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Fun Book Ideas for 10-year-old on: Scientific Worldview/ Critical Thinking/ Science

Chanakya

,
Chanakya
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Apr 29, 2015
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I'm looking for some book ideas for a book/s on: a scientific temper/ worldview; on critical thinking; or just on science. Something fun, for a 10-year-old.

Ideally what I'd be looking for is something like Dawkins's The Magic of Reality. Except I think that book's more suitable for someone who's a bit older. Not because a 10-year-old wouldn't understand it, they would; but I kind of think a 10-year-old might find that kind of thing dry, boring, not fun. At least most 10-year-olds. Around 12 I think is when that book should be read --- and of course, for someone who hasn't read it, any age at all is fine.

So anyway, I was looking for book ideas of that kind. For a 10-year-old. On what a scientific worldview entails, and/or on critical thinking. And a fun book.


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And if all of that is too much to ask for --- as it well may be --- then I'd settle simply on a fun book on science (for said 10-year-old).

Of course, science books for kids, there's lots and lots of those, obviously. But what I was looking for would be something ...well, fun, you know, something they'd actually enjoy, something that might get a child that is as yet not terribly interested in science, actually hooked on to science, something that might get them to see science as fun, something like that.


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So if you're aware of any such good books that answer to any one of those three descriptions/subjects, your recommendations would be much appreciated. Thanks!
 
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I must have found Flatland in the library about that age, and found it endearing. I think it would have been better if I had had an adult who could have explained / discussed some of the concepts. (I understand that it is also intended to be a social critique, at ten I missed that and it was the concept of dimensions I found exciting.)
 
GodMark2 said:
What If: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

Also, Thing Explainer, by the same author, is great for encouraging curiosity in complicated subjects.
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That looks like a great book, thanks much. Fun, absolutely!


I haven't read it myself, and checked out some reviews. All of them, that I saw, were positive, in fact entirely rah-rah.

But, as far as who the target audience might be: This reviewer says: "Who would I recommend the What If summary to? The 34-year-old programmer who likes to ponder hypothetical questions, the 22-year-old college student who thinks that science is boring, and anyone who is curious about how the world works." And this one says: "It's interesting, but simple enough that a 12 year old could understand it. Oh sure, he didn't understand everything, but he still liked it." One guy's suggesting this as a good read for adults; and another that while a 12-year-old might not (fully) understand it, he'd still enjoy it. Plus, in some random excerpts I found quoted in some of these reviews, there were some equations that are certainly going to be beyond any child of ten, and might in fact put them off. (Which is fine, none of these need actually be dealbreakers if generally the book's good for a kid that age [10 yrs], but certainly they'd be things to consider.)

You've read it yourself, I'm sure. What's your own view on this? Would a bright (but by no means extraordinary) 10-year-old be drawn to this book?


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(Haven't checked out reviews of Thing Explainer yet. I will, soon. Any thoughts about that one as well, as far as appropriateness for a kid that age?)
 
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Planigale said:
I must have found Flatland in the library about that age, and found it endearing. I think it would have been better if I had had an adult who could have explained / discussed some of the concepts. (I understand that it is also intended to be a social critique, at ten I missed that and it was the concept of dimensions I found exciting.)
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Yeah, Flatland's an old favorite of mine as well.

You know what, though? I'm not sure a 10-year-old will be thrilled with that book. The book's great fun, but that writing style would probably put off a child that age, don't you think?

(Sorry, Planigale, I don't mean to be in the least dismissive of your recommendation --- for which I'm grateful! Just, my thoughts around that particular book.)


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In fact, now that you bring this up, I'd kept out sci fi outside the scope of this request for recommendations, because I'd wanted something more ... well, the sort of thing I'd mentioned in the OP. But still, rethinking this, why on earth not sci fi, for this purpose I mean to say? What better to kindle a child's interest in science than sci fi?

So that, if you --- or anyone else --- have good sci fi recommendations for a 10-year-old (sci fi that's especially sound on the science part, as well as fun), then absolutely, mention those as well please.

For instance, there's these books that I've heard about (but not read), children's sci fi that Stephen Hawking's apparently written. Have any of you come across those books yourselves, gone through them perhaps? Are they any good? I've no doubt the science in them would be impeccable, butwould they be fun, as far as a 10-year-old that is?
 
Chanakya said:
That looks like a great book, thanks much. Fun, absolutely!


I haven't read it myself, and checked out some reviews. All of them, that I saw, were positive, in fact entirely rah-rah.

But, as far as who the target audience might be: This reviewer says: "Who would I recommend the What If summary to? The 34-year-old programmer who likes to ponder hypothetical questions, the 22-year-old college student who thinks that science is boring, and anyone who is curious about how the world works." And this one says: "It's interesting, but simple enough that a 12 year old could understand it. Oh sure, he didn't understand everything, but he still liked it." One guy's suggesting this as a good read for adults; and another that while a 12-year-old might not (fully) understand it, he'd still enjoy it. Plus, in some random excerpts I found quoted in some of these reviews, there were some equations that are certainly going to be beyond any child of ten, and might in fact put them off. (Which is fine, none of these need actually be dealbreakers if generally the book's good for a kid that age [10 yrs], but certainly they'd be things to consider.)

You've read it yourself, I'm sure. What's your own view on this? Would a bright (but by no means extraordinary) 10-year-old be drawn to this book?


---


(Haven't checked out reviews of Thing Explainer yet. I will, soon. Any thoughts about that one as well, as far as appropriateness for a kid that age?)
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The reviews are underselling What If. It might be written a bit above the average 10-year old's reading level, but my nephews of that age loved it. It has a great hook/conceit for people that age: take something familiar (like throwing a baseball), and make it higher, faster, stronger, etc. Push it to the limits, and start teaching all sorts of science and critical thinking as you go, so you can push the idea even further. Here's an example chapter. Most likely, even if it's not appreciated full right now, it will be grown into soon.

Thing Explainer is similar, but it takes real 'thing' (like the Saturn V rocket, or the inner workings of a cell) and explains the details using only the thousand most common English words... er, I mean the Ten-Hunderd most common words. The author mixes in a lot of light comedy to keep you scanning each page for more details (Keep this end up or you will not go to space today). The book covers such a wide range of topics that it'd be almost impossible to fins a 10-year old that wasn't interested in at least one part. Plus, the artwork is quite detailed, while being simple. An example prototype from the author.

Also, one of the best webcomics running, though not always age appropriate for 10-year-olds (parental guidance advised, etc).
 
This article parallels my own experience in the 50s and 60s and opened up worlds...as it was told as stories unlike say Britannica .

https://brianfies.blogspot.com/2013/11/my-influential-books-richards-topical.html?m=0

I had that exact set and it was the best thing my parents ever ( unwittingly ) did for me.
Now I'm not advocating tracking that down ...but rather trying for a modern topical set with good science as well.

Maybe this - there are three in the set Science, Human Body and History
2a39a57a-6a0b-40a1-b557-cc341fc5dd10.__CR0,0,300,300_PT0_SX300_V1___.png

https://www.amazon.com.au/Knowledge...ocphy=9069101&hvtargid=pla-525193201323&psc=1

9ee43385-f71a-494b-81de-e66866a96fc2.__CR0,0,300,300_PT0_SX300_V1___.jpg


More from DK https://www.amazon.com.au/DK/e/B072...7b0d6f29ab5&pd_rd_wg=8XX1T&pd_rd_i=0241363373
 
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I may not have been a normal ten year old. My Mother used the library as a cheap child minding service during school holidays, the building also housed a health centre so whilst my Mother did a clinic I sat quietly and read books. In retrospect Flatland had probably been misfiled into the children's section.
 
GodMark2 said:
The reviews are underselling What If. It might be written a bit above the average 10-year old's reading level, but my nephews of that age loved it. It has a great hook/conceit for people that age: take something familiar (like throwing a baseball), and make it higher, faster, stronger, etc. Push it to the limits, and start teaching all sorts of science and critical thinking as you go, so you can push the idea even further. Here's an example chapter. Most likely, even if it's not appreciated full right now, it will be grown into soon.

Thing Explainer is similar, but it takes real 'thing' (like the Saturn V rocket, or the inner workings of a cell) and explains the details using only the thousand most common English words... er, I mean the Ten-Hunderd most common words. The author mixes in a lot of light comedy to keep you scanning each page for more details (Keep this end up or you will not go to space today). The book covers such a wide range of topics that it'd be almost impossible to fins a 10-year old that wasn't interested in at least one part. Plus, the artwork is quite detailed, while being simple. An example prototype from the author.

Also, one of the best webcomics running, though not always age appropriate for 10-year-olds (parental guidance advised, etc).
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Agreed, while reviews are helpful, but there's only so much you can get from generic reviews (as opposed to a focused discussion, of the sort you've presented here). What If seems a great candidate for what I had in mind.
 
GodMark2, Planigale, alfaniner, macdoc, thanks, that's a great set of recommendations, from which to pick out one or two really great books.


(While that list is enough for me, already, for the specific purpose why I'd started this thread at this time, but by all means keep posting any further recommendations that might come to mind, it'll be good to have a growing list of book ideas this type!)


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In fact, the discussion here reminded me of a book that I'd myself read long back, and in fact own, that I'd forgotten about. It's called How Things Are (A Toolkit for the Mind), and is edited by John Borckman and Katinka Matson. Neither of whom I'd heard of, but the actual contributors who actually write the individual chapters include people we've all heard of and look up to.

In fact, there's a great essay there that by itself is worth the price of admission (not that the others are any less interesting). It's a piece on (and titled) Good and Bad Reasons for Believing, by Richard Dawkins, purportedly written to his ten-year-old daughter. I remembered that essay, but I was under the (mistaken) impression that it forms the foreword to The Magic of Reality. I took out my old copy of that book (Dawkins's Reality), and did not find that essay there, and so went browsing among my collection of books, and found it in this one (Toolkit), that I'd clean forgotten all about. I'd like to put this recommendation as well into this collection we've already got here.
 
Martin Gardner's books of math games were great fun for me when I was that age, and definitely shaped my affinity for logic. Also there is a great Asimov non-fiction article compilation called "Marvels of Science" (also released as "Only A Trillion") that had me in awe of the ease with which he brought scientific concepts into a level digestible to my young brain, and started me off as a lifetime fan of his work.
 
grunion said:
Martin Gardner's books of math games were great fun for me when I was that age, and definitely shaped my affinity for logic. Also there is a great Asimov non-fiction article compilation called "Marvels of Science" (also released as "Only A Trillion") that had me in awe of the ease with which he brought scientific concepts into a level digestible to my young brain, and started me off as a lifetime fan of his work.
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I used to read a lot of Asimov at one time, and still own some fifteen or so titles. His non-fiction Marvels of Science I've never heard about --- or if I had, then I've forgotten. Am putting it on my reading list --- not for the purpose of picking out a book (or two or three) right now, but eventually, and for myself, because this is Asimov!
 
Chanakya said:
I used to read a lot of Asimov at one time, and still own some fifteen or so titles. His non-fiction Marvels of Science I've never heard about --- or if I had, then I've forgotten. Am putting it on my reading list --- not for the purpose of picking out a book (or two or three) right now, but eventually, and for myself, because this is Asimov!
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Considering he wrote over 500 books on topics/genres ranging from detective fiction to robotics to opera to universe building sci-fi I would be surprised if anyone here had heard of this one. But it really stuck with me.
 
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