Title: Newton and Me
Ages: 4-8
Author: Lynne Mayer
Illustrator: Sherry Rogers
Paperback or hardback: 32 pgs, Hardback or Paperback
Publisher: Sylvan Dell Publishing
Publication Date: March 2010
ISBN-13: 978-1-60718-067-8 (H) $16.95/978-1-60718-078-4 (P) $ 8.95
Reviewed by Kathy Stemke
Lynne Mayer’s story of a boy and his dog, Newton, playing and discovering the laws of force and motion will delight kids everywhere. Whether this duo is playing with a ball or solving a problem with a wagon full of rocks, they illustrate how Newton’s laws of motion affect the world we live in every day.
The whimsical illustrations by Sherry Rogers will fascinate young children as they find new details with each reading. The clever rhymes will help new readers to navigate easily through this informative story.
“Saturday morning I was asleep in my bed,
when Newton, my dog, dropped a ball on my head.
Then Newton and I ran out the back door,
We had the whole day to play and explore.”
In the “Creative Minds” section at the back of the book Ms. Mayer recaps the laws in simple language, and asks the children some questions to reinforce and continue the learning process.
“A pull is a force that moves something toward you. What are some things in the book that the boy pulls? What are some things that you might pull?”
She continues to challenge kids by asking them to match up these laws with illustrations from the book. More facts about Sir Isaac Newton and his important contributions to math and physics are included here as well. As a teacher, I treasure Lynne Mayer’s book, Newton and Me, as a fun-filled, and useful tool for every classroom.
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