The Science of Story Time

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09/11/2015

Sep. 11, 2015

The Science of Story Time

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The ritual of bedtime reading isn’t just about getting junior to (finally) go to sleep. Studies show reading with kids has positive effects ranging from increased vocabulary to greater success reading independently. What is it about Goodnight, Moon and If You Give a Moose a Muffin that boosts children’s literacy? Psychologist Jessica Montag says it might have to do with the words that kids’ books contain. She walks Ira through her recent study in Psychological Science.

And if you’re looking for a great book to share with the child in your life, why not make it a great science book? Brain Pickings editor Maria Popova and kids’ book author Jacob Berkowitz join Ira to help compile a reading list for science-curious kids.

Share your own favorite kids’ science books in the comments below!

Maria's picks:

(1) You Are Stardust, by Elin Kelsey and Soyeon Kim (2012)

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(2) I, Leonardo, by Ralph Steadman (1983)

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(3) Me…Jane, by Patrick McDonnell (2011)

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(4) Evolution: A Coloring Book, by Annu Kilpeläinen (2014)

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(5) The Amazing Discoveries of Ibn Sina, by Fatima Sharafeddine and Intelaq Mohammed Ali (2015)

Read more on Brain Pickings

(6) Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian, by Margarita Engle and Julie Pashkis (2010)

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(7) Big Questions from Little People & Simple Answers from Great Minds, Ed. Gemma Elwin Harris (2012)

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Jacob’s picks:

(1) Buried Sunlight: How Fossil Fuels Have Changed the Earth, by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm (2014)

Read more on Scientists’ Bookshelf

(2) Next Time You See the Moon, by Emily Morgan (2014)

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(3) Body Bones, by Shelley Rotner and David A. White (2014)

Read more on Scientists’ Bookshelf

(4) Get the Scoop on Animal Puke, by Dawn Cusick (2014)

Read more on Scientists’ Bookshelf

(5) Red Madness: How a Medical Mystery Changed What We Eat, by Gail Jarrow (2014)

Read more on Scientists’ Bookshelf

(6) Chernobyl’s Wild Kingdom: Life in the Death Zone, by Rachel Johnson (2014)

Read more on Scientists’ Bookshelf

Recommended by our callers:

Big Bang!: The Tongue-Tickling Tale of a Speck That Became Spectacular, by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano and Michael Carroll

Chameleon, Chameleon, by Joy Cowley and Nic Bishop

Girls Who Looked Under Rocks, by Jeannine Atkins and Paula Conner

Feathers for Lunch, by Lois Ehlert

Produced by Annie Minoff, SciArts Producer

Guests

Jessica Montag
Assistant Research Psychologist
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, California
Maria Popova
Editor and founder, brainpickings.org
Brooklyn, New York
Jacob Berkowitz
Science Writer
Author, "Jurassic Poop: What Dinosaurs (And Others) Left Behind” (Kids Can Press, 2006) and "The Stardust Revolution: The New Story of Our Origin in the Stars” (Prometheus Books, 2012)
Ottawa, Canada

Discussion

EVAL ERROR: Entity: line 1: parser error : Space required after the Public Identifier

                                                 ^
Entity: line 1: parser error : SystemLiteral " or ' expected

                                                 ^
Entity: line 1: parser error : SYSTEM or PUBLIC, the URI is missing

                                                 ^

Code:
line 1: package tmpevalpackage;
line 2: sub doEval { 
line 3: 	my($parent);
line 4: 	
line 5: 	if($LayoutManager::url_resolved_values{'SEGMENT.nickname'}) {
line 6: 		$parent = $LayoutManager::url_resolved_values{'SEGMENT.nickname'};
line 7: 	}
line 8: 	elsif($LayoutManager::url_resolved_values{'VIDEO.nickname'}) {
line 9: 		$parent = $LayoutManager::url_resolved_values{'VIDEO.nickname'};
line 10: 	}
line 11: 	elsif($LayoutManager::url_resolved_values{'DOCUMENT.nickname'}) {
line 12: 		$parent = $LayoutManager::url_resolved_values{'DOCUMENT.nickname'}
line 13: 	}
line 14: 	
line 15: 	if($parent) {
line 16: 		my(@books) = &Database::SelectClause('BOOK',"parent = $parent");
line 17: 		if(!@books) {
line 18: 			$parent = '';
line 19: 		}
line 20: 	}
line 21: 	
line 22: 	if(!$parent) {
line 23: 		my(@sel) = &Database::SelectClause('GLOBAL','record all ""');
line 24: 		if(@sel) {
line 25: 			$parent = 'GLOBAL.' . $sel[0];
line 26: 		}
line 27: 			$main::ENV{'reading_header'} = "FEATURED READING";
line 28: 	}
line 29: 	
line 30: 	 = '';
line 31: 	
line 32: 	if($parent) {
line 33: 		my(@books) = &Database::SelectClause('BOOK',"parent = $parent");
line 34: 		0 = 0;
line 35: 		my $dots;
line 36: 		foreach(@books) {
line 37: 			my(%data);
line 38: 			&Database::GetRow($_,'BOOK',\%data);
line 39: 			my($status,$title,$author,$url,$image,$width,$height) = &SciFri::Schema::getAmazonItem($data{'isbn'});
line 40: 			if($data{'title'}) {
line 41: 				$title = $data{'title'};
line 42: 			}
line 43: 			if($data{'author'}) {
line 44: 				$author = $data{'author'};
line 45: 			}
line 46: 			if($status eq 'ok') {
line 47: 				 .= "<div class=\"box-2x1-item box-slide\" data-href=\"$url\">";
line 48: 				 .= "	<div class=\"box-2x1-item-photo\">";
line 49: 				 .= "		<div class=\"image-wrapper\" data-jsclass=\"imageWrapper\" data-align=\"right\">";
line 50: 				 .= "			<img src=\"$image\" data-width=\"$width\" data-height=\"$height\">";
line 51: 				 .= "		</div>";
line 52: 				 .= "	</div>";
line 53: 				 .= "	<h4>$title</h4>";
line 54: 				if($author) {
line 55: 					 .= "	<p>by $author</p>";
line 56: 				}
line 57: 				 .= "	<div class=\"box-2x1-more-button\"><a href=\"$url\"><img src=\"/images/v1/icon_text_more_white.png\" width=47 height=15 border=0></a></div>";
line 58: 				 .= "</div>";
line 59: 				++0;
line 60: 			}
line 61: 		}
line 62: 	}
line 63: 	if($parent eq "GLOBAL.1") { $main::ENV{'reading_header'} = "FEATURED READING"; }
line 64: 	else { $main::ENV{'reading_header'} = "RELATED READING"; }
line 65:  };
line 66: &doEval();
line 67: 1;