Science Verse (Golden Duck Awards)

After being cursed with science verse, a young boy imagines science themed poems about a number of topics, from the water cycle, to black holes, states of matter, evolution, the food chain and many more. Most of the poems parody a well known rhyme, song or poem (the parodies are indicated at the

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end of the book); for example, “Gobblegooky”, about nutrition and food additives, closely resembles Lewis Carroll's “Jabberwocky”. The non-realistic, colorful illustrations visually correspond to the concept in the poem, and are crammed with science details, such as a model of an electron, or a depiction of the planets and moons of the solar system. Though educational in theme and topic, the poems are irreverent in the way kids love: one speculates that dinosaurs were wiped out because they were bored to death by teachers. Nonsense such as a teacher-caused dinosaur apocalypse is always presented absurdly enough that no reader would accept silliness as scientific fact. There are some in-jokes that older kids with more science background will be able to better appreciate (for example, instead of a candlestick, Jack jumps over a combustion reaction), but the poems are a fun way to introduce readers to concepts and pique interest in science and poetry. This fun and unconventional take on science class would be good for upper level elementary students.

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Author Jon Scieszka cleverly combines science facts and fun poems in "Science Verse." In this fun fiction book, Mr. Newton the science teacher says “if you listen closely enough, you can hear the poetry of science in everything.” This created a curse of science verse in one pupil, and he begins

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to see the poetry of all things science. He suddenly has a poem about all things sciences. Whether you are interested in dinosaurs, black holes, amoeba, or matter… Science Verse has a poem for you. You are sure to laugh when reading mini ha ha (or, the atomic joke is on you). Or simply read about evolution and the food chain in completely new ways. Learn why scientists don’t write nursery rhymes. This student was struck with a curse of science verse: then suddenly he is cured. There is no more talking in science poem, but if you want to know how the curse is cured, you will have to read for yourself!
This book is a must have for any elementary class, especially third, fourth or fifth grades. It is filled with hilarious science poems and re-makes of nursery rhymes all about science. The pictures are contemporary and draw the reader in. The science is not in depth by any means but the facts are accurate. Science Verse could be a fun way to introduce lesson about the scientific method in fifth grade or even a lesson about the food chain in third grade. The possibilities are endless. From the writers of Math Curse, this fun, contemporary book will spark an interest in science in any child.

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What if, one day, you started hearing poems..... not just any poems.... but poems about SCIENCE! That's what happened to the character in Science Verse!

The little boy we meet finds himself hearing scientific parodies of familiar poems. SCIENCE. Everywhere!!

This student is cursed by his teacher for everything he hears to be science. This is a great way to raise awareness of science in everday life. Teachers can use this book as a way to link science to litereature.

This is a really wonderful and unique collection of poetry created by the amazingly original Jon Scieszka and his partner-in-crime, Lane Smith. It's sort of a companion book to the duo's previous work, Math Curse, although that one is not required to be read beforehand in order to understand this

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volume. Scieszka and Smith find a way to make science be an exciting subject, without some of the boredom that can sometimes creep its way into the subject, through humor and some good old poetry. Hopefully, the book will serve as a jumping point for classroom activities, and children will get a kick out of seeing topics they've covered in poetic form. Not only are concepts of science conveyed well, children will receive a poetry lesson, as many well-known poems are parodied throughout the book. As always, Lane Smith's illustrations are a hilarious addition to the story, conveying simple but hysterically funny thoughts. The readers will love the hilarious bug-eyed depiction of our narrator and his scientific misadventures.

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Suggested age: Grade 4+. Genre: Poetry, Informational
This book is a compilation of public domain songs an poems re-written with science themes. The loose premise is that a student is cursed by his teacher to see the science in everything. Like Scieszka's other works, it end up being very

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irreverent. This look at both poetry and science contains many great openers for scientific units of discovery. It could also be used to discuss altering existing works of literature or art to repurpose them.

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This is a book of poetry about science! Each of the poems rhyme and often are to a familiar tune. The book starts with a student who starts hearing everything as a science poem, known as the 'curse of the science verse.' The topics of the poems in the book include: Evolution, the water cycle, the

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human body, space, dinosaurs, food chain, nutrition, insects, the scientific method, viruses, atoms, matter, metamorphosis, and more!

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Individual poems from this text could be used as an introduction to some of the science concepts described. Many of the poems are meant to be sung, and children would have a good time performing this in a kind of poetry or readers theater. Teachers can even get a CD of the poems being read by the

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authors. Teachers could challenge their students to create a poem out of their own science content. This might be a good alternative assessment for kids who don't fit the typical mold when it comes to assessments.

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Jon Scieszka's "Science Verse" is a children's book that comprises old nursery rhymes with humorous science-themed poetry told from an omniscient point of view. For example on the the page entitled, "Why Scientists Don't Write Nursery Rhymes", Scieszka compiles 4 poems that are evidence of the

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title, such as:

"Mary had a little worm.
She thought it was a chigger.
But everything that Mary ate,
Only made it bigger.
It came with her to school one day,
And gave the kids a fright, Especially when the teacher said,
'Now that's a parasite'."

Hysterical illustrations accompany every poem. You will laugh from the cover to the concluding flap! Wonderful for all ages.

Themes: Science, Humor, Rhyme, Poetry.

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Cute and fun! The poems make basic science concepts accessible; some may even help students remember key ideas. Most of the poems are modelled on familiar motifs, adding a degree of intertexuality to tie them into language arts class, and the imagery is, as usual with Smith's work, engaging and

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layered.

Be sure to listen to the CD. You'll hear the poems read by Jon and Lane, with sound effects and extra voices.

Bonus for me (as a book editor): The "Call to the Editor" was priceless!

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Children ages 6-9 will enjoy Science Verse because it integrates scientific facts into silly, memorable poems. It's a great read-aloud for both child and parent as both will be able to relate to the rhythm of the poems set to familiar songs such as "I've Been Working on the Railroad." The

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illustrations closely follow the setting of each poem and sparks the imagination and can even initiate inquiry and discussion as each drawing is rich with detail and texture. Each poem amuses and captivates the reader's interests in a wide variety of science topics ranging from chemistry to biological evolution. The book also comes with an audio CD of the authors reading the book, bringing life to each poem.

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You never know what could happen to you. Maybe one day you will be stuck with a curse and have science be the only thing that you hear for the rest of your life. Very interesting story. This would be a great book for someone who likes science.

This book is has humorous poems about science and has exaggerated illustrations that children will find entertaining. This book would be great from elementary classroom all the way up to 10th grade. It could be read aloud and followed by an assignment for students to create their own verse from

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topics being studied in science class. I rate this book a 5 out of 5 because it reinforces poetry and has accurate scientific information. This book is a great tool for incorporating science into the language arts class time.

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A great dual purpose book to use for poetry and science study.

When the teacher tells his class that they can hear the poetry of science in everything, a student is struck with a curse and begins hearing nothing but science verses that sound very much like well-known poems.

These poems are cool as they imitate other famous poems but I was not as entranced by the language as I hoped to be.

Science Verse is a comical story about a young student who gets caught in a "curse of Science Verse." As a result, everything he hears is in the form of a science poem. The poems are modeled after popular children's poems such as "Twas the Night Before Christmas and Eenie, Meanie, Mynie, Mo. The

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student is tortured by science poems until he awakens from his nap in science class to discover that he has missed the entire lecture on the solar system and is unprepared for the test the next day. The student just can't seem to catch a break!

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Really Good science oriented rhyming book. Mixed with Humor. Great illustrations.

This book is strange. It takes science words and puts them together in verse. But, the words don't have a lot of meaning in the way the are used. The poems are reminiscent of the Jaberwocky poem. This book is odd, its neat that the kids will get exposed to words in the science curriculum, but they

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don't make any sense.

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Science Verse is both a mixture of science and poetry. The author turned science into poetry with rhymes and rhythm making it fun to read and learn at the same time.

Summary: This book is a collection of poetry written using various different kinds of science as topics.
Genre: informational, poetry
Critique: This is a great example of both informational and poetry because the book is a collection of informational poems. Children will have a great time reading

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the poems while also learning new concepts of science.

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A boy is told that "if you listen closely, you can hear the poetry of science." The boy takes this quote somewhat literally because everything he learns about science, he hears in poem form. This book will help kids remember scientific information because it is in poem form.This book is absolutely

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adorable!

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Thought it was a great book to illustrate some science concepts but make them fun at the same time. Also relates many of the poems to real-life stories or poems from history. Could use for one poem a day and students could have different discussions about some of the science terms. A great

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combination of literacy and science!

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Be sure to check out the audio version for additional verses of this series of seriously funny and accurate rhymes about science subtopics like cosmogeny, astronomy, natural cycles, nutrition, and the scientific method. Use this for entertaining education or for educational entertainment!