Presenting the winners of the 2012 DeBary Children's Science Book Awards

For ages 3-6

“Life cycle of a pumpkin” by Patricia Walsh and Ron Fridell (2009) tells the story of a pumpkin from seed to fruit using excellent photographs, with a list of facts about pumpkins at the back.

For ages 6-11

“Hungry plants” (2000) by Mary Battan takes the coolest and grossest members of the plant kingdom (carnivorous plants like sundews and venus flytraps) and explains how they work and how they fit into their environments (low nitrogen habitats). Kids will enjoy reading about them and looking at the illustrations.

Runners-up

“Life Story” by Virginia Lee Burton (updated in 2009, for children 6-11) is a panoramic view of this part of the milky way from the birth of the sun to the present, with plenty of trilobites and dinosaurs and illustrated with theatrical verve.  “The Bug Book” (2011, all ages) has striking graphics and huge numbers of facts about insects, making it a book that can be read and reread.

Not-so-scientific books to check out

Some nominated books did not meet our definition for science books but were nevertheless worthy of recommendation.  Monica Kulling’s books “ALL ABOARD!  Elijah McCoy's Steam Engine” and “IT'S A SNAP! George Eastman's First Photograph” were more biographical than scientific, but they depict children from diverse backgrounds growing up to make the world a better place, with nice illustrations by Bill Slavin.  Ruth Heller’s “Plants that never ever bloom” is more of a picture book than a science book but the illustrations were marvelous and would lead a young reader to want to know more.

Nominated books:

Next year: We are accepting nominations for next year’s DeBary Awards.  Please nominate any recently published book that will inspire children to love and understand science, particularly in the plant sciences.