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Earth: By The Numbers – A Fascinating Visual Guide to Science and Nature for Children
Caldecott Honor winner Steve Jenkins introduces By the Numbers infographic readers chock full of incredible infographs and stunning, full-color cut-paper illustrations. Earth will focus on the fascinating ins-and-outs of earth science.
Through infographics, illustrations, facts, and figures, readers will learn about the complex and wonderful place we call home, Earth.
Discover some of the most fascinating aspects of our planet through astonishing the stretch of time from Earth's formation to the present, the misleading way the surface area of a continent can appear on a map, the angle of Earth's axis that creates the seasons, what percentage of Earth's land is covered in deserts or forests or cities, and so much more.
With his signature style, Steve Jenkins explores the most fascinating fields of natural science.
Through infographics, illustrations, facts, and figures, readers will learn about the complex and wonderful place we call home, Earth.
Discover some of the most fascinating aspects of our planet through astonishing the stretch of time from Earth's formation to the present, the misleading way the surface area of a continent can appear on a map, the angle of Earth's axis that creates the seasons, what percentage of Earth's land is covered in deserts or forests or cities, and so much more.
With his signature style, Steve Jenkins explores the most fascinating fields of natural science.
40 pages, Paperback
Published July 16, 2019
4 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Steve Jenkins
135 books238 followersSteve was born in 1952 in Hickory, North Carolina. His father, who would become a physics professor and astronomer (and recently his co-author on a book about the Solar System), was in the military and, later, working on science degrees at several different universities. We moved often. Steve lived in North Carolina, Panama, Virginia, Kansas, and Colorado. Wherever he lived, he kept a menagerie of lizards, turtles, spiders, and other animals, collected rocks and fossils, and blew things up in his small chemistry lab.
Because he moved often, Steve didn't have a large group of friends, and he spent a lot of time with books. His parents read to him until he could read himself, and he became an obsessive reader.
His interest in science led me to believe that I'd be a scientist himself. At the last minute, he chose instead to go to art school in North Carolina, where he studied graphic design. After graduation he moved to New York City, where he worked in advertising and design, first in large firms and then with his wife, Robin Page, in their own small graphic design firm. Robin, also an author and illustrator, is his frequent collaborator — they've made sixteen children's books together.
Their daughter Page was born in 1986 and our son, Alec, two years later. They began reading to them when they were just a few months old, and Steve became interested in making children's books himself. My wife and I read to our two older children almost every night until hisdaughter was 12 or 13, long after they were reading on their own. It was, in many ways, the best part of the day.
In 1994 they moved to from New York City to Boulder, Colorado, where they work in a studio attached to their house, which was built in the 1880s and often functions as if it were still the 19th century.
Their youngest son, Jamie, was born in 1998. The questions his children asked over the years have been the inspiration for many of their books.
Librarian's Note: There is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database.
Because he moved often, Steve didn't have a large group of friends, and he spent a lot of time with books. His parents read to him until he could read himself, and he became an obsessive reader.
His interest in science led me to believe that I'd be a scientist himself. At the last minute, he chose instead to go to art school in North Carolina, where he studied graphic design. After graduation he moved to New York City, where he worked in advertising and design, first in large firms and then with his wife, Robin Page, in their own small graphic design firm. Robin, also an author and illustrator, is his frequent collaborator — they've made sixteen children's books together.
Their daughter Page was born in 1986 and our son, Alec, two years later. They began reading to them when they were just a few months old, and Steve became interested in making children's books himself. My wife and I read to our two older children almost every night until hisdaughter was 12 or 13, long after they were reading on their own. It was, in many ways, the best part of the day.
In 1994 they moved to from New York City to Boulder, Colorado, where they work in a studio attached to their house, which was built in the 1880s and often functions as if it were still the 19th century.
Their youngest son, Jamie, was born in 1998. The questions his children asked over the years have been the inspiration for many of their books.
Librarian's Note: There is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 19, 2020
Earth By the Numbers- Steve Jenkins (1 year)- ebook- Informational text
Synthesis: Earth By The Numbers by Steve Jenkins is an informational text for students that uses infographics to look at different characteristics about our earth including, the surface, inside, oceans, atmosphere, weather, features, like mountains and volcanoes, and a timeline of Earth. This text is available in both ebook and printed copies, I used an ebook to read it. This informational text would be useful for teaching students about earth and could be used in 3rd or 4th grade to assist in teaching earth science.
Instructional Ideas: Some instructional ideas for this book is to use the infographics to help with teaching the 3rd-grade science standard, “3.E.2.2 Compare Earth’s land features (including volcanoes, mountains, valleys, canyons, caverns, and islands) by using models, pictures, diagrams, and maps” since the book has information on volcanoes (pg. 12-13) and mountains (pg. 16-17). One of the models on volcanoes looks at 6 historical eruptions and compares the amount of material ejected during the eruption. Another instructional idea is to use information from the book to help teach the 4th-grade science standard, “4.E.2.3 Give examples of how the surface of the earth changes due to slow processes such as erosion and weathering, and rapid processes such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes.” The formation on pages 8 and 9 shows how the continents drifted away from one another and the motion of the molten rock under the earth’s surface moved the land masses.
Why is it a WOW book? This was a WOW book for me because of the number of infographics that Steve Jenkins included in his book. It was able to make statistics and information about the earth easy to understand and fun to explore. The different use of images to show change over time, size relationships, depth and diving ability, and much more made the book accessible to teachers and students. The diverse amount of material included in the book makes it useful for teaching a variety of information and standards for multiple grade levels.
Synthesis: Earth By The Numbers by Steve Jenkins is an informational text for students that uses infographics to look at different characteristics about our earth including, the surface, inside, oceans, atmosphere, weather, features, like mountains and volcanoes, and a timeline of Earth. This text is available in both ebook and printed copies, I used an ebook to read it. This informational text would be useful for teaching students about earth and could be used in 3rd or 4th grade to assist in teaching earth science.
Instructional Ideas: Some instructional ideas for this book is to use the infographics to help with teaching the 3rd-grade science standard, “3.E.2.2 Compare Earth’s land features (including volcanoes, mountains, valleys, canyons, caverns, and islands) by using models, pictures, diagrams, and maps” since the book has information on volcanoes (pg. 12-13) and mountains (pg. 16-17). One of the models on volcanoes looks at 6 historical eruptions and compares the amount of material ejected during the eruption. Another instructional idea is to use information from the book to help teach the 4th-grade science standard, “4.E.2.3 Give examples of how the surface of the earth changes due to slow processes such as erosion and weathering, and rapid processes such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes.” The formation on pages 8 and 9 shows how the continents drifted away from one another and the motion of the molten rock under the earth’s surface moved the land masses.
Why is it a WOW book? This was a WOW book for me because of the number of infographics that Steve Jenkins included in his book. It was able to make statistics and information about the earth easy to understand and fun to explore. The different use of images to show change over time, size relationships, depth and diving ability, and much more made the book accessible to teachers and students. The diverse amount of material included in the book makes it useful for teaching a variety of information and standards for multiple grade levels.
April 26, 2021
Earth: By the Numbers is a nonfiction science book that would be great to incorporate into a fourth or fifth grade classroom, because the terminology and concepts in the book may be a little too complex for young students. The book included a wide range of charts, graphs and visual aids. The book was very interesting and even included different pieces of information to relate to personal experiences. I learned a lot of different scientific facts and concepts and I really liked the format of the book.
I would use this book in my classroom to teach about Earth as a whole. It includes information about oceans, natural disasters, continents, climate change and more. I would use this book multiple different times depending on the topic our class is studying. This book may be overwhelming to read aloud to students in one sitting, so it would be more beneficial to use this book as a resource for teaching about topics and to show the visuals in the book as a teacher reads the facts. I would also use this book for a potential resource for students if they are completing a project about a certain topic that is covered in the book to learn more.
This book was a WOW book for me because of its complexity and wide range of topics covered. I thought it was very interesting and I learned a lot from it as a college student! The diagrams and images helped to visualize the information being discussed in the text and made me more interested in what the text was saying. Although there was not a lot of text on each page, the information could seem overwhelming so the illustrations were helpful in alleviating some of the confusion.
I would use this book in my classroom to teach about Earth as a whole. It includes information about oceans, natural disasters, continents, climate change and more. I would use this book multiple different times depending on the topic our class is studying. This book may be overwhelming to read aloud to students in one sitting, so it would be more beneficial to use this book as a resource for teaching about topics and to show the visuals in the book as a teacher reads the facts. I would also use this book for a potential resource for students if they are completing a project about a certain topic that is covered in the book to learn more.
This book was a WOW book for me because of its complexity and wide range of topics covered. I thought it was very interesting and I learned a lot from it as a college student! The diagrams and images helped to visualize the information being discussed in the text and made me more interested in what the text was saying. Although there was not a lot of text on each page, the information could seem overwhelming so the illustrations were helpful in alleviating some of the confusion.
November 16, 2019
A fascinating infographics book about our planet - readers will be constantly amazed at the information gained in this book!
January 18, 2020
My full recommendation: https://librariansquest.blogspot.com/...
April 19, 2020
This is a picture book and informational text about the elements of Earth. I read this book as an E-Text on the College of Ed Overdrive website. It covers everything from the Earth's surface, the weather, what's inside the Earth, and a timeline of how the Earth has changed. This is a WOW book for me because it is an informational text that makes data easy for children to visualize and interpret. The excitement of the subtitles could really appeal to young students, for example, "The deepest places on Earth"and "Danger from the sky".
I would use this book to teach students in fifth grade how to interpret informational texts and their visual elements (graphs, charts, etc.). I would also tie this into the fifth grade science standard of understanding and evaluating weather patterns. By using the weather elements pages (tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning) in this book for a science lesson on weather phenomena, I would incorporate how to read and interpret the data in the informational text.
I would use this book to teach students in fifth grade how to interpret informational texts and their visual elements (graphs, charts, etc.). I would also tie this into the fifth grade science standard of understanding and evaluating weather patterns. By using the weather elements pages (tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning) in this book for a science lesson on weather phenomena, I would incorporate how to read and interpret the data in the informational text.
October 22, 2019
This slim, colorful, well-designed presentation of almanac-like information about Earth will be a welcome addition to classroom and library shelves, and will entrance some particular types of readers.
I couldn't being to address the accuracy of the content, but this is a perfect example to use with young (and other?) people to consider the reliability of sources of "facts". The series itself is a product of reliable publishing (Houghton Mifflin) and the creation of acclaimed nonfiction artist/informer, Steven Jenkins. The layout and images within the glossy white pages allows time and space to consider the information, learn to use traditional and more recent formats for data, and provides enough user-friendly scales to help the content make sense.
For occasional use or for the data-obsessed, turing to a quality resource like this is recommended.
I couldn't being to address the accuracy of the content, but this is a perfect example to use with young (and other?) people to consider the reliability of sources of "facts". The series itself is a product of reliable publishing (Houghton Mifflin) and the creation of acclaimed nonfiction artist/informer, Steven Jenkins. The layout and images within the glossy white pages allows time and space to consider the information, learn to use traditional and more recent formats for data, and provides enough user-friendly scales to help the content make sense.
For occasional use or for the data-obsessed, turing to a quality resource like this is recommended.
May 18, 2022
This book has reintroduced infographics to me, so I have requested more from sister libraries.
I, unfortunately, had not made the connection that Mr. Jenkins is the Caldecott-Honor award winner of What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? and that he died earlier this year. :-(
water to land ratio; fresh water to salt water ratio; fresh water to underground water to ice and snow ratio
human settlements to earth's land ratio
deepest places of earth infographic
six volcanic eruptions infographic
nine earthquakes infographic
tallest mountains infographic
ocean depth infographic
deep dives infographic
people struck by lightning infographic
Earth's timeline infographic
I, unfortunately, had not made the connection that Mr. Jenkins is the Caldecott-Honor award winner of What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? and that he died earlier this year. :-(
water to land ratio; fresh water to salt water ratio; fresh water to underground water to ice and snow ratio
human settlements to earth's land ratio
deepest places of earth infographic
six volcanic eruptions infographic
nine earthquakes infographic
tallest mountains infographic
ocean depth infographic
deep dives infographic
people struck by lightning infographic
Earth's timeline infographic
December 8, 2019
5/5 Steve Jenkins is one of the best nonfiction children’s book writers (best for kids who are 8+). Children’s nonfiction books are often overlooked by adults but are serious ways to learn material and enjoy reading. In this book, Jenkins includes infographics and illustrations that help the reader see how much of the water on Earth is fresh water, how deep the deepest lakes are, how powerful volcanic eruptions have been in Earth’s history, etc. Don’t discount the children’s nonfiction section! If you know a child that is 8 or older, a Jenkins book makes a great 🎄 🎁 .
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December 20, 2020Explore earth and nature in this visual, infographic-focused text. Infographics are a wonderful way to visualize large concepts, and this book does just that. I particularly enjoyed the charts showing the amount of water on Earth--how little is freshwater and how little of the freshwater is easy to access--as well as the picture showing how the Grand Canyon isn't quite so deep in comparison to some other trenches and caves around the world. Includes a glossary and bibliography.
October 5, 2019
So much of this book is a basis for everything we are learning in grade 4. We can use this for making claims and citing evidence in all our content areas. Wish there was a way for each student to have their own copy. Excellent nonfiction resource! The illustrations are so well done- a great model for organization and representing information in different ways.
September 12, 2019
As a science teacher and Mom of Littles, I highly this book. There are so many teaching moments without huge amounts of written text. The graphics are great! The variety of information and graphics affords for different teachable moments without being redundant.
November 23, 2019
Steve Jenkins does it again, this time taking an "infographic" first approach on facts about our planet Earth. A great addition to read through fact filled presented in a newer different format from your usual reading about our planet.
November 17, 2020
This is an amazing infographic about our planet. This book has great information and would help students enhance their knowledge about the planet they are living on. This is a great informational text for young students that don't know a lot about Earth yet. I highly recommend this book.
August 19, 2024
Every teacher that teaches the earth: soil, structures, weather issues, and so much more needs this one in their library!
So many facts with backmatter needed for non-fiction books leaves me eager to get all of this series in my two elementary libraries!
So many facts with backmatter needed for non-fiction books leaves me eager to get all of this series in my two elementary libraries!
September 11, 2024
Really cool. I love this series.
December 5, 2025
Absolutely fascinating. I learned so much and I bet you would too, even if you aren't 8-10 years old. Includes glossary, bibliography.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews