Basher Science: The Periodic Table: Elements with Style!

Anthropomorphizing the elements--interesting approach with an engaging narrative style. Excellent introduction to the periodic table, its structure and its elements.

What a fresh and original look at the periodic table! The book is compact in size, and gives a brief synopsis, including most the data from the periodic table such as the symbol, atomic number and weight, its standard state, color and classification. The book is organized by periodic table group, the graphic at the top of the page shows each element's location on the table. The elements introduce themselves with a sense of humor and share facts about their appearance and uses. Zinc, symbol Zn, says, "Here to protect and serve, I'm more useful than you'd zinc! I'm a very sociable element that's always happy to mix in with other metals." The illustrations that represent each element make the book. Silicon is a computer chip/centipede while Aluminum is a stylized airplane. They evoke Japanese anime characters and the poster of the periodic table bound into the back of the book remids me of the Pokemon poster that used to hang in my entling's bedroom. I found the drawings utterly compelling. The book invites casual reading as well as cover to cover absorption.

My five year old seized this at first sight and has enjoyed having it read to him. The art is more creative than Pokemon and appears to have been drawn by a human, not a computer. Factual, but not dry and organized well. What a boon in a topic that is rather unrepresented in the grade school sciences. The artist is bringing out a book with a physicist some time this year.

This book is an excellent resource for teachers. The elements are presented in a simple way that elementary students can understand - giving each one a personality. My students love to hear about "the element of the day" and it really helps them understand the science concepts.

The best thing about this book is that it makes a subject that MOST adults (let alone children) consider to be completely dry, extremely interesting!! As I read through this book, I was struck by how much it reads like some of my kids Pokemon books - the drawings of the elements have a Japanese anime look to them, and they are grouped in very Pokemon-like groups, "The Alkali Earth Metals" (once thought to be harmless and boring, until they were released from Oxygen, at which point they became unruly), "The Transition Elements" (a motley crew of rednecks), etcetera. And each individual element has a catchy description, a cool drawing, and the same 10 basic bullet points facts for each one (symbol, color, classification, etc..) This presentation makes the information very accessible to most children. It would actually make excellent information for trading or flash cards. In fact, I think the author could make a great educational game based on this book. Kids could easily learn and retain some of the fascinating facts about different elements if it was presented in the context of a game..

The Periodic Table, Elements with Style! Is a charming little book that serves as a nice chemistry introduction. The book is most appropriate for kids working at about a 4th grade level or higher. It's aimed at upper elementary to middle school kids, but would also make a handy reference guide or review for high schoolers who are not overly familiar with the periodic table. This book is about 100 pages long. Each element has a first person description offered in a "my space" style narrative. Strontium, for instance says, " I'm Scottish, named after the town of Strontian where I was discovered. You may see me as a shy, run-of-the-mill, silver-colored metal, but I've got a few surprises up my sleeve..." Magnesium brags, " I'm sparky, and I always cause a reaction!" Barium's page declares, "...I'm a real rocker and more reactive than calcium." These sometimes silly descriptions do provide useful information about the various elements, and make the task of memorization easier. Accompanying cartoon type illustrations give a visual presence to each element. Gold resembles a ghost from the old Pac-Man game, standing high on a pedestal. Lead appears as a warrior dressed in Spartan style. My personal favorite is sulfur, who is quite absurdly shown as a cute little girl dressed in yellow! My seven year old daughter found the simply rendered drawings to be highly amusing and they helped her form an identity for each element. The book is organized into sections about hydrogen, the alkali metals, the alkaline earth metals, the transition elements, the boron elements, the carbon elements, the nitrogen elements, the oxygen elements, the halogen elements, the noble gases, the lanthanides and actinides, and the transactinides. A handy glossary in the back explains terminology such as gamma ray, isotope, and catalyst. The bottom of each element's page contains facts about date of discovery or earliest known use, as well as density, melting point, and boiling point. It's cute, it's clever, and very enticing to the youngster interested in science. A great resource!