Explorer Academy: The Falcon's Feather by Trudi Trueit

National Geographic takes on a new publishing venture with Explorer Academy, a fiction series combining action-adventure with science, technology and world exploration. Twelve-year-old Cruz Coronado is a member of Explorer Academy, an international team of young people training to become the world's future scientists. The Falcon’s Feather, second in the seven-book series, finds Cruz aboard the academy's flagship and headed to northern aquatic seas. He will be trained to swim in frigid waters and pilot a deep-sea exploratory vessel. The ship is equipped with fascinating technological gadgets: a helmet with an embedded computerized translator which allows the wearer to communicate with marine animals, clothing with bio-luminescent properties and the ability to change appearance to blend with surroundings, a drone that appears as a tiny insect but can transmit messages.

They killed your mother. They will not hesitate to kill you, too.

Extra. Extra. 

The Truth Behind

​Meet the real National Geographic Explorers who helped inspire the science in the book series. Watch them in action and find out how they’re changing the world through science and adventure in “Explorer Academy: The Truth Behind.”

Rocket to the Moon!: Big Ideas That Changed the World
​by Don Brown

Big Ideas That Changed the World, a series created by Don Brown, "celebrates the hard-won succession of ideas that ultimately remade the world."  Rocket to the Moon! is the first book in the BIG IDEAS series, exploring the development of rockets. ​Rodman Law, a New Jersey daredevil parachutist in the early 1900's, is the character who narrates the chronology. He provides commentary and adds his own witty asides.  I bet I'm the first guy to try flying in a rocket. OK, OK, there's a sketchy story about a Turkish guy who did it in 1633, but come on, 1633? I'm not buying it, so I'm claiming the title. Briefly mentioned are the Chinese invention of gunpowder, as well as fifteenth and sixteenth century experimentation with rockets. The narrative progresses with greater detail when detailing the research of twentieth-century Russian, American, and Romanian scientists and the work of American-German aerospace engineer Werner von Braun. His association with Hitler's Germany is mentioned. ​​

They lightened Eagle by discarding an impressive pile of junk: boots, a camera, canisters, scoops, a shovel, space suit parts, and an empty storage container. They left a bag of barf, too, so watch your step if you're ever on the Sea of Tranquility.

Don Brown Comics

Rocket History 

Contrary Creatures: Unique Animal Opposites
​by James Weinberg

Weinberg uses bold graphic design to compare animal characteristics. The cover sets the stage with a wave-like separation between life on land and life underwater. The title font remains the same for both words. However, color and text position offer important informational cues. The demarcation between the two environments is neatly pierced with shafts of light streaming from the sky and penetrating the deep water.  ​Interior pages include comparisons of animal size, habitat, as well as distinguishing features and behaviors. There is even a nod to imaginary animals found in stories and legends. A listing of the creatures along with a brief description of each can be found at the back of the book.

Home for a Penguin, Home for a Whale
​by Brenda Williams   ill Annalisa Beghelli      

Images of ocean life, both in the water and near the shore, follow a wave-like motion across two-page spreads. Brenda Williams’ rhythmic couplets undulate along with these animals, visually reinforcing the text’s aquatic theme. Annalisa Beghelli uses various shades of blue as the primary background. Generally the deeper blues are at the bottom of the spreads, with color values becoming lighter near the page top. Animals are depicted with a light whimsical touch.  Sharks and barracudas to not appear particularly menacing. A fun read aloud with a bonus: a tiny sea snail is hidden on each page, waiting to be discovered.

100 Questions About Oceans by Simon Abbott

Simon Abbott's subject-specific trivia books are jam-packed with fascinating factoids.   100 Questions and About Oceans covers a wide range of ocean-related data including basic underwater geography and ecology, ecosystems, marine animal records, well-known marine biologists, historical shipwrecks, and protecting aquatic life.  ​Information is presented as a series of questions with corresponding answers, formatted in brief easy-to-read statements. How does the goblin shark hunt in the dark? ​Its snout is lined with natural sensors called ampulae, which detect weak electrical fields from living creatures. The shark simply tracks down its prey, open its retractable jaws, and ... chomp!

More Questions & Answers

This board book is a little gem. Consider the following: The engaging text has a song-like quality using rhymes and rhythms. Lesser-known animal species are introduced. Math multiples, an interesting concept rarely covered in picture books, is a major component.   It's forever and always a celebration of the enduring love of a parent. Heather Swain infuses the text with some powerful scientific terminology: appendages, arachnids, cephalopod, isopod, tentacles.  She weaves them so smoothly into the rhymes that they easily roll off the tongue. Steven Henry's charming illustrations provide important context clues for unknown words.  The bold color pallet and winsome facial expressions on the animal faces are a delight.

The Benefits of Hugging

According to Healthline newsletter: ​Hugs reduce stress by showing your support  Hugs may protect you against illness  Hugs may boost your heart health  Hugs can make you happier  Hugs help reduce your fears  Hugs may help reduce your pain  Hugs help you communicate with others

Hug +  Book= Happiness

Sanity and Tallulah by Molly Brooks

Molly Brooks has done it.  Pink is now the signature color for action and adventure. This brilliant comic stars eighth-graders who are smart and resourceful, devious and daring and __ girls! Sanity Jones, along with her friend Tallulah Vega live onboard space station Wilnick. Tallulah’s mother, Science and Engineering Director, discovers the girls are deep into a clandestine scientific project. Sanity has created a three-headed kitten, affectionately named Princess Sparkle, Destroyer of Worlds. ​"Let me make sure I'm following your thought process here. You're feeding your carnivorous bioengineering experiment experimental bioengineered meat that you cloned yourself-" To everyone's horror, the kitten escapes and havoc reigns on Wilnick. A pet gerbil is murdered, something is chewing up major electrical system wires, and coolant leaks are wide-spread. Naturally everyone suspects the triple-headed feline.

Sneak Peek: More Sanity & Tallulah

Looking for more of the duo's adventures? ​View some sample pages. Head over to Comixology to order these webcomics.

Made by Maxine by Ruth Spiro ill Holly Hatam

Maxine, a thinker and tinkerer, joins the ranks of iconic young inventors.  Her specialty is repurposing items to create something new and better. Our spunky little heroine is determined to create a habitat for her goldfish Milton. He is worthy of more than an ordinary round fishbowl.  Maxine sets to work.

She had already discovered a million ways that would not work. Which meant she was getting closer to finding a way that would work. Her hard work and determination eventually pay off. Maxine includes Milton in the Pet Parade with an invention Made by Maxine.

Companion Resources

Little Whale by Jo Weaver

It begins south of the equator. A mother gray whale senses that it is time to leave the shelter of warm waters and migrate to northern feeding grounds. Her young calf accompanies her for the first time. The journey is filled with wonders as well as dangers: a coral reef, schools of shimmering fish, passing ships, and sharks, ​Realistic physical representation of these noble creatures dovetails nicely with the anthropomorphic elements. Readers young and old can relate to the calf’s repeated query “Are we nearly there?” The protective and loving relationship of a mother for her child is reinforced throughout the text. Migration patterns, an exploration of deep-water life, and a gentle reminder of parental love are all brought to life through gorgeous expressive art.

Bonus: Illustration Workshop

Jo Weaver shares the process for creating her illustrations for the picture book Little One.  ​ After reading Little Whale, view live footage of an encounter with gray whales.  A close-up look at these mammals is fascinating and informative. Inspiration for young researchers and artists. ​Science meets art.

Oliver: The Second-Largest Living Thing on Earth
by Josh Crute ill John Taesoo Kim

Why the obsession with being first?  Josh Crute explores this ever-present phenomena in Oliver: The Second-Largest Living Thing on Earth.  Meet Oliver, a mighty sequoia standing 268.1 feet tall. One would think that this height would be impressive. Unfortunately, it is not.  There is a taller tree: Sherman, coincidentally bearing a marked resemblance to the world's largest sequoia: The General Sherman Tree located in Sequoia National Park.  Oliver notes that Sherman is the recipient of constant attention.  He, on the other hand, receives no notice. Disheartened but not daunted, he begins a regime to increase his stature. "Stretch(ing) limbs" and "munch(ing) on mulch" fail to produce results. Sherman is still bigger and taller.  What's a second-place finisher to do?

The answer comes quite by accident. Oliver changes his point of view. That's when he notices an entire forest of other sequoias. None are as tall as Sherman. However, there are a lot of them. A. Lot. They make up the Sequoia National Forest and it is indeed impressive. John Taesoo Kim renders the sequoias with insightful details. Sherman has a bushy leaf beard, mossy green growth beneath his armpit branches and some impressive tattoos sprouting on his limbs.

Countdown: 2979 Days to the Moon 
by Suzanne Slade ill Thomas Gonzales

Countdown: 2979 Days to the Moon chronicles events leading up to and concluding with the first lunar landing on July 20, 1969. The narrative begins with the challenge uttered by President John F. Kennedy in May 1961. ​I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade it out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth Suzanne Slade, a mechanical engineer who worked on several space projects including the development of Saturn V rocket, is well qualified to write this superlative work of nonfiction. Her lyrical text vivify the marvel of space exploration. The free verse is accompanied by direct quotations, systematically describing each of the eleven Apollo missions.

Then he spots something surprising
almost surreal.
A brilliant blue ball, 
wrapped in wispy white cotton,
rising about the stark horizon.
​Earthrise on Christmas Ever, 1968.

The computer flashes a warning.
"It's a 1202," Armstrong informs Mission Control.
He's never seen this alarm in a simulator.
Not once.
"What is it?" he asks Aldrin.
He gets no response.
​
Fear slithers in.
Will they crash?
Will they have to abort/
Will they be able to return home?

Seconds feel like hours,