When I was 14, I started babysitting a baby named Kaden,
and, eventually, his younger sister Cailene when she came along.
I watched them on weekends and over the summer,
and soon became their regular babysitter.
They always loved stories.
I was always reading cool books to them,
making up fun games,
and even helping them create their own stories.
I’d usually make up ones for Kaden at bedtime.
One night when he was maybe seven or eight,
I sat at the edge of his bed and he got this serious look on his face.
“Kathy Ellen, can you tell me a story that’s not about outer space?”
he asked. “I just think it’s sort of scary and I don’t want to think about it.”
“Sure,” I said, “but why is it scaring you?”
“It’s gravity,” he said, “it’s just really getting me down.”
It was all I could do to not bust out laughing,
and thankfully I didn’t,
because he was really afraid!
I think I told a story about a magic football that glowed in the dark or something…
Needless to say, that boy is graduating from high school this year!
I still hang out with him and his sister every time I go home,
and they still say they never had a babysitter as cool 🙂
They’re also my number one fans when it comes to books;
they listened patiently when I explained how a book is made,
and the work that goes into getting one published.
They’re very excited to hold a published book of mine in their hands someday,
since they’ve held so many books that I made myself over the years.
Now, if Kaden had this book as a child,
maybe he would have had a different feeling about gravity 🙂
Title: Gravity
Published by: Roaring Books Press, 2014
Written by: Jason Chin
Illustrated by: Jason Chin
Word Count: 64
Pages: 32
In one word: Concept
In one sentence: The concept of gravity is beautifully and simply illustrated in this book for the youngest of readers!
Favorite pages:
Likes:
I LOVE how simple this book is. It seems like such a simple definition of gravity, but I’m sure a lot of work went into crafting those words!
The illustrations are very detailed and the layout of the text on the page really draws your eyes to the relationships between things.
There’s a story along with the definition. And the story helps you understand the concept better.
This will open up a whole discussion I’m sure about gravity!
One spread in the back talks all about gravity and how it works, but in simple and effective terms. What a fun book!
Oh, and the last page. LOVE how it ties the story together!
Learns:
Make sure you make a story when you’re doing non fiction too!
Kids are dying to know about what makes our world work…so let’s make books that explain it to them!
What did you read today?
Happy Saturday!
Soon I’m off to Hicklebee’s to meet Annie Barrows, author of many books, but you may know her from Ivy and Bean 🙂
In the upcoming weeks I’ll have some 31 in 31 books by authors that I’ve met recently.
I’m excited to give you a peek at their presentations and books 🙂
See you tomorrow!
KE
