Book Description

Tae kwon do is pretty young compared to other martial arts. But that hasn't stopped it from becoming the most popular of them all. Discover why as you explore tae kwon do's history and techniques. You too will learn that tae kwon do is more than a martial art—it can become a way of life. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Cute little book for girls
This tiny, fun book is filled with catchy chants and cheers for young girls. Some of them are old and familiar while some are quite original. For girls wanting to boost the spirits of their team, family, or friends, thiscute book works! It also comes with team tattoos, a keychain, and name tag. ... Read more

Book Description

Hey, Einstein! You don't have to be a genius to entertain and educate kids at the same time. Just give 'em The Mad Scientist Handbook--the greatest collection of creepy crafts, insane inventions, and freaky experiments ever devised. Packed with easy-to-understand instructions and simple illustrations, this engaging activity book will show kids how to:

Make oozing green slime
Build a high-speed balloon car
Cook up delicious edible glass
Create a tornado machine
Build an exploding volcano
Pass an egg through the neck of a bottle without breaking it
and much more!

Plus, they'll learn lots of weird facts along the way, like how every experiment in this book works and who figured it out first. It's the perfect handbook for every budding mad scientist. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Disappointing: Fun, but wrong.
I was considering this book, among others, for use in a course for future high school science teachers.The directions are simple, and the book is definitely pitched to the short attention span.But I was dismayed at several instances of simply and obviously wrong statements: it is clear that the author has failed to do even the most cursory fact-checking in his "Bizarre Facts."(Unless maybe being wrong is what makes a fact "bizzare"?)

Three examples: First, in the "Balloon in a Bottle" experiment, the author claims that "...as the height above sea level increases, the temperature required to boil water also increases, making it difficult to bring water to a boil at high altitudes."This is exactly wrong: water boils at a lower, not higher, temperature at higher altitudes; among other things, this makes some foods take longer to cook than at sea level, because foods that contain lots of water will be cooking at a lower temperature.Shame on the author and the publisher for getting this extremely basic principle wrong.

Second, in at least two experiments, the author includes false statements about things rotating differently in the northern and southern hemispheres.The claim that the rotation of the earth determines the direction water spirals as it drains from a toilet or bathtub, while false, is deeply entrenched; it is unfortunate but not terribly surprising to see that brought up again.(There's a great article on myths based on the Coriolis effect at http://www.snopes.com/science/coriolis.htm and it includes a link to a nice page of info for teachers.)But the worse transgression is in the "Paper Helicopter" experiment; here he claims that the rotation of the helicopter will switch below the equator, which is just goofy--essentially the same as claiming that a real helicopter would have to spin its rotor the opposite direction to fly in South America.I was kind of embarrassed for him on that one.

Third (and this is admittedly a minor quibble), he claims that the sparks emitted by wintergreen life savers are due to shattering the crystals of methylsalicylate (wintergreen flavor).In fact it's the crystals of sugar; most hard sugar candy will display this effect. It's just made more dramatic by the methylsalicylate, which fluoresces.(There are several websites addressing this phenomenon.For example, see http://techrepublic.com.com/5102-22-5171806.html or do your own search.)

Those are just the first three that jumped out at me, ones I knew were wrong without having to look them up.I haven't bothered to start a more systematic process of double-checking the assertions of which I'm merely skeptical.For heaven's sake don't quote any of the "Bizarre Facts," or use the information for homework or a science project, without checking on them--the author clearly didn't bother, in spite of how simple it would have been to do so.I wouldn't use this book in a classroom, and I cannot recommend it to a nonscientist; it contains too much misinformation.

Science Teacher Recommendation
Smokebombs, stink bombs, slime and other gross interesting things fill this book.There are litterally hundred of interesting facts that go with each experiment.Don't worry about not doing well in chemistry, the directions are simple and the experiments are safe when the directions are followed.

Some good ideas...
I liked some of the ideas.I like the interesting facts, and found the science explanations are accurate and very complete.I like the choice of experiments, and most of them are fun. (although I'm not sure all of them are especially safe for the younger mad scientist set), but I was disappointed that a decent number of the experiments simply don't work.I understand there's a margin of error, but as an adult (and a science teacher), WhenI can't make experiments work, I pity the poor children with the book.

How to Cause Mayhem and Get in Trouble
Some of these "science experiments" are simple and relatively harmless. Others provide unsupervised children with recipes for disaster. The book should come with a child-proof cover or a trigger-lock. Not that it contains plans for thermonuclear devices, but several of the projects can damage property or cause injury if not properly carried out.

While each project has a set of fascinating "scientific" tidbits & trivia to go with it, the book is almost entirely lacking in helping children understand or use the scientific method or understand much of the basis for what they are doing. This is a "Mad Scientists' Club" handbook, just a several steps short of the Anarchists' Cookbook, but headed in that general direction.

On the other hand, parents may find themselves reliving their own nerdy & awkward years helping their children be "mad scientists." It could be great fun. But keep the book locked up. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing!

Start with a batch of Green Slime..........
...and add one unruly First Grade class.

Okay, so first graders are a little young to use this book.

Maybe.

My son needed a Show and Tell project.He was anxious to do "science", since a classmate had demonstrated a vinegar and soda "bomb" just recently.

Enter The Mad Scientist Handbook.I accompanied him (as parents often do in his class) and assisted with the preparation.The Green Slime was a huge hit.Even better, my son is interested enough in science to want to do a Science Fair project this year.(We may make a lava lamp, for which instructions are included in this book.)

I can't recommend letting younger kids loose with this book and no supervision.But I can recommend several projects in this book as parent/child projects, or for demonstrations in a classroom full of younger children.The first graders we made Green Slime for now have a little different view of science.(Their wonderful teacher, who is so good at so many things, is uncomfortable with science -- she's convinced she's not able to teach it well, and she's not terribly inspiring in that one realm.)Maybe some of these children will keep on thinking science is fun for years to come. ... Read more

Book Description

Join a beginner's tennis class as four children learn to bounce the ball, swing their racquets, and hit the ball over the net. Created with the Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative, this beautiful book lets children see what it's like to learn to play tennis in a class. The gorgeous, inspirational photography encourages young athletes to join in for a fun time and some healthy competition. ... Read more

Book Description

From archery and baseball to skateboarding and water polo, and every imaginanable sport in between, the Scholastic Visual Sports Encyclopedia shows kids the rules, skills, and strategies of 100+ sports. They'll be captivated by the unique, sequential illustrations that show how athletes perform a lutz (skating), a McTwist (snowboarding), a curve ball (baseball) and more.This title is the children's version of the popular and award-winning adult title, Sports: The Complete Visual Reference (Firefly, 2000). ... Read more

Book Description

The third in our successful photography activity series, My Family Album is the perfect gift for any aspiring shutterbug! A great way to learn basic photography skills, My Family Album focuses on-you guessed it-the family, guiding kids on how to take snapshots of Mom and Dad, the family pet, or a pesky brother or sister! The book makes a great family keepsake, allows kids to express their creativity while learning artistic skills and fundamentals of photography, and is a bunch of fun to boot! The large page layout leaves room to write a note by the picture, a place to fill in the family tree, and plenty of ideas for pictures to snap. Encourage all the young shutterbugs in your life to document the family moments that make life special.

Candice Elton is a part-time author and book consultant, and a full-time mother of five. Richard Elton is a full-time firefighter and part-time graphics designer. Their previous books include My Vacation Album and My Christmas Album. They live in Morgan, Utah, with their children and Champ the dog.

Fran Lee has illustrated and designed every book in this series, as well as the activity series books Cooking on a Stick, Fishing in a Brook, Haunting on a Halloween, Hiding in a Fort, Sleeping in a Sack, Trekking on a Trail, and Wishing on a Star. She is a native of Chicago, Illinois and now lives with her husband in Portland, Oregon. ... Read more

Book Description

Inviting girls to get active, have fun, feel strong, and glow with good health, The Girls' Yoga Book provides them with important tools for coping with common stressors in their lives, such as peer pressure, body image, and school and family problems. Its safe, clear guidelines — vibrantly illustrated throughout — introduce poses, breathing, and meditation exercises, and facts on yoga through the ages are sprinkled among the pages. With sidebars featuring real girls' reflections on their own experiences with the practice, this new book in the Girl Zone series also offers ways to incorporate yoga principles into daily life, plus fun and creative activities that add to the yoga experience. ... Read more

Book Description

Older brother thinks he knows the rules to hide-and-seek. But little sister has her own idea of how to play. And the resulting confusion, compounded by a lively dog, is hilarious. Now available for the first time in full-color and reformatted as a My First I Can Read Book, Crosby Bonsall's appealing story and simple text will delight emergent readers. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Rather confusing book for young readers.
I ordered this book along with two other My First I Can Read Books for my daughter who is in first grade and is really struggling with reading. On the whole I was disappointed with it.

The words were pretty easy for her to read, but I had to do a lot of explaining for her to understand what was going on. The way the book is written, the child needs to look at the pictures to figure out what is going on. In fact, a few pages are completely without words. The problem is the pictures do not clearly show what is going on. I had to explain "See, the little girl doesn't know what to do. She is just standing there instead of looking for her brother. Oh, see, her brother is hiding in the pile of leaves. Oh, look, she is going to sit on the pile of leaves."

Another thing I did not like about the book was the ending, when the little sister doesn't play hide and seek the right way, her brother says he is not going to play with her anymore. That is not something I want to teach my daughter, who has two younger siblings.

The book is okay, but there are other My First I Can Read books that are better. Check out the Biscuit books. My daughter loves those, and they are really helping her with her reading.

Children with Younger Siblings Will Love This!
This book is about a little boy who is trying to teach his younger sister how to play hide-and-go-seek without much success. It is written in short sentences and easy vocabulary, making it ideal for the youngest of readers. Any child with younger siblings will identify with this little guy and his exasperation at having to play with his little sister! ... Read more

Book Description

T.J. loves baseball, and this year he's hoping to pitch for the Pirates, his team.But he's smaller than his teammates, and he's been stuck on second base for several seasons.His pitches just don't have the power to get batters out.Then his father and grandfather tell him about the 1940s baseball star Rip Sewell and his mysterious underhand pitch.But will the Pirates give T.J. a chance to try the "eephus" pitch and lead his team to victory? This, the first book in the popular AllStar SportStory Series, weaves current day baseball fact with intriguing sports history, and is an exciting and well-written new addition to the sports shelves. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Young T.J. learns to pitch with his head as well as his arm
One thing about reading these baseball books Fred Bowen has written by the AllStar SportStory series is that if your Little League days are behind you then you are going to have memories of highs and lows coming back to you. While reading "T.J.'s Secret Pitch" I recalled the painful memory of our team losing a game to of the second division teams because the pitcher was throwing the ball so slow nobody could hit him. So when T.J. Burns' father quoted Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn dictum, "Hitting is timing. Pitching is upsetting timing," I know from painful experience that this is true. However, this excellent baseball story for young readers has another more important lesson that will help Little Leaguers even if they are not pitchers.

Like a lot of kids who play baseball, T.J. wants to be a pitcher. He is the team's second baseman, but he has been practicing pitching all summer long, learning how to move the ball around the strike zone. But he is also the shortest player on his team and when he is given a chance to pitch batting practice he cannot get anybody out. That night he watches his father pitch a softball game and win, throw great, high "meatballs" that nobody can hit. From that performance and talking with his dad afterwards, T.J. learns quite a few things about pitching with your head as well as with your arm. So in his back yard T.J. starts teaching himself to throw meatballs and when he pitches to his friends they are surprised to find out these are very hard pitches to hit. Now he just needs to have an opportunity to pitch in a real game.

One of the defining characteristics of Bowen's stories is the way he always works a little baseball history into the plot. In the case of "T.J.'s Secret Pitch" that would be the example of Rip Sewell and his infamous eephus pitch. In the back of this book Bowen tells the real story of Sewell's pitch, which he lofted as high as 25 feet. Besides Sewell's famous encounter with Ted Williams in the 1946 All Star Game, Bowen tells about Sewell's entire career and what happened to him afterwards, and I was surprised to learn Sewell only threw the pitch he made famous about 20 times a game, and never with runners on base (think about it).

"T.J.'s Secret Pitch" is illustrated by Jim Thorpe and should give young baseball players plenty to think about. To quote another Hall of Famer, Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra, "Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical." Young readers should certainly learn that important lesson from the examples provided in this excellent little story.

One of the best books I've ever read
This is a fantastic book about sports, life, and weird pitches. Everyone should go pick up a copy right now and read it cover to cover. Go. Now. ... Read more

Book Description

The Martial arts Training Diary for Kids is designed to help children get the most out of their martial arts lessons and hve fun doing it. It is a book children will love and their parents will treasure for a lifetime because it helps young martial artist create a lasting record of their journey from white belt to black belt and beyond. Regardless of marital arts style or rank, it will provide hours of entertainment for every young martial artist! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Hooray for Acka Backa
This is a great book to celebrate diversity and engage children's interest. We been using this book in a theme unit and getting a strong response from kids. It's very nice to have more than Western culture and languages. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Whether messing around with stick and ball in the street, pitching onthe school team, or playing in the Little League World Series, kids have beenplaying baseball since well before the Civil War. In this big, jam-packedvolume, all the ins and outs of America's national pastime are explored,explained, and honored for the benefit of young players. Designed in DK'ssignature style, with clean, sharp photos and clear descriptions, the highlypractical guide will quickly become an everyday favorite for baseball fans. Eachtwo-page spread deals with basics of the game: "Types of throws," "Catching flyballs," "Batting basics," "More pitching tips," "Have fun!" etc. Step-by-stepphotos show key skills, and tan sidebar boxes give a closer look at a particularskill. Trivia, records, slang terms, and more are found in green boxes, and topMajor League baseball stars like Derek Jeter and Mike Piazza offer tips onthrowing, game psychology, running, and more. Boys and girls of all ages will bemore than ready to play ball after perusing this terrific guide. (Ages 8 andolder) --Emilie Coulter ... Read more

Book Description

Have you heard about the quarterback who threw a successful forward pass -- to himself?Or the NFL star who suffered a career-ending injury -- during the pre-game coin toss?

Pigskin fans will love this wacky book packed with the strangest -- but true -- football stories. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

What a book!
When I saw this book lying around in my house I thought it would be a boring book but when I started reading it in my English class I found out that it was a really interesting book. It talks about things that happened on football games and also things that didn't happened on football games. I really recommend this book if you have not seen the strangest things that happen at football games. This book is for people that like to laugh at little and that like crazy things. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

This book does not teach young people about lying!
The review that this book teaches young people to lie is not true. The book, among other very important things, teaches the "12 Ways to Walk Away with Confidence." The use of "trickery" has been changed to "Creative Imagination." But the word "trickery" was not meaning that a person should lie. It is meant only to help a young person think of someway to get out of conflict by creative means. The reviewer has taken offense at one very, very small part of this internationally acclaimes, award winning book.

This book was very informative and fun to read.
This book tells about bullies and victims and teaches how to be neither one. It explains how bullies may become that way because they are bullied or are hurt inside. It helped me to look at bullies in a different way and made me feel sorry for them. The book also talks about different types of bullies and how some bullying is seen as "successful". Victims are sometimes attacked by bullies because they act like "poor me" and the bullies see that as a sign of weakness. The books tells how not to act like a victim and to not BE a victim. I really liked the role-playing and questions that helped me think of ways to avoid a fight. I also liked the stories. This book was very informative and fun to read. I learned a lot of things that will help me to become the best person I can be. Thank you, Dr. T!

I would recommend this book to anyone.
This book was based on solving a conflict nonviolently. It helps victims defend themselves from the bully nonviolently; physically and verbally. It helps bullies recognize that they are bullying and to stop. And it teaches you how to help somebody you know, to stop bullying. It teaches you how to recognize your feelings and to help control yourself. It helps you to control the bully or victim inside of you. I liked this book because it taught me that without even trying, you can bully. It's made me see the bully and victim inside of me, and in a way I've been nicer and have not "bullied" people as much as I have been in the past. My mother has also seen a very big difference since I've read this book. It has helped me a lot. I don't think that there was anything I didn't like about this book. I think it had some very moral values. I would recommend this book to anyone. Now I want to read the others.

Caitlin (Age 15)

AN EXCELLENT BOOK FOR YOUNG PEOPLE COPING WITH BULLYING
I felt this book was excellent in laying out clear specific techniques that one could use to help them creatively deal with bullies and bullying. Getting out of a bully situation is so hard for so many people and this book makes it easy to see how one can do it. It took away the feeling of helplessness, and empowered me with skills I could use all of the time. I was intrigued by each of the techniques, like the trickery technique. I realized this is something that all of nature does for survival. Just like the moth that makes itself look like a leaf so as not to be eaten. Brilliant! But not only does this book gives you tools to defeat bullying, it also explores the root of bullying and conflict so that it can be prevented before it starts. Often, we may not realize how each of us may bully at times, because of our conditioning. This book showed me how to look at that conditioned behavior and to be aware of it. The problem is not just being bullied, but bullying. And this book does an excellent job of dealing with both. I suggest any parent buying this book for their child whether they are bullied or not.

"Dad, this book tells you to lie!"
There are some useful insights in this book. The back cover says it aims to help young people learn that fighting is not an honorable solution to conflict. However, as my 12-year old daughter was reading the sub-section titled "Trickery" she looked at me with disbelief, and said, "Dad, this book tells you to lie!"

My 10-year old son replied, "Well, what are you reading it for, then?"

My kids grasped a point that the author seems to avoid: lying is also dishonorable, even to those who threaten us. This book lost its credibility with my kids right there. It is published in the "Education for Peace Series". How unfortunate! Peace cannot be bought at the price of integrity. ... Read more