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Rosa Explores the Water Cycle
Rosa and friends return! A simple story in each book shows this diverse group of children making exciting discoveries about their world. Ideal for STEM enrichment.
- GenresSciencePicture Books
20 pages, Hardcover
Published March 30, 2022
1 person is currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
Jessica Spanyol
86 books13 followersJessica Spanyol wrote and illustrated her first story, "Carlo the Giraffe Who Could Not Read," when she was a precocious six and a half years old. As she grew older, her literary ambitions gave way to artistic ones, and she began a career as a fine artist. But the adult Jessica Spanyol, it turned out, could not shake the memory of Carlo the giraffe. So thirty years after its writing, she determined to rework her original story.
As a result, Jessica Spanyol's CARLO LIKES READING retains a delightfully childlike sensibility, with minor alterations and eye-catching artwork added by author thirty years later. "The character Carlo," explains the author, "was based on a blow-up toy giraffe, and the name, 'Carlo,' my brother's best friend." Even Crackers, Carlo's cat, can be traced back to the Spanyol family pet. In CARLO LIKES READING, Carlo the giraffe reads everything he sees. And because his world is covered in labels, there's always a lot of reading to do--Carlo reads labels on the street, in the park, at the market, and even on his dad! "There's plenty here to inspire pointing and identifying action on the part of emerging readers," assures PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, while KIRKUS REVIEWS notes that "this debut is bright, well-conceived, and infectiously enthusiastic."
Carlo (and his creator) made such a splash that readers and reviewers clamored for more -- and Carlo has since starred in CARLO LIKES COUNTING, CARLO LIKES COLORS, and CARLO AND THE REALLY NICE LIBRARIAN. Recently, Jessica Spanyol introduced her readers to a new cast of characters in the picture book, GO BUGS GO!
Jessica Spanyol studied at the Bath Academy of Art, Brighton Polytechnic, and the Royal College of Art. Since then, in addition to writing the Carlo series, she has worked as a theater set designer, a fine artist, and a tutor of illustration, winning the Folio Society Illustration Award and the Painter-Stainers Award. She lives in England with her family.
As a result, Jessica Spanyol's CARLO LIKES READING retains a delightfully childlike sensibility, with minor alterations and eye-catching artwork added by author thirty years later. "The character Carlo," explains the author, "was based on a blow-up toy giraffe, and the name, 'Carlo,' my brother's best friend." Even Crackers, Carlo's cat, can be traced back to the Spanyol family pet. In CARLO LIKES READING, Carlo the giraffe reads everything he sees. And because his world is covered in labels, there's always a lot of reading to do--Carlo reads labels on the street, in the park, at the market, and even on his dad! "There's plenty here to inspire pointing and identifying action on the part of emerging readers," assures PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, while KIRKUS REVIEWS notes that "this debut is bright, well-conceived, and infectiously enthusiastic."
Carlo (and his creator) made such a splash that readers and reviewers clamored for more -- and Carlo has since starred in CARLO LIKES COUNTING, CARLO LIKES COLORS, and CARLO AND THE REALLY NICE LIBRARIAN. Recently, Jessica Spanyol introduced her readers to a new cast of characters in the picture book, GO BUGS GO!
Jessica Spanyol studied at the Bath Academy of Art, Brighton Polytechnic, and the Royal College of Art. Since then, in addition to writing the Carlo series, she has worked as a theater set designer, a fine artist, and a tutor of illustration, winning the Folio Society Illustration Award and the Painter-Stainers Award. She lives in England with her family.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 11, 2022
Rosa Explores the Water Cycle is very cute & appealing-looking, has a cohesive match of language, illustrational style, content, & details for the likely audience, demonstrates easy experiments without making a big deal about them, acknowledging the obvious fact that everything a kid does at age 3-5 is in fact a scientific experiment of some sort...
...and then it has a factual error, right in the center of the book - a hugely significant one, one that was impressed upon me when I first read Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut at the same time I was taking a chemistry class in college; Spanyol's very cute children's book erroneously states that frozen H2O molecules (ice) condense & thereby take up less space than the same quantity of liquid H2O molecules (water).
That is what all other non-metal substances do when they move from liquid to solid due to temperature changes...but water behaves differently.
What should we do with such a purposeful book, that says "STEM" right on the cover, but that is misleading about an important fact - one that any child might observe in their own freezer's ice cube tray, and when they do, will throw them for the worst sort of loop; asking themselves, "Did I misunderstand the science of my own observation, or was the book wrong?" - a terrible conundrum!
What do we do with this book?
I love the series, I love the illustrations, I love the experiment suggestions...but if kids do an experiment *not* in the book; observing an ice tray go from being nearly-full of warm water to being over-full of ice a few hours later...what are they going to think?
Perhaps more importantly, if they *don't* do that experiment, how many glass containers are they going to break in their lives by misunderstanding this important fact?
...and then it has a factual error, right in the center of the book - a hugely significant one, one that was impressed upon me when I first read Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut at the same time I was taking a chemistry class in college; Spanyol's very cute children's book erroneously states that frozen H2O molecules (ice) condense & thereby take up less space than the same quantity of liquid H2O molecules (water).
That is what all other non-metal substances do when they move from liquid to solid due to temperature changes...but water behaves differently.
What should we do with such a purposeful book, that says "STEM" right on the cover, but that is misleading about an important fact - one that any child might observe in their own freezer's ice cube tray, and when they do, will throw them for the worst sort of loop; asking themselves, "Did I misunderstand the science of my own observation, or was the book wrong?" - a terrible conundrum!
What do we do with this book?
I love the series, I love the illustrations, I love the experiment suggestions...but if kids do an experiment *not* in the book; observing an ice tray go from being nearly-full of warm water to being over-full of ice a few hours later...what are they going to think?
Perhaps more importantly, if they *don't* do that experiment, how many glass containers are they going to break in their lives by misunderstanding this important fact?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 8, 2022
Who wouldn't want to be part of Rosa's merry band of friends and future scientists? In this title in the series for early readers, the youngsters are studying the water cycle through observation and experiments. They learn new vocabulary terms such as precipitation and then use rain gauges to measure the amount of precipitation from a recent storm. Most impressive, though, is how not everyone comes to the same conclusions in the same way. For instance, Gerard fashions a card with measurements to dip in a bucket of water. The youngsters--a diverse group--also use their observation skills to notice how clothing is drying out and puddles are shrinking. The images and explanation of evaporation, condensation, and freezing are adorable as the children move far apart for evaporation, coming closer and closer to represent condensation, and even touching to represent ice. All these observations lead to the realization that each of these elements is part of the water cycle. Savvy teachers can learn something from how these youngsters tackle the topic and how they represent what they've discovered. This one is a keeper for elementary science classrooms.
February 26, 2022
This new STEM series of board books features the beloved Rosa and her friends, expanding the inclusive, diverse and gender-equal repertoire of the characters to scientific inquiry. In each title, Rosa and friends observe and research in the wild. In Life Cycles, the youngsters find frogspawn and learn about metamorphosis by observing how frogs grow and change. In The Water Cycle, they observe and measure rainfall and learn how water changes state.
Spanyol’s signature art uses bold style and color to perfectly illustrate STEM concepts. As the mother of dyslexic kids, she wanted to use a “reader-inclusive font style” to enhance readability for all early readers. Bravo! I love the diverse characters – brown skinned Rosa wears glasses, as does Jiyoon. Noah wears pink; Jasmine wears an eye patch; Gerard has long hair.
The text is almost exclusively facts in quotations read by the characters. I would have loved a little more social interplay between them.
Spanyol’s signature art uses bold style and color to perfectly illustrate STEM concepts. As the mother of dyslexic kids, she wanted to use a “reader-inclusive font style” to enhance readability for all early readers. Bravo! I love the diverse characters – brown skinned Rosa wears glasses, as does Jiyoon. Noah wears pink; Jasmine wears an eye patch; Gerard has long hair.
The text is almost exclusively facts in quotations read by the characters. I would have loved a little more social interplay between them.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews