Mrs. Riley Bought Five Itchy Aardvarks and Other Painless Tricks for Memorizing Science Facts

Adventures in Memory

by Brian P. Cleary, Brian P. Cleary

With so many things to remember and so little time, what's a kid to do? Brian P. Cleary has come up with a whole book of tips for how to tackle tricky science facts. This book is bursting with mnemonic devices, poems, songs, and more. Need to keep track of the order of the planets? Mel can help. As in: Mel's Very Excited Ma Just Served Us Nachos. How about photosynthesis? Sing a song about it to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"! Brian also explains how kids can use the ideas in the book to create their very own memory tricks.

Genres: Science, Childrens

48 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Nancy Kotkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Text: 4 stars
Illustrations: 4 stars

Children's nonfiction book about science facts. Also introduces mnemonic devices to help children remember the information. The first double-page spread explains mnemonics, with examples, and encourages kids to come up with memorable phrases/visuals/tricks of their own. Astronomy, geology, biology, physics, and the scientific method are all covered briefly. Includes a glossary, index, and some suggested further reading. Good pictorial support for the concepts presented in the book.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

We really enjoy Brian P. Cleary's books. He makes learning fun, and this book teaches children a few different mnemonics to remember how to remember science facts. I love that he recommends that children use their own memory devices, since a sentence or word you come up with yourself is easier for you to remember.

This is the second book we've read in the Adventures in Memory series. It seems to be a bit more advanced than the books in the Words are CATegorical series. The narrative is considerably longer and the concepts are a bit more sophisticated.

Overall, we've really enjoyed reading nonfiction books like this. We will certainly look for more of them at our local library.

[Lorna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The books in this series are cute and full of fun info, but some of the poems/songs/mnemonic devices seemed complex enough that it would be easier to actually memorize the fact.