 will learn the basics of electricity: currents, circuits, power, magnetism and electromagnetism, motors and generators. They’ll become more attuned to how much they rely on electricity in their daily lives. They’ll also understand that while electricity is a wonderful resource, and one we’ve used to our advantage ever since it was discovered, the future of how we make and use electricity is still changing and there are things they can do today to impact these changes.

Eliza has trouble sticking to things. She wants to take a cake baking class but her parents say it's too expensive: she has to prove first that she has the power to stay with something. When Eliza takes her brother's spot in his Taekwondo class, she gets her chance to do just that. It isn't easy though, and she's often tempted to just drop out. An unlikely friendship with Madison, who seems to take so easily to the martial arts, helps to change Lexie's attitude and give her the stick-to-it-ness that she usually can't muster. With breezy, engaging dialog, this would be a great read aloud in a class, especially given that so many students who also have ADHD face exactly what Lexie faced.

I read this really quickly to see if I could get ideas for work. The projects to do in the book are pretty interesting, if a bit complicated for a library setting. I might try a few out myself at home though!

Another great book for getting your kids involved with environmental issues and fun projects.

An instructional guide for creating versions of the inventions of Ben Franklin interspersed with historical and biographical tidbits about his life. Each invention section begins with a brief history of how Franklin was inspired to develop the particular innovation. In addition to the step by step instructions given, many of the chapters include a portion called “Fun Ideas to Try” which have various activities like writing letters to the editor or drawing political cartoons to extend the text. These activities are similar to what a teacher might assign if the material was being covered within a class.

The format makes the text feel disjointed at times with inset boxes popping up frequently with loosely related information using multiple fonts and sizes of text throughout the book. The complexity of the recreated inventions is uneven. The instructions for the various creations go from simple like creating a feather pen by taping a feather to a pen to quite complex where a glue gun and hand tools are required. The author is very enthusiastic about the topic, frequently peppering the narrative with exclamation points. Although the format is distracting, this book may find an audience with young teens interested in history and inventions of early America.