Does your young reader like graphic novels or comic books? How about science? What if we combine both?
I recently discovered something through an educator who visited the library. A teacher from one of the homeschooling groups in Columbia asked me for help finding a book by Joseph Midthun. When I grabbed it for her, she told me how her readers at home loved that Midthun’s books combine science into an accessible, easy to read graphic novel format.
We have over 30 titles in our collection from Joseph Midthun that are all illustrated by Samuel Hiti. I looked through a few of them and found that they were super helpful in learning about different science topics. I am someone who does not appreciate learning abstract things, so seeing a visual aid for each concept is super helpful to me.
Below are a few of my favorites. Enjoy!
“Energy”
“Energy” is narrated by a being called Energy. Energy dives into what energy is, what it does, where it comes from and more! My favorite part of this book is it moves beyond energy as one thing. Instead, there are so many different sciences that deal with different forms of energy.
“The Digestive and Urinary Systems”
Who doesn’t love seeing the inside of the human body? This book takes you through the digestive system. It starts with the concept of cells and then shows the process that food makes as it is digested, and then, uh, as it leaves the body. This book is great as it has a wonderful vocabulary, showing each and every step through the body, with a glossary in the back in case kids need extra help with words or terms.
This book reminded me a lot of Osmosis Jones from my childhood. It dives into the human body’s response to invading germs and how the body fights back to protect itself. This book itself might be important for teaching young readers about germs in a COVID-19 climate.
“Magnetism” dives into the force that causes magnets to repel and attract certain metals. It starts out small, with tiny magnets, and moves to the Earth, which is a large magnet. The movement from small to big allows a lot of perspective on how magnets work and how they realistically fit into the world.
“The Cell Cycle” dives right in with where cells exist, the differences between animal and plant cells and different types of cells within the human body. The graphic novel images make learning about the body approachable, and, in my opinion as someone who passes out at the sight of blood, a little less gross.
