Both Caramel and Marshmallow loved reading B.J. Novak’s The Book With No Pictures; Caramel even reviewed it way back in 2019. Today Caramel reviews what he calls the little baby brother of that very same book: The Little Book With No Pictures, which just came out yesterday. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.
Caramel reviews The Little Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak.
Sprinkles: So Caramel, today we have a board book for our readers!
Caramel: Yes! This is the little baby brother of a book we reviewed before: The Book With No Pictures.
S: I remember that one! It was hilarious!
C: Yes, but a tiny correction: having you read it out loud to me was hilarious!
S: That’s true, that book is kind of like a setup for parents: it makes them say really ridiculous things.
C: But rightfully so. Adults are sometimes too serious. That book forces them to not take themselves so seriously.
S: Yes, you are definitely correct. But okay, let us come back to this book.
C: Sure. As I said, this is the little baby brother of the other book. It is meant for younger bunnies, I think. For starters, it is a board book like you said. So a really little bunny can hold it in their paws and maybe even nibble on it.
S: In fact the book tells them to do that, no?
C: Kind of. It says, “EAT the book, yum yum yum. EAT the book?!!, we do not eat books.”
Caramel is reading The Little Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak.
S: I see. It sounds like a funny book, like the other one.
C: It is a funny book! But it is a lot cuter than the other one. I mean, the other one keeps getting the parent who is reading the book into trouble by making them say silly things like robot monkey and boo boo butt and so on. It is really funny. But this one is only saying things like, now tickle or give a kiss or something like that. That is why it is probably more appropriate for babies.
S: Yeah, I can see that.
C: So it does have many signs of being a book for younger bunnies. And I am getting to be a bigger bunny every day. So I do not really read board books or even too many picture books anymore. But it was still fun to read this book.
S: I thought you might appreciate it. I know how much you enjoyed the original book.
C: Yeah I did. And this was fun too. So yes, it was a good choice.
S: And it can be a good choice for parents of young bunnies who are looking for a fun book for their little ones. There are no pictures, like it says in the title, but there are a lot of colors used in the book, and the words are sometimes small and sometimes large, so it is visually still interesting. And reading together and trying to do the things it says to do could be a lot of fun with a little one.
C: Yeah, it tells you to shake your pants for example.
S: Yeah, it does. Okay, Caramel, maybe this is a good time to wrap up this review. What do you think?
C: I think it is a good idea. I have school tomorrow.
S: Okay, then. Let’s wrap up. What do you want to tell our readers?
C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!
Caramel loved reading The Little Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak and recommends it to all parents of little bunnies: he promises it will be so much fun to read it with their little ones.
This past week Caramel got his paws on a handful of board books from the Baby University series, written mainly by Chris Ferrie. He is a voracious reader, and these little books, written for tinier bunnies and their adults, were all read within the course of one evening. Then he reread them and reread them again. And for today’s review, he insisted that we should talk about them. So that is what is happening today: Caramel is reviewing six books on physics from the Baby University series, and Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions.
Caramel reviews Electromagnetism for Babies, Astrophysics for Babies,Newtonian Physics for Babies,General Relativity for Babies,Quantum Physics for Babies, and Rocket Science for Babies, almost all written by Chris Ferrie, except the astrophysics one which is coauthored by Ferrie and Julia Kregenow.
Sprinkles: So Caramel, why did you want to review these books?
Caramel: Well, I liked them. I review only the books I like.
S: But aren’t these books for babies?
C: Yes. So? I don’t care. I liked them!
S: I agree they are cute and fun. But did you find them amusing? Did you find them informative?
C: Both!
S: They do explain some basic physics in simple terms. And even for a little bunny like you, who can read big books, they could teach some basic principles, right?
C: Yes.
S: Okay, let us start from the beginning. The earliest physics these books talks about is Newtonian physics. Can you tell me a bit about what you learn in that book?
C: This book talks about gravity, and mass, and acceleration.
S: Hmm, those are big important words. Do you know what they mean?
C: Yeah. For example the book tells me what gravity is. It says: “We can’t see gravity. It is the force that keeps us on the ground.”
S: I see.
C: There are forces and they make a ball move faster. That is what accelerate means. And when an apple falls from a tree, it “feels the force of gravity, and Sir Isaac Newton feels the force of the apple.”
C: I knew only one of them before reading this book, the one that says “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”. So I learned two more.
S: That is good! Then let us move to the book on electromagnetism. That is I believe the next one, in terms of the history of science.
C: Hmm, let me quickly read it again… Okay, this one, like all the others, starts with a ball. All of the books start with “This is a ball.”
S: It is a good starting point, especially if you want babies to be interested, right?
C: Yes. I like balls too.
S: I know! So okay, in this book you learn about electric charges and then magnets and then finally that the ideas of electricity and magnetism are related. Right?
C: Yes! I heard that they use big magnets in wind turbines to generate electricity! They are using this idea!
S: That is cool! Here is an article we found about “the critical role of magnets in wind turbines” and read together.
Caramel is looking at Electromagnetism for Babies, Newtonian Physics for Babies, and Quantum Physics for Babies, all written by Chris Ferrie.
S: Next let us talk about the book on quantum physics. Tell me about this one.
C: This also starts with a ball. Then it tells us about atoms and electrons. Electrons have energy. This energy is “quantized”.
S: That means that the energy electrons can have has to be among a few possible values. Not all values are allowed.
C: Yes. I learned that from this book.
S: That is some quite fancy knowledge Caramel. I’m glad you are learning all this already!
Caramel is looking at Astrophysics for Babies by Ferrie and Kregenow and General Relativity for Babies by Ferrie.
S: Tell me next about the astrophysics one. This is written by Chris Ferrie and Julie Kregenow.
C: This too starts with “This is a ball.” And then it says planets and stars are like balls. Then it talks about elements on the periodic table. They were all created in stars!
S: Yes, that part made me think about that Symphony of Science song we like to listen to. There is a part in that song where Carl Sagan says, “We’re made of star stuff”. He then says “We’re a way for the cosmos to know itself.” I love that!
C: Yeah, let us embed the video here!
S: Sure, why not?
“”We Are All Connected” was made from sampling Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, The History Channel’s Universe series, Richard Feynman’s 1983 interviews, Neil deGrasse Tyson’s cosmic sermon, and Bill Nye’s Eyes of Nye Series, plus added visuals from The Elegant Universe (NOVA), Stephen Hawking’s Universe, Cosmos, the Powers of 10, and more. It is a tribute to great minds of science, intended to spread scientific knowledge and philosophy through the medium of music.”
S: “And there is much to be learned.” I love this song. But let us get back to the books. Next if you want, we can talk about the book about general relativity.
C: This begins with the same sentence: “This is a ball.”
S: Then what happens? What do you learn?
C: I learn about mass and how it warps space, and then about black holes.
S: All pretty cool stuff really…
C: And now let us talk about my favorite one.
S: Yes, let us talk about Rocket Science for Babies.
Caramel is posing with Rocket Science for Babies by Chris Ferrie, his favorite so far in this series.
C: This is my favorite! It again starts with “This is a ball.” Like all the other ones. Then it talks about lift and airplane wings and thrust. And rockets.
S: Why is it your favorite?
C: Because I love rocket ships and planes and balls. And the book is all about them.
S: Yes, that is a good reason to like the book. Did you learn something new from this book?
C: Well, not really. I already knew a bit about lift and thrust and such. But it is still a cool book.
Caramel is reading Rocket Science for Babies by Chris Ferrie, his favorite so far in this series.
S: So do you think it is time to give these books away to a baby bunny?
C: No! I like them and want to read them a lot more times before we do that!
S: Okay, you can read and reread them as many times as you like. I do think they are good ways to set up the fundamental ideas of some of these things. Do you think these books would work well for babies?
C: Yes, I would have loved to have read them with you when I was a baby.
S: So would I! I myself would recommend these books to parents, especially if they are willing to talk to their little ones about the science a bit, even if it has to be with the help of the internet. But we only found out about them this year. Oh well, better late than never, right? Let us wrap this up. What three words would you use to describe these books?
C: Helpful, colorful, fun.
S: I think those work! So what should our readers do?
C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!
Caramel enjoyed reading and rereading Electromagnetism for Babies, Astrophysics for Babies, Newtonian Physics for Babies, General Relativity for Babies, Quantum Physics for Babies, and Rocket Science for Babies, almost all written by Chris Ferrie, except the astrophysics one which is coauthored by Ferrie and Julia Kregenow.
