The book “The Toy and the Tide Pool” published by NIU Press, debuts this month to teach children about science through a toy bunny and his human friend.
The book, the second one of the Stuffed Bunny Science Adventure Series, is illustrated by NIU alumnus Kevin Krull (B.F.A. 2-D studio art, ’14) and written by Gillian King-Cargile, communications coordinator for the NIU Center for P-20 Engagement. Young readers will learn about ocean animals and concepts of biodiversity and earth system science in this new book. It concludes with an interview with a marine biologist from Chicago’s world-renowned Shedd Aquarium.
“All of the books have an adventure story with our main character, a stuffed bunny named Bear, and his boy Jack,” King-Cargile said. “And usually Bear gets separated from Jack and has to make his way back to him and learn about science in some fun way.”
The first book in the series, “The Toy and the Twister,” released last year, teaches children about tornadoes. King-Cargile purposefully started with tornadoes because of her own personal experience.
“I’m from Plainfield, and we had a very large tornado when I was a child,” King-Cargile said. “So I had always been worried about storms. And, you know, I’m the first person to the basement when there’s a tornado warning and things like that.”
King-Cargile says she wanted to find a way to have children learn about storms and tornado safety in a less threatening way than other books that already exist.
Her next book in the series will deal with solar energy, which addresses the environmental science portion of the Next Generation Science Standards.
NIU Press books are available by calling 800-621-2736, ordering online at niupress.niu.edu or visiting Amazon or your local bookstore.
Condensed from NIU Public Radio
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