science – BookBunnies

Caramel reviews Hot Lava! Fiery Facts About Volcanoes by Alice Fewery

A couple of weeks ago, Caramel visited the book fair held in his school campus and picked a handful of nonfiction books for himself. Last week he reviewed one of them: Sea Bunnies by Kelly Hargrave. Today he talks about a second book: Hot Lava! Fiery Facts About Volcanoes, written by Alice Fewery and published in 2021. As usual, Sprinkles is asking questions and taking notes.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, this was the second book you got from the school book fair. Tell us about it. Why did you want to read it?

Caramel: Because I wanted to know more about volcanoes! And of course, the slime!! It comes with slime!

S: I can see that the book combined two things you like: slime and facts!

C: Exactly. I like books full of facts, and this book is full of facts. And I like playing with slime, and this book came with metallic slime.

S: What’s metallic slime?

C: It’s just regular slime but its color is metallic.

S: Hmm, I see. Did you know that you could make magnetic slime?

C: Not until you showed me that page you found. Can we link to it so we can make some of our own some time? We have to!

S: Okay, maybe we can. Here is the link: How to make magnetic slime.

C: Cool.

S: Okay, can we get back to the book now?

C: No. Of course, I’m kidding! Yes let us talk about the book.

S: You got me there. Okay, now tell me about the book.

C: It is forty pages full of “fiery” facts about volcanoes. For example, did you k know that when a volcano in the Krakatoa island blew up in 1883, it changed the climate of the whole world? The temperatures fell by 0.72 degrees Fahrenheit all around!

S: No, I had heard of the Krakatoa explosion, but I did not know that its climate effects were so significant. So the book talks about famous volcanic explosions, right?

C: Yes. It has two-page spreads on three other “famous eruptions”: Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii, Italy, which blew up in 79 CE, Mount St. Helens in Washington, USA, which blew up in 1980, and Mount Pelée in Martinique, which blew up in 1902.

S: Did you know about these disasters before, Caramel?

C: I had heard about Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius. And I am not sure but I think I might have heard about that one person who survived because he was in a windowless jail cell during the explosion of Mount Pelée. But I did not know about the others.

S: So you learned some things from this book.

C: Yes of course. I also learned a lot about the mechanism of volcanoes and a lot of new words about them. For example, apparently magma is called “magma” under the crust, but when it gets out we call it “lava”. So I knew both were molten rock, but I did not know they were exactly the same thing, just one is inside and one is outside.

Caramel is reading Hot Lava! Fiery Facts About Volcanoes by Alice Fewery, accompanied by the metallic slime that came along with the book. — Caramel is reading *Hot Lava! Fiery Facts About Volcanoes* by Alice Fewery, accompanied by the metallic slime that came along with the book.

S: So the book was “factful”, right?

C: Yes, that would definitely be one of my three words.

S: What other words would you use?

C: Colorful, and maybe slimy. But not in a bad way; I call the book slimy because it comes with slime. Really nice metallic orange color.

S: I understand. So tell me what other facts there are in the book before we wrap up this review and you go back to playing with that cool slime.

C: Okay. Maybe I can read to you some of the section titles.

S: Sure.

C: I’ll skip the famous eruptions because I already listed them. Then there are sections titled “What is a volcano?”, “Volcano varieties”, “Why do volcanoes erupt?”, “Life cycle of a volcano”, “Liquid rock”, “Hot water”, “Ash and dust”, “Gas and lightning”, “Weather warning”, “Supervolcanoes”, “Volcanoes in space”, “Living on a volcano”, “Visit a volcano”, “Make your own volcano”. And there is the glossary and an index.

S: Some of those sound really interesting! I’d love to know more about volcanoes in space and making your own volcano.

C: We can try making one at home some day, maybe?

S: Maybe.

C: And space volcanoes are really neat too. You should read this book Sprinkles.

S: Maybe I will.

C: But I’m not sharing my slime!

S: Hmm, we’ll see about that. Okay, let us wrap this up. What do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel enjoyed reading Hot Lava! Fiery Facts About Volcanoes by Alice Fewery, and playing with the metallic slime that came along with the book, though it did get into his fur a little. — Caramel enjoyed reading *Hot Lava! Fiery Facts About Volcanoes* by Alice Fewery, and playing with the metallic slime that came along with the book, though it did get into his fur a little.

Marshmallow reviews The Awesome Book of Edible Experiments for Kids by Kate Biberdorf

Today Marshmallow reviews The Awesome Book of Edible Experiments for Kids by Kate Biberdorf, a book that combines the joys of cooking and science experiments.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about cooking and science, then this might be the book for you. In fact if you like to play with food, this might be a good book to check out!

Marshmallow’s Summary: The Awesome Book of Edible Experiments for Kids has twenty five “edible experiments” you can cook, from cheese fondue to chocolate chip cookies. Some other recipes include rainbow pasta, caramel candy, banana bread, smoothie and acidic fruit. Each of the recipes has a note from the author, Kate Biberdorf, a messiness level, and of course, ingredients and instructions. Some of the recipes also have experiments you can conduct with the food, and some have explanations for the chemistry in the foods.

Marshmallow is reading about banana bread in The Awesome Book of Edible Experiments for Kids by Kate Biberdorf. — Marshmallow is reading about banana bread in *The Awesome Book of Edible Experiments for Kids* by Kate Biberdorf.

For example in the chapter on banana bread, we are given a recipe and really delicious looking pictures of banana bread, but also we are provided with directions on a neat experiment on ripening bananas. The main question is: How do we speed up the ripening of bananas? There are three possible ways and you are supposed to try them all to see which works best. And in the end, with the ripened bananas, you make the banana bread and eat it! The chapter contains information about bananas and the chemical process of ripening fruit.

The author Kate Bibendorf is a chemist by training, and she is a professor of chemistry at the University of Texas Austin. She also has written a series of fiction books about a character named Kate the Chemist, but I have not read those books yet.

Marshmallow is reading about the acidity of different fruits in The Awesome Book of Edible Experiments for Kids by Kate Biberdorf. — Marshmallow is reading about the acidity of different fruits in *The Awesome Book of Edible Experiments for Kids* by Kate Biberdorf.

Marshmallow’s Review: I think that this a good book that can help young bunnies and their parents have fun in the kitchen. The recipes are simple and creative. I haven’t tried any of them yet, but I think I will soon. In fact I could like to try the banana bread recipe, but our bananas are already ripe, so we could not do the experiments. Hmm…

There are a lot of pictures in this book. Most of them display how to make the foods, and others show the author with the finished product. They are all very colorful, and the book is all very cheerful overall. The author is always laughing or smiling, and the food looks delicious!

This book is appropriate for all ages because young bunnies can do all of the experiments with a parent. The experiments might be more fun for ages 6 and up. I am sure all ages will enjoy eating the final products though.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 95%.

Marshmallow rates The Awesome Book of Edible Experiments for Kids by Kate Biberdorf 95%. — Marshmallow rates *The Awesome Book of Edible Experiments for Kids* by Kate Biberdorf 95%.

Caramel reviews It’s Alive: From Neurons and Narwhals to the Fungus Among Us by Molly Bloom, Marc Sanchez, and Sanden Totten

The book bunnies are fans of Brains On!, a science podcast directed toward young bunnies but, at least in our household, also much appreciated by the older set. When we heard that the amazing Brains On! team, made up of Molly Bloom, Marc Sanchez, and Sanden Totten, had published a science book together, we knew we all had to read it. Today Caramel reviews this book: It’s Alive: From Neurons and Narwhals to the Fungus Among Us. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions.

Caramel reviews the Brains On! book It's Alive: From Neurons and Narwhals to the Fungus Among Us, by Molly Bloom, Marc Sanchez, and Sanden Totten. — Caramel reviews the Brains On! book *It’s Alive: From Neurons and Narwhals to the Fungus Among Us*, by Molly Bloom, Marc Sanchez, and Sanden Totten.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, this book is right up your alley, right?

Caramel: Yep. It’s full of fun facts, and illustrations are awesome!

S: I know! It is so colorful! So tell me what the general theme of the book is. What is the book about?

C: It’s about science. There are all sorts of facts about all sorts of living things. There is a part about animals, one about plants, one about humans, and another about microorganisms.

S: That sounds cool! So tell me about your favorite animal fact you learned from this book.

C: There are so many, I can’t choose.

S: Give me one or two then…

C: Okay, let me try. I like the Animal Superpowers part a lot.

Caramel is reading the Brains On! book It's Alive: From Neurons and Narwhals to the Fungus Among Us, by Molly Bloom, Marc Sanchez, and Sanden Totten. Here he is checking out the section on Animal Superpowers. — Caramel is reading the Brains On! book *It’s Alive: From Neurons and Narwhals to the Fungus Among Us*, by Molly Bloom, Marc Sanchez, and Sanden Totten. Here he is checking out the section on Animal Superpowers.

S: That sounds interesting! What kinds of superpowers?

C: There are super-healers for example. Did you know that the axolotl can regrow part of its missing limbs, and even its brain? It is cool, isn’t it?

S: That is really cool, you are right! And that is one cute animal I had not heard about before! Here is a picture from Wikipedia if people want to see one:

An axolotl in captivity, image by th1098, taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl#/media/File:AxolotlBE.jpg

S: So would you like to have such a super power, Caramel?

C: Yes, being able to regrow limbs would be awesome!

S: So then how about the plants? Tell me a favorite fact you learned from this book about plants.

C: Shall we visit the Tree Hall of Fame?

S: Okay…

C: The tallest tree is a redwood tree named Hyperion. It is 380 ft tall. That is taller than the Statue of Liberty!

S: Wow! That is tall!

C: It is in Redwood National Park, in California, but the scientists are keeping its exact location secret.

S: The book sounds really packed full of interesting facts Caramel. Just perfect for you!

C: Yep. Exactly. I recommend that you read it too.

S: Yes, I will definitely do that after this review. I can’t wait!

C: But you have to wait! Because I need to tell you about the Mega Matchups!

S: What’s that?

C: There are parts in the book where they compare two things. Like there is one where they pit dogs against cats. I think there is one in each part. Wait, there is the octopuses vs the dolphins. So that is at least two in animals. And then there is another matching porcupine caribou against monarch butterflies.

S: Wait. How do those two compare? Why are they even pitted against one another?

C: It seems random till you read it. These are two creatures that are “long-distance travelers that travel thousands of miles without a map or a compass.”

S: I see. This matchup idea is like the Smash-Boom-Best segment the Brains On! folks used to do sometimes in their podcasts. Did you know that that eventually became its own podcast?

C: No I didn’t know that. Then again I think Marshmallow listened to an episode for her class one time.

S: Yes, I remember. It was pizza vs tacos I think.

C: I think pizza wins for me!

S: I think they both have their time and place.

C: True. Wait, here is another matchup. The durian vs the corpse flower. They’re both stinky! A corpse flower apparently smells like, well, a corpse.

S: I know durian. I ate durian ice cream once. Did you know that?

C: Nope.

S: It tasted like vanilla ice cream, but with a terribly strong garlicky, or onion-y aftertaste.

C: That does not sound too appetizing.

S: I know.

S: So this review is already quite long. Let us wrap it up. What three words would you use to describe this book to someone who is interested in learning about it?

C: Factful, interesting, and very colorful.

S: I agree with all of those Caramel, even before I got to read it fully. I think I’d also add “very fun” to the list.

C: Yes, it is really fun and funny too.

S: Great! So we are done. What do you say to our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel loved reading the Brains On! book It's Alive: From Neurons and Narwhals to the Fungus Among Us, by Molly Bloom, Marc Sanchez, and Sanden Totten, and cannot wait to share all his new facts with friends and family. — Caramel loved reading the Brains On! book *It’s Alive: From Neurons and Narwhals to the Fungus Among Us*, by Molly Bloom, Marc Sanchez, and Sanden Totten, and cannot wait to share all his new facts with friends and family.

Caramel reviews The Science of Acne and Warts: The Itchy Truth About Skin by Alex Woolf

Caramel has recently been reviewing a series of books about the human body for the book bunnies blog. So far he has reviewed The Science of Snot and Phlegm: The Slimy Truth about Breathing by Fiona MacDonald, The Science of Scabs and Pus: The Sticky Truth About Blood by Ian Graham, and The Science of Poop and Farts: The Smelly Truth About Digestion by Alex Woolf. Today he is talking about the fourth and last book in the series: The Science of Acne and Warts: The Itchy Truth About Skin, written by Alex Woolf. As usual, Sprinkles is asking questions and taking notes.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, tell us about this book.

Caramel: This is a book about human skin. You can learn everything about skin by reading it.

S: So tell me something you learned then.

C: I learned that the layers of skin are the epidermis, the dermis, and the very bottom one is subcutis. I also learned how the body creates blood clots.

S: Wait, blood clots were in The Science of Scabs and Pus: The Sticky Truth About Blood by Ian Graham, too, right?

C: Yes.

S: So why do they show up here too?

C: Because when your skin is wounded, and it is trying to repair itself, you make a blood clot.

S: Hmm, so it is about blood but also about the skin, I see. So what else is there in this book?

C: There are pages about fungal infections, warts, acne, skin rashes, …

S: Hmm, those all sound quite irritating at the very least. Nobody likes them.

C: True, but they are also very interesting.

S: I guess that means the author is doing a good job keeping things engaging.

C: Yeah.

Caramel is reading The Science of Acne and Warts: The Itchy Truth About Skin by Alex Woolf. — Caramel is reading *The Science of Acne and Warts: The Itchy Truth About Skin* by Alex Woolf.

S: What is the most interesting thing you learned from the book?

C: Let me see. There are a lot of interesting things in here. Here is one: Did you know that some of the dust at home is dead skin cells? People lose up to 30,000-40,000 dead skin cells every day. That adds up to 9 pounds of skin every year.

S: Wow! That is amazing!

C: Here is another interesting fact: There is a skin condition, a hive called dermographism, where you write on your own skin with your finger. It stays there as a rash for fifteen minutes.

S: That is so interesting. I had never heard of it before. Here is the Wikipedia article about it if our readers want to learn more.

C: Here is another strange fact. There is a mouse in Africa, the African spiny mouse, and it loses its skin when a predator catches it. Its skin just peels off and the mouse can run away. And it can regenerate new skin and is safe from the predator.

S: That is a very interesting defense mechanism Caramel. Okay, let us wrap this up so you can go on ahead and reread the book if you want to. But before we do that, tell me your three words to describe this book.

C: Interesting, helpful, and colorful.

S: Those work! Okay and as your last words to wrap things up?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel enjoyed reading The Science of Acne and Warts: The Itchy Truth About Skin by Alex Woolf, and learned a lot. — Caramel enjoyed reading *The Science of Acne and Warts: The Itchy Truth About Skin* by Alex Woolf, and learned a lot.