Fictional Stories in Science
Using Fictional Stories as a Pathway to Science Content
Tuesday Morning Reads for April 3, 2018
- The Boy and the Whale by Mordicai Gerstein: When a whale gets trapped in a fishing net, Abelardo hurts for the whale, remembering a time when he was once trapped in a net and near drowning. Eager to free the whale, his father strongly encourages him to instead free the net without harm, for the net is their only pathway to food, and is their only net. Thinking the whale has died, Abelardo still hurts, but does as instructed…until the whale’s eye opens. Despite his father’s continued protests, this story of integrity shows Abelardo choosing what’s right in the face of personal struggle and sacrifice. A beautifully illustrated story, this provides the opportunity for so many essential conversations, one of which is our role and interaction with the environment.
- The Weather Girls by Aki: This is a cute story of 16 friends enjoying the four seasons, and how each season has something wonderful to experience. Children will love the colorful words and phrases, the action-based images, and the scenes of friendship on each page. While I think it would be a great addition to a preK-2 unit on weather, it probably wouldn’t be my go-to read aloud on the topic. Also, I did wish that there was more diversity with the names listed on the title page.
- I Lost My Sock! A Matching Mystery by P.J. Roberts. Illustrated by Elio: Fox has lost his sock and enlists his good friend, Ox, to help him find his missing match. With the use of descriptions, and similarities and differences, they search and search for it. This is a great PreK-K book for same and different, which also serves as a good early science concepts book. 🙂
Fictional Stories in Science 