Why Is Milk White?

March 1, 2013

Gr 5-8-This book was created by an adult science writer and an 11-year-old with an interest in science. Coelho compiled a list of questions and Field provided the answers. The questions are loosely grouped into subject headings: "People and Animals," "Plants," "Household Chemistry," "Health and Safety," "Things That Catch Fire or Go Bang," "Things That Stink," etc. The book begins with a short introduction on how to read structural formulas. The questions range from quite basic to complicated and cover a broad range of topics, from "How does a Van de Graaff generator work?" to "Why does snow melt?" The answers range in length from a paragraph to two pages, and the writing is dry and uneven. A few black-and-white photographs, simple illustrations of chemical structures, and 12 experiments are included. These activities range from making the familiar dancing raisins (making raisins "dance" in a carbonated beverage) to making a butane balloon that involves freezing butane and then filling a balloon with it and observing it change from a liquid to a gas. "Smoking Hands" involves mixing small amounts of household ammonia and muriatic acid. Many of the experiments require adult supervision. While this book includes a lot of interesting facts, it may be a challenge for students to access them due to its somewhat arbitrary arrangement.-Maren Ostergard, King County Library System, Issaquah, WA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2012
Grades 5-8 Partial authorship credit for this question-and-answer-based science book goes to teenager Coelho, the curious neighbor of chemist coauthor Field. The geneses of the book are the questions Coelho would often pose to him in passing, such as How does superglue work? or Why do skunks smell bad? Scores of Coelho's questions are organized into topical chapters concerning household chemicals, things that make noise, colors, and food, among many others. While illustrations of complex structural formulas are included in many explanations, the basics of reading structural formulas of chemicals are provided at the start of the book. Demonstrative experiments are included to clarify difficult concepts, and links to YouTube videos of others completing these experiments will appeal to digital natives. Many of Coelho's questions are things that other adolescents (and adults) may have wondered, and here they are answered by a knowledgeable scientist who gives readers all the tools they may need to understand the complex chemistry of the everyday world.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)